Free Republic

Neil Peart, the longtime drummer for the Canadian band Rush, died last week of brain cancer, leaving behind a legacy as one of rock's most technically accomplished percussionists and perhaps its most articulate libertarian lyricist. The 67-year-old songwriter regularly championed individualism, choice, and freedom over soul-crushing conformity. Early Rush songs are saturated with such messages. The song "Freewill," released on 1980's Permanent Waves album, puts self-determination at the root of the human experience: "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." In "The Trees," released two years earlier, Peart tells a fable about a forest where...

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- President Donald Trump will hold a rally in Milwaukee Tuesday night, Jan. 14 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Supporters of President Trump started lining up hours ahead of the rally to make sure they'd get a spot inside the arena. President Trump has campaigned in other areas of the state, and comes to Milwaukee for policy reasons, but this is the first campaign rally he's held in Wisconsin's largest city. CBS 58 saw a mix of ages at the event, and a decent amount of high school and college students from the area. There's...

On January 9, MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell lunged to promote the latest New York magazine screed by former New York Times drama critic and columnist Frank Rich, who insisted Trump's supporters were "Vichy Republicans," like Hitler's collaborators in France during World War II:

The United States and China are racing for dominance in 5G wireless connectivity. The R&D, the inventions, the technological standards and the commercial products developed and deployed in the coming months and years will determine whose inventions bring the world the next generation of wireless technology. Two companies lead in foundational research and development of 5G. Fortunately for the world, U.S.-based Qualcomm has invented and developed superior 5G core technologies. It makes a profound difference which country’s innovations a few key collaborative standards-setting bodies adopt as the foundation of the next-generation wireless infrastructure. 5G won’t be your Mom’s internet. Beyond...

President Trump should tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi he’ll refuse to give his State of the Union address until after the cloud of impeachment is lifted, one GOP representative urged Tuesday. “President Trump should tell her ‘no games’ and tell her he'll deliver the State of the Union only after our country clears the divisive impeachment hurdle,’’ Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., wrote Tuesday on Facebook. “It’s not just America watching the State of the Union each year. Tehran is watching. Hong Kong is watching. Taipei is watching,” Banks said in arguing that Trump should have a chance for a more...

<p>Say you’re a secret federal court that signed off on wiretaps of a Trump campaign official based on Russian disinformation financed by the Clinton campaign and midwifed through anti-Trump partisans at the FBI. The court did nothing about this deception for three years despite accumulating evidence presented to it. Once this is all publicly exposed, would your response be to hire a former Obama official and media apologist for the FBI to restore the court’s credibility?</p>

The agent, whose name has not been released, was turning the corner from E. 8th St. onto Caton Place in Windsor Terrace about 9:45 p.m. when he came across a man and his girlfriend walking with a female Belgian Shepherd. Police said the agent told investigators that the dog charged at him. And in a statement to The Daily Beast, the Secret Service alleged the dog was unleashed. In answer to a request from The Daily News to clarify the characterization of “unleashed” since The News has a photo of the dog’s body at the scene with her leash still...

A black transgender woman incarcerated at a men’s state prison has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming she was mistreated during her time behind bars, and was forced to share a cell with a white supremacist as punishment for speaking up about her rights. Her driver’s license identifies her as a female, she has undergone a breast augmentation procedure, and she takes hormone therapy drugs. The lawsuit claims the harm suffered by the woman amounted to the violation of her civil rights, and demonstrated the discriminatory nature of MCI’s policies toward and treatment of transgender inmates. The plaintiff in...

The saddest part about these fires in California is that they are self inflicted. Californians should not allow such mismanagement to continue. I grew up in California’s Ventura County and have family in both southern and northern California. Right now, the most deadly fire in California’s history is racing across northern California. The Camp Fire has already killed at least 56 people, burned down 7,700 homes, and destroyed the entire town of Paradise. A brush fire is also wreaking havoc on southern California. The Woolsey Fire has destroyed 98,362 acres, killed two people, and damaged several Hollywood landmarks such as...

Link only - https://qz.com/1784972/pro-aoc-group-spent-20000-on-anti-biden-facebook-ads/amp/

"I've got 51 declared votes on version two," Kaine said on Tuesday while talking with reporters. Republicans who have voiced their support include Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Utah Sen. Mike Lee, both of whom have expressed frustration with the Trump administration for the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

A painting thought to be the work of a famed Renaissance artist has been uncovered beneath centuries of dirt on the wall of a cathedral in Vienna, Austria. Found in St Stephen's Cathedral, the large wall painting was discovered on a wall that now sits above the cathedral's gift shop. Experts said the painting, which depicts Saints Catherine and Margaret, is the work of German artist Albrecht Dürer. Dürer worked as a theorist of the German Renaissance and also produced many prints.

The federal government budget deficit surpassed $1 trillion in 2019, marking the first time the country has crossed that threshold in a calendar year since 2012. The budget deficit reached $1.02 trillion for the 12-month calendar year ending in December, according to data released by the Treasury Department on Monday And the gap appears to be widening. For the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, which began on October 1, the deficit grew 12% over last year. The deficit -- the gap between how much the government spends versus how much it takes in -- increased to $357 billion in...

**SNIP** On Tuesday, the judge also granted Roberts primary custody of their child, who is now a toddler, with visitation for Hunter to be agreed upon by both parties at a later date. Still the case drags on: Both sides are set to return to court on Jan. 29 “for the purpose of addressing temporary child support for the minor child and other matters,” the presiding judge wrote recently. Permanent child support will be determined in May. “That’s not common for a child support case to become this complex,” Roberts’ attorney Clint Lancaster tells PEOPLE. “It’s usually: Are you the...

"In all wisdom and insight [God] made known to us the mystery of His will" (Eph. 1:8-9). Even if you haven’t obtained academic degrees, you have wisdom that far surpasses the most educated unbeliever. When God redeemed you, He not only forgave your trespasses and removed the guilt and penalty of sin, but He also gave you spiritual wisdom and insight—two essential elements for godly living. Together they speak of the ability to understand God's will and apply it to your life in practical ways. As a believer you understand the most sublime truths of all. For example, you know...

Stephen King is under fire on Twitter after downplaying the role of diversity in selecting this year’s Academy Award nominees. “I would never consider diversity in matters of art. Only quality,” the 72-year-old tweeted on Tuesday. “It seems to me that to do otherwise would be wrong.” In an earlier tweet, King wrote that diversity was not even discussed in the categories he was tasked with nominating. “As a writer, I am allowed to nominate in just 3 categories: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Screenplay,” he explained. “For me, the diversity issue—as it applies to individual actors...

A missing Florida teen with autism made it through a TSA checkpoint at the Orlando International Airport with a stranger’s boarding pass - and told authorities that “she just wanted to fly in an airplane,” according to new reports. Sade Subbs, 15, who the Apopka Police Department says “suffers from high-functioning autism,” was last seen around 10 p.m. Thursday near Lake Jackson Circle in the Orange County city before she vanished, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The next day, a Southwest Airlines employee at the airport spotted the teen wandering around a gate and asked her if she needed help,...

Google on Tuesday announced it would begin phasing third-party cookies out of its Chrome web browser, following in the steps of competitors Safari and Firefox. However, unlike those two companies that banned cookies outright, Google will phase out their support for cookies "within two years," Justin Schuh, director at engineering for Chrome, wrote in a blog post. "Some browsers have reacted to these concerns by blocking third-party cookies, but we believe this has unintended consequences that can negatively impact both users and the web ecosystem," he continued. Google cited user concerns about cookies including privacy and data collection, pledging to...

There appear to be two significant developments as it relates to Tom Brady's future, which were revealed on Tuesday's The Greg Hill Show by Greg Hill himself. “The Brady suite at Gillette Stadium where (Gisele Bundchen) has been known to watch her husband play football has been cleaned out," he said. Hill added: “It would appear to be, by those who are in the know, that it has been cleaned out in way that perhaps it has never has been cleaned out before.” In addition, Hill said Brady and his family have already moved out of their Brookline, Massachusetts home...

HIV that is being transmitted in large population clusters in the United States is more likely to cause high viral load in people who acquire it, leading US researchers to conclude that natural selection is causing HIV in the United States to become more infectious and virulent. The study by Dr Joel Wertheim of the University of California San Diego, Dr Walid Heneine of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and colleagues is published in Nature Communications. Scientists have previously theorised that rapid onward transmission of HIV after primary infection would tend to favour the selection of HIV variants...