Free Republic

US threats to impose tariffs on European autos did not come up in trade talks in Washington, European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said Thursday. “It was not mentioned; it was hardly mentioned,” Hogan told reporters in the US capital. “I think it should be good news for Germany.” The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to put tariffs on European automobiles imported into the US, citing threats to national security. But a deadline to make a decision passed last November without a comment from the White House after the EU threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on US imports. Hogan’s remarks...

This is a serious question. What is a Patriot to do in America today to further the cause? You can't be involved in any "organized militia" activity or you will be labeled and put on lists. You can't start a Tea Party group or you will be targeted by government agencies. You can't really trust the Republican Party...we have seen their true nature. Really what can one do to help?

The woman, who has not been identified, was caught on camera walking through the airport in her blue bra and pants just before midnight on Wednesday, singing aloud to herself. She then proceeded to remove her bra, followed by her pants, leaving her completely nude. Bemused airport staff and passengers looked on as she waved her bra in the air. Airport police have confirmed that the female, who is not from Florida, was taken into custody for a mental evaluation. They said she had been incoherent and delusional when they approached her.

Adam Gorlitsky hit the wall hard during his second marathon attempt around the mile 20-mark this past Saturday at the Charleston Marathon in South Carolina. The only other time he had ever run this far was during his first marathon attempt last March at the Los Angeles Marathon. While battling against pain in his wrists and legs and pushing the limits on the motors on his ReWalk Robotic Exoskeleton, Gorlitsky fought on, not only hoping to capture his first marathon finish, but also better the world record for fastest marathon in a robotic walking machine. He did just that after...

The world’s second-largest economy grew by 6.1% in 2019, making last year China’s worst economic performance since 1990, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday. The figure is within Beijing’s official target of 6.0% to 6.5%, but down from 6.6% in 2018. The economy faces “downward pressure” and “instability sources and risk points” abroad are increasing, the government said in a statement. […] The World Bank said in a report this month that weakening exports in China had compounded the impact of its ongoing slowdown in domestic demand. But analysts noted that China’s slowdown is...

A computer security expert says he found that a forensic image of the election server central to a legal battle over the integrity of Georgia elections showed signs that the original server was hacked. The server was left exposed to the open internet for at least six months, a problem the same expert discovered in August 2016. It was subsequently wiped clean in mid-2017 with no notice, just days after election integrity activists filed a lawsuit seeking an overhaul of what they called the state’s unreliable and negligently run election system. In late December 2019, the plaintiffs were finally able...

Stephen King appeared to backtrack on his recent comments about "never" considering "diversity in matters of art" after criticism from a number of prominent artists, including Ava DuVernay. "The Shining" writer on Tuesday weighed in on the controversy that ensued after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated a nearly all-white slate for acting Oscars. "For me, the diversity issue did not come up," King, who is a voting member of the Academy, wrote on Twitter of his nominations for the best picture, best adapted screenplay and best original screenplay categories. "That said, I would never consider diversity...

Military strongman Khalifa Haftar's reluctance to sign up to a Turkish-Russian orchestrated ceasefire accord underlines the complexity of Libya's conflict and pressures exerted by key foreign players, analysts say. He left Moscow on Tuesday without signing a permanent truce aimed at ending nine months of fighting against the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj. His abrupt departure was a setback for an international diplomatic push, after Sarraj had signed up to halting Haftar's offensive to seize Tripoli from the GNA. For Emad Badi of the Washington-based Middle East Institute, there are two plausible explanations for Haftar...

In addition, access to Capitol Square will be limited to one secure entrance at Ninth and Grace streets. Metal detectors will be used. Also, three exits have been designated along Ninth and Bank streets.

Andrew Yang's wife, Evelyn Yang, reveals in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash that she was sexually assaulted by her doctor. Video at link.

The greater the sinner, the greater God’s love, pope says ROME - God shows the greatest love and compassion for the greatest sinners, Pope Francis said.The Lord “has come precisely for us sinners and the greater the sinner you are, the closer the Lord is to you because he has come for you, the greatest sinner; for me, the greatest sinner; for all of us,” the pope said in his homily Jan. 16 at morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae.The pope reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from St. Mark, in which Jesus takes pity on and heals a...

An angry and emotional Mayor Lori Lightfoot admonished a handful of African American aldermen Wednesday for “demonizing” the gay community and said the “pie is big enough to slice it in lots of other ways.” The mayor’s impassioned plea was followed by a standing ovation and a 47-1 vote to launch a study that could lay the groundwork for creating contract set-asides for gay- and transgender-owned businesses in Chicago. African American aldermen led by Black Caucus Chairman Jason Ervin (28th) and Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) voiced concern earmarking contracts for gay business owners could pave the way for “privileged white...

BUSHWICK — At Sure We Can, one man’s trash is another’s treasure. The Catholic-founded nonprofit recycling center is not a smelly junkyard in the shadow of a hip neighborhood in Brooklyn, but a processing center fueled by a motto: reducing, reusing and recycling. Sister Ana Martínez de Luco, a member of the Sisters for Christian Community, co-founded Sure We Can as a non-profit recycling and redemption center in 2005. (Photo: Allyson Escobar)Here, heaps of recyclables — neatly sorted into plastic and glass bottles, soda cans, and single-use plastics — fill the heavy shipping containers, scattered throughout the yard. In the...

PASADENA, California, January 16, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Two graduate students who were expelled from an Evangelical seminary after it was discovered both were “married” to members of the same sex have filed a $2 million lawsuit claiming sex discrimination. The lawsuit, brought by plaintiffs Joanna Maxon and Nathan Brittsan, was filed in the U.S. District Court for Central California against Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. Maxon filed suit in November and was joined last week by Brittsan. ‘A dangerous argument’At issue is Federal Title IX rules that ban discrimination on the basis of sex, but which beginning with the Obama...

The death of employees is a bitter loss for the entire nuclear center. The victims of the explosion developed special hardware and software; a leading electronic engineer, the head of the research and testing group a category 1 test engineer, and the deputy head of the research and testing department. It took the centre a year to arrange preparations for the tests in the water area of the White Sea. We put up appropriate stands, conducted the certifications. We conducted serious instruction works, prepared equipment, programs, techniques and discussed everything. It seemed that everything was prepared accordingly, adding that "the...

Norway seems headed to a political crisis after one of the members of the ruling coalition threatened to quit over the government’s decision to bring back a woman who joined Islamic State — a move that could lead to the government falling. According to Norway’s VG, the family — a 29-year-old woman and two children — was moved from northern Syria to Iraq in preparation for them to be moved and repatriated back into Norway. One of the children, 5 years old, is believed to be seriously ill. According to The Local, the woman is described as Pakistani and traveled...

Cdl. Christoph Schönborn defends concert with drag queen singerVIENNA (ChurchMilitant.com) - An Austrian cardinal is standing by his decision to allow a drag queen to sing inside the cathedral at a large fundraising event. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna is defending the blasphemous fundraiser concert, which he allowed to take place back in November at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. More than just allowing it to happen, a program for the concert listed Cdl. Schönborn as delivering the opening remarks, and video footage shows him speaking at the event. In an interview last month, Austrian newspaper Die Furche asked the...

When Oscar night rolls around, Californians rooting for “Once Upon A Time…in Hollywood,” “Marriage Story,” or “Ford v Ferrari” will be able to thank themselves as well as the Academy. In all three cases, Golden State audiences not only paid for the movie tickets and Netflix subscriptions underwriting their production, but also let their tax dollars be leveraged by movie studios to produce those Best Picture nominees in-state.

Catholic prof fired by bishop after posting Viganò’s criticisms of Pope Francis online The professor said he posted Vigano’s letter on Facebook 'in order to make manifest that things are not going well in the Church.' BUENOS AIRES, January 16, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) -- A Catholic professor of philosophy has been dismissed by a bishop from his teaching post at an Argentine school of theology after the scholar posted criticisms of Pope Francis made by Vatican whistleblower Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.  Bishop Gabriel Mestre of Mar del Plata, Argentina, dismissed Dr. Maximiliano Loria from the diocesan University School of Theology....

Members of the senate took an oath on Thursday to uphold "impartial justice" as President Trump's impeachment trial gets underway. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath to senators, who were standing at their desks on the Senate floor with their right hands raised. "Do you solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump, president of the United States, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help you god?" Roberts asked senators. Senators then walked down to the front of the chamber...