Free Republic

Today’s TRICKY CG from The Arkansas Gazette. Everyone should get this under 6 minutes, and most under 4. Below 3 and it’s going to be your lucky day to play the lotto. DERW OVXH CXEVFY LH RFY DERW OVXH REXRY SK LH RQX WVFN URWWXQH TSUGRQXY WS DERW OVXH DVWEVF LH. ---HSLQTX SCHTLQX You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications. The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW (does not apply to today's cryptogram). Beware, the game...

On January 17, 2020, President Donald Trump pointed to the gun control situation in Virginia, noting that it proves once more the Democrats “will take your guns” if voted into office. He made this point amid the all-out war on guns by Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and the newly elected Democrat majority in the state legislature. Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia. That’s what happens when you vote for Democrats, they will take your guns away. Republicans will win Virginia in 2020. Thank you Dems!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2020...

Two additional venues have canceled a lecture event featuring conservative commentator and author Michelle Malkin. The event was first moved to the Gendron Franco Center in Lewiston, Maine, after a local hotel canceled the event as originally planned by a group of University of Maine students. Malkin’s second backup location has now also canceled her planned lecture. It appears the event will still happen, but details on a fourth venue have not been made public as of this writing. According to a local news report, the Gendron Franco Center announced on Friday that it canceled a Friday night event featuring...

West Virginia has a strong preemption statute to ensure the state has reasonably uniform laws about the carry and use of firearms by individuals, throughout the state. It is §8-12-5a: Limitations upon municipalities' power to restrict the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, transport, sale and storage of certain weapons and ammunition.§8-12-5a does a pretty good job of limiting the power of local governments to infringe on the right to keep and bear firearms. But the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution is not limited to firearms. As affirmed in the Heller decision, the Second Amendment covers all bearable arms....

As we reported earlier, Joe Biden told Politico that he might consider two of his former competitors as his running mate if he were to win the Democratic nomination for president. Former Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday he would consider former presidential candidates Beto O’Rourke and Julián Castro to be a running mate or a member of his Cabinet if he is elected president.

This will be a weekly post. Count remains at 185 judges confirmed. 133 District Court judges 50 Circuit Court judges 2 Supreme Court justices Senate impeachment trial for the next week or three so no judges will be confirmed. However, (hat tip to Freeper House Atreides!) the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday held hearings on 11 judges (1 Circuit, 7 District, 2 Federal Claims, 1 International Claims). So these should be voted to the floor as soon as they're free and able. Also, Halil "Sul" Ozerden, nominee in the last session to the 5th Circuit vacancy, was quietly not renominated...

<p>President Donald Trump made a stark appeal to black Americans during the 2016 election when he asked, “What have you got to lose?” Three years later, black Americans have rendered their verdict on his presidency with a deeply pessimistic assessment of their place in the United States under a leader seen by an overwhelming majority as racist.</p>

NowThis and its allies are so desperate to smear President Donald Trump that they’re resorting to lies about the Holocaust. In one of the outlet’s latest propaganda pieces, NowThis sat down with a radical leftwing group of campus Jews and Palestinians and gave them an opportunity to promote their extremist views. While it’s nice to see Jews and Arabs sitting together in peace, the bloom comes off the rose when we learn that they have only come together to promote lies and hate. Perhaps the biggest lie perpetuated in the video occurred when one member of the group compared the...

Meteor Explosion Near Puerto Rico Captured by a Satellite Meteorologist Danielle Banks says a NOAA satellite captured what appears to be a meteor exploding near Puerto Rico. At a Glance The bright ball of fire was captured in satellite images. Residents posted photos and video to social media. One astronomer guessed it was several feet in length. A bright ball of fire shot across the sky in Puerto Rico Friday afternoon, prompting local residents to speculate on what it was, and to wonder if it was a bad omen for the disaster-stricken island. Images of the fireball were captured by...

“Harry Villegas, Right-Hand Man and Bodyguard to Che Guevara, Dies at 81.--Harry Villegas, best-known by his nom de guerre Pombo, was one of the last people to see Guevara alive in Bolivia in 1967…Surrounded by the U.S.-backed Bolivian army, Guevara, already wounded in a firefight, told Mr. Villegas and two other Cuban guerrillas to try to save themselves by slipping through the Bolivian cordon.” (The Washington Post Jan. 6, 2020) 'WOW!' probably gushes the typical WaPo reader. 'Che Guevara sure was brave, selfless and heroic!' “In his memoir, Mr. Villegas wrote that Guevara could have escaped the army encirclement but was...

Editor's Note: This piece was authored by Young Voices contributor Nate Hochman.During Tuesday night’s Democratic debate in Iowa, long-shot billionaire presidential candidate Tom Steyer made the case for a tax on the wealth of the richest Americans, explaining that he finds “the income inequality in this country” to be “unbearable, unjust and unsupportable.” The rest of the politicians on the stage — almost all millionaires themselves — nodded along in blissfully unironic agreement. The issue of income inequality is practically a raison d’être for candidates like Steyer, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, but a similar sentiment regarding the immorality of the nation’s wealth...

So much of the gun control debate is about things that might go wrong. Democrats, who just took control of the Virginia state legislature, are about to pass a law that will dramatically limit the ability of people with concealed handgun permits from other states to carry in Virginia. There haven’t been any problems with these permit holders, but that doesn’t matter for gun control advocates. Currently, Virginia recognizes concealed handgun permits issued by all other states. Out-of-state permit holders can carry in Virginia as long as they follow local laws and carry photo identification. The current rules came about...

Dalia al-Aqidi is a Muslim Iraqi refugee who says she's tired of hearing Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., play identity politics while using language she believes is "dividing" America. So she is launching a campaign to unseat her in November. Al-Aqidi, who discussed her newly launched campaign in an interview with Fox News, joins a growing field of Republicans looking to take on Omar. "She needs to be stopped," al-Aqidi told Fox News in a phone interview. "I truly believe that I'm strong enough to beat her at her own game." She explained that in a race between the two of...

Rep. Ilhan Omar is facing another GOP challenger in November’s election — and she’s also a Muslim refugee. Dalia al-Aqidi, a former White House correspondent from Iraq, said she felt compelled to run against the Somali-born lawmaker, calling her a divisive figure who has neglected her Minneapolis district. “She’s spreading hatred, and she is spreading racism throughout not only her district, not only her state, but throughout the whole country, and this is very important,” al-Aqidi, 51, told The Post on Thursday after announcing her GOP run. “She’s hurting the moderate Muslims; Muslims like myself. She doesn’t represent me as...

Sounds like Rep Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) may be nearing the end of her political career if these accusations are accurate. In addition to recently being challenged by a Republican Muslim refugee for her seat in Congress, she's now being investigated by multiple Federal agencies, including the FBI & ICE. DailyWire.com reports: Investigators with multiple federal agencies are reportedly reviewing evidence of alleged crimes committed by far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) that center around her marital history. The Blaze reported that toward the end of last year, “the Department of Justice had assigned an FBI Special Agent in Charge, or SAC,...

We were predestined "to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1:12). In salvation, as in everything else, God is preeminent. He deserves all the credit. Preeminence implies supreme standing, picturing one who excels over all others in a particular quality or achievement. There is no one more preeminent than God. Ephesians 1:12 underscores that truth. You were redeemed and granted an eternal inheritance that God might be glorified. Certainly you benefit greatly from salvation, but God's glory is the primary issue. Our man-centered culture doesn't...

Long before Hunter Biden capitalized on his father’s last name to land a gig with a Ukrainian company, the then-vice president’s younger brother touted his family connections to promote his business, according to a report. When Joe Biden became veep, his brother Frank Biden used his DC ties to help secure a series of contracts from Florida officials for a fledgling charter school venture he was asked to lead, ABC News reported. As a result, he earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company over a five-year period, according to the report. In media interviews at the time, Frank...

Yeti, Bigfoot, Sasquatch and the like can be especially dangerous during their peak mating season. Unlike most wild animals who mate in the spring, these giant footed creatures prefer to mate during the winter when the nights are longer. This makes wooded areas dangerous for skiers, hikers and snowmobile riders. One expert has a suggestion that could save your life if you run across any Yeti or Bigfoot engaging in the act of procreation, below. Who remembers the Bigfoot and Wildboy TV show from the 1970's? They had many adventures, but as you might imagine, the mating habits of Bigfoot...

One inmate fatally struck a fellow prisoner and critically wounded another at a central California prison, officials said Friday. They said Jonathan Watson, 41, used a walking cane to cause multiple head wounds to both victims at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran on Thursday. Both were taken to an outside hospital, but one died en route and the other remained in critical condition.

Billie Eilish has been chosen to perform the new James Bond theme song, becoming the youngest artist to sing and write the title track in the franchise’s 50-year history. The 18-year-old “bad guy” singer co-wrote “No Time To Die” with her brother and music collaborator Finneas. The forthcoming No Time To Die film is set to release in April 2020, featuring Daniel Craig’s fifth and final time as 007.