Free Republic

In an interview with the New York Times' editorial board, former Vice President Joe Biden made his most stringent call yet for cracking down on free speech on the internet. After being asked by the Times about previous comments Biden has made regarding Facebook's refusal to remove negative ads targeting his campaign, the Democratic front-runner attacked both the social media platform and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. "I've never been a fan of Facebook," Biden says. "I've never been a big Zuckerberg fan, I think he's a real problem." Biden and Facebook have been feuding for months, as Reason has previously...

At least two Honolulu police officers were killed Sunday morning in a shooting near Diamond Head, law enforcement sources told Hawaii News Now. Meanwhile, a house fire apparently intentionally set in the wake of the shooting has spread to at least four homes in the affluent area. The flames and thick smoke is visible for miles. The circumstances that led up to the shooting remain unclear. But sources tell Hawaii News Now that the suspect in the shooting was being evicted Sunday morning and allegedly stabbed his landlord.

Relatives of an 18-year-old south Sacramento man who was allegedly stabbed to death by a homeless man in a bank parking lot say they’re struggling to cope with the senseless, random brutality of it all.

Sexual risk behaviors appear to be a large driver of novel syphilis infections among men who have sex with men, or MSM, who are HIV-positive and have had prior episodes of syphilis infection. Experts say that access to sexual encounters and increased testing – and, therefore, greater awareness of those who are infected – may also be contributing to increases in repeat episodes. “Syphilis is re-emerging globally in general and HIV-infected populations and repeated syphilis episodes may play a central role in syphilis transmission among core groups,” Manuel Battegay, MD, professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology...

The Trumps embarked on a family getaway to Mar-a-Lago on Jan. 17, and they were pictured striding side-by-side towards Marine One. That gave a clear picture of just how tall Barron is compared to his dad, Donald! Barron Trump, 13, is not just taller than his dad Donald, 73 — he’s almost a head taller! This was apparent in a photo of Barron strolling besides his parents Donald and Melania Trump, 49, as they made their way across The White House’s South Lawn to board Marine One on Jan. 17. While the trio was en route for a weekend of...

Various Democrats are all over the media today saying that the fact that the GAO found that Trump acted illegally re spending appropriated funds means he should be tossed out of office. Does this mean that Obama, whom the GAO found illegally defied Congress in ordering the Defense Department to send five Guantanomo prisoners to Qatar in defiance of duly-enacted legislation prohibited Obama from expending any funds on such action, should have been removed from office as well? If you can find me a Democratic House member or Senator who denounced Obama for that move, I’ll concede that he is...

In a preview of the Senate impeachment trial, House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff tangled Sunday with constitutional law expert Alan Dershowitz, a member of President Trump’s legal team, calling his anti-impeachment argument “absurdist.” Mr. Dershowitz said he would argue on the Senate floor that even if everything House Democrats allege about President Trump is true, abuse of power does not constitute an impeachable offense, prompting pushback from Mr. Schiff. “In fact, in the House made exactly the opposite argument, that abuse of power is at the center of what the framers intended an impeachable offense to be,” said Mr....

CONCORD, New Hampshire — Bernie Sanders said at a forum in New Hampshire that women still face obstacles when they run for office, describing being a woman as a potential “problem” and noting that anyone who runs for office “brings some negatives” when it comes to appealing to the American electorate. The language instantly re-opened a conflict between supporters of Elizabeth Warren and Sanders over questions about electability, gender, and a private conversation between the two senators where they discussed whether a woman can win in 2020. “Everybody has their own sets of problems,” Sanders said during a forum sponsored...

A top White House aide on Russia was reportedly escorted from the building after being placed on administrative leave during a security-related probe. Andrew Peek, the head of European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council, was escorted from the White House on Friday, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. Peek, who took the position in November, was placed on administrative leave pending the security investigation, Axios reported. He is the third person in that position to leave in the past year.

Andrew Peek, the head of European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council (NSC), has left his post three months after he started, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg on Saturday evening. Sources told the publication that Peek was escorted from the White House on Friday. Earlier on Saturday, Axios reported that Peek had been placed on administrative leave pending a security-related investigation. Peek joined the NSC in November, coming over from the State Department, where he was a deputy assistant secretary. An NSC spokesman told The Hill, "We do not discuss personnel matters." Peek also declined requests...

How are the mighty fallen! This time a year ago, Prince Harry had the world at his feet. He was a handsome prince with a beautiful wife and a healthy male heir on the way, plenty of money, a free, five-bedroomed ‘cottage’ in a piece of England’s finest real estate, a dashing war record from two tours in Afghanistan, bags of honorary titles — including Captain General of the Royal Marines — all the cachet of being a senior player in the world’s grandest Royal Family but little of the responsibility (his big brother William is heir to the throne,...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is as of now including in the U.S. Senate impeachment trial rules a “kill switch” that effectively allows for the president’s legal team to seek an immediate verdict or dismissal of the case should Democrats engage in any shenanigans like they did in the House process. The revelation comes after the House finally late last week formally sent the Articles of Impeachment it adopted before Christmas—after holding them for more than a month without transmission—to the U.S. Senate, thereby triggering the start of a Senate trial. The Senate will formally commence its trial procedures in...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Sunday that the Senate’s impeachment trial could last as long as eight weeks if the chamber elects to hear from witnesses. “I think it’s certainly possible that this trial could last one to two weeks, on the other hand if the Senate makes the decision to go down the road of additional witnesses that could extend it to six to eight weeks or even longer,” Cruz told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

President Donald Trump's top Russia expert on the National Security Counsel is reportedly on leave pending a security investigation. Andrew Peek, the NSC’s senior director for European and Russian affairs, was escorted from the White House grounds on Friday, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Peek had been in the NSC role for just two months, after most recently working as a deputy assistant secretary of state with responsibility for Iran and Iraq. Peek had been expected to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland next week with Trump and other top aides. However, he is currently...

The Prisoner of the Vatican In one of his last speeches before abdicating in 2013, Pope Benedict XVI decried the liberalism that had seeped into the Church after Vatican II. To this liberalism, he traced “so many problems, so much misery, in reality: seminaries closed, convents closed, the liturgy was trivialized.” But he then proceeded to hand the Church to the very liberals responsible for these problems and to a successor set upon liberalizing the Church even more.Not long after assuming power, Jorge Bergoglio took a veiled swipe at his predecessor. He told an interviewer that Vatican II had encouraged...

"Most of the big ‘investigations’ in the news in recent years have not been at all what they pretended to be. The sham investigations of Hillary’s email, or the Clinton Foundation, or Weiner’s laptop, or Uranium One, or Mueller’s witch hunt, or Huber’s big nothing, or the IG’s whitewash, or the Schiff-Pelosi charades, have all been premeditated deceptions." The investigations are political theater. The column explores three types of fake investigations.

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., one of the seven Democratic impeachment managers prosecuting President Trump before the Senate, accused Trump of attempting to commit bribery in his dealings with Ukraine, but when asked why this was not one of the articles of impeachment, he did not appear to have an explanation. Bribery is one of the specific offenses mentioned in the Constitution’s discussion of impeachment. The House impeached Trump for alleged abuse of power -- itself is not a statutory crime – and obstruction of Congress, but Crow insisted Sunday that the president was still guilty of attempted bribery. “Yeah, specifically...

Acting ICE Director Matthew Albence who is a Jersey guy, was in New York City on Friday to address the issue of Sanctuary State and City policies. As we know, New York and New Jersey have similar policies, which prevent local law enforcement from working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and are directly leading to violent criminals being released into our communities. The numbers in New York City are staggering. According to Albence, ICE issued 7,526 lawful detainers to apprehend criminal aliens with only TEN being honored by city officials. He attacked the policies directly pointing out the false...

...“Queen orders a hard Megxit,” read the Sunday Mirror’s front-page headline. “Harry and Meghan Out in the Cold,” said the Sunday People. The Sun went for “Payback Time”, while the Sunday Express had “Freedom … at a price.” A tweet from the TV host Piers Morgan – who claims he was friends with Meghan before she snubbed him after meeting Harry – was quoted widely. “The Queen has told Meghan and Harry to sling their part-time royal hook,” he wrote. “Well done, Your Majesty, right decision. Only surprised it took her so long to get Harry to ditch his family,...

We keep saying this: elections have consequences. In Virginia, it’s the Republicans that are at the receiving end of this lesson. Five years ago, the state GOP controlled a supermajority in the House of Delegates. Now, it has a Democratic majority. The Virginia State Senate is now Democratic-controlled. The governorship is under a Democratic administration. For the first time in two decades, there is a unified Democratic government in Richmond—and they’re coming after the firearms of law-abiding citizens. There is no goodwill here. Expanded background checks are being pushed to get a database going for eventual confiscation. Heck, you even...