Free Republic

Former 'Chapo' lieutenant allegedly built and operated 600-yard-long structures stretching from Tijuana to San Diego CountyThe man believed responsible for building and operating two massive cross-border tunnels for smuggling drugs from Tijuana to California has been extradited to face charges in the United States, the Mexican government says. Jose Sanchez-Villalobos, also known as “The Lord of the Tunnels,” was handed over to American law enforcement agents last week at the Toluca International Airport outside of Mexico City. He’s expected to face drug-related charges in a California federal court, Mexican authorities said on Sunday. The charges stem from a 2012 federal...

Scientists have captured the first ever footage of atoms bonding at a scale around half a million times smaller than the width of a human hair. Using advanced microscopy methods, the team of UK and German researchers captured the breaking of a chemical bond between two rhenium atoms. The video shows the two atoms to the left of the footage, between 0.1 and 0.3 nanometres, appearing as black blobs as they bond and break. Atoms are ‘the building blocks of the world’ and the matter around us is made up of layers and layers of atoms – unless they’re a...

UFC world champion Conor McGregor praised President Donald Trump on Monday evening, branding him a “Phenomenal President” who “sits atop the shoulders of many amazing giants that came before him.” In response to President Trump’s Twitter post commemorating three years since he had been sworn into office, McGregor commented, “Phenomenal President. Quite possibly the USA [goat emoji]. Most certainly one of them anyway, as he sits atop the shoulders of many amazing giants that came before him. No easy feet (sic).” “Early stages of term also. Incredible,” he continued, adding, “Congrats and Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day America.”

Note: Due to technical issues, the puzzle is posted later than usual. Thank you for understanding.Today's Quotefall Puzzle features a quote by Robert Ringer. Click puzzle (or click here) for full size rendition, then use your browser's print command to print puzzle. Robert Ringer is a successful commercial real estate broker who as written several books on life. His iconic masterpiece, Winning Through Intimidation, is easily the most effective and straightforward book on explaining the dynamics of all human interactions, be it business, love, or inspirational. All hints, along with the answer, are provided in the first reply comment below, using filtered...

Thirty years after celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall, Europe has gone on a wall-building spree. In its next budget cycle (2021-27), the EU plans to spend €34.9bn ($38.4bn) on border security, to help manage the tens of thousands of migrants trying to enter the region every year. As a result, business is booming for Europe’s border security industry. A 2019 report by the Transnational Institute has revealed that a small cohort of European arms companies profit handsomely from the huge growth in the EU’s border budgets. These large companies are increasingly influential in shaping EU policy and encouraging...

A mother of two who was acting as a surrogate for another family, died during childbirth, according to a GoFundMe created to help the family. Michelle Reaves, described as a “mama, wifey and beautiful soul,” passed away last week due to complications while giving birth. After Reaves and her husband birthed their own children, they decided to help other families have babies, according to the GoFundMe. This was Reaves’ second time being a surrogate for the same family.

"A fight is coming to California over whether to list one of the world's most common over-the-counter drugs as a carcinogen, echoing recent high-profile battles over things like alcohol and coffee. The drug is acetaminophen"

Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, one of the House impeachment managers, said the question of whether witnesses are heard in President Trump's Senate impeachment trial may have to be settled by Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, who will be presiding over the trial. But, he warned that witnesses like Hunter Biden, former Vice President Joe Biden's son, are "immaterial" and would constitute an "abuse" of the Senate trial. **SNIP** One of the names that's been floated for Republicans is Hunter Biden, who was on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father was vice president. "It would certainly...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday let residents of Flint, Michigan pursue a civil rights lawsuit against the city and government officials that accused them of knowingly allowing the city’s water supply to become contaminated with lead. The justices turned away two appeals by the city and the state and local officials of a lower court ruling that allowed the lawsuit to move forward. The lower court rejected a demand for immunity by the officials, finding that they violated the residents’ right to “bodily integrity” under the U.S. Constitution by providing the tainted water after switching water...

People close to Robert Mueller believe "something happened" to the former special counsel over the course of his two-year Russia investigation, according to a reporter. The Washington Post's Carol Leonnig, who is the co-author of the new book A Very Stable Genius about President Trump, described on Tuesday how difficult it was for some of Mueller's close family friends to watch his shaky testimony before Congress last summer.“Phil [Rucker] and I, my co-author, we are not medical professionals, but over and over again, John, we heard from people who are very close to Bob Mueller who found him a different...

Meghan Markle has been telling her close friends that quitting the royal family is the best thing that could ever happen to Prince Harry and said 'it was her love for him that made this possible,' a friend exclusively told DailyMail.com. 'She said that like her, his spirit was being crushed and she simply couldn't stand to see him suffer anymore,' the friend added. The Duke of Sussex was photographed grinning as he stepped off a plane in Vancouver late on Monday night, heading back to his wife and eight-month-old son Archie. Meghan herself was seen beaming while out for...

The Young and the Restless for Tuesday, January 21 was preempted due to impeachment proceedings in the United States Senate. The soap opera took to Facebook to make the official announcement even though viewers throughout the four U.S. timezones previously reported either seeing impeachment breaking news or a rerun about Kristoff St. John and his character Neil’s death from last spring.

Last night I was reading a short book by the French historian Alain Besançon in which he takes stock of the meaning of Nazism and Communism, in part by comparing the two totalitarianisms. This paragraph jumped out at me: The psychological state of the militant is distinguished by his fanatical investment in the system. This central vision reorganizes his entire intellectual and perceptual field, all the way to the periphery. Language is transformed: it is no longer used to communicate or express, but to conceal a contrived continuity between the system and reality. Ideological language is charged with the magical...

Newly minted Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew (NJ) spoke to Fox News’ Eric Shawn on Sunday. Toward the end of their discussion, Shawn asked Van Drew about an upcoming Trump rally scheduled for January 28 in his district (NJ-02).Unbelievably, there have been over 100,000 ticket requests for a venue that holds only 7,400. It’s been exciting and I’m proud to say out of all the events he’s done all over the country, we’ve had the most ticket requests. He’s coming to support me and my reelection. He’s coming to speak about his issues and we are really proud to have...

Smash and grab robberies are rampant in San Francisco, where authorities do very little to discourage them. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, more than 31,000 people reported smash and grab robberies in the city in 2017 alone. Hoping to document such a robbery, “Inside Edition,” a television program, placed GPS trackers inside items in a car parked in an area well known for theft. The items were a $250 speaker and a purse. “Inside edition” also placed video cameras throughout the car to be able to record the expected smash and grab. Sure enough, as Fox News reports, two...

Today, the Commonwealth of Virginia, home to four of our very first presidents—framers and founders who shaped the nation we are today—triumphantly reaffirmed its place as a leader-state. Delegate William Wampler’s office confirmed to me that at least 25-30,000 Second Amendment supporters surrounded the state capitol on Monday. This had to be the largest gun rights rally ever, entirely surpassing the 10,000 people that the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) was anticipating in front of the Capitol, while VCDL lobbied legislators inside the building. This was “lobby day”—a longstanding tradition—after all. Meanwhile, media estimates ranged from 22,000, or more. Every...

It's a new decade,* so it's time for a new round of panic about the weather killing us all. Swedish child-priestess and chronic truant Greta Thunberg is at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, because that's where the spotlight is. And she's scolding all the grown-ups for not doing what she wants when she wants it, because Veruca Salt wasn't fictional.I was scared of the Boogeyman when I was little too. I just didn't have crowds of adults applauding my cries of fear: Watch Greta Thunberg admonish world leaders for doing "basically nothing" to reduce...

Most moderate-sized American cities are dominated by two structures: bank buildings and hospitals. The former are often large and new because it’s where we like to put our money. The latter are large because we’re afraid to die and don’t want to be sick. Both are particularly modern structures. You could travel to ancient Pompei, were it to be completely reconstructed. You would find neither bank nor hospital. Of the two, hospitals came first. Ancient Greece and Rome had doctors. They worked with herbs, and even performed fairly simple surgeries. The “Hippocratic Oath,” sworn by modern doctors as part of...

During his opening remarks in the Senate impeachment trial, President Donald Trump's lawyer Jay Sekulow quoted Democrats' own words against them. He condemned the House Democrats' rush to impeach Trump, adding an article of impeachment for "Obstruction of Congress" rather than litigating a matter of executive privilege in court. He quoted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), each of whom defended Barack Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder when he was held in contempt of Congress in 2012. "Mr. Schiff did say the courts don't really have a role in this. Executive privilege?...

Known to rarely speak in hearings, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas' voice is given center stage in an upcoming documentary. "Created Equal: Clarence Thomas In His Own Words" features his faith, political awakening, judicial philosophy and the role race has played in his life. Premiering nationwide in select theaters Jan. 31, the film includes Thomas' reflections on the contentious 1991 Senate confirmation hearings led by Joe Biden, who now is the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.