Free Republic

While Virginia Democrats are merrily approving gun control laws aimed at the state’s legal gun owners, they apparently aren’t interested in focusing on violent criminals who use firearms in the commission of a crime. HB 1175 would have increased the penalty for using or brandishing a firearm while committing certain felonies, which seems like a pretty common sense bill to me. Instead, members of the House Public Safety Committee rejected the measure on Tuesday, while approving a number of gun bills that are meant to restrict the rights of legal gun owners in the name of public safety. “We will...

Monday’s Lobby Day protest in Richmond, Virginia, should mark a high point in the gun rights debate. It is, at least to my recollection, the single largest gun-rights rally ever. If there was a larger one–not counting the American Revolution–I’d be delighted to know about it. My point, though, is that 22,000 people showed up to let the governor of Virginia and legislature know that they weren’t interested in gun control. However, those same lawmakers have made it clear that they don’t care what those 22,000 people had to say. Which is fine, I suppose, because gun owners in the...

Your commute could get worse before it gets better along a stretch of Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County. Later this month, crews will begin adding express lanes from Glades Road in Boca Raton to Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach. For realtor Ricky Hen, this is great news. "Traffic is awful to be honest with you," said Hen. The Florida Department of Transportation will add two tolled express lanes along that stretch of I-95 in southern Palm Beach County. "I think it's great idea," said Hen. "I think it will help a lot and add a lot and help a...

Part 2 (or maybe 2.1, since the goal of thoroughly showing visualizations got sidetracked by a realization in one and where that led). This one has some meat in it, not just introduction. Again, yes, a blog post by me, but again not monetized, so have at it. This time I've tested the link so if it times out it's Azure being lame (this is their free server, not commercial).

HOUSTON – Following 20 months of construction of the new Ship Channel Bridge along the Beltway 8, the county has issued a pause. Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia said the decision was made following the discovery of a design flaw with part of the bridge. “I want to make sure that we are doing everything on behalf of public safety to ensure that everything is well,” Garcia said. “This was obviously concerning and alarming for me." John Tyler, the deputy director of engineering with the Harris County Toll Road Authority and in charge of the project, said the flaw was...

Contrary to recent reports, federal agents told The Chronicle on Wednesday that they did not tell the family of missing Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart that a big break in the 23-year cold case was imminent. A spokesman for the family confirmed Wednesday that the person who advised Smart’s mother, Denise, was not an active FBI agent.

He should have been publicly flogged. Instead, he is exalted. That is a sharia society. And under Islam, sex slavery of the infidel is sanctioned and rewarded under Islam. Muslim clerics all over the world confirm the right to have sex slaves. It is in the Qur’an — the word of Allah. Sex slavery and rape is in accordance with Quran chapter and verse. Sex slaves are war booty. Following a victory, Muhammad would usually distribute the captives, both male and female, as slaves to his soldiers. And Muhammad is the “perfect example for Muslims.” According to Islamic law, Muslim...

Unplanned is one of those films that have many distinct attributes to it. For one, its composition is so well done, that it makes you look at the substance of a very controversial issue in a very unique way. Second, apart from being one of the most definitive films of 2019, it is a film that will play an important part of a movement…. For many years to come. Thirdly, this film stirs up contention among extremely political special interest groups, which in turn raises awareness to the substance to the cause, and debate as well. But once you see...

Utah has become the 19th — and most conservative — state in the U.S. to ban "conversion therapy" for minors. The widely discredited practice, aimed at changing a patient's sexual orientation or gender identity, is now formally barred in the state after the new rule took effect late Tuesday. A spokesperson for Republican Gov. Gary Herbert, who directed licensing regulators to make the change, confirmed the move to NPR on Wednesday. "We want to thank Governor Herbert and his administration for not allowing this issue to be politicized," Troy Williams, the executive director of Equality Utah, said at a Wednesday...

Jay Sekulow, President Trump's personal lawyer, signaled on Wednesday that the White House will not try to dismiss the impeachment case against his client. Sekulow said he's not interested in making a motion to dismiss because the impeachment case is "ridiculous." "I want to let them try their case, and we want to try our case, because we believe without a question the president will be acquitted," he told reporters. "There is not a doubt. "Those of you who know me know I don't rule out anything ... the way the procedures are set up, at this point, here's what...

The NSW Rural Fire Service is investigating after reports of an incident involving an aircraft in southern NSW. Contact was lost with a C130 waterbomber aircraft working in the Snowy Monaro area. Ground crews fighting fires in the region have reportedly indicated the aircraft may have crashed. A search is being conducted by helicopters in the area known as Peak View, northeast of Cooma.

[Catholic/Orthodox Caucus] Fr. Jan Kobylowicz: Living Martyr of the Confessional Seal The sacrament of Confession has been under attack in Australia since the conclusion of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in December of 2017. Several states have now passed legislation that requires Catholic priests to violate the confessional seal in cases where child sexual abuse is revealed in confession. The Queensland Labor government has announced its intention to table a similar bill in the coming weeks, making it the latest Australian state to openly attack the Catholic Church and her sacraments by use of the...

Washington – President Donald Trump appeared to suggest in a television interview Wednesday that he’s willing to consider entitlement cuts in the future, a move that would mark a tectonic shift from his stance during his 2016 run for the White House. Trump suggested he was open to a cut in social safety net benefits, such as Medicare and Social Security, in comments during a CNBC interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. While Trump has repeatedly talked up strong economic growth, the federal budget deficit has swollen as his administration has pressed for tax...

The American Left (along with the never-Trumpers who claim to be on the Right) are trumpeting two new studies, which reveal the shocking truth that the American people are paying President Trump’s punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, not the Chinese. Well… Whoop-tee-doo. That’s a newsflash. About as much of a shock as learning that the sun rises in the east. As with all taxes, the tax is paid by the person who pays it. I know that sounds like circular logic, but it’s the only way to put it. An importer pays import tariffs in import shipments. Of course. Generally,...

VALLEY OF ELAH—After local homegrown terrorist David slew Goliath with a fully automatic, high-capacity sling, Philistine activists began calling for common-sense bans on the dangerous weapons of mass destruction. "Nobody needs a sling that holds five rocks just to go hunting or protect their sheep," said one Philistine woman with pink hair and several face piercings. "This tragedy could have been avoided if only David were forced to use one of the old bolt-action model slings." Investigators believe the shepherd boy, radicalized by religious texts, built up an arsenal of approximately five hollow-point, armor-piercing rocks, "a deadly stockpile." "Can you...

The Trump administration on Wednesday approved a right-of-way allowing the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline to be built across U.S. land, pushing the controversial $8 billion project closer to construction though court challenges still loom. The approval signed by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and obtained by The Associated Press covers 46 miles (74 kilometers) of the pipeline’s route across land in Montana that’s controlled by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said Casey Hammond, assistant secretary of the Interior Department. Those segments of federal land are a small fraction of the pipeline’s 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer)...

Why Do Democrats & Liberals Refuse To Protect Children & Families? Their Agenda Is Our Destruction!! *video is 28 minutes long* warning language.

On Tuesday (Jan. 21), Ozzy Osbourne shocked the rock world by revealing his recent diagnosis with Parkinson's disease, a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. The news comes after a string of health woes throughout 2019 pushed back the singer's tour dates across the world.

SEATTLE — Authorities said a woman was killed and seven people were hurt, including a 9-year-old boy, after gunfire rang out in the heart of downtown Seattle, the second shooting in that part of the central business district in about 24 hours.

A sentencing memo filed Wednesday by former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s defense attorney states that the Justice Department prosecutor’s reversal in asking for prison time on Flynn is retribution for his decision not to testify to ‘lies’ in the case of his former business partner, whose conviction was overturned by a federal judge last year. Sidney Powell, Flynn’s defense attorney, asked the courts for leniency suggesting probation, instead of prosecutors demands to sentence Flynn for up to six months in prison for one count of lying to the FBI. Her memo also detailed major issues she said amounts to...