Free Republic

PARIS (AP) — France on Friday announced two confirmed cases of the deadly new virus from China, the first reported in Europe, and the country’s health minister said new cases were likely to follow. Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said both of the sickened people had traveled to China. They were hospitalized, in isolation, one in Paris, the other in the southwestern city of Bordeaux. In part because of Europe’s open borders, the minister said she expects more cases. “We see how difficult it is in today’s world to close the frontiers. In reality, it’s not possible,” she said “We have...

The new deadly coronavirus has now reached Europe after France confirmed two cases. A 48-year-old man is being treated in a Bordeaux hospital in the southwest of the country after testing positive. He had passed through the Chinese city of Wuhan - the epicentre of the outbreak - before arriving in France on Wednesday. The second person was in hospital in Paris and had also travelled to China but little more is known about them.

BEIJING, Jan. 23 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday stressed racing against time and keeping abreast with history to reach the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. "Time and history wait for no one as they are both on the side of hard workers," said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission. Xi made the remarks while addressing a Chinese Lunar New Year reception held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Under the strong leadership of the CPC, all members of the Party, armed...

here are many books, TV shows, and movies about once-revered FBI agents portaying them as heroes. But after revelations concerning Donald Trump, Richard Jewell (accused of the Atlanta Olympic bombing), and well-respected journalist Sharyl Attkisson, people might be reconsidering. Maybe FBI should stand for Fear, Beware, and Intimidate, while DoJ, the parent company, should stand for Department to Obstruct Justice. Granted, many do their jobs well, but the leaders at the top are definitely suspect to having an agenda. American Thinker had the privilege of interviewing Sharyl Attkisson, a whistleblower of sorts, about her reaction to the current climate regarding...

Constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley delivered a stinging assessment of the Democrats’ rushed impeachment process against President Donald Trump. The George Washington University Law School professor blasted Democrats during an appearance on CBS News for their second article of impeachment charging Trump with obstruction of Congress.

Hillary claimed that 17 national security agencies said that Russia interfered with our elections and then she accused Trump of colluding with the Russians and actually hacked into her computer and published her emails (apparently without the infamous 30,000 missing emails). And that started a firestorm that engulfed the entire democrat party and the entire deep state federal behemoth including the entire U.S. intelligence community, the CIA, FBI, DOJ, State dept, etc, etc, etc, and led to three years of [illegal] surveillance, bogus investigations and a sham impeachment attempt. And now Schiff accuses the president of not trusting his own...

Lecture by Igor Aleksejev, the author of the film "The Living Stones of Sacsayhuaman". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9J_i... Details about archaeological objects and working with the GRP group. (Followup to The Living Stones documentary with total coverage specifically on one site)

N.M. Leads US in Pecan Production It was a record year in the pecan business. LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — The numbers are in and U.S. agricultural officials say New Mexico marked a record year of pecan production in 2019 to lead the nation. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Thursday that production in the Southwest state topped out at more than 96 million pounds (43,545 metric tons), up 6% from the previous year.

As the drama of Harry and Meghan unfolds, it becomes ever clearer that Harry is a figure not of tragedy, but of self-interested hypocrisy. The prince is not only dull, but the cause of dullness in others, more a figure of betrayal than of sacrifice. The psycho-drama of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is one of spoiled individuals shedding crocodile tears over their fate. In his final speech on January 18, 2020 in London, Harry delivered what was in essence an address about himself, mentioning as always the impact of his mother Diana on him but never mentioning his...

CNN political analyst Joe Lockhart experienced backlash Wednesday after he posted a “convo between two Republican Senators” on Twitter that he later claimed was “satire.” “Overheard convo between two Republican Senators who only watch Fox News,” Lockhart, a former White House press secretary under former President Bill Clinton, wrote during Wednesday’s impeachment hearings. “‘[I]s this stuff real? I haven’t heard any of this before. I thought it was all about a server. If half the stuff Schiff is saying is true, we’re up shit’s creek. Hope the White House has exculpatory evidence.'” Minutes later, Lockhart tweeted that he had “made...

Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn doubled down on accusation she lobbed against Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman Thursday, alleging he's the whistleblower’s handler who leaked the July 25 call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky—despite his attorney accusing her of “slander” and “defamatory tweets.” “Adam Schiff is hailing Alexander Vindman as an American patriot. How patriotic is it to badmouth and ridicule our great nation in front of Russia, America’s greatest enemy?” her Twitter account posted in response. “Alexander Vindman broke the chain of command and leaked the contents of the President’s July 25th phone call to his pal, the “whistleblower.”...

Who is to blame for the impeachment of President Trump? It has to be either Trump or the House that impeached him. Or maybe a combination of the two.But the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank claims that, somehow, the “mess” is Chief Justice Roberts’s fault. Milbank is the Post’s clown prince. He’ll say anything, usually with as much snark as he can muster, to try to score a point against one of his boogeymen — a class that includes anyone who stands against his leftism.In this case, Milbank has outdone himself.Why is the U.S. Chief Justice responsible for the impeachment mess?...

The latest impeachment related story — a non-story in my view — is about a tape recording in which President Trump (according to reports) instructed associates to fire Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The recording apparently was made at a dinner party in April 2018 by Igor Fruman, one of Rudy Giuliani’s main Ukraine operatives (along with Lev Parnas). Yovanovitch wasn’t fired until May 2019. Thus, there is less to this story than meets the eye. Nor did much meet the eye to begin with. According to reports, Trump demanded that Yovanovitch be fired after he heard she...

Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), the House Democrats’ lead impeachment manager, argued against the Senate Republicans’ proposed trial rules Tuesday by analogizing the impeachment process to a criminal trial. As a former federal prosecutor, he knows exactly how disingenuous that analogy is. Federal criminal trials are governed by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. One might argue that the entire analogy falls at the outset, as the House Democrats’ articles of impeachment do not claim that President Trump committed a crime. But overlooking that minor point, the House’s procedure failed every test those rules establish. The latest Trump impeachment trial...

When is the 24 hour clock finished on the opening statements?

One of the passengers on the Ukrainian jet downed by Iranian missiles earlier this month was a businesswoman who was the boss of two companies cited in a UN report for links to the shadowy arms trade supplying the protracted civil war in Libya. Olena Malakhova, 38, had been allocated a place in the second row of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 from Tehran to Kiev, according to a seating plan of the aircraft seen by CNN. She was one of only two Ukrainian passengers on the plane, which crashed shortly after takeoff from the Iranian capital on January 8,...

John is trying to resolve it now.

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a Libyan militant to more than 19 years in prison for his role in the 2012 Benghazi attacks that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador. A jury convicted Mustafa al-Imam last year of conspiring to support the extremist militia that launched the fiery assaults on the U.S. compounds but deadlocked on 15 other counts. The attacks, aimed at killing American personnel, prompted a political fracas in which Republicans accused the Obama administration of a bungled response. Al-Imam was sentenced to a total of 236 months behind bars. He is the second militant convicted...

Joe Biden has consistently denied that there was anything shady about his son Hunter's job at Burisma. It has become increasingly clear that there was a corrupt arrangement going on, and it's also obvious that Joe Biden knows this, which is why he's repeatedly denied any knowledge of Hunter's business dealings. Biden is still repeating the claim that everything was above board with Hunter's Burisma position. “No one has suggested my son did anything wrong,” The Washington Post noted that earlier this week that Biden was aggressively defending Hunter, referring to him as “my only surviving son” in reference his...

A new study has found the worms excrete plastic and its toxic additives with no residue in their bodies. The humble mealworm might be able to help with our plastic problem. These tiny insects are commonly raised for animal feed and are slowly entering the human diet as a more ethical, low-carbon form of protein. They are known to eat almost anything, including plastic, but researchers from Stanford University wanted to see what would happen when mealworms were given polystyrene foam containing toxic fire retardant chemicals. Building on earlier research, they were curious about whether the chemicals would remain in...