Free Republic

A BREXIT Day poll conducted by Express.co.uk has found that Italy is the favourite to follow the UK out of the European Union after Britain leaves at 11pm tonight.More than 7,000 readers had their say in the ballot on the final day of the UK’s membership of the bloc as voters across the country prepared to mark the momentous occasion. Boris Johnson will address the nation at 10pm while Nigel Farage will lead a Brexit bash outside Parliament to help Britons ring in the new era in style. Express.co.uk readers have said the Italians are most likely to next want...

As a presidential historian carefully watching the pursuit by Democrats of President Donald Trump’s scalp, I can’t help but express exasperation at the Democrats’ hypocrisy and their selectivity. Their goal, of course, is to tag Donald Trump with some sort of quid pro quo deal with Ukraine — specifically, withholding money to Ukraine if it didn’t act in a way that served Trump’s election interests. That’s the Democrats’ central case; impeachment and removal hinges on that. But here’s the critical question: Should such a thing, if proven, be considered impeachable? That’s the issue. And it desperately needs some historical context....

Sunday, February 2, marks a unique calendar date, as it forms a palindromic day — one that is written the same both backward and forward. But this Sunday is more special than post palindromic days. In this case, the date rendered as it normally is in the United States — as month/day/year — is identical read both normally and reversed: 02/02/2020. However, in the numerous countries that follow a day/month/year format, the date is still the same either way. And in the many Asian countries that place the year first, it is still identical backward and forward. So whether you're...

A photographer in the U.K. snapped pictures of what's been described as possibly "the fattest squirrel in the U.K." And the minuscule mammal can't stop eating. David Hoztaby, from Bingley West Yorks, was walking one afternoon when he spotted the sizable squirrel, unfazed by Hoztaby, British news agency SWNS reports. It was then that the part-time photographer realized that he needed to take the photos. “I’ve never seen such a big squirrel before so I got my camera out," Hoztaby told SWNS. “It caught my eye immediately because it was just so large. I thought ‘look at the size of...

Even if there are still slots available, his buys will make ads much more expensive for everyone else.Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign has been buying ads at a voracious pace—more than a quarter billion dollars’ worth in barely three months of campaigning—but his nearly limitless appetite doesn’t just threaten to overwhelm his opponents with his message. It could change the ad markets themselves. Even online, advertising space is not unlimited, and Bloomberg’s deluge of spending threatens to swamp all other potential advertisers—political or not—and drive up the price of buying an ad. That could prevent other candidates with smaller war chests...

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced on Friday that the coronavirus has been declared a public health emergency in the U.S. Beginning at 5 p.m. on Feb. 2, U.S. citizens returning from Wuhan will be subject to quarantine. Azar said that President Trump is also temporarily suspending entry into the U.S. for foreign nationals who pose a risk of transmitting the virus.

Stocks fell sharply on Friday, wiping out the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s gain for January, as investors grew increasingly worried about the potential economic impact of China’s fast-spreading coronavirus. The Dow dropped 603.41 points, or 2.1%, to 28,256.03 in the 30-stock average’s worst day since August. The S&P 500 had its worst day since October, falling 1.8% to 3,225.52. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.6% to 9,150.94...

Ever since history began, man fallen away from Paradise has tried to kill God. Since the time of the fall, God’s presence has been an unbearable wound for man, a cunning killer. It triggered the memory of Paradise lost, filling him with pain and indignation; it became his inner revolt when he recalled how beautiful and good he had been; it triggered the gnashing of his teeth at the thought of the lost Father’s embrace, in which Adam had leaned his head on the Father’s bosom and heard God’s heartbeat. Orphaned, amidst the thorns of the earth and his own...

The United Nations’ World Health Organization on Jan. 9 announced an outbreak of a new—or novel—coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, China. In the three weeks since the announcement, the virus has intensified in China, infecting thousands there and is now spreading across the globe, far beyond its origin in Hubei province. Indeed, this new coronavirus has taken nearly 200 lives in China. As Chinese public health officials strive to contain the virus, it’s important to identify three early lessons that can be drawn from the outbreak and the initial response to it to prevent this Chinese epidemic—and others that will undoubtedly...

The American people have the former national security advisor to blame for the presence of the self-serving brothers on the National Security Council staff. During his four decades as an accumulator of power in the nation’s capital, a holder of high offices in the State Department, and finally a stint as President Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton has been well known for his scrupulous attention to the hiring and firing of his staff. He always has demanded unwavering personal loyalty as well as fealty to his own—not his president’s—policy agenda. He has performed the most rigorous vetting on all...

Live from WH press room. Running a little behind. Key Points The Trump administration will hold a briefing about the coronavirus outbreak Friday afternoon at the White House. It will involve members of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force, which includes national security advisor Robert O’Brien, Health Secretary Alex Azar and other leading officials. It is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. You can watch it here.

RUSH: It is so pleasing. I have to admit, it is so satisfying to see all of my predictions about what the Democrats are gonna do come true. Even after 31 years, folks, it still provides imminence pleasure when I am able to tell you in advance what they’re gonna do, and then they do it. What I’m specifically talking about is Chuck You Schumer. We just heard Chuck You Schumer lay out what the Democrats are gonna be saying from now to the election. What did I tell you yesterday? What did I say the day before? They’re gonna...

When the President is acquitted of these two charges will double jeopardy be in effect here regarding the abuse of power charge specifically towards the Ukraine issue?

The six countries being added to the list are Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Tanzania and Sudan. Those are added to the current seven included in the ban: Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

Britain officially leaves the EU tonight at 2300 GMT (6pm EST / 3pm PST). Live coverage from the UK's Sky News.

... [W]hat will get the Trump [campaign] working at full throttle is the central message of the Sanders campaign: that the United States needs a political revolution. It may very well need one. But most people don’t think so, as Barack Obama has argued. And getting two million new progressive votes in the usual area codes is not going to change that. ... But some of his other ideas are stillborn, or never get beyond the fringe. Socialism, despite its flavor-of-the-month appeal to young people, is not popular with the general public. Just 39 percent of Americans view socialism positively,...

(Michael Brace/Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) _____________________________________________________________ Deep inside our DNA lurks a legacy of lust and romance between estranged human bloodlines reconnecting on an epic journey around the globe. It now seems we might have been misreading key details in this erotic tale. A new method for analysing our genomes for traces of Neanderthal genes has revealed modern African populations – long assumed to be Neanderthal-free – also have a mixed heritage after all. "This is the first time we can detect the actual signal of Neanderthal ancestry in Africans," says geneticist Lu Chen from Princeton University in the US. "And...

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 31 (C-Fam) Last November at a summit in Nairobi, the UN Population Fund announced that it would take $264 billion to reduce global maternal deaths and protect women and girls from violence. The agency just released a publication outlining the details of how the billions would be spent—and the fine print includes abortion. One of the enduring legacies of ICPD in 1994 is the compromise that was struck among nations: that the legal status of abortion was for national governments to determine, and that where legal, it should be “safe.” In the past quarter century, the same...

Shifty Schiff gave short shrift to his unconstitutional/unauthorized 'impeachment inquiry' (not to mention that he totally deprived the accused his constitutionally guaranteed due process rights) and he brought his incomplete case to the senate (ie, the jury) and expects the senate now to re-open discovery and bring new witnesses and new documents to make HIS case. No thank you! You presented your case to the jury and failed to convince them. You lost. Sit down and shut up! Your time is up. The senate should vote tonight and end this farce without giving the media any more time for jury...

After more than three years of shock, hyperbole, bitter recrimination, political tomfoolery and, most of all, uncertainty, Britain is leaving the European Union today. Now a reality, Brexit feels like nothing so much as the final scene of the classic movie, “The Graduate,” where, after Katherine Ross jilts her fiance at the altar and flees with Dustin Hoffman, the two lovebirds hop on a bus, look around, and are utterly baffled about what to do next.