Free Republic

Just finished listening to 4th Rendez-Veus about 10 times. Best instrumental ever!!!! IMHO. Now I'm listening to Amazing Grace by Nana Mouskouri. Got three versions but hers is the best by far. Might be among the best vocal song or at least among the best. See,,, I don't watch TV all the time. Besides, in order to real all/most/some of the interesting posts of FR I've got to have peace of mind in the background. :<)))))

Twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton expressed an openness to running as Vice President with the eventual Democratic Party nominee during an interview with Ellen DeGeneres released on Thursday. The talk show host spoke to 72-year-old Clinton about the impeachment effort and her future ambitions. Clinton was asked if she would accept if the eventual Democrat nominee asked her to be their running mate. At first, she laughed it off, saying “well, that’s not going to happen, but no, probably no.” It didn’t take much prodding for her to change her tune and say that “I never say never because I...

The politics of Utah Sen. Mitt Romney’s 11th-hour mystery on how he will vote on President Trump’s impeachment has become sticky now that a new survey finds that the president is more popular in Utah. The Utah Policy survey showed that for the first time since his election, a majority of Utah voters approve of Trump’s job performance, echoing his surge in national surveys. According to the poll analysis, “The survey, conducted for UtahPolicy.com and 2 News by Y2 Analytics shows 52% of likely voters approve of President Trump, while 45% disapprove, giving the president a net-positive approval rating of...

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — Voters may not have a full picture of what exactly happened during the Iowa caucuses, but Sen. Bernie Sanders is confident that he won the contest. At a Thursday press conference Thursday afternoon in New Hampshire, Sanders attacked the Iowa Democratic Party for its oversight of its caucuses on Monday, while maintaining a triumphant tone on the results. “What I want to do today, three days late, is to thank the people of Iowa for the very strong victory they gave us in the Iowa Caucuses," Sanders said. As of Thursday, 97% of precincts had reported...

"Rolling Stone," performed and written by Karen Black from the 1975 film, "Nashville." Black portrays Connie White, a glamorous country singer, in the film.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a plan to ban sales of gasoline- and diesel-powered passenger cars in the U.K. beginning in 2035. That's five years earlier than a previous commitment by the U.K., and it also adds even hybrid vehicles to the banned list, leaving only full electric cars as an option. There were 2.3 million passenger cars sold in the U.K. in 2019—and only 37,850 of them were electric vehicles.

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump celebrated his acquittal on impeachment charges in a free-wheeling, caustic speech on Thursday that drew on White House pomp to underscore the fact that he remained in office. After walking down a red carpet to a standing ovation from scores of Republican lawmakers, administration officials and conservative media figures in the East Room of the White House, Trump re-aired old grievances and accused Democrats of staging a “corrupt” effort to undermine his presidency in a speech that lasted more than an hour. Speaking without a teleprompter, he referred to the 22-month investigation by former...

SARASOTA, Fla. — A 107-year-old Florida man keeps his wits through a debate group at his senior home, spending time with his fiancee and periodically driving his red convertible. Joe Newman, who made a bid for Congress in Sarasota when he turned 100, runs a discussion group at his senior facility. Keeping up with current events keeps him going, he told WFLA. “It is my contention that mental exercise is just as important as physical exercise,” the centenarian told WFLA. “Just getting out of bed in the morning and figuring out something to do that is worth doing the next...

The Obama administration was ill-prepared to handle and failed to respond effectively to Russian interference during the 2016 election, according to a bipartisan congressional report released Thursday. It noted officials feared getting caught up in a heavily politicized environment and undermining public confidence in the electoral process. The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report said the U.S. government was “not well-postured” to counter Russian election interference, adding Russia’s cyberactivities did not cease despite high-level warnings of potential retaliation. Sen. Richard Burr, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the report found the Obama administration in 2016 struggled to determine an appropriate response...

PALM CITY, Fla. — A stranded motorist fatally shot a Florida Highway Patrol trooper alongside Interstate 95 on Wednesday before he was killed by a passing police officer, the agency said. Trooper Joseph Bullock, 42, died in a shooting about 10:15 a.m. near Palm City, about a 45-minute drive north of West Palm Beach, said Col. Gene Spaulding, the agency's commander. He said a passing police officer from Riviera Beach fatally shot the suspect, whose name has not been released.

Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has been a one-man wrecking machine to China’s plans to leapfrog U.S. military and technological superiority by becoming the first to operationalize 5G. Now, however, Beijing is fighting back with delay tactics which, if not handled properly, can lead to China pulling a fast one on the FCC and, by default, America’s national security. For those who aren’t familiar, 5G is the next-generation wireless network that will bring download and processing speeds to just a fraction of what they are currently. China has seen the new technology as a way to...

Li Wenliang, a doctor in China who was allegedly detained for warning others about the coronavirus before he himself was sickened by the illness, may not have died despite comments made during a World Health Organization (WHO) press briefing on Thursday that suggested he did. A statement from the hospital treating Li said that he was in critical condition...

Exulting in his impeachment acquittal, President Donald Trump took a scorched-earth victory lap Thursday, unleashing his fury against those who tried to remove him from office while looking ahead to his reelection campaign. Trump, triumphantly waving a newspaper front page - “ACQUITTED” - denounced his political foes, declared the impeachment proceedings a “disgrace” and portrayed himself as a victim rather than a president accused of serious corruption. That echoed broadsides hours earlier that stunned the crowd at an annual prayer breakfast. “It was evil, it was corrupt,” Trump declared at the White House. “This should never ever happen to another...

The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor a president can bestow on a civilian. Obama awarded the most such medals of any president, giving out 123. Many of Obama's recipients arguably deserved the award, including Bill and Melinda Gates, John Glenn, Stephen Hawking, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Sidney Poitier. Obama also gave the award to Republicans like former President George H.W. Bush. Yet a surprisingly large number of Obama's Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients turned out to be campaign donors for both Obama and his hand-picked successor, Hillary Clinton. At least 17 of his donors received the honor, including...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says it will no longer allow New York state residents to enroll in programs intended to expedite international travel because of a state law that blocks immigration authorities from accessing motor vehicle records. New York's "Green Light" law, which took effect in December, allows immigrants without legal status to apply for driver's licenses. It also includes a provision barring state officials at the Department of Motor Vehicles from sharing data with immigration authorities unless a judge orders them to do so. Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary at DHS, told reporters on a conference call...

To the extent that Mitt Romney, handsome rich guy, is a sympathetic figure, it is because his attempts to prostrate himself before the left fail so consistently. The “binders full of women” comment, perverted as it was by the media, was also a total capitulation to the idea that there ought to be more quotas and affirmative action in hiring. But even then – even then! – they still painted him and Paul Ryan as racists who wanted to kill grandma and crawl through your window at night to steal your birth control. The lesson Republican voters took away was:...

Pelosi slammed her hand on the lectern several times as she yelled, “I don’t need a lesson from anybody!” “Did you step on that message [taking the high ground] by tearing up the State of the Union?” Manu Raju asked. “No I did not! No I did not!” Pelosi responded. “I tore up a manifesto of mistruths. It’s very hard for us to get you to talk about the issues that we are working on,” Pelosi said slamming her hand on the lectern. “It was necessary to get the attention of the American people, to say this is not true…And...

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Andy Levin (D-Mich.) on Thursday outlined a bill that seeks to establish a nationwide electric vehicle charging network within five years. Their Electric Vehicle Freedom Act, which was slated to be introduced Thursday, would establish the network along the nation's highway systems and also promote compatibility between chargers and cars, affordability and the creation of automotive and infrastructure jobs, Levin said at a press conference. "We're trying to actually advance and improve our fleets and our vehicles, which means that we have to go electric and the way that we do that is with a...