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This week, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the socialist Democratic presidential front-runner, made waves when he merely reiterated his lifelong warmth toward the viciously evil Cuban communist regime. Brushing off the human rights violations of Fidel Castro -- a man whose revolution ended with the murder or imprisonment of tens of thousands of his countrymen, and decades of impoverishment and repression for millions -- Sanders explained: "We're very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba, but you know, it's unfair to simply say everything is bad. ... When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a...

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US Democratic candidate Joe Biden keeps on "rolling out the gaffes" however, debating Bernie Sanders is similar to "wrestling smoke" according to the Daily Telegraph's Tim Blair. ... Mr. Blair told Sky News host Chris Kenny, politically "Bernie Sanders is alot harder to lay a glove on" than his opponents. "He's talking about a paradise, a socialist kind of super world where all is free and fair... How do you argue against invisibility like that?" ...

Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life. Benjamin Franklin

In Syria’s last opposition stronghold, the worst fears of millions of people are coming true. With the help of brutal Russian airstrikes, Syrian government forces have seized about a third of Idlib Province over the last two months, pushing over 900,000 of the region’s 3.5 million people out of their homes and north toward the nearby Turkish border, where another 800,000 displaced people already live in crude, overcrowded camps. The current wave of refugees fleeing Idlib, about 80 percent of whom are women and children, is now the largest exodus of Syria’s nine-year conflict. Aid agencies are overwhelmed, and food...

MOSCOW—The Russians were excited once again for a U.S. presidential election in which they could interfere to sow division and discord, but their excitement soon turned to dismay when they found an election already too chaotic for them to follow. (Snip) Evil leader of Russia and interferer of elections, Vladamir Putin, agreed. “In our wildest ambitions, we never would have tried to get a straight out Communist to win the nomination in a major U.S. party,” Putin said. “I don’t know how we’re supposed to interfere and add to that.” Putin hung his head sadly. “It’s like people don’t even...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT TRUMP and VICE PRESIDENT PENCE and for AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of Me; and that cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin." (Isa. 30:1)

South Korea will test 200,000 members of a secretive church for the novel coronavirus after its leader agreed to hand a list of members to health authorities. As of Tuesday, 10 people had died of COVID-19 and at least 977 had been infected with it in South Korea, making it the worst-hit nation other than China. (See link for full story)

India has been rocked by violence since Parliament approved a new law that excludes a fast-track path to citizenship for Muslim refugees. An angry group of Hindus carrying pickaxes and iron rods hurled rocks Tuesday at Muslims in a fresh round of violent protests in the Indian capital over a new citizenship law, with at least 10 people killed in two days of clashes that cast a shadow over U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the country. After talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump told reporters that he had heard about the violence but did not discuss it...

Whether as co-founder of Black Sabbath or as a solo artist, Ozzy Osbourne spent his life and art (at least, the non-reality television part) conjuring death, summoning its spirits and welcoming its hold on heaven or hell. You know the drill: his albums were filled with graveyards, devils and bloodlust. At times Ozzy was ferocious, even if the hair metal scene of the ’80s made his dread seem garish, and his evil had a comic-book edge as time went on. The point is, since his first album with Sabbath in 1970, Osbourne has worked death, darkness and demon seeds like...

By Hassan Mahmoudi Finally, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) blacklisted Iran on February 21; after three years of warning and giving Tehran additional time. In a statement, the FATF called for Iran to execute 10 articles, the most important of which was to identify and freeze the assets of terrorist groups in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions. FATF demanded the regime to express a transparent mechanism for reporting suspicious transactions to finance terrorist groups upon request. Ratification and implementation of the Palermo Convention on Combating Terrorism and Transparency of Iran’s Capacity for Legal Cooperation. Iran...

SEOUL — A South Korean flight attendant who has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus may have serviced trips between Seoul and Los Angeles last week, according to several South Korean media outlets. South Korea’s Center for Disease Control said Wednesday local time that a female flight attendant who serviced a flight Feb. 15 from Tel Aviv to Seoul had tested positive for the virus. On board the flight was a church group returning from a pilgrimage to Israel; 30 other infections have been connected to the group so far, according to local authorities. The South Korean media outlets reported...

At this point, the American public should be getting combat pay for watching any of these Democratic debates. While there weren’t any massive unanswered attacks at this debate in South Carolina, it’s become clear that Elizabeth Warren is shifting her goals. Warren, who was once the front-runner before there was actual voting, has come to the realization that she’s got no shot of winning the nomination for herself. But she could definitely position herself as a vice presidential candidate for Bernie Sanders. So Warren continued her chosen role as “attack dog sicced on Mike Bloomberg” tonight while deliberately walking around...

Once again, it was mission impossible. And once again, it was mission failure. Bernie Sanders is still standing. Time is running out to stop him. In their debate last week, the other Democrats aimed to make themselves his top rival for the nomination by viciously attacking each other. The net effect was that they were all damaged and Sanders waltzed to a smashing win in the Nevada caucus.

If the Democratic confrontation last week in Nevada was “The Godfather” of debates, last night’s South Carolina debate wasn’t “The Godfather Part II” — a worthy followup to a great original. No, it was “Exorcist 2: The Heretic.” It was “Smokey and the Bandit 3: Smokey Is the Bandit.” It was “True Detective Season 2.” Who made the South Carolina debate the worst sequel ever? Here are the nominees:

When former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley abruptly submitted her resignation in October 2018, she stayed mum about her next move, only assuring that she would not challenge President Trump in 2020 primaries for the Republican nomination. So, what has Haley been doing since she left her post? As a strong believer in term limits, Haley explains her decision to leave the administration in her memoir, "With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace.” She wrote 2019 was her first year in 14 years as a private citizen, free to “sleep in” and “get to read...

A man charged with raping an 11-year-old girl in Maryland was living in the United States illegally, authorities said. Jonathan Coreas-Salamanca, 20, was arrested along with Ivan Reyes Lopez, 19, earlier this month at the high schools they attended in Montgomery County, Md., WJLA-TV reported. Both men are charged with second-degree rape. Coreas-Salamanca, a citizen of El Salvador living in the U.S. illegally, faces additional charges of sexual abuse of a minor and a third-degree sexual offense.

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg sparred right out the gate during Tuesday night’s Democratic debate, as the former New York City mayor slammed Sanders and claimed Russia is “helping” him get elected. During the first question of Tuesday night’s CBS News/ Twitter debate in Charleston, S.C., Sanders was asked about the economy. “The economy is doing really great for Mr. Bloomberg and other billionaires,” Sanders said. “For the ordinary American, things are not so good.”

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reacted Tuesday to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., praising some aspects of the Fidel Castro regime in Cuba -- a regime which some of his relatives escaped in order to seek a new life in the U.S. Rubio said on "Hannity" that Sanders has "gotten away with -- for years -- saying that he's a socialist. He's actually not a socialist, he's a Marxist ... and Marxism is based on the belief that no person has any value as an individual. Your value is that you're a member of a class. Second, Marxism is based on the...

Bernie Sanders faced sustained attacks from all sides in Tuesday night's rowdy Democratic debate, as the self-described democratic socialist, now the race's undisputed frontrunner, parried multiple claims that his sweeping plans were little more than an expensive path to a "catastrophic," Corbyn-esque downballot rout for Democrats in November. The forum, coming ahead of Saturday's primary in South Carolina and next week's pivotal Super Tuesday contests, was easily the most contentious of the primary season to date, as candidates frequently sparred with the moderators and ripped into each other on spending, foreign policy, and more. Fears have spread among the remaining...