Free Republic

CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Billionaire left-wing donor Tom Steyer told reporters in the spin room after the Democrat debate Tuesday evening that the coronavirus proved President Donald Trump was “incompetent.” “He’s incompetent … He’s unprepared in terms of the coronavirus to deal with the real world when things go wrong,” Steyer said. “He’s incompetent and bad for the American people.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “reactionary racist” while defending his support for Israel at Tuesday night’s Democratic debate. "I'm very proud of being Jewish. I actually lived in Israel for some months. But what I happen to believe is that right now, sadly, tragically, in Israel, through Bibi Netanyahu, you have a reactionary racist who is now running that country," Sanders said at the debate in Charleston, S.C., just days ahead of the state's Democratic primary. Sanders's comments came the same week that he said he wouldn't be attending the annual American Israel Public...

On Nov. 3, 2018, “Saturday Night Live” cast member Pete Davidson mocked Texas Republican Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who lost his eye in an IED explosion while serving his third tour in Afghanistan, for wearing an eye patch. In a “Weekend Update” segment ahead of the midterm elections, Davidson compared Crenshaw to “a hit man in a porno movie,” adding: “I’m sorry. I know he lost his eye in war or whatever.”

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem (Music in The Bible) Psalm 119 Psalm 119[a] כ Kaph 81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation,     but I have put my hope in your word. 82 My eyes fail, looking for your promise;     I say, “When will you comfort me?” 83 Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke,     I do not forget your decrees. 84 How long must your servant wait?     When will you punish my persecutors? 85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me,     contrary to your law. 86 All your commands are trustworthy;     help me, for I am being persecuted without cause....

"Roger Stone Did Nothing Wrong!" proclaimed the T-shirts worn by his supporters. Federal prosecutors, by contrast, argued that Stone deserved at least seven years in prison. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson split the difference last week, sentencing the longtime Donald Trump crony to three years and four months in prison -- a penalty that still seems excessive given the nature and consequences of his crimes. In addition to the perils of presidential pronouncements about ongoing criminal cases, the case highlights the dubious wisdom and fairness of federal sentencing guidelines. When Attorney General William Barr overrode the original sentencing recommendation...

Ever since her last relationship ended this past August, Liz has been consciously trying not to treat dating as a “numbers game.” By the 30-year-old Alaskan’s own admission, however, it hasn’t been going great. Liz has been going on Tinder dates frequently, sometimes multiple times a week—one of her New Year’s resolutions was to go on every date she was invited on. But Liz, who asked to be identified only by her first name in order to avoid harassment, can’t escape a feeling of impersonal, businesslike detachment from the whole pursuit. “It’s like, ‘If this doesn’t go well, there are...

Pope Francis today urged followers to give up trolling people on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook for Lent. He said there was too much 'verbal violence' in the world which was 'amplified by the internet'. Francis added that Lent was 'a time to give up useless words, gossip, rumours, tittle-tattle and speak to God on a first name basis.' He was addressing tens of thousands of worshipers in St Peter's Square, Rome, on Ash Wednesday - the start of the 40-day season of Lent leading up to Easter. Francis said: 'We live in an atmosphere polluted by too...

Buckle up, we’re going on a road trip with this one, but I promise if you stick with me it will be worth it…In this article I am going to lay out five non-technical tips for the Linux beginner. These are things I wish someone had told me twenty plus years ago when I started to tinker with my first Linux installation. 1) Ask Questions, But Ask the Right Way I belong to a lot of Linux forums, user groups, and social media groups. There is often a ton of good conversations in these groups about all things pertaining to...

PARIS -- If the UK allows Chinese multinational Huawei to participate in building a new-generation cellular communications network, the CIA is going to take its ball and go home. That's the message Mick Mulvaney, U.S. President Donald Trump's acting chief of staff, delivered in a speech at the Oxford Union last week just before his meeting with British officials. Mulvaney and Trump are concerned that your selfies and your mom's Facebook rants about the neighbor could be laughed at by some military intelligence officer in Beijing via secret backdoors installed in Huawei equipment. Those who don't know any better say...

Elmore County, Alabama — A man is in critical condition after being shot multiple times by the homeowner he tried to rob, according to the Elmore County Sheriff. The suspect has been identified as 39-year old Charles Bowne, who spent time in jail in Indiana for currently unknown offenses. At sometime around 5 on Monday morning, the homeowner woke up hearing noises. He said he didn’t really know what was happening, but grabbed his 9mm handgun. He was then confronted by Bowne in the living room where he said “give it up,” to the homeowner. The homeowner then fired 4...

“As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool. As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools. The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors. As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly” (Proverbs 26:8-11).

There’s even an acronym for the way teachers feel about these late winter and early spring months: EDOFMA, the eternal darkness of February, March and April. It’s a time when education seems like an endless slog, with little visible progress. As one blogger puts it, “For the first few weeks back from the holidays in January, things seem OK, but then reality sets in. Hard.” It’s much the same with education reform. But as dedicated teachers know, foundations are being laid even when progress isn’t visible. That’s how improvement often happens; incrementally, through persistence and dedication. What seemed like a...

President Trump said in an early-morning tweet on Wednesday that he will hold a news conference at 6 p.m. to address his administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak. In the post, he continued to blame the media and Democrats for overstating the danger of the disease, even as health experts have warned of its spread. Trump accused MSNBC and CNN of "doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible." The president initially misspelled the name of the virus. He insisted the U.S. is "in great shape" in its handling of the...

With outbreaks raging in Italy, Iran, South Korea and other countries, U.S. authorities now predict coronavirus will strike Americans here, causing "significant disruptions to our lives." The warning came from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official Nancy Messonnier at a Tuesday briefing. If the virus -- now dubbed COVID-19 -- starts to infect large numbers of people inside the U.S., here's what you need to know. Is the virus spreading here now? The only known U.S. cases are travelers to China, their spouses and cruise ship passengers. But people carrying the virus entered the U.S. before the Trump administration...

New social security rule will block people that speak limited or no English from getting benefits through the system’s disability insurance program. The change would remove the “inability to communicate in English” from the list of educational categories that are considered when the Social Security Administration’s administrative law judges determine who qualifies to receive disability insurance through the program. “It is important that we have an up-to-date disability program,” Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul said. “The workforce and work opportunities have changed, and outdated regulations need to be revised to reflect today’s world,” he added. The Hill reported that the...

Study enrolling hospitalized adults with COVID-19 in Nebraska A randomized, controlled clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the investigational antiviral remdesivir in hospitalized adults diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha. The trial regulatory sponsor is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. This is the first clinical trial in the United States to evaluate an experimental treatment for COVID-19, the respiratory disease first detected in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The first trial participant...

A Feb. 22 ceremony in South Sudan's capital, Juba, brought two enemies face to face. That's one reason the ceremony may prove to be a major political step toward ending the country's terrible six-year-long internal war. Terrible doesn't adequately describe South Sudan's war. The conflict, which still flickers, has killed an estimated 400,000 people, though no one knows precisely. Accurate body counts involving forensic analysis of mass graves require peace. However, 400,000 dead and over 3 million displaced are conscience-shocking numbers. They are big enough to demand attention. The Juba ceremony made senior rebel leader Riek Machar South Sudan's first...

In yet another window into the country’s polarized political environment, in 2017 the Pew Research Center surveyed Americans regarding their views of major civic institutions. While there were divisions in how Republicans and Democrats viewed churches, banks, and labor unions, the largest gap was reserved for “colleges and universities,” with 72 percent of Democrats viewing them positively versus 58 percent of Republicans having the opposite opinion. Many on the left took the results as an illustration of a supposed broader anti-intellectualism on the right. Looking at the survey outcomes, Salon’s Sophia Tesfaye wondered, “Has America hit peak anti-intellectualism?” Citing the...

The "Medicare for All" legislation that Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced in Congress expressly prohibits discrimination based on "gender identity" but not religion. This may not be an accident. A reasonable reading of the bill -- which is neither succinctly nor precisely written -- raises the question of whether it would still be possible for Catholic (and other religious) hospitals to continue operating within its single-payer system. On April 10, 2019, Sanders introduced S. 1129, his "Medicare for All" bill. Title II of this bill enumerates the "comprehensive benefits" it would cover. Item No. 7 is: "Comprehensive reproductive, maternity, and newborn...

South Korean coronavirus cases jumped again Wednesday and the U.S. military confirmed its first case among soldiers based in the Asian country, with his case and many others connected to a southeastern city with an illness cluster. South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 216 of the 284 new cases were in Daegu, where the government has been mobilizing public health tools to contain the spread of the outbreak, and in neighboring towns. The U.S. military said the 23-year-old soldier was in self-quarantine at his off-base residence. He had been based in Camp Carroll in a town near...