Free Republic

One of the most depressing aspects of Attorney General William Barr’s ongoing conduct of his job is his current campaign to have the FISA law renewed without a single modification. Coming as it does directly in the wake of the report by DOJ IG Michael Horowitz identifying no fewer than 17 instances in which highi-ranking DOJ/FBI officials lied to the FISA court in order to obtain warrants to spy on the Trump Campaign/Transition Team/Administration during 2016 and 2017, this insistence on a “clean” renewal of this dangerous law is simply inexcusable. Barr is assuring Senators that they don’t need to...

Pundits have recently argued that younger voters, especially those under 30, are less inclined to be bothered when they hear the word "socialism," since they have no firsthand memory of the Cold War. To some extent, this must be true. Those who weren't alive during socialism's cruelest catastrophes -- or even its many banal failures -- will be less put off by the idea. Then again, if a presidential candidate were praising the excellent public transportation system of the Third Reich or going on about some alleged benefit to American slavery, they would rightly be chased from the public square...

Note: This post addresses intermittent fasting as a diet, not fasting done for religious or cultural purposes. You should consult with a doctor, nutritionist, or dietician before trying intermittent fasting, or any diet. A few weeks ago, a group of friends and I were trying to plan a fairly low-key wine and cheese night. As if trying to work around everyone’s schedules isn’t already difficult enough, we found ourselves faced with a new challenge: one of our pals was intermittent fasting and their “eating window” closed right when the rest of us could get together. Sigh.

Adam Schiff is the congressman of Hollywood, and in Hollywood, he can do no wrong as he wages war on President Donald Trump. For proof, look no further than the slobbery interview granted by ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Feb. 24. Several times, Kimmel made the point that Schiff is "our local congressman" and has an office "right down the block" on Hollywood Boulevard. After some pleasantries about how Schiff gets stopped on the streets by (mostly) admiring citizens, the talk turned to President Trump. Kimmel ran a clip in which Trump insisted Schiff be investigated for having leaked...

See the explosive video here: Rendell gets his butt handed to him God bless this woman. Well spoken and well said!

“He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue. Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer. He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat. He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse. When...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) used her Christian faith to ardently defend the rights of LGBTQ Americans during a congressional committee hearing on Thursday ― calling out the “bigotry” of those who use Christianity to discriminate against this marginalized community. The lawmaker suggested that Jesus himself would be “maligned as a radical” by today’s Congress for his message of love and inclusion. She said it strikes her that “if Christ himself walked through these doors and said what he said thousands of years ago ― that we should love our neighbor and our enemy, that we should welcome the stranger, fight...

HA NOI — The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday decided to remove Viet Nam from the list of destinations vulnerable to community transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The decision was made during a teleconference between the Vietnamese Embassy in the US and the US Department of State, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the CDC. Representatives of the CDC and the HHS praised the Vietnamese Government’s efforts in the fight against the acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, saying monitoring, quarantine and treatment have been carried out comprehensively in the country. (Please see link for...

According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health's weekly flu activity summary, the number of flu deaths have increased by 2, making the total 45 in Oklahoma since Sept. 1. OSDH reports the number of new hospitalizations reported between February 16 - February 22, 2020 are 313. OSDH report shows the number of new and previously reported hospitalizations with testing between Sept. 1, 2019 - Feb. 15, 2020 are 2001. OSDH is now reporting deaths related to the flu have increased by 2 between Feb. 16 and Feb. 22, making the total for Oklahoma 45 cumulative deaths. Ten of the...

When the Georgia Life Alliance needed an emcee for its annual gala in October, the conservative anti-abortion group turned to one of its favorite politicians: U.S. Rep. Doug Collins. A few weeks later, though, the alliance stunned the Republican congressman when it announced it would spend at least $3 million on an ad blitz to back U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, the Republican incumbent whom Collins is challenging in November. Collins questioned how a group that struggled to raise significant cash unveiled an expensive initiative to support Loeffler. “What I think is happening is they got a large infusion of cash...

Not until well into the Democratic debate Tuesday night did the COVID-19 coronavirus come up, and it was Mike Bloomberg, not a CBS moderator, who raised it: "The president fired the pandemic specialist in this country two years ago," the former New York mayor said. "There's nobody here to figure out what the hell we should be doing. And he's defunded the CDC." Not 24 hours later, President Donald Trump, home from India, was in the White House briefing room, flanked by the nation's foremost health experts, deputizing Vice President Mike Pence to head the task force to lead America's...

In August of 2018, the British Authorities raided a small shop operation in Sussex, England. The small shop was producing clandestine pistols for the UK black market. About a year later, two men associated with the operation were sent to prison. A third man had died while in custody. From the news coverage, considerable more details about the shop and arms produced were released.  There is a video on Youtube that reveals much. The pistols produced were simplified copies of the Browning 1922 design. Semi-automatic pistols are not difficult to make but are harder to make work well than sub-machine...

TGIFF! Its Fiddle Friday and Country Roots. Put the two together and we have Ranger's Hornpipe by the Stripling Brothers (1929). The tune was recorded in Chicago on Aug. 19, 1929. THE WESTERNER https://thewesterner.blogspot.com/

When word first broke that Meghan Markle had convinced Prince Harry to divorce the royal family, it struck many as a bizarre and sad conclusion to what could have been a great chapter in the family's long history. Then, when Meghan turned out to be greedy and entitled, while Harry was apparently a milquetoast, people turned against the duo. Now, though, with the latest report on Meghan's extraordinarily self-centered worldview, she's becoming a comic figure who must be enjoyed. It started with Prince Harry, who had grown from being a bit of an ass to being an active-duty soldier to...

Vladimir Putin relishes using Russia’s political and economic power to destabilize and disrupt nations. One example of such activity is in Venezuela, where Russia has been propping up dictator Nicolas Maduro through billions in loans and buying oil with the Russian company Rosneft. Maduro is one of the most brutal dictators of our time, and the Trump administration is actively working to oust him from power. Millions of citizens have fled Venezuela. The country is overrun with violent drug cartels, Russian and Cuban military units operate freely within the country. Maduro’s government now runs on illegal sources of income such...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Philadelphia police have released images of the suspect wanted for spray-painting racial slurs on the Cecil B. Moore mural in North Philadelphia. Police say he was also caught spray-painting slurs at Brightside Academy and Habitat for Humanity. The incidents happened on Feb. 15, between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. The suspect is described as a black male, between 25 to 35 years of age, with a medium build. He was wearing a black jacket, gray sweatshirt, blue jeans, brown shoes and carrying a black duffel bag.

Makers of mobile game Plague Inc. say the game is no longer available in the China App Store. In a blog post Thursday, Ndemic Creations said the app, which lets players simulate and strategize the spread of disease globally, was taken down because it "includes content that is illegal in China as determined by the Cyberspace Administration of China." "It's not clear to us if this removal is linked to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak that China is facing," the company said in the post. "However, Plague Inc.'s educational importance has been repeatedly recognized by organizations like the CDC." In 2013,...

The MSM's line o' the day is that coronavirus should not be politicized. But liberal media partisans like Chuck Todd just can't help themselves. And so it was that on his MTP Daily show on MSNBC this afternoon, Todd taunted President Trump with what appeared to be a pre-packaged line, twice saying that when it comes to the coronavirus, the president should "reap what he sows." Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

One overarching truth emerged from the cacophonous Democratic debate this week: The Democrats haven't got game. They're floundering. They're lost. And they're coming up short. Everyone on that stage except maybe the clueless Michael Bloomberg recognized that Sen. Bernie Sanders is the dominant front-runner, so they trained their sights on him, which is hardly a smart strategy for ingratiating yourself to the Democratic base responsible for his popularity. It's like trying to win someone's love by trashing his family. So right out of the gates, these contenders shot themselves in the foot. Not a good look. Moderator Norah O'Donnell, herself...