Free Republic

Miller says foreign forces will continue to defend the Afghan troops, but for the plan to work the Taliban needs to reduce violence.

President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign filed a libel lawsuit against the Washington Post for “millions of dollars” on Tuesday, claiming the outlet published “false and defamatory statements” about an alleged conspiracy with Russia. The complaint, which was first obtained by Fox News, was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., by attorneys David C. Tobin and Charles J. Harder. The complaint specifically notes two Post articles that were published in June of 2019 and contain statements about foreign campaign interference. Jenna Ellis, senior legal adviser to Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. said: The statements were and are...

Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii have won their first delegates thanks to American Samoa. WATCH LIVE: PBS NewsHour’s Super Tuesday special coverage The island has six Democratic delegates and their caucus awarded five to Bloomberg and one to Gabbard, who hails from Hawaii. Bloomberg got nearly half the votes, followed by Gabbard’s 29%. Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren all were below the 15% threshold, said island party executive director Andrew Bergquist.

Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, quipped that she “broke a nail” fending off protesters who rushed the stage during Biden’s victory speech on Super Tuesday. During the event in California, anti-dairy protesters made their way onto Biden's stage before being forcibly removed by staffers including Sanders, a former CNN commentator who worked on Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) 2016 campaign. Footage of the incident quickly went viral online, with many praising Sanders for leaping into the fray. She also retweeted Biden traveling press secretary Remi Yamamoto, who said, “There’s no one I’d rather...

For the first time, a U.S. survey found that black children appear to be more likely than white kids to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other learning disabilities. Previous studies had found the diagnosis was far more likely in white kids. It’s not known what might have driven the change described in Wednesday’s report, said lead author Benjamin Zablotsky of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In past studies that found higher rates of ADHD diagnoses in white kids, researchers hypothesized there were racial differences in access to health professionals or perhaps racial differences in attitudes...

The illegal factory is believed to have operated since January this year, when the demand for surgical masks spiked amid fears of COVID-19. The police spokesman said that the owner of the factory has a permit to operate a warehouse. He initially stored medical devices from China on the first and second floors of the building. The owner is said to have later started an illegal manufacturing facility on the third floor. He used material he had stored in his warehouse to produce the masks. Grand Commissioner Yunus said the police are also tracking down those who purchased the masks....

A vegan protester storming the stage of a Joe Biden speech on Super Tuesday got tackled by two unlikely linebackers: the candidate's wife, Jill Biden, and his senior advisor Symone Sanders. A security guard stopped the protester (Biden does not have Secret Service protection), and pulled her away as she chanted "let dairy die." Jill Biden immediately blocked Biden with her body. But then a second protester stormed the stage, and the women of the Biden campaign fought back. Jill physically grabbed the protester by the wrists and pushed her away.

A study by a government-funded NGO in the US has sounded the alarm on deteriorating levels of liberty in democratic and authoritarian countries alike, including extensive criticism of India, China and the US itself The Freedom in the World 2020 report assessed 195 countries, rating 83 of them as “free,” 63 as “partly free,” and 49 as “not free.” The Freedom House, which boasts Eleanor Roosevelt as a co-founder, has compiled the index each year since 1973. The share of countries rated free has declined by 3% in the last decade. The index incorporates factors such as the functioning of...

March 04 2020 Wednesday of the First Week in Lent Reading 1 Jon 3:1-10 The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you.” So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD’s bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” when the people...

It would take a heart of stone not to laugh at the Democrats' current dilemma. The party of racial diversity has only white candidates. The party of youth has only old candidates. The party's top candidate is an angry, spit-flecked, wild-maned old man who has been a Marxist his entire life, has never held a real job in the private sector, is now hypocritically reveling in the life of a millionaire and can't stop himself from praising grotesque dictators. And here's the biggest laugh of all: the Democrat party's only hope is a confused old man whose corruption is oozing...

Democrats in San Francisco have made theft under $950 a misdemeanor & cops won't even arrest you for the crime. Not surprisingly, this has had very predictable results. It turns out if you tell people they won't get arrested for stealing, it's like a free pass to go shopping.

Global health authorities have advised people to use contactless payments instead of banknotes where possible in order to stop spreading the new coronavirus. Health experts have previously warned that the virus can survive on inert surfaces long enough to infect new hosts, although the risk is believed to be lower than human-to-human contact. But a spokesperson for the World Health Organisation (WHO) told the Telegraph on Monday that the virus can remain infectious on banknotes for several days. The Bank of England has also acknowledged that banknotes ‘can carry bacteria or viruses’ and encourages shoppers to wash their hands after...

locks of hundreds of cockatoos are ravaging the fields of farmers who grow the plants that produce that bagel and kaiser roll mainstay — poppy seeds — on the Australian island, but experts caution it’s likely not due to an addiction to the opioid-producing plants. “The crop is about [11.8 acres] and the best estimation is that at least a third of the crop had been severely damaged by cockies,” Keith Rice, of Poppy Growers Tasmania, told Australia’s ABC. Some farmers down under have accused the cockatoos of just looking to get loopy on the alkaloid found in the poppies’...

Former Vice President Joe Biden will win the Massachusetts Democratic primary, according to an NBC News projection. The result is a crushing blow to rival Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who represents the state. Biden will win at least 28 of the state’s 91 delegates, according to NBC News, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., will score at least 13. Warren will chalk up at least seven delegates, according to NBC. “I’m here to report we are very much alive,” an energized Biden said at a rally shortly before NBC shared its projection.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is projected to win more than half of the 14 states holding contests on Super Tuesday, exceeding expectations for a campaign that was in serious trouble just weeks ago. Biden’s eight victories included upsets in Minnesota, Oklahoma and Massachusetts, where he defeated Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and home-state Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D). He was also competing hard with Sanders for Maine, another state where he had been seen as a big underdog. Biden won blowout victories in Alabama and the swing state of Virginia, and was building big leads in North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas,...

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has captured the biggest prize of the Super Tuesday primaries with a first-place finish in California, the Associated Press projects. Sanders’ west coast win comes as a big relief to the New England senator who lost a majority of the Super Tuesday contest states to former Vice President Joe Biden, who swept the southern primaries with big wins in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Biden has also been declared the winner in Minnesota and Massachusetts, two states where Biden had no presence, while Sanders has only been projected to win Utah, Colorado, and...

The Manhattan lawyer hospitalized with coronavirus is in “severe condition,” the city Health Department said Tuesday evening. The lawyer, identified by sources as Lawrence Garbuz, 50, runs a boutique law firm with his wife that also employs one of their four kids as a paralegal, according to information posted online. The seven-lawyer practice, Lewis & Garbuz, is located across the street from Grand Central Terminal and specializes in matters including personal planning and wealth management, estate litigation, guardianships and elder law, its website says. Garbuz and his wife, also 50, both graduated from New York University and earned law degrees...

With their famous reputation for "tolerance" all out there, leftists, including the presumably vote-seeking Bernie Sanders, are mocking Vice President Mike Pence for beginning his coronavirus task force, a serious group of working government leaders tasked with keeping the infectious disease from spreading through the U.S., with a prayer. Here's an excellent description of just how this picture looks: I don't know anything about Mr. Williams, but this photograph and his comment perfectly illustrate the profound division in our culture. It's "obvious" to some of us that one of the things you do in a crisis is pray. It's "obvious" to others that praying...

President Trump has rightly won praise from medical professionals and public health officials for taking tough action, even against leftist criticism, for effectively protecting the U.S. from the ravages of the coronavirus. Nations that didn't do that, such as China itself — which hid the crisis, enabling its spread; South Korea — which kowtowed to China; and possibly Japan and Italy, are now reaping severe consequences.  Thomas Lifson wrote about the left's criticism here, and I wrote about Trump's sharp recognition of a threat when he sees one here. As the left continues to heap criticism on Trump, with various claims of "chaos," along with howls about a prayer before...

Americans across the country are stocking up on hand sanitizer, cleaning wipes, toilet paper and other products to prepare for the spread of coronavirus. Long lines at stores and panic buying on cleaning products throughout the country are stretching American retailers' ability to keep up with demand. Shoppers are posting pictures on social media of lines snaking around Costco and empty shelves of sanitizers at CVS, Walgreens and other drug stores. "Very, very busy!" Costco chief financial officer Richard Galanti said in an email Saturday. Costco was the top stock on the S&P 500 Monday. Walmart, Walgreens and other retail...