Free Republic

MSNBC's shows may have undergone a name change, but Tuesday's edition of Stephanie Ruhle Reports presented the same left-wing bias as before. As President Biden named his first batch of judicial appointments, Ruhle and White House correspondent Kristen Welker marveled how, unlike Trump's judicial nominees, they aren't white males. Their diversity was all that mattered, and their ideology wasn't worth questioning. Ruhle began by wondering, "Kristen, while I have you, one of former President Trump's, for conservatives, 'biggest wins' [quote fingers used] were all of the judges he put on the bench. I know President Biden just announced his first...

The Naval Sea Systems Command announced on Wednesday that the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli concluded its Fitting Out Availability. Photo by MCS1 Woody Paschall/U.S. Navy March 31 (UPI) -- The large-deck amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli completed its Fitting Out Availability and awaits sea trials, the U.S. Navy announced on Wednesday. The FOA on the ship, the Navy's second in the America class, concluded last week in San Diego, Naval Sea Systems Command said in a press release on Wednesday. The sea trials will involve performance validation, including "navigation, damage control, mechanical and electrical systems, combat systems, communications and...

President Joe Biden will display transgender flags at the White House on Wednesday to celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility, according to an official. White House Director of Political Strategy and Outreach Emmy Ruiz announced Biden would display the pastel pink and blue and transgender flag at the White House. “Imagine being a trans kid and feeling seen by the highest office in the land. And not just seen, but loved and cared for,” she wrote on social media. Biden also released a statement Wednesday to celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility. “Transgender Day of Visibility recognizes the generations of struggle, activism,...

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon on Wednesday will sweep away Trump-era policies that largely banned transgender people from serving in the military, issuing new rules that offer them wider access to medical care and assistance with gender transition, defense officials told The Associated Press.The new department regulations allow transgender people who meet military standards to enlist and serve openly in their self-identified gender, and they will be able to get medically necessary transition-related care authorized by law, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal decisions not yet made public.

Volkswagen of America issued false statements this week saying it would change its brand name to "Voltswagen," as a way to stress its commitment to electric vehicles, only to reverse course Tuesday and admit that the supposed name change was just a joke. Mark Gillies, a company spokesman, confirmed Tuesday that the statement had been a pre-April Fool's Day joke, after having insisted Monday that the release was legitimate and the name change accurate. The company's false statement was distributed again Tuesday, saying the brand name change reflected VW's switch to more battery-electric vehicles. Volkswagen's intentionally fake news release, highly...

Facebook and Instagram removed an interview with former President Donald Trump by his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, simply because it “featured Trump speaking” and the “voice of Donald Trump,” Facebook said in an internal email. As big tech companies continue their bid to cancel the ex-commander-in-chief, audio from the podcast “The Right View With Lara Trump,” was yanked from Facebook Tuesday night and reportedly later removed by Instagram. Lara Trump, who also contributes to Fox News, shared a screenshot of an email sent by a Facebook employee, saying the company would be taking down the interview.

An Italian navy officer has been arrested after being caught in the act of handing secret documents to a Russian military official, police say. The men were stopped by military police on suspicion of serious crimes relating to espionage and state security. The Russian, who reportedly worked at the Russian embassy in Italy, is expected to be expelled. The foreign ministry in Rome summoned Russia's ambassador Sergey Razov and then expelled two Russian officials. Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said the pair were "involved in this extremely serious affair". The Italian officer was identified as a navy frigate captain...

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A research team of international space scientists, led by Dr. Matthias van Ginneken from the University of Kent's School of Physical Sciences, has found new evidence of a low-altitude meteoritic touchdown event reaching the Antarctic ice sheet 430,000 years ago. Extra-terrestrial particles (condensation spherules) recovered on the summit of Walnumfjellet (WN) within the Sør Rondane Mountains, Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica, indicate an unusual touchdown event where a jet of melted and vaporized meteoritic material resulting from the atmospheric entry of an asteroid at least 100 m in size reached the surface at high velocity. This type of explosion caused...

A witness in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin said during testimony on Wednesday that he did not feel safe working at the nearby convenience store after witnessing the killing of George Floyd. Christopher Martin, 19, was a cashier at Cup Foods when Floyd was killed on May 25. He had sold Floyd the cigarettes that Floyd was accused of buying with counterfeit money, which led to the police being called. Floyd later died outside the store after police arrested him, and Chauvin pinned him to the street by putting his knee on Floyd's neck. Minnesota Assistant...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is contracting with Google, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, SnapChat, Twitter, and others to identify and surveil "dangerous dissidents." Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says "the need for a new focus was brought home by the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. The previous emphasis on jihadi terrorism was misplaced. At best, there are only a few thousand Islamic fanatics. As the November election showed, though, there are potentially as many as 74 million domestic terrorists willing to engage in violence at the biding of their deranged leader Donald Trump." "We are beginning by identifying Republican voters who...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has finally addressed the border crisis — but only to accuse anyone using the term “surge” of pushing a “white supremacist” philosophy. Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has repeatedly been accused of ducking the dangerously overcrowded migrant detention centers despite saying they were akin to “concentration camps” under the previous administration. She initially appeared outraged when asked during an Instagram Live ask-me-anything session why she was “not addressing the border crisis and the kids in cages like you used to” — asking after a pause, “Are you for real?” “It’s not a border crisis. It’s an Imperialism crisis, it’s a...

A 6-month-old girl dumped in the Rio Grande River earlier this month was rescued at the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, officials say. The rescue happened March 16 in Roma, a south Texas town about 105 miles from Monterrey, Mexico. The Texas Department of Public Safety said the infant’s mother suffered a broken leg when she was assaulted by smugglers in Mexico. Smugglers then threw the girl out of a raft and into the river, the department said. The woman paid smugglers $3,500 to cross the border, said Department of Public Safety Lt. Christopher Olivarez, KVEO reported. She and her baby...

Suzanna Gratia Hupp Testimony at The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence on March 23, 2021

MADISON — Unemployed Wisconsinites have complained about the state Department of Workforce Development’s lack of humanity during the state’s unemployment crisis. Audits have shown just how dysfunctional and disconnected Gov. Tony Evers’ DWD has been. Despite administration claims that things are improving, a DWD employee says the disconnect continues thanks in large part to Evers’ state government lockdown. The agency continues to require staff to work remotely “unless otherwise authorized and necessary” to meet “Mission Essential Functions.” The DWD employee, who works at a Job Center, says a year after the pandemic struck and Evers shut down state buildings to...

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Donald Trump and his team are "moving forward" with plans to start their own social media platform, sources familiar with the matter told Fox News. "We're moving forward," one source said Tuesday. "And President Trump will have his voice back one way or another." The source said they are "taking the time to do it right." "You have one shot at it," the source said. "We're dotting our Is and crossing our Ts— we'll be out with something." Trump senior adviser Jason Miller earlier this month hinted at the plans for Trump to create his own form...

A Philippine military plane with local journalists on board ignored repeated radio warnings to "stay away" and "leave immediately" on Tuesday as it flew low over contested reefs near where Chinese vessels were moored in the South China Sea. The incident occurred as hundreds of Chinese vessels believed to be manned by militias in the South China Sea have spread to a wider area, the Philippines said on Wednesday, defying its demand for the flotilla to be withdrawn immediately. Marine Major General Edgard Arevalo, spokesman for the Philippines' armed forces, dismissed Tuesday's warnings that came from Chinese military outposts on...

A Swedish pilot named Per-Olof Eldh, using a Viggen fighter jet, lined up with the Blackbird’s flight path and even gained full missile lock. ___________________________________________________________ The SR-71 Blackbird is a legendary plane, which had a long life that began in the 1960s and ended in the 1990s. The plane, considered the fastest ever to fly, was famously never shot down, although it did once have a close call with a meteor while flying over North Korea in the early 1980s. A recent report looked at another close call the SR-71 had, with an unlikely source: the Swedish Air Force, from...

hina is readying itself for American and Japanese involvement in any Taiwan Strait conflict, with recent warplane exercises around the island aimed at displaying its ability to isolate Taiwan from potential support, according to analysts in Beijing and Taipei. After 10 People's Liberation Army aircraft, including fighter jets and reconnaissance planes, flew sorties into Taiwan's air defense identification zone on Monday, a senior defense official in Taipei noted the "offensive posture" of the military exercise. Deputy Defense Minister Chang Che-ping described the waves of Chinese aircraft as part of a naval and air force "joint operation." The gesture by Beijing...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Rep. Matt Gaetz’s father, Don, a former Florida Senate president, said he is working with the FBI, including wearing a wire on more than one occasion as part of an investigation into an alleged extortion plot that the pair said was organized by former federal prosecutor David McGee. “The FBI asked me to try and get that information for Matt and an indication we would transfer money to Mr. David McGee,” Don Gaetz said in an interview late Tuesday, without specifying what information he was referring to. McGee, who is now in private practice with a Pensacola,...