Free Republic

It all started with a self-important official at the National Archives and Records Administration. Or at least that’s the official story. In May 2021, William Bosanko, NARA’s chief executive officer, noticed two presidential documents were missing from the Trump Administration: the letter Barack Obama wrote to Donald Trump and correspondence between Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. In addition, Bosanko told members of the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year, “there were multiple high-visible items” that Trump’s team did not turn over to the archives. “There was a whole list of items that we were telling them, the...

National test scores plummeted for 13-year-olds, according to new data that shows the single largest drop in math in 50 years and no signs of academic recovery following the disruptions of the pandemic. Student scores plunged nine points in math and four points in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often regarded as the nation’s report card. The release Wednesday reflected testing in fall 2022, comparing it to the same period in 2019, before the pandemic began.

Handguns have been shown to be effective tools when used to defend against bears. Seven years ago, whether handguns were effective when used to defend against bears was in dispute. In October 2016, someone on the Internet claimed pistols were ineffective as a bear defense. He claimed there were “legions” of incidents where they failed. He failed to provide a single documented case where a handgun, when fired in defense against a bear, failed to stop the attack. A group of people I worked with and I started to look for instances where pistols were fired in defense against a...

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has released the records of its transgender patients to the Tennessee Attorney General in response to an investigation. VUMC said the state was investigating billing for transgender care services provided to individuals enrolled in State-sponsored insurance plans. The Attorney General's office confirmed Tuesday it launched a probe into the medical school for potential medical billing fraud. The state requested medical records from January 1, 2018, to the present, and VUMC started providing relevant records in December 2022. In a letter the clinic told patients that their records were handed over on the 'assurance that the records...

For those working for the FBI, particularly in the Hoover building or the Washington Field Office, allow me to offer a little career advice: Quit. Anyone who cares about law enforcement, the rule of law, and the Constitution, should not associate with the criminal gang that the bureau is quickly becoming. If you want to terrify innocent Americans, scoff at Congress, and lie to courts, then the FBI is the right place for you. Those who care about their reputations for integrity should flee the FBI as quickly as possible. Legitimacy in a republic originates with the consent of the...

“The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment is he didn’t know it was there,” Biden said. “That’s a great embarrassment for dictators,” he added, “when they didn’t know what happened.” The riposte from Beijing was swift. Mao Ning, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Biden's comments were "extremely absurd and irresponsible, seriously contradicting the basic facts." He accused the president of "seriously violating diplomatic protocol and seriously infringing on China’s political dignity, which is an open political provocation."

KENTFIELD, California/BEIJING (Reuters) -- China hit back on Wednesday after U.S. President Joe Biden referred to President Xi Jinping as a "dictator," saying the remarks were absurd and a provocation, in an unexpected spat immediately following efforts by both sides to lower tensions. Biden's comments came just a day after top U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing to stabilize bilateral relations that China says are at their lowest point since formal ties were established. Attending a fundraiser in California, Biden said Xi was very embarrassed when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was blown off course over U.S. airspace...

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Inmates had complained for weeks they were being threatened by gang members at a women's prison in Honduras. The gang fulfilled those threats, slaughtering 41 women, many of them burned, shot, or stabbed to death.

ATLANTA — The state elections board now says it found no evidence of any election fraud at State Farm Arena during the November 2020 election. Former President Donald Trump and his associates pointed to State Farm Arena as part of their allegations saying it was the center of voter fraud. Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray has learned that the state elections board now wants to send a letter of apology to two elections workers targeted by conspiracy theorists. The state election board decision was unanimous and comes after looking at the results of a lengthy two-year investigation by Secretary...

... After becoming a major market, Saudi Arabia is hitting back, ending a moratorium on the death penalty for drug cases and launching a zealous crackdown. The result is at least 20 executions for drug offences since last year, according to an AFP tally, and a sharp rise in arrests. ... While alcohol is illegal in the conservative country, it is also believed to be the world's biggest market for captagon, which is used by wealthy Saudis as a party pill and by workers to stay awake during long shifts. While previous anti-drug campaigns targeted smuggled shipments, mainly from Syria...

... With the ratcheting up of Western sanctions against Russia, many countries in the southern hemisphere have expressed a desire to reduce their dollar dependency. Not least among these has been the disclosure that Saudi Arabia and Brazil will use the RMB for bilateral trade with China. In both cases, China enjoys considerable monopsony power, being the largest importer of hydrocarbons, soy products and iron ore. Despite the speculation, China’s progress appears limited. According to SWIFT data, transactions denominated in RMB accounted for less than 1.5% in December 2022 — slightly more than those denominated in Australian dollars and less...

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican who is also running for governor, secured a pledge from JPMorgan Chase that may help protect conservatives from the threat of “debanking”—when banks cut off services over the religious or political stance of a customer, including nonprofits. Cameron slammed the “hypocrisy that we see from big businesses.” Speaking with “The Daily Signal Podcast,” Cameron notes that corporations “will promote the ideas and the agenda of the far Left, but they remain quiet or dismissive of protecting the First Amendment rights of religious organizations and—dare I say—the majority of Americans who firmly believe that...

"Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man" (James 2:5-6). Showing favoritism to the rich is inconsistent with God’s choice of the poor. Wealth and poverty are not necessarily spiritual issues. Many wealthy people are godly Christians and many poor people are unbelievers. But generally speaking, God has chosen poor people to populate His kingdom. Jesus said, "It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven....

If you are suffering, it may be that God is working things out for you in his own way. It is most often the sovereign work of our God unfolding a master plan known only to him. Through all the suffering of God’s people, he is at work. Study your Bible, and you will discover these same patterns in the lives of all of God’s people. In case after case, when God began to fulfill his promise, the roof seemed to cave in first! Think of Daniel and the three Hebrew children. They gave themselves to a life of holiness...

Former Virginia state Sen. Glen Sturtevant was projected to narrowly defeat incumbent state Sen. Amanda Chase, who has described herself as “Trump in heels,” in the GOP Virginia state senate primary Tuesday. The Associated Press called the race for Sturtevant around 8:55 p.m. ET. He previously served as a senator for the state Senate representing the 10th district until 2020 after he lost his reelection bid to Democrat Ghazala Hashmi in 2019. The state of Virginia redrew boundaries due to redistricting, making the primaries the first election with its newly formed districts. Sturtevant defeated Chase, the incumbent of the 11th...

The director of marine operations at OceanGate, the company whose submersible went missing Sunday on an expedition to the Titanic in the North Atlantic, was fired after raising concerns about its first-of-a-kind carbon fiber hull and other systems before its maiden voyage, according to a filing in a 2018 lawsuit first reported by Insider and New Republic.David Lochridge was terminated in January 2018 after presenting a scathing quality control report on the vessel to OceanGate's senior management, including founder and CEO Stockton Rush, who is on board the missing vessel.According to a court filing by Lochridge, the preamble to his...

Legislation to prohibit compelled speech in state hiring decisions, vetoed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, was overridden in the Senate and sent to the House on Tuesday. It was one of four veto overrides that moved across the hall to the House. Override votes have not yet been scheduled in the House. In North Carolina, a veto override can be done with three-fifths, or a supermajority, in favor in each chamber. If all are present, Republican representation totals exactly that – 30 for the Senate, 72 for the House. The Grand Old Party is on the cusp of making it...

Video at OMG. Link at #2 below. James O’Keefe and O’Keefe Media Group on Tuesday dropped their biggest story yet. OMG released footage of a BlackRock recruiter Serge Varlay spilling the beans on the company’s world impact. ..... “These guys run the world,” Varlay said.

A New Zealand high school maths teacher has had his teaching license cancelled for refusing to call his Year 10 student by her preferred name and pronouns. The New Zealand teaching council’s Complaints Assessment Committee charged the teacher with serious misconduct for not calling the student by a male name and he/him pronouns, a charge the teacher denies. “I have been accused of serious misconduct and deny this charge,” he wrote in his submission to the Teacher’s Tribunal (pdf). “On the contrary, I believe I would be guilty of serious misconduct and child abuse if I was to call the...

In a controversial move, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has announced her decision to skip Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the US Congress during his ongoing state visit to the United States. Omar, who has been accused of hinduphobia by various Hindu groups in the US, cited concerns over the Indian government's treatment of religious minorities and alleged support for Hindu nationalist groups.