Free Republic

Most critics agree that George Orwell's 1984 is a supremely great novel. But is it suitable for teenagers? After all, this book is a grim portrayal of a totalitarian dystopia, and for many readers, it is a traumatic experience. Several years ago, I argued that 1984 is too deep, dark, and unpleasant for high school students. Let's protect them. Now the political atmosphere has shifted wildly. High school students praise socialism and even communism as if they know all about them. These kids don't need to be protected; they need to be educated. I believe that Orwell wrote his beautiful...

Missouri R party chair and former state rep abandoned her district (MO 99) to become chair, then her candidate, a nice lady, lost to a Soros leftist. Party shirks responsibility. Josh Hawley is talking a good job, but he is responsible for the meltdown here - he essentially supported the corrupt leftist attack against Greitens. Now a young white leftist female who is running for governor has launched a scandal against Hawley just as Greitens is publicly cleared. Then the governor (Parson) announces this is his last race. How damn exciting these MO Repubicans are! What fighters. This makes me...

The liberal billionaire owner of Bloomberg News has spent less than one percent of his total net worth and has still topped a half-billion dollars in spending in an attempt to buy his way into the White House. 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg has now spent an enormous $509,512,884 on “all media types,” according to Advertising Analytics Feb. 24. That’s still not even one percent of Bloomberg’s entire current net worth at $59.4 billion, according to Forbes Magazine’s real-time net worth tracker. In addition, Bloomberg spent $15,059,000 on liberal outside spending groups this cycle.

by Joe Callen The Trump administration stunned Democrat lawmakers and immigration advocacy groups Wednesday, announcing it will waive federal contracting laws to greatly speed up construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Department of Homeland Security said waiving procurement regulations will allow 377 miles of new wall to be built far more quickly in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The 10 waived laws include requirements for having open competition, justifying selections and receiving all bonding from a contractor before any work can begin. By one estimate, the time to complete this huge section of wall could...

I’m no fan of alarmism, whether it be about energy, the environment or any other subject, but the situation for the domestic oil and gas industry has grown somewhat alarming over the past two months. Since early January the S&P Oil & Gas Index has plunged 32%. Investors appear convinced not just that there is oodles of oil in the world but that the spread of Coronavirus brings the risk of economic flatlining in the biggest growth market for oil — China. With the virus set to spread and the OPEC+ group running out of options to contain the oil...

During Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary debate in South Carolina, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders responded to members of the audience who booed him for his comments on Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. The controversy has gained steam in recent days after Sanders was forced to address comments he made in the 1980s regarding Castro, whom he claimed was not overthrown because he educated the Cuban people and gave them health care.

by Sheri Urban On Tuesday Roger Stone and his lawyers appeared in court to request a new trial after it was revealed the lead juror was biased and posted tweets attacking Trump and Roger Stone. Stone’s lawyers asked for a new trial after it was revealed jury forewoman Tomeka Hart lied to the Court during her testimony when she claimed she didn’t really know who Roger Stone was. During the proceedings today demon Judge Amy Berman Jackson complained about critical media reports on her outrageous conduct in the courtroom -- singling out popular FoxNews conservative Tucker Carlson for criticism....

Yesterday Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe taunted ABC News with the release of a new undercover video exposing the outlet’s agenda to mislead voters. And as he promised he delivered. A few moments ago James O’ Keefe from Project Veritas tweeted: Senior ABC correspondent David Wright reveals he is a “Socialist,” Admits bosses spike news important to voters, says ABC doesn’t ‘give Trump credit for what things he does do’ https://twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1232666696357437441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1232666696357437441&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rightjournalism.com%2Fvideo-james-okeefe-releases-his-fifth-bombshell-socialist-abc-reporter-exposes-abc-news-agenda-to-mislead-voters%2F https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZG1v5EcwUI&feature=emb_title Full Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZG1v5EcwUI&feature=emb_title ABC News has suspended correspondent David Wright “for unguarded remarks he made in a video by operatives of Project Veritas.” https://twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1232681908317933574?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1232681908317933574&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rightjournalism.com%2Fvideo-james-okeefe-releases-his-fifth-bombshell-socialist-abc-reporter-exposes-abc-news-agenda-to-mislead-voters%2F https://twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1232665793571237888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1232665793571237888&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rightjournalism.com%2Fvideo-james-okeefe-releases-his-fifth-bombshell-socialist-abc-reporter-exposes-abc-news-agenda-to-mislead-voters%2F This is...

Joe Scarborough caught a lot of flak from the left earlier this week for suggesting that Elizabeth Warren should drop out of the race. Just wait till Lieawatha loyalists get hold of what Scarborough & Co. said this morning about Warren's sustained attacks on Mike Bloomberg during last night's debate. The panel variously described Liz's arrows [ahem!] against poor Bloomie as "extreme, uncomfortable, bizarre, absurd."Get the rest of the story and view the

There wasn't much of a description on this. It's just a cool video where a FedEx driver stops to pick up and fold an American flag that fell over on a windy day. I believe this took place in New Jersey.

“Welcome to Fight Club. The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club.” And after last night’s cage fight that is a very good rule indeed. However there are actually eight rules of Fight Club: One does not talk about Fight Club. One DOES NOT talk about Fight Club. The fight is over once a person yells ''stop'', taps out, or goes limp. Only two guys are involved in a fight. Only one fight occurs at a time. No shirts, no shoes. There is time allotment associated with the fights. They go on until they...

Reposted from the Fabius Maximus Blog By Larry Kummer, Editor / 25 February 2020 Summary: Epidemics are like wars in that truth is the first casualty. I see comment threads in which misinformation makes most readers know less than when they started. Meanwhile, this blockbuster good news from China is lost amidst the chaff. First, a status report From WHO’s February 24 situation report. Outside China, there are 29 nations infected (1 new, 6 since Feb 3). There are 1,374 cases (261 new, 1,221 since February 3). This does not include the 695 infected and then quarantined on the Diamond...

February 26, 2020A 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.

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...

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...

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...

Ok, I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I watched the Democrat debate last night. What a damn circus. – I suppose the best thing to say about this one was that at least they didn’t spend ten minutes promising to ban fracking, blot the global landscape with millions of 700 ft. tall windmills, and use Unicorn breath to power their fantasy-based energy plans. But while the panel of pedantic CBS moderators at least spared us from that indignity, every other Democrat fantasy was played out once again for all to see on national television. Here are some of the highlights:...

Bernie Sanders is, to put it gently, either terminally obtuse, mentally unbalanced, or dangerously dishonest. That Sanders could’ve visited the Soviet Union during the Cold War and, with all of the evidence before him, come back extolling the country’s systems, programs, and infrastructure, reveals either stupidity on a galactic scale, certifiable delusion, or a willingness to perpetuate the greatest lie in modern history. Sanders could’ve saved the time and expense of the trip had he instead talked to someone like Nikolai Kirsanow who, years before Sanders’s captivating trip to the Soviet Union, escaped from the NKVD. Unlike the frontrunner for...

Wouldn't it make more sense at this point, and for the long term survival of their Party, to give it to Bloomberg? Why have the bad optics of Bernie Bros and Antifa thugs rioting in Milwaukee a la 1968 Chicago? Despite how many delegates Bernie scores, and whatever it takes to get him out, I really think the fix is in, and they're simply not going to let it happen. If Bernie gets the nomination, and proceeds to Election Day, the Democrat Party would slowly fold in on itself and implode - and the far left would be emboldened. AND...

By Hassan Mahmoudi Finally, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) blacklisted Iran on February 21; after three years of warning and giving Tehran additional time. In a statement, the FATF called for Iran to execute 10 articles, the most important of which was to identify and freeze the assets of terrorist groups in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions. FATF demanded the regime to express a transparent mechanism for reporting suspicious transactions to finance terrorist groups upon request. Ratification and implementation of the Palermo Convention on Combating Terrorism and Transparency of Iran’s Capacity for Legal Cooperation. Iran...