Free Republic

A Texas appeals court has ruled that the University of Houston does not have to pay the photographer of a picture it has been using in online and print promotional materials. Houston photographer Jim Olive says the university removed copyright markings from an image downloaded from his stock library, failed to credit him when it was used and wouldn’t pay when he sent a bill, but the university claims it has sovereign immunity and that it can’t be sued. The case surrounds an aerial image Olive shot from a helicopter hired specifically for making pictures for his library. In an...

Washington (AFP) - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed Sunday that the US will guarantee free passage through the vital Strait of Hormuz, as he accused Iran of recent attacks on oil tankers and the downing of a US drone. Pompeo confirmed in an interview with CBS that a US MQ-9 "Reaper" drone was shot down June 6 with a missile fired from Yemen "that we assess had Iranian assistance." Pompeo would not be drawn on what options the US is considering to protect shipping -- or to punish Iran -- in the wake of Thursday's attacks on two tankers...

with a new House Democratic majority with its own priorities — leaves the sides much farther apart than they were at this point in last year’s budget process, which ended in a record-long government funding lapse. At the time, Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress, but negotiations stalled over funding Trump’s immigration priorities. Trump and Congress face a trio of difficult budget issues. Congress must pass, and Trump must sign, funding legislation by Oct. 1 to avoid a new shutdown. They need to raise the federal debt limit around the same time, according to the latest estimates. Failure to do...

Earlier this week, Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) reintroduced the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act, which was previously introduced in the 113th Congress (2013-2015). The two-page bill would repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). If passed, it would open the floodgates of litigation targeting the firearms industry, as was the case prior to its passage.

On May 31, the cry went out from Times Square, New York City, to annihilate Israel and extend the terror war against the Jewish state to America. As they did in Beirut, Berlin, London, Tehran, and Dearborn, Michigan, Israel-haters gathered at Times Square to call for Israel’s dissolution on the day the Iranian regime has determined to be “Al Quds Day,” that is, Jerusalem Day. The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) posted a video of the event. In it, a series of speakers called over and over again for Israel’s annihilation, voiced support for terrorists and terrorism and called...

Youtube video of the brand new, made in China jet. Note this jet only currently has received approval to fly in three countries. So far... But this is (quite) significant.

“If Cuban troops and militia do not immediately cease military and other operations for the purpose of causing death and destruction to the constitution of Venezuela, a full and complete embargo, together with highest-level sanctions, will be placed on the island of Cuba,” ( Pres. Trump April 30, 2019.) “Trump administration bans cruises to Cuba in clampdown on U.S. travel-– The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed heavy new restrictions on travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens, including a ban on cruises, in a bid to further pressure the Communist island.” (Reuters, June 4, 2019.)

When Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) announced the launch of H.R.1384, “Medicare for All,” on the Capitol steps on Feb. 27, 2019, it was a major step toward a socialist America. Jayapal was surrounded by more than 100 supporters, many from groups such as National Nurses United, the Center for Popular Democracy, Our Revolution, Coalition of Labor Union Women, and the Labor Campaign for Single Payer. Appropriately, all of the organizations represented are controlled, or at least heavily influenced, by America’s largest Marxist organization, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which can quite rightly claim credit for the socialist single-payer movement...

Bill Whittle, Scott Ott, and Stephen Green on Right Angle discussion: Salon, ThinkProgress, Vox and other Progressive media outlets struggle to stay out of bankruptcy despite the growing popularity of socialism in the United States. Is this proof that free enterprise is a failed economic model when a good-hearted Progressive can't make a profit trying to destroy capitalism?

President Trump Opens a New Window. -- just days before his official campaign launch -- warned that stock markets will crash if he is not re-elected in the 2020 presidential election Opens a New Window. . “The Trump Economy is setting records, and has a long way up to go....However, if anyone but me takes over in 2020 (I know the competition very well), there will be a Market Crash the likes of which has not been seen before!” Trump wrote in a tweet on Saturday. Trump is expected to kick off his campaign on Tuesday in Florida. His tweet...

Search didn't turn this up. Inventiveness plus boldness equals progress. Liberal “activists” who want to revolutionize the nation’s energy resources demonstrate political moxie, but if their campaign to substitute renewable sources for fossil fuels — oil and gas — succeeds it will take more than happy thoughts to keep the lights on. Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, pledges to donate $500 million to a campaign to shutter the nation’s remaining coal-fired power plants by 2030. The billionaire told the Class of ‘19 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology the other day that his Bloomberg Philanthropies, in...

Part of Bernie Sanders’ apparent political appeal is his authenticity. He may be a socialist, but at least he’s honest about it. Then again, his speech on Thursday defining his idea of democratic socialism may begin to erode that reputation. The Vermont Senator presents himself as the ideological descendant of FDR, whom many seniors still revere and millennials incorrectly believe rescued America from the Great Depression. Medicare for All, a federal jobs guarantee and energy-industry takeover? Mr. Sanders says they are merely an extension of New Deal programs like Social Security, unemployment insurance and the Tennessee Valley Authority. “Like today,...

Gov. Steve Sisolak on Friday signed a multi-pronged gun control bill into law during an emotional ceremony in Las Vegas. “This is going to go a long way towards keeping our community safer,” Sisolak told reporters. “It’s reasonable.” Assembly Bill 291 bans bump stocks, which effectively convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic weapons. The devices were used during the Route 91 Harvest festival mass shooting to accelerate the gunfire that killed 58 people and wounded hundreds more. Sisolak fought back tears on Friday when talking about the tragedy. The act creates “red flag” laws to take guns from those deemed...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) announced on Thursday that they will introduce legislation in the House and Senate that would forgive up to $50,000 of each students’ college loan debt, which would help about 42 million people, according to a press release posted on Warren’s Senate website. “The legislation will significantly lessen the student debt crisis and help tackle the racial wealth gap,” the headline of the press release announcing the bills said. Warren, a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and Clyburn, House Majority Whip, both claim that the...

HONG KONG, June 15 (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Saturday indefinitely delayed a proposed law that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, in a dramatic retreat after anger over the bill triggered the city's biggest and most violent street protests in decades. The extradition bill, which would have covered Hong Kong's seven million residents as well as foreign and Chinese nationals there, was seen by many as a threat to the rule of law in the former British colony. Around a million people marched through Hong Kong last Sunday to oppose the bill, according to organisers...

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people jammed the busy downtown streets of Hong Kong to protest against the local government’s proposed bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland. The mass demonstration could well be the largest in Hong Kong’s history but the mainland’s official media has largely remained silent, except for a few outlets including the Global Times which accused the local opposition camp of colluding with “foreign forces” to fan chaos in Hong Kong to hurt the mainland. Blaming “foreign forces” for causing havoc in Hong Kong has always been the official mainland media’s default position...

(CNN) — Starting in 2020, Nevada employers cannot refuse to hire a job applicant for failing a marijuana screening test, making it the first state to pass such a law.....

In an op-ed from Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, former New York City prosecutor Linda Fairstein responded to the recent Netflix series on the Central Park Five, and accused its producer, Ava DuVernay, of fabricating words attributed to her character, played by Felicity Huffman, to portray her as a racist who was determined to convict the teens in the face of an alleged lack of evidence against them. Fairstein began the article, titled "Netflix's False Story of the Central Park Five," by declaring that the series, When They See Us, is "so full of distortions and falsehoods as to be an...

The Great Recession has officially been over for a decade. For many Americans, there’s little reason to celebrate. Many people’s finances haven’t recovered from the recession’s blows, according to a new survey by personal finance website Bankrate.com. “There are still tens of millions who are struggling to even get back to where they were before the economy took a turn for the worse,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com. More than half of Americans who were adults amid the Great Recession said they endured some type of negative financial impact, Bankrate found. And half of those people say...

President Trump asserted on Saturday there would be dire economic consequences should he lose the 2020 presidential race, leaning into his reelection slogan "Keep America Great." “The Trump Economy is setting records, and has a long way up to go....However, if anyone but me takes over in 2020 (I know the competition very well), there will be a Market Crash the likes of which has not been seen before! KEEP AMERICA GREAT,” he tweeted.