Free Republic

Imagine being told to do an assignment by your boss and instead of following orders or having a conversation about why you cannot complete the job, you simply stood up and turned your back on him. You would probably be fired, right? Well, not if you work for the federal government. Yesterday, a group of federal employees literally stood up and turned their backs on Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue after being told they would be relocated to Kansas. The Hill reports that Sec. Perdue "announced Thursday that two of the Department of Agriculture’s research agencies, the Economic Research Service...

A Chinese-owned company is making circuit boards for the top-secret next generation F-35 warplanes flown by Britain and the United States, Sky News can reveal. Exception PCB, a printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer in Gloucestershire, south west England, produces circuit boards that "control many of the F-35's core capabilities", according to publicity material produced by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). This includes "its engines, lighting, fuel and navigation systems", it said. When asked about the firm's Chinese ownership, the MoD said Exception PCB is an established manufacturer of circuit boards to the defence industry and presents "no risk" to...

2018 saw its fair share of hoax crimes. Fortunately, for those who were targeted, the truth is likely to come out. Take a look at some of the wild claims in 2018 that were later discovered to be hoaxes. (See article, at the link)

Over the last year, it seems as if more campus hate crimes turned out to be hoaxes than legitimate acts of hate. Schools tended to be fertile ground for overzealous students looking to prove there is hate where none exists. These 17 examples show 2017 continued to be a year in which hate-crime hoaxes are an epidemic with no end in sight. (Just to note some of these)

PRESIDENT TRUMP'S detractors are trying to play down the significance of the U.S.-Mexico immigration deal, saying it is largely comprised of actions that Mexico had already agreed to many months ago. Nice try. If Mexico had truly agreed to implement many of these measures in December, then why had they not been implemented six months later? As even Mexican officials acknowledge, it was Trump's threat of tariffs that forced Mexico's hand. In announcing the deal, a relieved Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the "most important thing is that they didn't apply tariffs and we didn't experience an economic slowdown."...

Rising support for socialism in the United States comes at a time when politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., promise a great many “free” services, to be provided or guaranteed by the government. Supporters often point to nations with large social programs, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Scandinavian states, particularly when it comes to health care. Never mind that these are not true socialist countries, but highly taxed market economies with large welfare states. That aside, they do offer a government-guaranteed health service that many in America wish to emulate. The problem for their argument is that,...

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $99.4 billion HHS appropriations bill with several amendments including reversing a longtime ban on developing a national patient identifier, money for hospital emergency departments dealing with opioid overdoses, and a nod to the anti-vaccination controversy. For decades, Congress has prohibited HHS from funding the development or promotion of any national program where patients would receive permanent, unique identification numbers. Lawmakers previously argued such a program could violate privacy issues or raise security concerns, while the medical community and insurers claimed the ban kept them from properly matching patients with the correct medical information....

We all know what the relationship between environmental activists and the oil and gas industry is like. It’s an endless series of demands that we stop using fossil fuels. Reduce emissions. Keep It In The Ground! You know the story. So is there anything that can bring these two, diametrically opposed groups together? Turns out there is, and it’s the EPA’s decision (vocally supported by President Trump) to allow year-round sales of E15 ethanol-blended gasoline. But wait, you’re probably thinking. Don’t environmental activists support biofuels? Well… yes. At least for the most part. But they also know that burning ethanol...

America's interstate highway system, launched more than 60 years ago, now carries far more vehicles than it was originally built for and is in dire need of repairs and improvements. The U.S. has "taken a generation off" from investing in infrastructure, says Brian Pallasch, director of government relations at the American Society of Civil Engineers. And with Americans driving more than ever before, that's leading to problems like frustration-inducing congestion and costly car repair bills. "The roadways that we drive on every day put quite a toll on our vehicles," Pallasch tells Here & Now. "The average driver ... faces...

Maryland’s Board of Public Works approved the state’s use of private companies to widen highways in the Washington suburbs, but agreed to delay work on the Capital Beltway after running into opposition. The vote came during a lengthy and tense meeting Wednesday on Gov. Larry Hogan’s plan to enlist the private sector to widen the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270. The private contractors would recoup their investment through tolls charged on drivers who use the new lanes. The Hogan administration has sold the plan — known as a “public-private partnership” or P3 — as a way to alleviate traffic congestion...

A date for at least a bit of congestion relief has been set for commuters on I-405 between Bothell and Lynnwood. During the last session, state legislators approved the bonding of I-405 toll revenue, allowing the build-out of at least one highway project to begin sooner. Construction to widen I-405 between highways 522 and 527, which will add another express toll lane in each direction, will now start by 2021, according to Craig Smiley, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Transportation. The project also includes building direct access ramps from Highway 522 onto the express toll lanes, and...

WASHINGTON - Connecticut Democrats on Capitol Hill for the most part walk a fine line on proposed highway tolls, calling for more robust federal infrastructure spending but sidestepping clear support for Gov. Ned Lamont’s controversial measure. “Once the General Assembly and the Governor come to an agreement on how best to fund state transportation projects moving forward, I will work with state leaders in any manner necessary to further the goal of improving Connecticut’s infrastructure,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee. Recommended Video Lamont’s strongest supporter in Washington by far is Sen....

Trump in testy exchange with Stephanopoulos: ‘You’re being a little wise guy’ – Video Just Released “Wait a minute. I did answer questions. I answered them in writing,” Trump said “Not on obstruction,” Stephanopoulos replied. “George, you’re being a little wise guy, OK, which is, you know, typical for you,” Trump hit back. “Just so you understand. Very simple. It’s very simple. There was no crime. There was no collusion. The big thing’s collusion. Now, there’s no collusion. That means … it was a setup, in my opinion, and I think it’s going to come out,” he continued.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iranian military fast-boats in the Gulf of Oman are preventing two privately owned tug boats from towing away an oil tanker damaged in attacks on Thursday, a U.S. official said on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The U.S. official did not say how the United States knew of the reported standoff between the Iranian fast-boats and the tug boats, which were trying to tie up and tow away the Norwegian-owned Front Altair. The United States blames Iran for Thursday’s attacks against the Altair and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous.

Police can be sued for damages when their car chases lead to the death or injury of third parties, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday, overturning its own landmark 1952 decision that had granted blanket immunity to police after a crash. In the case at hand, the high court allowed the children of Luis Gonzalez to return to Fayette Circuit Court and sue Scott County Sheriff Tony Hampton and Deputy Sheriff Jeremy Johnson for damages related to his death. Gonzalez, 62, died in 2014 when a suspected drug dealer being chased by Johnson crashed head-on into his vehicle on Georgetown...

The import price index FELL 0.3% last month. It's down 1.5% for the year. That didn't stop NPR (and many other news sources) from doing an extended story about how tariffs on Chinese goods are hurting the poor. Even the Drudge Report had screaming headlines about how rising costs from the tariffs had ALREADY (just weeks in) cost U.S. consumers more than they'd made from the Trump tax cuts. American Public Media host Kai Ryssdall (who sounds to me exactly like the guy from the old "You Don't Know Jack" video game), hosts "The Market Report." He has spent nearly...

The Treasury Department reported a $208 billion deficit for the month of May — which is $61 billion higher than May 2018. To put that in perspective, the deficit for the entire year of 2007 was $161 billion. In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, red ink has already reached $738 billion. Even adjusting for inflation, the total annual federal deficit has exceeded that only six times in the nation’s history (five of them under President Obama). Not surprisingly, the Republican tax cuts are taking the blame for this year’s extraordinary deficits. But wait a minute. Overall...

Back during the actual Cold War, President Ronald Reagan famously promoted the idea of building what was called the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or as it was more commonly known, the “Star Wars missile shield.” The idea was so named because its core idea of using lasers and/or particle beams fired from a massive space-based satellite orbiting the Earth bore more than a passing resemblance to the Death Star from the Star Wars franchise. That Cold War has passed, and for that matter, so has the idea of the SDI, which even at its most concrete, was more a proposal...

U.S. officials have told Fox News that the crew of one of the two stricken oil tankers damaged outside the Persian Gulf were detained by the Iranians Thursday after first being rescued by another merchant vessel. The crew of the Front Altair was first rescued by the Hyundai Dubai, according to U.S. officials, but Iranian gunboats quickly surrounded the ship and demanded the crew be turned over. The captain ultimately relented and ordered his crew to surrender. The 23 crew members are now being held in Iran. It’s not immediately clear what the next steps are. Pictures and footage from...

The U.S. military’s Central Command has released a video and some still photographs on June 14 that it says shows Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the oil tankers that was targeted near the strategic Strait of Hormuz on June 13, suggesting that Iran sought to remove evidence of its involvement from the scene. U.S. Central Command spokesman Bill Urban released the black-and-white footage and two still color photographs. The military says the video shows an IRGC Gashti Class patrol boat approaching the Kokuka Courageous “and was observed and recorded removing (an) unexploded...