Free Republic

The Italian left-wing “Five Star Movement” (M5S) received 3.5 million Euros (about $4 million) from Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez in 2010, the Spanish newspaper ABC revealed this week. The Five Star Movement is an Italian populist Leftist movement founded in 2009 by comedian Beppe Grillo and web strategist Gianroberto Casaleggio. The Movement is known to be Eurosceptic and environmentalist. According to the Movement’s website, it is “neither Left or Right-Wing, but for ideas” – most of which fall on the left side of the spectrum. ABC describes the party as having “ecological, anti-imperialist, and -Europeanist inspiration.” Casaleggio died in 2016;...

CMS updated its Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings in February, recognizing 293 hospitals with five stars. CMS' Hospital Compare website reports on quality measures for more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide. Here is a breakdown of the updated star ratings: One star: 282 hospitals Two stars: 800 hospitals Three stars: 1,264 hospitals Four stars: 1,086 hospitals Five stars: 293 hospitals The new star ratings come eight months after CMS postponed its July 2018 update for the second consecutive year due to methodology changes. The updated methodology includes removal of measures with statistically negative loadings and a change to how hospital-acquired infection...

Italy’s Matteo Salvini warned Saturday that no NGO-operated ships carrying migrants would be allowed to dock at Italian ports. “Italy no longer wants to be an accomplice of human traffickers and contribute to the business of illegal immigration,” Matteo Salvini, who leads the far-right League, said in a Facebook post on Saturday. More than 600 migrants are expected to reach Italian shores on Saturday on board Italian, British and U.S. military ships, according to a statement by the Italian interior ministry cited by La Repubblica. Salvini’s post specifically targeted NGO-operated two ships flying Dutch flags — which he described as...

It's up to David Petraeus now. One can argue the merits and the import of a civilian-led military (and find no disagreement here). But if General Petraeus had collapsed during that Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last month and not gotten back up, the war would be over. When he ascended to command in Iraq, with a name torn from ancient Rome and a plan pulled from the spirit of Frederick the Great (misattributed, "L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace!"), he brought order to chaos. Not just on the battlefield, but in living rooms, around water coolers, and on military bases the...

Marie Gardner, a past President of The Gold Star Mothers past away last friday and I thought others should know about her passing. What surprised me about this is, I did a search for an article and was dumbfounded...not a peep, nada,nothing in the news. A woman who met Presidents, spoke nationally, received awards...nothing! More can be found at the PGR site

Critics charge that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is abusing the perks of power by asking for a jumbo military jet with sleeping accommodations for her flights across the country. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Pentagon agreed to provide the speaker, who is second in the line of presidential succession, with a military plane for added security during trips back home. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, flew in a small commuter-sized Air Force jet. Pelosi wants a larger aircraft that can fly to her San Francisco district without stopping to refuel. Some sources are claiming that Pelosi...