Free Republic

Tweet: "Puerto Rico is one of the most corrupt places on earth. Their political system is broken and their politicians are either Incompetent or Corrupt. Congress approved Billions of Dollars last time, more than anyplace else has ever gotten, and it is sent to Crooked Pols. No good!.... ...And by the way, I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to Puerto Rico!"

To make it on stage at the September Democratic presidential debate, candidates must have 130,000 unique donors and garner 2 percent or more in at least four polls approved by the Democratic National Committee. Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, progressive mega-donor Tom Steyer, and New Age author Marianne Williamson each met the donor requirement but will apparently fail to hit the polling requirement.

Prince Andrew's lawyers have raised doubts over the photograph showing him posing with sex slave accuser Virginia Roberts in 2001, it is claimed. The Duke of York's legal team are said to have asked to be shown the original image saying the royal has 'absolutely no recollection' of it ever being taken. Sources close to Andrew today said there are questions over the veracity of the photo, amid claims the hand round his accuser's waist does 'not look right.' Virginia Roberts Giuffre claimed in a 2015 lawsuit that she had sex with the prince when she was 17 during a...

Gold bars stamped with fake logos of major refineries have been circulated into the global market and landed in the vaults of JPMorgan Chase & Co. — part of a plot to launder smuggled or illegal specimens of the precious metal, according to a report. Bars worth at least $50 million stamped with the logos of Swiss refineries that did not produce them have been identified by all four of the country’s top gold refiners in the last three years, Reuters reported. They have been found in the vaults of JPMorgan, one of the major banks at the center of...

Honestly, the other 2020 Democrats might as well pack it in, because the presidential primary is over. CNN is now reporting that Danny Barefoot, oh yes, the Danny Barefoot, has finally made up his mind and has endorsed Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. "Some voters have decided that they have seen and heard enough and are now zeroing in on his or her top candidate," CNN host Brooke Baldwin announced before her interview of Barefoot Tuesday. "For Democratic strategist Danny Barefooot, his months of flirting with multiple candidates is over. After placing several Democrats in his top spot, Barefoot had decided...

Peter Schjeldahl’s essay ‘Renoir’s Problem Nudes‘ in The New Yorker has already attracted some portion of the contempt and ridicule it deserves. Here is my modest contribution to that task. According to Schjeldahl, Renoir ‘sparks a sense of crisis.’ ‘Who doesn’t have a problem with Pierre-Auguste Renoir?’ he asks in his opening gambit. Can we have a show of hands on that? Pace Schjeldahl, Renoir is such an immensely popular because his painting is essentially celebratory; he looked upon the world with an oeil bienveillant, glorying in its sumptuousness. There is great intensity in some of Renoir’s portraits, but very...

They made chop suey of the health regulations. Just hours after being busted for washing down kitchen equipment in a local lake, a Chinese restaurant was open for business. Employees of No. 1 Chinese Restaurant in suburban Nashville, Tenn., were caught washing everything from pots and rags to grill tops at a boat dock at nearby Old Hickory Lake — a popular recreation spot — NewsChannel5 reported. A series of videos showing the restaurant’s organic approach to food safety was shared first on Facebook and then with the health department, which quickly sent an inspector to the scene Tuesday.

The long-running legal battle between the Los Angeles Times and former sports columnist T.J. Simers closed its latest chapter Monday when a jury in Los Angeles awarded him $15.4 million in damages over the age- and disability-discrimination lawsuit he filed in 2013. That year, Simers suffered what was then diagnosed as a mini-stroke while covering spring training in Arizona; eventually it was determined he has complex migraine syndrome. After his medical incident, Simers claimed the Times cut his thrice-weekly column down to two, citing several that were “poorly written or reflected poorly” on the newspaper, and began giving his columns...

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich told CNN Tuesday night that he doesn't see any path "right now" to beating President Trump in the Republican primary. He noted that "that doesn't mean there wouldn't be a path down the road... But right now, I don't see it."

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a lawsuit on behalf of a County of Santa Clara, CA, taxpayer to overturn a policy that protects aliens in Santa Clara County’s custody from removal proceedings by federal immigration authorities. The taxpayer lawsuit, filed on behalf of Howard Myers, is against Laurie Smith, sheriff of Santa Clara County and Carl Neusel, acting chief of correction of Santa Clara County ( Howard A. Myers v. Laurie Smith et al. (No. 19-CV-353510)). Santa Clara County Board Policy 3.54(B) requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to obtain a “judicial arrest...

Costco has built a cult following in the United States — now it's China's turn. The country's first Costco store is so popular that it had to shut down early on its first day because of too many shoppers. The retailer opened its first physical outlet in Shanghai on Tuesday morning, and it quickly got too crowded to stay open. "The store has been clogged up with crowds," Costco said in a text message alert to its members in China. "To provide you with better shopping experience, Costco will suspend business in the afternoon. Please don't come." Police were deployed...

Via Joel Pollak, a stumper from an event in South Carolina. What’s the politic answer to give here if you’re a modern right-thinking “kill ’em up to the moment of crowning” liberal? Clearly the answer Beto wants to give, the one that’s consonant with left-wing thinking, is “No, your life had no meaning until you were born.” But that’s a tough thing to say to someone’s face when he’s asking about his own life specifically. The less abstract and more concrete questions about abortion get, the more uncomfortable they are. So no, O’Rourke won’t say that. “Of course I don’t...

Councilman Argues Power Washers are Racist, Since Hoses Used Against Blacks in Past Seattle has a human feces problem on their streets and sidewalks. But the city council cannot agree on how to remove the crap.Councilmember Larry Gossett Councilmember Larry Gossett says power-washing the sidewalks bring up images of using hoses against civil rights activists. The Seattle News reported: Some committee members expressed concern about addressing the symptoms of the area’s problems without getting to the cause. Councilmember Larry Gossett said he didn’t like the idea of power-washing the sidewalks because it brought back images of the use of hoses...

The Russian capital has been the site of the biggest anti-government protests in years after authorities last month barred more than a dozen opposition politicians from taking part in a Moscow city election. Police have briefly detained over 2,000 people, sometimes violently, at rallies that the authorities said were illegal. “The main task at the job is to protect public order and ensure public safety at mass gatherings in Moscow,” reads the National Guard’s ad posted on Russia’s HeadHunter job site on Monday. The recruits will be required to “suppress ... uprisings, public-order crimes committed by groups and mass pogroms.”...

More than three months after President Trump granted his attorney general unprecedented power to declassify intelligence files, key U.S. intelligence agencies are still withholding documents related to the Trump-Russia affair... The source of the logjam: the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which Trump is in the process of shaking up after the resignations last month of its director, Dan Coats, and principal deputy, Sue Gordon. “Establishment” officials in that agency are still dragging their feet... Sources who have seen the documents generally described their contents to RealClearInvestigations. They said the material still under wraps includes: Evidence that President...

Over the last few weeks, we've been exploring the competing narratives about the US economy -- with the White House insisting that all is well, as many in the media hype up the possibility of a coming recession.  My general conclusion at this point has been that while there are some soft spots and genuine warning signs, the economy's fundamentals remain quite strong.  Unemployment has been quite low, the job market has been quite robust, and wage growth has broken free from years of frustrating stagnation.  We also recently received positive news on other indicators, including productivity, retail sales, and...

Before Joe Biden jumped into the 2020 race, this very columnist wrote a piece headlined: “Biden will run and Biden will win.” The premise of the brilliant piece was that while all the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination moved hard left — offering socialist programs like free health care and free college and pushing trillion-dollar projects and 70% tax rates — Biden would waltz in, play the sane moderate, be embraced by the mainstream media, and sweep to victory. It all may still happen, but he’s certainly not running away with the race (one recent poll showed him statistically...

Prosecutors initially said the fire killed eight women and 15 men and injured 13 people. López Obrador said the death toll had risen to 25, but did not specify the gender of the victims or the number of injured. There was no immediate information on their condition. Veracruz state police said the Tuesday night attack targeted the “Bar Caballo Blanco,” though the bar’s name was in English on a sign outside: “The White Horse Nightclub.” It advertised “quality, security and service,” private rooms for $7.50 “all night,” ‘‘sexy girls” and a pole dance contest. Photos of the scene showed tables...

GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson to resign at end of year BY JORDAIN CARNEY - 08/28/19 10:41 AM EDT GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson to resign at end of year GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson (Ga.) announced Wednesday that he will step down from the Senate at the end of the year, citing health issues. "After much prayer and consultation with my family and my doctors, I have made the very tough decision to leave the U.S. Senate at the end of this year. I have informed Georgia Governor Brian Kemp today that I will resign my Senate seat effective December 31, 2019,"...

The owner of a San Francisco restaurant famous for hosting politicians claimed Sen. Bernie Sanders lost his vote in the 2020 presidential election after the Vermont Democratic candidate was “rude and cranky” to his servers, a report said. John Konstin, who owns the 111-year-old John’s Grill, told Politico many Democrats dined at his bistro while the Democratic National Committee was in town for a three-day event over the weekend. Sanders arrived for dinner with about 15 members of his campaign team and was not nice to any of the staff and didn’t want to shake hands or have his picture...