Free Republic

US District Judge Maryellen Noreika on Wednesday agreed to formally drop a gun charge against Hunter Biden after a new indictment replaced his collapsed plea deal. Recall that Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal collapsed in July after Judge Maryellen Noreika realized Hunter’s lawyers were trying to pull a fast one on her. Hunter was only charged with two misdemeanors related to tax fraud and would have avoided prison time on a felony gun charge. Prosecutors went easy on Hunter and handled the gun charge as a “diversion case.” The lawyers slipped Hunter’s blanket immunity in the pre-trial diversion agreement so...

The temporary order will be in place for three weeks through Dec. 20 and will allow essential and emergency workers, and those securing or providing essential and permitted services, to leave their homes, the county said in a news release. On Nov. 17, Los Angeles County established thresholds for additional actions if the five-day average of cases reach 4,500 or more or hospitalizations are more than 2,000 per day. Currently, the five-day average of new coronavirus cases is 4,751. On Friday health officials reported 24 new COVID-19 deaths and 4,544 new cases. Health officials said because cases remain at “alarming...

Chicago’s Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot threatened citations and arrests for those who failed to comply with stay-at-home orders and held parties instead. “I’m not playing. Stay home (your own home). Save lives,” Lightfoot tweeted along with a video of her statement Saturday. Lightfoot was previously criticized for getting a haircut — and taking a photo with her stylist that ignored social distancing recommendations — despite the fact that she was telling her constituents to stay home.

Last Friday, on a quiet residential street at 6 in the morning, the neighborhood exploded in light, noise and terror. Seventeen SUVs and two armored vehicles arrived in front of one house. Each vehicle had sirens blaring and lights flashing. The house, which abutted a canal, was soon surrounded by 29 government agents, each wearing military garb, each carrying a handgun and most carrying high-powered automatic rifles. In the canal were two amphibious watercrafts, out of which more heavily armed government agents came. Circling above all this was a helicopter equipped with long-range precision weaponry and high-powered spotlights. Four agents...

Pilate: What is truth? in "The Passion of the Christ" OUR FAITH IN ACTION The Pontius Pilate of "The Passion of the Christ" is a more multi-dimensional man than traditionally portrayed in film. Not just a mean-spirited bureaucrat, he is an all-too-human proxy for modern man. Sadly, we may see a little of Pilate in ourselves. A product of the Roman military, Pilate is a "results-oriented" ruler who finds himself in a most uncomfortable situation; he must determine Christ's fate. Should he give the enemies of Christ the blood they desire? Should he stand up for the rights of an...

Don't know if you saw the TV news clip last week about Barbara Boxer admonishing a Brigadier General because he addressed her as Ma'am and not Senator before a Senate hearing. Anyway this is a letter from a Guard Aviator and Captain for Alaska Air Lines. He hits the nail directly on the head. Maybe we all should send a copy of this letter to the SENATOR Here is my final draft to Barbara Boxer. Please give it your widest dissemination. I want the world to know at least one scoundrel who masquerades as a wise solon and a congress...

When summit talks between Japan and the United States were recently held at US President George W Bush's Texas ranch, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi put emphasis on the need for "communication and pressure" toward the most worrying factor in East Asia, North Korea. In Japan there has been a general public displeasure with the soft line on North Korea by Japanese diplomacy and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party; therefore, commentators and the public were overjoyed with the prime minister's tougher remarks. However, the diplomatic councilor, Hitoshi Tanaka, was stubbornly opposed to the word "pressure" and demanded and conspired to have...