Free Republic

China’s president, Xi Jinping, has heaped praise on Keir Starmer’s economic policy, as the UK prime minister used their first meeting to raise concerns about sanctions on MPs and the treatment of the pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai. During their conversation at the G20 summit in Rio, the first meeting between the UK and China’s leaders in six years, Starmer said he would be keen to host a full bilateral meeting with Xi and the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, in Beijing or London as soon as possible, aimed at turning the page on frosty UK-China relations. In a marked change of...

North Carolina sheriffs must comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer requests with the passage of House Bill 10 over Governor Roy Cooper’s veto Wednesday. The bill will also funnel more than $2 billion to the state’s Opportunity Scholarship school voucher program over the next decade — expanding the program to allow students of all income levels to receive taxpayer funding for tuition at private schools in the state. The state House of Representatives voted to override Cooper’s veto by a 72-44 margin Tuesday, with three Democrats joining all Republicans present in favor. On Wednesday, the state Senate followed suit,...

Our nation was founded on the basic idea that the people we elect run the government. That isn’t how America functions today. Most legal edicts aren’t laws enacted by Congress but “rules and regulations” promulgated by unelected bureaucrats—tens of thousands of them each year. Most government enforcement decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees but by millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections. This is antidemocratic and antithetical to the Founders’ vision. It imposes massive direct and indirect...

Voters in Cook County and Chicago appear to have booted another judge from the bench, this time in an apparent end to the judicial career of a man who famously changed his Eastern European name to one that sounded Irish, in an apparent bid to improve his chances to win election, but then was accused of living outside Cook County while serving as a judge on the county's bench, in an alleged violation of the law. On Nov. 20, with the deadline for counting late-arriving ballots in Illinois now passed, Cook County Judge Shannon O'Malley appeared to have fallen short...

Vladimir Putin has not been seen or heard from in the public eye since he made World War Three nuclear threats 12 days ago, sparking suspicion about his whereabouts. Rumours of Vladimir Putin's ill health have been swirling for years. The Russian President, 72, has not been seen in 12 days since he issued apocalyptic World War Three nuclear threats over the use of long-range Western missiles by Ukraine against Russian territory. It is unclear if the Kremlin dictator is unwell, on holiday or has simply chosen to remain out of sight. According to the Faridaily Telegram channel, which monitors...

Linda McMahon, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice as education secretary, incorrectly claimed in 2009 that she had a bachelor’s degree in education on a questionnaire for a Connecticut Board of Education post, according to news reports at the time.McMahon received a bachelor’s degree in French and a teaching certificate from East Carolina University, according to her alma mater’s announcement that she would deliver the 2018 commencement speech.The error on the questionnaire was reported by the Hartford Courant during her unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2010. She said at the time that she mistakenly thought her degree was in education...

Robert Bork really, truly wanted to be remembered as a great judge. And in 1987, he reached the apex of his career: President Ronald Reagan nominated him to succeed Justice Lewis Powell on the Supreme Court. He was so close! Alas, after his bitter, divisive (and ultimately unsuccessful) confirmation hearing, he became known for something else:/bôrk/ (verb): To obstruct or oppose someone, particularly a candidate for public office by systematically defaming or vilifying them. “We must Bork that guy!” said the Democrat.It’s unusual for a person’s name to be given the anthimeria treatment. (South Park’s “Faith Hilling” episode notwithstanding.) It’s...

Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham wrote to President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday offering him 1,402 acres of land in Starr County in the Rio Grande Valley sector near the southern border for his mass deportation operation of violent criminals who are illegally residing in the U.S.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher suggested no one is scared anymore to show their support for President-elect Donald Trump and that is what is being seen across the sports world. Several athletes, especially in the NFL and UFC, have been seen doing Trump’s dance in celebration. It really took off over the weekend at UFC 309 with the president-elect present for the night of fights along with Dana White and some of his Cabinet nominees. "People were scared for a while. You don’t want people to talk bad about you, how we’ve been talked about the last four...

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley raised major concerns with President-elect Trump’s decision to appoint former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his Cabinet. Haley criticized both picks on SiriusXM’s “Nikki Haley Live.” She condemned Gabbard’s comments on Russia’s war on Ukraine and her support of a pardon for Edward Snowden, who leaked U.S. intelligence. “After Russia invaded Ukraine, Tulsi Gabbard literally blamed NATO, our Western alliance that’s responsible for countering Russia,” Haley said. “She blamed NATO for the attack on Ukraine, and the Russians and the Chinese echoed her talking points and her interviews on Russian...

As Donald Trump assembles his economic team, a tension seems to have emerged between his desire to reassure Wall Street and his promise to push back against globalization by enacting sweeping tariff policies.Despite calling himself “a tariff man,” Mr. Trump has influential backers who would apparently like to see him forget his trade priorities. Elon Musk recently cheered tariff-cutting moves by President Javier Milei of Argentina. Some leading candidates for top economic posts in the new administration, such as the hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, as well as Mr. Trump’s pick for secretary of commerce, the Wall Street executive Howard...

Kemp argued that border policies under President Biden are 'outrageous'Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says justice was served after a judge gave the 26-year-old migrant from Venezuela who was convicted of murdering Laken Riley a life sentence. "I'm glad that justice was served, and it was swift and severe," the governor said in a Fox News Digital interview on Wednesday soon after a judge in Athens County, Georgia, convicted and then sentenced Jose Antonio Ibarra, a migrant who had entered the U.S. illegally. Kemp said the conviction and sentencing were "no surprise" and emphasized that Riley's murder was "a really tragic...

Midas is running a racist ad called "No More BS". See the image here. If you've seen enough recent TV ads, you should know which group is which. If you want to *do* something about this, take out a few minutes and call or email your local Midas shop. Let them know that you saw their ad and you won't be doing business with them anymore. Obviously, local outlets don't have any control over the ads Midas HQ runs, but enough of them will communicate back to Midas HQ that they might get the message.

People infected with the COVID-19 virus in 2020 may have double the risk for future heart attacks, strokes or premature death from any cause up to three years later – even if they never showed signs of severe illness, according to new research. The risk may be considerably higher in people hospitalized for COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic. The findings suggest that being hospitalized for COVID-19 in 2020 was a "coronary artery disease risk equivalent," conferring a higher risk for future heart attacks, strokes or death in people without a history of cardiovascular disease than the risk...

Daniel Alman from Squirrel Hill @DanielAlmanPGH Three people were murdered because #NewYorkCity gave concurrent sentences, instead of consecutive sentences, to a serial criminal named #RamonRivera. https://nypost.com/2024/11/18/us-news/suspected-madman-stabber-has-long-criminal-history-and-was-released-from-nyc-jail-just-one-month-before-deadly-spree/ #AlvinBragg #EricAdams #NYC #Trump #Biden #KamalaHarris #SoftOnCrime #Crime #Murder #News #Politics

I was not going to write any more election post-mortems based on the current data. California is still counting votes, and it will take months for the whole picture of the electorate to come into focus.But that hasn’t stopped chatter from strategists and politicians about the ways Democrats should change their candidates and messaging. There has been heavy emphasis on appealing to young men specifically, with many advising that the left should go about manufacturing its own Joe Rogan. One articulation of this viewpoint comes from Richard Reeves, who writes in an op-ed in The Boston Globe that Democrats shouldn’t...

Russia has begun serial production of mobile bomb shelters that can protect against a variety of threats including shockwaves and radiation from a nuclear blast. The emergency ministry's research institute said the "KUB-M" shelter could offer protection for 48 hours against these and other natural and man-made hazards. Among those it listed were: explosions and shrapnel from conventional weapons; falling debris from buildings; dangerous chemicals and fires. The "KUB-M" looks like a reinforced shipping container and consists of two modules - a room for 54 people and a technical block. More modules can be added if needed, the institute said.

Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi have moved to rural England, put their Montecito estate on the market and plan to never return to the United States, telling friends the election of Donald Trump was their primary motivation, a person close to the former TV host told TheWrap. Though the incoming Republican administration was the cited catalyst, a fresh start couldn’t hurt: DeGeneres has been open about being “kicked out of show business” after reports of toxic workplace behavior at the syndicated “Ellen” show in 2002. DeGeneres has already moved to the Cotswolds, a rural area in south-central England,...

The meltdowns I’ve seen by Kamala Harris supporters since Donald Trump exceeded all expectations and trounced her in the polls has been epic. They cannot fathom why over 73 million people flipped the lever for Trump over their savior. They are so out of touch with regular Americans that this election cycle should aptly be called their Bud Light moment. On April 1, 2023, Dylan Mulvaney, a man who calls himself transgender and dresses in women’s clothing, wears makeup, and had nearly 11 million social media followers, posted a clip advertising his partnership with Bud Light in conjunction with March...

There have been repeated clashes between the left and the center of the Democratic Party over the past 50-plus years, especially in the presidential nomination contests of 1968, 1972, 1984, 1992, 2016 and 2020. The post-election debate is now in full flower, with left-wing and centrist Democrats blaming each other for the loss.The selection of Kamala Harris, a woman of Black and South Asian ancestry as the nominee, might have accentuated the perception of the Democratic Party as more progressive on race and gender and made some voters feel alienated or concerned about the direction of the party.As my Times...