Free Republic

When it comes to spending and infrastructure, one of South Carolina’s great white whales rose from the deep with news last week that the Army Corps of Engineers approved a permit to begin work on the South Carolina leg of I-73. Ultimately, the interstate highway could take motorists from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula straight down to Myrtle Beach.The permit covers the whole state length, slicing across its northeastern corner, starting near Bennettsville. Construction could begin within two years, supporters say, on a project first contemplated in 1982.The southern half alone, linking I-95 to the Conway Bypass, is estimated to cost more...

The need to project a progressive environment is just as important as food and shelter to survive. A welcoming environment does not stop at the feet of individuals in particular spaces. A welcoming environment is also determined by its physical environment e.g., the use of artifacts in designated spaces. Some individuals may not see Thomas Jefferson’s statue in the quad as a form of oppression, but in higher education settings where highly conscious students are present, it is relatively easy to see and read such nonverbal messages. Burgoon, Guerrero, and Floyd (2010) suggested that “facial expressions, gestures, vocal behaviors, and...

The president’s job approval has inched upwards since Charlottesville, and a surprisingly high number of voters agree with his provocative rhetoric. The reaction after President Trump’s tepid response to the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville was swift and severe. One broadcast network devoted its entire nightly newscast to Trump’s chaotic press conference on Tuesday. The next day, The Economist portrayed the president screaming into a bullhorn shaped as a Ku Klux Klan hood on its cover—with other news magazines following suit. Many Republican officials have denounced the president in the sharpest terms since his election. Business leaders resigned from the president’s...

President Donald Trump’s tweet yesterday morning endorsing a primary challenger to Arizona senator Jeff Flake was hardly a surprise. Trump likes to call himself a counter-puncher, so from his frame of reference, Flake had been asking for it by not only consistently criticizing the president but also spending the summer promoting a book attacking Trump and the Republicans who haven’t stood up to him. But this is a move Trump and his party may come to regret. Trump wasn’t the only one annoyed by Flake’s Conscience of a Conservative and the accompanying tour. The senator’s attempt to cast himself as...

On Wednesday in Miami, Attorney General Jeff Sessions praised the recent decision of Miami-Dade County to end its sanctuary policy. At the same time, he criticized Chicago’s sanctuary policy and its filing of a federal lawsuit against the Justice Department in the wake of the Department’s denial of federal law enforcement grants to sanctuary jurisdictions. It’s been a long time coming. Sanctuary cities didn’t start in the 2010s. They didn’t start in the 2000s either. They started in the 1980s, with the most notorious case being San Francisco, which enacted its “City and County of Refuge” Ordinance in 1989. That...

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed an executive order late Friday halting demonstrations at Lee Monument in Richmond for the next 90 days. That order violates the First Amendment. “In spite of weeks of preparation, the city of Charlottesville was the target of an act of domestic terrorism that cost one woman her life, and had a helicopter accident lead to the deaths of two state troopers,” McAuliffe said in a statement that accompanied the executive order:

The Republican National Committee (RNC) expanded its massive fundraising lead over the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in July as the Democrats posted their worst July haul in a decade. The DNC raised just $3.8 million in July, compared to the $10.2 million raised by the RNC in the same month. While the GOP has no debt, the DNC added slightly to its debt in July, which now sits at $3.4 million. The Democrats haven't raised that little money in a July since 2007; the party raised $3.4 million in that month. The Hill obtained the RNC's fundraising numbers ahead of...

Sixty illegal immigrants who were comingled within a tractor holding produce were rescued by Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol Agents on Saturday. Agents referred a tractor trailer driver to secondary inspection after a dog alerted officials to the people who were laying on and within pallets of broccoli. The trailer's doors were secured with a padlock and the subjects had no means of escape. The trailer's temperature was 49 degrees Fahrenheit.

Christopher Columbus was a villain of history and his statue should be removed, according to demonstrators who gathered today before one of several statues of the man in this city that bears his name. The hastily scheduled event at City Hall — drawing more than 100 people and no apparent counterprotestors — was in response to the clashes last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, that resulted in the death of one woman. The protest there started in response to the city’s decision to take down statues of Confederate leaders. Organizers of the Columbus rally said they are trying to stand up...

• The "experts" are once again prematurely declaring President Trump's political demise. • By now, they should respect his resilience more and the polls a lot less. • Trump is safe as long as his political opponents remain even weaker. Welcome to the Donald Trump status reality check for dummies, part 276. It seems like the established political and punditry world needs many frequent reminders about President Trump's resilience every time he goes through a wounding incident like he is now with the beating he's taking over his response to the violent protests in Charlottesville last weekend. So here are...

ASHEBORO — A Friday afternoon accident at the Sunset Avenue overpass in Asheboro caused traffic to be rerouted in and around the area. The incident was reported at 1 p.m. when a dump truck driven by Jeffrey J. Friedmann of Winston-Salem was traveling northbound on Interstate 73/74. He had just left the McDonald’s construction site on Dixie Drive. Friedmann told officers he noticed that the dump bed of the truck was beginning to move, according to a report from the Asheboro Police Department. The dump bed of the 1995 Peterbilt truck struck the support beams of the overpass bridge, causing...

Twenty-five centuries ago, Chinese General Sun Tzu summarized an important principle of war: Knowing your enemy is essential to both avoiding defeat and achieving victory. Knowing the ideology of those who want to destroy you is absolutely essential to internal security, sound foreign policy, and military preparedness. Freedom, peace, and prosperity depend upon accurate knowledge, right interpretation, and right actions.The greatest threat to the United States and its Western allies today is the prevalent establishment Big Lie that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance that poses no danger to millions of lives, spiritual and intellectual truth, and freedom...

The scenario George Orwell created in his novel “1984”, seems less and less like fiction. Winston Smith, the main character, worked at the Truth Ministry where he “corrected” records. The internet was not yet the route where information flowed. It was newspapers, books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound tracks, cartoons, photographs and every kind of literature or documentation which might contain any political or ideological significance that were subject to “correction”. As soon as Winston’s “correction” was made, the original was destroyed. Day by day, and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. All written...

The US decision to sell 22 Sea Guardian drones to India at an estimated cost of $2 billion will create around 2,000 jobs in the US and “cement” bilateral ties, an American executive involved in the deal has said. “This should be viewed as a significant step in cementing the US-India bilateral defence relationship,” Vivek Lall, chief executive US and international strategic development, General Atomics, told the Atlantic Council on Friday. Lall echoed Senator John Cornyn, Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus, who tweeted, “Drone Sale Would Cement US-India Ties.” The announcement in this regard was made by Trump in...

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY The title is somewhat misleading. This essay is specifically written for young black Americans who believe or have absorbed the message that the ghetto and life on the margin are their destiny, that success is unattainable, and that dreams are only for white people. Before you are halfway through the essay, many of you will be condemning and ridiculing me as simplistic, unrealistic, and idealistic. I agree. But you ignore my message at your own peril. It is very demanding. Anything worth having is very demanding. Your friends may ostracize you and ridicule...

House Dem introduces measure urging Trump undergo mental exam By Cristina Marcos - 08/18/17 04:39 PM EDT A House Democrat introduced a resolution on Friday suggesting that President Trump undergo a physical and mental health exam to help determine whether he is fit for office. Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s (D-Calif.) resolution specifically calls on Vice President Pence and Trump’s Cabinet members to “quickly secure the services of medical and psychiatric professionals” to “assist in their deliberations” invoking the 25th Amendment, which outlines presidential removal procedures. It posits that such an examination by doctors would “determine whether the president suffers from mental...

The NRA Institute for Legislative Action picked up a potentially important court ruling coming out of Arizona this week which has mostly flown under the media radar. Under debate is a policy in Tuscon (along with other cities and counties) which mandates the routine destruction of guns which are confiscated from criminals or surrendered during “no questions asked” gun turn-in events. Since guns are items of value, the question is raised as to whether or not they can simply destroy and dispose of them rather than offering them for legal sale to subsidize taxpayer contributions to the city’s coffers. The...

President Donald Trump tweeted out support for his now former Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon on Saturday and for Bannon’s return to Breitbart News. “Steve Bannon will be a tough and smart new voice at @BreitbartNews,” wrote Trump. “…maybe even better than ever before. Fake News needs the competition!” The tweet came just one day after Bannon officially left his position at the White House and returned to his position as Executive Chairman of Breitbart News. Trump has long called out false and biased reporting in news outlets that he has called, “fake news.” Saturday morning Trump tweeted his...

The equation for the latest way to protect newborns from sudden infant death goes as follows: Technology + Smart, Practical Thinking = Greater Safety Credit doctors and nurses from three university medical schools for developing an ingeniously straightforward method that reinforces essential child care methods for sleep-deprived parents – at a time when they're most prone to overlook them. Specifically, these professionals determined, as stated in a news release announcing the findings, that a "series of educational videos delivered by text or email successfully encouraged new mothers to use safe sleep practices for their babies, reducing the risk of sudden...

Imran Awan and his brother Abid worked for several dozen Democratic U.S. Representatives, including several from California, according to a recent investigative report citing congressional staff data. CBS Los Angeles reported on Thursday (original links): Imran Awan was fired Tuesday by Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the same day he pleaded not guilty to a bank fraud charge in connection with a $165,000 home equity loan, authorities said.His brother Abid Awan, was employed earlier this year by Democratic Reps. Ted Lieu, Tony Cardenas, and nearly 30 more House Democrats as a “shared employee”, according to Legistorm, a website that tracks congressional employment....