Free Republic

A (mostly) daily posting for those interested in history and the day to day news, politics and culture of a bygone world; the full edition of the New York Tribune from today's date in 1896 (digitized).

Flying across the Pacific on an Air Force jet bound for Beijing, first lady Hillary Clinton huddled deep into the night with a few aides and advisers, honing her speech for the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women. It was 1995, and it had been a bruising first few years in the White House: Troopergate, Travelgate, Whitewater. Not to mention the failure of her own high-profile efforts — unprecedented for a first lady — to reform the nation's health care system. Even her trip to China provoked controversy. There were objections in some quarters to a first lady wading into...

1991 was a very good year for rock music. This is the debut album for Pearl Jam and an essential disc that defined a genre.

Located in southern Illinois, eight miles from present-day St Louis, it was probably the largest North American city north of Mexico at that time. It had been built by the Mississippians, a group of Native Americans who occupied much of the present-day south-eastern United States, from the Mississippi river to the shores of the Atlantic. Cahokia was a sophisticated and cosmopolitan city for its time. Yet its history is virtually unknown by most Americans and present-day Illinoisans. ... Its mix of people made Cahokia like an early-day Manhattan, drawing residents from throughout the Mississippian-controlled region: the Natchez, the Pensacola, the...

A (mostly) daily posting for those interested in history and the day to day news, politics and culture of a bygone world; the full edition of the New York Tribune from today's date in 1896 (digitized).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUsy6rtDfHQ

In this video we look at the evils of unrestrained Democracy, mob rule and the dictatorship of 51% and the horrors that follow every time it is practiced. America is a constitutional republic not a Democracy. This video shows why our founders intended otherwise LIBERAL MYTH: Hitler and the nazis seized power without the consent of the German people. HISTORIC FACT: The German people in a series of elections, elected to the Reichstag representatives who were nazis. Their election enabled Hitler to become Chancellor and seize power. They had many chances to turn back and change their vote but they...

Hindsight is 20/20, right? That’s the premise of a new book that poses the question: What if we were wrong? Chuck Klosterman’s “But What If We’re Wrong?” (Blue Rider Press, 2016) deals with the fact that the great march of history shows us that, well … we’re always wrong. Aristotle had his run as the smartest man on the planet, but he got disproved by Galileo, who was trumped by Newton, until Einstein ruled the roost. And while there have been some hints of “proving Einstein wrong,” nothing has really stuck. But even so, scientific “fact” is a fact only...

A (mostly) daily posting for those interested in history and the day to day news, politics and culture of a bygone world; the full edition of the New York Tribune from today's date in 1896 (digitized).

Among his kit were a hat of brown bear skin and a quiver made from roe deer. Despite being well preserved and studied, the 5,300-year-old mummy's various leather items had not all been identified at the species level. These findings, published in Scientific Reports, reveal a mix of wild-hunted animals with sheep, goat and cattle related to modern domestic breeds. The researchers say this points to Copper Age people choosing carefully between different wild and domesticated animals when looking for materials to make their clothes. But Oetzi's motley wardrobe, including a coat made from at least four separate goat and...

Maduro Places Confidence in a Spanish Marxist Professor He Calls 'the Jesus Christ of the Economy The main culprits of the most radical measures taken by the Venezuelan government come from Spanish politician Alfredo Serrano Mancilla, according to Spanish Adviser to President Nicolás Maduro Deputy Carlos Valero. Valero told the newspaper ABC in Spain that Serrano “is the author of the latest and most radical economic measures undertaken by the Chavistas, who have only managed to impoverish the country.” Expropriations, the seizure of businesses, “urban agriculture” on balconies, the soviet supply system and forced employment in the public agriculture sector...

Inmates Have Access to Basic Necessities Others Lack Across the Country As Venezuela’s economic and medical crisis worsens, many have questioned whether jails offer higher quality of life to citizens than those on the outside searching for food and waiting in endless lines. One of the most dangerous prisons in the country, Tocorón, not only has a pool, shops and a running track, but the food and other goods so many lack in Venezuela’s main cities. The country’s food shortages exceed 80 percent in the Venezuelan capital. Most Venezuelans wake up early to stand in long lines sometimes for as...

Chesapeake Conservancy and Terrain360 are using drones to give a bird’s-eye tour of historic shipwrecks in an inaccessible zone of the Potomac River. WASHINGTON — There’s a corner of the Potomac River known as Mallows Bay that is teeming with sunken vessels, what has been described as a “ghost fleet” of more than 100 wrecked ships. You don’t even have to go beneath the river’s surface to get a good view of these ships. In fact, you don’t even have to leave your computer chair, thanks to the Chesapeake Conservancy’s latest effort. Through the use of drones, the Annapolis-based...

On this day in 1998, President Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting president to testify before the Office of Independent Council as the subject of a grand-jury investigation. The testimony came after a four-year investigation into Clinton and his wife Hillary’s alleged involvement in several scandals, including accusations of sexual harassment, potentially illegal real-estate deals and suspected “cronyism” involved in the firing of White House travel-agency personnel. The independent prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, then uncovered an affair between Clinton and a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. When questioned about the affair, Clinton denied it, which led Starr to charge the...

A (mostly) daily posting for those interested in history and the day to day news, politics and culture of a bygone world; the full edition of the New York Tribune from today's date in 1896 (digitized).

Many are puzzled by the alliances between leftists, especially between the extreme ones that have become so prominent in today’s Democratic Party and the adherents of Islam who are bent on turning the world into one large caliphate. Given the subjugation of women in that part of the Islamic world which adheres to Shariah law, its putting to death of homosexuals and other practices (compared to the trendy approval of homosexual “marriage” in the leftist world in America) and other practices of Islam, such as enslavement, to many this alliance makes little sense. Those puzzled by this alliance need to...

Fred Reed on the idea of wanting war with Russia "Letting dilettantes, grifters, con men, pasty Neocons, bottle-blonde ruins, and corporations decide on war is insane. We have pseudo-masculine dwarves playing with things they do not understand. So far as I am aware, none of these fern-bar Clausewitzes has worn boots, been in a war, seen a war, or faces any chance of being in a war started by themselves. They brought us Iraq, Afghanistan, and Isis, and can’t win wars against goatherds with AKs. They are going to fight…Russia?"

For Caitlyn Jenner, there are places to be and people to speak with. There are camera crews and magazine covers, finely crafted documentaries and the raw urgency of reality TV. There are ex-spouses with stories to share and 10 children, many of them living their own lives, out loud and then some. There are more transgender women getting to tell their stories about their life journeys. And yet, almost a year-and-a-half since going public with her gender transition, Jenner says her life is much less complicated than it has ever been. "I don't have any more lies," she told ESPN....

Vincent Lopez Orchestra "Do I Hear You Saying?" vocalist is Laurence Wolfe (1928)

Early Voting Limits Time for Trump Comeback Every election year, as a matter of habit and convenience, we all talk about “Election Day” as though it is a defined nationwide event. But the reality is far more complex thanks to the advent of widespread no-excuse-required voting prior to Election Day by mail or in person. Indeed, as Patrick Healy of the New York Times reminds us today, nearly a third of the ballots counted in the last presidential general election were cast before Election Day — a figure that regularly rises as states follow a trend toward less traditional voting...