Free Republic

U.S. health officials on Friday said they were revoking legal guidance issued by the Obama Administration that had sought to discourage states from trying to defund organizations that provide abortion services, such as Planned Parenthood. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials also said the department is issuing a new regulation aimed at protecting healthcare workers’ civil rights based on religious and conscience objections. The regulation protects the rights of healthcare workers from providing abortion, euthanasia, and sterilization, the officials said during a media call with reporters. The announcement comes one day after HHS said it was...

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which oversees the Internal Revenue Service, reports that in fiscal 2016 the IRS closed four cases in which IRS employees were found to have violated a law governing their behavior toward taxpayers and that these violations included “harassing and abusing taxpayers and using obscene and profane language.” In 1998, Congress enacted a law imposing restrictions on the way that IRS employees could treat taxpayers. As explained by the IG, this included a prohibition on an IRS employee contacting a taxpayer at “unusual or inconvenient times,” contacting the taxpayer directly if the taxpayer “has...

Support for the terrorists and sanctions on Israel. Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical left and Islamic terrorism.Matt Duss had once compared Israel’s blockade of Hamas to “segregation in the American South.”  After the murder of the Henkin family in front of their children, the stabbing of a two-year-old and his mother in Jerusalem, Duss wrote, “it shouldn’t shock anyone that Israel’s harsh occupation and abuse provokes Palestinians.” He blamed the “rising violence” on Israel and not the PLO terrorists. "Israel does need to start facing...

Four days after Judge Schnider unsealed the custody records, Ryan dropped out of the race for the horror of (allegedly) propositioning his own wife and then taking “no” for an answer. Alan Keyes stepped in as a last-minute Republican candidate. And that’s how Obama became a U.S. senator. He destroyed both his Democratic primary opponent and his Republican general election opponent with salacious allegations about their personal lives taken from “sealed” court records. Obama’s team delved into Sarah Palin’s marriage and spread rumors of John McCain’s alleged affair in 2008 and they smeared Herman Cain in 2011 with hazy sexual...

Former CIA case officer Sabrina De Sousa thanked the Trump administration for intervening to save her from extradition to Italy and imprisonment in a statement on Friday. “I want to extend my deepest appreciation to the Trump administration for all their efforts on my behalf. Without their support I would be spending tonight in an Italian prison,” said De Sousa, in a statement quoted by Fox News. “The Obama administration and former CIA Director John Brennan abandoned De Sousa the last seven years, and in six weeks, the Trump team made her freedom possible,” Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) told Fox...

During an interview with Oprah Winfrey, First Lady Michelle Obama pretty much compared the relationship between her husband and the rest of the country to that of a parent and an injured child. Noting that we’re now feeling what not having hope feels like, Mrs. Obama explained how “hope” was more than a slogan for Barack Obama. “Our children respond to crises the way they see us respond,” Mrs. Obama said. “You know, it’s like the toddler that bumps his head on the table and they look up at you to figure out if it hurts.” She went on to...

Michelle Obama says the White House needs a “grown-up” and the nation will come to appreciate President Barack Obama. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey set to air Monday night on CBS, the first lady says the election has reinforced her view that her husband’s administration was able to inspire hope “because we feel the difference now.” “Now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like,” she says. “You know? Hope is necessary. It’s a necessary concept. And Barack didn’t just talk about hope because he thought it was just a nice slogan to get votes. I mean, he and...

Michelle Obama fed her husband's feud with Donald Trump on Friday as she gave a gloomy description of the hopeless climate his election win has created. The First Lady used her final interview in the White House to tell Oprah Winfrey that a 'grown up' should be in charge of the country. Looking forward to president-elect Trump's looming inauguration, she said even though hope was lost, it was necessary to move on. 'Now we're feeling what not having hope feels like. Hope is necessary,' she said in her first direct response to the November 9 election result. Mrs Obama's remarks...

Her husband repeatedly used messages of hope in his presidential campaigns and during his time in office. But US First Lady Michelle Obama has struck a much less upbeat tone in her last TV interview before the family leaves the White House. Speaking to talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Mrs Obama said America's outlook had changed since Donald Trump won November's election. "Now we're feeling what not having hope feels like," she said. Mrs Obama played an unusually prominent role in the 2016 election cycle, throwing her support behind Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and trading barbs with Mr Trump. She...

Michelle Obama says Americans will miss having a 'grown-up' in the White House In interview with Oprah Winfrey, Obama says 'people will come to appreciate' her husband's presidency Michelle Obama said the White House needs a "grown-up" and the U.S. will come to appreciate President Barack Obama. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey set to air Monday night, Obama said the election has reinforced her view that her husband's administration was able to inspire hope "because we feel the difference now." "Now we're feeling what not having hope feels like," she said. "You know? Hope is necessary. It's a necessary...

China and the United States are set to jointly announce their ratification of a landmark climate change pact before the G20 summit early next month, the South China Morning Post has learned. Senior climate officials from both countries worked late into the night in Beijing on Tuesday to finalise details, and a bilateral announcement is likely to be made on September 2, according to sources familiar with the issue.... ...“There are still some uncertainties from the US side due to the complicated US system in ratifying such a treaty, but the announcement is still quite likely to be ready by...

A community college in Illinois is trying to defend itself after it decided to offer special classes only available to black people. “College: Changes, Challenges, Choice” is a one-credit introductory course at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, and is intended to help new students “assess your purpose for college, assess your study strategies, set college and career goals, examine your values and decision-making skills, and develop an appreciation for diversity.” But while the class may want students to appreciate diversity, the school doesn’t practice what it preaches. Two sections of the class are specifically set aside exclusively for...

The confrontation between O'Neal and the officers happened about 7:30 p.m. Thursday after officers tried to stop O'Neal as he drove a Jaguar that had reportedly been stolen in Bolingbrook. As O'Neal drove north in the 7400 block of South Merrill Avenue, he struck a responding police SUV and a parked car, police sources told the Tribune. Two officers opened fire as O'Neal continued into the 7300 block of Merrill. O'Neal then collided with another police SUV, causing significant damage, and fled from the car. A third officer chased him and shot him behind a nearby residence, the sources said....

Greg Nash FBI Director James Comey shed new light on Hillary Clinton’s private email setup when he announced Tuesday that the FBI would not recommend charges against the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Here are some of the new details revealed by Comey. 113 emails were classified at the time they were sentBoth Clinton’s presidential campaign and the State Department have repeatedly insisted that none of the approximately 2,000 emails now considered classified was deemed sensitive at the time.   But Comey on Tuesday said that wasn’t quite the case.In fact, federal agencies have claimed that 113 emails in more than...

Chicago man arrested for murder just after suing police Reuters By Fiona Ortiz June 8, 2016 By Fiona Ortiz CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago police on Wednesday arrested a man suspected of murder, shortly after he left his own news conference where he announced he was suing the city for $15 million over an incident two years ago when he alleged being shot seven times by a police officer. Dominiq Greer was arrested after he and his attorney, Eugene Hollander, announced the federal lawsuit, which alleges excessive force by police who shot Greer on July 4, 2014, as he ran from...

The Left is fond of smearing those who do not share their value system as "fascist." The latest target is the current 'presumptive' GOP Presidential nominee. To the Left, "fascist" is a buzzword for an implied, undefined "evil." In fact, fascism is a definable political ideology that has an extensively documented history, in theory and practice. Fascism is a left-wing ideology; a bundling of trade-union syndicalism, futurism and statist collectivism. Fascists hold that private property can only be tolerated so long as it serves the public via its agent, the State. That most certainly is not a conservative principle, is...

Beede was a transgender male and police initially considered the possibility the attack was a hate crime. But they now believe it was part of an ongoing feud between two nearby homeless encampments that included Beede retaliating for the spreading of feces on a tent. "Amos Beede took bottles of urine and dumped them in Erik Averill's tent. Once Erik Averill was able to determine it was Amos Beede who retaliated by dumping bottles of urine, he committed to then assaulting Mr. Beede. He enlisted help and executed the assault," said Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo.

Declaring that “no person should be judged by anything but the content of their character,” President Barack Obama yesterday signed a proclamation designating June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. ******snip***** IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortieth.

ALTUS, Okla. – A man who is a district chairman of a Boy Scouts troop in Oklahoma was arrested this week after he was allegedly caught with child pornography. Steven Foreman, 52, was arrested in Altus after investigators intercepted child pornography coming from a personal computer at Foreman’s home, officials say. Authorities reportedly found several images of child pornography on Foreman’s computers and hard drives. According to KSWO, Foreman is a retired United States Air Force member and is currently employed in a civilian position at the 97th Security Forces Squadron at Altus Air Force Base. He also holds the...

In Obama's America, a third of all young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 are broke, single, and living with their parents. The Pew Research Center released its new study showing that Millennials are tipping the scales for the first time in modern history. From CBS Money Watch: About 32.1 percent of Americans between 18 to 34 years old lived in their parents' homes in 2014, edging out the 31.6 percent who were married or living with a partner in their own household, the analysis of Census data found. The remaining 36 percent either live alone, are single...