Free Republic

Summary: Let’s look at the cosplay festival that is Campaign 2020, as the candidates pretend to be what they are not. Their voting records tell the true tale to those that listen. Dazzled by our glorious revolutionary future. The presidential election of 2020 is a costume drama, with the candidates all wearing masks. Trump pretends to be a populist, behind which is the standard GOP team (who have run their standard policies: tax cuts for the rich, deregulation of corporations, waving anti-trust to build cartels, crushing unions, etc.). The Democratic Party’s candidates play more elaborate cosplay games. Sanders runs as...

The annual 2019 trade figures for the United States came out last week, heralding some encouraging news. America’s enormous international trade deficit actually declined slightly from 2018. This was the first decrease in six years, with the deficit in goods and services dropping 1.7%, to $616.8 billion. Better yet, America’s bilateral trade deficit with China fell for the first time in four years, dropping a hefty 17.6%, to $345.6 billion. These are promising numbers and they show that tariffs on Chinese products are successfully moving the needle on U.S. trade flows. In fact, America’s 2019 imports from China actually fell...

Going further than he ever has in expressing regret over Obama administration immigration policy, presidential candidate Joe Biden called it a “big mistake” to have deported hundreds of thousands of people without criminal records. “We took far too long to get it right,” Biden said in a wide-ranging, sometimes contentious interview with Univision anchor Jorge Ramos. The former vice president later added: “I think it was a big mistake. Took too long to get it right.” In written statements included as part of Biden’s proposed immigration overhaul, the campaign already had acknowledged “pain” surrounding deportations that occurred when he served...

Catholic Eastern Europe Bastion of freedom Catholicism in Western Europe is atrophying and it's not secular forces that are the cause. It's because Catholics are abandoning and perverting the Faith. Meanwhile, Eastern Europe has become the bastion of Catholicism and culture, protecting and passing on what the rest of Europe has cast away. The bishops of Germany are gathering for their own synod and, as indicated by the working documents outlining the assembly's discussions, the prelates are seeking to redefine Church teaching on the ordination of women, homosexuality, masturbation and contraception. But this week, Ukranian bishops wrote a letter to their German...

Cardinal Joseph Zen discusses the Church in China and his relationship with Pope Francis and Cardinal Pietro Parolin On February 11, Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong met with Congressional leaders on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. After that meeting, the cardinal gave an exclusive interview to CNA in which he discussed the Church in China, the Holy See’s agreement with the Communist regime, and his relationship with Pope Francis and the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The following is a transcript of the cardinal’s interview with CNA. It has been edited for length and clarity....

Participants observed a minute's silence. The Marian shrine, which is located in the Diocese of Berhampur (Odisha), draws the faithful of all religions. “The only source of true happiness is the Lord,” says the local bishop.Berhampur (AsiaNews) – More than 200,000 pilgrims, both Christian and Hindu, came from across Odisha (Orissa) to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes at the shrine dedicated to her in Dantoling, Diocese of Berhampur. At the opening of the ceremony, on Tuesday, participants observed a minute of silence for the victims of the coronavirus outbreak. Bishop Sarat Chandra Nayak of Berhampur led a...

Vatican Secretary of State blasts Rome conference on St. John Paul IIROME (ChurchMilitant.com) - A conference of eminent academics, politicians and writers celebrating the nationalist legacy of Pope St. John Paul II and targeting Pope Francis's globalist agenda has triggered a counterblast from the Holy See's head of state and Catholic and secular establishment media. Cardinal Pietro Parolin blasted the Rome conference on "God, Honor, Country: President Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, and the Freedom of Nations" as "fundamentally infantile" — even though speakers like Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán emphasized the values of "Christian liberty" and Europe's Christian...

The Microsoft founder spoke at the AAAS meeting in Seattle just hours before the first case was confirmed in Cairo, Egypt Bill Gates has warned that coronavirus in Africa could overwhelm health services and trigger a pandemic which could cause 10 million deaths. The Microsoft founder and global health pioneer was speaking at the AAAS meeting in Seattle just hours before the first case was confirmed in Cairo, Egypt. There are now fears that the disease could spread to sub-Saharan Africa where it could spark an uncontrollable outbreak, with health services unable to monitor or control the virus. Mr Gates...

Within this developed pattern of Great Lent, what precisely do the rules of fasting demand? Neither in ancient nor in modern times has there ever been exact uniformity, but most Orthodox authorities agree on the following rules: (1) During the week between the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee and that of the Prodigal Son, there is general dispensation from all fasting. Meat and animal products may be eaten even on Wednesday and Friday. (2) In the following week, often termed the 'Week of Carnival, the usual fast is kept on Wednesday and Friday. Otherwise there is no special...

China’s novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has killed and infected more people than officially reported. In one day, total reported infections and deaths increased 44% and 23%, respectively...merely because “the government changed the criteria by which it tracks confirmed cases.” The official tally has been an underestimate and is still catching up to reality. About 99% of the cases have been reported in China. ...before the adjustment, circumstances suggested weeks ago that “the outbreak is spreading far beyond the official count of cases.” Many causes contribute to this undercounting. the diagnostic test for COVID-19 may be only 30-40% accurate.the diagnostic test is...

This was cringe.Even his voice was cringe.Mayor Bloomberg plays Mary Poppins in an Inner Circle Show in 2006.Via Weasel Zippers.https://twitter.com/jackallisonLOL/status/1228824479322607616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1228824479322607616&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2020%2F02%2Fwth-is-this-mini-mike-bloomberg-plays-mary-poppins-in-inner-circle-show-in-2006-video%2F

The Pope’s Slippery ‘Synodal’ Way His exhortation about the Amazon synod raises more questions than it answers. ypical of a Jesuit,” said Archbishop Bruno Forte in 2016, as he reflected on the deviously indirect style of Pope Francis. Forte, a close aide to Pope Francis, recalled that the pope didn’t want to spell out his support for Communion for the divorced and remarried in his exhortation Amoris Laetitia, lest it cause too much backlash. Forte quoted the pope saying, “If we speak explicitly about Communion for the divorced and remarried, you do not know what a terrible mess we will...

  Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!   For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.   Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     ~ Hall of Heroes ~ Arthur Wermuth "The One Man Army of Bataan" Part 3 - The Ghost of Bataan Info from here.(Thank you to DeaconBenjamin for bringing this hero to our attention!)              "JOCK" was Sergeant Crispin Jacob, Captain Wermuth's closest friend. Described by Wermuth as "a huge black native from Zamboanga...

GREENVILLE, S.C. — One of a handful of projected messages flashed on Greenville City Hall on Saturday night attacked President Donald Trump. The projections included the phrases, "No one is illegal," "Abolish ICE," "Bernie 2020" and a message of profanity against president Trump. "We live in Atlanta. We just came up for a long weekend. It’s a beautiful town, and to see that, it’s just terribly disturbing," said Mark Criswell, who was on a visit with his girlfriend, Angie. "Even talking about it right now, it continues to be disturbing."

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams hit the nail on the head, telling voters not to let two small, virtually all-white states tell them whom to pick as the Democratic presidential nominee: ‘We need a more representative sample’ — Exclusive: @staceyabrams believes that our Iowa and New Hampshire first primary system is silencing voters of color She makes the logical case that only 65 delegates have been selected (distributed rather evenly among several candidates) — out of a grand total of 1,991 who would need to be pledged to win the nomination on the first ballot....

Vineyards in Northern California began planting thousands of acres of new vines in 2016, and with more efficient harvesting methods, it has led to more bountiful harvests of grapes. Having more grapes to make wine sounds good, but if there’s not enough demand to support increased production, the surplus grapes go to waste. Jeff Bitter, president of Allied Grape Growers, told CNN that it’s possible for surplus grapes to make it to the secondary market, where they’re used for brandy or as grape concentrate. But that market doesn’t typically provide sustainable returns for growers. “The main cause of oversupply today...

Syrian President Bashar Assad has gained what's perhaps his most significant strategic victory in the nearly nine-year-old Syrian civil war: the recapture of the all-important M5 highway. It is arguably one of the most coveted prizes in Syria’s civil war, and after eight years of fighting, Syrian President Bashar Assad has got it back. The Damascus-Aleppo highway, or the M5, is known to Syrians simply as the “International Road.” Cutting through Syria's major cities, the motorway is key to who controls the country. Assad gradually lost control over the M5 from 2012, when various rebel groups fighting to topple him...

NEW YORK CITY — Is it possible that President Trump has already beaten Sen. Bernard Sanders? Four years ago, Bernie Bros stormed Iowa and took over the Democratic caucuses. In Iowa, he came within a whisker of beating the Clinton machine. He won 696 local delegates, just 4 fewer than Mrs. Clinton’s 700. In New Hampshire, Mr. Sanders utterly swamped Mrs. Clinton. With 151,000 voters turning out for Mr. Sanders, he clobbered Mrs. Clinton by 22 percentage points. Now, fast-forward from 2016 to today. Certainly, Mr. Sanders is the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination in a far more crowded...

RENO, Nev. - With the Nevada caucuses less than a week away, Democratic presidential candidates campaigning Sunday were fixated on a rival who wasn't contesting the state. Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar all targeted billionaire Mike Bloomberg, accusing him of buying his way into the election and making clear they were eager to take him on in a debate. “He thinks he can buy this election,” Sanders said of the former New York mayor at a rally in Reno. “Well, I’ve got news for Mr. Bloomberg - the American people are sick and tired of billionaires buying elections!”...

A Mississippi Democrat introduced a bill in the state House that would force parents who homeschool their children to “provide the same curriculum” as government schools in Grades 9 through 12. While homeschool parents and non-public schools currently have considerable freedom to teach children under their care according to their values, Mississippi House Bill 188would mandate that the same courses on Mississippi History and American Government currently taught in public schools would also be required of homeschool families, as well as private and parochial schools. Introduced by state Rep. John Hines Sr. (D), the bill proposes: The Mississippi History course must provide students...