Free Republic

Former Gov. Lincoln Chafee’s unanticipated interest in running for his old U.S. Senate seat began with an email from two passionate supporters of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. A 61-year-old retired chef and a 48-year-old real estate agent worried Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s votes were promoting an overly militaristic America. So in January they asked Chafee, a quirky Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat, whether he would be interested. Chafee has “been able to buck the party trends and look at the issues on the merits,” one of the writers, Jonathan Daly-Labelle, told The Associated Press recently. “Sheldon is a typical Democrat and locked into the...

Gina Haspel at her confirmation hearing to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency. (Screen Capture) (CNSNews.com) - In her confirmation hearing on Wednesday in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Sen. Jack Reed (D.-R.I.) asked Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency, whether she had ever been alone in a room with Trump. “You’ve been working with the administration now for fifteen months,” said Reed. “You have had the opportunity to brief the president. Have you ever been alone with the president?” “Senator,” Haspel responded, “I’m usually there with Senator [Dan] Coats...

Connecticut’s legislature has passed a bill that would give the state’s Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote nationally. The state Senate voted 21-14 on Saturday to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which includes 10 states and the District of Columbia. The state House passed the measure last week, 77 to 73. The compact requires its members to cast their Electoral College ballots for the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote. The agreement goes into effect once states representing at least 270 electoral votes — the number needed for a candidate...

A student Resident Advisor (RA) at Providence College has reportedly been threatened with rape after posting a flyer that expressed a traditional view on marriage. According to LifeSiteNews, RA Michael Smalanskas has faced severe student backlash since displaying the poster on a bulletin board in early March, with upset classmates gathering outside of his dorm room and endangering his safety.

A Brown University student has called for a “men’s revolution” to “liberate not only men, but all of society, from the constraints of toxic masculinity.” In a recent op-ed for The Brown Daily Herald, student Quentin Thomas argues that such a revolution is necessary because “toxic masculinity” causes men to “perpetrate harm against another individual and himself.”

Lawmakers in the nation’s smallest state are planning a large package of bills in conjunction with gun control activists that could see bans on certain types of semi-automatics and their magazines. Allied with the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston, and Rep. Jason Knight, D-Barrington, are introducing proposals in both chambers of the legislature that would add the same types of firearms restrictions seen in neighboring Connecticut and Massachusetts. Knight argued the move is needed to protect public safety in the aftermath of a high-profile school shooting in Florida this week. “It will take a multi-pronged...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Construction has begun on Rhode Island's new tractor trailer tolling system.The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) crews began installing the first two of 14 planned gantry locations by Exits 2 and 5 on Interstate 95.Lane closures are in effect through next week, then the contractor will test the new system for about a month. These gantries are expected to begin charging trucks by mid-March, once everything is working properly.The ongoing construction is not halting the plans of the Rhode Island Trucking Association (RITA) to sue the state. "It's discriminatory," said RITA President Chris Maxwell. You can't...

It’s doubtful you can find a more succinct example of TDS than a seemingly inebriated Democrat Senator asking the aggregate intelligence apparatus, during a public session of congress, to give specific details of U.S. covert intelligence efforts to thwart Russian, Chinese and North Korean cyber-warfare. As Democrat Senator Joe Manchin professionally restrained himself from laughing, even Democrat Senator Kamala Harris couldn’t avoid the eye-roll. ‘Muh Russia’ is real. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), ranking member of armed services committee, began his mid-day sluration with a ‘resist-we-much‘ effort to continue the vast White House Russian conspiracy narrative, and slowly morphed into a...

WASHINGTON—The Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) and the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) have launched a national advocacy campaign encouraging U.S. Senators to block a planned sale of U.S. F-35 stealth fighters to Turkey’s increasingly erratic and anti-American Erdogan regime. The ANCA and Hellenic American Leadership Council have joined forces to launch a grassroots campaign to block the impending F-35 sale to Turkey (Graphic: ANCA) This joint Hellenic-Armenian American initiative – the most recent in a series of ANCA-HALC advocacy campaigns – warns Senators against the dangers of providing Erdogan with advanced weapons that he may turn against our...

Trump's proposal to hold a pro-military parade has excited much heavy breathing and political posturing from Democrats. To wit: Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.): "I think confidence is silent and insecurity is loud. America is the most powerful country in all of human history; you don’t need to show it off.” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Calif.): “A military parade of this kind would also be a departure from the values of our constitutional democracy." Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.):"Because authoritarian regimes like Russia and North Korea hold massive military parades does not mean that we must as well." Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.):...

RUSH: Here’s another great piece, another Limbaugh echo. There’s so many Limbaugh echoes out there today that I’m reveling in it here, folks. By the way, from TheHill.com, headline: “Left Says Democrats Caved on Shutdown — Progressives are hammering [Chuck You] Schumer for his agreement … to end the government shutdown on Monday. Even House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has spoken out against the deal, saying there was no reason to support it. ‘I don’t see that there’s any reason — I’m speaking personally and hearing from my members — to support what was put forth,’ Pelosi said…” Pelosi is...

Welcome to my home State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.Rhode Island lawmakers are undergoing anti-sexual harassment training after a female lawmaker alleged she was told she could get legislations passed if she slept with the right people. The training seemed to go well, with one exception.One of the male Democrat lawmakers is accused of making sexually harassing comments during the training. He says he was misunderstood because of his heavy accent.News 10 reports: Instead of satisfying concerns about sexual harassment, a training session for Rhode Island lawmakers may have raised more controversy.The training on Wednesday was the same that...

Connecticut continues to be dogged by messy finances. The budget legislators and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy adopted in late October for fiscal year 2017-18 is in deficit. Gov. Malloy’s Office of Policy and Management estimated a $202.8 million hole Nov. 20, while state Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo concluded Dec. 1 that the hole is $207.8 million. Before these forecasts were issued, the state was expected to contend with a $4 billion deficit in the 2019-21 biennium. ... “between 2015 and 2016, Connecticut saw a net loss of 2,050 tax filers who earn more than $200,000 per year.” This amounted to...

R.I. (WPRI) – Rhode Island is now just 157 residents away from losing one of its two seats in the U.S. House, which would give the state a single vote there for the first time since George Washington was president, according to an analysis of newly released population data. Kimball Brace, the reapportionment expert who has been involved in drawing legislative and congressional districts in Rhode Island since the early 1980s, ran the numbers Wednesday after the U.S. Census Bureau announced Rhode Island had added about 2,000 residents between July 2016 and July 2017.

Now, don’t tell me that welfare recipients aren’t innovative! No reason to stand on your feet waiting to get your check. Just put your flip-flops next in line and go back and sit on your ass. What a great country! Related Article Corporate Welfare Statistics That Will Make You Sick With all the talk about unemployment benefits and welfare, it’s important to understand just how much money we’re talking about. In 35 states, welfare, housing assistance and other benefits pays more than a minimum wage job, according to a new study by the Cato Institute. The study also found...

Email evidence shows US Department of Transportation grant program inspired an illegal ticket quota system in Rhode Island. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) last month warned Rhode Island police chiefs against the use of ticket quotas that are illegal under state law. The civil rights group began working on the issue after a WJAR television investigative report found evidence that police were ordered to issue a specified number of tickets in response to a federal grant program known in the state as Operation Blue Riptide. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration sends funds for this program to the Rhode...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Joseph A. Trillo, the former Republican state lawmaker who became the leading Rhode Island advocate for President Donald Trump, said Tuesday he will run for governor as an independent, shocking many in the party he is leaving and adding a new wrinkle to the developing 2018 race. “To win with my message in Rhode Island I will need Democratic support. I feel this can only be accomplished by shedding party politics and running as an independent,” Trillo said as he formally launched his campaign on radio station WPRO Tuesday afternoon. “I feel that my message is more...

Dive Brief: The Florida Turnpike broke ground earlier this month on a new test track where it will experiment with high-speed toll technology as well as systems for vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle communications, according to FleetOwner. The 400-acre SunTrax site, in Auburndale, FL, will test toll equipment and interoperable tolling systems, as well as smartphone-based payment methods. Other technologies to be tested include high-speed connected platooning trucks, moveable barrier systems and machine vision and materials testing for new pavement types, lane markings and signage. Construction on the site's oval track is expected to be complete in spring 2019 with the first...

Dive Brief: The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has awarded Jacobs Engineering Group a 10-year, multimillion dollar contract to design an active traffic management (ATM) system for Interstate 76 through Philadelphia, according to Traffic Technology Today. Jacobs' services for the Schuylkill Expressway will include preliminary and system engineering, design, analysis of alternatives, right-of-way acquisition and construction consultancy.The final ATM system could include occasional use of the shoulder, connected vehicle technology, variable speed limit signage and traffic jam detection and alerts. PennDOT could also implement features like ramp metering, junction control, dynamic lane assignments, and multimodal strategies in tandem with shoulder use....

To promote “racial reconciliation” after the deadly clashes between white nationalists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville last month, Brown University plans to offer segregated events to its black students and female Muslim students.