Free Republic

Since she lost her job as a customer service coordinator at a department store, Mary Baker has cut down on everything she can to make ends meet while she searches for a new job. The San Antonio resident has unsubscribed from cable, stopped paying for some of her medications and cut down significantly on her air conditioning. But her roughly $3,000 monthly unemployment payments still don’t stretch far enough... Critics of Abbott’s move say tens of thousands of desperate Texans shouldn’t have to choose between scrambling to find a job in the next few weeks or living with $1,200 less...

I was at a local zoo today. They had a display up showing how much water the average American uses compared to the average African. They had a gallon jug hanging next to a 150-gallon barrel. They were suspended from a rope to give you an idea of the difference in mass between the two. It got me thinking. How many African villages could have been set up with running water and electricity had Zuckerman put half a billion dollars into doing that rather than nullifying the vote of legitimate US voters? Does anyone have any ideas on this topic?

Veteran investigative journalist Carl Bernstein blasted Senate Republicans on the eve of their vote to determine whether or not witnesses will be allowed in President Trump's Senate impeachment trial. "The Senate of the United States, through the Republican leadership and membership, has now joined hands with a tyrant," said Bernstein. "We now have a precedent that's been set, especially if we're going to follow this new catechism, this cult of Trump that professor Dershowitz has advanced, this catechism that he cannot abuse his power. So, totally different situation than what happened in Watergate, because in Watergate the real heroes were...

The Syrian government on Tuesday condemned a statement by US senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) who said that the Golan Heights should remain "forever" under the control of Israel, AFP reports. Graham, a Washington ally of President Donald Trump and a strong backer of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, toured the Golan Heights with Netanyahu on Monday. He said the idea of the strategic plateau going to any party other than Israel was "off the table", vowing to work to have the United States recognize the Golan as part of Israel "now and forever". A Syrian foreign ministry source on Tuesday condemned...

he Mark Levin Show is on-the-air: "Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles." -- Mark Levin in "Liberty and Tyranny". Welcome to "The Levin Lounge"... Step in and have a virtual FRink. Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time - and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark's show: 1-877-381-3811. “Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and Tyranny Taking the country by storm, one...

President Donald Trump will appear at a campaign-style rally in Pensacola, Florida, next week, an event set less than 20 miles from the Alabama border four days before the state’s special Senate election. .....The move comes after the White House insisted that Trump would not campaign in Alabama on behalf of embattled Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore...

John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager, complained that he was the “victim” of a smear campaign conducted by President Donald Trump. “Not bad enough that I was the victim of a massive cyber crime directed by the Russian President … now I’m the victim of a big lie campaign by the American President,” Podesta stated on Twitter. Podesta’s remarks came after Trump raised questions on Twitter about the lobbying firm that Podesta co-founded with brother Tony and its lobbying ties to Russia. (snip) Trump criticized the news media for largely ignoring the Podesta brothers’ ties to the larger Russia investigation. “He and his brother could Drain...

Excerpted from The Daily Caller: Controversy has followed commentator Milo Yiannopoulos on his “Most Dangerous Faggot” tour, and his Thursday appearance at the University of California, Irvine is proving to be no exception. UC-Irvine College Republicans are planning to distribute 100 infant pacifiers at a school-sanctioned “safe zone training” event taking place just hours before the Yiannopoulos event, UC-Irvine College Republicans said in a press release. The Gerber Baby pacifiers will include an attached label with the caption, “I survived! Milo tour 2016.” UC-Irvine Republican Club president, Ariana Rowlands told the Orange County Register she fears for her fellow students...

Ted Cruz on Wyoming win: "This is how elections are won in America." Once again, voters are not represented in the process. Instead, "votes" for the nominee are gained by backroom politics. Another corrupt process by the GOP establishment. From Fox News: Ted Cruz on Saturday won all 14 delegates in the Wyoming GOP convention -- a relatively small number but enough for the Texas senator to declare victory and keep GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump from securing the nomination. “We are likely to have a battle in Cleveland to decide who is the nominee,” Cruz told party members before...

[Full Title] Tyrant Trump Tries to Scapegoat Others for His Colorado Losses; Result Is Most Extensive Big Lie Campaign in U.S. Politics Since Bush-Cheney WMD Allegations vs Saddam Hussein [sub title] Trump Lost Colorado Fair and Square Based on Existing Rules; Preview of Buck-Passing, Scapegoating Presidency; Gestapo Tactics by Storm-Trumpers As Colorado GOP Chair Is Bombarded by Death Threats; CNN Imitates East German Television in Fawning Telecast with Trump Clan [photo text] President Harry Truman always claimed he took responsibility for adversity that occurred on his presidential watch. He expressed this with a sign reading “The Buck Stops Here,” which...

Today we learn from Jim Robinson of a movement afoot to proselytize among the so-called conservatives here to abandon Free Republic. This is but another effort by the supporters of Ted Cruz to squirm out of the Trump's closing in on the Republican nomination, and, perhaps the presidency. If the close is forestalled, and they SCREAM loudly enough in block capital letter that TRUMPIZOIDS ARE INSANE they will see Trump for what he is and the nomination will go to Cruz. They even project idiocies such as Trump's supporters would overlook it if he killed 500 puppies on TV with...

Once, while visiting some close friends in my hometown of Buffalo, NY, we got onto the discussion of raising healthy children. I was a bit intrigued since their kids seemed happy but not at all spoiled. They worked hard at school. The older ones had jobs after putting in full days at high school. They even helped with cleanup and washing the dishes – without being asked! So what was their secret? Both parents in a rather ho-hum attitude, pointed to a large sign that hung over the entrance to the living room. It had two simple straightforward words on...

This is a plea from those of us with limited bandwidth. This morning there was a touchdown animation that took about 2 minutes to load on my browser. It was in a thread that was completely unrelated to football or touchdowns. There are an increasing number of animated GIFs showing up that are either unrelated to the topic or superfluous. Videos like youtube links are automatically blocked from loading until you ask to load them. Those are great and I select a few to click and load. Links to animated GIFs could be replaced with a single frame GIF of...

African-American Fox News staffers find it “very difficult” to work at the network, former president of the National Association of Black Journalists Bob Butler told TheWrap on Thursday. “I’ve talked to some folks who work there and it’s very difficult, especially when you have all the hit pieces that are done on Obama,” Butler said. His comments come as Rupert Murdoch continues to face criticism over a controversial tweet on Wednesday that insinuated President Obama isn’t “a real black president.” Murdoch apologized on Thursday.

Does Italy still exist, or is it, as Metternich puts it, a geographic expression? By joining the Euro, it lost its monetary sovereignty. It lost its territorial sovereignty after its defeat in the second world war with occupation by the Americans who have never left since then. It lost its military sovereignty as it is now reduced to taking orders from the USA and organising pretend peace missions in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and bombing Libya (thanks also to grandpa Napolitano)/ The fall of Gaddafi is the cause of the immigration of biblical proportions - from that country that no...

Since when in America is it a right to hit someone's vehicle with a football??? If you move to Hartselle, Alabama it is a right here. Boys playing sports trump any kind of property rights (hitting vehicles and houses, breaking windows, tearing up people's lawns). And don't you dare say anything to the parent as their response is, "Our kids need to get out of the house away from video games and play sports." While I agree with that argument, they don't have to tear up people's property. Last night, I went to the father of a boy who hit...

Getting wine-drunk on a train in Napa Valley sounds pretty good if you're the guys from Sideways or the parents in Bob's Burgers, but it's apparently a lot less fun if you're a black woman with a loud laugh. A group of 11 women, members of the Sistahs on the Edge book club, were kicked off the Napa Valley Wine Train last Saturday for allegedly being too loud and disturbing other passengers—but the women say it was because of their race. One of the book club's members, Lisa Johnson, chronicled the event on Facebook, igniting an outcry across social media...

A former CIA officer was arrested on Thursday on charges of illegally disclosing national defense information about Iran to a New York Times reporter who wrote a book. The U.S. Justice Department said Jeffrey Sterling, 43, was charged with six counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and one count of unlawfully keeping national defense information, mail fraud, unauthorized conveyance of government property and obstructing justice.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Budget cuts at the IRS could delay tax refunds, reduce taxpayer services and hurt enforcement efforts, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said Thursday. About half the people who call the IRS for assistance this filing season won't be able to get through to a person, Koskinen said. Once tax returns are filed, there will be fewer agents to audit them. "Everybody's return will get processed," Koskinen told reporters. "But people have gotten very used to being able to file their return and quickly getting a refund. This year we may not have the resources, the people to provide...

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blasted the United States Wednesday for its large-scale use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, saying it is flooding the market with oil produced with environmentally destructive methods. The United States, one of the world's biggest practitioners of fracking, a controversial technique that involves pumping a pressurized fluid - usually composed of water, sand and chemicals - into a shale formation to create a fracture in the rock layer and release trapped petroleum or natural gas - has used that technology to double oil output to 8.5 million barrels per day in six years.