Free Republic

As we approach its 50th Anniversary, please allow me to share with you my memories of the Vietnam War’s 1968 Tet Offensive, and the “Butterfly Effect” spawned by this Tet Offensive. The Chinese New Year celebration was called Tet in Vietnam and it was the only holiday they celebrated during the year. Tet celebrations lasted for two weeks, and it wasn’t just a time for drinking, feasting, and partying, it was a time for family reunions where Vietnamese traveled great distances to be with their families during those two weeks. Prior to Tet 1967, a truce had been negotiated with...

THE SERPENT said to the woman: “Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?” Thus opened the conversation which our mother Eve so rashly consents to hold with God’s enemy. She ought to refuse all intercourse with Satan; she does not; and thereby she imperils the salvation of the whole human race. Let us recall to mind the events that have happened up to this fatal hour. God, in His omnipotence and love, has created two beings, upon whom He has lavished all the riches of His goodness. He has destined them...

Oregon's Legislature faces a likely budget shortfall as it prepares for the 2018 session that starts next week, the Senate president said on Monday. Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said at an Associated Press forum that the Legislature "got a break" because voters last week passed Measure 101, which imposes a tax on hospitals and health insurers to help pay for Medicaid for low-income residents.

In 2008, John Michael Finley – a student at the prestigious performing arts school at Roosevelt University – came home to Lebanon after his spring semester only to hear bad news. His father told him that Roosevelt University was simply too expensive, and he’d need to finish his college education elsewhere. This news didn’t necessarily bode well for his aspirations as an actor, yet Finley took it in stride. But only a few weeks later, he and his family were shaken by tragedy. On May 31, 2008, Finley’s 21-year-old brother, Army Specialist James M. Finley, was killed in Jalalabad City,...

Head chef Conor McClelland, from Rayanne House Guesthouse Belfast, cooks us through the mouth-watering nine course feast that would have been enjoyed, devoured and celebrated by first-class passengers on the RMS Titanic.

The “marriage” between two gay men has been invalidated in Russia. Eugene Voitsekhovsky and Paul Stotsko, Russian citizens, had a “marriage” service in Copenhagen, Denmark on January 4, which was then initially notarized by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, reports strana.ua. However, the ministry employees who recognized the gay union have been fired, and the men’s passports, with a stamp of registration of their “marriage,” have been invalidated. Russians carry internal passports that are used as their main source of identification and which contain information about where they are registered as living, marriages, childbirths, military service, and so on....

After months of weak fundraising, the Democratic National Committee’s CEO will reportedly leave the job after less than a year.According to NBC News, Jess O’Connell will leave her job next month as the DNC’s top day-to-day official, overseeing the party headquarters during a chairman’s usual absences on high-profile tasks.DNC fundraising also has stabilized, though it hasn’t recovered completely, NBC News reported.

Donald Creatore in red tie stands to the right side as his pastor blesses the creche on town hall green. (Courtesy of Knights of Columbus)In January, one local man who shied away from credit brought about a decision that would ultimately encourage others throughout the countryThe modest person who takes a stand and makes a great impact isn’t only the fiction of a movie or novel. One humble person’s belief can make a great impact that resonates across state after state and affects many people. But unlike fiction’s usually finale, hardly anyone would know who that person was. Donald Creatore,...

Top candidates *** They are listed in alphabetical order. Republican Party Debbie Lesko (R) Debbie Lesko is a former member of the Arizona State Senate, ***. She served as president pro tempore from 2017 to 2018, before resigning her seat on January 8, 2018, to focus on her U.S. House campaign. She also served in the Arizona House of Representatives ***. She is Arizona state chairman for ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). She was endorsed by the Susan B. Anthony List. Investing in national security initiatives, including a missile defense system, protecting border security through some physical barriers and improved...

I'm not going to get into specifics but will tell you I'm a season ticket holder for an NFL team in the northeast and just received my renewal for the 2018 season. I have two tickets. The price of my tickets for the upcoming season went down by $500!! Not only did it go down by $500- should i choose to buy the 2018 tickets and go on automatic payment they are guaranteeing the same price for the 2019 season!! The TV ratings has put huge fear into the NFL and they are trying to coax the season ticket holders...

The cardinal revealed details of a private audience with Pope FrancisCardinal Joseph Zen has accused the Vatican of “selling out” the Catholic Church in China. In a post on his website, the former Bishop of Hong Kong said Pope Francis offered words of consolation to the ‘underground’ Church in the country in a private audience earlier this month. However, the cardinal still thinks the Vatican is working against the Church. A report on AsiaNews last week said a Vatican delegation had asked one ‘underground’ bishop to resign and another to accept demotion. The delegation wanted excommunicated government-backed bishops to replace...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama Maxwell Air Force Base, officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. It was named in honor of Atmore, Alabama native Second Lieutenant William C. Maxwell. Maxwell AFB is the headquarters of Air University (AU), a major component of Air Education and Training Command (AETC), and is the U.S. Air Force's center for Joint Professional Military Education (PME). The host wing for Maxwell-Gunter is...

A Richmond police officer was nearly flattened during an illegal weekend sideshow Sunday, authorities said, leading to the arrest of two teens — one of whom was charged with attempted murder.

More than four decades after Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide, most Americans (57%) are supportive of legal abortion, according to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey. But a substantial minority (40%) says abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, and within some U.S. denominations and religious groups, this figure is much higher.

Pro-socialist vandals targeted the walls of Venezuela’s Cumaná Cathedral and its surroundings with threatening anti-Catholic messages Tuesday night, referring to Cumaná’s archbishop as “Monsignor Satan” after dictator Nicolás Maduro targeted clergymen in a television broadcast this week. Monsignor Diego Padrón, Archbishop of Cumaná, had signed a letter of support for priests the government targeted after delivering homilies lamenting the tragic state of the nation. Maduro had referred to Padrón and other anti-socialist priests as “devils in cassocks” and threatened to prosecute them with a “law against hate” his supporters passed that grants the Venezuelan government extended powers to silence critics....

After Al Gore lost the 2000 election and ate all the food he could find, he had to figure out what to do next. He couldn't get the United States to elect him, so he decided to elect himself president... of the Environment! Since then, Gore has spent his abundant free time scolding us all for destroying the planet. He won't shut up about it. Then he flies around on private jets between his various mansions, but whatever. So what if he has the carbon footprint of a small country? He's a ridiculous hypocrite, but it's made him a multimillionaire...

@Comey Special Agent Andrew McCabe stood tall over the last 8 months, when small people were trying to tear down an institution we all depend on. He served with distinction for two decades. I wish Andy well. I also wish continued strength for the rest of the FBI. America needs you.

RUSH: Folks, I have to tell you something. The New York Times put on their website late Saturday and published in their newspaper on Sunday one of the most phenomenal stories. Now, I know. I am on record as having lost respect for the New York Times, and I am on record as having said many times that my instinctive reaction to anything in the New York Times is not to believe it. However, this story I happen to know is true — and it is phenomenal. It is a very, very long story. I would recommend that you read...

And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say. (Luke 12:11-12)Notice that Jesus says “When they bring you before…”not “…If …they bring you before…”. Sooner or later every last one of us Christians on some level will be called upon to make the good confession. The setting is never a favorable one, it will range from either mildly hostile to absolutely death dealing hatred,...

Super flu outbreaks are ravaging the Korean Peninsula less than two weeks before the Winter Olympics — leaving North Korea scrambling to treat more than 81,000 people infected with swine flu as the South kills off nearly 1 million chickens to contain the bird flu on its side of the border. Nearly 127,000 North Koreans were reported to have flu-like illness between Dec. 1 and Jan. 16, with 81,640 cases testing positive for Influenza A/H1N1, also commonly known as swine flu, the World Health Organization said in a report released Friday. Three children and one adult have died from the...