Free Republic

In a video circulating on social media on Thursday, a Russian soldier appeared to claim he and other soldiers deployed in Ukraine were being ordered by their superiors to sign papers retroactively firing them in what may be a move to deny their involvement in the invasion. The Moscow-based Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), which has conducted open-source reporting on Russian involvement in conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, tweeted, “This rare video was filmed by a (non-captured) Russian soldier complaining about losses and harsh conditions. What caught our attention is a claim that they are forced to ‘sign papers’ to be...

A Virginia hospital was held in contempt of court Monday after refusing to administer ivermectin to a woman who has been battling COVID-19 since early October. What are the details? Kathleen Davies, a 63-year-old northern Virginia woman, became severely ill with COVID in October, and she has been on a ventilator since Nov. 3. Davies was prescribed ivermectin by her family doctor, but she could not complete her regime upon being admitted to the Fauquier Hospital in Warrenton. That's because the northern Virginia hospital refused to administer the drug, "citing medical, legal and practical concerns," the Fauquier Times reported. Davies'...

According to SXSW’s terms and conditions of participation, their strict no-refund policy states, “Any and all payments made to SXSW are not refundable for any reason, including, without limitation, failure to use Credentials due to illness, acts of God, travel-related problems, acts of terrorism, loss of employment and/or duplicate purchases.” Due to the cancellation, the festival also laid off a third of its employees, a decision referred to as “the only way to stop the bleeding” by a source to the Austin Chronicle.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit last week against Trinity Health Corporation, one of the nation’s largest Catholic health care groups, for refusing to provide emergency abortions. The formal complaint is based on the health system’s “repeated and systematic failure to provide women suffering pregnancy complications with appropriate emergency abortions as required by federal law,” according to an ACLU press release. Fox News religion correspondent Father John Morris said this is another example of religious institutions being forced to do things against their beliefs. "The ACLU wants no religious belief whatsoever to get in the way of their...

Cynthia and Robert Gifford are caught in a same-sex nightmare. They’ve been forced to defend themselves against claims that they’re lesbian-hating homophobes. “We respect and care for everyone!’’ Cynthia Gifford told me. “We had an openly gay man working for us this past season,’’ she said. “We’ve had a woman who’s transitioning to be a man. We don’t discriminate against anyone.’’ But the government of the state of New York sees things differently. The Giffords, who own the bucolic Liberty Ridge Farm in upstate New York, were ordered to pay a total of $13,000 — a $10,000 fine to the...

In his Encyclical Letter Ingravescentibus malis, Pope Pius XI insisted that, "Among the various public prayers which we successfully address to the Virgin Mother of God the Holy Rosary occupies a particular and distinct place. In the time of the Crusades one voice, one single supplication arose from all people throughout Europe. See here. Today also, the people must seek by their insistent entreaties to obtain from the powerful Mother of God that the enemies of Christianity and human civilization be deterred, and that true peace may shine upon tired and disturbed men." If this be true - and it...

The Anti Defamation League filed Friday an official complaint against Facebook for refusing to remove the Facebook fan page called the Third Palestinian Intifada. “This Facebook page constitutes an appalling abuse of technology to promote terrorist violence,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “Although the managers of this group claim to be calling for peaceful demonstrations, the Third Intifada pages include calls for followers to build on the previous two intifadas. We should not be so naïve to believe that a campaign for a ‘Third Intifada’ does not portend renewed violence, especially in the current climate that has seen...

Conservatives despise him. Many liberals remain stubbornly unimpressed. Now, even babies — sweet, lovable, barely sentient babies — have turned on President Obama, the man with whom they once invested so much hope. Though he tries time and again to connect with these impressionable young citizens, it is all in vain, for his overtures are met only with cold shoulders. Tiny, cold shoulders.

A Republican senator who is blocking confirmation of President Barack Obama's choice to head the Transportation Security Administration is accusing Democrats of trying to install Erroll Southers without debate.

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service recently refused to provide two university researchers with records requested under the Freedom of Information Act while simultaneously asserting, "We are not denying the release" of the documents. The Education Department recently cut off all communication with an interest group about its FOIA request after the group published a critical report based on the first batch of documents released in response to that request. Both requesters now have filed federal lawsuits in Washington to obtain the records they seek. David Burnham and Susan Long, researchers with the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University,...

Saddam still refusing to co-operate Saddam Hussein is still refusing to co-operate with his captors, British officials have disclosed. The former Iraqi dictator has still not provided any "operationally useful" information since his capture by US forces on December 14, officials said. Nevertheless the coalition forces in Iraq have been able to make use of documents seized with him to mount operations against the die-hard Saddam loyalists still carrying out terrorist attacks. "The results from the capture of Saddam were greater than we were expecting," one official said. "He has not talked himself but the papers found with him led...

Contrary to various media reports, "over 1,000" Arab security prisoners in Israeli jails are not hunger-striking. In fact, says Prison Service Commissioner Yaakov Ganot, only 570 prisoners are involved, "and what they're actually doing is refusing to receive today's meals - which is very different than a hunger-strike." Several reasons were given for the strike. Palestinian Prisoners Union Chairman Isa Kraka said that it was a response to yesterday's "wounding" of 18 prisoners in the Shikmah Prison in Ashkelon, and that they were striking in solidarity with them. Yesterday's rioting in the Shikmah prison broke out after a map of...

<p>FRANKLIN, N.H. (AP) The state has suspended the license of a New Hampshire dentist for refusing to treat a lesbian patient and for berating another patient.</p> <p>The Board of Dental Examiners found that in March 1999, Joseph Roper Jr. refused to treat Tricia Thompson, a patient of his for almost three years, for a painful infected tooth after he found out that she considered herself married to a female partner.</p>

FROM WEBSITE NOTES: Since today's issue is about search engines, I thought I'd share a rant I came across about the popular search engine Google. It seems Google is refusing to run any ads for businesses that sell guns or knives. The owner of Bowman's Brigade submitted three paid ads to Google on March 7. On March 8 Google notified him that they would not run his ads. Their explanation? "Thank you for advertising on Google. At this time, we are not running advertisements for guns and knives. We are able to run your advertisements on Google as long as...