Free Republic

Around the world today, lots of countries claim to be “democracies”; but then the state thugs use various ploys to assure that no opposition can ever prevail. Among such ploys, the tactic currently in vogue is to gin up some collection of flimsy criminal charges to get the opposition leader and/or his/her supporters arrested or otherwise sidelined. If you haven’t been following the subject closely in recent months, you may not realize how pervasive the use of this tactic has become. Sure, imprisoning the opposition leaders has long been part of the playbook of the worst thugocracies. It’s what you...

A New Mexico man has died of complications from the bubonic plague as state health officials scramble to assess the ongoing risk in the region. The unidentified Lincoln Country resident had been hospitalized recently with the bacterial affliction, although the details surrounding how he contracted it and how his health deteriorated remain unclear, the state Department of Health (NMDOH) announced Friday. Despite medics’ best efforts, the patient succumbed to his symptoms, marking New Mexico’s first recorded case of bubonic plague since 2021. This was also the state’s first BP-related fatality since 2020; the state recorded four cases of the disease...

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) took to social media to tell former President Trump to “eat dirt” after Trump called the United States a third-world country in his Super Tuesday victory speech. “Trump just called America a ‘third world’ country.’ With all due respect (which is none), eat dirt scumbag,” Kinzinger posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “This is the best country on earth. You, are our biggest embarrassment and stain. But you’ll be over in a year. In a roughly 20-minute speech from his Mar-a-Lago estate after winning more than 10 primary contests, Trump highlighted a...

BABYLON, Suffolk County (WABC) -- A park in Babylon, Suffolk County reopened Friday after the discovery of several body parts belonging to a man and a woman the day before. A female head, leg and arm and two male arms were found, and autopsies are underway to determine the identities of the victims and what happened to them. The grisly discoveries began Thursday morning, when a group of teenagers walking near Babylon Memorial Grade School found a severed arm on the side of the road at the edge of Southard Pond Park. A girl in the group called her father,...

It’s now more than sixty years since the independence movement in the late 1950s and early 1960s transformed nearly all of sub-Saharan Africa into independent countries. Hopes soared for a new era of progress and prosperity. But six plus decades on, with essentially no exceptions (maybe Botswana?), the 49 countries of sub-Saharan Africa are about as poor as ever. The New York Times treats the subject in a big piece by Patricia Cohen a few days ago on September 18. Sorry if this is behind their paywall, but I subscribe to this stuff so that you don’t have to. In...

The scenes of asylum-seekers living on the streets of New York City are without parallel in America since the Great Depression. The migrant crisis in New York City is nearing a breaking point with shelters at capacity and asylum seekers now being forced to sleep on the street. pic.twitter.com/DHNUCKnMyU— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) August 2, 2023'Migrant crisis in New York City worsens as asylum seekers are forced to sleep on sidewalks.' From @CBSNews: https://t.co/YNOBVgs3uB— Byron York (@ByronYork) August 3, 2023Thousands of people who crossed the border have come to New York looking for the city to fulfill its promise of...

On Tuesday, April 25, 2023, Huw Pill, the Bank of England's chief economist, warned U.K. citizens that they need to accept that they are poorer and stop pushing for higher wages. "Yes, we're all worse off," he said, saying that seeking to offset rising prices with higher wages would only fuel more inflation. "So somehow in the U.K., someone needs to accept that they're worse off and stop trying to maintain their real spending power by bidding up prices, whether higher wages or passing energy costs through on to customers, et cetera." This was a somber assessment of the state...

Hundreds of teenagers stormed the streets of downtown Chicago, smashing car windows, attacking bystanders and sending panicked tourists running from the sound of gunfire. "Where are their parents at, that's my question," a woman who identified as a Chicago native told Fox 32 as the unruly scene played out in Downtown Chicago Saturday night. Fox 32 cameras captured video of teenagers flooding the streets while police struggled to restore order to the area. Large groups of teens were seen blasting music from Bluetooth speakers and spilling in front of traffic, with some attempting to gain access to the city's Millennium...

The legal team representing former President Donald Trump reportedly expects that the Manhattan judge will put a gag order on him as the case awaits trial. A source close to the legal team told the Daily Mail the judge will take an “unprecedented step” to silence the 2024 presidential candidate. The gag order could potentially undercut his ability to campaign on the issue of legal corruption during the primary. “The Trump legal team now thinks that the Manhattan judge will take the unprecedented step of silencing the presidential frontrunner with an unconstitutional gag order tomorrow,” the source said. “The Trump...

Bomb a pro-life pregnancy center? Cool. Bomb the RNC on 1/6? Cool. Burn cities, kill people, & destroy property for a whole summer? Cool. Kill Christians? Cool. Especially children. Speak up at a school board meeting? Domestic terrorist. Pry near an abortion clinic? Criminal. Criticize Transgender Day of Vengeance after the killer is transgender? Shut that down. Life in Biden's Amerika.

More than a million UK households will be offered money for them to cut their electricity use between 5pm and 6pm on Monday in a move that follows the National Grid bringing back mothballed coal plants today to ensure supply. Some people across Britain are to be offered up to £20 (~$24.76) to dramatically reduce their electricity usage between 5pm and 6pm on Monday evening in an attempt to curb the country’s electricity use in the face of potential shortages. It will be the first time such payments will be issued under the National Grid’s Demand Flexibility Service, which was...

Joe Biden and his acolytes made a big deal about his diplomacy chops as contrasted to President Trump during the days of his 2020 presidential campaign. "America is back!" he yawped, shortly after taking office.So here's his way of making America popular abroad:ABU DHABI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - U.S. climate envoy John Kerry on Sunday outlined core principles for a "high-integrity" carbon offset plan meant to help developing nations speed their energy transition, and next steps including establishing a consultative group.The Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA), first announced at last year's COP27 climate conference, is being developed by the United States...

Philadelphia's police force remains understaffed. According to the Philadelphia Police Department, there have been 478 murders so far this year. The odds of becoming a victim of a property crime in the city are 1 in 34. One North Philadelphia proprietor has had enough. No longer willing to leave his life, his livelihood, and his customers' well-being to chance, Neil Patel, who runs Karco gas station at Broad and Clearfield streets, has raised his own defense force. It is unclear, however, if elements of that force's past offenses will come back to jeopardize the initiative. Patel owns 22 gas stations...

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday ordered Riley Williams, a 23-year-old right-wing extremist, taken into federal custody after a jury convicted her on six of the eight counts she faced in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. Williams was found guilty on six counts, but the jury deadlocked on two others, including whether she aided and abetted the theft of a laptop in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Williams, a follower of the "Groyper" movement, stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, filming rioters breaking into the building, then encouraged members of the mob up a set...

With Thanksgiving right around the corner people everywhere will soon be plotting out extensive grocery lists. Whether your family likes to try new things or go the more traditional route, gathering around food always feels good. This holiday season Kiva Confections’ cannabis-infused turkey gravy puts a Thanksgiving twist on a classic flavor. With a virally successful debut, it felt only right to bring back a turkey gravy that’s sure to elevate the evening. The limited-edition Kiva Turkey Gravy will be available for purchase at dispensaries across California beginning November 2nd for only $5. Savory ingredients include turkey stock, salt, onion...

Early last Thursday morning, police in St. Petersburg, Florida happened upon a man named Enzo Zabala-Cardozo, who was about to fire up and smoke from a glass pipe in an alleyway. Obviously, that is not allowed, but according to Zabala-Cardozo, it was all good! As he turned to walk away from the police, he assured the officers that “meth is legal now.” Zabala-Cordozo offered no other proof or details of his claims, and it was not enough for the police to avoid taking him into their possession. Per The Smoking Gun, Zabala-Cardozo was arrested on a felony drug possession charge...

Headline from Politics Insider this morning: Feds likely obtained ‘pulverizing’ amount of evidence ahead of searching Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, legal experts say.Pulverizing! Hold that thought. The top story today in the New York Times, bylined by its top White House reporter, speculates this is about “delayed returning” of “15 boxes of material requested by officials with the National Archives.” If that’s true, and it’s not tied to January 6th or some other far more serious offense, then the Justice Department just committed institutional suicide and moved the country many steps closer to once far-out eventualities like national revolt or martial...

Ron DeSantis @RonDeSantisFL The raid of MAL is another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves. Now the Regime is getting another 87k IRS agents to wield against its adversaries? Banana Republic. 8:43 PM · Aug 8, 2022

Sri Lanka's fuel stocks will last for about five more days, its power and energy minister said on Thursday, as the island nation awaits official confirmation from the Indian government for a new $500 million credit line for fuel. The country of 22 million people is caught in its worst financial crisis in seven decades after its foreign exchange reserves dwindled to record lows, with dollars running out to pay for essential imports including food, medicine and fuel. Chronic fuel shortages have worsened this week with kilometers-long lines at some gas stations countrywide, leading to sporadic protests as vehicle owners...

Pollution cuts more lives short worldwide than war, terrorism, malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, drugs or alcohol.That's the takeaway of a report published Tuesday in The Lancet Planetary Health, which analyzed the combined health risks of air, water and toxic chemical pollution in 2019. The results show that pollution is responsible for around 9 million premature deaths each year, or one in six globally. That puts its toll on par with smoking."We haven't been yelling from the top of the streets, saying, 'Look at this!' loud enough,'" said Richard Fuller, the report's lead author and the founder and CEO of the nonprofit...