Free Republic

Seventy-eight years ago today, the course of our Nation’s history was forever altered by the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii. On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we solemnly remember the tragic events of that morning and honor those who perished in defense of our Nation that day and in the ensuing 4 years of war. Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, airplanes launched from the Empire of Japan’s aircraft carriers dropped bombs and torpedoes from the sky, attacking our ships moored at Naval Station Pearl Harbor and other military assets around Oahu. Following this swift...

On this day in 1865, the United States ratified the 13th Amendment to our Constitution, abolishing slavery and setting our Nation on a path that would ensure that the blessings of liberty endowed to us by our Creator were secured for all Americans. America was founded on the conviction that “all men are created equal.” However, it was not until nearly a century after these words were written that the law of the land reflected this fundamental truth for African Americans. On that historic December day 154 years ago, Georgia became the 27th State to ratify the 13th Amendment, forever...

A Tesla on autopilot rear-ended a Connecticut trooper’s vehicle early Saturday as the driver was checking on his dog in the back seat, state police said. Police said they had responded to a disabled vehicle that was stopped in the middle of Interstate 95. While waiting for a tow, the self-driving Tesla came down the road. After striking the trooper's vehicle, the driver in the Tesla then rear-ended the disabled vehicle before stopping.

On Wednesday, Wake Forest became the second Wake County town in a week to cancel its Christmas parade over safety fears. Santa Claus was planning to come to town on Dec. 14, but Wake Forest officials canceled the parade for what is though to be the first time since it started more than 71 years ago. Town officials said they had received credible information that “extremist” groups on both sides of the issue of how — and whether — to preserve and interpret symbols of the Confederacy were making plans online to attend the parade. Crabtree said no one from...

If China’s bad debts were written down, its economic growth rate would be half the recorded number, a US economist at a prominent Chinese university has warned. In a speech in Shanghai this week, Michael Pettis, professor of finance at Peking University, warned that China’s debt is closely linked to the government’s perceived overstatement of its gross domestic product (GDP). The government is accused of perpetuating the existence of “zombie companies”, by granting loss-making companies loans. Banks in turn treat these companies as creditworthy, whereas in reality they should be written off as bad debt, Pettis said. “If you believe...

The Los Angeles Times editorial board on Saturday called for President Donald Trump to be impeached, joining an expanding list of major newspapers offering public support for either Trump's impeachment or the impeachment inquiry into his dealings with Ukraine. Less than a week after the impeachment inquiry transitioned into a new phase in the House Judiciary Committee, the Times' editorial board wrote: "We've seen enough. Trump should be impeached."

And that means the time has come to slip on your fluffiest socks, snuggle up next to a crackling fire, and bask in the smoky scent of....chicken? In a partnership with artificial fire log company Enviro-Log, Kentucky Fried Chicken is offering what's sure to be the hottest commodity of the season -- a hunk of flammable, chicken-scented bliss otherwise known as the 11 Herbs & Spices Firelog. You don't even have to go flying out of the front door to get your hands on the bizarre, flaming mass. It's exclusively sold on Walmart.com for a slick $18.99. You will need...

Elizabeth Warren has forgotten, if she ever knew, Margaret Thatcher's immortal dictum: "The problem with socialism is that sooner or later, you run out of other people's money." In what ought to be a career-ending slip, facing a friendly questioner, Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association, her belief in a fantasy world where money can be endlessly spent came out. Watch her brush off concern over funding an expensive education program with the words, "The way I see it, there's always, c'mon, there's always money. It's there."

My friend Maureen Callahan (who, like me, is a longtime fan of Howard Stern’s celebrity interviews, which elicit more frankness than anybody’s) says Hillary Clinton’s appearance on the Stern show amounts to her “biggest hint yet that she’s mulling a 2020 presidential run.” Clinton is ostensibly on tour to promote one of those “book projects” — I didn’t say “books” — slapped together by ghostwriters that she and her daughter keep putting their names on for the apparent sole purpose of giving them a hook for television appearances. As Callahan notes, on the Stern show Clinton more or less dropped...

The unidentified woman, who was flying from San Francisco to Atlanta, said she was stung by the venomous creature while midair. She felt a stinging sensation on her leg, prompting her to go to the restroom, TMZ reports. The woman said a live scorpion then dropped out of her pant leg and crawled across the floor before being caught by flight attendants.

..... To look for self-defeating behaviour at work we don’t have to go back to ages past. And there is nothing like trouble over public access to water to bring out behaviour of the worst kind. In 2019, touring the Eastern Cape I encountered towns and trendy resorts with this trouble. The government blamed drought. Residents who knew better blamed comrades out of their depth who’d got winks and nods from higher comrades to run town councils. Israel stepped up to the plate. The ambassador put Israeli know-how for desalination and other fresh water solutions at the disposal of dry...

In a lengthy op-ed piece for The Christian Post titled "You foolish evangelicals, Trump has bewitched you," Chris Thurman claims that “evangelicals who support Donald Trump are being both blind and foolish to do so.” Therefore “labeling them as such is not sinful but appropriate and necessary.” Is there any truth to his charge?Thurman explains that in using the word “support” he “was not referring to evangelicals who voted for Trump in 2016,” even though he believes they erred in voting for him.Rather, he wrote, “I’m referring to those evangelicals who continue to hold Trump up as a great leader,...

We all know that Eve ate the apple in the Garden of Eden so that the Fall is all her fault.Except that Genesis nowhere states that the forbidden fruit was an apple.In fact, unless climatic conditions were much different then in that region, apples would likely not have grown in the area.And Adam was with Eve in the Garden and ate the fruit as well.What else do we know that we don’t?Were Adam and Eve symbols?Some people, anxious to bridge the perceived chasm between science and faith, are quick to suggest that Adam and Eve were not real persons at...

If these people didn’t exist, you couldn’t make them up in a million years. – I kid you not, the hacks at Business Insider are now attacking President Donald Trump for his choice of … wait for it … SALT AND PEPPER SHAKERS. I swear I do not make this stuff up – who could? Some genius who writes for BI named James Pasley posted a photo-essay detailing the fact that President Trump has pair of rather large, um, salt and pepper shakers. As with most other things, including key parts of his anatomy, the Presidents shakers are substantially larger...

Amid declining poll numbers, Elizabeth Warren seems to be attempting to tune up a few of her standard answers to questions about her budget-busting campaign promises. While it didn’t garner much attention at the time, Warren gave an interview to the National Education Association last month. During that meeting she was asked whether or not she supported some expensive new education programs and, if so, how she planned to pay for them.After all the damage she’s taken from her Medicare for All proposal and a (likely unconstitutional) wealth tax, Warren is clearly tired of being asked how she plans...

South Africa vs Black folks and hippies.

Urgent!"From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] By Ms. LOFGREN: H.R. 5038. Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article I, Section 8, clause 4 provides Congress with the power to establish a ``uniform rule of Naturalization.'' [Page H8784]"

The Saudi Arabian national who killed three people at Pensacola Naval Air Station hosted a dinner party to view a sick sampling of mass shooting videos the night before his rampage, a report on Saturday said. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani and three other Saudi students watched the videos, a US official told the Associated Press. One of those three students videotaped outside the building where Friday’s shooting unfolded, according to the official, who was not named.

"The fact of the matter is this guy stood up and he was, in fact, lying." "And I just pointed out, you're a liar," the former Delaware senator continued. "It's a fact. He lied, period. And so, you know, maybe I shouldn't have kidded with him about that." During the exchange, the man made debunked claims that the former vice president sent his son to work for an energy company in Ukraine. The Iowan also challenged Biden about his age, which prompted Biden to challenge the man to a series of tests, including a push-up contest. Biden told Martin that...

The Tye Police Department issued a "warning" about a new batch of meth with a possible deadly consequence. The Facebook post says its causes myonecrosis, which is a flesh eating bacteria. Chief Jay Strong said he got the idea after hearing about seven people dying from flesh eating bacteria in San Diego after injecting a bad batch of black tar heroin. "If you have recently purchased methamphetamine, please come by (Tye police headquarters) and we will test it," said Strong.