Free Republic

Disparaging vegans could now land you behind bars for discrimination, a UK labor court ruled. On Friday, a tribunal in Norwich, England, determined that ethical veganism is a “religion or belief,” and one of the nine “protected characteristics” under the 2010 Equality Act. The ruling comes after Jordi Casamitjana of London claimed he had been fired by the League Against Cruel Sports as a result of his ethical veganism. Casamitjana said he was compelled to blow the whistle on his former employer, who he says had invested pension funds into firms that tested on animals. According to the League Against...

Clips tagged #Swamp Judge Rao and House Counsel discuss using Sergeant-at-Arms to seize Mueller grand jury testimony Think about all of the media panel discussions on gun ownership you have watched; segments where second amendment advocates were ridiculed by media pundits for daring to bring up the possibility of… Offices of former Ukrainian president raided in criminal investigation Ukrainian authorities have announced developments in an ongoing high-level investigation that has political ramifications. One America’s Jack Posobiec has the details. Did Prince Andrew ask Ghislaine Maxwell for help? Since renewed attention to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes reached a fever pitch over the...

Including the two supermoons, there will be a total of 13 full moons during the year. There will also be two full moons in the month of October alone, the second of which is called a blue moon. Here's the special, and somewhat eerie, part. The blue moon will fall on Halloween night. Blue moons typically happen once every two or three years, but it's even more rare to have it on Halloween. The next blue moon to fall on Halloween will be in 2039.

“Increasing in Wisdom” (Luke 2:40-52) When Jesus was an infant, he was presented in the temple at 40 days old. From that point on, we know nothing of the life of Jesus, until he began his public ministry at the age of 30--except for two incidents: One is the visit of the wise men and the flight to Egypt, when Jesus was less than two. The only other incident we have from Jesus’ childhood is when he was twelve. It’s the Gospel reading you just heard, the story usually called “The Boy Jesus in the Temple.” It’s the story of...

In a study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology, Güler and his colleagues demonstrate that the pleasure center of the brain that produces the chemical dopamine, and the brain's separate biological clock that regulates daily physiological rhythms, are linked, and that high-calorie foods—which bring pleasure—disrupt normal feeding schedules, resulting in overconsumption. Using mice as study models, the researchers mimicked the 24/7 availability of a high-fat diet, and showed that anytime snacking eventually results in obesity and related health problems. Güler's team found that mice fed a diet comparable to a wild diet in calories and fats maintained normal eating...

    ASPIRE TO A VISION A scene in the movie Karate Kid was quite striking. Daniel went to see Mr. Miyagi and found him trimming a delicate bonsai tree. Daniel was fascinated and wanted to try it, but he had no idea how it was done. Miyagi told him to close his eyes and picture in his mind the way he wanted the tree to look. After Daniel found that vision in his mind, Miyagi told him to open his eyes and start trimming the tree. Daniel's every move was deliberate and focused. Then he stopped. He asked,...

The 77th annual Golden Globe awards will be presented Sunday. It’s billed as the biggest party of the year during the award show season. This year the dinner before the awards ceremony will present a completely meatless menu. Sorry, carnivores, there will be no tasty beef or poultry dishes this year. It’s all about saving the planet, you know. Entertainment industry award shows are notoriously political. In Trump’s America, the level of political statements offered by our Hollywood and Broadway betters has exceeded anything we heard during the eight years of Obama. As the national press, actors and actresses were...

A recent NBC News report warned that media coverage of detransitioners—formerly transgender individuals seeking to return to the gender associated with their biological sex—is misleading and potentially harmful. “No one disputes that transition regret does exist,” author Liam Knox writes. “However, trans advocates say some of the recent coverage around the topic portrays detransitioning as much more common than it actually is.” The article suggests that journalists are creating a “panic” about detransition, and fuelling the “misconception” that trans individuals are “just temporarily confused or suffering from a misdiagnosed psychological disorder.” Knox quotes Dr. Jack Turban, a psychiatric resident at...

Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice made the media rounds on Friday to discuss the death of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. She repeatedly said the Trump administration "misrepresents the facts," something Benghazi annex team member Mark Geist takes issue with. "She pretty much has zero integrity in my book, but it's typical tactics from the Democrats," Geist told Fox News' Pete Hegseth on "Fox and Friends: Weekend." According to Geist, Democrats will have one person who will come out and say what they want people to hear, similar to what happened after the attack in Benghazi back in 2012. "Mark,...

President Trump launched his campaign outreach to evangelical voters Friday, telling thousands of Christian supporters at a megachurch in Florida that “God is on our side.” “With your help, your prayers and your tireless effort to mobilize Christian communities across our land,” Mr. Trump said, “we’re going to win another monumental victory for faith and family, God and country, prayer and freedom.” Referring to his victory in 2016 despite strong opposition from the media, the president told the faithful, “I really do believe we have God on our side. We’re going to blow away those numbers in 2020.” He urged...

President Trump threatened to attack 52 Iranian sites to represent the 52 hostages held by Iran between 1979 and 1981 if the country seeks revenge for the killings of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al Muhandis in Baghdad. "Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters," Trump tweeted on Saturday night....

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering a list of recommendations aimed at preventing violence against faith-based communities after a spate of attacks synagogues, churches, and other places of worship. Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf has asked agency heads, in a memorandum obtained by media outlets, to come up with a plan to bolster the security of places of worship and protect faith-based groups from violent targeted attacks. “Houses of worship and faith-based organizations dedicate resources to local communities and often serve as social and moral beacons people rely on in times of both joy and need. The right...

How’s this for bad timing? In a list consisting mostly of foreign dignitaries that are known to only a handful of people in the UK, US and the rest of the English-speaking world, the Times of London named now-deceased Iranian General Qassem Suleimani to its list of “Twenty faces to look out for in 2020.” The list, published on the Times’ website early Thursday morning, just hours before Suleimani was killed during a drone strike in Baghdad, also included Princess Leonor of Spain, Nigerian Afrobeat star David Adedeji (better known by his stage name Davido) and Italian politician Giorgia Meloni....

Colin Kaepernick has some thoughts on the United States taking out a top Iranian officer with a drone strike ... calling classic American imperialism via our military. The ex-NFL quarterback posted some scathing remarks Saturday about the international move that's got everyone here at home worried about a so-called World War III -- and he didn't hold back in criticizing it to the max, likening it to an attack on people of color.

The traitor class has been particularly vocal ever since Qasem Soleimani was killed. The ever-winsome Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) tweeted Friday: “We are outraged the president would assassinate a foreign official, possibly setting off another war without Congressional authorization and has zero plan to deal with the consequences.” Wait, what? Soleimani was a “foreign official”? Isn’t Ilhan Omar aware that Soleimani was no staid and stolid Iranian “official” sitting bored behind a desk somewhere in Tehran, but was responsible for the deaths of over 600 U.S. soldiers in Iraq? Yes, she does know, and clearly she doesn’t care. We know...

Otto von Bismarck famously declared the Balkans weren't worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier. He knew that fractious, feuding part of Europe would soak up as much blood as the Germans cared to spill. Because Bismarck's successors forgot his wisdom, the Balkans ended up claiming the bones of millions, in what was naively called the Great War before it was eclipsed in bloodshed and horror twenty years later. Neither Germany nor her European adversaries have ever recovered. The same could be said of the Middle East. The whole wretched place isn't worth the bones of a single Alabamian...

Some time ago, I had been asked to look over the final, pre-publication draft of a book, written by a friend of one of my West Point classmates whose father just happens to be a Medal of Honor recipient. More on that later. I made note of some things and informed the author. Below is my review of the final, published book. The book, Women in Combat; Feminism Goes to War, is written by Mark C. Atkins, a self-described, “failed Marine” (I checked; He has an Honorable Discharge) does what few folks today have courage to do, call out the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Groups of protesters took to the streets in Washington and other U.S. cities on Saturday to condemn the air strike in Iraq ordered by President Donald Trump that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Trump’s decision to send about 3,000 more troops to the Middle East. “No justice, no peace. U.S. out of the Middle East,” hundreds of demonstrators chanted outside the White House before marching to the Trump International Hotel a few blocks away.

The Virginia governor’s new budget reveals funding for a new team of anti-gun cops. Like the 2011 Virginia earthquake, gun control proposals rumble through the Commonwealth once again. The latest is Governor Ralph Northam’s (D) budget proposal, which includes – among other things – what sure seems to be funding for a gun confiscation squad. Democrats showed their intent to turn Virginia from a state that broadly respects the rights of its residents to bear arms to one that seizes and destroys those guns right after the November elections. Over 100 cities and counties have declared “sanctuary” pledges to uphold...

Remember when senior Obama administration officials in their final days in office were seeking to cover up key details of the Iran nuclear deal from Congress, according to documents and sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon about continued efforts by the White House to block formal investigations into secret diplomacy with Tehran that resulted in a $1.7 billion cash payment by the United States. As leading members of Congress petition the Obama administration for answers about what many describe as a $1.7 billion “ransom” payment to Iran, Obama administration officials are doubling down on their refusal to answer...