Free Republic

(2:55 p.m. EST) -- Cruise lines could return to Cuba as early as next year with the change of administration in the U.S. "Cuba was a very important part of our itineraries," said Tom McAlpin, president and CEO of Virgin Voyages, speaking at the International Cruise Summit in Madrid. "We hope that, with the new administration, that will open up again. It was very good for our industry, and we look forward to being back in Cuba." McAlpin stated that Cuba would be an ideal close-to-home destination for cruises based out of Florida. "In the short run, before there is...

"Hiking anyone? I am looking for a friend to go hiking with. I am a moderate hiker, 68 years of age and I would love some company," Lisa Thorborg wrote A California woman who was fatally stabbed along a nature trail near her home posted a message online weeks earlier looking for someone to hike with. Lisa Thorborg, 68, was hiking Carlsbad’s Hosp Grove West Trail between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Nov. 23 when she was attacked. A passerby found the former physical therapist’s body on the trail around 11:20 a.m., Carlsbad police say. Thorborg, who had moved to...

On Monday, Vice reported that the New Yorker suspended reporter Jeffrey Toobin because he exposed himself on a company Zoom call. While the infamous "incident" has sparked conversations about appropriate conduct during virtual meetings, the indiscretion is also extremely relevant to the debate regarding social media regulation and Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934.Revealing one's self in a work setting can invariably lead to lawsuits. And if lawsuits are filed, Toobin, rather than Zoom, should be liable. Zoom likely had no knowledge of the incident until it was reported, nor did Zoom have anything to do with his...

<p>OMFG, my cousin got these for her kids for Christmas. All the Karen's on her Facebook were gushing about how politically correct the doll was wearing a mask. Are we in the Soviet Union or what? Dept of Elf Magic? Unreal.</p>

A rocky few weeks for Malik Beasley is only getting worse. The 24-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves guard - who was charged with felony threats of violence and fifth-degree drug possession on Oct. 30 - was seen out and about with Larsa Pippen, the ex-wife of former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen. A Nov. 23 photo of Beasley and Pippen, 46, holding hands in Miami was a surprise to Beasley’s wife, Instagram model Montana Yao. Yao, who has a child with Beasley, was “blindsided” by the image. She is also facing charges stemming from the late October arrest alongside Beasley. Pippen divorced...

The Balkanization of college campuses. When he wryly observed that “During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act,” Orwell may well have had academia in mind, where challenging prevailing ideology can have a calamitous effect on one’s reputation and career—something especially true of faculty. In 1978, the significant Regents of the University of California v. Bakke case brought the term “diversity” into the lexicon of higher education Although the Court found that the medical school at the University of California at Davis had used an unconstitutional quota system in denying Alan Bakke admission, Justice Lewis Powell...

The Chenango County Board of Elections said Tuesday they discovered 55 early votes which were not counted. That's according to the county's Democratic Party commissioner. Out of those 55 votes, only 44 are countable because the other 11 voters were not registered.(20% of voters

Believe it or not, finding Foster’s beer in Australia – what international drinkers think of as the country’s beer of choice – isn’t easy. In its proverbial homeland, the Southern Cross-spangled cans elude shop shelves and, in 2015, just 10 venues across the entire country poured it on tap. But the brand that promoted Australia’s laidback drinking culture to the world has decided to relaunch locally, upping production in Melbourne by 300% in the coming months. The brewer Carlton and United Breweries, now owned by Japanese behemoth Asahi, will target hip-pocket nerves, going after low-cost competitors. Thirty cans of Foster’s...

GAZA - The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees paid the salaries of 30,000 Palestinian staff across the Middle East for last month, but a funding shortfall may still hinder payment in December, officials said on Wednesday. UNRWA finds itself in limbo after the U.S. election - President Donald Trump ended all U.S. payments, but while Palestinians hope President-elect Joe Biden’s administration will at least partially resume payments, that could take months. The agency said last month it had run out of money to pay salaries after two years of funding cuts by the United States and other donors, including...

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Suspected members of an insurgent jihadist group slaughtered 20 Christians in villages in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between Nov. 20 and Nov. 25, area sources said. The Islamic State-linked Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) are suspected in the attacks on villages in North Kivu Province, said a local clergyman who lost his family in an assault on Mayitike village, about 20 miles northwest of Beni town, on Nov. 20. “They tried to force some of our Christians to convert to Islam,” the clergyman, whose name is withheld for security...

While the Biden campaign was announcing a slate of radicals sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood to stack its foreign policy desk if it ever takes over the government, a very different sort of trip was underway in the middle east that clarified how wrong and dangerous they were. In an event that would have been inconceivable under Barack Obama, the Shillman Fellows of Reservists on Duty, an organization founded by Israeli military veterans that tours college campuses to speak about the realities of fighting terrorism, were on their way to Dubai. Dubai, as part of the United Arab Emirates, had...

Christopher C. MillerActing Secretary of Defense Download Hi-resMr. Christopher C. Miller is the Acting Secretary of Defense, appointed Nov. 9, 2020. Earlier this year, he Performed the Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (ASD) for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict. He also previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism (SOCT). Mr. Miller was responsible for overseeing the employment of special operations forces in counterterrorism, Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Information Operations, unconventional warfare, irregular warfare, direct action, special reconnaissance, foreign internal defense, counter proliferation, sensitive special operations, and personnel recovery/hostage issues...

Devastating news: Walter Williams died last night (or early this morning).

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Paul is telling us, “All who follow Jesus are blessed with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, where Christ is.” What an incredible promise to God’s people. This promise becomes mere words if we don’t know what these spiritual blessings are. How can we enjoy the blessings that God promises us if we don’t comprehend them? Paul wrote this epistle “to the faithful in Christ Jesus” (1:1). These were believers who were sure of...

“Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:19-20). We are now living in “that day” Jesus speaks of; in short, we are to understand our heavenly position in Christ. Of course, most of us know our position in him — that we are seated with him in heavenly places — but only as a theological fact. We know it as an experience. What is meant by “our position in Christ”? Very simply, position is where one is placed, where...

President Donald Trump hinted Tuesday he was preparing another run for president in 2024 if his efforts to challenge the 2020 election did not prevail. “It’s been an amazing four years. We’re trying to do another four years, otherwise, I’ll see you in four years,” Trump told Republican supporters at a Christmas party at the White House. Video of Trump’s remarks at the party, which was closed to the press, was streamed on Facebook by Oklahoma GOP National Committeewoman Pam Pollard.

"The point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens" (Heb. 8:1). Since Jesus serves as our High Priest, we have access to God. Access to God was always a problem for the Jewish people. Exodus 33:20 declares that no man can see God and live. Once each year, on the great Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the Jewish high priest entered into the Holy of Holies, where God's presence dwelt in a unique sense, to approach...

There is no word more overused in political life than "historic." But considering the runoff races for the two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia, "historic" is the right word. There is little of what we once thought of as middle ground remaining in the nation. Today, we've got the left, the right and not much in the center. With the far left now controlling the White House and the House of Representatives, only a Republican-controlled Senate stands in the way of what these two far-left centers of power want to do and will be able to do. If Republicans do...

A Chinese space probe on Wednesday began drilling on the surface of the Moon hours after landing, in an ambitious attempt to bring back the first lunar samples in four decades. Beijing has poured billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022 and of eventually sending humans to the Moon. The Chang'e-5 spacecraft -- named for the mythical Chinese moon goddess -- touched down on the near side of the Moon on Tuesday, and is now gathering samples from the surface, the China National Space Administration said. Chang'e-5's goal is to collect...

The percentage of North Korean citizens who are exposed to the Bible is steadily increasing every year despite extreme persecution, according to a new report that investigates and analyzes the conditions of religious freedom in the Hermit Kingdom. The annual White Paper on Religious Freedom in North Korea from The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights found that the number of North Koreans who responded that “they have an experience of seeing the Bible” increased by 4% each year since 2000. Before 2000, only 16 people claimed to have seen a Bible. After 2000, up to 559 North Korean...