Free Republic

Three incidents this week confirm that something is seriously amiss with our legal system. I’ve always had great respect for our legal system. It’s as good as any of which I’m aware. No, I’m not naive. I’m fully aware that every institution depends on the competence and integrity of those involved and that means sometimes decisions are rendered that are wrong -- muddy thinking and sometimes corrupt judges; self-seeking prosecutors; incompetent counsel; bad and poorly written laws; false testimony by liars -- all contribute now and then to unjust resolutions. But in recent years, my faith has been even more...

Police in Paris on Saturday fired tear gas and aimed water cannons at protesters defying a ban on marching against Israeli attacks on Gaza, dispersing demonstrators gathering in groups of several hundred. Paris police said they made 44 arrests and that one officer was injured breaking up a gathering of protesters.Between 2,500 and 3,500 protesters converged on the heavily immigrant Barbès neighbourhood in the north of Paris, according to interior ministry figures, amid a security presence of involving some 4,200 officers."We refuse to silence our solidarity with the Palestinians, and we will not be prevented from demonstrating," the organisers of...

Remember the old 1970s sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter"? It aired on ABC from 1975 to 1979. The president of the United States throughout half that period was the infamous peanut-farmer-turned-worst-president-ever Jimmy Carter. Perfect timing. Because 2021 is clearly the new 1977. The new version of that sitcom is "Welcome Back, Carter. Except Add Dementia." It stars our current president, Joe "Basement" Biden, as today's hapless, pathetic, destructive Jimmy Carter. Basement Biden and Jimmy Carter are alike in so many ways it's almost surreal. Both appeared to the naked eye as decent human beings. Both portrayed themselves as moderate Democrats. Both...

Reliable Robots and Xwing are two Bay Area start-ups working on planes that can fly themselves...Both companies said they are working with major logistics companies to deliver cargo as a first use case once FAA approval happens. [Link includes a 19 minute video with some beautiful photography]

The entire Database of Maricopa County in Arizona has been DELETED! This is illegal and the Arizona State Senate, who is leading the Forensic Audit, is up in arms. Additionally, seals were broken on the boxes that hold the votes, ballots are missing, and worse. Mark Brnovich, the Attorney General of Arizona, will now be forced to look into this unbelievable Election crime. Many Radical Left Democrats and weak Republicans are very worried about the fact that this has been exposed. The DELETION of an entire Database and critical Election files of Maricopa County is unprecedented. Many other States to...

The secretary of Health and Human Services recently dodged a question about “partial-birth abortion” by claiming that it isn’t a “medical term.” But it’s a term that both Congress and the Supreme Court have carefully described – and the definition is shockingly gruesome. Secretary Xavier Becerra’s comments came during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on May 12. He spoke in response to Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), who asked, “Do you agree that partial-birth abortion is illegal?” Becerra’s position on abortion is no secret: He has indicated his support multiple times. He boasts perfect ratings from abortion groups including...

Police departments in New York City and other large metro areas across the U.S. are bulking up patrols and implementing new tactics to prepare for what they say could be a violent summer. States lifting Covid-19 restrictions and more people out in public spaces in warmer weather increase the likelihood of more shootings, as well as less-serious crimes, officials say. Many crimes, including violent ones, normally rise in summer. Gun purchases also rose during the pandemic and cities have seen an increase in guns being used in crimes. Shootings and homicides in big U.S. cities are up this year again...

I’m in one of those moods where I wish there weren’t editors or language standards, because there are quite a few leftists I’d really like to encourage to go “make love” to themselves and end it in an unpleasant way. Since this is a column and not a book, and there are editors and language standards, I’ll limit my fire to just one, Dr. Anthony Fauci, save the rest for later, temper my language a bit and make expeditious use of the thesaurus. Needless to say, I view him as the epicenter of a rear-end and truly one of the...

Plant-based and additional meatless products are accused of misleading buyers under a bill the Texas House approved Monday. “Texas is the latest state to debate measures that would prohibit foods that don’t contain animal products from using words like ‘meat’ or ‘beef’ in their name,” the Dallas Morning News reported. The bill was approved following a debate but needs one additional vote in the House to move on to the Texas Senate. According to Rep. Brad Buckley, his bill would help protect consumers, including vegetarians and vegans, from purchasing a product by mistake. “This is for those who choose to...

An oil painting by Pablo Picasso sold for $103.4 million at a Christie's auction in New York, smashing its presale estimate of $55 million. The portrait of Picasso's French lover Marie-Therese, "Femme assise près d'une fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse)", or 'Woman sitting near a window,' led the '20th Century Evening Sale' on Thursday. Keith Gill, head of the Impressionist and Modern Art department at Christie's London, said the work may be familiar to art lovers from its appearance at a landmark Picasso 1932 exhibition at the Tate Modern in 2018. "It's an incredibly iconic image. It hasn't been seen up at auction...

Don’t let your hearts be troubled...even by fake news, riots or pandemics. Believe in God. He is preparing a place for us, an eternal home for every Believer. Today, ask God, “What will you have me do?” Because faith without works is dead. Great triumph can only come from great trials!

Eurythmics are two: Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox. They wrote all Eurythmic songs together, and Dave produced every one. As the world knows well, they created an expansive songbook of great songs, many of which became major hits, such as “Would I Lie To You,” “Here Comes The Rain Again,” “Missionary Man,” “There Must Be An Angel” and many others. But no song ever became more immensely ubiquitous, beloved, covered and iconic than their first real song as a duo, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This).” It has been covered on records 182 different times, and that includes only official...

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were found to be 94 percent effective in health care workers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) ongoing largest effectiveness study. The interim study results released on Friday further support previous data on the effectiveness of the two vaccines, which use mRNA technology and have been widely administered in the U.S. The researchers estimated that those who were fully vaccinated were 94 percent less likely to develop symptomatic COVID-19, while people who were partially vaccinated were 82 percent less likely. The CDC highlighted that the sample size reached a broader...

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday he is "dismayed" by civilian casualties in Gaza and "deeply disturbed" by Israel's strike on a building containing international media outlets, AFP reports. The comments came after 10 members of a family were reportedly killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, and another air strike demolished the 13-floor Gaza building housing Al Jazeera and The Associated Press news agency. .....

Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors has shared a story blasting the 'white supremacy' of the housing market just weeks after her own $3 million property portfolio was revealed. Cullors made the remark while sharing an NPR story about black home ownership levels on her Instagram account. She wrote: 'Thank you @npr for highlighting the history of racism inside of the housing market and why Black homeownership has always been a way to disrupt white supremacy.'

2081 is a 2009 science fiction featurette which premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 29, 2009. It is directed and written by Chandler Tuttle, based on the 1961 short story "Harrison Bergeron" by author Kurt Vonnegut.

Finally, after all the magic tricks, Khamenei pulled his rabbit (Ibrahim Raeisi) out of the magic hat to put an end to all the ambiguities and rumors about the kind of president he wanted. He had already prepared the grounds and specific scenario for his candidate on April 21. On the one hand, a letter was sent by 220 members of parliament affiliated with Khamenei’s faction, asking Raeisi to run for the presidency in this critical situation to save the country from this situation. On the other hand, he had eliminated potential rivals such as Hassan Khomeini (grandson of Ruhollah...

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol an “insurrection against the Constitution” as some GOP lawmakers sought to minimize the violence this week. The comment came as several Republicans, including Reps. Andrew Clyde (Ga.), Jody Hice (Ga.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.), downplayed or made false claims about the attack. Clyde asserted during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on Wednesday that calling the events of Jan. 6 an "insurrection" was a “boldfaced lie.” Speaking to HuffPost on Thursday, Romney noted that the mob attack resulted in severe property damage and death. “I was...

MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana’s latest COVID-19 variant update shows a total of 216 variant cases but no additional confirmed cases of the P.1 or B.1.617.2 variants, also known as Brazil and India variants. New on the report is a section that shows how many of Montana’s 159 breakthrough cases are attributed to variants. Breakthrough cases are COVID-19 cases confirmed in people at least two weeks out from full vaccination. All three cases of the P.1 strain in Montana are in people who are fully vaccinated. 30 others are confirmed to be other variants, including B.1.1.7, also known as the U.K....

“A just weight and balance are the LORD'S: all the weights of the bag are his work. It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness” (Proverbs 16:11-12).