Free Republic

“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence” (2 Peter 1:5). God’s provision does not preclude our responsibility. There are some who believe that since God has provided everything needed for the Christian life, believers should expect Him to do everything for them. Their motto is, “Let go and let God!” If Peter had a motto for the Christian life, it would have been more along the lines of the popular World War II song, “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!” Peter knew the Christian life is a struggle in which believers...

The Biden administration is reportedly weighing whether to formally urge vaccinated Americans to once again mask up as the country experiences an increase in the number of COVID-19 delta variant cases. White House aides are in talks with officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about proposed messaging to the public, the Washington Post reported. People familiar with the discussions told the Post that the White House is hesitant to implement policies that would explicitly mandate people show proof of their vaccination status. One idea reportedly thrown around was to ask Americans to wear masks when vaccinated...

In chapter nine of Acts, we’re told that the Holy Ghost came to a godly man named Ananias. The Spirit instructed him to find a man named Saul, lay hands on him and restore his sight. Ananias knew of Saul’s reputation. He believed this was going to be dangerous, but here is how the Holy Spirit recommended Saul to Ananias: “Behold, he is praying” (Acts 9:11, NKJV). The Lord was saying, in essence, “Ananias, you will find this man on his knees. He knows you are coming. He even knows your name and why you’re being sent to him. He...

Happening in Congress this week:Pelosi puts the finishing touches on her January 6th “insurrection” kangaroo court.Biden’s nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, David “Chippy” Chipman, works his way through Congress, as well as the cable news and comedy channels (often the same). Most recently he made his case for the appointment by mocking gun owners, comparing them to “Tiger King” and zombie doomsday preppers.Chippy sounds as lucid and discreet as the lunatic who nominated him, they should make a great team. Not that it’s likely Chippy will make it through the Senate confirmation process, but it...

Viewers watching the ABC, CBS or NBC networks since Feb. 1 likely didn’t hear anything about a rising index indicating that Americans are worse off under President Joe Biden. Issues & Insights released a report on the misery index, a measure started under President Lyndon Johnson that combines the unemployment rate and the inflation rate. The idea is that “joblessness and a fast-rising cost of living produces palpable misery in the country.” The measure spiked at “the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns, jumping from 5.94 to over 15 in one month with the surge in unemployment,” Issues & Insights said....

As House leaders engage in a standoff over Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Jan. 6 panel, a poll found that likely voters are more supportive of investigating the social injustice demonstrations that roiled the nation last summer. A supermajority of likely voters (66%) want the Black Lives Matter and antifa protests investigated, while a majority do not support Pelosi's inquiry into the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports poll. Just 49% support Pelosi's House Jan. 6 panel, and majorities of Blacks and Hispanics back an investigation into the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd...

SACRAMENTO (INSIDE CALIFORNIA POLITICS) – An exclusive Inside California Politics / Emerson College poll reveals conservative talk radio host Larry Elder is leading the race to replace Governor Gavin Newsom if he is recalled by voters. The exclusive new statewide poll of more than 1,000 registered voters, which has a margin of error of +/-2.9%, asked respondents who they would vote for to replace Gov. Newsom. Elder led the pack at 16%, with John Cox and Kevin Faulconer trailing behind both at 6%. A large majority of respondents remain undecided. Undecided: 53%

resident Biden recently unveiled a new executive order on “Promoting Competition” in the U.S. economy. Though the executive order is purported to ‘up our game’ – its health care recommendations plainly drop the ball. If Biden’s agenda is enacted as articulated, it would put American medical innovation at enormous competitive disadvantage – and carry especially devastating consequences for our most vulnerable populations, including seniors. Biden’s EO states, "It is also the policy of my Administration to support aggressive legislative reforms that would lower prescription drug prices, including by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices..." First, the idea that Medicare plans...

Chris Bolan, CC license ================================================================================== It’s time to wake up and smell the plasma, as thermonuclear fusion energy inches closer and closer to reality. In its quest to develop unlimited green energy, the EAST Fusion Facility in Heifei, China recently created a plasma gas that was heated to 120° million Celsius—that’s three-times hotter than the sun—and kept it there for 101 seconds before it dissipated, setting a new world record both for heat and duration. “The breakthrough is significant progress, and the ultimate goal should be keeping the temperature at a stable level for a long time,” said Li Mao,...

Injunction lays out the path for getting class-action certification for safe deposit box renters, lawyers say. The feds faced another setback in their quest to keep $85 million in assets seized in a raid without charging hundreds of safe deposit box renters with a crime. U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner issued a preliminary injunction July 16 in a lawsuit by several customers of Los Angeles-based U.S. Private Vaults (USPV), who alleged the FBI denied them due process by providing civil forfeiture notices that lacked "any legal basis" for seizing the contents of each box. The feds indicted USPV for...

It is possible that few US satellite imagery services withheld images of Iran's nuclear facility in Natanz. It is starting to look like certain US satellite imagery services may have withheld high-resolution images of Iran’s nuclear facility at Karaj on June 23, which Tehran eventually blamed on Israel. ......Snip.... One reason it is possible that US companies might withhold such images could be that their primary customer is the US government, and it could, even informally, send certain “shutter control” signals. Why all of this would be occurring is even more speculative, but one reason could be to help the...

President Joe Biden urged Democrats and Republicans to unite on the House select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot during a town hall event Wednesday night in Cincinnati, Ohio. 'I don't care if you think I'm Satan reincarnated,' Biden said during the event televised on CNN. 'The fact is you can't look at that television and say nothing happened on the 6th. You can't listen to people who say this was a peaceful march.' His comments came after Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two Republicans selected by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to serve on the committee because...

People on the far left have become so predictable that their statements are no longer "breaking news." They would be hilarious if they weren't outrageous or if they didn't contribute to the undermining of human rights and freedom in other countries. Some on the left speak favorably about the evil twins of communism and socialism One of many examples has resurfaced after last week's uprising in Cuba by thousands who have demanded freedom from dictatorship. Nikole Hannah-Jones, author of the "1619 Project," which seeks to teach history to public school students through the prism of slavery, said in a 2019...

A tremendous number of government and private policies affecting kids are based on one number: 335. That is how many children under 18 have died with a Covid diagnosis code in their record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet the CDC, which has 21,000 employees, hasn’t researched each death to find out whether Covid caused it or if it involved a pre-existing medical condition. (snip) My research team at Johns Hopkins worked with the nonprofit FAIR Health to analyze approximately 48,000 children under 18 diagnosed with Covid in health-insurance data from April to August 2020. Our...

The Washington State head coach cited personal reasons in declining a vaccine and does not wish to discuss the matter further. Washington State head coach Nick Rolovich will not attend next week's Pac-12 media days because of the league's requirement that all participants be vaccinated against Covid-19. Rolovich made the announcement over his Twitter account on Wednesday. "As the Pac-12 Conference has required all in-person participants at next week's Pac-12 Football Media Day be fully vaccinated, I will participate remotely and look forward to talking about our football team and the incredible young men in our program," Rolovich said. "I...

Chicago keeps making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Earlier this month, Chicago Public Schools announced that it would be making free condoms available in schools, beginning with children in the fifth grade. In case you’re wondering (or too old to remember), fifth grade is still elementary school, and fifth graders are typically 10 or 11 years old. Kenneth Fox, M.D., described in a Chicago Sun-Times article as “CPS’ top doctor,” was quoted as saying that the decision to make condoms available to fifth graders was “informed by a developmental understanding of children.” Excuse me? Most 10 and 11-year-olds have...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 119נ Nun 105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. 106 I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. 107 I have suffered much; preserve my life, Lord, according to your word. 108 Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws. 109 Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law. 110 The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts. 111...

The Edmunds Testing Team evaluates some 200 cars each year. Each vehicle is driven on a standardized road test loop and visits our test track for instrumented testing in controlled conditions. Our time behind the wheel is used to develop ratings that describe how a car stacks up against its direct rivals in a particular size and price class.

A new children’s book arriving this fall intends to normalize abortion by teaching kids that it simply ends a “pregnancy.” But pro-lifers are creating alternatives that appreciate the unborn for who they are: human persons of inherent dignity and worth. One such book comes from pro-life author Brendan Lyons. Lyons recently collaborated with illustrator Missy Johnson to produce a book called I Can Hear Music, which was published in January. The colorful pages and rhythmic wording follow an unborn baby as he or she begins to hear in the womb – something that can happen as early as 18 weeks....

The state of our nation is politically polarized, controlled by forces beyond the purview of the average American, and rapidly moving the nation away from its freedom foundation. Over the past year, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have found themselves repeatedly subjected to egregious civil liberties violations, invasive surveillance, martial law, lockdowns, political correctness, erosions of free speech, strip searches, police shootings of unarmed citizens, government spying, the criminalization of lawful activities, warmongering, etc.