Free Republic

The repercussions over Poland’s unwillingness to adhere to European law are increasing by the day, with the EU leaders divided and its institutions at war. However the situation is resolved, it’s proving very damaging to the bloc. Poland’s refusal to bow to European Union pressure has revealed a fissure at the heart of the bloc. Brussels simply does not know how to proceed in its battle with Poland over the supremacy of EU law. Some want the Poles punished now, others want more negotiations, while Hungary is steadfastly standing by its ally. European leaders met on Thursday in Brussels to...

Contra Costa County and two other Bay Area health jurisdictions—San Francisco County and the city of Berkeley—have mandated that restaurants ask customers for proof of vaccination if they wish to eat indoors. The location was served with a notice of violation on Oct. 5, and subsequently fined $250 on Oct. 14 and $500 on Oct. 19, a spokesperson for Contra Costa County’s health department told SFGate, adding that the In-N-Out faced “repeated complaints from members of the public.”

Phunware stock (NASDAQ:PHUN) was defying all conventions Friday as it rose 1,468% on speculation that the company is being tapped to build former U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed social media platform. Trading in the stock was halted later. It jumped 1,000% after it resumed. The stock touched a high of $24.04 during the session. It had closed at $1.53 Thursday. More than 197 million shares of the company changed hands on Nasdaq in less than an hour of trading. The speculation has its roots in a USA Today article from May 2020 highlighting a partnership between Phunware and the Trump...

On “a beautiful autumn day” this date in 1941, four dozen French leftists were executed by that country’s occupiers as punishment for the murder of a German officer. On October 20, 1941 — sixteen months into the German occupation — a pair of Communist commandos assassinated the Feldkommandant of Nantes, Lt. Col. Karl Hotz (French link). News of this crime went straight to Adolf Hitler himself, who personally ordered a fearful reprisal. Accordingly, the collaborationist Petain government was induced to select 50 persons from among the ranks of detained German political prisoners. Pierre Pucheu, who would later be executed himself,*...

A rap song titled “Let’s Go Brandon!” has become so popular that it is now trending at number one on Apple Music’s Hip Hop charts. PopVortex.com’s record of what's trending on Apple Music shows that the song is currently in the number one slot on the streaming giant’s Hip Hop charts and it’s number two in iTunes “top 100 pop songs” chart, only behind Adele’s “Easy On Me.” For those who haven’t kept up with the many interesting and vital nuances of political humor these days, “Let’s Go Brandon” is not actually a song in support of people named Brandon...

The production of the upcoming western movie Rust came to a tragic halt on Thursday afternoon in New Mexico, after actor and producer Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm that resulted in the death of the film’s cinematographer. Halyna Hutchins, 42, was reportedly struck in the stomach and was airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where she died, according to Deadline. -snip- “Rule number one, when you’re doing these rehearsals, the firearm, even though it has blanks, it’s never fired at anybody, the angles are always cheated,” Howell says. “Those angles always look to the viewer...

TWENTY-NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME LUKE 12:54-59 Friends, the famous call of the Vatican II fathers to "read the signs of the times" is grounded in Jesus’ exhortation in the Gospel for today. Followers of Jesus are meant to look at the world with clear eyes, to see what is happening, to be attentive. But this attention is of a particular type. It is not the attention of the scientist or the philosopher or the politician—though it can include those. It is an attention to the things of God. I have often argued that many of us today are still...

A local news station reports that regular unleaded gasoline costs $7.59 per gallon, while premium gas costs $8.50 per gallon. A s prices for commodities continue to increase across the country, one California town is seeing gas prices above $7 per gallon. According to KFSN, the only gas station in the remote central coast town of Gorda boasts the nation's highest gas prices. The local news station reports that regular unleaded gasoline costs $7.59 per gallon, while premium gas costs $8.50 per gallon. This town has been home to the nation's highest gas prices for quite some time, and the...

Wesley Muhammad believes that the U.S. government and the Jews are using marijuana to make black men gay. The “Pot Plot” is a popular theory in Muhammad’s Nation of Islam cult. At the Saviours Day Convention in Chicago, an official Nation of Islam event, Wesley Muhammad claimed that, "It is Jewish genius that has helped… to weaponize the weed so that it may effeminize the black male of America. And be clear, it is Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam that is standing in between the total demasculinization of the black man in America.” Some years back, Wesley Muhammad's lecture,...

"To fathom the magnitude of Venezuela’s financial collapse, travel southeast from Caracas, past the oil fields and over the Orinoco River, and head deep into the savanna that blankets one of the remotest corners of the country. There, in the barber shops and restaurants and hotels that constitute the main strip of one dusty little outpost after another, you’ll find prices displayed in grams of gold. A one-night stay at a hotel? That’ll be half a gram. Lunch for two at a Chinese restaurant? A quarter of a gram. A haircut? An eighth of a gram, please. Jorge Pena, 20,...

In a recent Washington Post opinion piece, Robert Kagan presented a chilling, but disturbingly accurate, portrayal of American politics today and its dire portents given the deep political divisions and dysfunctional state of our institutions. A premise of his thesis is that “party loyalty has superseded [executive-legislative-judicial] branch loyalty … in the Trump era.” A more descriptive statement of the Republican side of the ominous national problem — Democratic extremists deserve at least equal blame — would be that loyalty to Donald Trump has superseded party loyalty. Trump has proved himself to be the ultimate embodiment of a “Republican in...

First of all, setting someone up to Ron Burgundy themselves with a teleprompter is a brilliant move since I feel like 99% of the world will blindly read whatever is on a screen when they know they are being recorded. You can make an entire prank show out of getting people to say something they didn't expect to say, followed by the host popping out of nowhere and hitting them with the perfect catchphrase. Anyway, I think the Lions may have tapped into something here. We all expected Dan Campbell's Lions to be fueled by unabashed violence once he took...

Biden Finally Admits Dems Don’t Have The Votes To Raise Corporate Taxes For ‘Build Back Better’ Agenda After weeks of negotiations at the White House and on Capitol Hill, it appears the Democrats are hardly any closer to passing President Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda (which, remember, has been split into two bills, a “bipartisan” infrastructure bill and another to finance a massive expansion of the social safety net). To make matters worse (for America, not the Democrats), the Washington Press Corp reported last night that Democratic moderate Kyrsten Sinema, who has helped to plunge Biden’s agenda deeper into chaos,...

China pulled Boston Celtics games from the streaming service Tencent on Thursday after center Enes Kanter protested Beijing's repressive rule over Tibet and called President Xi Jinping a "brutal dictator." Wearing a T-shirt bearing an image of the Dalai Lama, Kanter in a Facebook video post called for China to "free Tibet," saying the Communist Party is carrying out a campaign of "cultural genocide" in the region. "Shame on the Chinese government," Kanter said. "The Chinese dictatorship is erasing Tibetan identity and culture." Kanter's remarks further complicate the NBA's relationship with China. In recent years, the league has faced growing...

For the first time, Royal Caribbean details an epic 274-night Ultimate World Cruise that will visit all seven continents, call at 150 destinations in 65 counties that include 11 wonders of the world. Serenade of the Seas will be the lucky ship to offer one of the most spectacular and longest cruises ever offered. Serenade of the Seas World Cruise It’s going to be a cruise to remember, with Serenade of the Seas sailing a 274-night Ultimate World Cruise which will be the longest out there. The voyage will commence from Miami, Florida, on December 10, 2023, and end back...

[Catholic Caucus] Novena to Christ the King for the Sake of the Latin MassEditor’s note: the following Novena is being prayed by certain Latin Mass communities for the intention of preserving the ancient Roman Rite at their parish. We invite readers to join in this Novena, starting this Friday, for the sake of all our brethren facing a struggle to preserve the rite of our fathers. Options• 9 Day Novena to Christ the King prayer only (no Rosary) • 9 Day Novena to Christ the King prayer after RosaryDATESFirst Day: Friday, October 22ndLast Day: Saturday, October 30thFor: Feast of Christ...

Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci sounded off on Gen. Colin Powell dying of complications from a reported breakthrough case of COVID-19. Co-host Willie Geist asked Fauci what he would tell people who argue Powell’s death shows the coronavirus vaccine doesn’t work. Fauci, noting the “extremely unusual” situation Powell was in due to age and health, said the former Secretary of State himself would tell the vaccine-hesitant to “go ahead and get vaccinated.” “First of all, it was very unfortunate. General Powell was truly a great, great American, and it’s very sad that...

Legalizing recreational marijuana was always bound to cause unintended consequences, including more traffic accidents, addiction, and worse mental health issues. But Jackson County, Oregon, has added another downside to the list: severe water shortages. It turns out that when Oregon voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2014, southern Oregon saw a surge of illegal marijuana farms posing as legal hemp farms. The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission recently reported that nearly 50% of registered hemp farms inspected by the state grow marijuana with THC content above the legal limits. With marijuana “legal” in Oregon now, these illegal farms operate with near...

When and why did human brains decrease in size 3,000 years ago? New study may have found clues within ants. =========================================================================== The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. Now, a new study has brought us closer to understanding some of its evolution. It shows that human brains decreased in size approximately 3,000 years ago. By studying ants as models to illustrate why brains may increase or decrease in size, the researchers hypothesize that brain shrinkage parallels the expansion of collective intelligence in human societies. Studying and understanding the causes and consequences of brain evolution helps us...

A Fox News Digital reporter observed Brian Laundrie's parents deny a request Friday morning from a power company to gain access to a pole behind their home. The company had sent workers to knock on the Laundrie's door.