Free Republic

A Halloween-themed ad from Twix has critics accusing the candy manufacturer of ‘ruining’ the holiday with a woke and confusing message on boys wearing dresses that has little to do with the celebration – or the product advertised. In the ‘bite-size Halloween’ commercial, a young boy wearing a princess dress is defended from bullies by a witch nanny, who arrives at his house unannounced in a minivan while the child appears to be unattended. The nanny says she was hired by the child’s parents and she goes on to casually threaten two children questioning why the boy is dressed up...

The left-wing media’s sad record of elevating President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” farce has crashed and burned so hard with Americans that even left-wing polls can’t hide it. Navigator Research, which bills itself as a “resource for progressives,” reportedly released a new poll that showed that most voters don’t believe Biden and Congress are focused on jobs and the economy, according to The Cook Political Report Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Amy Walter. Specifically, according to the graphic Walter tweeted, only 38 percent of Americans believe Biden and Congress have made the economy and jobs a priority. What’s even more damning...

Photographer Kevin Fleming from Lewes, Del. was sentenced to one year in federal prison for tax evasion. Fleming pled guilty for tax evasion on Aug. 26 2020. The U.S. Department of Justice reported, at the time of his plea, Fleming had not filed federal income tax returns or paid any taxes since 1981. In addition to one year in federal prison, Fleming's sentence includes paying $192,529 restitution to the IRS for income taxes from 2002 through 2016. Also, he was sentenced to pay restitution to the IRS of $22,584 in payroll taxes which were withheld from his former employees. A...

Hosting a CNN panel at the Vatican, Chris Cuomo made a claim about Biden that was so palpably, provably, false, that you wonder what made Cuomo think he could get away with it. Cuomo said that whereas Trump changed positions on moral issues "to help himself," in contrast, "that has never been what Biden is or was."Biden has never changed his position on a moral issue "to help himself?" Does Cuomo's memory not go back to 2019, when to "help himself" in securing the Democrat nomination, Biden infamously flip-flopped on the Hyde Amendment, which forbids federal funding of abortions? Biden's...

It’s no secret that the Republican Party in Texas has veered sharply right in the last decade. As a new set of midterms loom, the few remaining moderates are starting to leave the legislature. Among a slew of retirements recently announced following redistricting is State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo). For years he’s been a moderating force in the Republican Party and a personal thorn in the side for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Seliger, who Patrick has called the “most liberal” Republican in the state, has voted against various tax measures put forth by Patrick and also declined to endorse the...

If you’ve ever put away a serving of house-fermented vegetables at a fancy restaurant or had a roommate taking up your counter space with a crock of slowly bubbling sauerkraut, it’s likely you have Sandor Katz to thank. The self-styled “fermentation revivalist” has become a globe-trotting mascot for the power of bacteria and yeast to create delicious food, a kind of modern-day Johnny Appleseed of tangy, savory flavors. Katz discovered fermented foods in the early 1990s when, after receiving an H.I.V. diagnosis, he moved from his hometown of New York City to a queer community in rural Tennessee, where preserving...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday turned away healthcare workers seeking a religious exemption to Maine's COVID-19 vaccine mandate in the latest battle over vaccination to reach the justices. The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, rejected a request made by nine unnamed plaintiffs who identified themselves as healthcare workers who object to receiving the shots on religious grounds. The court previously rejected challenges to vaccine mandates in New York and Indiana, though those cases did not involve religious objections. The justices were divided, with three conservative members saying they would have granted the request. In...

T The Lincoln Project claimed responsibility for a demonstration outside of Virginia Republican gubernatorial contender Glenn Youngkin's campaign bus that recalled the 2017 Charlottesville < "Today's demonstration was our way of remaining Virginians what happened in Charlottesville four years ago, the Republican Party's embrace of those values, and Glenn Youngkin's failure to condemn it," a statement from Lincoln Project said.

The armorer who oversaw guns used in filming of Western movie “Rust” said producers allowed for an “unsafe” movie set and rejected her requests for training and other measures before actor Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed a cinematographer. Attorneys for 24-year-old Hannah Gutierrez issued the first statement on her behalf late on Thursday, a week after the fatal shooting by Baldwin of Halyna Hutchins on the “Rust” set outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Safety was the “number one priority” for Gutierrez, who had been hired as armorer and assistant prop master, according to the statement from attorneys Jason...

In post-World War II American political tradition, foreign trips have become ways for a president to burnish his image and shore up authority at home. In the 1950s, then-vice president Richard Nixon traveled a lot with an eye on running for president in 1960. Getting stoned by mobs in Venezuela and debating Nikita Khrushchev over the virtues of capitalism at a Moscow trade fair enhanced Nixon’s foreign policy reputation. The 1960 presidential election winner John F Kennedy made his first trip to Europe and was greeted by rapturous crowds. (The masses were also eager to celebrate his wife). The scenes...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — U.S. governors want a seat at the table as international leaders prepare to gather in Scotland at a critical moment for global efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions and slow the planet’s temperature rise. At least a half dozen state governors — all Democrats — plan to attend parts of the two-week United Nation’s climate change conference in Glasgow, known as COP26. Though states aren’t official parties to talks, governors hold significant sway over the United States’ approach to tackling climate change by setting targets for reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to renewable energy. Governors slated...

Johann Sebastian Bach was generally known as a very somber religious man who wrote a vast river of non secular music - a body of music so vast that it literally takes a lifetime to fully explore (and trust me, it's worth the journey). But Bach had his non-secular side as well. After all, he fathered no less than TWENTY children with two wives. JS Bach's bedroom was a very busy (and noisy one) indeed. Anyway, one of his greatest pieces of music in my opinion is BWV 212 - otherwise known as the "Coffee Cantata". Bach is said to...

Police in Northern Virginia are increasing their presence around shopping malls and high-volume roads and transit areas in response to a purported threat from ISIS. A law enforcement source told CBS News the recent threat against a mall in Northern Virginia this Halloween weekend originated from ISIS. It is the basis for a law enforcement-sensitive alert that was issued. ……. “We have an election coming up next Tuesday where we’ll have increased patrols throughout the next several days out of an abundance of caution, because that’s what we do as a public safety agency,” Davis said.

The Biden administration has refused a Washington, DC district court judge's request to halt disciplinary actions against federal employees who are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Virginia gubernatorial candidate and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) appeared to cancel or skip campaign events only days before Tuesday’s bellwether election. McAuliffe, on Thursday night, did not show up for a “Get Out the Vote” (GOTV) event in Prince William County.

A majority of Americans agree the U.S. economy has gotten worse since President Joe Biden was inaugurated, but they are divided when it comes to placing blame for the decline. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 57% of Likely U.S. Voters say the U.S. economy has gotten worse since Biden became president. Just 21% think the economy has gotten better with Biden in the White House, while 19% say the economy has stayed about the same.

About 12,000 Air Force personnel have declined to get vaccinated for COVID-19, causing many officials to question how to address the considerable opposition without causing significant challenges and setbacks within the military, The Washington Post reported. Officials had warned that if military personnel do not receive the COVID-19 vaccination, they will be subjected to punishment, including possible dismissal from service or receiving a charge from the military justice system, the Post wrote. The deadline for complying with the mandate is Tuesday. However, with such a significant amount of service members rejecting the vaccine mandate, officials are faced with a dilemma:...

It was supposed to be a joyful occasion. Young men and women gathered in a circle, displaying their dance moves as they celebrated Mali’s independence day in the country’s western region of Kayes. But things took a dark turn when a group of people carrying thick wooden sticks and machetes appeared all of sudden. The celebrating crowd – people from the so-called “slave” class – were brutally attacked and publicly humiliated by the descendants of slaveholder families who consider themselves “nobles”.

Alec and Hilaria Baldwin were seen in Vermont on Thursday night stocking up on clothes at Ralph Lauren then filling up on gas before retreating to the private home where they are riding out the storm surrounding his accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The couple were without their six kids on Thursday when they stepped out in the afternoon. Baldwin, 63, was seen leaving the Ralph Lauren store with a small bag in hand. He visited the store on Wednesday and returned, likely to make an exchange. Later, his 37-year-old wife was seen pumping gas on their SUV.

A livestream by a Chinese influencer came to a tragic end, when she died after drinking a bottle of pesticide after being egged on by viewers. It all started on Oct 14, when the influencer from Hunan, China, known as Luo, uploaded a video on Douyin. She informed her 678,000 fans that it was "probably [her] last video", thanking them for their company and support. According to reports from Chinese media, Luo shared with her fans that she had been struggling with depression for some time, and previously spent two months in the hospital undergoing treatment. "My diagnosis is official,...