Free Republic

resident Joe Biden scored the first legislative victory of his presidency with his signing of the much-anticipated and hotly contested infrastructure bill. The bill, which was stalled in the Senate for months, was a subject matter that was bipartisan in nature, but with significant differences in the details between political parties. Through the tumultuous negotiation process, much was revealed about the president, the Senate and the government at large. A figure that came up repeatedly throughout the negotiations was West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. Manchin, a Democrat, represents a very Republican populous. As a result, he is an extremely moderate...

The U.S. Air Force's top enlisted leader, after getting bombarded with pleas for help from military community members fighting the German government's attempts to tax their pay, said Wednesday she will advocate for the affected airmen and their families. For more than a year, the U.S. military in Europe and the American embassy in Berlin have made no tangible progress on resolving a dispute that has forced some to pay six-figure amounts in German income taxes and penalties, even after they've had their military income taxed by the United States. At issue is a disagreement over how to interpret the...

The UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory’s Operating in the Future Electromagnetic Environment (OFEME) symposium on 23rd/24th November gave a tantalising glimpse into Russian cyber warfare. The event, held in London and online, included a presentation by Duncan McCrory. Mr. McCrory, an engineer and PhD candidate at London’s Kings College, highlighted the use of a Russian cyberattack tool called X-Agent. This was part of his wider presentation on Russian cyber and electronic warfare, and information operations. Mr. McCrory said that X-Agent was malware used to infect computers with the Android operating system used by Ukrainian Army artillery. He cited evidence...

Former President Donald Trump’s new social media company appears to have missed the November deadline it set to release an invitation-only beta version of “Truth Social,” its purported alternative to Twitter. There have been no official announcements of a beta launch, nor have there been any sightings or images of an operational platform online. At the same time, the price of the stock of Digital World Acquisition Corp. – the SPAC company that plans to merge with Trump’s social media firm – has dropped dramatically since its share price exploded when the deal was announced in late October. Shares of...

WASHINGTON, Sunday, Dec. 1. THE MEETING OF CONGRESS. As Congress meets to-morrow in regular session, it will probably take the usual course of calling the roll, ascertaining if a quorum is present, and appointing a Committee to advise the President of their readiness to receive any message he may be prepared to make, and then adjourning till next day. In that case the President's Message will not go in before Tuesday. THE MESSAGE AND THE REPORTS. The President's Message is completed. The report of the Secretary of the Navy has been forwarded to-night to the Agents of the Associated Press,...

“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) — That’s the officially-established creed/cult currently devouring American higher education (not to mention plenty of other institutions at the controlling heights of society). At elite academic institutions, what began fifty and more years ago as a reasonable effort to identify talented but previously overlooked black candidates for admission, has gradually morphed into a crazed obsession that overwhelms and obliterates any and all other purposes and goals of the institution. Where once, with a purpose of educating students, we sought out and hired talented faculty, now our main purpose is DEI, and we hire dozens of...

The Santa Fe Sheriff's Department said it is awaiting results from the FBI which would shed light on how the gun could have been fired, whether that was just pulling back the hammer – which hits the firing pin – just pulling the trigger or both. "Guns don't just go off," Sheriff Adan Mendoza told Fox News Digital. "So whatever needs to happen to manipulate the firearm, he did that and it was in his hands."

Lara Logan claimed that she’s heard from people all over the world that Fauci is another Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor who sent more than a million people to their deaths at Auschwitz. The comparison is wrong because Mengele intentionally and affirmatively caused these deaths in the gas chambers. Fauci hasn’t affirmatively killed anyone. He has, however, consigned hundreds of thousands of people to death through his negative behavior, denying people access to life-saving treatment. He can be judged for that without bringing Mengele into the discussion. From the moment COVID hit our shores, there were reports that those who...

We are about to see a dramatic shift away from heavy reliance on vaccines and toward ever greater reliance on antivirals to treat COVID. Within the coming year, antivirals may well replace vaccine boosters as the primary means for combatting COVID-19 and its variants. Several factors make this shift an inevitable course. The shift will make an already insurmountable set of legal obstacles to Biden’s mandates even more formidable. The shift will eventually cause all of America to emulate Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis’ early appreciation for the need to make available effective treatments, in addition to the vaccines, throughout Florida...

While the omicron variant appears to be inconsequential, the Democrats have big plans for it. (Hint: Think of Australia.) Tucker Carlson is always enjoyable but sometimes he goes beyond being interesting and entertaining and makes points so profound they deserve to be widely shared. That’s why I’m using this post to share with you Tucker’s Wednesday night monologue regarding the way the Biden administration is using the appearance of the omicron variant—which seems to be mild, at most—to continue its crackdown on American liberties. Although the monologue starts off lightheartedly with a little riff about the Biden administration canceling Mozambique,...

The nonsensical coverage of the debate over paid leave continues. Apparently, opposing a federal paid-leave program is the equivalent of being anti-family or pro-suffering, or so we're told. We rarely get information about the full consequences of such a policy. What kinds of employment leave options do workers use the most? Who exactly doesn't have paid leave currently? Are there legitimate reasons for an employer not to provide it? Or, would a government program target only those workers who do not currently have employer-provided paid leave? These are some of the questions that are rarely asked by those who insist...

The Democrats are doing everything they can to get Americans into electric cars. However, those cars come with the risk of a serious loss of power—not just for the car but for those who buy those cars. We have to begin with asking why is the governing pushing electric vehicles? And it’s not just cars, it’s also trucks. Why are they ignoring hybrid vehicles? If something happens to the electric guts of a properly designed hybrid car, the vehicle can limp along with its smaller gas engine until it reaches safety. What happens to a fully electric vehicle if its...

It is by now a familiar pattern: Russian troops mass near the Ukrainian border, triggering ratcheting rhetoric and jitters across Europe and the United States that war might be imminent, before a flurry of diplomacy calms nerves. Officials and experts say that this time is different — and there are several clues giving them genuine concern that the current gambit by Russian President Vladimir Putin might be for real, and the start of a conflict that could drag in Europe and even the U.S. itself. Putin has deployed more than 90,000 troops along Russia’s border with Ukraine, matching the force...

Whew, I got my column accepted last week at the Washington Times with no intrusion from the censors. In fact, with no censors! At the Good Times, there are no censors at work. I used to write this column on a weekly basis for The Washington Post, and it could be a harrowing experience. Every week, I had to be certain that I had crossed no barriers with the potentates that be. Certain things could not be said. One editor told me that readers around the world thought that The Washington Post was the official voice of our government and...

The federal government spies on every email, text, and call you make. It uses your phone's location services to pinpoint where you are at all times. It knows which I.P. addresses are associated with online comments that have been deemed "politically incorrect." Its partnerships with Amazon and Walmart let it know what you're reading and buying. Its partnerships with Google and Facebook let it know what you're thinking. Its partnerships with Twitter and Hollywood allow it to censor unapproved messages before too many brains have the opportunity to consider new thoughts. Its alliance with credit card companies allows it to...

A USA Today-Suffolk University poll placed Vice resident Kamala Harris' approval ratings at 28%, 10 points below that of resident Joe Biden. The U.K. Telegraph tweeted: "With Kamala Harris looking unelectable, the Democrats are considering the nuclear option. Whispers in Washington suggest Joe Biden's camp has a plan to find a more popular replacement ahead of the 2024 battle." When Harris ran for president, she dropped out before the Iowa caucus, the first contest in the primary. She garnered little support from her home state, California. Harris got called out for hypocrisy during a debate by rival Rep. Tulsi Gabbard,...

Fool's Ball Week 13 Your home for all things Fool's Ball! In Memoriam Danny Lee (BENDER2)

In a recent online exchange, YouTuber Casey Neistat posted his fury after his car was broken into and the contents stolen. Los Angeles, he railed, was turning into a "3rd-world s-hole of a city." The multimillionaire actor Seth Rogen chastised Neistat for his anger. Rogen claimed that a car's contents were minor things to lose. He added that while living in West Hollywood he had his own car broken into 15 times, but thought little of it. Online bloggers ridiculed Rogen. No wonder - the actor lives in multimillion-dollar homes in the Los Angeles area, guarded by sophisticated security systems...

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NATO allies share an "unwavering commitment" to Ukraine's sovereignty, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday, hours before he meets Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov amid escalating East-West tensions over Ukraine. Blinken, speaking at the start of talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, reiterated Washington's concerns over a build-up of Russian troops on the border that has triggered threats of fresh Western sanctions against Moscow. Kuleba tweeted that Ukraine, which is not a NATO member but seeks closer ties with the Atlantic alliance, was working with Western countries on a "comprehensive deterrence package including severe economic sanctions"...