Free Republic

Republicans are seeing improved prospects in eight states’ gubernatorial contests next year, according to the Cook Political Report. The nonpartisan outlet, which analyzes elections and is often used as a resource among campaigns, updated its ratings for 11 gubernatorial races this week and moved eight in a favorable direction for Republicans, while shifting three toward Democrats.

Initial results are in and the western monarch butterfly is making a comeback. In California, researchers are seeing 50 times more monarchs at overwintering sites this year compared to last. "To have this many this year, is just, I'm jumping out of my skin excited," said Craig Corwin of Arroyo Grande. Corwin brought his camera to capture the butterflies in clusters and fluttering about. "There's nothing like it. It's just amazing," he said. There are more than 22,445 monarchs at the Pismo State Beach Butterfly Grove. "Last season, we saw just around 200 at our peak," said Danielle Bronson, State...

The White House on Friday walked back a claim made by President Joe Biden that he has been “tested daily” for the coronavirus. “I have a test every day to see — a COVID test. They check me for all the strains,” Biden said to reporters on Friday morning.

A dirty little secret withheld from people who seek help for gender distress is that cross-sex hormones are anabolic steroids and addictive in the same way that daily consumption of alcohol can lead to addiction. Gender clinics, now including Planned Parenthood, routinely prescribe cross-sex hormones on the first or second visit, and they neglect to disclose that steroids are addictive and distort one’s ability to make decisions. Steroid use makes people easy marks for the next step: surgery, such as mastectomy and genital reconfiguration, both of which mutilate healthy tissue. I am a biological man who submitted myself to cross-sex...

Obama’s defense department announcement on December 3 of 2015 about women in combat following repeal of DADT demonstrates attachment to a political ideology fueled by arrogance and reinforced by premeditated ignorance. The defense secretary Ash Carter’s supposed managing any long period of study and vigorous debate sought only those mutually supportive creatures that have metastasized throughout the military to serve a social agenda bringing future needless devastation.Most of the points highlighted about women in combat arose first when the decision was made to do away with DADT and invite the LGBTQ (whatever?) community into the mainstream of military operations. In...

A 22-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder in connection to a 2018 Greenfield homicide investigation. Greenfield Police said Nathyn Timothy Gallardo is accused of shooting 32-year-old Joseph Suniga in February 2018. At the time of the shooting, police said Suniga was riding his bike on Apple Avenue. Greenfield Police said the case went cold, since they were unable to identify a suspect and had offered a reward for any information leading to an arrest. Detectives and Monterey County Cold Case Task Force later looked into the case, they were able to find information on Gallardo. On Thursday,...

Anyone who’s ever quit a job has probably dreamed of writing a delicious “kiss my *ss” email to the companywide distribution list and hitting “send” just before they walk out the door for the last time. But a veteran Chicago police leader pretty much did it for real, although he opted to withhold actual names in favor of not-so-subtle hints about who he was writing about. The author of the red-hot communique is Melvin Roman, who was unceremoniously dumped as commander of the police district that includes Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s home after “someone” became displeased with protests that closed down...

More bad news for an already-crushed industry is making investors wonder how much more these companies can take. Stocks fell sharply as investors heard about a new COVID-19 variant. Cruise ship stocks took huge hits as a result. Investors have to hope that travel-hungry passengers will have the opportunity to sail in 2022 and beyond. Black Friday might not have created the same level of stock market discomfort that prompted the naming of Black Tuesday in 1929 or Black Monday in 1987, but stocks were nonetheless under pressure on the day after Thanksgiving. As of 10 a.m. ET on the...

Dr. Anthony Fauci wants “anybody and everybody that is coming into the country” to get a coronavirus test within 24 hours — but not those captured crossing into America illegally. “That’s a different issue,” he said. Don’t you know, you stupid, stupid people, science is for Democrats to dictate; Americans to obey; and illegals to do as they wish? ... So for citizens, the science says that even though you’re vaccinated and vaccinations are supposedly oh-so-effective, you must still wear a mask while on the plane, while boarding the plane, while hanging out at the airport waiting to board the...

Cant find this here but. Plumber finds cash, checks behind loose toilet in wall at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church

A Plague Upon Our House: My Fight at the Trump White House to Stop COVID from Destroying America, by Scott W. Atlas How could public officials vowing to “follow the science” on Covid-19 persist in promoting ineffective strategies with terrible consequences? In a memoir of his time on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Scott W. Atlas provides an answer: because the nation’s governance was hijacked by three bureaucrats with scant interest in scientific research or debate—and no concern for the calamitous effects of their edicts. ... A veteran medical researcher and health-policy analyst at the Hoover Institution, Atlas, a...

More than 150 home robberies have been reported in Los Angeles this year alone, including many follow-home incidents in upscale neighborhoods where celebrities and high-end restaurants are targeted. In response, experts are telling residents to "let common sense rule" and the LAPD issued a list of recommendations to help keep people from becoming victims, reports USA Today. "Just use common sense," George Kirkham, a criminologist and former police officer based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, told the news outlet.

Trump-ally and notorious QAnon- faithful lawyer Lin Wood has declared war on Tucker Carlson and Dan Bongino. A former friend of both Carlson and Bongino, Wood claimed that the two are a part of a “deep state” conspiracy since they criticized his involvement with Kyle Rittenhouse’s legal defense.

Senator Joe Manchin announced he would join all 50 Republicans in the Senate in voting for a resolution of disapproval that would roll back the OSHA vaccine mandate. The Congressional Review Act (CRA) allows for a majority of Congress to disapprove of any agency rule. Since the CRA vote is in the form of a resolution, only a simple majority is needed in the Senate to pass it. The CRA would still have to be approved in the House where several Democrats have said they’re considering voting for it. And even if it’s passed by both chambers, Biden would almost...

Books containing extremely graphic sex scenes and pictures—one between an adult male and a 10-year old boy—were returned to a Virginia’s school library last week.The books—”Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, and “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison—are among many books containing pedophilia content that have been banned from school libraries in several states, including Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and Minnesota.

In early 2007, the brand new District Attorney for Milwaukee County, Wisconsin gave an interview to a local newspaper spelling out his ‘progressive’ approach to crime. He told the reporter: “Is there going to be an individual I divert [i.e. release back onto the street] or I put into treatment program, who’s going to go out and kill somebody? You bet. Guaranteed. It’s guaranteed to happen. It does not invalidate the overall approach.” (Actually his approach is invalidated by the data; rape, homicide, arson, aggravated assault, and other violent crime have risen dramatically in Milwaukee. His approach is clearly not...

A federal appeals court overrode a three-judge panel decision Wednesday, restoring an injunction blocking President Joe Biden’s “sanctuary country” orders as legal challenges continue.These “sanctuary country” orders are directions by top officials in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They require immigration agents to delay the deportation of illegal aliens until they have been convicted of aggravated felonies.In August, Judge Drew Tipton of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction blocking the sanctuary country orders following a lawsuit from the states of Texas and Louisiana.However, a three-judge...

“We Grieve, and We Have Hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) In the Epistle reading we heard a few minutes ago, Paul says he writes to the Thessalonians “that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” Did you catch that? “That you may not grieve”? Does that mean that Christians are not supposed to grieve? That if you grieve, it must mean that your faith is lacking, because of course we Christians should be above grieving? Does it mean that? No, by no means! It’s not saying that Christians cannot grieve. No, we’re human, we have emotions, we...

CHICAGO, IL—In a powerful, emotional moment in the Jussie Smollett trial Thursday, a mirror was brought into the courtroom so Smollett could face his attackers for the first time since he was beaten up on the streets of Chicago. Smollett demanded to face his attackers to help him overcome the pain and trauma of the assault, and the judge obliged. He signaled for a bailiff, who brought in a tall mirror and held it up to Smollett. The actor wept as he looked his attackers right in the eye, facing them man to man. "Everyone deserves to face their attackers...

In this polarized hour, citizens from both sides of the political spectrum are finding common cause in resisting COVID-19 vaccine mandates for children, with more than 100 grassroots groups in California joining forces in an effort called The Unity Project. Philanthropist Jeff Hanson is spearheading the project along with health experts such as Dr. Robert Malone, the inventor of the messenger RNA technology behind the two leading COVID-19 vaccines. “What we understand launching this is we need our progressive brothers and sisters,” Hanson said in a virtual briefing Monday. Launched two weeks ago, the project began in response to California...