Free Republic

The California city of Santa Monica is offering housing to black families that owned homes in the path of Interstate 10 and other urban renewal projects built in the 1950s. Beginning in January, those former residents and their descendants will receive “priority access to apartments with below-market rents in the hopes that they’ll come back to the coastal city in Los Angeles County.” Nichelle Monroe, who said in a Sacramento Bee article that her grandparents were forced out of the Pico neighborhood, said she doesn’t think the program goes far enough. She wants help buying a home of her choice....

As was reported yesterday, resident Joe Biden took a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin where the two leaders discussed the situation on Russia’s border with Ukraine, among other matters. Despite the best efforts of the State Department to put some positive spin on the discussion, it doesn’t sound as if things went very well. Both sides wound up sticking to their previous positions and Putin sounded increasingly frustrated and belligerent over what he perceives as NATO’s stubborn refusal to comply with his demands. Biden reportedly didn’t offer any additional sweeteners in an effort to cut a deal and Putin...

A tidal wave of “smash-and-grab” robberies are plaguing upscale stores in major US cities, with thieves making off with millions of dollars. The latest incident occurred at a Palm Beach boutique shop that was hit twice in two weeks. According to local news CBS 12, Only Authentics, a high-end designer bag shop, was targeted by thieves, the first on Dec. 14 and the second on Christmas Eve. Approximately $1.5 million of Hermes, Chanel, Kelly and, and Birkin handbags were stolen. Several bags are worth more than six figures each, store owner Virgil Rogers said. “It’s almost like we’re on the...

There's a Reason Pelosi Doesn't Want Stock Restrictions on Lawmakers: Just Look at What Her Own Family is Doing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was asked in a press conference earlier this month whether members of Congress should be allowed to trade individual stocks, despite often having access to insider information. Pelosi was all in favor of it, saying “We’re a free-market economy” and that members of Congress “should be able to participate in that.” REPORTER: "Should members of congress and their spouses be banned from trading individual stocks while serving in congress?" PELOSI: "No…We are a free market economy....

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was spotted dining in Miami Beach, Fla., on Thursday, according to a tip received by National Review, on the same day that her native New York City reported a record number of Covid-19 cases. Photos obtained by National Review show Ocasio-Cortez seated outside Doraku Sushi and Izakaya in Miami Beach Thursday afternoon, raising a cocktail in one and checking her phone in another. SNIP

At first glance, Knives Out doesn’t seem like a particularly political movie. “A Rian Johnson Whodunit,” the poster reads, with the letters scrawled in cartoonish font inside a magnifying glass. The trailer is stuffed with overdramatic jump cuts and hammy retorts from its famous actors—including Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis and Toni Collette. The film’s Thanksgiving release date, Martha Stewart-assisted marketing campaigns and jovial press run all give the impression that Knives Out is a popcorn caper, a mindless piece of entertainment. But while the film starts as a standard whodunit, it soon morphs into a personal drama...

Hundreds of homes burned and tens of thousands of people were evacuated after a rare wind-driven wildfire tore through suburban neighborhoods in Colorado on Thursday, authorities said. Gov. Jared Polis declared a state of emergency in the area, calling the blaze — which ballooned to 1,600 acres in a few hours amid 100-mph winds — “absolutely devastating.” After toppled power lines started the grass fire around 11 a.m. south of Boulder, the flames quickly spread through the towns of Louisville and Superior, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said during a news conference. “This was consuming football field lengths of land...

There has always been a debate as to why Chris Tucker didn't return for the sequel to the 1995 hit stoner comedy, "Friday." On Wednesday the franchise's star, Ice Cube, cleared things up, claiming on Twitter that despite offering Tucker up to $12 million to return, Tucker turned it down due to "religious reasons."

Link only - https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nascar/2021/12/31/nascar-driver-brandon-browns-new-anti-biden-paint-scheme-limbo/9059843002/

Looks like the ignorant, malevolent little Katzenjammer Kidz of Twitter are back at it. This time they've banned a biggie, Dr. Robert W. Malone, the medical doyen whose research on the mRNA vaccine has been critical to the development of the vaccines for COVID. He's the guy who probably knows more about these vaccines than anyone else. His banning offense? Warning about the risks and limits of the mRNA vaccines, based on his bona fide scientific research, which included studies of young athletes who dropped dead of heart failure after taking them, and a suggestion that the vaccines not be...

As Covid lockdowns eased this past year, people all over the world went back to work and play. But while oil, natural gas, coal and electricity demand predictably shot up, President Biden canceled and hyper-regulated pipelines, leases and drilling permits. European leaders took similarly shortsighted actions. Inadequate global supplies chased rising global demand, and prices predictably skyrocketed. Regular gasoline that averaged $2.17 per gallon in 2020 hit $3.49 in November 2021, costing American motorists $17 more to fill their tanks. Biden Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm laughed it off, saying, “If you drove an electric car, this wouldn’t be affecting you.”...

"Be my Mommy!" the banner in the CVS window read, part of a display of surplus Baby Emma dolls. It was the fifth day of Christmas, and I noticed during Mass -- shortly before I went to the drugstore to pick up prescriptions -- that one of the petitions during the service was for those struggling to have a happy, peaceful Christmas. We prayed for the sick, the grieving, the lonely. We didn't pray for the orphans, though, I thought during Mass. I did, in my heart, but seeing the Baby Emma display reminded me to do so again. Over...

Here are a few signposts for pursuing a good life and finding peace. "By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." That's commonly attributed to Confucius, whose wisdom I'm imitating. An awful lot of what I know has come from the harsh lash of experience, even when my own thoughts sufficiently counseled me to avoid the pitfalls lying directly ahead. Reflection, I've found, is most gratifying, but some of us will insist on exploring the jagged roads of hostile experience, if...

Does America seem to be more divided today than any other point in time since the Civil War? It would seem so, and it is by design. Over the years politicians have lost sight of the fact that they are civil servants and not rulers. Clearly there is an issue when those who hold office want for nothing and that makes them feel superior to their fellow citizens. In turn, those in office view the citizenry not as constituents to serve, but as a means to an end. We are here to cast our votes for them to ensure they...

You sometimes see newspaper headlines to the effect that, say, a “50 megawatt solar power plant” is being constructed. But you shouldn’t count on getting anything remotely approaching 50 megawatts of power from such an installation. Energy expert Isaac Orr explains: Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that production from solar panels plummets in the winter. The graph below shows the percentage of electricity generated by solar panels in Minnesota compared to their potential output. This percentage is called a capacity factor in electricity-industry lingo. ... Isaac’s analysis applies specifically to Minnesota, but bear in mind that...

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**SNIP** “I’m ecstatic about the Presidential Center’s location in Woodlawn, especially since Obama was our first African American president,” said Woodlawn homeowner John Odom in an interview with The Maroon during the town hall. “I just hope he doesn’t unintentionally displace his own African American community and cause an influx of Gold Coast residents. 63rd Street was once a thriving, safe African American community, and I would like to see the Obama library bring back some of that.” Patricia Tatum, a longtime Woodlawn homeowner and former nurse at UChicago Medicine, suspects that rising property taxes and pressure from land developers...

Source: Townhall Media/Julio RosasI want to add a few notes to my Christmas weekend column on the Census Bureau's July 2021 state population estimates and what stories they tell about growth and decline in the first 15 months of the coronavirus pandemic. THE IMMIGRATION BUST The big news is about immigration. In the years from 2010 to 2019, the Census Bureau recorded an increase in "international migration" -- immigration, in layman's language -- of 873,000. For the 15 months from April 2020 to July 2021, the corresponding number is only 257,000 -- down 71% from the average of the years...

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was slammed on Twitter after she and her wife, Amy Eshleman, posted a video wishing a 'joyous Kwanzaa' ... The backlash comes as Lightfoot is accused of ignoring the city's surge in violent crimes, including a 25-year high murder rate, with 767 homicides in the city so far this year. Last week, she begged Attorney General Merrick Garland to send ATF agents to the city for six months to help get illegal guns off the street after she slashed the police budget ... Twitter users were quick slam Lightfoot, saying the the principles of Kwanzaa -...