Free Republic

How ironic would it be if leftists start a book burning club? Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers has become persona non grata to progressives. Which is, truthfully, a remarkably easy feat. He started irritating them around a year ago when he criticized politicians who didn’t obey their own COVID-19 mandates. More recently he deplored the “woke mob” and “cancel culture.” The woke mob became truly apoplectic when Rodgers wasn’t clear about his vaccination status and then spoke with popular podcaster Joe Rogan, subsequently saying he had availed himself of the same COVID-19 treatment Rogan claimed to have used successfully. You...

As we await findings and conclusions of the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack, let's take a moment and do our own soul-searching about what is going on. The House Select Committee is engaged in Washington's favorite pastime -- looking for whom to blame. The sidelight of this pastime is the pretense that things that are very complicated can be made clear and simple. And the other side of the coin of the search for whom to blame is the refusal to step up and take personal responsibility. The latter, unfortunately, is increasingly becoming a hallmark of today's...

I’ve just completed a marathon of listening to 6 hours of Joe Rogan interviewing two doctors, first Peter McCullough, then Robert Malone. Both, uncensored on Gettr and Spotify, are worth your time. Listening certainly furthered my education. The two doctors collaborate and are friends, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few contradictions between them. Dr. McCullough said that Moronic (aka Omicron) is only 4 times more contagious than Alpha was, but Dr. Malone said that Omicron is much more contagious. Also, at Dr. McCullough’s request, Dr. Malone corrected Dr. McCullough’s statement that one can’t get the virus more than...

On the cusp of an absolute glut of liberal-media anniversary coverage of the Jan. 6 riot, CNN media reporter Brian Stelter was cranky. "We live in a world where Donald Trump's top supporters malign the media for being 'obsessed' with January 6." You don't have to be a Donald Trump supporter to see it. The media obsession with Jan. 6 is easily quantifiable. Saying there's not an obsession is like claiming the media didn't do enough coverage of Princess Diana's car crash and funeral. The New York Times editorial board recently posted an article titled "Every Day Is Jan. 6...

The legislative and judicial powers and authority exercised by agencies and officials of the executive branch are clearly a usurpation of the powers of the other branches -- and clearly illegal and unconstitutional. Purchasing Submission: Conditions, Power, and Freedom, by Philip Hamburger, 336 pp Hardcover $35 Kindle $33.25, ISBN-13 ‏‎ 978-0674258235, Harvard University Press, 2021. Professor of Law Philip Hamburger of Columbia University has been campaigning for years to measure, define and condemn the growth of a powerful administrative state in America. The late, great Angelo Codevilla rang the alarm about the excesses of centralized oligarchic statism and an army...

One of the most disturbing concepts in politics is the media elite providing the "first draft of history." You can test-drive this with a look at ABC's two-hour year-end special that aired on Dec. 27. It was mostly about celebrities and athletes and some natural disasters. But when resident Joe Biden came up, ABC was energetically playing defense. It began with Biden's inauguration and former President Donald Trump's second impeachment proceeding, over the Jan. 6 riot -- when Trump was already replaced. ABC anchorman David Muir announced: "Back at the White House -- A flurry of executive orders, plans to...

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — The USS Abraham Lincoln deployed this week from San Diego under the command of Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, the first woman to lead a nuclear carrier in U.S. Navy history. Bauernschmidt, who previously served as the Abraham Lincoln’s executive officer from 2016 to 2019, took over command from Capt. Walt Slaughter during a ceremony last August, CBS 8 in San Diego reported. The carrier deployed Monday from Naval Air Station North Island... ...Bauernschmidt previously served as the commanding officer of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 70 and the amphibious transport dock San Diego. She has completed more than...

For the last year, we've heard one commentator after another tell us that American democracy is in crisis. The source of that crisis, we are told, is a hard core of the Republican Party that believes the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and that Joe Biden, therefore, is not a legitimate president. It's true that a significant number of Americans do not accept the results of the election. But is that something new, as the Trump-focused analyses would have us believe? No, it is not. Yes, these days, it is Republicans who doubt the results of a presidential...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Verizon and AT&T have rejected a request by the U.S. government to delay the rollout of next-generation wireless technology. A joint letter Sunday from the telecommunications giants to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Steve Dickson, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, sought to dismiss concerns brought by U.S. airlines that a new 5G wireless service could harm aviation. But Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon Communications, and John Stankey, CEO of AT&T, also wrote that they were willing to accept some temporary measures over the next six months to limit the service around certain airport runways....

With tomorrow the anniversary of the January 6, 2021 Capitol incursion, the New York Times is preparing the soil to plant seeds for a crop of hatred and repression of ordinary conservatives. The title of the unsigned editorial in The New York Times, January 2, is "Every Day Is Jan. 6 Now," but a chilling assertion in the fourth paragraph justifies the inference that The TImes means: "Every Day is Hunt Down Conservatives Day Now." The fourth paragraph of this editorial, that should be a passage in a political thriller, not bizarre, commentary on political reality opens: "It is regular...

...Normally the Yamal-Europe, which is Europe's longest gas pipeline, transports Russian natural gas overland to Germany and Western Europe. However, in the past week, it has been redirecting gas from Germany to Poland to make up for a shortfall of fuel as temperatures drop to -10C and Russia cuts gas supplies. On Sunday, German network operator Gascade claimed Russia sent the fuel back to Poland for a sixth straight day – a huge blow to the EU, where gas prices have been skyrocketing. The ownership of Gascade — part Russian, part German — suggests the issues are the result of...

When it comes to social engineering, there is more than one kind of war. We’ve been witness to the war on drugs, the war on crime, the war on obesity, and most recently, the war on COVID-19. Psyops strategies are often used in these non-traditional “wars” and some of the strategies applied are the same ones used in real warfare scenarios. From “divide and conquer” to fearmongering, mass persuasion strategies have been deployed in the campaign to make a viral pandemic with an extremely high survival rate and virtually no threat to healthy children feel like the plague. The pandemic...

As the Congressional Select Committee winds its way to its pre-ordained conclusion that what happened at the Capitol last year was an attempt by former President Trump, every elected Republican, anyone who has ever worn a red hat (MAGA-emblazoned or not), and everyone who has ever stayed at a hotel to overthrow the government, it should be noted -- quite clearly and succinctly -- that seven hours in January was not Seven Days in May. Despite the endless, tedious and inaccurate anniversary media coverage -- all delivered with a joyously smirking “kid in a candy store” tenor -- has been...

NASCAR has officially rejected Brandon Brown’s “Let’s Go Brandon” sponsorship deal. According to multiple news reports, the auto-racing giant told Mr. Brown’s team that cryptocurrency firm LGBCoin cannot sponsor his car. The company’s first three letters are an allusion to “Let’s Go, Brandon,” the coded form of a vulgar insult of President Biden. Mr. Brown’s team publicly trumpeted on Thursday the news that LGBcoin - the self-styled “America’s Coin” - will be its full-season primary partner for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series. The company released a photo of Mr. Brown standing next to his #68 Chevrolet Camaro in a red-white-and-blue...

A Ryanair flight from Manchester to Faro in Portugal was forced to plunge 35,000ft in seven minutes to make an emergency landing in France following reports of a "fire on board". The Ryanair flight, (FR4052) took off from Manchester airport shortly after 6.30pm on Monday but mid journey, it was forced to make an emergency landing in Brest, in western France, reported the Manchester Evening News. It was pictured on the runway with fire crews in attendance, and reports have been made of a "fire" on board however this has not yet been confirmed.... ...The aircraft could be seen to...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. "Finally, brothers, rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God of love...

After a long day at work, the modern goldfish no longer has to take public transportation home—it can drive via a fish-operated vehicle (FOV), according to new research published in Behavioural Brain Research. Documented in a report published in the February 2022 issue of the peer-reviewed journal, researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, Israel, set out to unpack how well goldfish can navigate terrestrial environments when tasked with the right tools. They created a small camera-equipped fish tank on wheels, which they call an FOV, and put six goldfish in it, one at a time. Over a...

Welcome to The Bicycle Thread. A monthly PING List for bicycle enthusiasts to share experiences, information and ideas.

nce a rarity, cows with light blue or dark ultramarine hides may again be glimpsed grazing on the Latvian countryside among the regular brown, black or white spotted cattle. The unique and hardy breed, driven to near extinction during the Soviet era, has made a comeback over the last few decades as an unlikely symbol of Latvian national identity.... In 2000 there were only 18 blue cows in Latvia, but today they number around 1,500 -- thoroughbreds as well as hybrids. Originally found only on the Baltic coast in the Kurzeme region...