Free Republic

University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban has co-signed a letter to West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D) to support the Freedom to Vote Act. However, the coach later stressed that he did not support killing the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster. In addition to Saban, the letter was signed by NBA legend Jerry West, former Bills linebacker Darryl Talley, former WVU Athletic Director Oliver Luck, and former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

SYDNEY — The Pacific nation of Tonga, scrambling to recover from a devastating volcanic eruption on Saturday that sent tsunami waves halfway around the world, faces a new threat: a potential “tsunami” of coronavirus infections. Aid groups and defense officials from Australia and New Zealand are working on contactless ways to deliver water and other vital supplies to the remote archipelago kingdom, which is one of the few places in the world to remain essentially free of the virus. (Residents went into a brief lockdown in November when a single case, Tonga’s first, was detected in a person at a...

Democratic NJ governor signs unlimited abortion into law, says he cannot ‘deny services’ as a Catholic‘I have leaned on my faith to inform and enhance many of my most deeply held values,’ claimed Murphy, who recently signed a bill codifying a ‘fundamental right’ to abortion. Mon Jan 17, 2022 - 3:53 pm ESTMon Jan 17, 2022 - 4:11 pm EST TRENTON (LifeSiteNews) – New Jersey Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy claims his decision to sign a law codifying a “fundamental right” to abortion does not compromise his professed Catholic identity, despite the Church’s unambiguous teachings against the shedding of innocent blood...

https://nypost.com/2022/01/18/saban-backs-election-bill-but-not-killing-filibuster/

The House select committee investigating the Capitol riot announced Tuesday it had subpoenaed former New York City mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani for documents and testimony related to his claims that voter fraud cost the 45th president the 2020 election. In addition to Giuliani, the committee subpoenaed former Trump campaign attorneys Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis, as well as Trump 2020 strategic adviser Boris Epshteyn.

Vatican Asks Bishops to Invite Local Protestant and Orthodox Leaders to Participate in Synodal PathOffering “some practical suggestions to ensure the ecumenical dimension of the synodal journey,” the cardinals encouraged bishops to reach out to leaders of other Christian communities in their area.VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has issued a letter asking Catholic bishops to invite local Orthodox and Protestant leaders to participate in the diocesan stage of the two-year process leading to the 2023 Synod on Synodality. Cardinal Mario Grech, the general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, and Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for...

Music icon Stevie Wonder on Tuesday pressed Senate lawmakers to enact a rules change in order to pass voting rights legislation, saying the filibuster “is not working for democracy.” In a video message posted on his YouTube channel, Wonder expressed his thoughts about the voting rights bill that Senate Democrats are expected to meet about on Tuesday.

"[American leaders] don’t think the balance of power matters any more…. If you think we’ve had trouble with the Russians, just wait for the trouble we are going to have with the Chinese. I am very popular in China. I go to China quite often. I usually start my talks by saying, ‘It’s good to be back among my people.’ Because when I get to China I’m intellectually more at home there than I am in Washington…." PROFESSOR JOHN MEARSHEIMER, 2016 Will there be a war over Ukraine? Have recent negotiations opened a path to peace? Unfortunately, the diplomats have...

Explanation: This is a sky filled with glowing icons. On the far left is the familiar constellation of Orion, divided by its iconic three-aligned belt stars and featuring the famous Orion Nebula, both partly encircled by Barnard's Loop. Just left of center in the featured image is the brightest star in the night: Sirius. Arching across the image center is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. On the far right, near the top, are the two brightest satellite galaxies of the Milky Way: the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Also on the far...

Marina del Pilar Avila Olmeda, the Governor of the U.S. bordering Mexican state of Baja California, announced this week that she gave birth at a hospital in California, receiving criticism from Mexicans and Americans alike.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (TND) — A Democrat who is running to be the next governor of Florida is facing criticism after she openly compared the state's current Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., to Adolf Hitler. Appearing on NPR's Friday Roundup Podcast, Nikki Fried was asked by the show's co-host Melissa Ross to explain a tweet Fried had made in which she called DeSantis a "dictator". Ross questions Fried, hoping to clarify: “Are you comparing DeSantis to Hitler?” Ross asks. “In a lot of ways, yes,” Fried says in response. “I have studied Hitler and how he got to power, you know, wanting...

This past Saturday I submitted an editorial to the South Bend Tribune that pertains to election integrity. I cannot post the editorial here because it is pending publication and would not be put into print if I were to publish it here. A phone call from one of their editors this afternoon sought clarification regarding an assertion I made in the editorial, namely that there were irregularities in the 2020 elections. I used the word, "shenanigans." To my surprise, the editor demanded that I provide a "credible source" for my assertion. Apparently, the raft of affidavits available for any interested...

eople are paying a lot more for food, gas, cars and services, and inflation isn't over yet as the pandemic continues to distort the economy. So should governments consider setting the price of essential goods? t's been done before, typically during times of crisis, but for most mainstream economists, the answer to this question is a resounding "no." Limiting how much companies can charge will distort markets, they argue, causing shortages and exacerbating supply chain problems while only temporarily reducing inflation. "Price controls can of course control prices — but they're a terrible idea," David Autor, a professor of economics...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., released a new report Tuesday on the troubling effects of inflation on low and middle-income families as well as small businesses. Paul, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, blames the 7% spike in consumer prices – a 40-year high – on excessive coronavirus relief spending by Congress, and warns the rising prices are "only going to get worse." "In recent months, prices on nearly everything from gas, food, and clothes to electricity, car prices, and rent, have all increased, and unfortunately it's only going to get worse," Paul said in...

Little is known about the cause, but an explosion at a pipeline connecting Northern Iraq and the port of Ceyhan in the Mediterranean has taken 450kb/d of supply offline in an already very tight crude oil market

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced on Tuesday he will not run for governor of New York, ending speculation about his intentions to do so. “No, I am not going to be running for governor in New York State, but I am going to devote every fiber of my being to fight inequality in the state of New York,” he said in a video posted to social media Tuesday morning.

A convoy of truck drivers took to the streets on Highway 75, Emerson, Manitoba near the U.S.-Canada border on Jan. 17 following the introduction of new COVID-19 vaccination requirements on truckers put in place by the Canadian and U.S. governments. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said that a “large number of vehicles” were involved in the “demonstration” near the Emerson Port of Entry, affecting both northbound and southbound lanes. The RCMP was monitoring traffic flows onsite. In a video shared on Twitter, protestors in the fleet can be seen flashing signs such as “Last year’s heros, this year’s zeros”...

Union Pacific, the nation’s largest railroad franchise, is considering rerouting its trains around Los Angeles amid a spike in railcar thefts, according to a CBS News affiliate. In the past year, Los Angeles County has seen a 160 percent jump in criminal rail theft, with October 2021 showing a 356 percent increase from the year before. Offenders have stolen from, assaulted, and even committed armed robbery of Union Pacific employees, amounting to “$5 million in claims, losses, and damages,” according to the company. The railroad is faulting L.A. County district attorney George Gascón’s (D.) “well-intended social justice goals,” such as...

White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the non-release of visitor logs from President Biden’s Delaware homes Tuesday — despite the fact that the commander-in-chief was in his home state for more than a quarter of all days during his first year in office. The Post asked Psaki at her regular press briefing if the White House’s decision not to make the Delaware logs public still stands after Biden spent long stretches of time at his Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach residences.

A violin-maker has used components including steamed pear, berries and spring water to create a vegan violin. Padraig O'Dubhlaoidh made the instrument, entirely free of animal products, in his Malvern Hills workshop during the coronavirus lockdown. The body of the bespoke instrument is the first in the world to be registered with The Vegan Society's trademark, said the organisation. Natural replacements for animal-based glues were used on the £8,000 violin.