Free Republic

Democrats have complained about so-called “dark money” for a decade, but they benefited from $1.5 billion in “dark money” spending in the 2020 election, compared to $900 million for Republicans, according to a recent New York Times analysis. “Dark money” is money spent by groups outside campaigns and political parties that do not have to disclose their donors — either because they are organized as “social welfare” organizations under section 501(c)4 of the federal tax code, or as 501(c)3 charities receiving contributions from donor-advised funds that allow many donors to remain anonymous. Democrats have claimed for years that Republicans are...

From South America’s avocado, corn and coffee farms to Southeast Asia’s plantations of coconuts and oil palms, high fertilizer prices are weighing on farmers across the developing world, making it much costlier to cultivate and forcing many to cut back on production. That means grocery bills could go up even more in 2022, following a year in which global food prices rose to decade highs. An uptick would exacerbate hunger—already acute in some parts of the world because of pandemic-linked job losses—and thwart efforts by politicians and central bankers to subdue inflation. “Farms are failing and many people are not...

“I’m not allowed to sue Pfizer for some reason. That in itself tells me they knew people were going to die and they are just immune from any accountability.”On January 17, 2022, the Toronto City Council’s Board of Health held a virtual hearing to address the city’s reaction to Covid. The conference was open to the general public, and it featured public speakers who shared their thoughts on the local administration’s approach to the declared pandemic.Dan Hartman told the Toronto City Council health board that his 17-year-old son Sean had died from the Pfizer shot. The grieving father explained that...

Cheyenne Avenue and Commerce Street in North Las Vegas reopened early Sunday, nearly 12 hours after a motorist blew through a red light and caused “a mass casualty traffic collision” that killed nine people, police said. The driver was going “north of” 80 miles per hour at the time of the crash, Clark County Office of Traffic Safety director Andrew Bennett told the Review-Journal.

Our Troops Rock! Thank you for all you do! For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces. Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today! ~ Hall of Heroes ~John P. Baca John Philip Baca (born January 10, 1949) is a former United States Army soldier and a Vietnam War veteran. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest decoration of the United States Armed Forces, for his actions in combat.Baca was born on January 10, 1949, in Providence, Rhode Island. He was raised in San...

Just a query to those more knowledgeable and savvy, about church denominations. Actually, I mean ANY division of organized Christian religion. I am frustrated by so many churches now, with all the nonsense of the last 2 years. Paying homage to BLM and homos and bowing down to every COVID decree. Everyone says what was our church, Lutheran Church - MO Synod (LCMS), is good for being true. However, after the riots started I saw a bit too much virtue-signaling. The only thing I can say was the website did not seem to specify blacks and BLM, but the statement...

Titles from Maus – a Pulitzer Prize-winning series about the Holocaust – made up nearly half of Amazon’s 10 best-selling comics and graphic novels Friday after one of the books was controversially banned by a Tennessee school district. was released, a collection of the complete Maus titles is the top-selling graphic novel on Amazon, and it’s ranked 16th on the platform’s list of best-selling books from all genres. Maus I, a Maus I and Maus II paperback box set and Maus II are also all in the top 10 of Amazon’s graphic novel best sellers. The surge in sales followed...

Peter’s Pence posts dwindling donations for 6th yearThe fund from the faithful, which finances many Vatican charity efforts, is running at a large deficit. Donations from the faithful to Peter’s Pence decreased by as much as 15% in 2021. The fund, which the Vatican relies on to support many of its charitable efforts, has continued on a downward trend that began in 2015.Fr. Juan A. Guerrero, S.J., prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, discussed the situation in a January 28 interview with Vatican News. The Jesuit revealed a serious decrease in donations from about $49 million in 2020 to...

Mandatory Covid jabs for NHS and social care workers are set to be scrapped, The Telegraph can reveal, after warnings of crippling staff shortages if the plan went ahead.Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, will on Monday meet fellow ministers on the Covid-Operations Cabinet committee to rubber stamp the decision on the about-turn.Multiple government sources said ministers are expected to end the requirement because the omicron Covid variant, now dominant in the UK, is milder than previous strains.The move comes after warnings that almost 80,000 healthcare workers would be forced out of their jobs because they had declined to take two...

According to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll, 76 percent of Americans say Biden should consider "all possible nominees" to fill retiring Justice Stephen Breyer's seat on the Supreme Court. Only 23 percent say Biden should consider only Black female candidates, as he pledged to do during the campaign, ABC News reported. ...

​​Sen. Susan Collins said President Biden’s “clumsy” handling of filling a Supreme Court ​vacancy ​with ​his pledge to nominate ​a black woman has politicized the high court. ​Collins (R-Maine) said she believes the Supreme Court — which will soon be missing retiring Justice Stephen Breyer — would benefit from some diversity.

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Explanation: How can gas float above the Sun? Twisted magnetic fields arching from the solar surface can trap ionized gas, suspending it in huge looping structures. These majestic plasma arches are seen as prominences above the solar limb. In 1999, this dramatic and detailed image was recorded by the Extreme ultraviolet Image Telescope (EIT) on board the space-based SOHO observatory in the light emitted by ionized Helium. It shows hot plasma escaping into space...

Liberals never learn. Their solution to societal problems continues to be to spend—or to use their euphemism, "invest"—yet more money—or to use another of their euphemisms, "resources." And thus it was that on his MSNBC show this morning, Jonathan Capehart gave Democrat Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot a platform to talk about her latest spending spree ostensibly intended to solve the city's crime wave. As Lightfoot put it: "We can't just arrest our way out of the crime problem, we have to INVEST our way out of this [crime] problem." Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

Washington — Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina praised U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs, a possible candidate to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court, on Sunday, saying he "can't think of a better person" for President Biden to consider. In an interview with "Face the Nation," Graham heaped praise on Childs, who sits on the federal district court in South Carolina, and said she is "highly qualified" and of "good character." "I can't think of a better person for President Biden… Snip She is one of the most decent people I've ever met."

Republican legislators in Georgia are trying to dodge debate over the rising cheap-labor migration into their state — but they also are drafting bills that would steer more illegal migrants into the jobs and homes needed by young Georgians. “Those of us who are in the [Georgia] Capitol for the last 18 years know that the big business lobby run by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce does not want any discussion about the hidden costs of black-market labor,” said D.A. King, founder of the Dustin Inman Society, which opposes illegal migration.

Live stream of protests in Ottawa. Police are coming from all over; Gatineau, Toronto, London, suburbs and more. Truckers say they will stay beyond the weekend as Parliament is set to sit on Monday.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV/AP) - Former Miss USA 2019, Cheslie Kryst has died at the age of 30, her family announced in a statement Sunday. Kyrst, a Charlotte native, won the Miss USA pageant back in 2019 as Miss North Carolina. She was also a host on EXTRA and an attorney. Police said Kryst jumped from a high-rise apartment building on West 42nd Street in midtown Manhattan and was pronounced dead at the scene Sunday morning. Her body was found at approximately 7 a.m.

If Bob Woodward’s reporting is correct, Joe Biden almost forgot the promise that has limited his options for the next nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court: During the primary debate on Feb. 25, 2020, [Rep. Jim] Clyburn watched Biden whiff on numerous chances to bring up the Supreme Court pledge. During a break, he pulled Biden aside: “Man, there have been a couple instances up there tonight where you could have mentioned having a Black woman on the Supreme Court. You can’t leave the stage without doing that. You just got to do that.” Of course, Biden said, you got...

A previously healthy model from Florida has been in hospital fighting for her life after suffering a heart attack earlier this month. Claire Bridges, 20-years-old, was admitted to Tampa General Hospital on January 16th with severe leg pain and was diagnosed with myocarditis, rhabdomyolysis, mild pneumonia, cyanotic and acidosis. A few hours after being admitted, her heart stopped. ... Two weeks ago, Claire’s health rapidly deteriorated when her heart and other organs were impacted. She was quickly put in ICU on life support. Her father, Wayne, said about the ordeal: “She has been through so much with this. The last...

The Italian Space Agency’s CSG-2 mission, the second satellite in its COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation constellation, has endured two scrubs on Thursday and Friday, both caused by unacceptable weather – while Saturday’s weather impacted pre-launch preparations. The launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station will be the fourth Falcon 9 flight of the year, and is now scheduled for liftoff on Sunday at 6:11 PM EST (23:11 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40).