Free Republic

Some quick thoughts to share, and we will get the big ones out the way first. Should we send U.S. troops: NO! Do I like Vladimir? No, though I have had professional respect for him in some areas, and personal in one. If you are not mature enough to differentiate between respecting someone and liking them, bugger off. My heart bleeds for the Ukraine, and I’m moved by the willingness of its people to resist the invasion. To watch those who now live elsewhere, or are the children/grandchildren/etc. of those who immigrated return to defend it is amazing. What they...

The Monthly Fiber Arts Thread is a monthly gathering of people that love yarn and fabric of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first project, to experienced fiber artists and beyond, we would love to hear from you. It is impossible to hijack the Monthly Fiber Arts Thread. Knitting, crochet, quilting, weaving, general crafting - there is no telling where it will go, and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our Fiber Arts...

WASHINGTON (AP) — People in the U.S. from Sudan and South Sudan can stay with temporary legal status to escape the conflict and natural disasters in their homelands, the Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday. It faces pressure to grant the same to Ukrainians. There are 12 countries whose nationals receive temporary protected status, a program that former President Donald Trump sought to curtail amid criticism of frequent extensions that have enabled people to live in the U.S. for years in a kind of legal limbo. The announcement affects a relatively small number of people. DHS said there are about...

The old debate about whether drivers in New Jersey should be able to pump their own gas has returned. On Monday, a group of bipartisan legislators introduced a new bill that would allow drivers in the state to have the option for self-service stations.

On Monday the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Navy's request to reinstate the U.S. Navy's COVID-19 vaccine requirement. In November, dozens of U.S. Navy SEALs claimed they were wrongfully denied COVID vaccination exemptions on religious grounds. The suit, which lists 35 unnamed service members, argues that that the Defense Department's mandate violates their First Amendment rights. While the percentage of vaccinated active duty personnel in each service is at 95 percent or higher, the number of unvaccinated personnel is close to 30,000. The Navy itself has previously said that it has not granted an exemption to any...

Joe Biden has a shameless propensity for using his deceased son for political advantage. He wields it as an evocative shield- sort of like Whoopi Goldberg claiming to be black, Jewish, Buddhist, Baptist, Catholic and a quarter Mexican. He's done this repeatedly. “I don’t think enough people understand how much we’ve asked of the 1% of this country who put that uniform on, willing to put their lives on the line in defense of our nation,” said Biden, before invoking his son Beau’s military service as a JAG Officer and appearing to lose his train of thought. “Maybe it’s because...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's bizarre behavior during Biden's State of the Union address last night distracted viewers from the President's comments and had some asking if she was 'on drugs' or 'drunk'. Pelosi was sitting directly behind the President and was in full view throughout the speech, that went on for an hour and two minutes. The 81-year-old behaved erratically throughout, jumping up and rubbing her knuckles in glee after Biden spoke of soldiers breathing in toxic air at one point. At other moments, she rubbed her tongue over her teeth inside her mouth. The bizarre behavior inspired a wave...

In his book Still Time to Care (2021), Greg Johnson, an intelligent Christian thinker, seeks to make a valid case for allowing someone who, like himself, is openly same-sex attracted, gay, and celibate to be an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. Johnson adopts a profoundly orthodox and well exegetically supported view of biblical sexuality. He affirms the fundamental importance of “gender complementarity” (154), that is, of one-flesh, male/female sexuality, as clearly expressed in Genesis 2:24: “therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”...

resident Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee shielded one of Hillary Clinton’s top State Department aides from scrutiny about his use of a personal email account to conduct official business. Then-U.S. district judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in 2015 denied Gawker’s request for details about press aide Philippe Reines's stewardship of the account in the context of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, which sought emails Reines traded with 34 different media outlets. Jackson blocked Gawker’s request, calling it "extraordinary" and claiming there was no proof that Reines had acted in "bad faith" by using a personal email address. Like Clinton, Reines...

“Seven million women died last year because they didn’t have access to abortion.” This was the absurd claim by a pro-abortion activist testifying in opposition to Nebraska’s Legislative Bill (LB) 933, the Human Life Protection Act. The claim made all of us watching those protesting the bill scratch our heads. Did she really just say that? Considering there were only 861 maternal deaths in 2020 according to the CDC, let’s chalk it up to another epic pro-abortion distortion. Abortion doesn’t reduce maternal mortality. No Maternal Mortality Review Committee even offers abortion as a solution to preventable maternal deaths. In actuality...

“Seven million women died last year because they didn’t have access to abortion.” This was the absurd claim by a pro-abortion activist testifying in opposition to Nebraska’s Legislative Bill (LB) 933, the Human Life Protection Act. The claim made all of us watching those protesting the bill scratch our heads. Did she really just say that? Considering there were only 861 maternal deaths in 2020 according to the CDC, let’s chalk it up to another epic pro-abortion distortion. Abortion doesn’t reduce maternal mortality. No Maternal Mortality Review Committee even offers abortion as a solution to preventable maternal deaths. In actuality...

The street price of illicit fentanyl has nearly dropped by half in some regions of the U.S., while Americans face the highest prices on everyday goods in nearly 40 years, multiple sources told the Daily Caller News Foundation. As fentanyl continues flowing through the southern border and the price steadily drops, law enforcement officials and public health agencies across the nation warn that the dangerous drug is easier to get ahold of and could worsen the already dire opioid crisis. There were roughly 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. during the 12-month period ending in April 2021, according to...

Russia said it was ready Wednesday for the second round of peace talks with Ukraine — while giving a chilling warning that a third world war would certainly involve nuclear weapons. The invading nation’s “delegation will be in place to await Ukrainian negotiators,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said — as Russian forces continued the devastating air and land assault for the seventh day.

The man accused of smearing feces on a woman waiting for a subway cursed out a Bronx judge during his first court appearance Tuesday — ranting that he was tired of waiting. After his arrest for the grotesque Bronx attack, Frank Abrokwa, 37, tried to joke with cops, telling them, “S--- happens, ha ha ha,” and “This is a sh---y situation. Ha ha ha,” prosecutors said.

Allow me to state upfront my blood pressure is far too high to have watched the SOTU live. But I did read it, and others’ take on it, posthumously. Aside from the blather of praise from the Potato’s usual political hacks and MSM cheer squad the highest praise I’ve seen for the speech was “it was painfully short.” Rantingly’s screenshot captures the essence:He sailed along effortlessly, dropping such nuggets along the way as:“You can’t build a wall high enough to keep out the vaccine.” “Putin may circle Kiev with tanks, but he'll never gain the hearts and souls of the...

The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, is one of Australia's most iconic species. Even though it has been extinct since 1936, the slender, striped marsupial maintains its place in Australian mythology because of a constant string of supposed sightings that has captivated the public and the media. Just last year, one group claimed to have spotted the "Tassie tiger" padding through Australia's forests. The claims were never verified. Sadly, the Tasmanian tiger is gone -- but with advances in biotechnology, that might not have to be the case. A group of researchers from the University of Melbourne plan to bring the...

TOKYO -- Despite fielding a smaller army, Ukrainian forces have put up a tougher response than anticipated to Russia's invasion thanks in no small part to the multitude of Javelin missiles provided by Western nations. Measuring 1.2 meters in length, the Javelin can be transported and fired by a single soldier. Yet the weapon, made by American contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, has enough firepower to pierce tank armor from 2.5 km away. The traits have made the Javelin the weapon of choice for repelling tank invasions in urban settings. A Javelin operator can covertly approach and engage a target...

In May 2017, CNN boss Jeff Zucker gave an interview to the "New Yorker Radio Hour" and made waves by proclaiming, "Fox is state-run TV and is extolling the line out of the White House. MSNBC has become the opposition, and I think CNN is seeking the truth." There wasn't a laugh track. In 2022, it's quite obvious that CNN can now be accused of sounding like state-run TV. On Feb. 27, CNN anchor Pamela Brown (whose father, John Brown, served as the Democrat governor of Kentucky) robotically read a Twitter thread from Jill Biden. She introduced it like this:...

PhD student Jennifer Applebaum from the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Florida has been examining for several years the effect that pets have on their owners. Her initial findings focused on how people viewed their pets and how laws and policies may not be in line with these views. Recently, however, her research revealed that having pets may actually help owners stave off memory loss and cognitive decline, WRAL reports. While the effect was most notable with dog and cat owners, pets such as birds, fish and other smaller animals also benefited their owners. It's believed...

The second round of talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine is set to take place Wednesday evening, Russian News Agency (TASS) reported, citing Alexey Arestovich, advisor to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office. The scheduled talks are set to take place in Belovezhskaya Puscha, Belarus, according to TASS. The Kremlin hinted at Russia's readiness to resume the peace talks with the Ukrainian side Wednesday, AFP reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin's aide Vladimir Medinsky is to remain the top negotiator on behalf of Russia during the talks.