Free Republic

Two New York state lawmakers have proposed an ammunition excise tax of .02 to .05 per round. If passed, the bill would make New York the only state in the nation to enforce a tax on ammo. Revenue from the measure, introduced by state Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman Pat Fahy (D-Albany) would pay for the newly created research fund dedicated to studying gun violence under the state Department of Health and the State University of New York. The state has seen a sharp increase in violent crimes, especially in New York City, which officials blame in part on...

FIRST WEEK OF LENT MATTHEW 6:7-15 Friends, the Gospel for today is of great significance, for in it the Son of God teaches us to pray. We hear from not just a guru, a spiritual teacher, or a religious genius, but from the very Son of God. This is why the Our Father, the Lord’s Prayer, is the model of all prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer for the Christian journey which has been offered up consistently for the past two thousand years. Think for a moment how this prayer links us to all of the great figures in...

Honestly, did you think Joe Biden could be as incompetent as he has been? I knew he would be bad, his combination of senility and stupidity was never going to lead anywhere good, but to be this systemically bad on everything is almost more of a skill than an accident. You’d really have to try to suck as badly as he does. You would think that sooner or later he’d hit bottom, after all, there’s only so much sucking someone can do, right? You’d be right to think that, but wrong if you did. Every single day, when the President...

LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - Sky-high oil prices resulting from a potential Russian oil import ban could force governments to pour more cash into fossil fuel subsidies to shield consumers from rising energy bills, rather than use the money to fight climate change. Even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, rising energy costs had triggered a wave of subsidies despite countries agreeing to rein them in at the COP26 climate conference in November. "The last thing that governments want to do is increase any subsidies for fossil fuel use but they have to be sensitive to the price shock," said Ben...

Last night was our monthly prepping zoom call with preppers from all around the country participating. This group consists of about 300 preppers ranging from complete novices to grizzled veterans. Of course the subject of Ukraine/Russia conflict was the main point of discussion. The first speaker is a well-established prepper in the group who has family ties back to Ukraine. His report was sobering. He has family in various parts of Ukraine that he has managed to stay in touch with you during this almost 2 week crisis. It is his take that people that are in the cities are...

​A South Korean naval ship fired warning shots at a North Korean patrol boat that crossed into contested waters west of the Korean Peninsula, according to a report on Tuesday. ​ The patrol boat retreated after the South Korean vessel opened fire, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Seoul’s military. ​

Former California Governor Jerry Brown urged the U.S. not to expand domestic oil and gas production to help in the crisis triggered by the ongoing Russian war because climate change is like a war that will kill people over a long period of time. Brown, who made climate change the focus of his last two terms in office before leaving office in 2019, has not made many forays into public debate since leaving the political scene. But he wants the U.S. to keep restricting fossil fuel production.

America has become a nation of pernicious lies, and it is increasingly mandatory that the citizens not only embrace the lies, but also espouse and defend them. Those who dare refuse to comply are ostracized and publicly castigated by the led-by-the-nose politically correct, who are as legitimately ignorant as they are illegitimate to all that made America a nation of godly values. Lies and ignorance are the order of the day, and both malignancies are cultivated from the womb. Such was the conversation our son and I had a few days ago. I'm cut from the DNA of my parents...

A large study of more than 36,000 high-quality MRI brain scans has found that drinking four units of alcohol a day – two beers, or two glasses of wine – causes structural damage and brain volume loss equivalent to 10 years of aging. The science on alcohol consumption can be confusing and overwhelming. A quick scroll through our coverage over the years will tell you it directly causes cancer, but also reduces inflammation and helps to flush toxins out of the brain. It stunts growth in developing brains by nearly 50 percent, it permanently damages your DNA and is confidently...

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Gas prices are now the most expensive in United States history after another jump overnight, according to AAA. AAA said early Tuesday morning, the national average rose to $4.17 per gallon up from $4.06 per gallon. We’re told the rise in prices is all due to high demand, inflation, and the war in Ukraine. The spike is impacting the Upstate too, which normally has lower than average prices. The Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) says a national average of $5 dollars per gallon is possible.

A federal judge last week ruled that a cellphone dragnet used to find bank robbery suspects was unconstitutional. Judge M. Hannah Lauck, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, ruled Thursday that authorities violated the Constitution when they used Google location data to find people who were near the scene of a 2019 bank robbery, NBC News reported. Lauck said the policing approach, by gathering information on innocent people without evidence that they might be suspects violated the Fourth Amendment's protections against unreasonable searches.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov say Russia will halt military action if Kiev meets four conditions. In an interview on Monday, Peskov said Moscow could “end war immediately” if Ukraine agreed to sign a neutrality agreement that would bar it from entering NATO, recognized Crimea as Russian, recognized the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent, and ceased all military action.

Sheikh Said Ismagilov, Mufti of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine ‘UMMA’, has called on Muslims in all countries to support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia’s invasion, and has also made an extremely hard-hitting address to Muslims in Russia. Essentially all Ukraine’s religious leaders have come out with clear statements in defence of Ukraine and in condemnation of Russia’s aggression, even Metropolitan Onufriy, head of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine linked to the Moscow Patriarchate. The address to Muslims in all countries was given in Ukrainian, and can be followed in English translation here. The Mufti stresses that...

As chaos spreads in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Biden is dispatching Vice President Harris to Eastern Europe on an urgent mission this week to reinforce Western unity, reassure allies of U.S. protection and promise aid as more than 1 million Ukrainian refugees flee their homes. Harris will meet with leaders in Poland on Thursday and their counterparts in Romania a day later, in what amounts to an extension of her recent trip to a global security conference in Germany. There, in the earliest days of the Russian invasion, Harris met with an array of European and...

Was it part of multimillionaire CBS comedian Stephen Colbert’s routine to look like a complete hypocrite by lecturing people about the morals of paying higher gas prices? The Late Show host praised that the U.S. and European allies are finally considering banning imports of Russian oil. Of course, the consideration comes after President Joe Biden slapped more sanctions on American oil than Russian oil. Under Biden, the U.S. has reportedly imported “more than half a million barrels per day (BPD) of oil from Russia,” making Russia the U.S.’s third largest oil supplier. Colbert conceded that gas prices have hit $4...

<p>When his fiancée bought him VIP tickets, Pablo Gallaga expected to spend Sunday, March 6 stuffing himself at the Austin Crawfish Festival. Held at Carson Creek Ranch, the festival was making its return after a two-year hiatus. VIP tickets included all-you-can-eat crawfish and entry into the festival an hour early.</p>

When he travels to Texas Tuesday, President Biden will be greeted with near-record gas prices as the Russia-Ukraine war stretches into a thirteenth day. Before he leaves Washington for Fort Worth, Biden is expected to announce a ban on Russian oil imports to the United States. Americans are experiencing the highest gas prices since the 2008 financial crisis, with the national gas price average reaching more than $4 per gallon – the highest average to date, according to AAA.

First there was one: a toy horse discarded in a field on the side of Old Sudbury Road. Jimmy Pingeon and Elizabeth Graver, who own the pasture and live next door, told the Boston Globe in 2015 that the prop was leftover from a Headless Horseman display they had set up for Halloween. They thought a kid might find it and play it with, but they never imagined the horse would inspire a local landmark that lives on more than a decade later. After the first equine seed was planted, other horse toys began showing up randomly in the area....

By Greg Burt/CFCSacramento, Calif. - State Sen. Scott Wiener is upset that some medical personnel won't provide sterilizing drugs and surgeries to trans-identified Californians or use their preferred pronouns. So the San Francisco Democrat introduced SB 923 to put pressure on those holding to traditional and biblic views on gender. The bill forces all medical and health insurance personnel to attend transgender “cultural competency training” classes. Those who fail to provide “trans-inclusive health care” will have to repeat the training over and over. “It’s simple: transgender, gender non-comforming and intersex people deserve the same quality of healthcare that everyone else...

Hillary Clinton is disappointing some politically active people. And it's not just her supporters. The political figure the right wing loves to hate made it very clear Tuesday morning that she is absolutely not running for president again. That's a minor blow for the part of the Democratic base that wants her to make another try, but it's a bigger blow for Republicans who have raised a great deal of money over the years by warning GOPers of the specter of a Hillary Clinton presidency. "No, no," the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee and former secretary of state said with a...