Free Republic

Liberals are perplexed by conservatives' increasing use of the word "groomer" to describe opponents of the Florida parental rights law and similar policies elsewhere. They are right that the term is hyperbolic at best and worst conflates a host of complex issues with pedophilia. But liberals (and conflict-averse conservatives) are wrong to confidently predict it will necessarily be perceived by persuadable people as QAnon craziness. It's not entirely clear that many such people even know what QAnon is. And it is just as risky for liberals to reduce all concerns about child pornography and age-appropriateness of sex education to Pizzagate....

I know a guy in Billerica who, like most people, has grown weary of making the monthly mortgage payments on his house for decades. But last week he emailed me some very good news, which may make his life a lot easier. “My home mortgage has decided to self-identify as a student loan,” he said. “You know what that means? I will no longer have to pay it — ever!” This is marvelous news, and I predict that “transitioning” all debt into student loans is going to be the next big thing in the equity racket. I mean, if a...

Russia lost a colonel, yet another death of a high-ranking military official roughly six weeks into Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russian Col. Alexander Bespalov was killed during fighting in Ukraine and buried in Ozersk, ... Bespalov was the commander of the 59th Guards Tank Regiment and part of the 144th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, according to Visegard 24. ... Several top Russian military officials have been killed in combat since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. At least seven generals have died in the conflict to snipers, close combat, and bombings, according to a March 26 report from the Washington...

The Donkey BY G. K. CHESTERTON When fishes flew and forests walked And figs grew upon thorn, Some moment when the moon was blood Then surely I was born.With monstrous head and sickening cry And ears like errant wings, The devil’s walking parody On all four-footed things.The tattered outlaw of the earth, Of ancient crooked will; Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb, I keep my secret still.Fools! For I also had my hour; One far fierce hour and sweet: There was a shout about my ears, And palms before my feet.

Florida’s Department of Health (FDOH) said on Thursday that the number of cases identified so far in 2022 surpasses the five-year average of meningococcal disease cases in the state. FDOH said its epidemiologists are investigating each case as well as contacting people with potential or direct exposure to known cases to provide them with information and treatment options. It urged college and university students, immunocompromised individuals, people living with HIV and men who have sex with men to get vaccinated against the disease immediately.

Governor Baker should be ashamed for the damage he has done to his employees and their families," said State Police Association President Pat McNamara ... 11 Massachusetts State troopers and 1 sergeant were fired on Friday due to not complying with the Covid-19 vaccine mandate ... All 12 of the state troop members have been "dishonorably discharged" as of Friday, according to a Massachusetts State Police spokesperson. They were initially put on administrative leave but still did not get the shot. The 12 fired on Friday do not include the 7 troopers involved in an ongoing lawsuit. They were officially...

A majority of Americans believe that oil companies, in addition to Russian President Vladimir Putin, should be blamed for the recent spike in oil and gas prices, according to an ABC News poll. The poll found that 71 percent of those surveyed blame Putin for the spike in gas prices amid his country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine while 68 percent said they blame oil and gas companies for the recent high gas prices.

Special Edition: Russian Military Capabilities Assessments The Russian military is attempting to generate sufficient combat power to seize and hold the portions of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts that it does not currently control after it completes the seizure of Mariupol. There are good reasons to question the Russian armed forces’ ability to do so and their ability to use regenerated combat power effectively despite a reported simplification of the Russian command structure. This update, which we offer on a day without significant military operations on which to report, attempts to explain and unpack some of the complexities involved in making...

Friends it's Sunday night again and time to relax. Warm up the tubes for another 4 hours of classic radio Americana. Listen LiveInfo *tonight's show will be available at the "Info" link starting tomorrow.

The Atlantic last week hosted a conference titled “Disinformation and the Erosion of Democracy” at the University of Chicago, where I’m a student. Barack Obama, Amy Klobuchar, Anne Applebaum, Jeffrey Goldberg, Ben Smith, Brian Stelter, and other boldface names studded the program, alongside many lesser-known members of the prestige press. They would gather, as a news release put it, to explore “the organized spread of disinformation and strategies to respond to it.” The Atlantic gabfest was billed as a space for rigorous dialogue, where the light of truth would scatter the darkness of disinformation. But the dialogue and criticism, it...

The irony of Democrats now being staunch Russia hawks never ceases to amaze. We went from Barack Obama “dunking” on Mitt Romney in 2012 for asserting Vladimir Putin’s nation is our chief geopolitical foe to the left asserting that Russia is under every bed. All the while, we are supposed to believe that such a shift was totally organic and not at all politically motivated.Still, onlookers with even half a brain can see the truth. All the Russia hysteria has been meant to make partisan headway, from the claims of election-stealing” interference during the 2016 election to the idea that...

Jack Posobiec was hit with a temporary Twitter lockout, the first since he reported on Hunter Biden's salacious laptop in 2020, for sharing links to buy T-shirts and stickers emblazoned with a Disney logo reading "Boycott Groomers." This after Posobiec broke a story on Human Events Daily showing that Disney's cast members, or lower level employees, were at odds with Disney's corporate stand against Florida's Parental Rights in Education law, or the "anti-grooming" bill. "Elon Musk recently commented that corporations dictate policy on Twitter through ad dollars," Posobiec told The Post Millennial, "so it comes as no surprise Twitter will...

New majority Twitter shareholder Elon Musk issued several polls to his millions of followers on the social media platform on Saturday. The outspoken Tesla CEO, known for his social media antics, initially asked if he should transform the company's Silicon Valley headquarters into a homeless shelter, before suggesting the removal of the letter 'w' in Twitter. In the first post, Musk - who purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the social media giant earlier this week and was subsequently named to the company's board of directors - seemingly took aim at the company's lax remote working policies, saying he came...

ransomnote: The Expose is over the target and taking flak, banned and censored - even Paypal turned against them in an effort to deprive them of funding. Please pray that the Expose receive the funds it needs to keep serving the public.In an unprecedented move, members of the British medical establishment, convened by the Children’s Covid Vaccines Advisory Council (“CCVAC”), are launching a legal challenge against the UK government’s ‘offer’ of a covid ‘vaccine’ to healthy 5-to-11-year-olds, on behalf of a British mother and her children.“There is an emergency, but it’s not from a virus. It’s from this negligent policy,”...

Protestors rally in opposition to The Walt Disney Co.’s stance against a recently passed Florida law outside of the company’s headquarters in Burbank, Calif., on April 6, 2022. (Jill McLaughlin/The Epoch Times)As the battle between Florida and The Walt Disney Co. executives continues to rage on, a longtime employee of Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando is speaking out, sharing how he and the majority of his fellow cast members are “ashamed to work for this company.” The employee, a custodial cast member of 35 years for Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park, spoke to The Epoch Times under the condition of...

At first glance, U.S. Covid cases appear to have plateaued over the past two weeks, with a consistent average of around 30,000 cases per day, according to NBC News' tally. But disease experts say incomplete data likely masks an upward trend. In Washington, D.C., for example, several high-profile government figures recently tested positive, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, White House press secretary Jen Psaki and Attorney General Merrick Garland.

(Title truncated above.) Full title here:'Progressive' freelance writer branded a 'racist' for reportedly accosting a random Asian man who he thought was journalist Andy Ngo A self-described "progressive" freelance writer reportedly accosted an Asian man who he believed to be journalist Andy Ngo at a bar in New Orleans. However, Ngo said the writer bullied a random Asian man because he was not in the state of Louisiana at the time of the harassment. Thor Benson is a freelance writer for left-wing media outlets such as The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, NBC News, and Business Insider. On Friday at 1:26...

Mayor Adams on Sunday went into isolation and canceled public events for the week after testing positive for COVID and showing a light symptom of the dreaded virus, his office announced. “This morning, Mayor Adams woke up with a raspy voice and, out of an abundance of caution, took a PCR test that has now come back positive,” the mayor’s press secretary Fabien Levy said in a statement.

Two people are dead and ten others were wounded in a shooting at a night club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, reported local station WHO13, an affiliate of Nexstar. According to a Cedar Rapids Police Department (CRPD) statement, the shooting took place at the Taboo Nightclub and Lounge early Sunday morning. Officers arriving at the scene found multiple people suffering from gunshot wounds. Two individuals died from their injuries, while ten others were transported to nearby medical facilities, according to the station.

Charges will be dropped against a woman who had been arrested and jailed in Texas on a murder charge