Free Republic

My new book tells the story of what happened the last time an American president attempted to pack the Supreme Court. It had lasting consequences even though it didn't pass in the Senate. It ended up bullying, intimidating and threatening the Supreme Court to the point that the Supreme Court changed its interpretation of the Constitution I cover this history and more in "Saving Nine", which will help you understand why packing the Supreme Court is such a terrible idea.

A man lost a chunk of his leg when he was attacked by an alligator outside a Florida hotel after mistaking the reptile for a dog, police said. The bizarre incident unfolded as the man was walking outside the Warm Mineral Springs Motel in North Port around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday and noticed a dark figure shuffling around in some bushes, WFLA reported, citing the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. Thinking that it was a dog attached to a long leash, the man didn’t move out of the way when the gator charged toward him. Then the alligator bit his leg and...

A woman arrested for possession of crack cocaine pleaded guilty to COVID-19 relief fraud after police found multiple stolen identification cards in her car. Danielle Tooley, 37, of Batavia, New York, was questioned by police officers during a traffic stop. After finding drug paraphernalia in the vehicle, police arrested Tooley and found evidence of the identity fraud in the same car. "The scheme came to the attention of law enforcement on Nov. 24, 2020, when Tooley was arrested for criminal possession of a controlled substance during a vehicle traffic stop on Clinton Street in Bergen, New York," the Department of...

The National Pulse is reporting on a new study out of Kansas that completely contradicts the conventional wisdom regarding mask mandates and COVID-19. According to the study, fatalities were actually ~50 percent higher in places with mandates vs. those without mandates, and there are a few reasons to suspect why that might be. The observational study – “The Foegen Effect: A Mechanism by Which Facemasks Contribute to the COVID-19 Case Fatality Rate” – was published in Medicine in February 2022, authored by German doctor Zacharias Fögen. The paper analyzed “whether mandatory mask use influenced the case fatality rate in Kansas”...

As the Jan. 6 select committee prepares to unveil some of the findings of its investigation into the riot at the Capitol by those who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday offered his spin on who was to blame for the attack: everyone. During a news conference on Capitol Hill, McCarthy was asked whether he still agreed with his own public and private comments following the Jan. 6 riot that former President Donald Trump bore some of the responsibility for the violence. “Look, I’ve answered that many times,” McCarthy responded....

Shanghai and Beijing went back on fresh COVID-19 alert on Thursday after parts of China's largest economic hub imposed new lockdown restriction and the city announced a round of mass testing for millions of residents. The most populous district in the Chinese capital, meanwhile, announced the shutdown of entertainment venues, while news of the lockdown of Shanghai's Minhang district, home to more than 2 million people, pulled down Chinese stocks. Several local-level authorities in Shanghai, which is home to 25 million people, have also issued notices saying residents will be subject to two days of confinement and another 12 days...

The terms of the gun debate have been set so firmly and for so long that any attempt to venture past the slogans employed by the respective sides is typically met with derision. I suspect that, for many, there is very little thinking about this topic anymore; what is called argument is really just posturing or strategizing. Where there are no genuine questions being asked, there is no thinking. The participants in the debate come largely from two camps: on one side there are the gun enthusiasts for whom guns are an expression of identity and who therefore regard any...

‘One of the most recent cultural challenges to the Sixth Commandment and to the reality and integrity of the human person is the transgender ideology,’ Fr. Terrance Chartier said. BLOOMINGTON, Indiana (LifeSiteNews) – A Franciscan priest said that transgender ideology is an affront to at least four Commandments. “One of the most recent cultural challenges to the Sixth Commandment and to the reality and integrity of the human person is the transgender ideology,” Fr. Terrance Chartier of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate said during his homily on May 30 at the friary in Bloomington. Lying to someone and telling...

Moscow, June 9, Interfax - A bill prohibiting assemblies, rallies, marches and demonstrations at railway stations, in schools and in buildings of public administration bodies has been submitted to the State Duma. A relevant initiative was published in the State Duma database of the legislative activities on Thursday. Its authors are a group of State Duma and Federation Council members, in particular, Andrey Klimov, Vladimir Dzhabarov, Vasily Piskaryov, and Andrey Lugovoy. Under the bill, the current law will outline places where assemblies, rallies, marches and demonstrations will be prohibited. These places include religious buildings and facilities, as well as on...

Former Trump White House senior adviser Jared Kushner dismissed threats from then-White House counsel Pat Cipollone and his team to resign ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, riots as “whining,” according to testimony aired during Thursday night’s committee hearing. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a member of the House select committee investigating the Capitol riots, asked Kushner during a recorded deposition whether he was aware of instances where Cipollone threatened to resign leading up to Jan. 6.

The Holy See has confirmed the Pope's attendance at the Congress of Leader of World and Traditional Religions in September where he will be joined by representatives of Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Orthodox Christians and Protestants for discussions centered on 'inter-religious dialogue.'VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) – The Holy See has confirmed that Pope Francis will attend the seventh World Religions Congress in Kazakhstan this September. The pontiff is throwing his support behind the international “interfaith” meeting aimed at the “development of humanity” following the worldwide COVID-19 response. According to a joint communiqué released by the Holy See Press Office on May...

@alexbruesewitz WOW: the @January6thCmtejust doctored a clip! They removed Ray Epps from the video of the protestors first breaching the police barricade. Why did they remove Ray Epps from the video?

National Indian Residential School Circle of Survivors, Catholic bishops met to discuss Pope's apologyResidential school survivors met with Catholic bishops in Winnipeg Wednesday to discuss what they'd like to hear from Pope Francis when he visits Canada this summer. The Pope is expected to apologize for the Roman Catholic Church's role in abuses suffered at the schools, but it's the wording of that apology that was the focus of discussions Wednesday morning. After meeting over the last few days to discuss a draft of the apology, the National Indian Residential School Circle of Survivors met with three Catholic bishops in...

A pregnancy resource center in Washington, D.C., was vandalized with red paint and graffiti this week. The incident is the latest in a string of attacks on pro-life organizations and Catholic church buildings. Photos of the June 3 vandalism show a splash of red paint covering the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center’s white door. On the brick outer building, the words “Jane says revenge” are written in black spray paint. Janet Durig, the executive director of the center, told The Daily Signal she discovered it was vandalized when a neighbor called and notified her. The Daily Signal reported that the vandalism...

From Talos, the giant bronze automaton who guarded the princess Europa in ancient Greek myths, to Cylons and Terminators, the idea of artificial humans has both fascinated and creeped us out for centuries. Now, we're closer than ever to making a robot look remarkably like a human, with the development of living robot skin. This icky-looking substance is water repellent, self healing, and has a texture just like our own skin. Because it's actually made of human skin cells. "I think living skin is the ultimate solution to give robots the look and touch of living creatures since it is...

“‘For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eator what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?’” (Matthew 6:25). Worry is the opposite of contentment, which should be a believer’s normal and consistent state of mind. You should be able to say with Paul, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to...

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Thursday laid blame directly on former President Trump for the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, saying during the House select committee’s hearing that Trump “summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack.” “Those who invaded our Capitol and battled law enforcement for hours were motivated by what President Trump had told them: that the election was stolen, and that he was the rightful president,” Cheney, the vice chair of the Jan. 6 panel, said in her opening statement, which ran longer than 30 minutes.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper said Thursday on his network’s special coverage of the hearing held by the House Select Committee investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 that they played an “absolutely devastating” video, and the evidence so far has been all about former President Donald Trump. Tapper said, “An absolutely devastating film of footage, some of which, much of which we had never seen before. And in fact, some of the officers who served so valiantly that day were watching that film you just watched, that 12-minute film, from inside the committee room. It was...

This gives Pussy Riot new meaning. A man discovered a lonely kitten on the side of the road — only to have a pack of tiny cats emerge from the brush. In a now-viral clip, the lone baby feline meows at the man where the grass meets gravel — but in the next minute, Louisiana’s Robert Brantley is ambushed by a stampede of meowing kittens. “Oh, my gosh!” he exclaims in the video, which shows a seemingly never-ending kitten rampage. “I can’t take ya’ll. Oh, my gosh.” One by one, the little kitties sprang from the tall grass that towered...

A full-scale battle has erupted between an upstart Saudi-funded golf series and the PGA Tour, potentially throwing the future business of golf into question. Why it matters: Major broadcast networks have invested over $6 billion for the rights to air PGA Tour events through 2030, with additional commitments coming from corporate sponsors for players, the tour and its individual events. But the newly formed LIV Golf series is luring top players with massive appearance fees and weekly purses, forcing the PGA Tour to fight to retain talent — and putting players, sponsors and fans in conflict given the Saudi kingdom's...