Free Republic

Since the start of the year, the ruble has soared 40% against the dollar — outperforming every other currency in the world.Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the ruble’s robust recovery as proof that his economy has successfully withstood the onslaught of Western sanctions. “The idea was clear: crush the Russian economy violently,” Putin told an economic forum in St. Petersburg last week. “They did not succeed. Obviously, that didn’t happen.”

On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in Vega V Tekoh, a case involving the administration of Miranda rights, with the court ruling that a suspect’s words or statements can be used in court regardless of their Miranda rights. For background, these are the facts of the case in question: Terence Tekoh worked as a patient transporter in a hospital in Los Angeles. After a patient accused him of sexual assault, hospital staff reported the allegation to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Deputy Carlos Vega went to the hospital to ask Tekoh questions and take Tekoh’s statement. Although the...

The Supreme Court decision on Thursday upholding American citizens’ right to concealed carry firearms outside of their homes has sent the left-wing media into a tizzy. The angry torrent of rage spilled forth from blue check Twitter, where Auron MacIntyre did the yeoman’s job of compiling the worst “blue check meltdowns” in an epic thread. Read: “Worst blue check meltdowns over the SCOTUS gun ruling” 🧵/1 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 13/ 14/ 15/ 16/ 17/ 18/ 19/ The Supreme Court decision bodes ill for the gun control package being rammed through Congress....

"And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." "And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon...

@ChadPergram 1) From colleague David Spunt. Russ Vought of the Center for Renewing America where Jeffrey Clark is is a Fellow. Clark's home was raided yesterday by FBI. Vought: "The new era of criminalizing politics is worsening in the US." 2) Vought: "Yesterday more than a dozen DOJ law enforcement officials searched Jeff Clark’s house in a pre-dawn raid, put him in the streets in his pajamas, and took his electronic devices. All because Jeff saw fit to investigate voter fraud. This is not America, folks."

The Supreme Court just ruled that the Constitution allows individuals the right to carry a gun outside the home. This decision struck down New York state’s law, which required a special permit to carry a concealed handgun in public. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is furious over the court’s decision. “It is outrageous that at a moment of national reckoning on gun violence, the Supreme Court has recklessly struck down a New York law that limits those who can carry concealed weapons,” Hochul tweeted once the decision of the Supreme Court was released. Hochul has been an outspoken supporter of...

WENTZVILLE, Mo. — The Wentzville community is mourning the police dispatcher who died on Wednesday. Della Williams was a police dispatcher for almost two decades and recently served with the Wentzville police department. William’s family says she died suddenly at the age of 49. For her nearly five decades on earth, Williams did not leave this earth without making an incredible mark. Williams spent her nearly 20-year career serving others as a dispatcher.

<p>The surgery, in April, was routine: Gleycy Correia was having her tonsils removed.</p><p>Article content But five days later, the former Miss Brazil suffered a hemorrhage and fell into a coma for more than two months.</p><p>Now Brazil is mourning her loss. Correia, who was crowned Miss Costa do Sol and Miss United Continents Brazil in 2018, died Monday at 27 of kidney failure. She never recovered consciousness.</p>

Sen. Rick Scott, head of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, said Thursday he will vote against the bipartisan gun bill that has won the blessing of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, putting more distance between the two powerbrokers. Mr. Scott, Florida Republican, said the good pats of the bill are outweighed by the bad, and he said the proposal is far different than the legislation he signed as Florida’s governor following the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. “These bills are not the same at all,” Mr. Scott said in a statement. “One was the product...

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shoulders much of the blame for the security breakdown at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a preliminary report from Republican investigators Reps. Jim Banks and Rodney Davis determined. The Capitol Police (USCP) were half-staffed on Jan. 6, Pelosi’s House Sergeant at Arms denied multiple requests for National Guard assistance from the Pentagon and the USCP Chief in the days leading up to Jan. 6, officers were poorly equipped and had insufficient riot shields and helmets, and they were never trained to handle a riot even after the riots of 2020, the investigation...

Federal agents searched the Virginia home of former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark on Wednesday morning, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the activity. It was unclear which federal agencies conducted the search, but one neighbor who witnessed the law enforcement activity said they saw officials entering and exiting the Lorton, Virginia, home after arriving there early Wednesday.

Plants are growing in complete darkness in an acetate medium that replaces biological photosynthesis. Photosynthesis has evolved in plants for millions of years to turn water, carbon dioxide, and the energy from sunlight into plant biomass and the foods we eat. This process, however, is very inefficient, with only about 1% of the energy found in sunlight ending up in the plant. Scientists at UC Riverside and the University of Delaware have found a way to bypass the need for biological photosynthesis altogether and create food independent of sunlight by using artificial photosynthesis. The research, published in Nature Food,...

Convinced that police, prosecutors, and prisons are inhumane methods for combating crime, Chicago is trying a “peace-circle” approach. Local advocate for the idea Howard Zehr contends that “bringing victims and perpetrators face-to-face can achieve restorative justice because it allows the participants in the original so-called crime to meet again and make their apologies. This inspires a healing process that will do more to discourage future harmful interactions than simply locking up the assumed offender.” After he was caught in possession of an illegal gun, prosecutors wanted Ojani Cruz to be held in jail, but a judge let him out on...

Netflix is laying off around 300 more employees across the company. The cuts, which represent around 3% of the company’s employee base, come about a month after the streaming company eliminated about 150 positions in the wake of its first subscriber loss in a decade.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of state Republican Party leaders in a case nominally about a voter identification law that a lower North Carolina court previously found was passed with “racial discrimination” as a “motivating factor.” Stylized as Berger v. NC Conference of NAACP, the case was decided in favor of GOP state legislators who argued the Tarheel State’s Democratic Attorney General was not “adequately” defending North Carolina Senate Bill 824, which requires a photo ID to vote.

Six people died on Wednesday when a tourist helicopter used in Hollywood movies crashed in West Virginia during a vintage helicopter show where guests without pilot licenses were allowed to fly the aircraft. The Vietnam-era helicopter, which had previously appeared in movies including Baywatch, Die Hard and Outbreak, was being flown during the 7th Annual Huey Reunion, an event for historical aviation enthusiasts. Guests at the event, hosted at the Marpat Aviation school in Logan county, could pay to fly the helicopter for $250 for a 30-minute session even without having a license, according to the event page. The helicopter,...

A nanny goat has injured several Russian servicemen by triggering their tripwires with pinned grenades in the village of Kinski Rozdory in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.Ukraine’s Chief Intelligence Directorate has shared a curious incident that happened at a local hospital.A total of 40 invaders have been stationed at the medical institution in Kinski Rozdory.The Russian military installed a "circular defence" and placed tripwires around the perimeter of the hospital.The aggressors regretted this decision after a goat from a neighbouring farm decided to pay a visit to the hospital.As the frightened animal moved chaotically around the area, she accidentally "disposed of" several grenades....

Even though former President Donald Trump has yet to officially announce his 2024 presidential candidacy, he still dominates the GOP as a kingmaker and the most recognizable name in Republican politics. With Trump in the race for the GOP nomination, he receives a majority (54%) of votes from Republican primary voters, which is four to one more than the next most popular candidate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (12%), with former Vice President Mike Pence nipping at DeSantis' heels with 10%.No other candidate received support within the margin in the error, including Senators Ted Cruz-TX (4%) and Marco Rubio-FL (3%), former...

Veteran GOP pollster Frank Luntz said on Thursday that a recent New Hampshire poll showing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) narrowly edging out former President Trump indicates Republicans are saying “it’s time to move on” from Trump. During an interview on CNN’s “New Day,” Luntz and the network’s chief White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins, spoke about the University of New Hampshire’s latest Granite State Poll, which found that 39 percent of likely GOP primary voters in the state would back DeSantis as their first choice in a list of Republicans who are considered possible presidential candidates. Trump, meanwhile, received 37...

A judge has dealt a blow to a couple fighting to keep a little white cross on display at their home in The Villages. Judge Michelle Morley has ruled in favor of Community Development District 8 in its protracted legal battle with Wayne and Bonnie Anderson of the Village of Tamarind Grove. She dismissed their most-recent counter complaint. The Andersons had claimed that their display of the little white cross should be protected under the Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act. However, CDD 8 has long held that the cross is considered a “lawn ornament” and therefore forbidden under deed compliance...