Free Republic

YOU'RE THE ONE Les tells the story proudly now, with an ending that few would have ever predicted when he was in high school. He remembers the turning point as though it were yesterday. Just a chance encounter and an offhand comment... but it changed his life forever. He had slipped quietly into the back of a classroom to wait for a friend that day. The last thing he wanted was to be noticed, but the teacher asked him to go to the board and work out a problem. Les pointed out that he wasn't a student in that...

Bill Maher blasted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her progressive ilk for losing the debate on abortion thanks to the use of woke slang including 'pregnant people.' Speaking on his show Real Time with Bill Maher Friday - hours after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade - Maher told viewers that abortion is a 'difficult issue for the Democrats to lose on, but they're trying. He also warned that the party could no longer blithely count on traditional support from minority groups, warning that Latin-Americans' voting-preference was just as 'fluid' as AOC claims gender is. 'For decades, liberals have said,...

Ukrainian officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is suffering from "grave" illnesses and expect he will die within two years, according to Ukraine's intelligence chief, Major General Kyrylo O. Budanov. Budanov's claim that Putin "doesn't have a long life ahead of him" came during an interview published by USA Today on Saturday. The publication noted that Budanov did not provide evidence for his claims. While the Kremlin has insisted that Putin is in good health, questions have remained about his condition. Earlier this month, Newsweek reported that a classified U.S. report states the Russian president appears to have had treatment...

One person died after an estimated 11-foot alligator pulled them into a retention pond Friday at the Myrtle Beach Golf and Yacht Club near Burgess, officials said. Horry County Police spokeswoman Mikayla Moskov confirmed that HCPD's Environmental Services and Criminal Investigations divisions are investigating the death. Moskov said Horry County Fire Rescue responded around 11:45 a.m. to the area of Excalaber Court, and "upon arrival, units determined that an alligator had taken hold of a neighbor and retreated into a nearby retention pond." The victim was recovered from the pond, Moskov said. She added that a South Carolina Department of...

The Readings for this upcoming Sunday continue the strong call to discipleship issued in last Sunday's Readings. Jesus stresses that following him must be an immediate and complete commitment of one's entire person. As someone once said, "Jesus did not come to suffer, die and rise from the dead in order to create 'cultural Catholics.'"1. Our First Reading is from 1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21: The LORD said to Elijah: “You shall anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah, as prophet to succeed you.” Elijah set out and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat, as he was plowing with twelve yoke...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday told his counterpart from Belarus that Moscow would supply Minsk with missile systems capable of carrying nuclear weapons, the Russian foreign ministry said. At a meeting with Putin in St Petersburg, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko expressed concern about the "aggressive", "confrontational" and "repulsive" policies of its neighbours Lithuania and Poland.

Before the Supreme Court released its ruling Friday upending abortion rights in the U.S., Elisa Wells was thinking of virtual mailboxes. For people who move or travel a lot, a virtual mailbox is a way to check their mail online. If an item is critical, they forward it to their current location. For Wells, founder of the online abortion site Plan C, which tells women how to find the abortion pill, it’s a potential workaround to state laws restricting access. Using dried garbanzo beans and old pill bottles, Wells tested whether a virtual mailbox set up in a state like...

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has not ruled out sitting with MKs Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud), Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism), and Itamar Ben Gvir (Otzma Yehudit), but opposes the formation for a "fully" right-wing government. In an interview with Channel 13 News, Bennett said, "A fully right-wing government, in the current sense, is, in my eyes, a disaster, because it does not have the balances." He added, "Netanyahu, Bezalel, and Ben Gvir...in a different constellation, can be fine, but a government trapped in the hands of the extreme is horrible and awful, even if it is the other side." .....

Free speech is largely dead in Australian. But not on Saturdays at the Melbourne freedom rallies. Vaccine mandate retrenched Nurse Mel raises her voice loud there every week.

Looking for clear answers

Billie Eilish admitted it's was a 'dark day for women' following the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe V Wade, as she took to the stage at the Glastonbury Festival on Friday. The singer, 20, who first made her debut at the festival on The Other Stage at Worthy Farm in 2019, told the crowd she 'couldn't bear to think about' the ruling which ended the constitutional right to abortion in the US, meaning individual states could decide whether abortion can be made illegal. Billie, who made history as the youngest ever star to headline Glastonbury on its iconic...

Ukrainian forces are now withdrawing from Sievierodonetsk and may be ordered to also withdraw from Lysychansk, the last remaining holdout for Ukraine in the Luhansk region of Donbass. On June 24, the head of the Luhansk regional military administration which is under Kiev’s control claimed that Ukrainian forces will have to withdraw from Severodonetsk. The Ukrainian military has been ordered to withdraw from the city, reported SouthFront.The territory of the Azot plant remains under the control of Ukrainian armed formations. Severodonetsk itself and the airport in its vicinity are under control of the allied forces of the Russian Federation and...

Satellite imagery revealed that the United States is constructing a new military facility in the Pacific, possibly preparing an alternative landing site for its airforce should the military bases on Guam become inoperable. Land-clearing activity has been spotted at Tinian International Airport in the Northern Mariana Islands, based on satellite images obtained by The War Zone on June 15. An annotated satellite image showing the full scope of planned construction as part of the Tinian Divert Airfield project. USAF Past satellite imagery from the Planet Lab suggests that construction work at the site started in May. This appears to correspond...

Mitt Romney isn't up for reelection this year. But Trump-aligned Republicans hostile toward the Utah senator have made his name a recurring theme in this year's primaries, using him as a foil and derisively branding their rivals “Mitt Romney Republicans." Republicans have used the concept to frame their primary opponents as enemies of the Trump-era GOP in southeast Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The anti-tax group Club For Growth, among the most active super PACs in this year's primaries, used “Mitt Romney Republican” as the central premise of an attack ad in North Carolina's Senate primary. But nowhere are references to...

Democratic countries are proposing a new Pacific-wide pact to strengthen cooperation and development efforts in the region to combat Beijing’s influence building and hybrid warfare operations. The “Partners in the Blue Pacific” would involve the United States, Australia, France, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom to provide “closer, more purposeful, and more ambitious cooperation.” “Too often, our efforts have been uncoordinated, creating duplication in some cases and gaps on the others,” according to a concept note about the pact. The partnership was earmarked by U.S. Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell at a Center for Strategic and International Studies meeting on...

The umbrellas were produced by California-based SunVilla Corp., the news release says. They feature LED lights on the inside arms and a solar panel with a black cover at the top of the umbrella. "The lithium-ion batteries in the umbrella's solar panels can overheat, posing fire and burn hazards," the CPSC said. The umbrellas were sold at Costco warehouses and online for between $130 and $160 from December 2020 through May 2022, the CPSC said.

According to Ed Rollins, the campaign strategist behind the 1984 Reagan reelection who’s now working with a DeSantis PAC, it’s increasingly looking like a Trump 2024 presidential run is sure to happen.Speaking on that, Rollins was quoted by the Epoch Times as saying, as of June 14th:“The information that I’ve gotten the last several weeks is Trump is definitely running”That could be wrong, however, as it is not congruent with what he said in a pro-DeSantis fundraising email on June 10th. In that email, he said:“Donald Trump is not running, that’s why we have to prepare for Ron DeSantis running...

Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary Luke 2:41-51 Friends, today’s Gospel tells the familiar story of Mary and Joseph finding twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple. When they find him, they upbraid him with understandable exasperation: “Son, why have you done this to us?” But Jesus responds, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” The story conveys a truth that runs sharply counter to our sensibilities: even the most powerful familial emotions must, in the end, give way to mission. Though she felt an enormous pull in the opposite direction, Mary let...

Pop star Liz Phair is mourning the demise of Roe v. Wade, saying the court case that legalized abortion in 1973 has allowed women to engage in sex without the “fear” of carrying and raising a child. Liz Phair eulogized Roe w. Wade in a tweet late Friday. “Roe v. Wade did more than protect women’s health and life choices. It allowed women to find their sexuality without fear, to be playful and spontaneous,” the Exit in Guyville singer wrote. “Nobody takes an abortion lightly, least of all the people who endure them. But the psychological safety is profound.” On...

For Ritchie Herron, a bright and articulate civil servant from Newcastle, life over the past four years has become almost unbearable. It takes him ten minutes to empty his bladder, a process as painful as it is slow. Any sex drive is long gone. In fact, he says, his crotch is numb, ‘shell-shocked’ from the damage done to him under the apparent care of the NHS. ‘Numb’ rather sums up Ritchie’s whole demeanour as he struggles to process what has happened to him. Today he reveals – in an exclusive interview – that he is the man preparing legal action...