Free Republic

Dutch farmers make for an unlikely cause célèbre. For starters, most are conservative, not liberal. And they are fighting against stricter environmental regulations, not for them. Yet they are winning over liberal-minded people like me who sympathize with the family farmers who provide us with our daily bread and yet receive so little respect from society’s ruling elites. And they’re inspiring protests by other farmers across Europe, including in Germany, Poland and Italy. ... But the government’s poor treatment of its farmers has shocked me. The prime minister recently called the protesting farmers “a – – holes,” and sniffed: “It...

Summary/Overview After the UK’s Boris Johnson and France’s Emmanuel Macron, who lost parliamentary elections, Italy’s Mario Draghi appears to be the third victim of unintended consequences of the Ukraine war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is fast losing allies – to the obvious delight of Russia’s Vladimir Putin. In Germany, Olaf Scholz’s government is teetering as his center-left coalition has lost its 50%-plus majority in recent polls. Gazprom says the Nordstream 1 pipeline is being repaired but it is unable to forecast when it will resume operations. July 22 is the key date. If it’s missed, Germany must draw down on...

At the suggestion of gentlemen high in authority, certain of the most influential citizens of New-York resolved that a popular expression of confidence in the President and the Government would be at this hour of the nation's trial peculiarly wise, patriotic and useful. As a result of that deliberation the following call was issued: "The citizens of New-York, of all parties, who are for supporting the Government in the prosecution of the war and the suppression of the rebellion, are requested to meet in Union-square, on Tuesday afternoon, at 4 o'clock, to express, without reference to any party question whatever,...

Russia is claiming two significant victories in its ongoing sanctions war with the West, after Canada agreed to waive restrictions on a key gas pipeline component and the European Union clarified its position on the standoff over the Kaliningrad exclave."The truth is that some European politicians might be more interested in Russian gas rather than in Ukraine's victory," Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of Ukraine's parliament and the chair of the body's foreign affairs committee, told Newsweek.Merezhko—a member of Zelensky's Servant of the People party—shared a similar view from Kyiv. "To us it's a dangerous political precedent," he explained. "I'm also...

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Housing in the US is simply unaffordable for the middle class and low-wage workers. Combine rising food costs and gasoline/heating costs, and we have an economic disaster on our hands. US existing home sales for June will be released on Wednesday. But can The Fed kill-off home price inflation? A preliminary analysis of existing home sales for June is for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1 million, down 5.4% from May and down 14.2% from last June. As The Fed cranks up its target rate (green line) and eventually shrinking its balance sheet, we will see further shrinking of...

Thursday, a federal judge in Cincinnati issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the U.S. Air Force from enforcing the military vaccine mandate. According to court documents, obtained by 13 Investigates, the temporary restraining order applies to AFA cadets and Air Force service men and women for the next 14 days. The pause comes from a Federal Judge in Cincinnati after he determined the Air Force had been systematically refusing to grant religious exemptions to almost everybody who applied. The injunction reads: “The facts show Defendants have engaged in a pattern of denying religious accommodation requests.” According to the court documents,...

Swimmer Lia Thomas, who became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship earlier this year, has been nominated for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu today gave the order to dramatically increase so-called shock and awe attacks on Ukraine. He claimed Kremlin forces must 'exclude the possibility of the Kyiv regime inflicting massive rocket and artillery strikes on civilian infrastructure and residents of the Donbas and other regions,' according to reports in Moscow. It followed an on-the-ground inspection by Putin's trusty defence minister - and a National Security Council meeting led by Vladimir Putin. Shoigu 'gave instructions to further increase the actions of [military] groups in all operational areas', local reports stated.

Mail-In ballots won't begin to be counted until Thursday morning Baltimore City mail-in ballots.jpeg Photo by: Abby Isaacs By: Amanda EngelPosted at 3:50 PM, Jul 15, 2022 and last updated 3:50 PM, Jul 15, 2022 Primary election results could be delayed as late as early August in some races, according to the State Board of Elections. That's because more than 500,000 voters in Maryland have requested a mail-in ballot for Tuesday's primary election. A much higher number than 42,324 that were sent out in the 2018 gubernatorial primary. And despite the fact that more than 165,000 ballots have already been...

Chapters:0:00 Introduction1:27 Graffiti and public addresses2:18 Gossip, rumor, chit-chat3:05 Morning Brew4:06 Rome’s daily newspaper6:07 Town criers6:41 Spreading the newsGetting the News in Ancient Rome | July 15, 2022 | toldinstone

This is pretty funny.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is promising “strong executive action” to combat climate change, despite dual setbacks in recent weeks that have restricted his ability to regulate carbon emissions and boost clean energy such as wind and solar power. The Supreme Court last month limited how the nation’s main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Then late Thursday, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he wants to delay sweeping environmental legislation that Democrats have pushed as central to achieving Biden’s ambitious climate goals. Some advocates urged Biden to use the moment to...

On August 16th there will be: In Alaska Special Election/Ranked Choice: to fill the remainder of Don Young's seat in Congress - Trump has endorsed Sarah Palin Jungle Primary/Ranked Choice: for the US Senate seat - Trump has endorsed Kelly Tshibaka to replace the odious oligarch Lisa Murkowski (has seat because of her daddy) In Wyoming Primary: for the at-large US House seat - Trump has endorsed Harriet Hageman to replace the odious oligarch Liz Cheney (has seat because of her daddy)

Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 12:14–21 Friends, in today’s Gospel, we hear a passage from Isaiah echoing the Baptism of Jesus: "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight." In the Greek philosophical tradition, God is the supreme good around which everything in the universe revolves. But that Aristotle’s prime mover would stoop down to the level of a creature and move toward him—that would be unthinkable. And in the Jewish context, God’s absolute holiness was consistently contrasted with human sinfulness. But that God would himself take on the wretchedness of his creatures and...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) -The United States will look for every opportunity to move ahead and enact a global minimum corporate tax agreement despite the opposition of a key Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, to raising corporate taxes, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. Yellen told reporters on Saturday that finance officials from the Group of 20 major economies reached strong consensus about many issues, including the need to address a worsening food security crisis, despite differences over Russia's war in Ukraine that prevented the leaders from issuing a joint statement. Manchin, who holds the pivotal vote in the evenly divided...

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Friday that she has reversed her initial plan to call a special legislative session this year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. When the Supreme Court’s decision first leaked in May, Noem tweeted that she would “immediately call for a special session to save lives” if Roe was overturned. South Dakota already had a trigger law that immediately banned abortions after the ruling came out in June. Noem, who has since shown caution in the evolving landscape of abortion politics, is among prominent Republican governors across the country who are navigating...

“Jesus said to him, ‘See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them’” (Matthew 8:4). Following times of greatest blessing and triumph, our Lord often tests us to see if our faith is obedient. In the case of the cleansed leper, Jesus commanded him to fulfill the ritual requirements of the law and let the priests attest to his healing (cf. Lev. 14). This responsibility had to precede any celebrations of his newfound health or telling others about his cure. Perhaps Jesus told the...

Scripture says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony” (Hebrews 11:1-2, NKJV).The Greek word for “obtained” here means “to bear witness, to become a testimony.” Our ancestors in the Lord had a settled, unwavering and anchored faith. It became a testimony to God’s faithfulness in troubled times. They had a witness within that God was pleased with them. They had trusted him through floods, mockery, bonds, imprisonment, torture, warfare, lions’ dens or fire. After it all, they knew the joy of the Lord...