Free Republic

The Thirty Years War was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. Very few people died on the battlefield, but millions died by starvation and disease, most of them when a new wave of bubonic plague was carried across borders by soldiers; some parts of Germany lost up to half of their population.But there aren't a lot of movies about the conflict: the only one I can think of is The Last Valley, a 1971 film directed by novelist James Clavell, starring Michael Caine as the ruthless leader of a group of mercenaries looking for shelter from the...

“The blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘It shall be done to you according to your faith.’ And their eyes were opened” (Matthew 9:28–30a). Sometimes at conversion, the Lord wants sinners to give a more public profession of their trust in Him, in keeping with Paul’s teaching, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom....

More than four dozen state lawmakers have penned a letter to Mastercard and American Express, urging the New York-based credit card companies to support a measure that could make it easier to spot suspicious purchases at gun stores. Credit card companies track spending based on the type of retailer where a card is used — though they do not track the individual items that are purchased. Each purchase is tagged with what’s called a merchant category code, with the master list set by an international standards body. Some categories are fairly broad, such as those for grocery stores and airlines,...

Russian troops utilizing a commercial drone for reconnaissance while filming a quick propaganda film find themselves embarrassed after Ukrainian forces hijack their drone. We've known about the electronic warfare happening in Ukraine since pretty much day one of the conflict. It's been no secret that both sides are engaging in this style of warfare, both from a propaganda perspective and from a cyberwarfare perspective. That said, this may be the first time we're seeing footage of that cyberwarfare happening in real-time, and in a manner that directly impacts troop movements on the battlespace. It's likely that after this drone was...

The Supreme Court decision in Bruen sets an appropriate standard for evaluating laws that violate a fundamental, enumerated right protected by the Constitution in the Second Amendment. When there is a challenge to a federal or state rule, law, or regulation claiming such rule, law, or regulation violates the Second Amendment, the court is to evaluate the law based on the historical tradition of firearms regulation. It is up to the State to prove the longstanding history and cultural acceptance of such laws, rules, and regulations. If the State cannot prove such history and acceptance, the laws, rules, or regulations...

The Pentagon’s rosters are tens of thousands of troops short, as the department battles the worst recruiting crisis since the draft ended in 1973. Criminal records, drug use, and poor health bar three out of four Americans from serving without a waiver, while a booming civilian jobs market entices many of the rest. In response, the Pentagon ought to tap the largest pool of available talent: foreigners.No self-respecting country should rely entirely on foreign troops. But enlisting some quickly fills the ranks with quality personnel. The British Army has long turned to Gurkhas, Fijians, and others from the Commonwealth, in...

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Tuesday, Aug. 26. From passengers arriving here to-day it is ascertained that on Saturday the enemy commenced operations early and went to work with a will using their artillery at Rappahannock Station. It soon became evident that the Station would have to be abandoned, and at about 9 o'clock the bridge across the Rappahannock was burned and the abutments blown up. Orders were also received to remove our stores and ammunition and burn the houses at Rappahannock Station, which was accomplished. We sustained no casualties. Everything was quiet at Warrenton and Warrenton Junction both on Sunday and yesterday....

LOS ANGELES, California — The Los Angeles Times reports that billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso is now losing the race for mayor to Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) because of the Supreme Court’s June decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Times reports that while political momentum favored Caruso’s challenge in the spring, he lost in the June primary because of Bass’s support from the party machine, and political changes — including abortion — have boosted her prospects since then:

Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. John 6:29 (King James Version) Now that the CDC has admitted their Cold-19 campaign was a complete failure, when is the FBI going to admit the same. Their Russia Hoax along with the Hunter Laptop and now Mara Lago fiasco, when do they finally conclude the obvious that they are the enemy of freedom loving Americans. This agency has been manipulating elections for the Communist Party for years if not decades to make sure all control of America stays...

“I became a Democrat because I am sincere.” So insisted Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist while campaigning earlier this year. Crist is so sincere, in fact, that he is the only person in American history to have run for state-level elective office as a Republican, Democrat, and an independent. He has lost at least once in all three guises. Crist has been pro-life and pro-abortion. He has opposed and supported LGBTQ rights. He has opposed tax increases and raised taxes. He has been for and against gun control. He has wanted to repeal and to maintain Obamacare. As Buzzfeed accurately...

Housing is an industry, but it is also where people live, raise families, and stake their future. Yet increasingly, all around the world, housing has increasingly become just a commodity to be traded, often by foreigner investors, notably from China, as well as by large well-capitalized financial institutions who plan to cultivate a generation of lifelong renters. In the notorious words of the World Economic Forum, “You will own nothing, and love it.” Well, you may not love it, but the first part is coming true. This shift has been taking place for decades, as the superrich and large investment...

A curvy elementary school teacher has been blasted for Instagramming her very tight work outfits. The unnamed Pennsauken Township, New Jersey art teacher, shares multiple snaps of herself in skirts, dresses, jeans and tops that display her impressive derriere and boobs on her account @toyboxdollz, which has 900,000 followers. In one video, the back of some children's heads are visible, but she otherwise appears to be posing in her empty classroom. The teacher has many supporters, including rapper Fat Joe, but others have questioned whether her behavior is unacceptable. Many of those critics say that her sexy snaps with students...

An Australian bank has decided the future is electric and will stop approving personal loans for new petrol and diesel-powered cars from 2025 onwards. Electric vehicles (EVs) comprised a tiny two per cent of vehicles sold in Australia last year. That is a drop in the ocean compared to 17 per cent in Europe and 13.3 per cent in China, and with high starting prices coming in at $47,000 and a lack of charging stations Down Under, potential buyers still look for any alternatives to those on offer from major EV manufacturers.

Just like some movies lets viewers choose among multiple endings, I feel like offering a choice of headlines today. Because Elie Mystal, the resident rhetorical bomb thrower on Tiffany Cross's MSNBC show, offered up a trifecta of terribleness—if that's a word. So here are your options: Headline #1: "Why Ain't This Dude In Jail?"With Cross away, Mystal picked up her frequent call for Donald Trump to be salted away in the slammer. What Mystal lacked in terms of Cross's lurid fantasy about Trump being busted COPS-style, he made up for with his repeated expressions of frustration at Trump not being...

This month, as the dollar surged to levels last seen nearly 20 years ago, analysts invoked the old Tina (there is no alternative) argument to predict more gains ahead for the mighty greenback. What happened two decades ago suggests the dollar is closer to peaking than rallying further. Even as US stocks fell in the dotcom bust, the dollar continued rising, before entering a decline that started in 2002 and lasted six years. A similar turning point may be near. And this time, the US currency’s decline could last even longer. Adjusted for inflation or not, the value of the...

Fears continued to mount over the possibility of a nuclear accident at the embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Sunday. Meanwhile, the United States has confirmed the death of a third U.S. citizen in Ukraine. Here’s the latest on the war and its impact across the globe. 1. Key developments Local authorities in Zaporizhzhia are distributing potassium iodide tablets in the event of a radioactive leak, and residents are lining up. The tablets help counteract the effects of radioactive exposure by blocking the body’s absorption of the radioactive form of iodine. Over the weekend, Russia and Ukraine accused each other...

The court ruling clearing the way for Americans to get a glimpse into the reasoning behind the FBI raid on Donald Trump's estate may shed some light on the state of the criminal investigation but likely won't answer many of the substantial legal and political questions bedeviling America. 1. Did the 45th president declassify the documents found in his home? 2. Did President Joe Biden have the constitutional authority to waive executive privilege over Trump documents sent to Congress or the Justice Department? 3. Were some of the records seized by the FBI previously deemed personal records by Trump? 4....

Leftists have to constantly try to invert reality and place a collectivist, authoritarian, and leftist ideology on the side of the pro-freedom right. With "President" Biden dropping yet another version of the political "F-bomb," it's time to break everything down to basic terminology and clarify the issue for everyone. Was anyone surprised that the august head of the party of projection said the MAGA movement is "like semi-fascism"? It was even more amusing when his media flack on CNN's Don Lemon Tonight was unable to explain just what he meant by that pejorative. That is par for the course when...

I have noticed that our culture is filled with newly uneducated people, if education is viewed as the accumulated learning of history, math, literature, thought, and functional independent living. Only yesterday, people who went to college learned how to support themselves, how to treat and counsel others, how to build things, write things, how to interpret what they read, how to talk to other people for comity's sake, and how to build secure families. But the Eutopians* are pounding their spears on our borders. Students once learned the classics in order to glean valuable life lessons from them. They learned...

California has passed a new regulation that will ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles; the new emissions rule, which was permitted by the Biden administration, will have wide-ranging effects beyond California and could accelerate the nationwide transition to electric cars. California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) finalized a rule Thursday that will outlaw the sale of gas-fueled cars by 2035. The law may push an increasing number of states to adopt similar rules and force Americans to exclusively buy electric vehicles (EVs) as numerous Democrat-run states such as New York, Massachusetts and Maryland routinely adopt California’s “clean car” standards, according to...