Free Republic

Russian troops are reinforcing their position in Crimea in anticipation of attacks from Ukraine, a Russia-installed regional official admitted. “Fortification works aimed at guaranteeing Crimeans’ security are being conducted under my supervision,” Russia’s regional governor of the annexed peninsula, Sergei Aksyonov, said Friday. The prospect of a showdown over Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 in the clandestine operation that began the war, has loomed into view due to a series of Ukrainian successes in a counteroffensive conducted this fall. Russia’s retreat from the west bank of the Dnieper River not only freed the key city of Kherson...

Twitter CEO Elon Musk posted a poll on the platform on Friday to ask users if they believe former President Trump’s account should be restored. Twitter permanently suspended Trump’s account in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection following tweets he made that the company determined to be in violation of its policy against glorifying or inciting violence. But Musk, who completed his acquisition of the company last month, has indicated a hesitancy to continue Trump’s suspension and a general opposition to lifetime bans. Musk commented on the poll, “Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” a Latin phrase meaning “the voice...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) went down to the House floor on Thursday to announce her farewell to the Democratic leadership and the American people. […] “My colleagues, I stand before you as Speaker of the House. As a wife. A mother. A grandmother. A devout Catholic. A proud Democrat,” said Pelosi. “And a patriotic American: a citizen of the greatest Republic in the history of the world.” …

Now that the FTX ponzi scheme has collapsed costing investors billions of dollars in losses, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif), who was photographed posing with FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, was asked if she would give back her share of the ill-gotten gains. She declined, saying that "I didn't know the money I got was stolen. None us us did. I am innocent. Republicans took some of the money too. They are just as guilty as me." Bankman-Fried blames his girlfriend for the fraud and alleges that his donations to politicians were a manifestation of his "devotion to democracy." In addition to...

...In Nov. 18 letters to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain and other top administration officials, 19 Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee said they need testimony on issues including border security, school board threats and claims of bias within the FBI and Justice Department... ...The Judiciary and Oversight probes are expected to be among a raft of Republican investigations into Biden and his administration next year. The list of investigatory topics also includes China, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic ...

“Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger” (Proverbs 19:15).

GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia says that the newly announced special counsel investigations of former President Donald Trump will be "defunded" after Republicans seize control of the House.... ...The Holman Rule, which was introduced to the House in 1876, allows members of Congress to propose amendments to appropriations bills... ...Republican lawmakers attempted to use the rule multiple times in 2017 and 2018, with none of their amendments ultimately passing.,,,

Please join with fellow FREEPERS in prayer for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, and the Media.This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14) Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS!

At Forrester Creations, Ridge goes over a business matter with Justin and Carter, who muses to his boss and friend, “We all know how you like to take things slow.” Justin grins. He heard about the big news that Ridge and Taylor are getting hitched. Carter says she makes him happy but deep down they both know he still loves Brooke.

France has re-ignited simmering diplomatic tensions with Australia after Emmanuel Macron warned that the country entered a “nuclear confrontation” with China by choosing to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.... ...He told reporters in Bangkok that Australia’s original deal with France was “not confrontational to China because they are not nuclear-powered submarines”. “But the choice made by prime minister Morrison was the opposite, re-entering into nuclear confrontation..."

CNN's morning anchors could hardly hide their disgust Friday after viewing the viral clip of "Jeopardy!" contestants apparently not knowing who Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was. All three contestants failed to answer a clue last week that read, "She’s the first Black woman on the Supreme Court and the first justice to have been a federal public defender." After playing the clip, co-host Don Lemon took off his glasses dramatically and sighed. While Kaitlan Collins said she didn't think it was "that surprising" that the contestants didn't know the answer, Lemon was shocked. "These are smart people, though!"...

With the holiday season just around the corner, the U.S. Postal Service is looking to hire about 28,000 seasonal workers and is installing 137 new package sorting machines in an effort to avoid shipping delays. But postal worker representatives say Americans could see after-dark or even nighttime deliveries....

It has almost become trendy for women to talk about their battle with mental illness online. You immediately score sympathy points from people if you express how much you've been struggling with depression or anxiety. Because the rates of mental illness have been growing, along with the influence from Big Pharma, there are nearly 80 million Americans who are currently on psychiatric drugs. Various celebrities are praised for speaking up about their mental health struggles, from Selena Gomez to Lena Dunham to Zayn Malik. Many of these celebrities have also been open about their use of psychiatric drugs in order...

Now that Republicans have officially captured majority control of the U.S. House of Representatives and will soon assume control of powerful House committees with subpoena power, there’s much work to be done.Given the party deadlock that will likely prevent any significant legislative accomplishments, Republicans are expected to launch a series of investigations that could eventually lead to impeachment proceedings, but not necessarily against President Joe Biden, USA Today reported.Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas would likely be at the top of the list for potential impeachment targets since Republicans will probably focus heavily on the crisis at the southern...

Elon Musk @elonmusk Reinstate former President Trump

Two Nigerian athletes are facing up to a decade behind bars after taking part in a fraud scheme uncovered by the FBI. Last week, Emmanuel Ineh and Toluwani Adebakin were convicted of transferring tens of thousands of dollars to the West African country as part of what was deemed "a complex fraud scheme" by the American justice department. The 23 and 25-year-olds were team-mates at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi when they were found to be part of the conspiracy. According to the prosecutors, athletes from multiple institutions....

Glowing profile from CNN, but they at least mention the Lois Lerner involvement. NPR piece is absolute fluff… Bill Barr thinks Trump will be indicted…

In late September videographer Matt Orfalea made a pair of videos for TK. One, Memory Holed: “The Election Was Hacked,” seen above, was a simple montage of Democratic politicians, media officials, and enforcement officials saying the 2016 election was, among other things, “illegitimate,” “rigged,” “hacked,” and a “cyber 9/11.” The second, Memory Holed, Part II: The “Rigged” Election, was a similar exercise, with one exception: it compared the post-2020 statements of Donald Trump to the post-2016 statements of Democratic partisans. When Trump tells Chris Wallace, “I have to see,” when asked if he’d concede an election, Orfalea shows Hillary Clinton...

A series of revealing texts and tweets by Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced CEO of FTX, the once high-flying but now belly-up crypto exchange, had the following to say about his image as a do-gooder: it is a “dumb game we woke westerners play where we say all the right shibboleths and so everyone likes us.” Very interesting. He had the whole game going: a vegan worried about climate change, supports every manner of justice (racial, social, environmental) except that which is coming for him, and shells out millions to worthy charities associated with the left. He also bought plenty of...

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is facing a class action lawsuit for allegedly working with Google to install “spyware” onto the Android devices of a million state residents without their knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic.Plaintiffs Robert Wright and Johnny Kula were among 1 million Massachusetts residents who had the state’s “COVID Exposure Settings: US-MA” app auto-installed without their consent, according to the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), the nonpartisan civil rights group that filed the lawsuit (pdf) on Tuesday.The app, once automatically installed, didn’t appear on the device’s home screen as newly-installed apps typically do. Instead, it was...