Free Republic

For the Left, domination is their aim, eradication of dissent is their dream, and weaponization of state and corporate power is their means to attain them. A creature spawned by the pharmaceutical-industrial complex in conjunction with Democratic politicians and bureaucrats, the Left’s COVID social-credit system refuses to wither away in the face of real science. The Left has spent too much time and energy fearmongering and browbeating the public into submitting to coercive COVID vaccine mandates. As a recent spate of events demonstrates, the Left’s COVID social credit system proceeds apace, though the pandemic abates. Simply, the Left recognizes the...

Demontrion Deshan Phillips was on court-ordered supervised release for two 2017 bank robberies when he robbed two other banks ... An Illinois man was found guilty last week of robbing two banks last year, heists that were committed while he was on supervised release for committing two other bank robberies... Demontrion Deshan Phillips, 28, stole $5,930 during an April 27, 2021, from the Midland States Bank in Rockford, and another $4,408 in a robbery of Midland States Bank in Belvidere weeks later... He was convicted of four counts of bank robbery after a four-day trial. .... In the Belvidere robbery,...

At the moment, there is a very active discussion regarding the increasingly viral video “Died Suddenly”. Other commentators (for example “The Daily Skeptic” and Josh Guetzkow) have appropriately noted that the (generally well funded and produced) video includes segments which are misleading at best, falsely imply one or more cause-effect relationship between a sudden death event and vaccine administration, or otherwise employ cinematic license to stoke outrage. I have previously written regarding the business model of Stoking Rage for the up and coming podcaster, and in my opinion this strategy is fundamentally the same as the “fearporn” business model of...

Nato is feeling pretty pleased with itself right now. Of course when you chat to officials in the soulless, concrete monolith that is Nato HQ here in Brussels, no-one expresses pleasure at the current situation in Europe after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But they are quick to tell you how surprised, amazed or encouraged they are, and that the alliance is so "very" united. And that both transatlantic and EU-Nato co-operation on sanctions against Russia, for example, have been so smooth. This is far from always the case. "If you'd asked me back in February, or even six months ago,...

Russia is likely removing nuclear warheads from aging nuclear cruise missiles and firing unarmed munitions at Ukraine, Britain's military intelligence said on Saturday. The defense ministry said open source imagery shows wreckage of an air-launched cruise missile fired at Ukraine which seem to have been designed in the 1980s as a nuclear delivery system, adding that ballast was probably being substituted for the warheads. Such a system will still produce damage through the missile's kinetic energy and unspent fuel. However, it is unlikely to achieve reliable effects against intended targets, the ministry added in its daily intelligence update posted on...

Ukrainian security official Oleksiy Danilov has confirmed reports that Iranian advisors were killed as the result of a Ukrainian military strike in Crimea last month, according to a report from The Guardian on Thursday. Danilov did not name a specific number of casualties and said that "they were on our territory. We didn’t invite them here, and if they collaborate with terrorists and participate in the destruction of our nation we must kill them," in an interview with The Guardian.

Hakeem Jeffries seems poised to replace Nancy Pelosi as leader of the House Democrats. A Black political moderate, the Brooklyn congressman is often likened to Barack Obama. Even-tempered, he is known to “play” with most of the children in Washington. And at 52, he represents generational change from the 82-year-old Pelosi. Who among Democrats would have a problem with him? Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would have a problem. She also has problems with President Joe Biden and, frankly, the mainstream Democratic Party off which she feeds. A preening socialist princess, she has done much to entertain Fox News and cost the...

27 November 2022 1st Sunday of Advent Parish Church of Saint Virgil, Rattenberg, Austria Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet. Year: A(I).First readingIsaiah 2:1-5 ©The Lord gathers all nations together into the eternal peace of God's kingdomThe vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem.In the days to comethe mountain of the Temple of the Lordshall tower above the mountainsand be lifted higher than the hills.All the nations will stream to it,peoples without number will come to it; and they will say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God...

There was no U.S. statesman who advocated for Ukraine more than John McCain. He was right about Putin’s nefarious intentions. Today we are driven by Sen. McCain’s legacy in Ukraine and we stand behind the Ukrainians who are fighting for freedom and democracy. From the 2022 Sedona Forum, watch Stand Up & Fight: The Story of John McCain and Ukraine. Video: https://www.mccaininstitute.org/resources/in-the-news/stand-up-fight-the-story-of-john-mccain-and-ukraine/

The tight labor market is prompting more employers to eliminate one of the biggest requirements for many higher-paying jobs: the need for a college degree. Companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Delta Air Lines Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. have reduced educational requirements for certain positions and shifted hiring to focus more on skills and experience. Maryland this year cut college-degree requirements for many state jobs—leading to a surge in hiring—and incoming Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro campaigned on a similar initiative. U.S. job postings requiring at least a bachelor’s degree were 41% in November, down from 46% at the...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed Friday it is now tracking a new COVID-19 variant of concern around the U.S. known as XBB, which has grown to make up an estimated 3.1% of new infections nationwide. The strain's prevalence has grown furthest so far in the Northeast, according to the agency's weekly estimates. More than 5% of infections in the regions spanning New Jersey through Maine are linked to XBB, in this week's "Nowcast" from the CDC.

“People would mention this guy ‘Khan Tusion’—they would call him the ‘boogeyman of porn,’ ‘the Freddie Krueger of porn’,” said Lucas Heyne, whose prior film Mope premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019. “He was known for being one of the most verbally abusive and physically abusive porn directors that’s ever existed.”

The House Republican leadership has rejected 6 out of the 8 House Freedom Caucus rules changes that have been considered so far, Just the News has learned. The amendments that failed included a requirement that spending bills must pass before the fiscal year officially begins on Oct. 1. If not, other legislation would not be able to be considered on the floor. An amendment that would ensure all members of the Republican Conference are able to participate in conference meetings was rejected, and a rule change to allow one member, with the support of 25 others, to request having one...

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) slammed former President Trump’s “awful lack of judgement” for his meeting with Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist who has previously espoused antisemitic and racist rhetoric. Trump had dinner with Fuentes, a livestreamer who has previously denied the Holocaust, and the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, on Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Fla.

Documents in the failed crypto exchange FTX’s bankruptcy recently revealed that the firm–through its sister hedge fund Alameda–infused $11.5 million into Moonstone Bank, formerly Farmington State Bank. As more questions are raised than answers, the bank’s chief digital officer Janvier Chalopin attempted to clear the air about the curious stake. The investment, according to Chalopin, was a “seed funding… to execute [their] new plan of being a tech focused bank.” He added that the investment was for 10% of the bank, valuing Moonstone at $115 million – a considerable boost in value considering the bank had just $10 million in...

Armenia has asked the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to chair peace talks with Azerbaijan in a fresh challenge to Vladimir Putin’s increasingly loose grip on Russia’s regional allies in the wake of the war in Ukraine. The snub from a traditional ally to Putin, who had hosted an inconsequential meeting of the warring countries’ leaders last month, comes immediately on the back of his disastrous summit with six former Soviet states. During a “family” photograph of leaders of countries in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) in Yerevan on Wednesday, Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, stepped away from Putin, who...

The Big Apple’s jet-setting chief executive, Mayor Eric Adams, is heading to Athens, Greece for a conference on anti-Semitism and Doha, Qatar, to “learn more” about co-hosting the World Cup. According to a copy of Adams’ public schedule released Friday, Hizzoner will head to Athens on Nov. 30 to attend the 2022 Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism. The trip comes soon after the NYPD and federal law enforcement prevented an attempted attack on city synagogues by would-be terrorists Matthew Mahrer and Christopher Brown. Adams will then head to Doha, Qatar on Dec. 1 and stay until Dec. 4 — to “learn...

The proposed amendments still pending include the reimplementation of the Holman Rule, which would permit the targeted slashing of specific federal programs or individual federal employee salaries. ... The House Republican leadership has rejected 6 out of the 8 House Freedom Caucus rules changes that have been considered so far, .. The amendments that failed included a requirement that spending bills must pass before the fiscal year officially begins on Oct. 1. If not, other legislation would not be able to be considered on the floor. An amendment that would ensure all members of the Republican Conference are able to...

Just how unstable have things become inside of the Kremlin, as domestic opposition to the war in Ukraine continues to grow? According to one memo reportedly leaked from inside the Russian government, concerns have been raised about members of the Federal Protective Service (FSO) in the event of a coup or other military conflict inside of Moscow. The FSO is charged with protecting the safety of both VIP visitors and some of the country’s top officials, including Vladimir Putin. Some of Russia’s upper-echelon officials are apparently worried that FSO agents may be “compromised” by hypnosis or other “psychologically infecting techniques.”...

A big US furniture company this week fired all of its 2,700 employees while they were sleeping, telling them in texts and emails not to come to work the next day, according to reports. The mass firing on Tuesday by United Furniture Industries, which makes budget-friendly sofas and recliners for Simmons Upholstery, left thousands of employees including truck drivers and factory workers in North Carolina, Mississippi and California unemployed just two days before Thanksgiving.