Free Republic

“But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him” (Matthew 12:14). Sometimes neither the most persuasive arguments nor the most convincing deeds will change someone’s hard-hearted opposition. Such was the case for the Pharisees’ challenge to Jesus in considering the proper significance and use of the Sabbath. He had irrefutably connected the divine virtues of benevolence, kindness, mercy, goodness, and compassion with scriptural Sabbath observance. But the Phari-sees stubbornly rejected His exhortations and clung to their legalistic works and self-styled traditions. Not even God’s Word or the powerful demonstration by His Son would...

After five people were shot dead in a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo., Matthew Grigsby thought about Club 501. It was the only gay bar in Redding, a Northern California city of 93,000 that, like Colorado Springs, is deeply religious and conservative. There, Grigsby felt comfortable holding hands or dancing with another man. Club 501 closed this summer, leaving Grigsby and other LGBTQ people without a place where they could be themselves. The news from Club Q in Colorado Springs was another gut punch. "There's no safe place anywhere," Grigsby, 53, said, his voice shaking. "It doesn't matter where...

Disney’s first movie that features an LGBT lead character has bombed at the box office.

Moses was tending sheep in the desert one day when God called to him from a burning bush. “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground” (see Exodus 3:5 NKJV). Holy ground is not a physical place. When God commanded Moses to take off his shoes because he was on holy ground, he was not referring to a piece of real estate, but to Moses’ spiritual condition. A holy God must have a holy man who is on “holy ground.” God can’t use a man until his...

Gun control advocate Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said Sunday that Democrats in the Senate “probably” do not have the votes to pass a ban on “assault weapons.” The Hill noted that CNN’s Dana Bash asked Murphy on State of the Union if Democrats have the votes to secure an “assault weapons” ban. Murphy responded, “Probably not. “But let’s see if we can try to get that number as close to 60 as possible,” he added. “If we don’t have the votes, then we’ll talk to Senator Schumer and maybe come back next year with maybe an additional senator and see...

It was back in September 2019 that there sprang into the news the story of Hunter Biden and his million-dollar-per-year gig as a board member for Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Hunter’s gig began in April 2014 — shortly after his dad Joe, then sitting VP, took on the role of “point man” as to U.S. policy toward Ukraine. The gig then ran until some time in 2017 — shortly after Joe had left office. It just happened that Burisma had gotten the lion’s share of Ukraine oil and gas lease deals under ousted (and Russia-aligned) President Viktor Yanukovich, and had...

The accrediting council for the American Bar Association (ABA) voted 15-1 to no longer require the administering of the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) for law school applications.

This year’s White House holiday decor is taking a cue from the Constitution, decking the halls with the theme, “We the People.” Jill Biden unveiled the theme for the annual decorating tradition on Monday, saying in a statement that her hope for the White House’s seasonal makeover was to “capture the spirit embodied in the very idea of America.” “During your visit to the People’s House, through rooms full of history and holiday decor, in the mirrored ornaments and reflective lights, our hope is that you feel at home and find yourself in the great story of America,” the first...

The Bible In Paintings ~ Encouragement for Appreciating and Applying God's Word ~ JESUS CALLS FISHERS OF MEN ֎ Featuring 30 Paintings. 2 Statues and 8 Windows ֎ MATTHEW CHAPTER 4* As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, SIMON CALLED PETER AND HIS BROTHER ANDREW. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. 1 CARAVAGGIO "The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew" 2 GIUSTO DI GIOVANNI DE'...

The Pentagon is considering a Boeing proposal to supply Ukraine with cheap, small precision bombs fitted onto abundantly available rockets, allowing Kyiv to strike far behind Russian lines as the West struggles to meet demand for more arms. U.S. and allied military inventories are shrinking, and Ukraine faces an increasing need for more sophisticated weapons as the war drags on. Boeing's proposed system, dubbed Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), is one of about a half-dozen plans for getting new munitions into production for Ukraine and America's Eastern European allies, industry sources said. GLSDB could be delivered as early as spring...

Chinese bots are swamping Twitter with sexually explicit posts about porn and escorts in an apparent bid to stop the spread of news about the massive protests against lockdowns and President Xi Jinping. Searches for major Chinese cities that have seen mass protests will “mostly see ads for escorts/porn/gambling, drowning out legitimate search results,” said Air-Moving Device, sharing a series of charts. “Data analysis in this thread suggests that there has been a significant uptick in these spam tweets,” the outlet said, sharing data retweeted by Stanford Internet Observatory Director Alex Stamos. The “vast majority” — more than 95% —...

Pendukh, 33, after serving several months on the front lines - the war has taken a toll on him He considers himself lucky. Friends in his battalion have served with squads that lost more than half their members. "Lots of problems, even psychological problems," he says. "Some people from those formations, they need psychological help after this. Very serious psychological help." He's tired of living out of a tent. He's tired of facing daily artillery fire. He misses his mom and her cooking....He acknowledges crying while eating an apple pie that his mother recently sent him. "The further you are...

During an appearance on FNC’s “MediaBuzz,” Daily Mail columnist Meghan McCain likened liberal backlash to Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter to that of “babies.” McCain called the response a “little tantrum” from the left because of the shift of power. I’m addicted to Twitter, and I’ve been on since 2009. And I think if you work in media or interested in news, it’s a really powerful and useful space. There’s no doubt that a lot of people have been shadow banned on the right. And people have had their accounts taken away for innocuous things like, you know, saying, my...

While Europe correctly perceives that some sectors of the U.S. economy are raking in profits at the expense of Europe, the economy of the United States is showing clear signs of a retracting economy on multiple fronts.

Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to create a Political Action Committee (PAC). Axios reported Sunday the governor initiated the process to create Hardworking Americans Inc., which will “allow the Republican to boost his national profile” as a possible signal for a U.S. Senate run or even a 2024 run. “Kemp’s unique success defeating a Trump-backed opponent in a primary and a Democrat in a key battleground has made him something of a case study for Republicans. It’s also paved the way for speculation about his future national ambitions,” Axios noted.

After more than two years of insisting that a laptop computer abandoned by President Biden's son Hunter at a computer repair shop was a fake, on November 21, CBS News finally admitted that it had "independently verified its authenticity. From some perspectives I guess we look pretty inept to have taken so long to arrive at the truth. However, on the bright side, our erroneous rejection of its authenticity served the very useful purpose of helping to influence voters to oust Donald Trump from the presidency in the 2020 election." "Based on the stuff that's on the laptop, it looks...

Republican donors: Start spending on the long-term now or quit wasting your money. Imagine you’re barreling down the highway and an accident happens a few feet in front of you. Your ability to respond and avoid a collision is very limited. You’ll probably have very few choices—and it may be that none of them are good. Now imagine the same scenario but this time the accident happens hundreds of feet in front of you. Now your ability to respond—and the choices available—are more plentiful. Politics is kind of like this too. There are the here-and-now activities and battles, and the...

The world's largest active volcano has erupted in Hawaii for the first time in nearly four decades, officials said. Mauna Loa erupted at 11:30 p.m. local time Sunday (4:30 a.m. ET Monday), the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was the first eruption since 1984, according to its Hawaii Volcano Observatory daily update. The eruption began in Moku‘āweoweo, the summit caldera of Mauna Loa, inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the agency said, as it upgraded the volcano's alert level from an "advisory" to a "warning." "At this time, lava flows are contained within the summit area and are not threatening downslope...

And will the NeverTrumpers finally be exposed to have been as contemptible as the NeverQueegers were in The Caine Mutiny? The Left, the NeverTrump Right, and many independents are tiring of Donald Trump’s recitations of prior, however justified, grievances at the hands of the media, the Democratic Party, the administrative state, and hard-core Left. The conventional wisdom runs that Trump’s whines and victimization recitations reveal deep paranoias, and increasingly to an obsessive degree. We are told that his near neurotic obsessions with the unfairness of his critics are alienating the independent voter, who finds Trump’s strolls down 2020-21 memory lane...

Google could be facing more calls from activist investors urging CEO Sundar Pichai and team to cut its OpEx base further, given slowing growth. However, we discuss why Google has been relatively consistent with its OpEx spending over time. Moreover, its OpEx margins have also been trending down, unlike Meta Platforms. Notwithstanding, Google needs to reaccelerate its top line growth to justify a material re-rating. We discuss why the market has likely reflected significant uncertainties in its execution due to substantial macro and competitive headwinds. Maintain Buy. Thesis Google (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) employees have been anxious over the past month after...