Free Republic

Not long ago, many international human rights organizations were warning of anti-democratic behavior by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been lionized by the Western press since the start of Russia’s invasion, but in the not-so-distant past, many international human rights organizations and concerned Ukrainians were sounding the alarm on dangerous and anti-democratic patterns of behavior exhibited by the president.On Feb. 3, 2021, Zelensky enacted sanctions on three television stations believed to be affiliated with Viktor Medvedchuk, a leader of the Opposition Bloc party, critic of Zelensky, and duly elected member of parliament.The channels were immediately taken off...

Second Week of Advent Luke 5:17–26Friends, our Gospel for today tells that wonderful story of the healing of the paralytic. People gather by the dozens to hear Jesus, crowding around the doorway of the house. They bring him a paralyzed man, and because there is no way to get him through the door, they climb up on the roof and open a space to lower him down.Can I suggest a connection between this wonderful narrative and our present evangelical situation? There are an awful lot of Catholics who are paralyzed, unable to move, frozen in regard to Christ and the...

A Home Depot worker has died from his injuries six weeks after being shoved to the concrete floor by a serial shoplifter he tried to stop stealing three pressure washers worth $800. Gary Rasor, 83, died on December 1 after he confronted the suspect at the store's garden center on October 18. The grandfather put his arm out to stop the man from rolling away a cartful of shoplifted pressure washers. He was seen on surveillance footage being shoved to the floor by the thief, who was clad in a Calvin Klein hoodie and face mask. Rasor, who had worked...

[Catholic Caucus] Again: Francis Is Protecting a Convicted AbuserFrancis personally blocked an excommunication of Father Marko Rupnik, a famous Jesuit artist who is accused by several (!) consecrated women of sexual assault and psychological abuse, MessaInLatino.it reports citing “high-level sources.”Earlier this year, a canonical trial convicted Rupnik for absolving in confession an adult and consenting female sexual accomplice. The verdict was unanimous and the punishment was excommunication.But a few hours after the sentence was announced, Francis lifted the excommunication at Rupnik's request. The Company of Jesus had already prepared a statement on the matter but was stopped.The Jesuit Procurator General...

One of the victims' parents in the Idaho killings said police are investigating something "mail-related" in their ongoing search for the suspect who fatally stabbed four University of Idaho students last month. The parents of Kaylee Goncalves spoke to Fox News on Sunday about the ongoing investigation and the updates they've received from police. Asked about the last time the parents talked with police, Steve Goncalves, Kaylee's father, told Fox host Lawrence Jones it was last week. He also said that he and his wife were asked to sign a "waiver form" to allow police to investigate "something that was...

According to the “Twitter Files” released by Elon Musk and journalist Matt Taibbi, the same FBI agent who played a crucial role in conducting illegal surveillance on Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign also played a part in censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 election. As reported by the Daily Caller, the files posted by Taibbi with Musk’s approval revealed many more key details about the process by which Twitter systematically censored conservative viewpoints, leading up to the banning of the New York Post’s story in October of 2020 just days before the election, even despite dissent from within...

George Stigler, the Nobel Laureate economist from University of Chicago, penned an excellent paper on regulatory capture. Regulatory capture occurs because groups or individuals with high-stakes interests in the outcome of policy or regulatory decisions can be expected to focus their resources and energies to gain the policy outcomes they prefer, while members of the public, each with only a tiny individual stake in the outcome, will ignore it altogether. Which leads us to who were the biggest contributors to the midterm elections. This list didn’t include the now infamous Sam Bankman-Fried and George Soros. big Deomcrat donors. This is...

Ukraine said Russia had destroyed homes in the south and knocked out power in the north in a new round of missile attacks on Monday as the West tried to limit Moscow's ability to finance its invasion by imposing a price cap on Russian seaborne oil....Russian forces have increasingly targeted Ukrainian energy facilities in recent weeks as they faced setbacks on the battlefield, causing major power outages as winter sets in....A Russian oil blend was selling for around $79 a barrel in Asian markets on Monday - almost a third higher than the price cap, according to Refinitiv data and...

Former White House Press Secretary and current MSNBC analyst Jen Psaki issued a warning to members of the Dem Party who are writing off former President Donald Trump. Appearing on Meet the Press, Psaki said Trump is still the favorite to win the GOP nomination because he ‘has some evil charisma that helped him win the nomination’ before. CHUCK TODD: Yamiche, people say, “We’ve been here before with them. Is this time different? YAMICHE ALCINDOR: – the fact that we even have to ask that question shows you that there’s still this grip that former President Trump has on the...

MESA, AZ — The City of Mesa has reached an $8 million settlement with Laney Sweet, the widow of Daniel Shaver, and his two children. Shaver was shot and killed by now-former Mesa Police Officer Phillip Brailsford in 2016.

The British newspaper Financial Times called Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Person of the Year, in an article published on Dec. 5.FT reasoning for the choice was that "the president of Ukraine embodies the resilience of his people and has become a standard bearer for liberal democracy."

“Sometimes in the shower, I realize they’re gone. I just have these scars.” Camille Kiefel, 32, had her healthy breasts removed in 2020 to align with her nonbinary gender identity. She says her doctors approved the surgery after two Zoom meetings, breezing past a whole host of mental health issues. Now that Camille is in a better place mentally, she realizes her surgery was a mistake. So, two and a half years later, she’s suing her social worker, therapist, and the gender clinics they work for — Brave Space Oregon and Quest Center for Integrative Health — seeking up to...

Some of her friends have pieced together some information: She seemed fine up until her last FR post on 10/10/2022 https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4099633/posts and one FRiend heard from her that she'd broken her hip on 10/13. I think she is from Missoula, MT. Any information you can share would be appreciated! If you want to freepmail me, that's fine too! Thanks.

VIDEONobody loves crack FBI operative Eric O'Neill more than Eric O'Neill as you can see. And one of the big reasons why he is so pleased with himself is that he was able to crack the Hunter Biden laptop story with such incredible accuracy. And the good news is that Eric O'Neill can bring his self-love to you and your group personally by booking him for a speaking engagement. Of course, his bookings would rise exponentially if he went on a joint speaking tour with John Paul Mac Isaac, the owner of the computer repair shop where Hunter Biden dropped...

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell has caved to outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and will allow the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to include the highly controversial media cartel bill the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), sources familiar with the matter told Breitbart News. (Snip) The JCPA, essentially a transfer of wealth from Silicon Valley to the discredited and distrusted corporate legacy media, is highly controversial. Beyond the financial payouts to media companies, they will be able to form a “joint negotiating entity” — a cartel, immune from antitrust law — to negotiate...

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

The history of Poland’s pre-war pistol has some familiar elements When you think of the great arms centers of 20th century Europe, names like Liège, Oberndorf, Zella-Mehlis, and Birmingham immediately jump to mind. The name Fabryka Broni is not one that is popularly recognizable, nor is it even easily pronounced. Located 65 miles directly south of Warsaw is the city of Radom, the home of the Polish Arms Factory (Fabryka Broni, or FB for short) since 1922. I try to make the most of every opportunity that comes my way, and I was asked by Bob Bell, the author of...

Hilarious NYC cab driver explains how the French count to 100.

Israel’s amb. to UN launches first exhibit showing Jewish expulsion from Iran, Arab countriesBy Halwy Cohen, The Jerusalem Post, November 30, 2022.https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-7236831947-1948 - Forced transfer or mass escape?Ha’aretz claims that 800,000 Arabs were expelled from the country by the Jews during the War of Independence. The purpose of this lie is to hide the shameful truth: the great majority were not deported but fled on their own initiativeHanan Amior, Presspectiva, 29.11.22https://presspectiva-org-il.translate.goog/1947-1948-%d7%98%d7%a8%d7%a0%d7%a1%d7%a4%d7%a8-%d7%9b%d7%a4%d7%95%d7%99-%d7%90%d7%95-%d7%91%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%97%d7%94-%d7%94%d7%9e%d7%95%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%aa/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=enThe fate of the Jews in Arab countriesConrad Myrland, Miff.no, June 28, 2022.https://miff.no/jodenes-skjebne-i-arabiske-landhttps://miff-no.translate.goog/jodenes-skjebne-i-arabiske-land?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=enFrom Hitler to Putin: Palestinian habit of always backing ‘wrong side’Opinion: In 1940s, then-Palestinian leader Mufti Hajj Amim...

America’s favorite moneypot is back, just in time for our American leaders’ favorite pleasure: persecuting devout Christians on the basis of their faith. Yesterday, President Zelensky of Ukraine announced Draft Law 8821, which will make the Ukrainian Orthodox Church illegal throughout the country. The law, if passed, will also allow the Ukrainian government the ability to confiscate all church property and outlaw both public and private practice of the religion.Zelensky announces a decree banning religious organizations and churches in Ukraine with “ties to Russia.”His government has also been raiding Ukrainian Orthodox churches and arresting priests. pic.twitter.com/djTMYRp0ak— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December...