Free Republic

In June of this year, Nicole Pytlinski Pimentel from Fort Mill, South Carolina, gave birth to her first child at home. She told me of the decision, “If you had told me five years ago, even a year ago, that I would have done this, I would have said absolutely not, this is crazy.” Pimentel is part of a growing trend of American women choosing to give birth at home in the years post-COVID-19. Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data showing that home births are at their highest level in 30 years. The Associated...

Point of order: Didn’t we learn that in 2013 when James Clapper perjured himself before Congress? And didn’t we learn that the American media enthusiastically facilitated that disinformation potential by hiring Clapper and former FBI executive Andrew McCabe after getting fired for lying to investigators? Among dozens of others?We did indeed, but the editors of the Wall Street Journal want to underscore that point in the release of Twitter’s files on the Hunter Biden laptop story. They also note the media’s complicity in promoting this “disinformation,” even in the face of independent corroboration:Recall that former Democratic intelligence officials James Clapper...

I’m unabashedly gay, and I certainly support gay marriage. But I nonetheless side with the Christian wedding designer who’s before the Supreme Court right now because she refuses to design a same-sex wedding website. I’m going to explain why, but first, here are the facts.What’s This Case All About?On Monday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case called 303 Creative LLC v Elenis. The case centers around Lorie Smith, a Christian who owns a website design business. She wants to expand her business and start designing custom wedding websites, but due to her religious beliefs, is unwilling to...

Amidst all the rightful focus on government censorship and election interference, another major story is brewing over at the Supreme Court. On Monday, the Justices heard oral arguments in a case centering on a web designer who has religious objections to making websites for same-sex couples.Naturally, Lorie Smith, who runs a company called 303 Creative, is based in Colorado. That state has become ground zero for religious liberty cases, made infamous by its persecution of cake baker Jack Phillips.During oral argument, the conservative justices seemed to lean toward siding with Smith, who has asserted that it violates her religious beliefs...

Monday, the US Supreme Court heard a major religious liberty case from Colorado called 303 Creative v. Elenis. The issue to be decided is: Whether applying a public-accommodation law to compel an artist to speak or stay silent violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment.The case is similar to the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, which was settled unsatisfactorily in 2018. In that case, Jack Phillips, the proprietor of Masterpiece Cakeshop, refused to make a wedding cake that was decorated with two grooms. While the case is often portrayed as Phillips refusing to provide service to a homosexual “couple,” all...

A rot is eating away at many of the United States’ urban areas. Once thriving centers of culture, food, art, and music, our cities have become infested with a liberal groupthink that has made them dirty, dangerous, and full of beanie-wearing, latte-scoffing hypocrites. You know the type — they flout their fancy degrees, wax on (and on and on) about their (intolerant) political pedigrees, applaud the members of their echo chamber, yet lack even a shred of common sense or self-awareness.Nowhere is this more true than in Richmond, Virginia. Yes, Glenn Youngkin has taken up residence in the Governor’s Mansion...

It was quite head-spinning to see how instantly and gleefully many Republicans of the high forehead class leapt to blaming Donald Trump for the less-red-wavy-than-expected 2022 Midterms. And leapt from there to condemning his 2024 presidential run. But before lifting new champion Governor DeSantis to their shoulders, the Trump-trashers would do well to praise Caesar rather than burying him. The Trump magic is clear in the Midterm numbers - 92% of Trump’s endorsees won their primaries, as did 86% of his general election picks. The nay-sayers claiming his 2020 coattails were toxic in 2022 - even though he had no...

Healthy diets are rich in antioxidants like amino acids, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin C, but exactly how beneficial these micronutrients are for cardiovascular health has long been controversial. Now a new meta-analysis provides some clarity. Researchers reviewed 884 studies available on micronutrients taken as dietary supplements. They identified several micronutrients that do reduce cardiovascular risk—as well as others that offer no benefit or even have a negative effect. "We developed a comprehensive, evidence-based integrative map to characterize and quantify micronutrient supplements' potential effects on cardiometabolic outcomes," said Simin Liu, MD. Antioxidant supplementation has long been thought to play a...

Harmeet K. Dhillon @pnjaban If elected to RNC Chairwoman role, one of my first job offers will be to @ScottPresler — if he will have us — to inspire and train our ground forces on voter registration and getting every ballot to the ballot box by all legal means!

On Jackson's Island, Huck Finn found peace in nature: "I laid there in the grass and the cool shade thinking about things, and feeling rested and ruther comfortable and satisfied. " Beauty and trees in the modern Australian police state give me rest too. Connected deep In God's sweet call, When I pray, He saves me ......... God Bless Mark Twain, the joy of gazing at human beauty and being free.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer argued that stupid people are more dangerous than evil ones. This is because while we can protest against or fight evil people, against stupid ones we are defenseless — reasons fall on dead ears. Bonhoeffer's famous text, which we slightly edited for this video, serves any free society as a warning of what can happen when certain people gain too much power.CHAPTERS0:00 The Darkest Chapter0:55 Letters from prison4:29 About Bonhoeffer5:19 Our Patrons5:28 Subscribe and supportScript based on the work of Dietrich BonhoefferEditor: Jonas KoblinArtist: Pascal GaggelliVoice: Matt AbbottColoring: NalinEditing: Peera LertsukittipongsaProduction: Selina BadorProduction Assistant: BiankaProofreading: SusanBonhoeffer's Theory of...

At a private event over the weekend, Governor Ron DeSantis said that his administration intends to hold vaccine manufacturers accountable for making false claims about COVID products that have caused injuries and death. The governor said he would be working with Florida Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo “to hold these manufacturers accountable for this mRNA [shot] because they said there were no side effects and we know that there have been a lot.” DeSantis made the comments at a Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) event on Saturday at the Florida Governors Mansion. American Greatness reached out to both the RPOF,...

Video at link on from Tucker Carlson show.

The hospitals in Indiana’s largest health system and in its most populous county have begun visitor restrictions because of a rise in reported cases of flu and other respiratory viruses, they announced Monday. The restrictions will go into effect by Tuesday at all IU Health hospitals. They began Monday at all hospitals in Marion County, home to Indianapolis. The IU Health restrictions include only immediate family, only two at a time and no visitors under age 18 except parents or guardians and none who have flu-like or COVID-19 symptoms. Also, masking is required. Similar restrictions are in place at all...

The man who shot Lady Gaga´s dog walker and stole her French bulldogs last year took a plea deal and was sentenced to 21 years in prison on Monday, officials said. James Howard Jackson, one of three men and two accomplices who participated in the violent robbery, pleaded no contest to one count of attempted murder, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Jackson and others drove around Hollywood on Feb. 24, 2021 'looking for French bulldogs,' prosecutors said previously. They found Lady Gaga's dog walker, Ryan Fischer, 41, with the pop star's three pets named Asia, Koji...

Scientists have identified an off-patent drug that can be repurposed to prevent COVID-19—and may be capable of protecting against future variants of the virus—in research involving a unique mix of "mini-organs," donor organs, animal studies and patients. The research showed that an existing drug used to treat a type of liver disease is able to "lock" the doorway by which SARS-CoV-2 enters our cells, a receptor on the cell surface known as ACE2. Because this drug targets the host cells and not the virus, it should protect against future new variants of the virus as well as other coronaviruses that...

[Catholic Caucus] Humanae Vitae is ahead of the “new” morality of the Pontifical Academy for LifeTo reaffirm Christian anthropology and the natural law in matters of life and family not only in the face of external criticism but —paradoxically— at a time when a "radical paradigm shift" is being advocated within the hierarchy itself: this is the purpose of a conference to be held in Rome from December 8–10, conveived specifically in response to a volume promoted by the Pontifical Academy for Life [PAL] entitled Theological Ethics of Life: Scripture, tradition, and practical challenges, and published last summer, incidentally, a...

The Mall of America has confidentially settled a lawsuit with the family of a five-year-old boy who was tossed off a third-floor balcony by a man who claimed he was 'looking for someone to kill'.

The wreck of a long-lost “sidewheeler steamship” that sank off the coast of Washington nearly 150 years ago has been found by a pair of local maritime historians. The ship we’re talking about is called the “SS PACIFIC” – a 225-foot long sidewheel steamer. It carried passengers and cargo way back in the time of the Washington Territory The ship was on its way from Puget Sound and Victoria to San Francisco when it collided with a big sailing ship in the dark off of Cape Flattery on November 4, 1875. The loss of hundreds of lives makes it one...

A singer's primary genre can impact the likelihood of developing vocal fold injury and may even influence the specific type of injury that occurs, a recent study suggests. The two-part study, led by Lesley Childs, M.D., involved the detailed review of more than 1,000 patient records. Phonotraumatic lesions that develop on the vocal folds include benign nodules, pseudocysts, and hemorrhagic polyps, all of which can lead to hoarseness. These injuries are typically caused by overuse or straining of the voice. The study found that while nodules were nearly equally distributed across all singing genres, opera singers presented with a significantly...