Free Republic

Last week a special task force appointed by left-wing California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom recommended that black residents of his state be paid $223,000 each as reparations for the legacy of slavery. The proposal allegedly limits possible reparations to state residents who are descendants of free or enslaved blacks who were in the country at the end of the 19th century, according to Fox News...

"To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another." "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." "This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things...

Lord, on the cross, You took pity on the crowd and taught them through the Psalm. Help me preach the Gospel with my life... and use words when necessary. There was never a time when our Lord wasn’t the Son of God. There was never a time the Father wasn’t Father of the Son. There was never a time the Holy Spirit wasn’t moving among them. From the foundations of creation, our Lord has loved us. Hanging on the cross, the unfathomable depth of His love was shown. He died to pay a debt we could not pay to bring...

Explanation: Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this stereo view of another world. Fifty years ago the scene was recorded by Apollo 17 mission commander Eugene Cernan on December 11, 1972, one orbit before descending to land on the Moon. The stereo anaglyph was assembled from two photographs (AS17-147-22465, AS17-147-22466) captured from his vantage point on board the Lunar Module Challenger as he and Dr. Harrison Schmitt flew over Apollo 17's landing site in the Taurus-Littrow Valley. The broad, sunlit face of the mountain dubbed South Massif rises near the center of the frame, above the dark floor...

Since the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges seven years ago, same-sex couples have enjoyed the same marriage protections as other couples. But right now, that fundamental freedom is under real, direct and urgent threat. In June, the Republican supermajority on the Supreme Court eviscerated long-standing precedent and the right to privacy with its disgraceful decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Justice Clarence Thomas took explicit aim at marriage equality: urging the court to reconsider Obergefell and upend the lives of countless families across the country. While his legal reasoning is twisted and unsound, we must take Justice...

“We’ve got newspaper people on the payroll, don't we, Tom? They might like a story like that.” Audio at: https://movie-sounds.org/gangster-movie-sound-clips/quotes-with-sound-clips-from-the-godfather-1972/now-we-have-newspaper-people-on-the-payroll-don-t-we-tom-they-might-like-a-story-like-that My question to Freepers: is that Michael Corleone - or Joe Biden?

A decade ago, then-Vice President Joe Biden shocked the political world and preempted his boss by suddenly declaring his support for gay marriage — one of the country’s most contentious issues — on national television. But not everyone was surprised. A small group had attended a private fundraiser with Biden weeks earlier in Los Angeles where he disclosed not only his approval but his firm conclusion about the future of same-sex marriage. He predicted, “Things are changing so rapidly, it’s going to become a political liability in the near term for someone to say, ‘I oppose gay marriage.’” “Mark my...

In 1903, a student named Arthur Lamb checked out "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens from the Toowoomba Grammar School library in Queensland, Australia. In December 2022, his grandson, John Lamb, returned the book to the library. Only 119 years after it was first checked out! The school, which has been around since 1875, shared on its Instagram: Dr Lamb kindly returned it to the School for display - 120 years overdue!!! A huge thank you to the Lamb family. The book was in a box of things belonging to the Lamb family. At least they thought they belonged to them...

A man was zip-tied at gunpoint and set on fire by at least three people who stole his vehicle in Northern California, according to the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office. The man called law enforcement around 10:55 p.m. on Wednesday night, telling deputies that his vehicle had been stolen in an area southwest of Yuba City, about 42 miles north of Sacramento, sheriff’s officials said. Responding deputies found that the man had been assaulted and burned, and emergency personnel took him to a hospital, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. The man told deputies that he was driving...

Multinational automaker Stellantis, which formed last year in a merger between Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the French PSA Group, is shuttering a plant in Illinois that produces the Jeep Cherokee. The company dropped a statement for local media: Our industry has been adversely affected by a multitude of factors like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the global microchip shortage, but the most impactful challenge is the increasing cost related to the electrification of the automotive market. Stellantis has taken a number of actions to stabilize production and improve efficiency at its North American facilities to preserve affordability and...

Joy Morales-Bartlett could finally see an end to her decadeslong student debt by the end of this year. But her ability to pay it off now rests in the hands of the Supreme Court. More than 40 million borrowers like Morales-Bartlett were eligible to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt under President Joe Biden’s one-time student loan forgiveness plan. But instead, her debt and that of roughly 16 million applicants who were also approved may never be forgiven if the Supreme Court sides with lower courts in Republican-led states that blocked the program. A ruling is expected...

In a January 7, 2021 blog, I wrote that “Yet another effort to discard the per-country cap for employment green cards fizzled in the waning days of the 116th Congress. But it's sure to come back in the new 117th Congress.” Every year since 2011, some members of Congress have attempted to discard the per-country cap for employment green cards, which was designed to provide temporary relief to employers when no American worker could be found to fill a position. The original bill designed to provide a never-ending flow of foreign workers to employers was titled the Fairness for High-Skilled...

A group of lawmakers in Niger has backed a motion seeking to criminalise same-sex relationships in the country. The vast majority of Niger’s population is Muslim, but it has a secular government and there is currently no specific law on same-sex relationships. The MPs say same-sex relationships are against the religious and cultural beliefs of the people. The proposal was presented to the Speaker of parliament by Nana Djibou Harouna, a lawmaker from the southern region of Maradi. She told a press conference on Thursday in the capital, Niamey, that the move was meant to protect the “rights and interest...

RAND PAUL: "You look at the other intelligence agencies and you had.. John Brennan the guy who was a Communist when he was a college kid. How did all these people from the left get together to occupy the highest positions of authority and abuse those positions in our intelligence agencies? It's remarkable..."

At the center of this debate was Harvard law professor Adrian Vermeule, whose latest book served as the ostensible subject of the symposium. In conservative legal circles, Vermeule has become the most prominent proponent of “common good constitutionalism,” a controversial new theory that challenges many of the fundamental premises and principles of the conservative legal movement. The cornerstone of Vermeule’s theory is the claim that “the central aim of the constitutional order is to promote good rule, not to ‘protect liberty’ as an end in itself” — or, in layman’s terms, that the Constitution empowers the government to pursue conservative...

A team is preparing to defend Hunter Biden against an expected onslaught of investigations by House Republicans. Allies of the president's son gathered for a private strategy session last September in California where they discussed going after Hunter's accusers and critics with defamation lawsuits, according the Washington Post. Hunter's attorney and friend Kevin Morris suggested at the meeting the suits be filed against Fox News, Eric Trump and Rudy Giuliani, along with a probe into the repairman who handed over his laptop. Morris told the group he was crucial for Hunter's camp to be more aggressive and also 'outlined extensive...

Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) warns about continued massive government spending, debt, and deficits.

On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci stated that “it’s tough to say” if federal guidance to close down for the coronavirus pandemic went on for too long in light of states like Florida that opened up before the federal government recommended and did relatively fine. Host Judy Woodruff asked, “We’ve heard people say, in particular, that you and others who were in charge of getting the word out to the American people sent the message that we needed to keep things closed for too long and that there were states like Florida that opened...

Yoel Roth, ex-Twitter Content Moderation Chief (left):Elon Musk today replied "This explains a lot" to a Twitter user who highlighted this tweet by ex-Twitter Content exec Yoel Roth: Can high school students ever meaningfully consent to sex with their teachers? http://bit.ly/bbpH68 And Elon linked to Roth's PhD thesis:

VIDEO I had originally intended to put together a compilation of liberal reactions to Senator Kirsten Sinema ditching the Democrats. However, I changed gears when I began doing a YouTube search for such videos. What came up on the search results filtered for the past day was an OCEAN of nothing but liberal outlets with a couple of obligatory Fox News videos tossed in there in order to give YouTube the lame excuse that their search results are not biased because of the inclusion of Fox News. I hope the new Congress will look into the scandal of YouTube presenting...