Free Republic

Over the last 24 hours, fans of ex-President Donald Trump have sat huddled in their chairs, waiting with bated breath for a supposed announcement the once tweeter-in-chief promised would blow their socks off. He posted a video to his Truth Social page showing an image of him in a kind of superhero garb, sporting pecs he most certainly does not have, as laser beams shoot from his eyes. What could this mean? What apocalypse was coming? On Thursday the grand surprise was finally revealed and it was nothing but another horrific NFT project that, in Trump’s words, featured “amazing ART...

Snowfall is a magnificent event that many people throughout the world anticipate each year. For most people, experiencing snow for the first time is a thrilling and unforgettable event. One farm animal was just exposed to white flurries for the first time, and his incredible reaction has gone viral. Albert, the camel in the video, has his first snowfall. It grows thrilled and begins to leap. The camel then shares its joy with its companions, a herd of goats. As the video proceeds, the animal shows the goats all of his favourite areas. The creature is a snow camel, according...

Veggie Tales creator Phil Vischer, the man who swears he’s not progressive despite knocking creationists as a bunch of dummies, crediting his white privilege for the success of his show, claiming he didn’t know there were such things black Christians until he was an adult, thumbing his nose at “Cracker Barrel Christians,” getting upset at Christians for opposing LGBTQ, and coming out as pro-choice, has a burr in his saddle. On episode 537 of the Holy Post podcast, Vischer is set off by Al Mohler’s column critiquing David French for his endorsement of the “Respect For Marriage Act.” In particular,...

1. THREAD: The Twitter Files, Part Six TWITTER, THE FBI SUBSIDIARY 2. The #TwitterFiles are revealing more every day about how the government collects, analyzes, and flags your social media content. 3. Twitter’s contact with the FBI was constant and pervasive, as if it were a subsidiary. 4. Between January 2020 and November 2022, there were over 150 emails between the FBI and former Twitter Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth. 5. Some are mundane, like San Francisco agent Elvis Chan wishing Roth a Happy New Year along with a reminder to attend “our quarterly call next week.” Others are...

Last month, Albuquerque police revealed gun law violations spiked 85% this year alone. KOB 4 spoke with lawmakers Monday who are tasked with coming up with solutions, during the upcoming legislative session. “Firearms have increased to become the leading cause of death for children,” said Rep. Reena Szczepanski. That’s according to 2020 data from the CDC, and it’s prompting Democratic legislators to double down on gun safety during the upcoming legislative session. That includes a new proposal to raise the age requirement for purchasing AR-style rifles from 18 to 21. “It’s basically closing a bit of a loophole, because right...

Twitter has disabled its live audio feature, Twitter Spaces, after a group of journalists realized they could still use it despite having suspended accounts. Musk, Twitter’s new owner, acknowledged the glitch late Thursday night, adding that the audio service should be back up and running sometime on Friday. Earlier in the evening, some of the suspended reporters convened on Twitter Spaces after their accounts were suddenly banned without warning or explanation. They were briefly joined by Musk, who defended the temporary suspensions. “As I’m sure everyone who has been doxed can agree, showing real-time information about someone’s location is inappropriate,”...

‘Tis the season for “Home Alone” marathons, memes and jokes. Since the 1990 movie hit theaters, it has been a perennial Christmas classic — and its adorable protagonist Kevin McCallister remains a Yuletide staple. And every year since 2014, the movie has fostered a darker holiday tradition: a much discussed fan theory that McCallister became a serial killer. Or more specifically, the theory, put into the ether by the now-defunct Grantland, said Macaulay Culkin’s character grew up to become Jigsaw, a k a John Kramer, the creepy killer from the “Saw” films.

Tis the season to put those adorable reindeer antlers and red nose on your car. I have to admit, I really enjoy seeing cars with the antlers, I think it's so adorable! While everyone wants to get their car in the holiday spirit as well, how much Christmas spirit is too much for your car? For instance, can you add full on Christmas lights to your car? I was inspired by this colorful display from local entertainer Rick Carrillo, who you may know as the guy who creates impressive holiday light shows at his own home; well, he also created...

Thinking of buying a used Toyota 4Runner . Any thoughts? Going into a big vehicle? The model and brand? Had two Jeep Saharas Same different?

Composer Angelo Badalamenti, best known for the soundtrack from "Twin Peaks," died Sunday at age 85. JUANA SUMMERS, HOST: TV and film composer Angelo Badalamenti has died. He was at his home in New Jersey surrounded by family. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Badalamenti started composing on the piano when he was 10 and went on to study at the Manhattan School of Music. He wrote songs for Nina Simone and scored crime movies. SUMMERS: And in 1985, he was introduced to the esteemed film maker David Lynch. Badalamenti went on to score five of Lynch's films, but he was perhaps best...

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced changes to the U.S. naturalization test on Wednesday, reducing the difficulty of the English-speaking section and editing the civics section to make the test easier for citizenship applicants.

Stop trying to take Ron DeSantis away from Florida. Just stop it. I understand the rationale, but it’s wrong. It may be quite reasonable to be jealous of Florida for its governor—the only governor in the nation to win my coveted “competent” rating on every major issue. But before we encourage DeSantis and Donald Trump to have a falling out that splits the party (or, rather, before we let the RINO simps do it at the behest of Democrats and lots of Chinese money), let’s review a few salient points. First, governors really matter now. The worse Washington gets—and it...

The social media coordination between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI isn’t limited to Twitter, former Congressman and current CEO of President Trump’s Truth Social, Devin Nunes, alleged in an interview that aired on Newsmakers by NTD and The Epoch Times on Dec. 14. The Twitter Files, a collection of internal emails and communications made public by Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, confirmed what many Conservatives have alleged for years. Namely, Twitter was shadow-banning accounts that didn’t fit a specific ideology and suspending accounts that bucked the chosen political narrative, Nunes claimed. But, the most concerning revelation in...

Matt Taibbi @mtaibbi COMING at 4 est: TWITTER: THE FBI SUBSIDIARY

PORTLAND, Ore. — Some Portland leaders and parents are calling for the return of school resource officers to Portland Public Schools, while some activists say bringing them back wouldn't help reduce the violence. “It’s worrisome and concerning," said Portland Public Schools parent Eric Happel when talking about the recent violence near Portland high schools. He has a child who's an 11th grade student at Lincoln High School in Portland. Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell, a former school resource officer himself, says he welcomes the move if Portland Public Schools agrees. But Executive Director of Don't Shoot Portland Teressa Raiford says...

He was only two days old when he was abandoned by his herd. Charlie the baby hippo was premature, weak, stressed and traumatised when he was rescued by workers from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife in KwaZulu-Natal. But what a difference a few years and some TLC can make – Charlie (6) is healthy as a horse and will soon be released into the wild. But boy, did he have plenty obstacles standing in his way. For the first few years of his life, Charlie believed he was a rhinoceros because he was raised with rhinos in a rhino orphanage. But to...

A judge in Maricopa County has ordered that Kari Lake’s petition to inspect ballots in the county from the 2022 mid-term election be granted. The Lake campaign will have to select a designate a ballot inspector and provide the court with contact information for them by Friday at 12pm. The inspection would begin on December 20, 2022 at 8am.

He vows to ban the federal government from censoring “lawful speech of American citizens.”Bravo.In a speech this past week, former President Donald Trump vowed that if reelected he will make a point of ending the federal government’s censorship of Americans’ free speech.Within hours of my inauguration, I will sign an executive order banning any federal department or agency from colluding with any organization, business, or person, to censor, limit, categorize, or impede the lawful speech of American citizens….I will begin the process of identifying and firing every federal bureaucrat who has engaged in domestic censorship — directly or indirectly —...

Here is the spread between Bankrate’s 30-year mortgage rate and their 30-year JUMBO mortgage. Notice that between 2007 and early 2020, the median “jumbo spread” was 49 basis points. But after Covid and The Fed’s counterattack (by printing M2 Money), the median Jumbo spread from 4/1/2020 to today is only 1 basis point. In the following chart, you can see the jumbo mortgage rate (yellow) against the conforming mortgage rate (white) and there is almost always a spread between the two UNTIL 2020 where we saw M2 Money growth (green line) spike and The Fed increased their purchases of Agency...

NATIONAL MAPLE SYRUP DAY Get the flapjacks ready for National Maple Syrup Day. December 17th calls for orders of pancakes, french toast, or biscuits topped off with butter and delicious maple syrup. #MapleSyrupDay It is usually from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees that maple syrup is made from although it is not limited to those maple species. These trees, in cold climates, store starch in their trunks and in their roots. In the spring, the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap. The maple trees are then tapped by...