Free Republic

A demographic analysis of persons emigrating from New York City found that 16% of of richest taxpayers are leaving each year. The impact on the City's ability to fund government services is becoming severe. Mayor Eric Adams hasn't been idle, but his request for more federal aid doesn't seem likely to be fulfilled. "My recent phone conversation with President Biden was not encouraging," the Mayor lamented. "When I pointed out that we need a replacement for the lost tax revenues he suggested that we confiscate the property of everyone who moves out of the city. He said 'if that doesn't...

The new 'Avatar' movie has already raked in an impressive amount in ticket sales for day 1 of its opening weekend -- but big picture ... it looks like this one's gonna disappoint. James Cameron's 'The Way of Water' -- the long-awaited sequel to 2009's smash hit "Avatar" -- was able to pull in about $53 million Friday (which includes around $17 mil from Thursday previews) ... and, as of now, is on track to make between $130M-$150M through Sunday. That might sound impressive ... but it's actually a bit of a bummer considering the early projections for this were...

Director James Cameron disappointed fans Saturday by ignoring their requests for autographs as he exited the WGA building in Beverly Hills, then flipping them the bird. Video footage shows fans swarming around the famous director in hopes of catching a personal response from him, or getting an autograph, but things didn’t quite turn out the way they expected. The excited buzz from the crowd quickly turned into boos and chants of “fuck Avatar!” when Cameron blew past his fans without stopping to greet or acknowledge them in any way, according to TMZ. He aggravated the situation by sticking his middle...

​Stacey Abrams’ campaign is $1 million in debt –despite raising more than $100 million in her second straight unsuccessful Georgia gubernatorial bid​, according to a report Monday. The Democratic stalwart’s campaign owes the cash to vendors, Axios reported, citing manager Lauren Groh-Wargo. ​ Though Abrams is known for her fundraising and get-out-the-vote skills, the campaign’s 180 full-time staffers got their last paychecks Nov. 15, just a week after Election Day, the report said. “People have told me they have no idea how they’re going to pay their rent in January,” ​a former staffer told ​the outlet. “It was more than...

Eddie Rickenbacker has made it back to Washington and is pictured with family on the front page. Both of his sons will enter military service: oldest David joins the Marines in 1943 and Bill enters the Air Force after college and flies transports during the Korean War… With Rickenbacker is his business partner, Danish-born writer and B-17 pilot Capt. Hans Christian Adamson. He publishes a biography of Reickenbacker after the war. Christmas now just one week away here is the Utility Squadron 7’s Christmas card which is seen on page three… The next page features a story of the Office...

Very insightful (and witty) article. The author "gets" our current dilemma in American government in the following excerpt: In every country in the developed world, representative democracy is dead. In its place, we have oligarchy. The way our oligarchy works is very simple. While hymning “democracy,” it has to disable actual representative democracy. It does this by disabling the control of the chief executive over the executive branch. Broadly speaking, the procedure, budget, and personnel of the agencies is specified by law. Law, of course, comes from the legislative branch. What does it matter if the Founders would never have...

A recidivist burglar was caught rifling through Robert De Niro’s Manhattan townhouse early Monday — fiddling with the actor’s iPad and grabbing Christmas gifts around the tree, law enforcement sources told The Post. The 30-year-old woman, identified as Shanice Aviles, crept down a stairwell leading to 79-year-old De Niro’s townhouse on the Upper East Side around 2:30 a.m., the sources said. Eagle-eyed officers with the NYPD’s 19th Precinct public safety team had spotted Aviles — a “known burglar” with more than 25 arrests on her rap sheet — trying to open doors to commercial buildings before she entered the townhouse,...

Was it the jabs? The question has been popping up more frequently in recent months as young and otherwise healthy people continue to die suddenly with no cause of death listed. The latest victim of the Covid “vaccine” era is a man whose job was to get as many jabs into as many Canadian arms as possible. According to The Gateway Pundit: The Director of Parliamentary Affairs at Health Canada, who oversaw the country’s response to Covid-19 and the rollout of the vaccine, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 35. Adam Exton, a long-time Liberal Party organizer, died suddenly...

Republican lawmakers will take control of the House of Representatives on Jan. 3. That means that, among many other things, they will take control of the House’s investigative committees and subcommittees. GOP leaders have already said they plan to probe the Biden administration’s disastrous policy on the U.S.-Mexico border, the disastrous withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the disastrous failure to stop the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., and more. There is clearly a lot to investigate. But the topic that will receive the most attention in the media and the political conversation will be the investigation into the...

A lone female burglar has been arrested after allegedly breaking into the Upper East Side townhouse of actor Robert De Niro early Monday morning and bagging up all the gifts spread around the Christmas tree while the Hollywood actor was home, according to police. ABC7 New York reports Shanice Aviles, 30, was arrested on burglary charges after she was spotted entering De Niro’s East 65th Street home at 2:45 a.m. Aviles was being tailed by police because she was wanted in connection with six other burglaries. Police sources described her as a recidivist who had just been arrested December 8....

Drew Griffin, CNN’s award-winning Senior Investigative Correspondent, known for getting even the cagiest of interview subjects to engage in a story, died Saturday after a long battle with cancer, his family said. He was 60. A gifted storyteller, Griffin had a well-earned reputation for holding powerful people and institutions accountable. “Drew’s death is a devastating loss to CNN and our entire profession,” CNN CEO Chris Licht said in a note to staff. “A highly acclaimed investigative journalist, Drew’s work had incredible impact and embodied the mission of this organization in every way.” Griffin worked on hundreds of stories and multiple...

Two men who went missing under the ice of Wyoming’s Keyhole Reservoir on Thursday while attempting to assist a rescue mission have been found deceased, according to the Crook County Sheriff’s office. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and the Pine Haven community,” the Crook County Sheriff’s Office said in a Sunday statement. A man had fallen into the ice on Keyhole Reservoir while on a UTV Thursday, but he made it out of the water alive. During that time, however, three more “local citizens” drove onto the ice in another UTV and fell through the ice...

Governments have learnt that fear works – and that is truly terrifying We have returned to the world of Galileo vs the Vatican. Scientific dissidents are again silenced and ostracised for their opinions As the year in which life officially returned to normal comes to an end, we must ask an uncomfortable question. What on earth just happened? We have lived through a period of what would once have been the unthinkable suspension of basic freedoms: interventions by the state into personal life that even most totalitarian governments would not have dared to impose. And we, along with most (not...

The HTMS Sukhothai sank after water flooded its power controls on Sunday night. Images shared by the navy showed some crew who survived in a life raft. On Monday, authorities said they had rescued 75 sailors, but 31 were still missing in rough seas. Officials said the ship went down after it took on water, which flooded its hull and short-circuited its power room. With the power lost, the crew battled to retain control of the ship which listed on to its side before sinking around 23:30 local time Sunday (16:30 GMT). The ship had been on a patrol 32km...

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...

From October 2-4, 2020, the American Institute for Economic Research hosted a small conference for scientists to discuss the Covid-19 lockdowns. Just four days later, Dr. Francis Collins, the retiring Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), would call the three of the scientists in attendance “fringe epidemiologists,” in a directive he sent to Anthony Fauci and other senior staff of his agency. They were “fringe epidemiologists” because they had the temerity to ask whether the lockdowns of 2020 were effective. Those three, Martin Kulldorff of Harvard, Sunetra Gupta of Oxford, and Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford were simply doing...

Donald Trump — meet Kyrsten Sinema. Sen. Sinema (I-Ariz.) recently departed the Democratic Party to become an independent. If Trump follows her lead and runs for president as an independent he instantly launches the most consequential third-party candidacy in American history. Think about it. Polls now show GOP voters increasingly rejecting the disgraced ex-president as the party’s 2024 nominee. If Republicans turn on him, is there any doubt the notoriously thin-skinned Trump will soon start threatening a run as an independent to spite his former party? A third-party platform allows him to stay in the media spotlight and continue to...

U.S. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards said in a new op-ed that it “physically hurts” to talk about the Capitol riot, adding that the House Jan. 6 select committee issuing its report this week represents “nothing final.” Edwards, who was injured in the attack last year and testified publicly this summer before the House panel, said in The New York Times that it could take years for her and other officers to find peace after being traumatized during the rioting. “Many Americans think that the saga of the Capitol riot will soon be at its end,” Edwards said in the...

A wonderful look at some special moments Bob spent with the troops during his many Christmas performances. 10 minutes

(Daily readings from the USCCB)“I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.” Luke 1:19–20Imagine if the Archangel Gabriel appeared to you. What would that have been like? This particular Archangel stands before the incomprehensible beauty and splendor of the Most Holy Trinity and brings forth messages of the greatest importance. Gabriel is God’s most...