Free Republic

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young and linebacker Will Anderson Jr. made headlines last week when they decided that they will play in the Crimson Tide's Sugar Bowl matchup against Kansas State. In doing so, the two projected top-five picks in this spring's NFL Draft bucked a recent trend in college football of draft prospects sitting out of non-playoff bowl games in increasing numbers. We now know why the two stars have decided to suit up for Alabama one final time. Anderson and Young told reporters on Monday that they're trying to set an example of leadership and accountability for their Alabama...

Many brilliant companies – from Apple to Starbucks – have been founded in the United States, starting out as small ventures to become international leaders in their fields. However, the world of business isn’t always as straightforward as it looks. Regardless of how well-rooted a company’s American history is, it doesn’t mean that it will always belong to Uncle Sam. In fact, many quintessentially American brands are no longer American-owned at all. From Ben and Jerry’s to IBM and Holiday Inn, overseas investors have played a big part in keeping these companies moving forward. Without them stepping in, some of...

Two men have been charged with illegally gaining access to Ring home security cameras in a series of swatting schemes to live stream the police response to the bogus emergencies, federal prosecutors said Monday. The pair allegedly gained access to home security cameras throughout the country from Nov. 7 - 13 in 2020. They obtained access to the Ring devices by hacking the Yahoo! email accounts belonging to victims, authorities said. After aging access to the Ring cameras, Nelson and McCarty allegedly made false emergency reports to local law enforcement agencies where the victims live in an effort to elicit...

MSNBC anchor Ari Melber said Monday during his network’s coverage of the January 6 House Select Committee’s hearing that they “threw the book” at former President Donald Trump. Melber said, “This is a huge deal. They just threw the book at Donald Trump. They just named him and his potential co-conspirators.” He continued, “According to the committee, Donald Trump is a felon, and an insurrectionist, someone who wanted to riot but physically couldn’t get there. According to the committee, he has co-conspirators in Clark and Eastman, people inside the government who were planning the coup. According to the committee, Donald...

Every nation gets the royal family it deserves. Americans once had Hollywood royalty, but Hollywood has decayed into virtue-signaling and television streaming. Meghan and Harry are pretenders to the throne of American royalty for the 21st century. A second-rate actress and a spare-part prince are parodying a European past for a fanbase that cannot remember it. They are speaking their truth even though parts of it are demonstrably false. Americans must have done something terrible to deserve these two. The Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan is not so much a documentary as it is a six-hour Instagram post. It purports...

One of San Francisco's most popular vistas is about to get visited by the Grinch. The Twin Peaks neighborhood is a big target for smash-and-grab car burglaries during the holidays according to local crime data. The spot is popular with locals and tourists alike for its breathtaking views of the city, and that might be exactly what thieves are looking for. While broken auto glass is nothing new at Twin Peaks, city crews are likely to be cleaning up even more of it in the coming days. It's estimated more than a dozen vehicles will be broken into here before...

MONDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT LUke 1:5-25 Friends, our Gospel today is from the first chapter of Luke, which is thoroughly drenched in Davidic themes from the Old Testament. The first thing we hear about Zechariah is that he serves as priest in the Jerusalem temple; and David’s dream was to build the temple in which Zechariah serves. While in the sanctuary, Zechariah is visited by the angel Gabriel; and the temple locale and the announcement of the birth of a child against all expectations brings us back to Hannah’s pregnancy, which resulted in the birth of the...

The UN Human Rights Office on Monday condemned Israel’s deportation to France of Salah Hamouri, the terrorist who plotted to assassinate the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, calling the act a “war crime”. ..... Hamouri is a French citizen and permanent resident of Israel, born in 1985. He has been active for many years in the ranks of the Palestinian Arab terrorist organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In a statement, UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence condemned the deportation of Hamouri, whom he described as a “Palestinian-French human rights defender”, adding that “we are deeply concerned...

El Paso, Texas — Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday granted an 11th-hour request by more than a dozen Republican-controlled states to temporarily pause a lower court ruling that had ordered the end of a COVID-19 border restriction known as Title 42. In a one-page order on Monday, Roberts agreed to place on hold a November ruling that declared Title 42 illegal, pending further action from the full court. Roberts gave the Biden administration until Tuesday evening to respond.

"One of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced"Taking to social media, the ska icons shared that the influential singer had passed away from a “brief illness” aged 63, as well as honouring him as “a beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced”. Posting on Twitter, they shared: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced....

A recent study revealed that low levels of ergothioneine (ET) in blood plasma may predict an increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. It was only in 2005 when scientists discovered a transporter specific for ET that facilitates the uptake and accumulation of ET in the body. Prof Halliwell demonstrated that ET is avidly retained in the human body following oral supplementation, and in preclinical models, ET is transported to almost all organs, although higher levels can be found in specific cells and tissues such as the blood cells, eyes, liver, lungs, and even the brain. Earlier work demonstrated the...

Adam Schiff popped up on CNN’s “State of The Union” show Sunday morning to issue barely veiled threats to Elon Musk for trying to restore free speech on Twitter. Ostensibly, the lame-duck chairman of the House Intelligence Committee joined Jake Tapper to crow about expected charges against Donald Trump on Monday from his January 6 star chamber. But Schiff moved on to complain about the “big problem right now with social media companies and their failure to moderate content and the explosion of hate on Twitter, the banning of journalists on Twitter.” Then he suggested ominously that Twitter and social...

Phantom Lady is the story of a good girl who pretends to be a femme fatale. She does it all for a noble cause, to save the life of an innocent man, but she scares herself by just how well she pretends. The underrated Ella Raines stars as Carol ‘Kansas’ Richman, a dogged secretary who launches her own criminal investigation when the boss she secretly loves is convicted of murder. Although the film’s title, Phantom Lady, ostensibly refers to the condemned man’s elusive alibi—a strange, sad woman who vanished without a trace—it could equally apply to Kansas, a lucid and...

The Vatican has defrocked a US-based priest for "blasphemous" social media posts and activism in support of former President Donald Trump. A letter to US bishops from the Vatican's US ambassador accused the priest, Frank Pavone, of "persistent disobedience". In 2016, Mr Pavone, who heads the anti-abortion group Priests for Life, put an aborted foetus on an altar and broadcast it online. His defrocking cannot be appealed. Defrocking - the process of being reduced to a 'lay state' in which clerical status is taken away from a priest - is among the harshest sanctions available in the Catholic church's canon...

Jurors have found Harvey Weinstein guilty of three out of seven counts he was facing in a Los Angeles sex-assault and rape case. Weinstein was found guilty on counts of forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by foreign object and forcible rape. Jurors reached a not-guilty verdict on one count of sexual battery by restraint and were deadlocked on three additional counts. The jury is expected to return to the courtroom Tuesday to hear arguments on special findings in the case. The 70-year-old former movie mogul was on trial for two rape counts and five sexual assault counts. The charges involve...

Former President Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden in a hypothetical 2024 presidential matchup, the most recent Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll found.The survey asked respondents, “If the 2024 election for President were held today and it was between Donald Trump, the Republican and Joe Biden, the Democrat, who would you vote for?”Overall, 45 percent chose Trump, and 40 percent chose Biden, giving Trump a +5 percent advantage. That reflects a three-point expansion from his lead in November’s survey, which saw Trump besting Biden by two points, or 44 percent to 42 percent.

Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that high doses of cholesterol-lowering statins impair bone quality in mice. The finding came as no surprise for the scientists, who observed the correlation in a big data analysis of the Austrian population in 2019. A 3D detailed imaging technique was used to examine the bone quality of the mice and found that long-term high dose statin therapy had detrimental effects on bone in both males and ovariectomized female mice. Different parts and characteristics of bone, such as volume and thickness, were affected. In male mice, bone volume of the trabecular femur (the...

Update from Ukraine | Ukraine targeted the Main Supply line from Crimea | Ruzzians in shock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziljuaRDHEY Follow on Instagram up to date uploads. https://www.instagram.com/denys_pilot/ SUMMARY & MAPS Military Maps & Comment here: Invasion Day 298 – Summary December 18, 2022 Jerome News The summary of the situation of Russian re-invasion to Ukraine covering the last 48 hours, as of 18th December 2022 – 22:00 (Kyiv time).

Jurors in Los Angeles have reportedly reached a verdict on the sex-assault trial of disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein. Monday marks the 10th day of deliberations, and the jury is expected to announce the verdict in the coming minutes. In a previous report from the City News Service Monday afternoon, the panel spent the morning session re-hearing some testimony.

Amber Heard will pay Johnny Depp $1 million to settle their long-running legal battle, in which each accused the other of domestic violence. The sum is a significant reduction from the $8.35 million she was ordered to pay after a six-week trial in Virginia earlier this year. The payment is expected to come from her insurance carrier. In a statement, Depp’s attorneys said that he would donate the money to charity. His attorneys have previously said that the case was “never about the money” for Depp. In her own statement, Heard said she had “lost faith in the American legal...