Free Republic

For the past 40 years, the LGBTQ+ blood ban has prevented members of the community from donating blood in what can only be deemed a simultaneously discriminatory and damaging policy, particularly in the face of a serious national blood shortage. ... And so in protest of this hateful and harmful ban, artist Zain Curtis has released a new tee shirt featuring the real blood of gay men in order to create an actual "statement piece." As Curtis explained in an announcement post on Instagram, the limited edition shirt is screen printed using a special red ink created by Mother Goods...

One of the worst major coastal flooding events on record — likely near Superstorm Sandy levels — is imminent for parts of the Eastern Seaboard as a soon-to-be bomb cyclone enters the Northeast. This comes in the absence of blizzard conditions on the warm side of the dangerous winter storm that is walloping the Midwest and Great Lakes as it begins to spread toward the East Coast ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend. The Fox Forecast Center said windswept rain is expected Friday in the Northeast as powerful winds blast the region with widespread 50-plus-mph wind gusts. In addition, 60-...

@ThisIsKyleR Stop driving us more into debt @POTUS we don’t have 45 billion dollars to just hand out, millions of Americans are struggling to put food on the table because of the inflation rates under your administration and you’re spending AMERICAN CITIZENS tax dollars like money is endless.

First son Hunter Biden has added a high-profile Washington defense attorney whose client roster includes a who’s-who of embattled politicians to his legal team as House Republicans plan to launch investigations into his overseas business dealings as soon as next month. Abbe Lowell will be responsible for coordinating the 52-year-old Hunter’s defense during the congressional probes that will begin after Republicans take over the House in the new year. “Hunter Biden has retained Abbe Lowell to help advise him and be part of his legal team to address the challenges he is facing,” Kevin Morris — another Hunter Biden lawyer...

Nearly every adult ICU bed in Oregon is occupied, driven by an uptick in respiratory viruses. Portland-area hospitals are operating at a “crisis” level for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began. The dire picture has prompted state health officials to implore people to slap their masks on, once again, to protect against a triple threat of covid, flu and RSV as people travel and gather indoors this holiday season. But like nearly every community confronting a third pandemic winter, the entreaty is just that — a plea. Not a mandate. Health officials in a state that was among...

China sent 39 aircraft and three warships on military drills toward Taiwan on Thursday in a show of force against the self-governing democratic island nation. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said officials detected the aircraft and vessels around 6 a.m. and were closely monitoring the military drills. Thirty of the Chinese aircraft crossed over the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the ministry added in a Twitter post. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the name for China’s forces, sent various warplanes in a southwest direction toward the southeastern region of the island before doubling back. The PLA has recently conducted...

A month after the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi deflected any suggestion she or her staff could have influenced the security that failed that day when the Capitol building was breached. "I have no power over the Capitol Police," she declared. Two years later, that claim is directly challenged by contemporaneous text and email messages made public by five House Republicans showing her staff had direct contact with the officials who planned the security and even edited some of the plans and notifications in the fateful days before tragedy struck. The revelations, released Wednesday in a...

“‘. . . finding one pearl of great value’” (Matthew 13:46). Job’s ancient description of humanity’s relentless quest for wealth sounds amazingly up-to-date: Man puts an end to darkness, and to the farthest limit he searches out the rock in gloom and deep shadow. He sinks a shaft far from habitation, forgotten by the foot; they hang and swing to and fro far from men . . . Its rocks are the source of sapphires, and its dust contains gold. . . . He hews out channels through the rocks, and his eye sees anything precious. (Job 28:3–4, 6, 10)...

Let’s talk about the word “unrelenting.” It means undiminished in intensity or effort, unyielding, uncompromising, incapable of being changed or persuaded by arguments. Unrelenting, constant, sustained, never-ending — what a marvelous description of God’s love! Nothing can hinder or diminish his loving pursuit of both sinners and saints. The Psalmist put it perfectly: “You have hedged me behind and before, and laid your hand upon me…Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there” (Psalm...

In June, the PGA Tour suspended golfers who joined the LIV Golf series, but the latter are allowed to play in the three U.S. majors outside of the PGA Championship — the U.S. Open, the Open Championship and the Masters — because those tournaments are not governed by the PGA Tour and have their own organizational and operating bodies. “Our focus is to honor the tradition of bringing together a preeminent field of golfers this coming April,” Fred Ridley, Chairperson of Augusta National Golf Club, said in a statement. “Therefore, as invitations are sent this week, we will invite those...

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Thursday morning that he’s reached an agreement with colleagues on amendments to the 4,155-page omnibus so the Senate can pass the bill later in the day and give the House a chance to act Friday. And it looks like his savior may be independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), who on Thursday introduced an amendment to increase border funding and resources for border communities and extend the Title 42 health policy that expedites the deportation of migrants seeking asylum in the United States. Sinema’s amendment could give political cover to centrist Democrats to vote...

Majority of students opposed to bringing conservative speakers on campus, report found.. College students at America’s largest 203 colleges continue to censor themselves inside and outside of the classroom, a national survey of 45,000 students concluded. Students play a significant role in censoring free speech on campus, but colleges can enforce policies that protect it, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s third annual College Free Speech Rankings, released in September, for the 2022-23 school year. Adam Goldstein, FIRE’s vice president of research, told The College Fix in an email on December 16 that the wider culture has...

I didn't see a link to the Kari Lake vs Maricopa/Arizona trial day 2, so posting links for people... RSBS on rumble RSBN on rumbleViva Frei This is the channel of a one of the lawyers that was following the rittenhouse trial. He's not able to be there in chat and commentary today, he reported yesterday. others azfamily cbs512 news

The National Football League announced Thursday its Sunday Ticket subscription package would go to Google’s YouTube TV starting next season, marking the league’s second media rights deal with a streaming service. YouTube TV will pay roughly $2 billion a year for the residential rights of the Sunday Ticket package, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal runs for seven years, one of the people said. The agreement will elevate YouTube’s profile in the competitive streaming space. At the start of the 2023-24 season, Sunday Ticket will be available two ways: as an add-on package on YouTube TV and...

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...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday morning announced an agreement to advance the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill before Christmas weekend. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Democrats have been working to pass the omnibus bill before a self-imposed deadline of Thursday to avoid a shutdown at midnight on Friday. But negotiations become sticky after Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) Title 42 amendment threw a wrench in the Senate process. As a result, many critics of the deal were hopeful Congress would be forced to pass a short-term spending resolution (CR) to keep the government open, pending a continued standoff between...

FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT Luke 1:46–56,BR. Friends, in today’s Gospel, we hear the Magnificat—Mary’s great hymn of praise to Yahweh.The hymn commences with the simple declaration, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.” Mary announces here that her whole being is ordered to the glorification of God. Her ego wants nothing for itself; it wants only to be an occasion for giving honor to God. But since God needs nothing, whatever glory Mary gives to him returns to her benefit, so that she is magnified in the very act of magnifying him. In giving herself away fully to God,...

Do I detect a trend in the US Leading Economic Indicator data? The Conference Board’s US Leading Economic Indicator was released this morning and it wasn’t pleasant. The US Leading Index was down -1% MoM in November. On a year-over-year basis, it is down -4.5% YoY as The Fed withdraws its massive monetary stimulus. The good news … for military contractors … is that Biden and Congress have given Ukraine’s Zelenskyy ANOTHER $47 BILLION.

Four significant problems are plaguing boys as they seek to navigate the perilous journey to manhood: They are unguided, ungrounded, unappreciated and, too often, uninspired. Boys in particular, lacking positive male role models, wonder what it means to be a man. They are largely unguided in this effort, as 89% of elementary-level teachers are female, and nearly 21% of boys live in a home without a father present. While these moms are performing a herculean task as a single parent, there is no question that both boys and girls do much better in a home with two parents. While girls...

Actor Tim Robbins did not star in “The Matrix.” Still, it seems someone slipped the leftist Hollywood star the red pill. Robbins, whom no one would ever confuse for a MAGA Republican, seemed remorseful for initial support for draconian COVID-19 policies during a recent interview with British comedian Russell Brand...