Free Republic

Arianespace’s medium-lift Vega-C rocket failed to reach orbit on its second mission, resulting in the destruction of the two satellites on board. The rocket, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), built by Italian company Avio, and operated by Arianespace, took off on Tuesday at 8:47 p.m. ET from the Kourou space base in French Guiana, carrying the Neo 5 and Neo 6 satellites for for Airbus’ Pléiades Neo Earth-imaging constellation. The rocket’s first stage separated successfully from the second stage, but trouble ensued shortly thereafter. Around two minutes and 27 seconds after liftoff, the rocket’s second stage, called the...

President Joe Biden may cancel a state visit to the United Kingdom if a deal is not reached on the Northern Ireland Protocol of the Brexit treaty, according to reports. Former British premier Boris Johnson’s rehashed version of Remain voter Theresa May’s Brexit deal left Northern Ireland — an integral part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as the name would suggest — effectively still inside the European Union for the purposes of customs and regulations, with EU judges still having jurisdiction in the Province.

The social media site is a high school popularity contest that creates echo chambers and stifles diversity of thought in the news media. Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has played out in the media for months now. It’s one of those stories that won’t go away. After riding into town on a high horse, talking about freedom of speech and eliminating bias, Musk has proceeded to wield power seemingly based only on his own whims, banning accounts that mock him and setting inscrutable rules for what is and is not permissible. These actions have been relentlessly covered by the news...

(Daily readings from the USCCB)Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Luke 1:64This line reveals the happy conclusion to Zechariah’s initial failure to believe in what God revealed to him. Recall that nine months earlier, as Zechariah was fulfilling his priestly duty of offering sacrifice within the Holy of Holies in the Temple, he received a visit from the glorious Archangel Gabriel, who stands before God. Gabriel revealed to Zechariah the good news that his wife would conceive in her old age and that this child would be the one to prepare the people...

America is inundated with narratives about the nobility of pre-colonial Africa. Hollywood’s “The Woman Queen,” is about an all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey, has elicited lavish praise from corporate media this past summer. High school curricula such as that peddled by the 1619 Project or the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Teaching Hard History” excoriate the West for disrupting (and terrorizing) supposedly peaceful traditionalist African societies. And thousands of African American U.S. citizens have abandoned the nation of their birth by moving to countries such as Ghana in search of a better life — and...

I went to Harvard. Once. Which is to say, I walked around the campus one day a long, long time ago during a visit to Boston. It was pleasant enough. It was almost as pretty as Wesleyan, Princeton, the University of Virginia, Duke, Chapel Hill, Michigan, Michigan State, Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, Claremont, McGill, Cambridge, Leiden, Heidelberg, Tübingen, and at least a dozen or so other campuses that I’ve sampled over the years.Harvard is, of course, the oldest American college. It’s also considered the pinnacle, the zenith, the acme of higher education in the United States. But why? Back when I...

There’s inflation in the air. The US Core PCE deflator slowed to 4.7% YoY in November. But it is still over 2x The Fed’s inflation target. The lower core PCE growth of 4.7% YoY results in a Taylor Rule estimate for The Fed Funds Target rate of 10.10%. Which The Fed will never reach, particularly since the House Of Overlords (the US Senate) just passed a grossly irresponisble omnibus bill of $1.7 trillion laden with insidious pork barrel spending and, on a depressing note, billions for border security in Egypt, Oman and other countries, just not our wide-open border with...

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday that 300,000 people left California in 2022, more than left any other state, amid a general slow increase in the U.S. population as the country recovered from COVID-19. The estimates cover the period from July 2021 to July 2022. It was the third consecutive annual decline for California, the Sacramento Bee noted, though births outnumbered deaths.

Sun Tzu's maxim was certainly true for the 2020 election. I don't need to go into detail because Mollie Hemingway has already shown that the election was rigged.Republicans should have learned that once the votes are cast, it is nearly impossible to litigate fairness. They did not. It's fair to say that in spite of all the talk after the 2020 election about fixing election integrity, very little was done that actually improved things. I must have heard Jenna Ellis bloviating a hundred times about how her Election Integrity Alliance was going to make sure everyone working on integrity was...

Commissioners promise to 'scrutinize this to a degree we've never done before' ... DENVER — State regulators with the Public Utilities Commission questioned Xcel's proposal for an electric rate hike in Wednesday's meeting, following "unprecedented" comments objecting to the proposed increase. Xcel has proposed a $312.2 million revenue increase, which would result in an 8.2% increase ($7.33/month) for the average residential customer. The commission has suspended the effected date of the higher rates, while the case was scheduled to be taken up again to set procedures in early February. Commissioner John Gavan called for the commission to "scrutinize this to...

It is been two years and nine months since the start of the COVID pandemic. In my region of Pennsylvania, the newest milder omicron variants are certainly about, but in greatly reduced numbers compared to last year. There is relatively little morbidity. Nonetheless, we are still forced to mask at the hospital, and once a week, symptomatic or not, because I’m unvaccinated, I am expected to be tested for the virus. Unfortunately, I see no end to this. Regarding the pandemic, I feel like one does after a dangerous storm passes through your town. You spent time in preparation, boarding...

Incredibly — and illogically — the same teachers who push Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the classroom and revel in discussing every conceivable sexual orientation and practice with young students are absolutely determined to keep their charges from being exposed to any Christian symbols during the Christmas season. In fact, they don’t want you to even say the word “Christmas.” The blog We Are Teachers recently reposted a 2018 Facebook article titled “Holiday Decorations Don’t Belong in Classrooms—Period.” So, it’s okay to adorn one’s classroom with a LGBTQ and/or BLM flag, but not with Christmas decorations? Yup. Why? The article...

PM 4Liberty, if you want On/Off this listhttps://pluto.tv/live-tv/americas-voicehttps://americasvoice.news/Tune in via Roku/AppleTV/AmazonFire with the America’s Voice App https://americasvoice.appLIVE STREAM all Bannon shows & find past episodes here: https://rumble.com/c/BannonsWarRoom | https://americasvoice.news/playlists/the-war-room/

One thing we've learned from the COVID crisis is that public health offices attract a lot of weirdos -- officious and certain officials presenting themselves to the public with irrational, and at times, dangerous commands, all presumably for our own good. Most people have never thought about that field until they got an up-close look at the kinds of people running it. Here in the states, we've seen a lot of these misfits, we know that the U.K., Belgium, and Spain have a number of them, too, but Canada is not to be outdone. Here is its chief public health...

The Bible In Paintings ~ Encouragement for Appreciating and Applying God's Word ~ If you please, join us here for special threads on CHRISTMAS EVE and CHRISTMAS DAY JESUS RAISES THE WIDOW'S SON ֎ Featuring 38 Paintings, 1 Photograph, 1 Relief and 4 Windows ֎ L U K E CHAPTER 7 Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town...

Inflation fell once again to a 5.5% annual rate in November, as measured by the gauge favored by the Federal Reserve. The decline in the personal consumption expenditures price index reported Friday morning by the Bureau of Economic Analysis is a sign that inflationary pressures are abating in the face of the Federal Reserve’s campaign to slow economywide spending by hiking interest rates. Nevertheless, inflation is running much hotter than the central bank’s target and dinging household purchasing power. Core PCE inflation, a measure of inflation that strips out energy and food prices and is generally less volatile, is clocking...

There was a time, in years past, when calling someone a hypocrite was taken as an insult to a person’s integrity, or more specifically their lack thereof. That is no longer the case. Today’s political Left, Democrats in particular, now seemingly take pride in their ability to shift positions at will. They do so in all sincerity, with a straight face while facing no repercussions in either the media or at the polls. As Groucho Marx once said regarding politicians: “Sincerity is the key to success. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made.” Democrats have perfected this into...

Former “Beverly Hills, 90210” star Tori Spelling posted to her Instagram Stories on Dec. 21 letting fans know she’d been hospitalized after having difficulty breathing. Spelling’s post doubled as both an update and a clap back at the haters who didn’t believe her when she said she was feeling unwell, according to US Weekly. “Here I am in [the] hospital since late last night,” Spelling wrote in the post. Instagram Stories expire 24 hours after being posted unless the user chooses to save the content. “To all of you who gas lit me when you were told I [was] too...

It is the end of the road for mainstream rear-wheel-drive, four-door internal combustion engine cars. Kia has announced it will end production of the Stinger next year and is sending it out with a run of 1,000 Tribute Edition cars, with 400 earmarked for the U.S. It will be joined in the history books with the Dodge Charger, which is being replaced in 2024 by the all-electric Daytona Charger SRT coupe. Ford, Chevrolet and the non-luxury Japanese brands all stopped selling this type of car years ago as they transitioned to front-wheel-drive and SUV-focused lineups.

@NEWSMAX "The bill actually specifically says that money cannot, cannot be spent to secure our border." Former acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan sounds off on the $1.7 trillion spending bill failing to address the southern border.