Free Republic

After almost a decade of our cultural obsession with twerking, peach emojis and Brazilian butt lifts, 2022 apparently marked the end of the era of the big booty. But this cultural obsession with the derriere, both large and small, actually goes back much further than that — centuries, in fact. And it can tell us a lot about our relationship with gender, race and bodies, according to journalist Heather Radke, whose book, Butts: A Backstory, details the cultural history of the bottom. "For me, butts became a sort of lens through which you can see the world and just kind...

“‘So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous’” (Matthew 13:49). One way that God’s angels serve Him in the judgment is as instruments of separation and execution of final sentence (cf. Matt. 24:31; 25:31–32; Rev. 14:19; 15:5–16:21). This separation will be from among all the living and the dead of humanity from all time—“those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (John 5:29). During His earthly ministry, Jesus repeatedly warned...

When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he made this outlandish seeming offer: “Again, the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.’” (Matthew 4:9, NKJV). This sounds so ridiculous! How could it ever be considered a temptation? Believe it or not, this was a powerful, enticing offer. Satan was challenging Jesus, saying, “I promise that if you’ll merely bow down at my feet in a single...

A man released from prison two months ago is now the suspect in a bizarre DUI incident that included him attacking a Florida deputy, then rapping “you think I’m scared of prison,” according to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. The incident happened on Christmas when a crash was reported at the intersection of Sisco Road and Olivia Lane in Pomona Park, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Pomona Park is about 75 miles south of Jacksonville. “Upon arrival, the deputy made contact with (a man) sitting in the driver’s seat of a Hyundai Sonata that appeared to have...

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers militia who was recently convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, said his case is a harbinger of what the Justice Department has in store for former President Donald Trump The former Army paratrooper and Yale Law School graduate turned militia leader warned that his conviction on the rare Civil War-era charge has set an ominous precedent that should be a wake-up call for conservatives. “Their success in my trial is paving the way for them to keep rolling through other people building up to Trump,”...

When I first heard that 2020’s Miss Puerto Rico and Miss Argentina had secretly gotten married, I’ll be honest—I thought I was hallucinating. A secret queer femme romance born out of pageant culture? When my two favourite things in this world are LGBTQ+ love stories and the movie Miss Congeniality? Are you kidding me?

Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX) said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Alex Wagner Tonight” that Govs. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Greg Abbott (R-TX) and Doug Ducey (R-AZ) should “stop being pricks.” Guest host Alicia Menendez said, “Do you think the upcoming Congress can get anything done that actually addresses some of the systemic issues that we see when it comes to immigration in America?” Castro said, “Yeah, look, we absolutely could. You’ve got a Democratic president, a Democratic Senate, and a Republican House. I’ve seen in the past that where you have divided government like that, it actually provides an opportunity for compromise and...

Nearly half of the passengers on two recent flights from China to Milan tested positive for COVID-19, Italian health officials said on Wednesday. About 38 percent of passengers on one flight into Milan’s Malpensa Airport tested positive for COVID-19, as did about 52 percent of those on a second flight, according to local officials in Italy’s Lombardy region. Italy will begin testing all new arrivals from China and sequencing the tests for new variants amid China’s surge in COVID-19 cases, Italy’s health minister said on Wednesday. “The measure is essential to ensure surveillance and detection of possible variants of the...

A Ukrainian oligarch was arrested in a French ski resort, Ukrainian law enforcement said Wednesday. Officials said Konstantin Zhevago was detained in Courchevel, a famed Alpine ski destination. Ukraine said his property, including millions of dollars in shares, were seized. A Ukrainian oligarch was arrested at an elite French ski resort, Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) said. French law enforcement detained Konstantin Zhevago in a hotel in the famed alpine ski resort of Courchevel on Tuesday, the agency said in a statement. An DBR spokesperson said French police made the arrest after Ukraine asked for it, Interfax reported. Zhevago...

Bold Colour Image depicting the Solar System (NASA) Since the landmark discovery in 1992 of two planets orbiting a star outside of our Solar System, thousands of new worlds have been added to a rapidly growing list of 'exoplanets' in the Milky Way galaxy. We've learnt many things from this vast catalogue of alien worlds orbiting alien stars. But one small detail stands out like a sore thumb. We've found nothing else out there like our own Solar System. This has led some to conclude that our home star and its brood could be outliers in some way – perhaps...

The coalition agreement between the Likud and Otzma Yehudit parties includes an obligation to pass a law imposing taxes on donations from foreign governments to Israeli organizations. This law seeks to impose taxes on extreme left-wing organizations that receive their budgets from foreign countries as well as respond to foreign interference in Israeli domestic politics. Another significant clause in the coalition agreement states that within six months of the formation of the government, a law will be introduced to ban the flying of the PLO flag in state-supported institutions and Israeli municipalities. These two clauses were initially suggested by the...

One of the ringleaders in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was sentenced to more than 19 years behind bars Wednesday — a day after an accomplice was slapped with a 16-year prison term, federal prosecutors said. Barry Croft Jr., 47, was handed the 19½-year sentence by Michigan federal Judge Robert Jonker four months after his conviction for conspiring to kidnap the Democratic governor from her Elk Rapids vacation cottage in 2020. Croft, a trucker from Delaware, was the fourth and final defendant in the plot to learn his fate. The judge described him as “the idea guy”...

After Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn in 1993, he committed himself to another peace agreement, the Gaza-Jericho Agreement with Israel, which he signed. On his way to be readmitted into Judea and Samaria (aka 'West Bank') by Israel he spoke at a mosque in Johannesburg South Africa in May 1994, after signing this second agreement and just days before Israel withdrew from Jericho as a further peace gesture. This speech was secretly recorded by a South African journalist and was subsequently broadcast on Israeli radio. This is part of what he said… ..... “What...

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) admitted it has “no records” of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants released into the country with electronic tracking devices, the agency said in a Dec. 22 letter to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). ICE informed TRAC that it had “no records” of the 377,980 individuals monitored by the agency’s “Alternatives to Detention” (ATD) program used to electronically track illegal immigrants released into the country. TRAC had asked for data via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on those in ATD custody from the start of fiscal year 2019 to August...

We do a lot of online purchasing from large merchants like Amazon to small independent merchants. We have about 20 auto-pays set up on our credit card. Our credit card number gets stolen and we get fraudulent purchases on our card. This used to happen every 18 to 24 months, but it happened September 2022 and again December 2022 (this time Uber and DoorDash)! We watch our account closely and report fraud immediately, so we have never had to pay for the fraudulent purchases. But it is a huge pain to reset all the auto-pay accounts with the new credit...

People think I'm being catty for saying this: it's like, there were 10 years where I couldn't stand my husband," the former first lady said in an interview earlier this month with Revolt. "And guess when it happened? When those kids were little." The Obama daughters, Malia and Sasha, were ages 7 and 10 when they moved to the White House. Their mother said in the interview to promote her new book that the young children posed a challenge as she and the former president advanced their careers.

Russian forces stepped up mortar and artillery attacks on the recently liberated city of Kherson in southern Ukraine on Wednesday, Ukraine's military said, while also exerting pressure along frontlines in the east. Russia fired 33 missiles from multiple rocket launchers at civilian targets in Kherson in the 24 hours to early Wednesday, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in its morning report. Russia denies targeting civilians. Heavy fighting also persisted around the Ukrainian-held city of Bakhmut, now largely in ruins, in the eastern province of Donetsk, and to its north, around the cities of Svatove and Kreminna in...

Scientists found strong evidence that omega-3 fatty acid, folic acid, and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) provided cardiovascular benefits. In addition, Omega-6 fatty acid, L-arginine, L-citrulline, melatonin, magnesium, Vitamin D, zinc, alpha-lipoic acid, catechin, flavanol, curcumin, genistein, and quercetin also showed evidence of reducing cardiovascular risk. A meta-analysis of more than 884 studies finds omega-3, folic acid, and CoQ10 among the micronutrients that reduce cardiovascular risk. Healthy diets are rich in antioxidants like amino acids, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin C, but exactly how beneficial these micronutrients are for cardiovascular health has long been controversial. Now a new meta-analysis published in the...

An estimated 1,000 travelers spent Monday night at Denver International Airport amid a wave of flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines. The number of people having to spend the night in the airport did tumble on Tuesday to 50 or fewer people, Denver International Airport’s Alex Renteria told The Hill in an email. Denver has been at the center of the storm when it comes to flight cancellations. On Monday, more than 460 flights through Denver International were canceled, and the airport saw more canceled flights than any other on Tuesday as well, according to FlightAware. Tuesday saw 362 flights canceled,...

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that causes the cartilage in the joints to break down, leading to pain, stiffness, and difficulty moving. It is a common condition that often affects the hands, knees, hips, and spine. Risk factors for developing osteoarthritis include aging, obesity, and a history of joint injuries. Two recent studies have shown that corticosteroid injections, which are commonly used to treat the pain associated with knee osteoarthritis, may actually contribute to the progression of the disease. These findings were recently presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Osteoarthritis is a...