Free Republic

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a week of grueling votes for Speaker of the House — 15 in total — Kevin McCarthy was finally handed the people's gavel and took his rightful place as Speaker. He lifted it up to the raucous applause of both Democrats and Republicans, signaling that the week of Congressional inactivity was over and the long national nightmare of taxing, spending, and corruption could finally begin. "Finally, we will get down to the people's business of stealing all their money for our pet projects, making backroom deals, and holding meaningless investigations where we yell and point angrily...

Pfizer donated $1 million to the Kentucky Republican Party in 2021 in what is being called the highest donation to a political party in state history. The donation will be used to expand the Frankfort Mitch McConnell Building in the state capital. The donation seems like a perfect fit. Mitch McConnell has been a staunch supporter of the COVID vaccine and COVID legislation.

A majority of independents want congressional investigations into the Biden family business prioritized, a Sunday CBS/YouGov poll revealed. Top Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) has launched nine investigations into the Biden family business for potential violations, including money laundering, wire fraud, and tax evasion. The probes are separate from the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into Hunter Biden for tax and gun-related violations.

A Canadian TV journalist suffered a medical emergency in the middle of her report ... and the scary moment was broadcast live on air. CTV reporter Jessica Robb was on a live shot Sunday night with anchor Nahreman Issa when Jessica suddenly became unable to get her message out, stumbling over her words and apologizing before appearing to lose her balance. Before she starts to wabble, Jessica says ... "Sorry, Nahreman, I'm, I'm, I'm not feeling very well right now, and I'm about to just ..." and then the camera cuts away. Nahreman assured viewers Jessica was not alone in...

A Canadian news reporter became faint and appeared to suffer a medical emergency live on air this weekend. Jessica Robb was presenting a segment on CTV's six o'clock news on Sunday when she appeared faint, began repeating her words, and told the host: 'I'm not feeling well.' Her report was cut short and the host in the studio, Nahreman Issa, reassured viewers that Robb was not alone and had support.

The spending cuts that Republican leader Kevin McCarthy promised hard-line conservatives in order to clinch the House speakership are a non-starter in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Senate Democrats and Republicans say that while there is likely to be negotiation over federal spending and the deficit, the position staked out by the House GOP is untenable. An aide to the Senate GOP leadership told the Washington Times that any effort to cut defense spending by the House would be met with hostility. “We’re Republicans, we don’t want to cut defense spending at a time when Russia is waging war in Ukraine and...

A video has emerged that reportedly shows an armed Mexican military light single-engine turboprop aircraft conducting a strafing run against elements of the Sinaloa Cartel in the city of Culiacán earlier today. In other footage, members of the cartel appear to be seen firing Barrett .50 caliber anti-materiel rifles and other small arms at unseen aircraft. Culiacán has been turned into a war zone following a pre-dawn Mexican government raid that led to the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán López, one of the sons of former Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is now alleged to be a top...

Explanation: Comet ZTF may become visible to the unaided eye. Discovered early last year, this massive snowball has been brightening as it approaches the Sun and the Earth. C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will be closest to the Sun later this week, at which time it may become visible even without binoculars to northern observers with a clear and dark sky. As they near the Sun, comet brightnesses are notoriously hard to predict, though. In the featured image taken last week in front of a picturesque star field, three blue ion tails extend to the upper right, likely the result of a...

FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD Matthew 3:13–17 Friends, Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism points to the significance of this foundational sacrament.Listen to the great theologian Gregory of Nazianzen: “Baptism is God’s most beautiful and magnificent gift. . . It is called ‘gift’ because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; ‘grace’ since it is given even to the guilty.” Jesus said, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.” Baptism is the sacramental ratification of that choice.And this is why we speak of Baptism as justifying us and washing away...

@Olivia_Beavers NEWS: Rep. Mark GREEN (R-Tenn.) wins the Homeland Security gavel, I'm told. He beat out Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas).

Louisiana’s Krewe of Endymion rescinded its offer to have Mel Gibson be the co-grand marshal of its 2023 Mardi Gras parade. Endymion President Dan Kelly announced Sunday that the organization's invitation to Gibson, whose past well-publicized antisemitic remarks and other scandals have plagued his career, had sparked threats that were of "great concern." "The Krewe of Endymion has received significant feedback about our grand marshal announcement yesterday evening," Kelly wrote, according to NOLA.com. "Some of this commentary included threats that cause us great concern." Kelly added that it was "in the best interest of the safety of our riders, special...

A federal ‘safety agency’ is considering a ban on gas-powered stoves amid fears of ‘harmful pollutants.’ The US Consumer Product Safety Commission said gas-powered stoves are a ‘hidden health hazard.’

EL PASO, TX — Following a long-awaited and much-publicized visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, President Joe Biden sought to reassure the American people that the nation's southern border is every bit as secure as America's elections.

“The Biden administration finally owned up to what we have known all along,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said Thursday, commenting on a new Energy Department report quantifying how President Joe Biden’s cancelation of the Keystone XL pipeline has hurt Americans and the U.S. economy. Titled “Keystone XL Extension Permit Revocation: Energy Costs and Job Impacts,” the report fulfills a requirement successfully included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by Sen. Daines and Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho). “This report responds to section 40434(b) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. No. 117-58), that requires the Secretary of Energy...

Around 4.7 million Fisher-Price baby seats are being recalled again after they were linked to more than 100 infants’ deaths. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said the recall involves all Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleepers. The inclined baby seats were initially recalled in 2019 after reports of more than 30 infants dying. Since the original recall, more than 70 additional deaths have been reported, including eight that reportedly happened after the recall announcement. Infants using the sleepers can roll from their back to their stomach or side while unrestrained or under other circumstances, according to the CPSC. The American Academy...

Treasury prices rallied further on Monday on expectations of a halt to rising interest rates, although the market faces a hawkish U.S. Federal Reserve that aims to see inflation truly slowing before it can pivot. Fed Chair Jerome Powell could insist when he speaks on Tuesday that more time is needed to show inflation is under control. But consumer price data on Thursday could bolster the market's view that inflation is on track towards the Fed's 2% target.

Although this won't be published until the first week of January or so, today's date is Saturday, December 31st, 2022. The last day in what turned out to be a prophetically supercharged year. In paraphrasing my friend Lee Brainard, we have moved out of the times of simply living through prophetic doctrine, to the times of living through prophetic reality. As I shared with him and some others, I have this weird feeling going on in my brain at the present. This feeling isn't so much prophetic, as it is a mixture between nostalgia, dread, and excitement as we cross...

JERUSALEM, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The Omicron-adapted COVID-19 vaccine booster developed by Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE) sharply reduced hospitalizations among older patients, Israeli researchers said on Monday, in some of the first evidence of the jab's real-world effectiveness. It found an 81% reduction in hospitalizations among people aged 65 and older who had received the booster against those who had previously received at least two COVID vaccinations, but not the Omicron-adapted shot. The study was carried out from the end of September until mid-December and looked at 622,701 people aged 65 and over who were eligible for...

Historic Vids · In 1951, Adelbert Ames created the mind-boggling ‘Ames Window’ Simply fascinating. OPTICAL ILLUSION............. VIDEO AT LINK............................

A former Virginia Tech soccer player will receive $100,000 as part of a settlement after she accused her coach of refusing to play her because she would not kneel during a social-justice demonstration, The Roanoke Times reported. Kiersten Hening filed a federal lawsuit in 2021 against her former coach, Charles "Chugger" Adair, claiming that her First Amendment rights were violated. She agreed to dismiss the suit as part of the settlement, which does not include any admission of wrongdoing on the part of Hening or Adair. Hening claimed that Adair "verbally attacked" her at halftime of a game on Sept....