Free Republic

**SNIP** By far the most important difference is the constitutional distinction in the statuses of the two men at the center of this two-pronged saga: Donald Trump was president of the United States, while Joe Biden was merely vice president of the United States during the time that he absconded with classified documents. That distinction may not seem like a big deal, but from a constitutional perspective, it makes all the difference in the world. The president of the United States alone is vested by Article II of the U.S. Constitution with the "executive Power" of the national government. This...

MSNBC contributor Donny Deutsch said Thursday on “Deadline” that it will take a generation to pass before America recovers from former President Donald Trump’s “assault on truth.” Anchor Nicolle Wallace said, “Donny, I felt many news cycles during the Trump years I wanted to understand the pathology of narcissism. With Gaetz and Boebert, I want to understand disassociation and projection. But with Santos, it’s next level, though. He has lied about everything. What is that?” Deutsch said, “You always wonder what is going on in people’s minds. Look, he got credibly. He got incentive. He got inspiration. He got motivation...

13 January 2023 Friday of week 1 in Ordinary Time St. Hilary Church, Fairlawn, Ohio Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(I).First readingHebrews 4:1-5,11 ©None of you has come too late for God's promiseBe careful: the promise of reaching the place of rest that God had for the Israelites still holds good, and none of you must think that he has come too late for it. We received the Good News exactly as they did; but hearing the message did them no good because they did not share the faith of those who listened. We, however, who have faith, shall...

The Bible In Paintings ~ Encouragement for Appreciating and Applying God's Word ~ JESUS TELLS OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN ֎ Featuring 36 Paintings ֎ L U K E Chapter 10 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as...

Pray For The Peace of JerusalemMatthew 26Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial 31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’[c] 32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” 33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” 34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” 35 But Peter declared, “Even if...

Other references to this story: https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/police-homeland-security-investigation-ongoing-at-a-home-in-colonie-thelma-street https://wnyt.com/top-stories/homeland-security-investigators-descend-on-colonie-home/

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. (7News) — In a letter obtained by 7News, Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney Buta Biberaj said she will no longer prosecute certain misdemeanor charges. The move is being made to focus resources on prosecuting violent crimes, Biberaj said. The charges that will no longer be prosecuted include: Hit and run with property damage Eluding police Reckless driving for speeding under 90 miles per hour Trespassing Petty larceny Drunk in public Underage possession of alcohol Noise complaints Failure to appear You can read the letter below: "Greetings Judges: I would like to have the opportunity to present to you...

Have you gone electric? Elon Musk thinks you should. That’s why he’s slashed Tesla prices in the U.S. and Europe by as much as 20 percent in an effort to get more drivers into electric vehicles (EVs) and out of legacy gas powered alternatives. The aggressive sales drive follows questions raised on Thursday about the safety risks posed by heavy EVs in any collision with lighter vehicles that pushed the head of the National Transportation Safety Board to issue a general warning to all U.S. road users, as Breitbart News reported. Reuter’s reports the dramatic Tesla discounting, which prompted a...

Republicans’ contrived outrage over the Biden administration’s promotion of climate-friendly stoves has me thinking about how unprepared they are for the realities of our high-tech future. Because climate-conscious appliances and devices aren’t going anywhere. Humans’ continued obsession with technology - whether that’s stoves or blockchain platforms to trade goods or high-powered game consoles - is terrible for the environment. Merely producing these things often requires mining for resources, as well as an assembly process that leaves a major carbon footprint. But the energy to run these things, multiplied across the millions of people who use them, really adds up. That’s...

European natural gas inventories fell by 38 BCF over past week. EU nat gas storage 83% full. Current inventories at 3178 BCF

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans’ party preferences were evenly divided in 2022, with 45% of U.S. adults identifying as Republican or saying they were Republican-leaning independents, and 44% identifying as Democrats or saying they were Democratic-leaning independents. The last time preferences were this closely divided was in 2011, with Democrats holding at least a three-percentage-point advantage in each year of the past decade. More generally, stretching back to 1991, when Gallup began regularly measuring party identification and leaning, Democrats have held an edge in most years. The latest results are based on combined data from 2022 Gallup telephone surveys, which encompass...

The jury trial of Richard Barnett, the man famously photographed with his feet on a desk in Nancy Pelosi’s office on January 6, 2021, is underway in Washington, D.C. Nearly two years to the date of his arrest, Barnett finally had a chance to defend himself in court on multiple charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding. But it was not the fiery, outspoken Barnett who provided the most jaw-dropping testimony in the trial so far. To the contrary, one of the government’s own witnesses confirmed under defense cross-examination that “agents provocateur” were heavily involved in instigating the events of...

A group of Vatican conservatives apparently want to remove his woke, anti-capitalist successor Pope Francis in hopes of replacing him with one of their own. The backroom intrigue at the Vatican is heating up as religious Conservatives are plotting to overthrow Pope Francis, makes me think of Revelation 18, actually. This obviously is not the Church that Jesus started at the Cross, but as far as the ‘Whore of Babylon’ goes, it continues to be ‘right on the money’. (snip) FROM THE GATEWAY PUNDIT: The Daily Telegraph reported Sunday that Francis’s conservative adversaries in the Vatican have a “secret plan”...

Florida Gov. DeSantis is emerging as a bigger potential threat to President Biden than former President Trump, polls indicate. Though he’s not as well-known to voters overall, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is emerging as a bigger potential threat to President Joe Biden than former President Donald Trump, according to a new nationwide poll conducted for the conservative Club for Growth. The poll shows Trump losing to Biden 41-48% — an 8-percentage point disadvantage for the Republican that’s outside the poll’s 3-point error margin. But in a head-to-head matchup against DeSantis, Biden gets 42% of the theoretical vote compared to 45%...

In Christ we have "the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of [God's] grace, which He lavished upon us" (Eph. 1:7-8). In Christ we have infinite forgiveness for every sin—past, present, and future. On Israel's Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) the high priest selected two goats. One was sacrificed; the other set free. Before releasing the second goat, the high priest symbolically placed the sins of the people on it by laying his hands on its head. This "scapegoat" was then taken a great distance from camp and released—never to return again (Lev. 16:7-10). The Greek word translated...

I believe most people hope 2023 is a better year than 2022. But I am not counting on it. In just the past two years, our national government has spent roughly $13 trillion and authorized spending trillions more. Politicians use words and phrases like "investments," "long-term savings," "reducing inflation," "protecting Ukraine's sovereignty," etc. to justify this. Clearly, they are either lying or living in a fantasy world. Most of the money is being used to pay off campaign contributors and special interest groups, such as the climate change lobby, or to make politicians look good. Inflation spiked to nine percent...

Watching the wicked prosperA lot of people write about the specifics of elections and politics, but I rarely do. The primary reason for this used to be that I was bored by it. That reason still exists, but it has been demoted. Now the primary reason is that elections no longer matter. I wonder how long this has been so. This latest revelation is merely gravy. These documents and all the others are from Biden’s time as vice-president – which means that, unlike Trump, Biden had no constitutional authority at that time to declassify said documents, much less toss them...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lisa Marie Presley — the only child of Elvis Presley — died Thursday after being hospitalized earlier that day, her mother said in a statement. The singer was 54. “It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement Thursday evening. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — After tidal surges and high winds from the remnants of a rare typhoon caused extensive damage to homes along Alaska’s western coast in September, the U.S. government stepped in to help residents — largely Alaska Natives — repair property damage. Residents who opened Federal Emergency Management Agency paperwork expecting to find instructions on how to file for aid in Alaska Native languages like Yup’ik or Inupiaq instead were reading bizarre phrases. “Tomorrow he will go hunting very early, and will (bring) nothing,” read one passage. The translator randomly added the word “Alaska” in the middle of...

OFF THE MOUTH OF THE YAZOO RIVER, Jan. 3, via CAIRO, Sunday, Jan. 11. The expedition against Vicksburgh was withdrawn from the Yazoo River yesterday, safely. A single attack by the enemy was repulsed by our gunboats. The Yazoo is abandoned as a base of operations, the enemy being impregnable on the front facing that stream. There has been no fighting of moment since last Monday. Nothing has been heard from Gen. BANKS or Admiral FARRAGUT. Gen. MCCLERNAND arrived here on Thursday night. The army are now in transports at Milliken's Bend. No further developments have been made of the...