Free Republic

Hopefully, the Chinese spy balloon incident will become a turning point, a wake-up call for a divided nation.The sight of a Chinese spy balloon last week has forced many Americans to confront the security threat the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses to America’s homeland. Unfortunately, the CCP possesses something far scarier and deadlier than balloons: a rapidly growing stockpile of nuclear weapons. Measured by the number of nuclear warheads, China has at least 350 as of June 2022, far less than Russia’s 5,977 and the United States’ 5,428. Still, the speed at which China is building up its nuclear arsenal...

Russian President Vladimir Putin himself held only a meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation via videoconference. After the main part, the meeting continued in a narrow format. We discussed the state of affairs at the front and a number of related topics. The President was informed that in connection with the resumption of the offensive in a number of sectors of the front in the last five days, Russian troops have suffered heavy losses both in manpower and in equipment. Putin was also informed about the problems with the provision and the possibility...

The last 2+ years have taken a horrific toll on the American people. Under President Joe Biden, a once thriving economy is saddled with $31.5 trillion in federal debt, stubborn inflation, rising interest rates, and increasing consumer debt. It is not surprising that the latest consumer confidence rating is only 64.90, which is down from 67.20 last year and 80.70 in the last month of the administration of President Donald Trump. Under President Trump, consumer confidence was higher because Americans could afford groceries and gasoline for their vehicles. The inflation rate was much lower and interest rates were manageable, so...

A slide in Russian revenue from oil and gas clashed against the Kremlin ramping up spending on its nearly year-long war against Ukraine, resulting in a wider budget deficit for the country in January. Oil and gas revenue tumbled 46% in January from the same month a year ago to 426 billion rubles ($5.96 billion), Russia's finance ministry said Monday in a preliminary release. It attributed the decline largely to a drop in prices for its Urals blend — its largest crude oil export — and to a fall in exports for natural gas. Russia sold Urals at an average...

James O’Keefe, the founder and President of Project Veritas, has been forced to take a paid leave from the conservative nonprofit media organization as the board discusses whether he should be removed from his leadership position at the company. This report has shocked both supporters and enemies of the news organization, with many wondering whether Project Veritas would continue its success without O’Keefe’s leadership. On Wednesday, it was reported that Project Veritas employees received an email from the company’s executive director, Daniel Strack, informing them that O’Keefe would be taking “a few weeks of well-deserved PTO.” Strack’s email said that...

I have been a long-time fan of Pastor Andy Stanley and his ministry. As a student at Liberty University in the early 1990s, I remember Pastor Andy coming and speaking to our student body in Chapel. The two things that stood out to me the most were: 1. His love for his dad, and 2. His love for God’s Word. He inspired me to want to know God’s Word.Fast forward to today, for the past five years, it appears Pastor Andy has been moving in a new direction. His statement, “You should unhook your plow from the Old Testament” has...

President Joe Biden said Wednesday on “PBS NewsHour” that the United States would not have an economic recession this year or next year. Partial transcript as follow: WOODRUFF: And I want to ask you about that because the picture you painted last night: unemployment, record low — the growth, the economy, what is it? Inflation is coming down, incomes are rising. And yet when you when you mention the polls, when you look at the polls, CBS poll, 64% of Americans think the economy is in bad shape. There’s an NBC poll, 71% think the country’s on the wrong track....

A senior State Department official with the Biden administration to CNN that the Chinese surveillance balloon, which was shot down by an F-22 Raptor on Saturday, was operating with electronic surveillance technology capable of ‘monitoring’ US communications. The balloon “was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations” and was part of a fleet that had flown over “more than 40 countries across five continents.”

New Yorkers will continue to migrate to Florida because of the “ease of living” in the Sunshine State compared to the high-tax, crime-ridden Big Apple, according to a billionaire real estate developer. Stephen Ross, the 82-year-old founder of Related Cos., the company that built the Hudson Yards project on Manhattan’s West Side, told Bloomberg News on Wednesday that he plans to develop even more commercial real estate in Florida outside of the traditional markets of West Palm Beach and Miami. “People are looking from the Northeast and relocating for jobs — not retirement — and companies are looking” for offices,...

Islamic “justice” — which usually finds Muslims in the right, and non-Muslims in the wrong — or rather, tribal justice, has, once again, prevailed in Egypt.Not only have the Muslim men who stripped naked and publicly abused an elderly Christian grandmother been acquitted in a court of law; now she is the one facing serious legal charges to compensate her tormentors.

GoFundMe has removed multiple fundraising pages set up by strangers to help the elderly rancher charged with murder for shooting dead a Mexican migrant on his Arizona ranch.

Everyone seems to have amnesia about Joe Biden’s hatred of Social Security and Medicare. He has tried to cut Social Security, Medicare and Veteran’s benefits as a US Senator. In addition, it was Biden that led the charge to TAX Social Security benefits for seniors. Now Biden has pivoted and is claiming that Republicans are the ones that want to cut Social Security. Wow. Biden simply goes where the political winds blow. Here is where we set today. The cost of insuring for a US debt default remains elevated as the US has hit its statutory debt limit. This is...

Burt Bacharach, one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century, has died aged 94. The US musician composed more than 500 songs during his career and was behind hits such as I Say A Little Prayer, Walk On By, Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, and Do You Know The Way To San Jose...

Mr. DeSantis is expected to launch his presidential bid after the Florida legislature adjourns in May.

Will “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” be replaced with “Mother, Daughter, and Holy Spiritess?” Or none of the above? The Church of England is debating going gender-neutral, not because there is biblical precedent for it, but probably because all of the cool kids are doing it. By way of total disclosure, I was born and raised in the Episcopal Church, which is a direct descendant of the Church of England. I was an altar boy, a term that was changed to “acolyte” when girls started serving on the altar. I was a member of the church well into my 30s...

(NEXSTAR) – Residents of 32 states who rely on federal assistance to buy food are about to see their benefits shrink at the end of the month. An emergency increase to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called the Food Stamp Program) was approved at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For most recipients, that increase amounted to an extra $95 monthly over the past three years. Starting March 1, those emergency COVID-era benefits will end across all states. Seventeen states already saw those benefits expire as of January 2023. One state, South Carolina, ended the emergency allotment at the...

Spoiler---worst state Hawaii: Hawaii Annual groceries cost: $6,419.51 Annual housing cost: $31,797.41 Annual utilities cost: $5,470.22 Annual transportation cost: $4,461.26 Annual healthcare cost: $8,008.27 Total annual expenditures: $91,684.73 How long $1 million will last in savings: 10 years, 10 months, 24 days Where does PA stand?(because I'm from PA) Near the best---for now: Pennsylvania Annual groceries cost: $4,452.04 Annual housing cost: $8,477.33 Annual utilities cost: $4,127.25 Annual transportation cost: $3,785.97 Annual healthcare cost: $6,434.62 Total annual expenditures: $46,389.53 How long $1 million will last in savings: 21 years, 6 months, 16 days Best state? Mississippi Annual groceries cost: $3,880.29 Annual...

9 February 2023Thursday of week 5 in Ordinary Time Church of St. Apollonia, Mezzolombardo, Italy Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(I).First readingGenesis 2:18-25 ©Man and wife become one bodyThe Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate.’ So from the soil the Lord God fashioned all the wild beasts and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it. The man gave names to all the cattle,...

Republican members of Congress vowed to slash funding for “woke” priorities from the defense budget in interviews with the Daily Caller News Foundation. Wokeness is weakening the U.S. military at a time when China’s threat to the U.S. appears to be growing. “We need to scrub everything out that is not increasing our lethality, that does not contribute to our lethality, and turn our budget into making the most nimble, the most powerful military,” Republican Rep. Keith Self of Texas told the DCNF.

Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has convened hearings “on how Democrats, at every turn, blocked investigations into the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history,” said Smith in his opening statement. “Today’s hearing has been a long time coming. For more than two years, Republicans have been sounding the alarm about the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history, the massive fraud perpetrated in the unemployment insurance program that skyrocketed with the COVID-19 pandemic. While many Americans who actually qualified for these benefits were left struggling to reclaim their benefits and...