Free Republic

Tuesday's Morning Joe predictably jumped on the mass shooting at Michigan State to denounce Republicans. Among many such condemnations during the segment, Joe Scarborough said, "there's no other way to put it. It's the Republican party that's allowing this to continue to happen." Beyond that, there was a moment of either utter obtuseness, or shameless hypocrisy, on Scarborough's part when he said: "It's this fetishness that's grown over the past 25 years about all rights, no responsibilities. And I need the most extreme version of whatever right you're handing out, unless, of course, it has to do with a woman's...

Air Moldova announced through its social media accounts Tuesday the country's airspace has been temporarily closed, with some flights being canceled."We are waiting for the resumption of flights. Today's schedule will undergo changes," the company wrote without giving details. Moldovan media outlets have meanwhile said the country's airspace had been breached by one or more drones earlier in the day, which would make the second significant airspace breach in under a week, after a Russian cruise missile fired from the Black Sea briefly briefly entered Moldovan air space days ago.Some reports have indicated "a large number of drones" were observed...

Climate Czar John Kerry is headed to a tropical location in the dead of winter for the sake of fighting climate change. "Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will travel to Nassau, The Bahamas, from February 14-16 and Munich, Germany from February 17-18. In Nassau, Secretary Kerry will continue efforts to advance international cooperation among nations particularly vulnerable to the climate crisis at the 44th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)," the State Department released in a statement Monday night. "In Munich, he’ll participate in the Munich Security Conference to engage...

Two students who were killed when a gunman opened fire on the campus of Michigan State University on Monday night have identified. Alexandria Verner, a 2020 graduate of Clawson High School, was killed in the shooting, according to an email sent by CPS school officials. Brian Fraser, 20, who graduated from Grosse Pointe South, was identified as another victim of the massacre, according to the university's police department. Flavor of Love star Deelishis who had posted to social media on Monday night that niece was missing has now posted and 'RIP baby girl.' The third victim has not been identified....

The European Union has included Russia into the list of countries viewed as tax havens, the EU Council said in its statement released on Tuesday. "The EU continues to promote fair tax competition and address harmful tax practices. The Council today decided to add British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Marshall Islands and Russia to the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes," the EC Council said. "Russia is listed after the code of conduct group screened Russia’s new legislation adopted in 2022 against the good tax governance criteria of the code and found that Russia had not fulfilled its...

A staggering 30% of high school girls in the United States who were surveyed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they had "seriously considered attempting suicide" in 2021, up from (a still shocking) 19% in 2011.Panning back, almost 60% of high school girls surveyed said they felt 'persistent sadness or hopelessness' in 2021, an increase of roughly 60% over the same time period.Though both high-school girls and boys reported experiencing mental-health challenges, girls reported record high levels of violence, sadness and suicide risk, the CDC said. In 2021, 57% of high-school girls reported experiencing persistent feelings of...

A document reportedly linked to black students at numerous universities refers to white people as “maggots,” “vermin” and “roaches.” Altogether the document contains hundreds of derogatory names for white people, with some listed as a “favorite.” One of the listed favorites was “decomposing form of humanity.” Other names referred to white people as “pigs” and “rats.” Auburn University student Jaden Heard, who is not in the campus Black Student Union, provided the document to Turning Point USA on behalf of a member of the group. TPUSA first reported the story on Feb. 3, but Auburn University told The College Fix...

Hoplites are probably one of the first things that come to mind when one thinks of "Ancient Greece". Equipped with a bronze spear and wearing bronze armor or a linothorax, and hefting the aspis—the hoplite’s bronze shield—they fought in phalanxes. The classic mode of fighting in this formation was the "othismos", the push, with the aim being to disrupt the enemy phalanx and break their formation. But, over the past few decades, views on hoplite warfare have been called into question and seriously revised, because there are problems in the source material. So, what are these problems, and how do...

The term "Judeo-Christian values" is frequently used. I am one who uses it. I do so for the same reason the late great British prime minister Margaret Thatcher did: "The truths of the Judaic-Christian tradition," she said, "are infinitely precious, not only, as I believe, because they are true, but also because they provide the moral impulse which alone can lead to that peace, in the true meaning of the word, for which we all long... There is little hope for democracy if the hearts of men and women in democratic societies cannot be touched by a call to something...

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz made it clear to his supporters on Monday night that he’s running for re-election to the Senate, not the White House. “I’m on the ballot in 2024,” Ted Cruz said. “I’m running for re-election.” It was the most direct indication yet that the Texas Republican — who came in second to former President Donald Trump in the 2016 GOP primary and has been open about wanting to make another run for the White House — does not see a path for himself next year. Other Republicans have stepped back from the presidential race, struggling to find...

The Biden administration was caught unawares regarding a Chinese spy balloon that breached US airspace earlier this month. It was detected over Montana and floated for days before being shot down off the Carolina coast. It was a device launched from Central China, and there were multiple opportunities to shoot down this surveillance vehicle. It was not seen as a threat, so everyone moved like molasses. Also, I’m betting that the Biden administration felt no one would care, which was a gross miscalculation. When the White House press pool is all wondering the same thing, like how could this spy...

Prayer, even silent prayer, could be a prosecutable offense in the United Kingdom, thanks to recent developments. Catholic priest Father Sean Gough from Birmingham, England, finds himself in the midst of a legal battle for allegedly violating a censorship zone banning prayer on public streets around an abortion facility. This marks the latest in a string of thought crime cases rocking fundamental freedoms in the U.K. First came Isabel Vaughan-Spruce. The video of her arrest went viral, showing this pro-life volunteer worker interrogated and searched by Birmingham police in response to the mere act of praying in the privacy of...

We live in some pretty tumultuous times right now. So it’s especially important that we cling to some of the traditions that have brought us so much comfort and stability. Traditions like … chemsex: Is it finally time to destigmatise chemsex? | @MichelleLhooq https://t.co/fvPp7ITb7S — UnHerd (@unherd) February 13, 2023 Well, that depends … what the hell is “chemsex”? Let’s find out, shall we? Michelle Loocq, a “drugs + nightlife journalist,” writes at Unherd: When people gather anonymously to talk about dancing in the shadow of drugs and sex, the energy in the room glows with a warm ball of...

OXFORD, Miss. (WCBI) – Oxford Police said an Arkansas woman is facing charges for making bomb threats in Rebel territory. Lily Mestemacher29-year-old Lily Mestemacher is accused of false reporting of placing explosives. Police said they got information that she was mentioning bomb threats in Oxford on social media several times. Mestemacher was arrested in Conway, Arkansas. Bond was set at $50,000.

Some say that the outage has been going on for six hours so far without respite Some drivers say they cannot connect to their Powerwall home battery system Chaos engulfed the electric motoring network as demand appeared to outstrip supply in come areas. According to data from Zap Map there are currently 6712 rapid and ultra-rapid charging devices, across locations in the UK catering for the 420,000 plus cars. Members of a Facebook group called 'Tesla Owners Club UK' expressed their frustration at the queues. One said: 'Someone taking the mick at Tebay? Been here over an hour. Still 15...

I saw this posted on another site. It was just too good not to share here.

A former MSNBC host claims she was told she needed to have the network president vet her commentary if it included any criticism of Hillary Clinton before she ran for president in 2016. Krystal Ball, a former Democratic Party congressional candidate from Virginia, was a co-host of “The Cycle” from 2012 until 2015 for the left-leaning cable news channel owned by Comcast. Ball, 41, recalled her MSNBC monolgue in 2014 when she urged then-Sen. Clinton (D-NY) to not seek the Democratic Party nomination for president. “I did this whole thing that was like, ‘She sold out to Wall Street. People...

Memorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop; Mark 8:14–21 Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus warns his disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod. Conversely, he wanted them to be the leaven that would transform their culture.The Second Vatican Council spoke of the universal call to holiness—the summons of all the baptized to be a transforming leaven in the wider society. The Vatican II fathers wanted to inspire a generation of great Catholic professionals in the hopes that such people would carry the holiness they learned in the Church out to their areas of specialization in the...

In recent years China has been purchasing vast amounts of US land. Texas and Florida are considering enacting legislation that would restrict how much real estate Chinese citizens can buy in their states. Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, complained that "such rules would violate our free market rights. Over the years, Chinese enterprises have invested in the United States and made important contributions to promoting domestic employment and economic development in the United States. This is mutually beneficial to both countries." Mao added that "free trade also helps promote peace. If the exchange of cash for land...

In the lead-up to the 2020 election, out-of-state dark money poured into Alaska to hijack the state’s elections by tricking voters into implementing a ranked-choice voting system. Now, following a midterm election fraught with record-low turnout and confused voters, Alaska’s conservatives are fighting to take back control of their state’s electoral process.Known as Alaskans for Honest Elections, the grassroots organization is leading a statewide signature-collecting effort to put an initiative on the 2024 ballot to repeal Alaska’s ranked-choice voting (RCV) system, which voters narrowly adopted in 2020. Last month, Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom certified the group’s application for a...