Free Republic

...In Rome in C.E. 270, Valentine enraged the emperor Claudius II,* who had issued an edict forbidding marriage. Claudius felt that married men made poor soldiers, because they would not want to leave their families for battle. The empire needed soldiers, so Claudius abolished marriage. Valentine, bishop of Interamna, invited young couples to come to him in secret, where he joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. Claudius learned of this “friend of lovers,” and had the bishop brought to the palace. The emperor, impressed with the young priest’s dignity and conviction, attempted to convert him to the roman gods,...

The LG 5.8 cubic foot Capacity Top Load Washer sat in the laundry room, brand new. Maybe it was my imagination, but it looked insouciant. Dad said it was the latest and greatest in laundering technology. Supposedly, some sort of internal sensor system (having something to do with a computer) fine-tuned water levels depending on clothing weight. Or something. I can't remember exactly what he—or was it the moving guy?—said. I did notice the washing machine had several preset wash cycles—Allergiene, Sanitary, Bright Whites, Towels, Heavy Duty, Bedding, and more. You could select them with a shiny, space-age-looking chrome dial....

A Russian spy at the British embassy in Berlin was caught by a sting operation, the OId Bailey has heard. Briton David Ballantyne Smith, 58, was working as a security guard when he passed secret information to Russian authorities. The court heard how two fake Russian operatives working undercover helped lead to his arrest in August 2021. Prosecutors claim Smith held strong anti-UK views and was paid for information. ... Items seized from his flat included travel documents and sheets of blank embassy headed paper. Photographs taken at that address showed a Russian Federation flag, a Soviet military hat, a...

Four Russian aircraft were detected and intercepted over the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone on Monday in what NORAD called a "routine" incident. Two F-16 fighter jets were dispatched by NORAD to intercept the Russian aircraft, which included a TU-95 BEARH-H and SU-35 fighter jet. NORAD also sent out two F-35A fighters, an E-3 Sentry, and two KC-135 Stratotankers to assist. "Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. This Russian activity in the North American ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat, nor is the activity seen as provocative,"...

Does this website still exist? I tried to log on but it still is loading for my email to validate my address and be signed on. I'm trying to reach a poster there who wrote a letter to my mother when my sister died, quite a while ago actually. But cannot get into the website without joining and it never finishes the process.

The European Council met in Brussels on February 9 for a one day summit, which saw President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine make his first appearance in person at an EU meeting since February 2022.It was an occasion which highlighted increasing strains in the bloc, within countries and between them, bringing the vaunted values of the EU once more into question. It was a meeting which highlighted the deepening divisions in the West over Ukraine, the economic fallout of the war policy, and of the vision of EU itself as the guarantor of a uniform, supranational managerial state.This summit was convened...

BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) - One person died after a train crashed on Monday in Blount County, according to Blount County Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Marian O’Briant. Officials were not able to confirm much information, but O’Briant said she would have more information on Tuesday. This is a developing story.

Research Confirms the Stereotype: Liberals Confuse Emotion With Rationality by Selwyn Duke February 9, 2023 Research Confirms the Stereotype: Liberals Confuse Emotion With Rationality Liberals are not only more likely than conservatives to suppose that “emotion is a feature of rationality,” a series of three studies has shown, but also apparently believe it should be. In fact, they consider emotions more “functional” (utilitarian, essentially) than conservatives do despite reporting less emotional well-being. The research was published in the journal Motivation and Emotion. Defining “functional” as “beneficial for individuals for adapting to the environment or attaining their goals,” the authors write...

Fatah praises child killer who murdered 2 brothers aged 6 and 8 and a young man aged 19 for “continuing the path” of other terrorists. Fatah in the Deheisheh refugee camp “eulogized” child killer “through the loudspeakers of the camp’s mosques” The PA, Fatah, the PFLP terror organization, and the PA-funded Prisoners’ Club call child killer a “Martyr"[sic].The murdered children Yaakov Yisrael Paley and Asher Menachem Paley

A Florida man was arrested Monday and charged with assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill after allegedly throwing an alligator through a fast-food chain’s drive-thru window in October. This Oct. 12, 2015 photo provided by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shows an alligator in the kitchen of a Wendy's Restaurant in Loxahatchee, Fla. Joshua James, 24, threw a 3.5 foot alligator through a Palm Beach County Wendy’s drive-thru window nearly four months ago, according to Florida Fish Wildlife and Conservation officials. He was also charged with illegally possessing an alligator and petty theft. A report...

President Joe Biden is a distant second to 'don't know' in an open-ended poll question that asks Democrats who they want to lead their party. Biden, who is chief of the party in addition to running the country for the past two years, was picked by just 12 per cent of respondents in a new AP-NORC poll when asked who Democrats want to lead. That puts him ahead of new leaders bursting onto the scene, as well as longtime legislators, but is not a vote of confidence as he intends to launch a presidential reelection campaign soon.

Police are investigating a violent video from Spencerport that shows an altercation between two classmates. According to the Spencerport Central School District, a ninth-grade student was seeking out a student from Cosgrove Middle School during dismissal. In the video, the older student approached the younger student and slammed him to the ground. The student that was slammed to the ground, according to the district, was evaluated by a medical practitioner after the incident occurred and will be providing support for the student. The school district has shared the video with the Ogden Police Department, which is investigating the incident. The...

President Biden's brother was hired to engage in secret negotiations with the Saudi government on behalf of a US construction company because of his relationship with the then vice president, legal documents claim. Jim Biden was selected because Saudi Arabia 'would not dare stiff the brother of the Vice-President who would be instrumental to the deal,' bombshell affidavits obtained by DailyMail.com allege. Joe's younger brother Jim, 73, was at the center of a $140million settlement negotiation between Hill International and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2012.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the paramilitary Wagner Group that has fought alongside the Russian military in the war in Ukraine, admitted that the "meat grinder" battle for Bakhmut is far from over. -snip- Prigozhin, a Russian businessman, told The Moscow Times, an independent newspaper based in Amsterdam, that his troops "will not be celebrating in the near future" as the battle pushes on. He said Ukraine's military has become more active in the city, pulling in "more and more new reserves" to fight to prevent a Russian breakthrough. Up to 500 new fighters have become engaged in Bakhmut each...

The Philippines lodged a diplomatic protest against China on Tuesday after a Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) ship targeted a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel with a military-grade laser in disputed waters earlier this month. The incident, which reportedly caused temporary blindness among Filipino crew members, occurred near Second Thomas Shoal, 105 nautical miles (approximately 121 miles) off the Philippine province of Palawan — well within the country’s 200-nautical mile (approximately 230 miles) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) — in the West Philippine Sea on Feb. 6. In its eighth protest against the Chinese Embassy in Manila this year — and 203rd...

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV). If you lived to be 500 years old, you would not live long enough to please God by your own works. It doesn’t matter how hard you may try to clean yourself up. Your flesh is not accepted before God; it can’t even be reformed. All flesh was done away with at the cross. Now a new man has come forth: the Christ man. True faith is having confidence in...

NHL player refuses to wear Pride Night jersey during warm-ups, citing religious beliefs BY JARED GANS 01/18/23 03:31 PM ET Philadelphia Flyers' Ivan Provorov, left, and Anaheim Ducks' Max Jones collide during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov refused to wear a rainbow jersey during warm-ups for the team’s Pride Night for LGBTQ inclusion on Tuesday, citing his religious beliefs. “I respect everybody, and I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion,” he said while taking questions...

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said Tuesday on his show “Morning Joe” that Republican Party is to blame for mass shootings while reacting to a mass shooting in East Lansing, MI on the campus of Michigan State University. Scarborough said, “What’s wrong with the country? More specifically, what’s wrong with state legislatures? What’s wrong with governors? What’s wrong with members of Congress? What’s wrong with elected leaders? They don’t do everything that they can to stop mass shootings in America. This does not happen in other industrialized nations.” Co-host Mika Brzezinski said, “This is an American problem.”

Despite President Joe Biden’s claims that inflation is going down, American households did not get any relief in the grocery store aisles. The price of food at home jumped 0.5 percent compared with the previous month. Over the past 12 months, grocery prices have gone up 10.1 percent. Some of the biggest increases in food include: Eggs up 8.5 percent from December and 70.1 percent compared with a year ago. Dairy up 0.2 percent from December and 14.0 percent compared with a year ago. Cereals up 1.2 percent from December and 15.6 percent compared with a year ago. Cookies up...

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 38-year-old Ocala man after he was accused of carrying a machete inside a local store and threatening several employees and customers. On Sunday, an MCSO deputy responded to the Family Dollar located at 6060 SW Highway 200 in Ocala in reference to a suspicious incident. A store employee had contacted the sheriff’s office to advise that a man, later identified as Carl Jay Woodruff, had walked into the store with a black machete in his hand, according to the MCSO report. Upon arrival at the store, the deputy made contact with Woodruff and...