Free Republic

Virginia lawmakers approved legislation on Thursday that will make organized retail theft a Class 3 felony. Those convicted of the crime will be eligible for prison sentences as long as 20 years. It will be a Class 3 felony for anyone to conspire or act in concert with one or more people to steal retail merchandise with a value exceeding $5,000 in a 90-day period, with the intent to sell the stolen goods for profit. Approximately $1.3 billion in merchandise is stolen this way annually, according to a state report. Virginia lawmakers approved legislation on Thursday that will make organized...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — State health officials announced Friday that a person who attended an Asbury University revival service has a confirmed case of measles. Officials say the person is a Jessamine County resident and attended the revival on February 18. No other information will be given due to privacy concerns. “Anyone who attended the revival on Feb. 18 may have been exposed to measles,” said Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH). “Attendees who are unvaccinated are encouraged to quarantine for 21 days and to seek immunization with the measles vaccine, which is...

The Bible In Paintings ~ Encouragement for Appreciating and Applying God's Word ~ •Drawings•Engravings•Facades•Frescoes•Illuminations•Miniatures•Mosaics•Photographs•Reliefs•Statues•Tapestries•Windows• JESUS BEFORE PILATE AND HEROD ֎ Featuring 35 Paintings, 1 Relief, 1 Statue and 1 Window ֎ L U K E «Chapter 23*» Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 1 JAMES TISSOT "Jesus Led from Caiaphas to Pilate" And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.” So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Yes, it...

I should write a kids book that’s going to be part of the Great Muscle Cars series. It’s called “The Yugo Persisted.” It’s the inspirational story of how the plucky upstart from behind the Iron Curtain challenged the status quo and took its place beside the Mustangs, GTOs and Camaros of the world. What’s that? The Yugo isn’t a muscle car? Well, it doesn’t have a V8 engine, and it’s been criticized as a hamster-powered deathtrap made of recycled communist ration cards. But it identifies as a muscle car, and who are we to question its lived experience? Nobody’s second-guessing...

Chaya Raichik, the founder of the anti-woke social media account “Libs of TikTok,” is publishing her first kid’s book next month... “I wanted to do the next step, which is to give parents and children a tool that they can use to actually be able to spot predatory behavior,” she told The Post... Raichik’s debut picture book, “No More Secrets: The Candy Cavern,” tells the story of Rose, a second-grade lamb whose new teacher, Mr. Wooly, is more bent on giving his pupils sweets than teaching them about counting and reading. Mr. Wooly urges the young lambs not to tell...

China is considering sending Russia lethal military aid in the form of artillery shells as President Vladimir Putin’s army rapidly depletes its supply of ammunition a year into his invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials said, a prospect that has alarmed those in the Biden administration who believe Beijing has the ability to transform the war’s trajectory. There is no evidence that any weapons transfers have occurred, these officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the U.S. government’s assessment. But if China does move ahead, it would mark the first time Beijing has provided lethal aid in the...

Pray For The Peace of JerusalemMark 6Jesus Walks on the Water 45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.47 Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but...

Newspapers pulled Adams's 'Dilbert' comics and the left thundered its umbrage after Adams reacted to a poll suggesting significant bigotry among black respondents. We know that the left is always looking for an opportunity to silence those who challenge their groupthink. Their target isn’t only conservatives but anybody who disagrees with their worldview even in the slightest possible way. They left lives in the hope that contrarians to their groupthink will either misspeak or express a nuanced and detailed idea that can be extracted, stripped of context, and made to appear bigoted. This gives them reason to mount a social...

An important thing recently happened that may portend cracks in the grip the left’s woke hammer has on western culture and civilization. European countries are directly criticizing a British publisher for re-writing some of children’s author Roald Dahl’s work in the name of woke sensitivity. The western world noticed quite swiftly when Puffin Publishers in England announced they had hired “sensitivity readers” charged with making changes to some of Dahl’s classics, including “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” “James and the Giant Peach,” and “Matilda.” The woke changes focused on eliminating descriptive language that was deemed offensive and gender-based references...

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is leading 33 states attorneys general in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a pair of lower court rulings that could have broad implications for whistleblowers, and the government's ability to go after public fraud.In a 15-page legal brief, Tong and the other AGs are calling on justices to uphold a pair of federal whistleblower lawsuits accusing pharmacy operators of over billing government health insurance programs for prescription drugs.At issue is whether private companies can shield themselves from fraud lawsuits by claiming an "objectively reasonable" interpretation of the federal False Claims Act, which allows...

The speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives is under fire from members of his own party who are accusing him of favoring the interests of teachers unions by blocking votes on parental rights and school choice legislation. On Friday, members of the Wyoming House attempted a procedural motion to sidestep Speaker Albert Sommers (R) and force a floor vote on a bill that would enact a universal school choice. The effort failed on a voice vote. snip Sommers claimed he opposes the parental bill because it infringes on the authority of local school boards. The legislation mirrors a law...

Nebraska state Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh (D) on Thursday pledged to filibuster every bill on the state’s legislative agenda this session if two Republican-backed bills seeking to ban both abortion and gender-affirming health care for transgender youth are not immediately withdrawn. “If this legislature collectively decides that legislating hate against children is our priority, then I am going to make it painful; painful for everyone,” Cavanaugh, one of just 17 Democrats in Nebraska’s unicameral legislature, said Thursday at the state capitol in Lincoln. “Because if you want to inflict pain upon our children, I am going to inflict pain upon this...

(Daily readings from the USCCB)Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Luke 5:27–28Levi had a good life. He made good money and had steady employment as a tax collector. But in an instant, he gave that all up to follow Jesus, and his life immediately changed for the good.This short story of the call of Levi is one that we should take note of. Though you most likely have already made the choice to follow Christ, that choice needs...

An investigation into mRNA quality issues COVID VACCINE Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine contains mRNA fragments called “truncated mRNA.” This is a serious issue on top of the vaccine’s life-threatening safety events. Stunningly, Pfizer submitted falsified mRNA analytical reports to multiple health authorities. The issue of truncated mRNA led the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to raise a “major objection” before its December 2020 conditional approval of the vaccine. What has happened? How have these issues been considered resolved? This two-part series article will address the matter in depth and examine its potential consequences for human health. Summary of Key Facts Pfizer’s COVID-19...

Vaccine passports are one of the major vehicles to create an international digital ID. The CDC, Medicare, and Medicaid have introduced ICD (International Classification of Diseases) “diagnosis codes” for being unvaccinated or partially vaccinated for COVID-19, and also for “other under-immunization status.” These new codes, designated ICD-10, quietly went into effect on April 1, 2022, and were broadly adopted nationwide by January 2023, but we are just learning about them now. “Diagnosis” is a word to designate disease. Is being unvaccinated now considered a disease? Will medical and health services provided by insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid be affected by the...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will visit China on February 28 for a state visit, the Chinese foreign ministry said Saturday. Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has backed Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, with Belarus dependent on its neighbour both financially and politically. "At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will pay a state visit to China from February 28 to March 2," spokesperson Hua Chunying said. Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang told his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleinik that Beijing is willing to work with Minsk to deepen mutual political...

In response to the Bruen decision, a few states have decided to defy the Supreme Court. The first was New York, which took the extraordinary step to declare an emergency, call the legislature into an emergency session, and pass a complicated, extensive statute which criminalized the carry of firearms in such a manner as to render carry outside the home impractical. In spite of several lawsuits contesting the New York law, other states have followed New York’s example. One of those states is New Jersey. Bill A4769 (ACS) was passed into law on December 22, 2022.The lawsuit, KOONS v. REYNOLDS,...

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Ford Motor has been forced to suspend production on its electric F-150 Lightning pickup due to a battery fire. Apparently, the electric pickup was sitting in a holding lot being charged when *poof*. What about those pickups built during this lapse currently sitting in showrooms and garages? The battery in an electric car is where the energy is stored. Therefore, the battery is the equivalent of a normal car’s gas tank. So let me ask you this… What if this many gas tanks had exploded over the same time frame, the past 18 months or so? You think we might...

Former CNN host Brian Stelter defended the media's coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story that was suppressed in the final weeks of the 2020 presidential election. **SNIP** Krakauer surmised that the media was largely hesitant to put a spotlight on the laptop because of the "scars" from 2016 when so much coverage was dedicated to Hillary Clinton's email scandal, which played a major role in her ultimate defeat against Donald Trump. "It's one thing to try to tiptoe into the story and it's another to treat it as if it's this toxic material that completely spins the public in...