Free Republic

Having spent a lot of time around academics and media types I learned years ago that people can be smart, talented, and complete dunces at the same time. Orwell captured that reality with his typical genius, explaining: “Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them.” .... Ken Burns–who at his best is a talented documentarian–proved his intellectual bona fides on CNN, displaying once again that intelligence, wisdom, and even attention to reality are entirely different from each other. He is smart, but an idiot. Burns clearly needs an editor and a fact checker in order to sound coherent–and...

SANTA FE — A bill that would ban New Mexico counties, cities and other local bodies from denying or restricting access to abortion, other reproductive services and gender-affirming care is on the brink of heading to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk for final approval. The Senate voted 23-15 to approve the measure on Tuesday, after a nearly three-hour debate that featured the reading of Bible verses, a comparison of abortion to the Holocaust and several senators speaking about their own experiences. Backers said the legislation, House Bill 7, would ensure local governments could not interfere with women’s access to reproductive...

This is an article from Prensa Obrera, a very left wing newspaper. I reproduce it in full and disagree totally with its conclusions. Only the deluded would think that the modern Catholic Church is reactionary. The interest lies in the extended catalogue of unanswered accusations. It also illustrates the political intimacy between the Pope and the Peronists. Cathcon has focused on the past on the remarkable case of Bishop Zanchetta (link to numerous stories) but more to follow on the other cases. The Pope would clearly be less welcome in Argentina than Harry and Meghan in England, a strong contrast...

On March 1, the U.S. tentatively approved the sale $600 million in hi-tech weapons to Taiwan for its U.S.-made F-16 aircraft. The weapons sale would impress anyone familiar with 21st century air to air combat. Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles. AGM-88B High Speed Anti-Radiation (HARM) missiles to destroy communist Chinese land-based radars guiding attacking Peoples Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) jets. Attacking is that last sentence’s critical word. On March 1, 19 PLAAF aircraft violated Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ). They were bluffing attacks. Land radars would play key roles in a communist Chinese assault on the island. Taiwan’s...

A majority of Americans in a new poll have a positive association with the term “woke,” understanding it to mean “to be informed, educated on, and aware of social injustices.” The USA Today-Ipsos poll released on Wednesday found that 56 percent agreed with the more positive definition, while 39 percent had a negative association with the word and understood it to mean “to be overly politically correct and police others’ words.” However, Americans in the poll are divided on whether they consider it an insult to be described as “woke,” with 40 percent calling it an insult and 32 percent...

The White House issued a rebuke of Tucker Carlson’s January 6 video footage on Wednesday, suggesting it was a “false depiction” and adding it was roundly condemned by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and the Capitol Police chief. On Monday and Tuesday, Carlson aired video footage revealing Capitol Police escorting Shaman Jacob Chansley inside the Capitol. In addition, Carlson argued the footage showed that Democrats knew Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick had not been murdered during the riot but misled the public about his death, and that Ray Epps lied to the committee about when he left...

Hershey’s launched it’s HER for SHE campaign for international women’s day featuring trans woman Fae Johnstone and the internet brought out it’s blow torches and pointy hoods. People were so disturbed by the campaign that they took to twitter to do what people do on twitter, engage in constructive conversation. The Federalist, editor-in-chief, Mollie Hemingway, tweeted: “So @Hersheys is featuring a male in costume as a woman for its international women’s day ad campaign.” Conservative commentator, John Cardillo, tweeted: “This to me is the biggest problem. Women remain silent as they’re reduced to a costume theme.” The Federalist, co-founder and...

Whoopi Goldberg told her co-hosts Wednesday on ABC’s “The View” that the Department of Justice should investigate Fox News for its role in recruiting domestic terrorists. Goldberg said, “I have a question. How come this is not thought of as being recruiting? How come they’re not thinking about this as radicalizing?” Co-host Sunny Hostin asked, “Like recruiting domestic terrorists?”

The U.S. government has been funneling taxpayer money to the left-wing group bankrolling protests against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Israeli funding documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. The documents indicate that, since 2020, Foggy Bottom has sent over $38,000 to the Movement for Quality Government (MQG), the Israeli nonprofit stoking nationwide anti-Netanyahu protests that have seen protesters clash with police and target Netanyahu’s family members. MQG is seeking to takedown Netanyahu’s government over his support for major reforms to the Israeli supreme court that would significantly limit its power. The organization petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court earlier...

SNIP In January 2022, Paul and Fauci were at loggerheads again over a Feb. 1, 2020, conference call convened by Fauci, Collins and at least 11 other scientists — four of whom put their names on a first draft of the “Proximal Origins” paper to Fauci and Collins three days later. “Did you communicate with the five scientists who wrote the opinion piece in Nature, where they were describing, ‘Oh, there’s no way this could have come from a lab’?” asked Paul at the time. “That was not me,” Fauci answered Paul. “You keep distorting the truth. It is stunning...

A Thai man was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday for selling calendars featuring satirical cartoons of yellow ducks that a court said mocked the country’s monarch, a legal aid group said. Bangkok’s Criminal Court ruled that the calendar for 2021 containing pictures of yellow ducks in poses resembled and ridiculed Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, diminishing his reputation, the group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said. Yellow rubber ducks were at one point a tongue-in-cheek symbol of Thailand’s pro-democracy protest movement. Narathorn Chotmankongsin was charged under Thailand’s lese majeste law, which calls for three to 15 years imprisonment for...

Michelle Yeoh may have violated the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' "References to Other Nominees" rule after posting Vogue article about fellow Best Actress nominee and two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett. SNIP "Detractors would say that Blanchett’s is the stronger performance — the acting veteran is, indisputably, incredible as the prolific conductor Lydia Tár — but it should be noted that she already has two Oscars,” read the article. “Meanwhile, for Yeoh, an Oscar would be life-changing: Her name would forever be preceded by the phrase ‘Academy Award winner,’ and it should result in her getting meatier parts,...

WWE is in talks with state gambling regulators in Colorado and Michigan to legalize betting on high-profile matches, according to people familiar with the matter. WWE is working with the accounting firm EY to secure scripted match results in hopes it will convince regulators there’s no chance of results leaking to the public, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Accounting firms PwC and EY, also known as Ernst & Young, have historically worked with award shows, including the Academy Awards and the Emmys, to keep results a secret.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal disorder that affects the large intestine. It is characterized by symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea. According to a team of Korean researchers, individuals with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) have a decreased diversity of bacteria in their intestines compared to healthy individuals. This is the first study to establish a clear connection between IBS and a reduction in gut microbiota diversity. The findings were published in the American Society for Microbiology’s journal Microbiology Spectrum. Normally, “More than 10,000 species of microorganism live in the human intestine,” said corresponding author...

Sometimes in politics, which currently saturates everything, worse is better. When a political craze based on a bad idea achieves a critical mass, one wants it to be undone by ridiculous excess. Consider the movement to scrub from the English language and the rest of life everything that anyone might consider harmful or otherwise retrograde. Worse really is better in today’s America (if you will pardon that noun; some at Stanford University will not; read on) as the fever of foolishness denoted by the word “woke” now defies satire. At Stanford, a full-service, broad-spectrum educational institution, an “Elimination of Harmful...

A federal judge in Florida has struck down the Biden administration’s use of policies to mass release migrants into the U.S. interior is unlawful, accusing the administration of turning the border into a "meaningless line in the sand." Judge T. Kent Wetherell ruled in response to a lawsuit from the state of Florida, which alleged the administration’s mass release of migrants via humanitarian parole into Alternatives to Detention -- known as "Parole +ATD" -- is unlawful. In a scathing opinion Wednesday, Wetherell stated the Biden administration had "effectively turned the Southwest Border into a meaningless line in the sand and...

The ethics of Brady v. Maryland By: Commentary: March 2, 2023 Due process lies at the heart of American jurisprudence. Sixty years ago, in the seminal case of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a prosecutor’s suppression of material evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process. According to the Brady court, the due process violation stems from the failure to disclose, not the reasons for the failure. In practice, however, the reasons behind a Brady violation are important and raise significant ethical issues. The Supreme Court of Maryland has expressed...

Islamabad — As the world marks International Women's Day on Wednesday, the women of Afghanistan have little to celebrate. The Taliban regime has methodically stripped them of their basic rights since reclaiming power over the country in the summer of 2021. Forced from most workplaces and higher education, many women with the means to do so have left their country, and thousands now live as refugees in neighboring Pakistan. Journalist and television presenter Nafeesa Malali is among them. She now lives in a small apartment in a remote corner of Pakistan's sprawling capital, Islamabad. As she spoke to CBS News,...

@IAPolls2022 2024 Montana Senate Election Poll Matt Rosendale (R): 46% (+5) Jon Tester (D-inc): 41% GOP Primary: Rosendale — 36% Zinke — 26% Stapleton — 6% ⦿ @OnMessageInc(R) | 600 LV ⦿ MOE: ±4.1% | Feb 18-21

Pop singer Cyndi Lauper committed the great reductio ad Hitlerum sin this week when she said that GOP-led laws banning transgender surgeries on children are just like Adolph Hitler. The “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” singer said Republicans pushing legislation that ban biological males from women’s sports, prevent children from undergoing gender “transitioning” surgery, and forces people to use the bathroom of their desired gender was similar to Nazis “weeding” people out. “Equality for everybody, or nobody’s really equal,” Lauper told ITK. “This is how Hitler started, just weeding everybody out.” …