Free Republic

1 April 2023Saturday of the 5th week of Lent Tomb of St. Nuno Álvares Pereira, Santa Engrácia, Lisbon Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet. Year: A(I).First readingEzekiel 37:21-28 ©I will bring them home and make them one nationThe Lord says this: ‘I am going to take the sons of Israel from the nations where they have gone. I shall gather them together from everywhere and bring them home to their own soil. I shall make them into one nation in my own land and on the mountains of Israel, and one king is to be king of them all; they will...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

Johnny Cash - "If It Wasn't for the Wabash River" (The time Johnny Cash stopped in Lafayette, IN to go fishing, then sang about it)

When Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow last month, China sent a cautionary rebuke to Russia about nuclear threats against Ukraine in a clear message to avoid nuclear war. Putin, who on several occasions had threatened to launch atomic weapons in retaliation against various battlefield escalations, signed onto a no use of nuclear weapons statement in a joint communique. Or at least he did for a few hours. Among the pledges listed, China and Russia agreed that “All nuclear-weapon states should refrain from deploying nuclear weapons abroad.” But no sooner had Xi left Moscow...

In Episode 12 of Islam in America, Ron Branstner and Shahram Hadian discuss the hate rhetoric recently expressed on the Minnesota State Capitol floor. Historic language by a Democrat State Representative, (Muslim) Omar Fateh, projected terror language while invoking dissension on his fellow colleagues across the aisle. This skill set of projecting their own crimes and name calling their opponent is masterfully and artfully creative, even their victims (Republicans) fall victim to the Stockholm Syndrome of obeying and stifling speech. Islam defines itself as submission, relinquishing one’s liberties for the good of their god. His views mirror a political structure...

CHICAGO, Tuesday, March 31. A Cairo special says: "Last Wednesday evening the rams Lancaster and Switzerland undertook to run the batteries at Vicksburgh. As soon as they came within range, the rebels opened a tremendous fire. The Lancaster was struck thirty times. Her entire bow was shot away, causing her to sink immediately, turning a complete summerset as she went down. All the crew except two escaped. The Switzerland was disabled by a 64-pound ball penetrating the steam drum. She floated down, the batteries still firing and striking her repeatedly, until finally the Albatross ran alongside, and towed her to...

“Write it. Shoot it. Publish it. Crochet it, Sauté it, whatever. MAKE.” ~ Joss Whedon The Monthly Create, Make and Share Thread is a monthly gathering of people that love to create and make. From yarn (crochet, knitting), fabric (sewing, quilting), threads (embroidery, weaving), wood crafts, ceramics, artwork and anything else you create and would like to share, this is the place to do it. Sharing something you’ve created and/or made is pure joy...and we need joy in our lives! From complete Newbies that are looking to start that first project, to experienced artists, we would love to hear from...

Wisconsinites have an important decision to make on April 4th between the Constitution and liberal activism. Absentee ballots are already being cast to determine the balance of power on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and the political future of the Badger State could hinge on the outcome. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has the power to re-write congressional maps. That power in the wrong hands – like those of liberal Janet Protasiewicz, the Democrat-supported candidate for the open seat – could spell doom for Wisconsin’s political future and make Wisconsinites less safe.

In some ways, it was the turn of events that Democratic voters had dreamed of and some of the party’s lawmakers had long demanded: After years of telling lies, shattering norms, inciting a riot at the Capitol and being impeached twice, Donald Trump on Thursday became the first former president to face criminal charges. But as the gravity of the moment sank in, Democratic voters, party officials and activists across the country absorbed the news of Trump’s extraordinary indictment with a more complex set of reactions. Their feelings ranged from jubilation and vindication to anxieties about the substance of the...

“This is going to be an enormous undertaking because of the nature of who the defendant is,” said Cyrus Vance Jr., the former Manhattan District Attorney who preceded current DA Alvin Bragg. “Trump has a history of being difficult to keep him and his organization on track,” Vance said. “It is going to be a really big job.” That’s already evident. On his Truth Social platform Friday, Trump trashed the judge — New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan — claiming he “HATES ME” and spelling his name incorrectly in the process. “His name is Juan Manuel Marchan, was...

With Kari Lake's legal complaint alleging systematic signature verification failures in Maricopa County remanded by the Arizona Supreme Court to trial court, closer examination of the signature verification software used by the county reveals a strikingly low threshold for signatures to qualify as "high-confidence" matches. Since falling about 17,000 votes short in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election to Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs, Lake has continued to contest the election results in court, arguing that there were ballot chain of custody and signature verification issues in addition to thousands of Republican voters disproportionately disenfranchised on Election Day, when voting machine errors...

Former President Donald Trump’s first hearing will take place on April 4, a court spokesperson confirmed on Friday. Trump is set to appear at 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday before New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, the spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email. Merchan is the judge who oversaw the case of Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization.

The U.S. government currently holds more than 205,000 BTC as of March 27, making it the largest holder of the world's largest digital currency, owing to its long history of seizures. [At least 120,000 seized from Silk Road]

For his opening monologue tonight, Fox News host Tucker Carlson highlights the increased visibility of the dual justice system as it has shown up in just the past 48 hours. Using the Douglass Mackey conviction and the Donald Trump indictment, both from the state of New York, Carlson puts an exclamation point on the toxic nature of the two-tiered system of justice; accurately noting they are not trying to hide it, because the visibility of it is the point. The leftists in control of power positions want Americans to see their weaponization of that position in order to create fear...

PM 4Liberty, if you want On/Off this listhttps://pluto.tv/live-tv/americas-voicehttps://americasvoice.news/Tune in via Roku/AppleTV/AmazonFire with the America’s Voice App https://americasvoice.appLIVE STREAM all Bannon shows & find past episodes here: https://rumble.com/c/BannonsWarRoom | https://americasvoice.news/playlists/the-war-room/

Former Fed Chair (and current Treasury Secretary) Janet Yellen protected President Obama by raising The Fed’s target rate only once while Obama was in office. Then raised rates 8 times after Donald Trump was elected in November 2016. Well, Fed Chair Jerome Powell was following Yellen’s TLFTL (Too Low For Too Long) playbook by delaying raising rates once inflation hit 2% in March 2021. Unlike Yellen and he zero interest rate policies (ZIRP or ZORP for zero OUTRAGEOUS rate policy). One of the safe assets that Federal regulators encouraged banks to hold was agency mortgage-backed securities. The orange circle denotes...

Donald Trump can't seem to stop talking about his indictment. But once he's arraigned, it's "extremely likely" he'll be put under a gag order, one expert said. Punishment in New York for criminal contempt could be a $1,000 fine or 30 days in jail. Former President Donald Trump can't seem to stop talking about his indictment. But once he's arraigned, it's "extremely likely" that he'll have to, a former senior staffer with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office told Insider. His freedom to rant on Truth Social and say what he wants about his case at rallies will likely change once...

Under questioning by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga) at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Attorney General Merrick Garland denied that enforcing the Constitution's right to a "speedy and public trial" for those accused of crimes during the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol is his responsibility. Clyde pointed out that "it's been more than two years since the alleged crimes occurred. Nearly two dozen of the accused have spent almost two years imprisoned. As the nation's top-ranking law-enforcement officer shouldn't you be doing more to protect these defendants' civil rights?" "Look," Garland replied, "my job is to prosecute these...

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Senate on Thursday gave final approval to a bill that would allow people to carry guns without concealed-weapons licenses, sending the issue to Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 27-13 almost almost straight party lines to pass the measure (HB 543), with Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami, joining Democrats in opposition. The House approved the bill last week, and DeSantis has pledged to sign it. In nixing a decades-old licensing requirement, the bill would allow people to carry concealed weapons without having to meet requirements such as firearms training and background screening. People carrying weapons would...

Douglass Mackey, who went by the alias Ricky Vaughn on social media, was convicted by a federal jury on Friday for a “scheme to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote,” according to a statement from the Justice Department. Mackey was charged one week after President Joe Biden assumed office and roughly four years after his purported offenses. The Justice Department claimed that Mackey had conspired to “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate” people from exercising their right to vote. “Mackey has been found guilty by a jury of his peers of attempting to deprive individuals from exercising their sacred...