Free Republic

Advanced money-laundering techniques and clandestine precursor imports combine to stoke the opioid crisis – can the US stem the flow? For a few days in April, news sites across Latin America were running Instagram photos of a glamorous blond woman enjoying trips around the world. There were pictures of Ana Gabriela Rubio Zea, 32, posing in a blue dress and Yves Saint Laurent handbag outside San Miguel de Allende, ice skating in a miniskirt in Central Park and laughing in the Forbidden City. The social media images were then followed by more recent photos: Rubio, in a sweatshirt and jeans,...

The former Biden administration nuclear official who was axed late last year after they were caught red-handed in a string of luggage thefts was arrested at home this week, police confirmed. Samuel Brinton, 35, was taken into custody at their home in Rockville, Maryland, at 10 p.m. Wednesday, the Montgomery Country Police Department told The Post Thursday. Brinton is currently in custody pending charges of Grand Larceny stemming from allegations of stolen property at Ronald Reagan National Airport that the department learned of in Feb. 2023, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police said. A lawyer for Tanzanian fashion designer Asya...

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 bivalent mRNA vaccines to simplify the vaccination schedule for most individuals. This action includes authorizing the current bivalent vaccines (original and omicron BA.4/BA.5 strains) to be used for all doses administered to individuals 6 months of age and older, including for an additional dose or doses for certain populations. The monovalent Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are no longer authorized for use in the United States. What You Need to Know: Most individuals, depending on age, previously vaccinated with a monovalent...

Beth Ailes, Roger's widow, spoke about her husband's philosophy in running Fox. Murdoch's sons wanted him gone, and after Ailes left, Murdoch has been erasing him from Fox's history. Beth spoke with Tucker since he was let go. She also said that the only person on earth closest to her late husband is Trump. Both are leaders and have the same vision of God, family, and country.

Vaccine developers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) are enrolling healthy adult Americans to test an experimental universal influenza vaccine using mRNA technology.The Phase 1 trial will be conducted at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, the NIAID said on Monday. Researchers will test the experimental vaccine, dubbed H1ssF-3928 mRNA-LNP, for safety and its ability to induce an immune response.For this early-stage trial, the federal research agency is looking for up to 50 healthy volunteers aged 18 through 49. There will be three 10-participant groups receiving 10, 25, and 50 micrograms of the experimental vaccine, respectively....

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revised the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to simplify the vaccination schedule for most individuals. The updated EUAs authorize the use of the current bivalent vaccines, covering the original strain and the omicron BA.4/BA.5 strains, for all doses given to individuals aged 6 months and older, including additional doses for certain populations. However, the monovalent versions of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are no longer authorized for use in the United States. Key Points to Note: Individuals previously vaccinated with a monovalent COVID-19 vaccine who...

It shouldn’t be a secret that the public education system in the United States is collapsing, although a vast number of people don’t appear to notice that fact. This is a testament to mental inertia. It takes a steady drumbeat of evidence and perhaps the bravery of a few in the MSM to say the quiet part out loud.There has been a modest decline in Americans’ approval of the execrable system, but 42% of Americans still approve of the system either completely or mostly. COVID did enormous damage to the prestige of the system, as has the descent into ideological...

This sounds fun.Two weeks ago, the New York State legislature and the state’s looney tunes chief executive, Governor Kathy Hochul, got together to hammer out a final budget deal for the year. With everything else that goes on during those sorts of negotiations, they still found time to screw the citizens of the state over royally in the name of “climate change.”As part of last week’s budget deal, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Legislature ordered the New York Power Authority to shut down all its fossil-fuel plants in just seven years — even though gas-fired plants supply nearly half the...

“Thus It Is Written, Thus You Shall Preach” (Luke 24:44-53) During the forty days from Christ’s resurrection to his ascension, our Lord met with his disciples on a number of occasions. Jesus was preparing these disciples to be his apostles, his sent-out ones, who would preach and teach and begin to carry out the church’s worldwide mission. So he needed to instruct them, to make it clear to them what their mission would be. And that’s what we find going on in the reading today from Luke 24. Jesus makes clear what the content of their preaching and teaching will...

Yes, it has come to this. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) tweeted Wednesday: “I’m old enough to remember when women actually modeled women’s bathing suits, not men.” Alas, we’re way past that now in our enlightened age. If men can become top female admirals and champion female swimmers, why can’t they model the latest in women’s bathing suits? Mace was responding to a new ad campaign from Adidas, featuring a male model wearing their new women’s swimwear line.I'm old enough to remember when women actually modeled women's bathing suits, not men. 🙃 https://t.co/kOvXvmDzHt— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) May 17, 2023Adidas’ website...

The Ascension Of The Lord Matt 28:16-20 Friends, today is the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. After his Resurrection, Jesus continued to appear to his disciples for a time—the standard biblical frame of forty days—and then stopped. The Ascension of Jesus signals the definitive end of these post-Resurrection appearances and the commencement of Jesus’ operation from the properly heavenly sphere. It is crucial to remember, however, that this distantiation by no means amounts to an abandonment, but rather to an even more intense form of intimacy. To move into heaven, or the divine manner of existence, is not...

At the NFL league meetings in March, the San Francisco 49ers were confident they would be bringing the Super Bowl back to Levi's Stadium. Barring a sudden change of direction, that confidence will be rewarded at the spring owners meetings in Minneapolis next week. There, the 49ers' bid for Super Bowl 60 in 2026 is slated to be approved by the NFL, a league source said, confirming a report by Sports Business Journal. "If the Bay Area has the opportunity, we would be honored to host Super Bowl LX," 49ers president Al Guido said in a statement. Should the Bay...

Since March 2020, we may have experienced the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country. Executive officials across the country issued emergency decrees on a breathtaking scale. Governors and local leaders imposed lockdown orders forcing people to remain in their homes. They shuttered businesses and schools, public and private. They closed churches even as they allowed casinos and other favored businesses to carry on. They threatened violators not just with civil penalties but with criminal sanctions too. They surveilled church parking lots, recorded license plates, and issued notices warning that attendance at even outdoor services...

While it may have taken a little longer than House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) would have liked – something he joked about – he got the votes to become speaker. He also got his plan to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending, known as the Limit, Save, Grow Act, to pass the House, which so far represents the only plan passed to avoid default. Amidst such developments, the speaker's approval ratings seem to be doing pretty well. He even has a net positive, according to a recently released poll from The Economist/YouGov. McCarthy has a favorability rating of 40...

Protesters, drag performers and at least one adult in a so-called “furry” costume were on hand last weekend for a “family-friendly drag show” that was moved to a local church at the last minute.The “Pride Prom” event hosted by Grayson County Pride was originally scheduled for May 13 at Pecan Grove Park West in Sherman, located about 65 miles north of Dallas.Prior to the event, however, the location was reportedly changed to 118 W Pecan Street, which is the address of the Mosaic Campus of First United Methodist (FUM) Sherman, according to the church’s website.The location change was first reported...

After Wednesday’s headlines broke that Fox News is reshuffling its primetime lineup in the wake of top-rated host Tucker Carlson’s departure, multiple news outlets and Twitter pundits opined that the moves must indicate that host Laura Ingraham had been fired from her 10 PM show, “The Ingraham Angle.” Not true, several sites including Deadline and Mediate responded Wednesday evening, citing a Fox statement that indicated strong support for the opinionated host.Jessica Jensen Ketner, a senior director of media relations for Fox News said in an email:Reports based on various tweets by left wing activists are wildly inaccurate — Laura Ingraham,...

Non-binary" ex-Biden official Sam Brinton arrested as "fugitive from justice." (Credit: YouTube) Welp, “they” did again.And by “they,” I mean so-called “non-binary,” “gender-fluid,” LGBTQ-advocating ex-Biden official Sam Brinton, who went and got “their self” arrested, again. The former deputy assistant secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy was taken from his apartment in handcuffs.Before we dig in, rather than waste time recovering Brinton’s infamous past, check out the following related RedState articles if you’re so inclined:Former Biden Nuclear Waste Chief Sam Brinton Will Undergo Mental Health Evaluation to Avoid Jail TimeNon-Binary Biden Official...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. US Military Songs: United States Armed Forces Medley When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. Luke 11:21...

The last time we looked in on the stalemate among the White House, congressional Democrats, and Republican leadership in the House on the debt ceiling deal, the talks had been placed in neutral, with only aides for all parties doing the talking. That came after Joe Biden’s administration scrapped a scheduled follow-up meeting for last Friday, readers might recall—nearly a week ago.As Biden was leaving on his trip to Japan and several other pan-Pacific countries, including Australia, on Wednesday, it was announced the trip would be cut short to get back to the negotiating table on Sunday, according to the...

We’ve seen the left losing their minds over Justice Clarence Thomas going on free trips with a friend he’s knowFn for many years. Not only is there nothing improper about this, there isn’t any indication that it had to do with court decisions or that the friend tried to influence Thomas in any way.Why were the Democrats trying to throw things like this up against the wall on Thomas now? Because they want to do all they can to try to invalidate the Supreme Court, specifically by getting rid of Thomas. As Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) explained, this had nothing...