Free Republic

Ukraine claimed that Russian troops occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant had planted bombs on the facility’s roof in preparation for an imminent sabotage – even as Moscow accused Kyiv of plotting a “false-flag” attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address Tuesday that he told France’s Emmanuel Macron in a phone conversation about Russian “dangerous provocations” at the plant in southeastern Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s forces seized control of Zaporizhzhia — Europe’s largest nuclear facility — in the first days of the invasion in February 2022, and it has remained in Russian hands for the past 16 months....

In the murky waters of Baltimore's harbor, between the Chesapeake Bay and a decommissioned fort, a red, white and blue buoy marks the spot where Francis Scott Key observed the British bombarding Fort McHenry for a 24-hour period. With the War of 1812 raging, the British had already marched on Washington and set fire to the White House when they set their sights — and ammunition — on the last defense of the United States' industrial port. Key was aboard a ship in the harbor and squinted through smoke to see who had won, as the sun began to break....

Unilever is a £100 billion company, one of the biggest beasts on the London stock market ... But have its bosses gone off their trolley in their mania for 'woke' values? Terry Smith, a leading fund manager and long-term shareholder in Unilever, thinks so. He used his annual letter to his own investors as the forum for an extraordinary broadside at the company's top executives, accusing them of having 'lost the plot'. ... Critics have been uneasy for several years about Unilever's politically correct antics. At times, its posturing would have seemed more at home in an undergraduate common room...

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

BREAKING In Marseille, migrants burned one of the largest libraries in France. The Alcazar Library's collection contained almost a million documents, 350,000 of which were in the public domain. In particular, medieval manuscripts and unique editions.

Screenshots from alleged iCloud "leak" of Hunter Biden videos. As Twitchy readers know (even though the mainstream media have been working really hard NOT to make a big deal about it) a bag of cocaine was found at the White House. We suppose it was easier for them to talk about a suspicious 'bag of white powder' than admit cocaine was found in the White House when the president just so happens to have a son who is ... you know, an addict. Amuse put together a thread from a 'source' that all but ties the bag to Hunter. So...

The Bible In Paintings ~ Encouragement for Appreciating and Applying God's Word ~ The Best of H E Q I “JAMES HE QI studied at Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing Art Institute in China and Hamburg Art Institute in Germany. Now He is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Fuller Theological Seminary (CA) and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Art Institute of RUC (Renmin University of China, Beijing). excerpted from He Qi’s home page 1 HE QI "Ark of Noah" 2 HE QI "Finding Baby Moses" 3 HE QI "The Burning Bush" 4 HE QI "Red Sea Crossing" 5 HE QI...

Shreveport, Louisiana, had the most explosive fireworks on Independence Day when Judge Terry A. Doughty blew up the federal government’s censorship of conservatives on social media. Trump appointed him in 2018 and Doughty is now the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, based in Shreveport. The attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri sued to stop federal agents from coercing social media to censor conservatives or anyone else who dared criticize our government. The deep state cited an extra-constitutional power to fight misinformation and disinformation but the biggest spreaders of lies are the...

CHICAGO — Two women were mugged in Lakeview on Tuesday morning by men who traveled in an SUV that had been carjacked from an off-duty police officer just a couple of hours earlier. The cop does not work for the Chicago Police Department. A separate string of daylight robberies was reported in Lakeview and River North on Monday. The 51-year-old off-duty cop was in his Jeep Cherokee in the 1700 block of East 87th Street around 4 a.m. on the Fourth of July when three men ordered him to get out of the vehicle at gunpoint, according to a CPD...

The history of the influence of Eastern European Jewish Emigre culture has had on Hollywood and the films created in its golden age.

Highland Park, Illinois, celebrated July 4th in somber remembrance, one year after seven people were killed in a mass shooting during the previous running of the city’s parade. The community gathered in a ceremony to remember the seven people killed and dozens injured, and to “reclaim” the Independence Day parade route from the tragedy. STATE WATCH Highland Park shooting marked with remembrance, renewed call for gun reform BY NICK ROBERTSON - 07/04/23 10:38 PM ET SHARE TWEET People participate in a community walk in Highland Park, Ill., Tuesday, July 4, 2023. One year after a shooter took seven lives at...

Christian actor Jim Caviezel has revealed that Disney executives told him to remove all references to God from the script of one of his hit movies. Caviezel, one of the rare vocal Christians in Hollywood, gave a behind-the-scenes insight into working with Disney during a new interview. The humble star played Edmond Dantes in an adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel “The Count of Monte Cristo.” During the making of the hit movie, Caviezel recalled finding himself battling Disney executives over references to God and Christianity, according to Newsbusters. “They wanted me to remove ‘God’ from all the script,” he...

Years of data are now available to test liberal activists’ insistence that the church “must” liberalize its values to avoid disastrous decline in a changing America. In short, we see that churches that go beyond compassion for self-identified members of the LGBTQIA+ community (which we could all do a better job of) to reject clear biblical teaching on sexual morality can expect a dramatic, long-term, and irreversible membership decline, with emptier pews and increasingly uniform liberalism among congregations who remain. Anyone considering the future prospects and decline expectations of congregations or denominations that embrace such a secularized identity should look...

Daniel Black says he started making plans with his doctor to surgically remove his penis just 30 minutes into a consultation concerning his struggles with gender identity when he was 17. Black left the appointment with a prescription for hormonal replacement therapy. At 19, the Czech Republic citizen had his penis surgically removed and received breast implants. Now 23, he is detransitoning, the Daily Mail reported. In a Twitter post, Black said one would have to be “insane to believe bottom surgeries are good for patients.” The surgeons removed Black’s testicles and created a “neovagina.” “The whole experience was horrible...

5 July 2023Wednesday of week 13 in Ordinary TimeThe altar at the Chapel of St. Joseph at Cremona Cathedral, at which St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria was ordained a subdeacon, a deacon, and a priest.Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(I).First readingGenesis 21:5,8-20 ©Hagar and Ishmael, expelled for Sarah's sake, saved by the LordAbraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham gave a great banquet on the day Isaac was weaned. Now Sarah watched the son that Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, playing with her...

Roger Stone was on Jack Posobiec’s show with stories about the JFK assassination. He discussed his theory that Lee Harvey Oswald did not shoot Kennedy and that the Mafia was involved. One thing that did strike a chord is when he said that then-President Trump saw the classified files and told him, “I can’t tell you it’s so horrible. You wouldn’t believe it.” Jack Posobiec interviewed Roger Stone about the JFK assassination. Roger Stone wrote an entire book about the investigation. JACK POSOBIEC: Joe Biden “has extended the classification of files regarding the JFK assassination, but what many people may...

Former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and his lesbian wife have announced their separation after almost 30 years of marriage in a deeply personal interview. De Blasio, 62, and Chirlane McCray, 68, divulged a variety of causes for their split - from Covid to the pressure of her previously declared sexuality - and said they are still going to live together in Brooklyn while seeing other people. In a notably gentle interview with the New York Times, where they were asked to disclose details of their non-divorce, de Blasio also spoke of his recent decision to start dyeing his hair....

On June 28, 2023, Judge Carlton W. Reeves, District Judge in the Southern District of Mississippi and Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission, issued an order dismissing the case against Jessie Bullock for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Mr. Bullock was convicted of aggravated assault and manslaughter in 1992. He served about 15 years in prison. In 2015 Mr. Bullock was convicted of fleeing law enforcement and attempted aggravated assault of a police officer. He served five years of probation. Bullock was charged with knowingly possessing a firearm in May of 2018, although for various reasons, the...

The time an F-22 flew right under an F-4 from Iran: The American-made F-22 Raptor recently made headlines for shooting down multiple objects this February, including one Chinese balloon over U.S. airspace. Back in 2013, an Iranian fighter pilot was approaching an American drone in international airspace when a pair of F-22 Raptors flew right beside him. The words uttered by the Raptor pilot was enough to make the Phantom swiftly turn around. Iranian fighters shot at U.S. drones before One year prior to the Raptor incident, a U.S. Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was intercepted by...

Maryland’s iconic Smith Island faces one of the nation’s most dire forecasts for rising seas, but real estate is booming. ... More homes have sold on Smith Island in the last three years than in the previous 11 combined, according to sales data. Locals see a story of hope. Their efforts to rescue a 400-year-old way of life tied to tide and season are beginning to bear fruit. Many question the doomsday predictions for the island or hope they can find a way to ride out rising waters. Environmentalists see a dangerous kind of denialism. They say Smith Island’s long-term...