Free Republic

Voters in Spain go to the polls Sunday in an election that could make the country the latest European Union member to swing to the populist right, a shift that would represent a major upheaval after five years under a left-wing government. Here’s what you need to know about the vote. Opinion polls indicate the political right has the edge going into the election, and that raises the possibility a neo-fascist party will be part of Spain’s next government. The extreme right has not been in power in Spain since the transition to democracy following the death of former dictator...

While hundreds of thousands of actors and screenwriters are currently out of work amid the Hollywood shutdown, those outside of the industry may be wondering if there’s anything they can do to help. Unions representing actors (Screen Actors Guild of America) and writers (Writers Guild of America) are on strike after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke down. Their demands include an increase in base pay and streaming residuals, plus assurances that their work will not be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI). Although there isn’t a magic wand to immediately fix the key issues...

Are you a kid — or do you know a kid — who is learning about climate change?Whether they're asking about historic flooding or wondering about record-breaking temperatures, it can be hard to know where to start. So we made a guide about how it's changing the planet and how to deal with the big feelings you might have when you hear about it.Why we made thisOver the years we've created resources for how parents can talk to their kids about climate change. This time we wanted to make something specifically for kids as they're processing their feelings. We also...

The U.S. is sending additional warships and thousands of Marines to the Middle East to increase security in the wake of Iranian attempts to seize commercial ships there. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday approved the deployment of the USS Bataan amphibious readiness group and the 26th Marine Expeditional Unit to the Gulf region, according to U.S. officials. The readiness group consists of three ships, including the Bataan, an amphibious assault ship. An expeditional unit usually consists of about 2,500 Marines.

A series of climate records on temperature, ocean heat, and Antarctic sea ice have alarmed some scientists who say their speed and timing is unprecedented. Dangerous heatwaves in Europe could break further records, the UN says. It is hard to immediately link these events to climate change because weather - and oceans - are so complex. Studies are under way, but scientists already fear some worst-case scenarios are unfolding. "I'm not aware of a similar period when all parts of the climate system were in record-breaking or abnormal territory," Thomas Smith, an environmental geographer at London School of Economics, says....

India has banned non-basmati white rice exports to curb domestic inflation, raising fears of further increases in global food prices just days after wheat and corn prices were sent climbing by Russia’s termination of a key grain deal. The immediate ban, introduced after heavy rains hit domestic crops, follows the failure of a 20% duty on international exports introduced in September to curb foreign demand, which has soared after extreme climate conditions hit production in countries. India is the world’s largest rice exporter, accounting for more than 40% of global shipments. While the ban does not apply to higher-grade basmati...

Another piece of charter school legislation was vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper late Friday afternoon. The bill would have lessened the caps on enrollment growth. The Charter School Omnibus bill, as it is known, would also allow county commissioners to give property tax proceeds for capital projects. Cooper, a second-term Democrat, previously vetoed the Charter School Review Board legislation. The latest veto by Cooper is his 89th since taking office in January 2017 and 14th this session. Eight of those have already been reversed by successful override challenges, and more are expected. Cooper’s statement on the veto, in full, said,...

New Yorkers could see their Con Edison gas and electricity bills more than double in the next two years due to a newly approved rate hike by the state’s top public utility regulator. Next month alone, Con Ed will spike rates across the city by a staggering 9% as part of the three-year rate plan greenlighted by the state Public Service Commission. The hefty price jump next month is to make up for Con Ed not being able to rake in the higher rates for the first half of this year, the state’s top public utility regulator said. The commission...

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Fox News host Laura Ingraham offered some advice for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday, saying the 2024 presidential candidate’s culture war feuds with Disney and Bud Light ultimately won’t be much help to his campaign. Instead, “What are your specific solutions to protect American jobs and bring down the price of energy?” Ingraham advised.

It is not every day that you come across a dog that can play footvolley, let alone one that can play it so well. In a world where dogs are often seen as just pets, it is always an amazing sight to see one with such impressive skills.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.” (Psalm 37:23)Today, much of the American Church preaches an arrogantly man-centered theology not ordered by the Lord but by sinful men. It is a subjective, evolutionary, ‘feel good’ theology in which the opinions of ministers, elders, deacons and congregants are elevated above the eternally unchanging Authoritative Word of God.

This week Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) released a previously hidden unclassified FBI document, known as an FD-1023, outlining how the Biden business syndicate extracted $10 million from a Ukrainian firm in exchange for protection services to be provided by then vice-president Joe Biden. That "protection" turned out to be engineering the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Burisma Holdings--the energy firm that was paying Hunter Biden $83,000 a month to serve on its board of directors. White House spokesperson Ian Sams accused Grassley of "playing shameless, dishonest politics and refusing to let truth get in the way. The...

Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part...

Poet Emma Lazarus was born on July 22nd, 1849 in New York City. She is most famous for the words: “Give me your tired, your poor,/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,/ The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me ....." She also had some great thoughts about the dangers of anti patriotic crap: "“Let our first care today be the re-establishment of our physical strength, the reconstruction of our national organism, so that in future, where the respect due to us cannot be won by entreaty, it may be commanded, and where...

With no significant breakthrough after six weeks, it is worth asking whether Ukraine’s counter-offensive can ever succeed, for it certainly doesn’t look to be succeeding now. (clip) The question to be asked is: are the Ukrainians prepared – militarily, politically, financially – to carry out months and potentially years of these (frontal assault) attacks to penetrate 1914-18 style defensive belts of tank traps, barbed wire, minefields, bunkers and trench lines? The UK Ministry of Defence has described these Russian fortifications as “some of the most extensive systems of military defensive works seen anywhere in the world”. (clip) Ukraine is already...

FUKUSHIMA—— About 2,000 peaches which were ready for picking have been stolen from an orchard in Date, Fukushima Prefecture, police said Friday. According to police and the orchard owner, a man in his 70s, the peaches were stolen sometime between late Wednesday afternoon and 8 a.m. Thursday, Kyodo News reported. The peaches, which were stolen from 30 trees, are valued at about 650,000 yen. They included the highly sought-after Akatsuki variety. Police have stepped up patrols in several prefectures in the past few years following a spate of fruit thefts. Fukushima is the second largest peach-growing prefecture after Yamanashi. August...

Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison allegedly paid herself millions of dollars in a single bonus payment despite knowing about massive holes in FTX’s finances. Months before FTX filed for bankruptcy, she allegedly moved the money between various accounts until it landed in her own. Crypto exchange FTX spectacularly imploded late last year, dragging Alameda Research, its affiliate trading firm, down with it. Alameda itself was losing huge amounts of money thanks to high-risk bets, with FTX accused of secretly redirecting its users’ funds to its sister firm to help plug its losses. Legal proceedings launched in the wake of FTX’s...

Angel Studios’ anti-people trafficking movie, “Sound of Freedom,” has earned nearly seven times its original budget after only two weeks at the box office.Image from the "Sound of Freedom" movie which was released on July 4, 2023. (Courtesy of Angel Studios)Shedding a light on a dark, shadowy world—especially child sex trafficking—the film’s commercial success comes years after its production, surviving a corporate merger, the COVID-19 pandemic, and reports of several screenings gone awry.The picture owes a lot to two men who wanted everyone to see it—the producer and co-star Eduardo Verastagui and president of Goya Foods, Bob Unanue.Opening on July...

Thousands of young illegal immigrants with tuberculosis were released from U.S. government custody across one year, officials have revealed in a new report. The illegal immigrants, all under 18 years of age, were released to family members or other responsible adults despite having latent tuberculosis infection, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a recent disclosure.The dates of each release were not clear. HHS officials notified state officials from June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023, of the tuberculosis-positive youth over a web-based system operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Aurora...