Free Republic

An antisemitic rant by a member of the San Diego County Human Relations Commission has drawn sharp criticism from the local Jewish Communiy. Commissioner Khaliq Raufi said during a meeting on July 18 that he had read “a few verses” in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy — he called it “the book of Jews” — and concluded that “it states go kill Palestinians.” He claimed this is currently taught in synagogues. “Are you serious?” exclaimed someone in attendance during the meeting. Deuteronomy recounts the Jews wandering in the desert after fleeing Egypt and their ultimate entry into the promised...

Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that he has cured cancer from the East Room of the White House.Biden delivered remarks on his administration’s efforts to expand access to mental healthcare (try not to laugh). His entire speech was full of gaffes, lies and bizarre mutterings that reportedly have D.C. Democrats "in a panic" over the 2024 campaign, according to one Axios correspondent. Biden first claimed 100 people died from Covid:This wasn’t just a single verbal stumble either. After saying “over 100 people” died from COVID, Biden then asserts, “That’s 100 empty chairs around the kitchen table.” He never even realized...

"As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." "And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; "And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." Luke,...

A quadruple lynching in rural Georgia on this date in 1946 shocked America. These murders of two African-American couples near Moore’s Ford Bridge are described even to this day as America’s last unresolved mass lynching; that dubious milestone distinction also forms the subtitle of Laura Wexler’s Fire in the Canebrake, a 2004 book about the incident. Just last year — 2015 — the FBI was reported to be investigating the Moore’s Ford lynching anew. SixtySeventy years on, it’s still just possible that a perpetrator or two remains alive who might be brought to book … provided the curtain of silence...

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) explained to skeptical reporters at a Capitol press conference Tuesday afternoon his reasoning for opening the door to an impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden, but McCarthy did not call for one to begin. The House is set to go on a six-week vacation this week. It could be the fall before McCarthy decides to pull the trigger on a Biden impeachment. .... Snip.... McCarthy first dropped the notion of a Biden impeachment inquiry on the Fox News Channel show Hannity on Monday night. McCarthy deliberately mentioned the phrase “rising (or rise) to the...

[Catholic Caucus] Flourishing Latin Mass Community Targeted Outside St. LouisAbove: inside the church of St. Barnabas the Apostle. Parish Website.In 2013, St. Barnabas the Apostle Parish in O’Fallon, MO—about 40 minutes outside of St. Louis—was dying. The pastor, Fr. Ray Hager, was told that the parish would be closed in about five years unless things turned around quickly.In response, Fr. Hager introduced the regular celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass. Over the course of the next decade, the TLM grew rapidly until a majority of the parish consisted of those who attended the old rite. In 2021, St. Barnabas received...

Billionaire financier Leon Black was accused of raping a 16-year-old autistic girl at convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's New York townhouse in a lawsuit filed in New York federal court Tuesday. The lawsuit was the second to accuse Black, the co-founder and former chief executive of Apollo Global Management, of inappropriate sexual conduct stemming from his relationship with Epstein. The woman, who filed the suit anonymously through law firm Wigdor LLP, claims Black violently raped her in Epstein's New York townhouse in 2002. “These allegations — about an incident that supposedly took place 20 years ago — are totally made...

With former President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to Erie, some are wondering about unpaid bills from his previous rallies. City of Erie Mayor Joe Schember is seeking reimbursement from the former president. In 2018, Trump held a campaign rally at the Erie Insurance Arena and still owes the city thousands of dollars following that visit. That event drew more than 10,000 visitors to the arena, which resulted in the closure of several downtown streets. Mayor Schember said he plans to hold the former president accountable. The Donald Trump rally will be held at the Erie Insurance Arena on Saturday, July...

Earlier this year, a 40-year debate over a painting known as the de Brécy Tondo was settled thanks to artificial intelligence–based facial recognition software, with the painting now considered to have likely been the famed Renaissance artist Raphael. Now, that painting has gone on public display for the first time at the Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford, England. For years, the de Brécy Tondo was assumed to be a copy of a work by Raphael made in the Victorian era, in large part because of its resemblance to his Sistine Madonna altarpiece. Hassan Ugail, a professor at the University...

The US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has officially opened an investigation into Harvard University’s use of donor and legacy preferences in its admissions process, following a federal civil rights complaint filed earlier this month just days after the Supreme Court struck down race-based affirmative action in higher education. A spokesperson for the US Department of Education confirmed the open investigation into Harvard’s admissions practices Tuesday. The investigation will focus on whether Harvard “discriminates on the basis of race by using donor and legacy preferences in its undergraduate admissions process,” according to a letter from the Department of...

Malia and Sasha Obama were spotted flying off of Martha's Vineyard on Tuesday after the tragic death of the family's private chef, Tafari Campbell. Campbell, 45, died on Sunday in an accident on Great Edgartown Pond, a large but calm body of water that the Obamas' luxury pad sits on. It remains unclear how exactly Tafari came to drown. He was a competent swimmer and the water where he was paddle boarding is mostly calm, though neighbors say it can be deceptive. There was another paddle boarder on the water at the time, but they have not yet been identified....

— There's been a flurry of activity around medical countermeasures in the last yearEmergency nuclear response programs across several federal agencies have been quietly updating existing preparedness plans in recent months, but one expert warned that the U.S. is still not ready for a potential radiological disaster. With occasional news reportsopens in a new tab or window of hostile nuclear-armed nationsopens in a new tab or window and summer blockbusters -- like "Oppenheimer" -- re-stoking fears of nuclear fallout, dozens of federal and local government agencies have engaged in efforts to address potential shortfalls or gaps in preparedness planning for...

1. Bloody Mary - Sandusky, Ohio It's said that Mary lives deep beneath the waters of Sandusky Bay, waiting to steal the body parts of young women. We all know the tale about standing in front of a mirror in the dark and saying her name three times, but this is a different legend. The story claims that she fell in love with a young man and when she failed to win him over, she turned to black magic. She lured him to the bay using a beautiful doll she had created by collecting the best body parts from women...

Seeing how effective and inexpensive the payments to the Biden family have been in redirecting US policies and actions toward China, the government is now offering bounties of up to a million dollars to individuals who help them capture or kill their country's dissidents living in other nations. Qin Gang, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, explained that "so far, we have induced the Biden Administration to exclude Taiwan from its Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, end the Trump plan to track down Chinese spies who were stealing intellectual property, allow our spy balloons to peacefully...

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump So, let’s get this straight? The Democrat SLIMEBALLS in Congress, then headed by Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Impeached me over a PERFECT PHONE CALL (I Won!), and are now Indicting me over their continuing, illegal, and long running Witch Hunt, but Crooked Joe Biden, who has stolen and extorted millions of dollars, won’t be Impeached or Indicted by a very kind, friendly, and politically correct Republican Congress. Gee, that seems very fair to me? MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!! Jul 25, 2023, 3:36 PM

When lawyers try to help Donald Trump with his problems, they often end up with problems of their own. Seventeen different lawyers have been sanctioned over failed lawsuits brought on the former president's behalf. Their attempts include litigation seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and pushing a conspiracy theory blaming the Russia investigation on a smattering of Democratic party operatives. Many of Trump's lawyers, even if they are not sanctioned, end up needing lawyers of their own to ward off the worst consequences. Christina Bobb, for example, has now been entangled in the Justice Department's investigation...

A political gap in excess deaths widened after COVID-19 vaccines arrived, study says BY BILL CHAPPELL A new study finds a gap in excess deaths opened between Republicans and Democrats in 2021, after vaccine access was widened to all adults. Here, a Walgreens worker prepares vaccine shots for school staff in Dayton, Ohio, in February 2021. Image: Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images The pandemic inflicted higher rates of excess deaths on both Republicans and Democrats. But after COVID-19 vaccines arrived, Republican voters in Florida and Ohio died at a higher rate than their counterparts, according to a new study. Researchers...

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Biden is the one “Obstructing Justice,” not me. He didn’t have the PRA, because he wasn’t President. I did. He is fighting hard so they don’t see the documents that he took, especially the Classified Documents taken when he was a Senator, a major no, no !

Jacob Wallace, PhD1; Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, PhD2; Jason L. Schwartz, PhD1 Author Affiliations Article Information JAMA Intern Med. Published online July 24, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.1154 Key Points Question Was political party affiliation a risk factor associated with excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida and Ohio? Findings In this cohort study evaluating 538 159 deaths in individuals aged 25 years and older in Florida and Ohio between March 2020 and December 2021, excess mortality was significantly higher for Republican voters than Democratic voters after COVID-19 vaccines were available to all adults, but not before. These differences were concentrated in counties with...

Nationwide maps reveal how access to children's gender-affirming care is eroding across parts of America - as the issue becomes one of the key political battlegrounds heading into the 2024 Presidential Election. The maps show how minors seeking this care, which can include hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and genital reconstruction, now have to travel as long as nine hours to receive the treatments. Up until the wave of state bans began in 2020 and 2021, there were no restrictions at the federal level for access to these treatments, which in cases are irreversible. As of May 2023, 20 states have...