Free Republic

Caring for an elderly or permanently disabled family member is a gut-wrenching experience for many families. Not only that, but it’s expensive, often exhausting personal savings and resources. The United States, like many other rich countries, is aging fast, and that means more Americans with diminishing cognitive function and physical disabilities as well as the loss of independence. Providing such care is intensive. In the case of nursing homes, where residents have the most severe needs, round-the-clock attention is especially expensive. Most fund these things through the Medicaid program, but this can come with an unreasonably steep cost. The private...

A 22-year-old transgender man has given birth to twins after going through six rounds of artificial insemination in a bid to get pregnant. Aaden Darr, a Starbucks barista from Charleston, West Virginia, was born biologically female but came out as transgender at 16 years old after identifying as a lesbian for several years and started a course of testosterone. However, he soon came to realize that it was his dream to have a biological child - so he put a stop to his hormonal treatment and visited his local family planning clinic in order to begin the process of having...

there were niceties." That description by Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) of calls between President Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and Hunter’s foreign business associates may, strangely, be the most accurate thing the freshman congressman has ever said. The almost-two-dozen calls — detailed by Hunter Biden's close friend and former business partner, Devon Archer, during a closed-door interview Monday with House Oversight Committee investigators — were indeed "the niceties" of influence-peddling. The calls presumably were intended to show that Hunter Biden could deliver his father and to support what Archer called "the brand." Hunter had no relevant experience or appreciable business...

The expected "slap on the wrist" for felony weapons possession and admission of guilt for two misdemeanor counts of tax evasion in exchange for immunity against any future charges for bribery and influence peddling fell apart after Judge Maryellen Noreika expressed her suspicions about the legality of the deal. When lawyers for the Department of Justice denied that the deal intended to grant immunity for crimes yet to be investigated or charged, lawyers for Hunter Biden withdrew his plea of guilty to the other charges. Chris Clark, Hunter Biden's lead lawyer, fumed over "the Judge 'f***ing up' our carefully negotiated...

New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, the first black woman to serve as speaker of the state Assembly, died Tuesday after being hospitalized with an undisclosed illness. Oliver, 71, was serving as acting governor this week while Gov. Phil Murphy was vacationing in Italy. She was admitted to Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston on Monday, Murphy’s office announced. Oliver, a Democrat from Essex County, rose to the post of Assembly speaker in 2010 before losing the seat to Vincent Pietro in 2013, Fox16 reported.

Pennsylvania state judge ruled that President Donald Trump is protected by presidential immunity for the statements he made creating doubt about the 2020 election results while in office. Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Erdos ruled Monday that 2020 election worker James Savage is unable to sue Trump over the claims, according to The Hill. Trump's immunity includes a tweet and other comments he made from the White House while a Pennsylvania state Senate committee met in November 2022, the judge also said. "Other legal proceedings may examine the propriety of his statements and actions while he was...

Background: Pennsylvania allows you to choose electricity providers. It used to be, years ago, that you had no choice. Whatever company that served your area was the only choice. Now people have a default billing company and then you can choose a provider other than the default, if desired. I take a few minutes every three to six months when my contract is about to expire to search a database of providers and select the best available rate. I suspect most people in PA don’t do this. People are generally lazy. Now I usually don’t open junk mail, but I...

When you hear John Kerry’s last proposal for America and then think about how that poor woman died, remember that you’re seeing the WEF future. Two news stories broke yesterday that seem entirely different superficially but that are, in fact, closely related. The first involves John Kerry. The second is the sad death of “vegan influencer” Zhanna Samsonova. John Kerry is a weasel. I don’t say this because of his political positions. I say this because when it’s pointed out that he owns or has owned five homes, a yacht, a private jet, and multiple very big cars, he always...

VIDEOWe had a recent health alert for our friend, Pastor Charles Henrickson. However, as you can see in this video of Charles at the LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) convention in Milwaukee on Monday, he is alive and well and verrrrry informal. It was mentioned in the Free Republic that Charles was scheduled for a PET scan and I am happy to tell you that he has reported on Facebook that scan showed his cancer is limited to his lung and has not spread to the rest of his body. Perhaps we shall have more videos of informal Charles at...

[Catholic Caucus] The Only Principle of Coherence for Francis’s Anti-Catholic Religion is DemonicOur Lord Jesus Christ established the Holy Catholic Church to safeguard and propagate the truths and graces He wants all men to accept so that they may honor God and save their souls. As a general matter, it is this fact, rather than our particular liking of Catholic teachings and practices, that leads most faithful Catholics to belong to the Catholic Church. As such, the most important thing we need from the Church’s hierarchy is the faithful transmission of those truths and sacraments that Jesus entrusted to His...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), a prominent Senate Republican defense hawk, warned Monday that a Russian nuclear attack against Ukraine would be viewed as an attack on NATO, even though Ukraine is not a member of the alliance. Graham delivered his warning after former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would “have to” use nuclear weapons if Ukrainian forces threaten Russian territory. (snip) Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced a resolution in June stating that any use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia, Belarus or their proxies that spreads radioactive contaminants into NATO territory would be viewed as an attack...

BREAKING OVERNIGHT — The Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis-affiliated super PAC, Never Back Down, reported its finances for the first time late last night, showing who is donating money for the effort and how it’s being spent. Unsurprisingly, many of the high-dollar donors are Florida-based businesspeople. CAUGHT OUR EYE — Destin-based developer Jay Odom contributed $400,000 to the group aiding DeSantis’ 2024 presidential run, according to Federal Election Commission filings. THE BACKSTORY — Odom was indicted in 2013 over a straw donation scheme supporting 2008 candidate Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign. He’s a well-known GOP donor who also played a central role...

The top Christian album on iTunes is performed by a drag queen. Flamy Grant, a man dressed like a woman, said he was overjoyed to learn that his debut album, "Bible Belt Baby," had charted No. 1 on iTunes. Mr. Grant’s name is no doubt an homage to legendary Christian crooner Amy Grant. His debut album includes titles such as, “Esther, Ruth and Rahab,” “What Did you Drag Me Into?” and “Scratches.” And that, ladies and gentlemen, is all you need to know about the current state of affairs in the world of "Christian" music. "Today, for the very...

Rep. Adam Schiff is pushing for a U.S. Postal Service stamp aimed at honoring Leonard Nimoy, praising the “Star Trek” star as an “example of the American dream.” “Live long and prosper!” the California Democrat wrote in a Monday letter to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee and obtained by ITK. “This is a phrase that is part of our lexicon, as is the unforgettable character who first proclaimed those words,” Schiff said. “I am writing to support the creation of a stamp for Leonard Nimoy, an extraordinary activist, actor, and dear friend,” the California Senate candidate said. The advisory committee,...

This is the feast date, in both the Orthodox and Catholic traditions, of the Woman with Seven Sons — each of whom is supposed to have been put to death for refusing to break the Mosaic law by eating pork. Although they are Jewish martyrs more than a century before Christ, they are revered most especially by the Christian faith that elbowed Judaism aside. Their story comes from 2 Maccabees, a “deuterocanonical” text that is part of the Old Testament but not part of the Hebrew Bible — for reasons having to do with the contingent process of formulating the...

Scores of people lined up early to get a seat for today’s UFO hearing in the House Oversight Committee’s National Security Subcommittee. Lawmakers from both parties plied three former military officials, including whistleblower David Grusch, a former Air Force intelligence officer, on the nature of known UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena, the technical jargon for UFO) sightings and direction on how they could dig deeper. There was also bipartisan agreement on the “pressing demand for government transparency and accountability” regarding UAP reports. The witnesses testified to seeing or hearing reports of colleagues seeing objects that appeared as a “dark gray or...

Democrats and members of the establishment media claim “no evidence” implicates President Joe Biden in participating in his family’s influence-peddling scheme, despite powerful allegations to the contrary. After Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s best friend in business, testified Monday before the House Oversight Committee, Democrats and members of the media used a joint talking point to try to discredit his testimony. Archer told House investigators that then-Vice President Joe Biden spoke on speakerphone over 20 times with Hunter Biden’s business associates to promote the Biden “brand.”

The Ark Encounter, a life-sized replica of Noah’s Ark as described in the biblical book of Genesis, has topped a list of the most popular tourist attractions.The website Bet Kentucky recently listed the top 10 “most popular Kentucky attractions in 2023,” with the Williamstown-based, Answers in Genesis-affiliated attraction topping the list.Bet Kentucky organized the list on the basis of rankings on Trip Advisor’s 25 best things to do in Kentucky, then combined it with Google search volume data from AhRefs.com over the last 12 months.The Ark Encounter got first place with around 60,000 searches on Google, followed by Churchill Downs...

America’s ban on incandescent light bulbs, 16 years in the making, is finally a reality. Well, mostly. A rule issued in 2007, rolled back by the Trump administration, and updated last year by the Biden administration, effectively bans the sale of common incandescent light bulbs. The rule went fully into effect Tuesday, August 1. ... The rule passed by President Joe Biden’s Department of Energy in April 2022 states that light bulbs must emit a minimum of 45 lumens per watt. A lumen is a measure of brightness. That effectively outlaws the manufacture and sale of common incandescent bulbs, the...

Americans’ faith in the U.S. military has declined to its lowest level in more than 20 years, according to a recently released poll. Conducted by Gallup from June 1-22, the survey found that over the past five years, an increasing percentage of Americans are now “less likely” to voice “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the U.S. military. According to the poll, 74 percent of Americans expressed such sentiments as recently as 2018. That number has since declined to 60 percent, marking the lowest level since 1997. As noted by Gallup, overall confidence in the U.S....