Free Republic

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) says he is “thinking seriously” about leaving the Democratic Party and declaring himself an independent before the 2024 election, when he will have to decide whether to run for a fourth Senate term or wage a third-party bid for president. Manchin, who earlier this year described himself as an independent Democrat, told West Virginia radio host Hoppy Kercheval on Thursday that the Democratic brand has “become so bad.” “I’m thinking seriously. For me, I have to have peace of mind, basically. The brand has become so bad — the D brand and R brand....

The January 6 Committee defied a demand last year by incoming Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that it preserve all of its records, evidence, and transcripts, and has destroyed much of what it collected over more than a year of investigation. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) made that revelation to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, also noting that the committee had not looked into possible security lapses at the Capitol, and that much of the material the committee did preserve was disorganized. Fox News reported: The House select committee that investigated the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021 failed...

KORNIDZOR, Armenia (AP) — The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warned that Azerbaijan is preparing genocide against ethnic Armenians in its Nagorno-Karabakh region and called for the U.N. Security Council to bring the matter before the international tribunal. A report by Luis Moreno Ocampo issued Tuesday said Azerbaijan's blockade of the only road leading from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh seriously impedes food, medical supplies and other essentials to the region of about 120,000 people.

Word of Faith and famed antinomian “hyper-grace” heretic Joseph Prince is claiming that all your money is cursed and unholy until you give a tithe to the, Lord and that Jesus himself was a tithe and burnt offering given on the cross, which then resulted in the salvation of the whole world. Prince is the senior pastor of the 34,000-member New Creation Church based out of Singapore. Famously, the church spent $500,000,000 to purchase and renovate its church and another $300,000,000 to buy the mall the church was attached to. We last wrote about him after he rejected nomenclature like...

A Georgia prosecutor expected to indict Donald Trump within days for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state has responded to accusations by the former president’s campaign that she is too “incompetent,” “tainted” and “corrupt” to bring the case. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told her staff in a Wednesday email obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that a TV ad alleging political bias and unprofessional conduct on her part was “derogatory and false.” “You may not comment in any way on the ad or any of the negativity that may be expressed against me, your...

The Jan. 6 Committee liked to pretend that they were investigating what happened that day. But the whole thing was about trying to hurt the Republicans in the run-up to the midterm elections because they certainly didn’t seem to care much about anything other than trying to attack former President Donald Trump. And now, there’s more evidence to indicate just how problematic the Committee was in that quest. As we previously reported, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), the chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight for the Committee on House Administration, has been looking into their actions. He says now that the...

(Daily readings from the USCCB)Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. John 12:25This is one of the many powerful and even shocking statements of Jesus. A similar statement by Jesus is found in all four of the Gospels. In this, John’s version, the words “love” and “hate” are used. By loving our lives we lose them, but by hating our lives we preserve them. At first read, one may think that those words “love” and “hate” were accidentally reversed. One might conclude that what Jesus meant to...

Christian author and political commentator Eric Metaxas who we last featured after he sucker-punched a passing Antifa protester in the summer of 2020 and then claimed last year that Christian leaders who don’t talk about Hunter Biden’s laptop or the ‘January 6 hoax’ should be compared to cowardly German pastors who stayed silent during the holocaust during WW2, is seen in a newly unearthed video praising drag queen Charles Busch, noting he is a big fan and lamenting that Milo Yianopolous will never be aware of their “genius.” Charles Busch in drag Metaxas: “I was just asking whether Milo knew...

A Utah man who posted threats to Joe Biden was shot and killed during an FBI raid Wednesday morning.Craig Robertson, 75, was shot and killed early Wednesday morning, according to the FBI in Salt Lake City.According to reports, Robertson was facing 3 counts after posting threats to Joe Biden: Interstate threats, threats against the president, and influencing, impeding and retaliating against federal law enforcement officers by threat.Robertson allegedly threatened to kill Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and officials prosecuting Trump in a series of social media posts.“I hear Biden is coming to Utah. Digging out my old ghillie suit and cleaning...

Miscuffing results in inaccurate blood pressure (BP) measurements, according to a study. Junichi Ishigami, M.D., M.P.H. and colleagues examined the effects of using a regular BP cuff versus an appropriately sized BP cuff on automated BP readings in a randomized crossover trial of community-dwelling adults. A total of 195 adults underwent four sets of triplicate BP measurements, using an appropriate, too-small, or too-large BP cuff in random order, followed by a fourth set with an appropriate BP cuff. The difference in mean BP when measured with a regular BP cuff compared to an appropriate BP cuff was assessed as the...

Welcome to Boss Biden’s America! It reminds of woefully corrupt Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall in New York City. Today’s inflation report revealed that core CPI YoY was 4.7%. While energy prices are down since last year, Food prices are still up 4.9% YoY and shelter (housing) CPI is up 7.7% YoY. Expectations for this morning’s must-watch CPI print were for a MoM and YoY rise in the headline, and modest slowing of the core YoY. However, The Fed will be watching its new favorite signal – Core Services CPI Ex-Shelter – which reaccelerated in July (+0.2% MoM, and from...

BRIG. GEN. MOUSSA SALAOU BARMOU, the chief of Niger’s Special Operations Forces and one of the leaders of the unfolding coup in Niger, was trained by the U.S. military, The Intercept has confirmed. U.S.-trained military officers have taken part in 11 coups in West Africa since 2008. “We have had a very long relationship with the United States,” Barmou said in 2021. “Being able to work together in this capacity is very good for Niger.” Just last month, Barmou met with Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, the head of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, at Air Base 201, a drone base...

The mother of a Michigan man accused of threatening President Biden and other prominent Democrats has been charged with making false statements when purchasing firearms later found in her son’s possession. Prosecutors claim in charging documents unsealed Tuesday that Michelle Berka, 56, knowingly lied when she bought five guns and said they were for her, when really they were for someone else. The indictment does not say to whom Berka gave the firearms, but her son was arrested in March with four of the same guns. Randall Berka II was charged earlier this year with illegally possessing firearms after having...

Maine has the most vacant housing out of all 50 states, according to new research from real estate website LAHomes. The Pine Tree State had an average home vacancy rate of 23.9 between 2011 and 2021, the research shows. The state’s home vacancy rate peaked at 23.3 percent in 2013 and fell to its lowest—22.5 percent—in 2020. Alaska and Vermont have the second and third-highest vacant home rates, respectively. The Last Frontier state has an average home vacancy rate of 21.4 percent during that same time, LAHomes also found. Home vacancy rates reached their highest in Alaska in 2012 and...

Atherosclerosis is a disease in which fat, cholesterol, and other substances build up inside artery walls. This can can block arteries and cause heart attacks and strokes. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid, has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which could help to prevent the buildup of fatty deposits in arteries— a major cause of heart attacks and strokes. DHA supplements are often consumed orally, but most are poorly absorbed by the gut. . To improve the absorption, a research team worked on laboratory models to deliver DHA to the bloodstream that could be more effective...

A Native American group has threatened a national boycott of the Washington Commanders unless the NFL team reverses course and changes its name back to the Washington Redskins. The Native American Guardians Association (NAGA) wrote on Twitter — now X — that the group, along with its Founder and President Eunice Davidson, have sent a letter to the “Washington ‘Commanders’ Ownership & Key Leadership Formally Requesting The Team Revitalize it’s Relationship With The American Indian Community & Rightfully Change Their Name Back to ‘The Redskins.'” In a letter that addressed what the group called the “cancel culture” against the Native...

Labels are useful, though not always totally accurate. The quick, short answer to the question in the title is “no, it’s not,” and I will elucidate further below. The CCP is no more true “communist” than the Democratic Party in America believes in democracy. Calling the CCP “communist” is a misnomer. Just because they have stated a goal—a “communist” society—doesn’t mean they have reached it, or ever want to (and believe me, the CCP doesn’t). Communism has been attempted often in history but never practiced successfully. As Ronald Regan said, “Communism only works in heaven, where they don’t need it,...

With Black voters, DeSantis has 2% support, good for 8th place in the field. Ron DeSantis has fallen behind both Donald Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy in a new national poll, the latest to show the Governor’s slide among GOP Presidential Primary voters. DeSantis has just 10.4% support in a Cygnal survey conducted from Aug. 1 through Aug. 3, putting him 1 point behind Ramaswamy (11.4%). Trump leads with 53.3% support. If there is a positive takeaway for DeSantis, other candidates are in single digits, including fourth place Mike Pence, who has 6.6% support. Still, the Cygnal polling memo spotlights the...

The Barbie film has been banned in Kuwait and faces calls for a ban in Lebanon amid criticism in the Arab world of the movie's social values. Kuwait acted to protect "public ethics", the state news agency said. Lebanon's culture minister accused the film of "promoting homosexuality".

Democratic-Socialist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders apparently moved $200,000 from his campaign into the non-profit institute that employs his wife and son. Sanders frequently demands that the rich ‘pay their fair share’ and rants against the capitalist system, but has done extremely well for himself financially in the process. The is report also raises questions about what the non-profit in question actually does. From FOX News: Bernie Sanders funneled $200K in campaign cash to wife and stepson’s nonprofit institute, records reveal Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders quietly funneled $200,000 from his campaign’s coffers to his wife’s nonprofit institute, which appears to do...