Free Republic

A 23-year-old woman who had her uterus and breasts removed at UW Hospital after a self-diagnosis of gender dysphoria that she said was not confirmed by a doctor is suing the hospital and two UW surgeons, alleging they operated on her without proper informed consent. Dr. Jay Lick performed a hysterectomy when the patient was 19, and Dr. Katherine Gast did a double mastectomy when she was 21, as gender-affirming procedures at the hospital, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Dane County Circuit Court. The patient, who lives in Chicago, identified as lesbian, explored if she was transgender and...

An extremist group that believes black Americans and other people of color are the real descendants of the ancient Israelites clashed Saturday with pro-Palestine protesters in Chicago while police attempted to calm the two groups. The sometimes violent exchanges between pro-Palestine protesters and members or supporters of Black Hebrew Israelites followed a march around the Chicago Loop organized by a group called the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine, police said. Pro-Palestine and pro-Hamas protesters chanted their demand for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Thirty minutes into the march, altercations began to break out among the thousands of protesters,...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis’ favorite pro-LGBT nun says he is ‘laying the groundwork’ for changing teaching on homosexuality'I am confident that the sexual teaching of the church will change,' dissident Sr. Jeannine Gramick predicted with great optimism.Sr. Jeannine Gramick of New Ways MinistryATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) –– A prominent pro-LGBT nun, previously censured by the Vatican but rehabilitated by Pope Francis, has declared the Pope is “laying the groundwork for change” in the Catholic Church’s prohibition of homosexuality. In an interview with Father James Martin S.J.’s pro-LGBT website “Outreach,” Sister Jeannine Gramick outlined her assessment of Pope Francis’ gradual attack and...

It comes as no surprise that so many academics at our most prestigious colleges and universities view Israel — and America for that matter — in a negative light.The elites have not exactly hidden their contempt for both countries. You can read the evidence for yourself in their books, lectures and social media postings.Similarly, you can take it to the bank that the progressive academy cares not one whit about middle America’s disdain for them. Their progressivism is too engrained; they accordingly have no curiosity about or interest in the opinions and viewpoints of the Trump-voting irredeemable deplorables (to borrow...

Whiskey War has done it again. Because being named the Best Blended Whiskey in the country three years in a row wasn’t enough, High Bank Distillery Co.’s lauded Whiskey War was recently named the Best Whiskey in America at the Spring 2023 John Barleycorn Awards, an international spirits competition created by industry writers. The winners were recently announced, and Whiskey War Barrel Select Batch #11-Double Double Pinot Noir took home the coveted title of Best Whiskey in America. The same Whiskey War variant took home the Best American Blended Whiskey award at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition this...

BOSTON – October 31, 2023 – Following a decision by its Board of Directors, Ørsted will cease development of the Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2 projects and has taken final investment decision (FID) on the Revolution Wind project. “Macroeconomic factors have changed dramatically over a short period of time, with high inflation, rising interest rates, and supply chain bottlenecks impacting our long-term capital investments,” said David Hardy, Group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted. “As a result, we have no choice but to cease development of Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2. We are extremely disappointed to...

Remember when Hollywood activist Jane Fonda chortled that the coronavirus was “God’s gift to the left”? That was back in October 2020, at the height of lockdowns and school closures, when the country was reeling from the violent BLM-Antifa riots over the summer. It was no time for celebration, but clearly Hanoi Jane knew something that most Americans didn’t pick up at the time. A new book out this week explains what leftist Fonda seemed to know back then, perhaps from her papered-over days as a Communist collaborator during the Vietnam War. While we were sleeping, in 2020, America went...

Home secretary claims protesters want to ‘erase Israel from the map’ by chanting in support of Palestine Suella Braverman has described the demonstrators taking to the streets in support of a ceasefire in Gaza as being involved in “hate marches”. In words that will anger some peace campaigners, the home secretary said “tens of thousands of people” had taken to the streets and had “chanted for the erasure of Israel from the map”. Speaking after a Cobra meeting chaired by Rishi Sunak on Monday, Braverman said: “We’ve seen now tens of thousands of people take to the streets after the...

Johnson is now moving forward with the approval process to hand over Capitol CCTV videos and images to the Blaze—which was STALLED under McCarthy—according to @TPC4USA

I wrote this four years ago: "On the first of December 1862, with his country torn apart in Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln told America, “In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve.” On Christmas Day that year Lincoln visited soldiers in hospitals. Then the president commissioned artist Thomas Nash to create the first modern image of Santa Claus, in the cause of freedom. What a wonderful Christmas spirit that was: visiting those wounded in a righteous cause and creating art celebrating generosity. In the...

Black voters in Milwaukee are feeling uninspired and potentially not motivated to vote for President Biden in advance of 2024, according to a CNN report Friday. Joanna Brooks, who owns a yoga studio in Glendale, said that the Democratic Party has taken Black voters for granted. "Black people in general, I think, tend to be pretty loyal to the Democratic Party," Brooks said. "Sometimes I wonder, just based on how that party has performed thus far for people so far, if they should continue to be." "I hear people saying [that] they're not gonna vote," Milwaukee voter Eric Jones said...

Two articles published this week give a stark assessment of Ukraine’s prospects in its war with Russia. One – by the commander in chief of the Ukrainian military – admits the battlefield has reached a stalemate and a long attritional war benefiting Moscow beckons. The other portrays Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as exhausted by the constant effort to cajole and persuade allies to keep the faith. Ukraine’s military chief, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, says in a long essay and interview with the Economist that “just like in the First World War we have reached the level of technology that puts us...

***** Tunes For Our Troops ~ The Freeper Canteen Music Dedication Presents: Chill Music! *****~ Support The Artists You Hear Throughout The Canteen ! ~ ***** Warning: Not all music may be appropriate for children! Please click with caution. Thank you! Tunes For The Troops This music is provided for the entertainment of our Troops, Veterans, Allies & their families! Enjoy the variety of musical selections that the Canteen DJs provide throughout the thread. Please ping any DJ with your requests for the Troops! All music is removed on Monday.Thanks to all the DJs for their time & effort...

[Catholic Caucus] German bishop asks priests to ‘bless’ homosexual unions, citing Pope Francis and Synodal WayBishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann of Speyer encouraged pastors to conduct ‘blessings’ of homosexual and other sinful relationships and said that no one ‘has to fear sanctions’ for doing so in his diocese.SPEYER, Germany (LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann of the Diocese of Speyer, Germany, has called on priests in his diocese to grant “blessing ceremonies” for homosexual unions as well as adulterous and sinful relationships outside of marriage.In a November 2 letter to the clergy and staff of the diocese, the bishop invoked the German Synodal...

The “horror” of a field hockey player being struck in the face by a shot from a male on the opposing team has one local superintendent calling on the MIAA to revisit its guidelines that allow boys to play a girls’ sport. Dighton-Rehoboth Superintendent Bill Runey is making the push after a male member on the Swampscott High girls’ field hockey team took a shot that hit the face of a female player competing for his regional district. The brutal injury, coming from a corner play in the third quarter during Thursday’s state tournament matchup in Swampscott, caused the D-R...

The U.S Coast Guard is adapting to a workforce shortage by making operational adjustments, aiming to preserve its capacity to fulfill critical missions. The agency has 10 percent fewer enlisted personnel than needed, and it has acknowledged that it cannot continue to operate as before with fewer people. Rather than attempt to run all its vessels shorthanded, it will be idling some of its cutters and transferring crew to fully man the remaining active vessels. “We cannot do the same with less. Conducting our missions is often inherently dangerous, and doing so without enough crew puts our members and the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court temporarily lifted a gag order on Donald Trump in his 2020 election interference case in Washington on Friday — the latest twist in the legal fight over the restrictions on the former president’s speech. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decision puts a hold on the limited gag order to give the judges time to consider Trump’s request for a longer pause on the restrictions while his appeals play out. The appeals court said the temporary pause “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits”...

The current debate over another aid package to Ukraine and a new one for Israel are exposing the deep ideological problems with both parties and the reason Congress is so unpopular. Americans have long memories. They recall that the initial popularity of our engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq, and also how both ended with ugly withdrawals. Republicans in particular remember how badly their saber-rattling over Iraq came back to haunt them politically just a few years later. Voters don’t want to see a repeat of Americans getting drawn into a foreign war while completely ignoring a bigger national security threat...

Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) on Friday hailed the conviction of one-time cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried on seven charges of fraud and conspiracy as a “victory.” “This verdict is a victory for everyone fighting fraud and scams in crypto. In this trial, we saw how crypto companies like FT think the law doesn’t apply to them, gamble with consumers’ money, and lie to the public,” Brown said in a statement. “Americans continue to lose money every day in crypto scams and frauds. We need to crack down on abuses and can’t let the crypto industry write its own...

Update from Ukraine | Ruzzia is up to Start one more Big Attack on Avdiivka | Ukraine is Ready https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBRO7omaprU Official reveal of 9th Army Corps November 2, 2023 https://militaryland.net/news/official-reveal-of-9th-army-corps/ Invasion Day 616 – Summary Militaryland November 1, 2023 https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-616-summary/ [NOTE: two summaries per week, released on Wednesday and Sunday] *** Great interactive maps with viewer controlled Map magnification tool to use for each Front! https://militaryland.net/maps/