Free Republic

One of my favorite films is “Casablanca,” starring Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, an American nightclub owner — and isolationist — in Morocco as the Nazis are goose-stepping across Europe and beyond. “I’m not fighting for anything anymore except myself,” he tells Ilsa, the elusive love of his life. “I’m the only cause I’m interested in.” When Major Strasser, an officer of the Third Reich, asks Rick what nationality he holds, Rick replies: “I’m a drunkard.” Rick tells Louis Renault, the corrupt French police prefect: “I stick my neck out for nobody.” “Casablanca” was written in 1941 during the months...

Rising above the 7th Arrondissement of Paris is the gold dome of Les Invalides, a landmark that serves as both a French military museum and the final resting place of the nation’s greatest general, Napoleon Bonaparte. The engravings surrounding his sarcophagus depict him as one of the ancients, adorned with laurels and togas next to tablets listing his vast accomplishments. Napoleon’s legacy as both a military mastermind and a statesman is hard to summarize — and complicated to assess. Similarly, there’s just too much to the man to capture in a single film. Still, the tagline of celebrated director Ridley...

House votes to formalize an impeachment inquiry into President Biden

Concerns regarding the DeSantis campaign’s coordination with the pro-DeSantis Super PAC Never Back Down–which has come under scrutiny in recent months as DeSantis fails to make a dent in former President Donald Trump’s lead in the Republican primary race–are increasing.There have been reports of infighting within Never Back Down and tensions between the PAC, which has spent $43 million on ads this year, and the campaign as DeSantis has failed to make any dent at all in Trump’s lead since the governor’s May launch.A September post in Vanity Fair details how Never Back Down’s chief Jeff Roe and the DeSantis...

Police have charged a suspect with the murder of a Detroit synagogue leader and alleged she was killed by a stranger who broke into her home. Samantha Woll, 40, was fatally stabbed at her Lafayette Park home on October 21 as she returned from a wedding. Police believe she was attacked inside her home before stumbling outside. She was found at around 6.30am and pronounced dead at the scene. Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, from Detroit was taken into custody on Sunday and charged with her murder and two other crimes. Prosecutor Kym Worthy claimed there was not a 'shred of evidence'...

In a real world of real consequences, Harvard's el Presidente, Claudine Gay, would have been sent to the showers for not condemning calls for the eradication of Jews on Harvard's hateful campus. But that isn't the world in which we live. We dwell in a time when a neo-commie like Miss/Ms./Herr Gay (I don't want to assume gender) can sit on her affirmative inaction hands and allow students to call for the murder of every Jew on the planet, Janet, and keep her job because woke, yo! “She is a scholar of uncommon creativity and rigor, with a strong working...

In a surprising move, the Federal Reserve is hinting at multiple rate cuts in 2024, sparking questions about the stability of the financial system. This decision has historical echoes, as every major rate cut since the 1970s has been followed by a substantial 30% drawdown in the S&P 500. For the first time in recent history, Chair Powell’s alignment with market expectations signals a potential departure from the usual cautious stance. The market has responded positively, with the S&P 500 on track for its 9th green day out of the last 10, reflecting investor confidence in the Federal Reserve’s promises.

Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), continues to vigorously defend Bud Light amid the ongoing boycott from conservatives, as some leaders of the boycott, like Kid Rock, are also caving. The boycott initially began in April after Anheuser-Busch, which produces Bud Light, sponsored transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney as part of its efforts to attract sales from a younger audience. The backlash from conservatives was swift, resulting in a steep decline in sales. Prominent figures from Kid Rock to country star Travis Tritt publicly showcased their displeasure with the brand. In the wake of the controversy, however,...

Matthew 11:28-30 Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus is not offering us one more philosophy of God. He is offering us the view from the inside of the Trinity. And that is why we should respond to his compelling invitation: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”What everyone wants is rest, but not in the sense of relaxation. Rest here means achievement of joy. The great illusion is that joy will come from filling up the ego with goods. But in fact, it will come from emptying out, from turning one’s life...

The Georgia high school football player found dead the day before his team was due to play its first state championship in 25 years was discovered shot multiple times in the woodland, his family has revealed

Hunter, Joe, and the Democrats keep using MAGA as if it’s a derogatory term. But, like President Donald J. Trump asks, What’s wrong with ‘Making America Great Again.’ The more they use it the more folks will stretch it out to those four common sense words.

President Biden’s "historic" nominee for a federal appellate court served on the board of a Muslim advocacy group that has blamed Israel for provoking Hamas’s terrorist attack and hosted an event with a convicted terrorist fundraiser on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Adeel Abdullah Mangi, Biden’s nominee for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, served on the advisory board of Rutgers Law School’s Center for Security, Race and Rights from 2019 until earlier this year. During his time on the board, the think tank feted anti-Israel college students and marked the anniversary of the September 11 attacks with an event...

A student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — the site of one of the nation’s worst mass shootings — was savagely beaten by a gang of teens in a brutal caught-on-video attack, which landed the youngster in hospital. The unidentified student was pummeled by at least a half dozen teen thugs before he was picked up and hurled onto the pavement head first near the Parkland, Florida campus — leaving him sprawled out motionless on the ground, video footage posted by TMZ on Wednesday shows.

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men." "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." "In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works." ☰ Luke 10 (Other versions) 1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and...

The Kremlin is unable to track individual prisoners, a spokesperson said. The Kremlin has claimed it does not know where the Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is currently held and it has no intention of looking into his status. -snip- Navalny's team on Monday said he had disappeared from the prison camp where he is held and accused authorities of refusing to say where he had been moved. Peskov on Tuesday claimed the Kremlin is unable to track individual prisoners. "We have neither the intention nor the ability to track the fate of prisoners and the process of their stay...

“How many lives are 1200 Israelis worth?” That chilling question was put forward by a Rhode Island history professor last week in a condemnation of Israel as a “white supremacist nation” that prompted the Hamas massacre. Many donors and parents have been repulsed in recent weeks by such extremist viewpoints on our campuses over the Israel-Gaza war. For some of us, however, the hostile environment is nothing new on campuses where faculties have been purged of conservative and libertarian voices for years. Indeed, many of the same figures have previously supported radical, or even violent, efforts directed against conservatives for...

President Biden and members of his administration met Wednesday at the White House with families of American hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. After the meeting, the families spoke to reporters, holding photos of their loved ones, and expressed confidence that the administration would work tirelessly to bring their family members home. “We met today with President Biden and other people from the administration. It was a terrific, terrific meeting and conversation,” said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose 35-year-old son was kidnapped from his kibbutz on Oct. 7, at the start of his remarks.

@BasedMikeLee If the Senate doesn’t strip the FISA 702 extension from the NDAA, it’s quite possible that Congress won’t have a realistic opportunity to reform FISA 702 until well into 2025 — many months after the November 2024 election. Tell your senators to remove FISA from the NDAA.

In a significant move showing understanding of the shifting landscape of media and broadcasting, Tucker Carlson, a well-known political commentator, is going his own way after his abrupt departure from Fox News in April. Carlson has not only launched The Tucker Carlson Network (TCN), he has also joined the free speech video platform Rumble. Based on the current uploads, the Rumble channel will feature clips from his independent streaming service that is set to offer a range of content including interviews, monologues, and other unique features.

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis blamed former President Donald Trump for the controversial Satanic altar erected in Iowa’s State Capitol this month, pointing out that the IRS granted the Satanic Temple tax-exempt status in 2019 during the Trump administration. So it’s interesting, I heard this and then I was like, well how did it get there? Is that even a religion? And lo and behold, the Trump administration gave them approval to be under the IRS as a religion. So that gave them the legal ability to potentially do it. So I don’t know what the legislature– what they, how...