Free Republic

@RepThomasMassie Here are the 118 Representatives who voted to protect your right to privacy. (Nay to FISA warrantless surveillance as part of NDAA) We lost but it was close. We needed 143 votes (1/3) to stop FISA since they suspended the rules to bring it to the floor.

Memphis — An After School Satan Club plans to begin offering activities to children at a Tennessee elementary school following Christmas break, officials said, and the move immediately proved controversial. The Satanic Temple plans to host the club at Chimneyrock Elementary School in Cordova, news outlets reported. It will begin meeting on Jan. 10 in the school's library and run through the spring semester, according to an announcement Tuesday posted on social media.

Update from Ukraine | Ukraine Stopped the Ruzzian Attack in Avdiivka but Marinka was lost Denys Davydov https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty_kDhBAzxQ 12-14-2023 7:00 a.m. EST Militaryland news: Invasion Day 658 – Summary. The summary of the situation of Russian re-invasion to Ukraine covering the recent developments on the battlefield, as of 9th December 2023 – 22:00 (Kyiv time). https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-654-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/

The House, in a decisive vote Thursday, passed the annual defense authorization bill, delivering a bipartisan rebuke to its most conservative members who had sought to infuse the legislation with a wishlist of provisions targeting Pentagon policies on abortion, diversity and LGBTQ+ rights. The $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was approved by a vote of 310-118, having passed the Senate by an overwhelming margin Wednesday night. It proceeds next to the White House, where President Biden is expected to sign the legislation into law.

As reported earlier by Cullen Linebarger – The most annoying NBA player of all time decided to take a dump on America this week.Los Angeles Lakers forward Lebron James pulled his latest despicable stunt while attending USC’s basketball game versus Long Beach State on Sunday. His son Bronny made his debut for the Trojans after collapsing on the court back in July during practice.James entered the Galen Center while the National Anthem was playing. In the video below, most of the arena is singing and standing.But instead of showing some basic patriotism, James decided to plop his rear on the...

Brazilian gospel singer Pedro Henrique died after he collapsed on stage during a performance Wednesday. The 30-year-old was performing his song 'Vai Ser Tão Lindo' at a religious event that was being streamed online when he suddenly fell in front of his band inside a concert venue in the northeastern city of Feira de Santana. Video footage of the incident showed Henrique engaging the crowd as he stood on the edge of the stage before he lost his balance and fell on his back. Attendees immediately rushed over to help the singer while the crowd looked on in shock. Henrique...

A 13-year-old boy was accused of planning a mass shooting at an Ohio synagogue, according to court documents cited in local news reports. The reports said the boy, who has not been publicly named because he’s a minor, now faces juvenile misdemeanor charges of inducing panic and of disorderly conduct. He is set to go to trial on Dec. 20 in Stark County Family Court. In the court documents, law enforcement officials claimed the boy “did create a detailed plan to complete a mass shooting at the Temple Israel on the Discord platform,” which is an online platform for group...

In straightforward terms, let’s address a pressing concern: Inflation is here to stay, and the US deficit is spiraling out of control. Despite Treasury Secretary Yellen’s reassurances, there’s reason to be uneasy about the mounting US debt. Facing the facts, $1 trillion-plus US budget deficits are becoming the norm, and federal projections paint a grim picture with deficits surpassing $1 trillion through 2033. In essence, the likelihood of witnessing a year with a US deficit below $1 trillion seems increasingly improbable.

Some Moscow residents claim egg prices have doubled, as Russia continues to battle persistent inflation and Western sanctions. Surging egg prices, against a backdrop of high inflation and economic sanctions, are worrying the Russian authorities, especially as eggs are a symbolic and central ingredient of the festive season. -snip- In November, the average price of eggs in Russia rose by 40.29% year-on-year, according to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). Muscovite consumers report even steeper rises. "Before, I used to buy eggs for 70 roubles a dozen. Now they cost between 130 and 140 roubles - twice as much,"...

A Texas megachurch has been slammed for its extravagant Christmas service, which featured nearly 1,000 performers, several camels and flying angels. Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas has gone viral on social media for its yearly The Gift of Christmas show - a Vegas-style spectacle that retells the story of the birth of Jesus. Footage of the event on Sunday shows real sheep walking across the stage before flying angels appear over the crowd, followed by hundreds of performers and three live camels entering the scene. A TikTok video posted by Lawson Martin - titled 'They say everything is bigger in...

To anyone who tracks the efforts of environmentalists, their policies often have an ulterior motive. They neither result in a better society nor do they produce better habitats. Their policy preferences also do not consider how using the land improves the land for man and wildlife. Instead, many environmentalists advocate for policies at the expense of farmers, miners, and others who create usable, tangible, societal benefits from the land. This often leaves observers to wonder: what are environmentalists really after? The answer is power and money. On September 29, the SEC, at the request of the NYSE, proposed a rule...

Who had Tommy DeVito and Zach Wilson on their ‘NFL Players of the Week’ bingo card? Heading into Week 14 of the NFL, there was zero “superstar” talk when it came to New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito and New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson. I mean, yeah, there was your average talk about both being the starters for their respective teams — nothing more, nothing less. But that was about it. Now? Both of them are all over the news after winning the NFL‘s Offensive Players of the Week, with DeVito winning it in the NFC and Wilson getting...

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When a vehicle is captured and then...

In this corner, we have Fed Chair Powell, Treasury Secretary Yellen, President Biden and Cheerleader Brainard all cheering and singing “Everything Is Beautiful!”. In the other corner, we have … investors who are are betting that The Fed will be cutting the target rate from 5.50% to 4% by December 2024, a cut of almost 150 basis points in one year. Why? First, the US economy is softening. Second, The Fed will want Biden (or whoever Democrats prop up in his place) re-elected as President. While Wednesday’s FOMC statement had barely any changes in it, with the notable addition of...

We've all been this guy (well, minus the explosion). Whether it was a cockroach, a centipede, some bees, or even just innocent ants, we've all gone a bit overboard trying to play exterminator in our own home. But let's give it up for this guy for making us all not look so bad in comparison to what he did. The epic pest control fail was reported early Sunday in the city of Kumamoto [Japan] on the island of Kyushu, about 230 miles southwest of Hiroshima. Sometime before midnight, a 54-year-old man spotted a solitary cockroach inside his apartment in the...

Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy said Thursday that the State of Israel would welcome a visit by singer Taylor Swift and any other celebrities who wished to educate themselves about what Hamas terrorists did to Israelis in the October 7 terror attack. “We welcome visits by all leaders and influential figures” who want to see the extent of the atrocities, said Levy, when asked about whether Israel would welcome a visit by Swift. Swift, who won Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” award for 2023, and who turned 34 on Wednesday, attended a fundraiser for a charity aiding Gaza this...

The Turkish lawmaker who suffered a heart attack on the floor of parliament after declaring that Israel “will suffer the wrath of Allah” died Thursday, just two days after condemning Istanbul’s policy toward Jerusalem. Hasan Bitmez, 54, a member of parliament from the opposition Saadet Party, died in Ankara City Hospital, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told reporters in televised remarks. He is survived by a wife and child. Shocking video showed Bitmez collapsing at the podium before the general assembly Tuesday, moments after delivering a fiery speech panning President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party over Turkey’s ongoing trade with Israel...

Hunter Biden has told friends that he might have to flee the country if Donald Trump is reelected, after already enduring months of deeply personal political attacks and mounting legal woes. Republicans have put him front and center of their efforts to say his father acted corruptly when he was vice president. And he could face almost 20 years in prison if convicted of three felony and six misdemeanor charges brought last week. The result is an 81-year-old father desperately worried about the welfare of a son who has battled drink and drugs, and a son who fears more attacks...

First lady Jill Biden was blasted Wednesday night after posting a video to X showing dancers tapping around the holiday-decorated White House, whose theme this year is "Magic, Wonder and Joy."In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the first lady shared the video from the official @FLOTUS account, along with the caption. "A bit of magic, wonder, and joy brought to you by the talented tappers of Dorrance Dance, performing their playful interpretation of The Nutcracker Suite. Enjoy!" the first lady's post read.

Whether you’re a morning person has long been tied to personality, but new research suggests DNA inherited from our extinct Neanderthal cousins ups the chance we’re early risers. Our circadian rhythms—the biological clocks inside our cells that time when we sleep and wake—are linked to countless genes. Now researchers say they have found that bits of genetic code passed down to some of us from Neanderthals relate to our sleeping habits in the present day. The study was published Thursday in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution. “We’ve found many Neanderthal variants that consistently associate with a propensity for being...