Free Republic

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy delivered his farewell address on the House floor, commending Democrats for their embodiment of America’s diversity while censuring his own party. Once holding the Speaker’s gavel, McCarthy saw his tenure end abruptly in October after a historic ousting due to his failed leadership. Earlier this month, McCarthy announced that he is retiring from Congress at the end of the year. “I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways. I know my work is only getting started,” McCarthy wrote in a Wall Street Journal. “I...

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who challenged a Teamsters boss to a fight last month, on Thursday slammed Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for “living off” his “daddy’s money” after Gaetz cited Mullin’s increase in wealth as a reason to ban members of Congress from trading stocks. “I hear @RepMattGaetz has criticism of hard-earned success — he should try building a business that gains value, it’s more gratifying than living off your daddy’s money,” Mullin posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Mullin was reacting to a graphic Gaetz reposted that showed Mullin’s net worth swelled from $12...

The Democrat war on gas continues. Now, Democrats propose jailing Washingtonians for using gas-powered landscaping tools like leaf blowers. State Representative Amy Walen (D-Kirkland) pre-filed legislation that makes sweeping additions to the Washington State Clean Air Act. HB 1868 bans “gasoline-powered and diesel-powered landscaping and other outdoor power equipment” for “contributing to climate change.” The bill lists a number of unintended health consequences tied to the tools, as well, including the claim that they cause asthma.

The support for a possible House impeachment inquiry against President Biden is growing among the American public, with nearly a quarter of Democrats saying they would back such a move, a new poll has found. According to the NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released Wednesday, 49% of U.S. adults say they would support the House of Representatives officially launching an impeachment inquiry into Biden amid allegations of corruption within his family, compared to 48% who would not. That number is up from the same survey in October that found 47% supported such a move, and 52% would be opposed. An impeachment inquiry...

A member of an immigrant advocacy group represented by well-known Democratic attorneys is suing to stop a question aimed at requiring Nevadans to provide photo identification before voting from appearing on next year’s general election ballot. The lawsuit, filed last Monday in Carson City District Court, argues that the ballot initiative is unconstitutional because its description of effect (a 200-word summary of the measure included on signature forms) does not reflect all of the question’s implications and would expend taxpayer funds as it does not have an identified funding source. Challenging the description of effect is a common tactic in...

A group of Republicans are looking to ban President Joe Biden’s administration from siphoning healthcare resources from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) away from military veterans to illegal aliens arriving at the United States-Mexico border. The legislation, first reported by Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph and Adam Shaw, comes as Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been accused of siphoning VA healthcare resources from military veterans to illegal aliens. Last year, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas seemingly confirmed to Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) that the agency was looking at using VA healthcare resources at the border.

Dorrance Dance promotes controversial policies on its website, including 'prison abolition' The New York City tap dancing troupe enlisted by first lady Jill Biden for a Christmas video promotes controversial far-left ideologies, including abolishing prisons and defunding the police. The first lady got lit up on Twitter over her Wednesday video featuring Dorrance Dance performing a "playful interpretation of The Nutcracker Suite" in the White House. However, outside the candy-coating, Dorrance Dance promotes controversial policies, including "prison abolition." Dorrance Dance's "take action for justice [and] change" website page pushes readers to join their local Black Lives Matter or Showing Up...

German authorities say they have made four arrests of suspected Hamas members linked to an alleged plot to attack Jewish sites. Prosecutors said the suspects intended to store weapons in Berlin for possible use in an attack. Danish authorities also said they had arrested three people accused of preparing an attack. Denmark's intelligence agency said the Danish and German investigations were not directly linked. German prosecutors said in a statement that three suspects linked to Hamas were arrested in Berlin and one in the Netherlands. Hamas, which runs Gaza, is banned across Europe as a terrorist group. The arrests came...

At the beginning of last week, several bus services in Oslo were cancelled. The reason was that the new electric buses could not cope with the cold. On Monday, about 50 city buses were cancelled and taken out of service. The bus company Ruter reported that the range of the electric buses was not as good as usual because of the cold weather. It was about 12 degrees below zero. – The buses run out of power more quickly. We are now registering what happens day by day, and then we will see how we can improve this in the...

The Republican party of Long Island, New York, has nominated Mazi Melesa Philip, an Orthodox Jewish, Ethiopian-Israeli mother of seven who currently serves in the New York state legislature, to run for the seat in Congress recently vacated by George Santos, according the New York Times on Thursday. The seat's former occupant was ejected from the House on December 1, dogged by two federal indictments for fraud and revelations that most of the life story on which he had campaigned was a lie. He was only the sixth representative in history to be expelled from Congress. Philip, 44, served as...

Israel’s war in Gaza needs to “transition to the next lower intensity phase in a matter of weeks, not months,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the war cabinet in a meeting on Thursday, according to two U.S. and Israeli officials. So Barak Ravid reports at Axios. I don’t think Israel can live with the Biden way of war and therefore that it won’t, but we shall see. Via David Friedman/X (below).David M Friedman@DavidM_Friedman Why is the American National Security Advisor telling Israel how to fight its existential war against Hamas?...

While the world’s attention is focused on the war in Gaza, Ukrainian officials are full steam ahead trying to convince their US and NATO partners to remain steadfast in bankrolling Kyiv’s war effort against Russia.Unlike Zelensky’s shop, the Biden administration’s messaging on the war has been all over the place. On one day, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is beaming with confidence that Washington and its European allies will best Russian President Vladimir Putin “in a contest of wills.” Yet on others, a nervous Biden is taking to the White House podium to shame congressional Republicans into writing and passing another...

If there was ever a year that called for bold global action on climate change, 2023 was it. In what will likely go down as the warmest year on record — one rife with catastrophic floods, scorching heat waves, devastating wildfires and enduring drought — leaders from nearly 200 countries gathered to chart a path forward in the fight against climate change. After more than two weeks of tense negotiations representatives from 198 countries agreed Wednesday to “transition away” from fossil fuels. It was a historic deal but one that once again fell short for many climate activists, who saw...

A poll released Thursday showed former president Donald Trump leading President Joe Biden in seven swing states, in the latest alarm bell for the incumbent president in polling. Respondents in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin told pollsters in a survey from Morning Consult and Bloomberg that they would choose Trump over Biden on a ballot where the two appear, along with expected third-party candidates such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West. On that ballot, Trump's smallest lead was in Pennsylvania, where the gap between him and Biden was 1 point, and his largest lead...

Congress has approved legislation that would prevent any president from withdrawing the United States from NATO without approval from the Senate or an Act of Congress. The measure, spearheaded by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), was included in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which passed out of the House on Thursday and is expected to be signed by President Biden. The provision underscores Congress’s commitment to the NATO alliance that was a target of former President Trump’s ire during his term in office. The alliance has taken on revitalized importance under Biden, especially since Russia’s full-scale...

Biden, Slurring, Says Admin Is Securing "Contracts For New Covid Vaccines, Three New Covid Vaccines"

Matthew 11:11-15 Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says to the crowds, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.” The title for Flannery O’Connor’s irresistibly powerful second and final novel, The Violent Bear It Away, is taken from the Douay-Rheims translation of this last phrase.This famously ambiguous passage has given rise to a variety of interpretations over the centuries. Many have taken it to mean that the kingdom of God is attacked by violent people (such as those who killed John the Baptist) and that...

Rock Hill SC A former police detective and Rock Hill school resource officer who already faces state child exploitation charges has been indicted on new, federal child pornography charges. Daniel Paul Shealy, 35, faces 18 counts of receiving or sending videos that contained child sexual abuse material, according to an indictment in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina. In a news release from the Department of Justice dated Wednesday, prosecutors said Shealy is indicted for distributing 13 child sex abuse videos and receiving several videos, all between June 2 and Sept. 17, 2023. The videos were between five seconds...

A New Jersey wedding photographer scammed dozens of people, including his own friends and family, out of $1 million in a sham investment scheme — and instead used the money on an Audi, gambling and travel, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. Vincent Villafane — a photographer and graphic designer from Ford, NJ — allegedly tricked his victims into investing tens of thousands of dollars each into scarce computer graphic cards for gaming laptops, claiming he could sell them for more than double what they were purchased at, federal prosecutors said. His victims included elderly people, public employees like police...

This video was a helpful source of updated information on nutrition.I really appreciate the video's author for providing a transcript and dividing the video into content 'chapters' with separate links, which I'll post below. Click on the chapter link to jump to that part of the video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhkxidN2M9Q 435,893 views Premiered Nov 9, 2023 InterviewsThis episode features Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D., and was originally recorded for the Institute for Functional Medicine's podcast, 'Pathways to Wellbeing.' This episode outlines a series of fundamental tactics you can start applying immediately to enhance cellular health, protect the nervous system, elevate mood, reduce inflammation, promote muscle...