Free Republic

The Yonkers NAACP found “no evidence” that high school student-athletes hurled antisemitic slurs at Jewish opponents during a girls basketball game that sparked widespread backlash. An investigation by the group reportedly found a “rush to judgment” against Roosevelt High School students, who were accused of targeting players from Leffell School, a private Jewish school in Hartsdale, during a Jan. 4 game that was canceled partway through because of the conflicts. But Frank Coleman, president of the Yonkers NAACP and senior pastor at Messiah Baptist Church, said there was “absolutely no evidence of any antisemitic slurs rendered,” according to the Journal...

A new report reveals that more than 10,000 noncommissioned officers (NCOs) in the United States Army who were promoted under a COVID-19 era policy still have not completed the schooling requirements for that promotion. According to Military.com, 52,000 NCOs were promoted under the supposedly temporary policy which waived the requirement to attend leadership academies before promotion eligibility. 20 percent had still not attended the required training. The Select, Train, Educate, and Promote Policy (STEP) was adopted in 2016 and required all NCOs to attend schools before being eligible for promotion. Before that the Army allowed "conditional promotions." The new policy...

The introduction of biometric digital identity cards could be used by governments to track “who actually got a vaccination or not,” Queen Máxima of the Netherlands said at the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos this week. Queen Máxima, a longtime social justice campaigner who has served as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA) since 2009, urged for the wider adoption of biometric digital ID cards globally during a WEF panel discussion titled “Comparing Notes on Financial Inclusion” on Thursday. “When I started this job, there were actually very little countries in Africa...

Explanation: Can the Moon and a mountain really cast similar shadows? Yes, but the division between light and dark does not have to be aligned. Pictured, a quarter moon was captured above the mountain Grivola in Italy in early October of 2022. The Sun is to the right of the featured picturesque landscape, illuminating the right side of the Moon in a similar way that it illuminates the right side of the mountain. This lunar phase is called "quarter" because the lit fraction visible from Earth is one quarter of the entire lunar surface. Digital post-processing of this single exposure...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has requested a special meeting with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is made up of 25 mayors from surrounding suburbs all grappling with the growing migrant crisis. Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso will be in that special meeting at 4 p.m., and he spoke with ABC7 on Monday morning. "I think all mayors want to be sure that their residents are safe and the migrants are safe, and that we have an understanding of how the process is going to work when migrants come," Grasso said. Meanwhile, a nonprofit group...

The 2024 Republican Iowa Caucus is now history. Donald Trump scored a decisive victory, capturing 98 of 99 counties and winning 51 percent of the vote. Trump’s opponents — Nikki Haley and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) — find themselves struggling to continue. Haley jetted off to New Hampshire where she hopes to get enough support from independents to either win or finish a close second. DeSantis decamped to Haley’s home state of South Carolina hoping to appeal to that state’s evangelicals. But the reality is that Donald Trump has an unshakeable base of support and is all but certain to...

Taylor Swift, Jerrod Carmichael, Cara Delevingne and a shirtless Jason Kelce were in good company on Sunday. CBS‘ broadcast of the NFL Divisional Playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills averaged 39.3 million total viewers from 7 to 10 pm ET on Sunday evening. The very close contest, which the Chiefs wound up winning by a score of 27-24, also averaged a 9.9 rating in the coveted 18-49 demographic. The total Chiefs/Bills audience cited above marks a 14% gain in viewership versus the comparable year-ago match-up between the Cowboys and 49ers (San Francisco bested Dallas 19-12),...

The British government has reportedly hired a fleet of private boats to help the Border Force bring illegal Channel migrants ashore at a cost to the taxpayer at least £36 million. According to a report from The Times of London, the UK Home Office — the government body responsible for controlling immigration and protecting the country’s borders — has signed a contract worth £36 million for the hiring of a “charter of vessel(s) to support small boats operations in the Dover Straits”. The contract, which is set to come into force in April and will last until at least the...

Ukraine's successful suppression of the Russian Black Sea fleet has resulted in Kyiv's grain exports rising to their highest levels since the invasion by Moscow began. -snip- Russia's Black Sea fleet flagship Moskva was destroyed by Ukraine in the early days of the war. The losses have continued since then, with British Defence Secretary Grant Shapp saying last month that Russia had lost 20 percent of its Black Sea fleet over the course of four months. Significant recent losses include the December destruction of large Russian landing ship Novocherkassk and last week's revelation that Ukrainian drones sank a Tarantul-class corvette...

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) threw her support behind former President Trump, marking his latest endorsement from Nikki Haley’s home state of South Carolina. Mace announced the decision on Monday, stating it’s time to unite behind a nominee. “I don’t see eye to eye perfectly with any candidate. And until now I’ve stayed out of it. But the time has come to unite behind our nominee,” Mace wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “To be honest, it’s been a complete shit show since he left the White House. Our country needs to reverse all the damage Joe Biden has done. “

[Catholic Caucus] The Wrath of God and the Death Penalty: On Blessings and PrudenceWhile sexual immorality no longer requires the civil punishment of death, such natural-moral-law violations still bring spiritual death to the souls of those who willingly engage in it.St. Paul’s discussion in Romans 1 on “the wrath of God” is best understood through the lens of Acts 15. Such an exegesis sheds light on the natural moral law and reveals the need to avoid blessing sin. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the...

The Brood X cicadas are about to emerge, and anthropology expert Cortni Borgerson explains how you can harvest and cook them. After 17 years underground, billions of periodical cicadas known as Brood X are set to emerge, and we hope you’ve brought your appetite. See, a swarm of cicadas may sound scary, but they’re quite harmless and, in actuality, can be a new food to introduce into your diet. Calling all adventurous eaters! Assistant Professor of Anthropology Cortni Borgerson, whose research focuses on natural resource use, sustainability and food security, says that the fact that they make a tasty snack...

Ukraine will change its citizenship law to allow foreign volunteer fighters to become Ukrainians, as well as “all ethnic Ukrainians” around the world to get passports, no matter how many generations different, the President has said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a raft of new laws he had submitted to the national parliament (Verkhovna Rada) on Monday in a speech marking the Ukrainian Day of National Unity, an annual celebration of the short-lived 1917-era Ukrainian People’s Republic. Among the announcements are a serious liberalisation of Ukrainian citizenship law, allowing dual citizens for the first time and opening up passports to...

This week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby revealed his love for throwing on a dress and twerking in public - but Kirby still has a few secrets hidden under that wig! Here are seven exciting new features coming to your next United Airlines flight, courtesy of its drag queen leader:1.Oxygen masks will be replaced by feather boas and glitter: Remember, put on your own feather boa before assisting those next to you.2.The pre-flight safety demonstration will be replaced by the crew dancing to "It's Raining Men": Hallelujah!3.The exit row will now be outfitted with stripper poles: Extra leg room comes...

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said in a Sunday interview he’s not afraid of facing backlash from former President Trump for backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) campaign against the former president. “I’ve got the Trump antibodies,” Massie, a surrogate for DeSantis’s campaign, told “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream when she asked whether he’s worried about the “price” he “might pay” for backing DeSantis over Trump. Massie pointed to his opposition to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law under Trump on March 27, 2020, to aid in the pandemic recovery early on. Massie said...

Over three years have passed since January 6, 2021, and the truth of what really happened that day has never been more relevant. For the regime, the stakes involved in selling the official narrative of January 6 as a uniquely horrific domestic terror event are higher than ever. Such are the stakes that Biden’s crypt-keepers presumably injected him with the strongest stuff they had to keep the President conscious and standing upright for the duration of his hour and a half-long speech marking the anniversary of the day “we almost lost America.” And it makes sense. The ludicrous notion of...

ETHRIDGE, Tenn. – Who needs AAA when you have an Amish neighbor? A heartwarming scene unfolded in Ethridge, Tennessee, this week as snowstorms pummeled portions of the U.S. An Amish man used his horses to help a driver free their SUV that was stuck in the snow. A video taken by Sandra Sam Newton showed the horses pulling the vehicle out of a snowy ditch while a group of people pushed on the other side of it

When she started shopping for the holidays late last year, Kelly Andersen was struggling to buy her loved ones gifts. So she turned to a novel solution to get through the season: Buy now, pay later. The 31-year-old freelance copywriter from Los Angeles used Klarna and PayPal to split a variety of purchases into four interest-free payments spread out over a series of weeks. At the time, her upfront cost was about a quarter of the overall purchase price. But now that January has arrived and the other installments are starting, Andersen isn’t sure how she’s going to pay them...

As Kamala Harris hits the 2024 presidential campaign trail in hopes of securing a second term alongside Joe Biden, a new tell-all lifts the lid on the pair's now frosty relationship and how the president and First Lady Jill can't stand nor trust the VP, four years after their historic victory. In his new book, Amateur Hour: Kamala Harris in the White House, published on Tuesday, veteran Washington journalist Charlie Spiering lifts the lid on the tension between the ill-matched pair, largely thanks to Harris's 'refusal to be a team player.' Contending that America's historic first black female second in...

Nikki Haley is barnstorming across New Hampshire on Monday, vowing to stay in the GOP presidential race as another lawmaker from her home state endorsed Donald Trump and multiple polls show the former president with a double digit lead. Haley and Trump found themselves in a one-on-one race for the Republican nomination after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race on Sunday and endorsed Trump. The former president scored another back on Republican Rep. Nancy Mace endorsed Trump over Haley, who lives in her congressional district and supported her in 2022 against a Trump-backed challenger.