Free Republic

Talk of political self-immolation or a party requiring decades to get back on track may seem hyperbolic to some. But it’s understandable when looking at the past four years through the lens of the so-called “Never Trumpers.” The 45th president lost the 2020 election, trailing President Biden by about 7 million votes. He made repeated and false claims of election fraud, in the process fueling the violence of Jan. 6, 2021. He continues to push those falsehoods. He was impeached for his role in Jan. 6 — becoming the only president in American history to be twice impeached. Over the...

Russian anti-war journalist Yekaterina Duntsova, who was barred from running in the country's upcoming presidential election in March, was briefly detained in Tver, north of Moscow, on January 14. Duntsova said she was stopped by police after she left a meeting during which she announced she was founding a new party called Dawn. She said police stopped her car and took her to a police station where she was tested for drugs. Duntsova said she was released after the test result came out as negative....

The former president has been accused time and again by both Democrats, such as President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, and hawkish Republicans, such as Haley, of being too friendly toward authoritarian regimes such as Russia and North Korea. The same criticism was leveled at Ronald Reagan. When Reagan decided to meet with Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985, Republican Rep. Newt Gingrich slammed the president’s “weak policies” and called it “the most dangerous summit for the West since Adolf Hitler met with Neville Chamberlain in 1938 in Munich.” (Where else have we heard that?) Obviously, Gingrich was fantastically...

I’m all for raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, but my favorite thing in the world is watching the smug fascists in the Never Trump movement deal with failure and despair. Oh, Jonah “Fauntleroy” Goldberg’s having a bad day? In the Nolte household, that piece of news ranks right up there with cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels. “‘Never Trumpers’ are close to giving up hope,” reads the Hill headline. Knowing Never Trumpers are giving up hope means you can keep your bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. It gets better, so much better… “Former President Trump is...

The Federal Aviation Administration is recommending that airlines visually inspect the door plugs of more Boeing planes after a similar panel blew off a jet in midair earlier this month. The safety alert issued late Sunday recommends that airlines operating Boeing's 737-900ER jets inspect the door plugs "as soon as possible" to make sure they're properly secured after some airlines reported unspecified issues with the bolts. The 737-900ER is not part of Boeing's newer Max series, but it has the same optional door plug design as the Boeing 737 Max 9. More than 170 of the newer jets have been...

Explanation: How well do you know the night sky? OK, but how well can you identify famous sky objects in a very deep image? Either way, here is a test: see if you can find some well-known night-sky icons in a deep image filled with faint nebulosity. This image contains the Pleiades star cluster, Barnard's Loop, Horsehead Nebula, Orion Nebula, Rosette Nebula, Cone Nebula, Rigel, Jellyfish Nebula, Monkey Head Nebula, Flaming Star Nebula, Tadpole Nebula, Aldebaran, Simeis 147, Seagull Nebula and the California Nebula. To find their real locations, here is an annotated image version. The reason this task might...

Here is the Associated Press: The six registered voters of tiny Dixville Notch in New Hampshire all cast their ballots for Nikki Haley at midnight on Tuesday, giving her a clean sweep over former President Donald Trump and all the other candidates. The resort town was the first place in the nation to vote in the 2024 primaries. The voters were outnumbered more than 10-to-1 by reporters from every corner of the globe — not to mention by a pile of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that his government is preparing for the “uncertainty” that a hypothetical second term in office for former President Trump would bring to his country and to its alliance with the United States. Trudeau’s Cabinet gathered at a Montreal retreat to discuss the prospect of Trump’s return to office in the 2024 presidential election and to prepare a strategy. Trudeau said Trump “represents uncertainty,” but that his government was able to manage Trump during his first term by demonstrating the mutual economic benefit that a strong U.S.-Canada alliance would bring.

Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass participated in the Ten Lives-Show Your Soft Side campaign, to assist the non-profit cat shelter. Photo by Leo Howard Lubow/Show Your Soft Side Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Dollars are flying into an upstate New York cat rescue shelter, as football fans continue to console Tyler Bass after he missed a crucial field goal, which led to the Buffalo Bills' exit from the NFL playoffs. Ten Lives Club, a no-kill cat rescue shelter based in Buffalo, said it received more than $25,000 in donations on Monday and a total of $90,000 by Tuesday afternoon. Bass...

In a stunning turn of events, the Federal Court has delivered a significant blow to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government by deeming the use of the Emergencies Act during the Freedom Convoy protests as unconstitutional. This ruling comes after two years of the Trudeau regime and media labeling the truckers as illegal, only to face a resounding judgment from the court. The saga began with Trudeau and the regime media consistently referring to the truckers as illegal over the past two years. However, the tables turned dramatically when the Federal Court declared Trudeau's violent response during the protests as...

Mark 3:31-35 Friends, in today’s Gospel,Jesus identifies as his mother and brothers those who do the will of God.The proper attitude in the presence of the saving God is obedience and acquiescence, imitating his moves, responding to his commands, doing whatever he tells us. To live the good life is not finally a matter of autonomy but of obeying commandments: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”Mind you, listening to commands is tied closely to love on the part of the one who...

Footprints in the snow lead from the sidewalk to a path through the weeds, opening to a field that is almost invisible from the road. North of Interstate 70, in a part of Denver filled mostly with warehouses and gas stations, the tents are flapping relentlessly in the wind. About 10 migrants from South America hunkered down here during four days of subzero temperatures, and the volunteers who brought them heaters and propane, hot meals and fresh water, are prepared to help hundreds more as Denver pushes migrants out of their city-provided hotel rooms in the coming weeks. The dozen...

ecular news outlets from NPR to the New York Times are hailing Tim Alberta’s new book, The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory, for furthering the popular thesis that evangelicals have abandoned themselves to political idolatry. By “political idolatry” they mean “political conservatism,” as neither Alberta’s book nor the many prestige outlets enthusing over it have a word of criticism for Christians who advance left-wing causes. However, a curious passage in the book suggests that those leveling this charge may be most guilty of infecting the church with partisanship. Alberta reports on The After Party, a forthcoming program led by...

I belonged to a photography forum that has a section where members can discuss politics. About a 50/50 mix of right/left with the leftists being the usual hate filled, nasty, TDS sufferers.I loved getting the better of them with facts and logic. After one really personal, insult filled rant against me, my temper got the better of me and I responded in kind and me not him got banned. I tried rejoining under a new name and was barred. I deleted all my browsing history and cookies, but was still banned.Then I decided to try a VPN, but was still...

DENVER (KDVR) — Police are warning of a so-called “sextortion” scheme against Aurora students, dozens of whom have been targeted with blackmail on social media. Students have reported that the scammers contact them through Instagram, the Aurora Police Department said on Monday.“A scammer could threaten to post explicit material on the internet or social media unless they receive money from their targeted victim. Sextortion could also involve sharing sexually explicit images with others in exchange for money,” the release said. In six cases out of Aurora, the students said they were direct targets of the sextortion scheme after someone reached...

In 2021, early on in America’s historic border crisis, I wrote that the United Nations was abetting the problem by handing out debit cards and cash vouchers to aspiring illegal border crossers on their way north. One outraged group of 21 border security-minded lawmakers pitched a bill that would require the United States, the UN’s largest donor, to turn off the taxpayer money spigot. H.R. 6155 never caught fire, though, in no small part because “fact checks” from outlets such as the AFP claimed that the UN was doing no such thing. Those fact checkers lied. The UN’s just released...

CNN — People who test positive for Covid-19 in California and Oregon are no longer expected to isolate for a set period of time — and those without symptoms don’t have to isolate at all, state policies now say. People with symptoms can return to school or work once their symptoms are improving and they’ve been fever-free for at least 24 hours, according to the state policies. These two states — which have tended to take a more precautious approach to pandemic policies — are the first to break from federal guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and...

Ugh!

May the WEF Plot Suffer the People’s ResistanceThe World Economic Forum had its annual conference last week in Davos, Switzerland. Once again, the Davos crowd ran a demolition derby for the destruction of liberty around the globe.The WEF seized the Covid pandemic to champion a “Great Reset” to radically increase the power of politicians over every aspect of modern life. In June 2020, the WEF announced that “the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country, from the United States to China, must...

In a tumultuous turn of events, Europe finds itself in the grip of unprecedented unrest. From Scottish farmers raising their voices to French chaos on train tracks, the continent is witnessing a wave of discontent that is impossible to ignore. The question echoes: Have you heard about this on the news? Brace yourself for the details that unfold in this riveting account of Europe’s current state of upheaval. In the Scottish countryside, the rallying cry “It’s happening” echoes as farmers join the wave of protests. Their grievances are diverse, but the common thread is a dissatisfaction with the status quo....