Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Faithful Catholics are suffering. Meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary can helpAs we continue to endure such persecutions, we should never be scandalized, but rather put our hope in the Most Holy Rosary. The Rosary has sustained other generations in times of persecution.Despite constant pressure to adopt the opinion that an ever-growing number of Catholics attend the Latin Mass out of preference, one must acknowledge that the sacrifice these Catholics make to attend these parishes proves that the attachment is more than preferential. The traditional Mass is an expression of traditional morals and beliefs. It is...

Mayor Adams says nobody likes him, and the polls suggest he’s close to correct. An African-American, he blames race — but maybe it’s really because nobody likes a whiner. Especially an unfocused whiner. You know, like a mayor who flits like a firefly from one crisis to the next, a fellow who talks a good game but who — after 25 months in office — has yet to demonstrate that he’s truly up to what often is described as the second-toughest job in America. Certainly Adams has yet to establish a core theme for his mayoralty. He reacts — but...

The following is adapted from a talk delivered on January 22, 2024, at the Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship on Hillsdale’s Washington, D.C., campus, as part of the AWC Family Foundation Lecture Series. In 1960, the Eisenhower administration began counting the number of foreign nationals “apprehended” or “encountered” by what was then called the U.S. Border Control when crossing into the U.S. over its southern border with Mexico. These figures have been published and closely monitored through the years, and there has never been anything like the numbers we are seeing now. A human tsunami...

Russia fired cruise and ballistic missiles and Shahed-type drones at targets across Ukraine on Wednesday morning, authorities reported, killing at least three civilians and injuring 10 others, including a pregnant woman. The attacks targeted at least three major cities, including the capital Kyiv, where the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, was discussing military aid and financial support for Ukraine. That Western help is desperately needed by Ukraine, which is struggling with ammunition and personnel shortages. Some long-term foreign funding is also in doubt as the war nears its two-year anniversary on Feb. 24.

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) re-election campaign quietly cut ties in late October with its fundraising consulting firm, Fundraising, Inc. The Republican-aligned fundraising company is a subsidiary of Jeff Roe’s Axiom Strategies. Shortly after winning the Speakership, Johnson was told by several House Republican colleagues — at the urging of Trump campaign aides Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles — that it would be prudent to end his campaign’s use of Roe-affiliated companies. The departure of Johnson as a client of a Jeff Roe-controlled campaign firm is a significant blow to the high-profile Republican political consultant and Axiom Strategies. Meanwhile, some...

The Fulton County district attorney’s office asked a Georgia judge Wednesday to quash subpoenas of top prosecutors in former President Trump’s 2020 election interference case that would require them to testify at a hearing next week over whether they should be booted from the case. After accusing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) and special prosecutor Nathan Wade of having romantic ties, one of Trump’s co-defendants in Georgia subpoenaed the duo along with more than a half-dozen of their colleagues for the hearing, scheduled for Feb. 15. Both Willis and Wade last week admitted to having a “personal relationship,”...

A large explosion lit up the night sky on February 7 near Votkinsk, a city about 1,000 kilometers east of Moscow that is the location of a Russian military production facility. Residents of Votkinsk reported that a powerful explosion had occurred near the city and posted videos on social media showing high flames and a massive yellow glow over the horizon. Further messages said the explosion occurred at the Votkinsk Machine-Building Plant, which produces some of the Russian military's most sophisticated missiles, including the types it has used against Ukraine. The explosion was also reported by TASS, which quoted the...

Tucker Carlson has announced he'll be interviewing Vladimir Putin soon in a video designed to garner attention for the effort. But like a lot of things Carlson says these days, some of it is pure and obvious bunk. Take for instance his claim about being the first western journalist to bother interviewing Putin.Speaking of western countries take on the war in Ukraine Carlson said, "Their media outlets are corrupt. They lie to their readers and viewers and they do that mostly by omission." (snip) Having established that it's bad for media outlets to lie to their viewers by omission and...

Squatters are ruining entire neighborhoods in Atlanta and police response to evict is so slow, some homeowners have resorted to paying nuisances to leave. Brazen squatters even opened an illegal strip club on a property they had taken over — one of the 1,200 homes which has been squatted in the city, according to the National Rental Home Council (NRHC) trade group. “I’d be terrified in Atlanta to lease out one of my properties,” Matt Urbanski, who manages a local home-cleaning company, told Bloomberg. Urbanski’s company cleans out homes for corporate landlords, and in some cases has to remove squatters’...

No one’s sure how the ambitious bandits made off with the heavy steel structure, WJLX station general manager Brett Elmore told WBRC. “I have tried all weekend to figure it out, and I just can’t,” Elmore told the TV station. “I have been in the radio business, around it all my life and then in it professionally for 26 years, and I can say I have never heard of anything like this,” he added. “I can say I’ve seen it all now.” Elmore learned of the theft on Friday when a landscaping crew went to the rural tower site to...

Country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor Toby Keith passed away on Monday night at his home in Oklahoma, after a prolonged battle with stomach cancer since the fall of 2021. He was 62 years old at the time of his demise. Trigger warning: This article has references to lynching and racism. Readers' discretion is advised. The official statement from his family read: "Toby Keith passed peacefully last night on February 5th surrounded by his family. He fought his fight with grace and courage. Please respect the privacy of his family at this time." In the wake of his death,...

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Changing signs at Harry Reid International Airport is proving more expensive than planned, and the total price tag is now up to $7.68 million, documents show. On Tuesday, Clark County commissioners approved $4.77 million to fund the most expensive part of the project. “Marquee – Landmark Signs” on Tropicana Avenue had an original budget of $1.95 million and now are estimated to cost an estimated $2.82 million more than planned.

A news story about the hacking of three million smart toothbrushes to create a massive botnet used to launch a distributed denial of service cyberattack against a Swiss organization has gone viral. However, many in the information security industry, including myself, have trouble finding evidence to support the story.

Could Taylor Swift tilt Florida blue? It’s Democrats’ wildest dream. TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida Democrats don’t know why Taylor Swift is naming an upcoming song on her new album “Florida!!!” or the reason she chose to hold three concerts in Miami less than a month before the November elections. But their excitement around the news is less about “why?” and more about leveraging Swift’s celebrity status to fill the blank space for beleaguered voters tired of losing to Republicans.

i am trying to get a feel for the USA economy and USA stocks through to nov-dec 2024. what is the best prognosis? and why? what is the worst prognosis? and why? allow me to take a swag at both. the best would be that QE is re-instituted or continued. this however gets into the definition of "best." best in the longer term would involve reducing welfare which we all know is difficult to touch politically. i think we can do at least one more year of federal funding through issuing more debt although the current US govt bonds are...

DEAR ABBY: My son and daughter-in-law are in their early 30s. They have a 5-year-old child who hasn’t seen a doctor since infancy. They opted not to vaccinate. Although my husband and I do not agree with it, we keep our mouths shut. Our precious granddaughter has been sick with a severe cough and fever on and off for close to two months. Although they have health insurance, they refuse to take her to a doctor. They treat her with over-the-counter meds and holistic remedies. I finally told my daughter-in-law I felt it was negligence to not take the child...

Since the Rohingya are considered foreign intruders by Myanmar's military government and have been denied citizenship, Bangladesh has little chance of reuniting with them across the border in Rakhine, the world's largest refugee populationBangladesh declared on Wednesday that it will no longer accept the large number of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar into its borders, citing security concerns. Nearly a million Muslim Rohingya people reside in cramped camps made of bamboo and plastic in Bangladesh’s border province of Cox’s Bazar; the majority of them escaped a military crackdown in 2017. The Rohingya people have been persecuted for decades in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar....

A pathogen that is not yet known to cause disease in people could begin infecting humans in vast numbers, say expertsIt is just over four years since the novel coronavirus – which came to be known as Covid-19 – first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The rapid outbreak of the disease sparked a pandemic, claiming millions of lives and devastating economies the world over. Now experts are working to prevent a future global health crisis by sharpening their focus on an as yet unknown threat, often termed as Disease X. At a World Economic Forum discussion in Davos...

The Speaker of the House took the fall Remember last year when a Waffen-SS Nazi was given a standing ovation in the Canadian parliament in front of Ukrainian President Zelensky? It turns out that it was indeed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who sent the invite. As we reported at the time, the Canadian Speaker of the House was forced to resign following the incident where 98-year-old Ukrainian SS solider Yaroslav Hunka was cheered and honoured, with Trudeau refusing to take any responsibility. Trudeau effectively sacrificed Anthony Rota, with opposition leader Pierre Poilievre noting that “Canadians are sick and tired...

* Collectively, Americans owe $1.13 trillion on their credit cards, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. * Higher prices have largely caused consumers to spend down their savings and lean on credit cards to make ends meet. * Now, young adults, who are also burdened by high levels of student loan debt, are increasingly falling behind on the payments, the New York Fed found. Americans now owe a collective $1.13 trillion on their credit cards, according to a new report on household debt from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This is...