Free Republic

23 February 2024 Friday of the 1st week of Lent (optional commemoration of Saint Polycarp, Bishop, Martyr) Saint Polycarp Church, Smyrna, TurkeyReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet. Year: B(II).First readingEzekiel 18:21-28 ©I prefer to see the wicked man renounce his wickedness and liveThus says the Lord: ‘If the wicked man renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is law-abiding and honest, he will certainly live; he will not die. All the sins he committed will be forgotten from then on; he shall live because of the integrity he has practised. What! Am I likely to take...

What’s driving the lawfare against Donald Trump and MAGA? Superficially, the answer is politics and the quest for power, where lawfare is the only practicable way for power to be gained. That’s because Democrat policies and ideology — lawfare is a Democrat thing — are widely unpopular, notably with independents, in whose hands nationwide election outcomes frequently rest. Under normal circumstances, open borders, infanticide, “chest-feeding” and other transgender fictions — in general, turning America into California — do not present ready avenues to political power. And now, with Judge Arthur Engoron’s $355-million fine of Trump for his Manhattan business dealings,...

On Saturday, Nikki Haley will suffer a humiliating defeat in her own home state. She was once popular enough in South Carolina to draw a prominent Ambassadorship to the United Nations in the beginning of the first Trump administration despite endorsing Ted Cruz in the GOP primary.She’s just not as popular anymore. In fact, analysts and commentators aren’t even debating whether she can win but rather how badly she’ll lose. The GOP primary is over. It was over before the Iowa caucus.But she has vowed to stay in. Granted, everyone vows to stay in presidential primaries longer than they actually...

Hungary said on Friday it had signed a deal to buy four Saab JAS Gripen fighter jets from Sweden, as Budapest finally prepared to approve Stockholm's bid to join NATO after nearly two years of delays. Hungary was the last member of the transatlantic military alliance holding out against Sweden's historic application to join, which it made in 2022 in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A majority of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck. A majority don’t have enough money to pay for a thousand-dollar emergency. Home ownership is a rapidly dissipating aspect of the American dream. Americans’ credit card debt is at a record high because of high inflation and the cost-of-living, and they’re falling behind on debt payments. People don’t have enough money for retirement. So what is the solution? Well for some economists, it’s time to take away the tax benefit for 401(k) plans because the government is short of revenue to pay for their exorbitant spending. See here, from USA Today:What if the...

These are personal opinions based on my love of reading and love of country. When I was still in high school, I read a recent novel about the destruction of America caused by socialism, corruption of power and the economic destruction. The novel? “Atlas Shrugged” I read another novel about the abuse of power by the government. The novel? “1984”. It is obvious that the left and the DC UniParty (Establishment GOP and DNC) have taken “1984” as an instruction manual, and the result is “Atlas Shrugged”. What triggered this epiphany in my mind was reading about the relocation of...

Electric vehicle makers Rivian and Lucid both suffered plummeting share prices after disappointing fourth-quarter earnings reports revealed stagnant production numbers. CNBC reports that shares of electric vehicle makers Rivian and Lucid plunged on Thursday following disappointing fourth-quarter earnings reports released after markets closed on Wednesday. Rivian stock sank around 25 percent, while Lucid shares dropped nearly 17 percent. Both companies cited stagnant production numbers and “existing economic and geopolitical uncertainties” as factors impacting results. Rivian forecasts production of 57,000 vehicles in 2024 — about the same as the 57,232 vehicles manufactured in 2023. Meanwhile, Lucid predicts production of 9,000 vehicles...

The top 20 global airlines hauled in more than $33 billion in revenue from bag fees last year, .. That accounted for about 4.1% of global airline revenue in 2023. It was also an increase of 15% from the $29 billion the companies collected in 2022... Baggage fees, according to the report, are seen as a "significant component of ancillary revenue" ... It comes from checked baggage in the aircraft hold, added fees for heavy and extra-large bags and, in some instances, the price charged for larger carry-on bags. It started "as an economic necessity" as airlines sought relief from...

Blake, 26, live-streamed the killing and dissection of a cat four months before she targeted Jorge Martin Carreno, 30, as he walked home from a night out in Oxford in July 2021. Harrowing audio released by police revealed how Blake said 'one day I want to learn how to do this to a person' after killing the cat. She had admitted dissecting the animal, removing the fur and skin and placing it in a blender but blames her former partner Ashlynn Bell. The court previously heard Blake had an 'extreme interest in death and in harm' and killed the family...

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a merger of former President Donald Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, with Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC), which is a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). There were two years of delay leading up to the deal because of an investigation into the company by regulators. Now the SEC has approved the merger of approximately $10 billion after the long wait on Wall Street, according to reporting from OANN. The Trump Media & Technology Group, which owned both companies, intends to take Truth Social public in an initial public offering...

Maine’s Department of Education is reportedly urging school districts to stop using taxpayer-subsidized electric school buses that were purchased within the last year. The districts reported problems with the new buses, which were supplied by Canada-based Lion Electric Co., last fall ... The windshields on the buses would leak whenever it rained, as the glass didn’t appear to be securely in place. concerns about mixing electricity and water from the leaking windshields led them to stop driving some of the buses. The buses, which cost about $345,000 each, were also sold with misaligned or incorrect lettering on the sides, and...

Goodbye free markets! Hello heavy-handed government cronyism. So, despite recent declines in energy prices, gasoline prices are still up 46.25% under “Green Joe” and the all important for shipping, diesel prices, are still up 55.6% under Brainless Joe. One would think that massive rises in gasoline and diesel prices would make everyone buy an electric vehicle (EV). But alas, the high cost and unreliability of EVs is turning off consumers. (I own a hybrid and wish I didn’t). Another one of the Biden administration’s “visions” for forcing people to own electric vehicles isn’t working out exactly as planned. Both Ford...

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden lamented the partisanship that permeates Capitol Hill and politics writ large, telling governors at the White House that she wished more lawmakers would follow their lead. She spoke on Friday in the White House’s East Room to state chief executives who were in Washington for the winter gathering of the National Governors Association. During her brief remarks, Biden recalled something that Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, had told her when she visited his state last year. “What you said really stayed with me,” Biden said. “You said pure partisan politics has never...

Below is my column in The Hill on the trouble brewing at CBS over the seizure of the files of acclaimed investigative reporter Catherine Herridge. The column broke the story on the uproar over not just her being laid off but her being locked out from her files. I am now hearing from CBS sources that the network is moving toward a resolution to turn over the files after the outcry. However, the concerns over Herridge’s firing and the network’s handling of her confidential notes continues to draw fire from journalists and commentators. The union issued a statement (below) after...

(America First Report)—Every now and then, I hear ideas or come across stories that I don’t want to put in writing. These usually surround information that I do not want out there because I don’t want to give anybody ideas. The article below is one of those cases; I didn’t want illegal aliens to figure out how they can further exploit one of the most ludicrous types of laws on the books in many major cities and leftist states. With Fox News covering it and other outlets picking it up, it’s time to warn Americans about a huge potential problem:...

Big Tech, federal agencies, and corporate media are working together to undermine the country and control your thoughts. It’s tempting to look at Big Tech, corporate media, and federal agencies as distinct industries and entities with their own goals and organizational structures, but that’s not the right way to analyze them in 2024. In reality, they are just different systems within the same organism, similar to how eyes, ears, and legs are all part of a human body. They have different roles and functions, but all are subordinate to the same overarching goal: total power. In 2024, these entities all...

Strange events are occurring in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In the Ninth Circuit, it has become clear that when a three-judge panel finds in favor of the Second Amendment as a fundamental part of the Bill of Rights, the case will be sent to an en banc panel to be reversed by the full court. Most of the time, the Ninth Circuit would wait for the three-judge panel to publish their decision before sending the case to the en banc panel. In the Fourth Circuit, en banc panels are snatching cases away from three-judge...

VIDEOFor years the Democrats have merely flirted with Communism. However, now they have fully embraced it. Or at least they support Communism for their enemies and those they consider to be mere serfs, working people in the USA who are citizens. For their own elite they are in favor of corporate Fascism in which the government helps only those companies that are woke and support the Democrats. Thus we now have the sad spectacle of the Democrats supporting Big Pharma, Big Social Media, and Big War. An example of the latter is to send billions to Ukraine where it is...

Alexei Navalny's mother has been told to agree to a "secret" burial for the Putin critic within three hours, his spokeswoman says. If Lyudmila Navalnaya did not agree, he would be buried at the prison where he died a week ago, the spokeswoman said a Russian investigator had told her. On Thursday, Ms Navalnaya said she was made to sign a death certificate saying her son died of natural causes. Mr Navalny's widow has said he was killed by Russian authorities. The Kremlin has denied the allegations, calling Western reaction to the death "hysterical". Mr Navalny died in a prison...