Free Republic

“When I tell you what a word means," Google Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less." My apologies to the great Lewis Carroll for butchering his fine words to fit my theme, but that's entirely the point of this column — and exactly what your betters at Google just did to our glorious English language. Everyone who has ever used, heard, or read the word "bloodbath" knows it has multiple meanings. And thank goodness for that, since literal bloodbaths (like the one Hamas committed in Israel...

President Biden on Thursday took a dig at former President Trump over his financial issues after Trump’s lawyer said he can’t pay his $464 million bond. “I know not everyone’s feeling enthusiasm. The other day a defeated man … came up to me and said, Mr. President I’m being crushed by debt, I’m completely wiped out,” Biden said. “I had to say, ‘I’m sorry Donald, I can’t help you.’” Biden made the joke to a group of supporters at a campaign reception in Houston. Before the comment, he was saying the press doesn’t cover positive polls for him enough, including...

[Catholic Caucus] Open Letter to Archbishop of Atlanta on the LGBTQ Scandal at Immaculate Conception Shrine NAMEADDRESS14 March 2024The Most Rev. Gregory Hartmayer (archbishop@archatl.com)Archdiocese of Atlanta2401 Lake Park Dr SESmyrna, GA 30080Your Excellency, I ask you to stop the scandal being given by personnel at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta (cf. can. 212 §2-3). Two men are being given positions of prominence who claim to be women and are being addressed by incorrect names/pronouns. At Holy Mass, the only persons who are supposed to be serving at the altar are those who are known for their good...

In our generation, when there is no known Amalek, we must uphold the root of the mitzvah, which is to eradicate evil and wage uncompromising war, even when our merciful nature seeks peace Our enemies constantly declare that they want to destroy us in the cruelest way possible, yet many of us have not internalized this. This is how we accepted the Oslo Accords, the withdrawal from Gush Katif, the agreements to release murderers in exchange for hostages – the most horrific of which was the release of Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 terrorists. If we understood that we...

The stock market continued its record-setting rally Thursday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notably flirting with 40,000 as technology shares made major gains. The Dow closed with a gain of nearly 270 points, or 0.7 percent, putting it within striking distance of the major milestone at 39,781 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite jumped 0.4 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, on the day. The microchip sector led the charge, buoying the Dow despite a slump in Apple stock after the Justice Department sued the smartphone giant, alleging the company has hurt competition and consumers, developers and small businesses.

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has drawn outrage for claiming that giving each of the tens of thousands of migrants pouring into the Big Apple free legal representation could net billions in economic benefits for New York state. Lander’s office said in a report that coughing up individual lawyers to rep migrants could prevent roughly 53,000 asylum seekers from being deported across the Empire State — resulting in an estimated net benefit of $8.4 billion for local, state and federal governments. “Access to work authorization leads to higher wages. The higher earning power generates more tax revenue. Higher personal...

Marxist tyrant Letitia James took the first step in seizing Trump’s assets on Thursday after his attorney said he was unable to secure a bond to appeal the massive judgment in the NYC fraud case. Letitia James filed judgments in Westchester County where Trump’s private estate and golf course is located. President Trump has four days to either pay the judgment or convince the appellate court to allow him to defer the payment pending appeal. Trump’s attorneys fought back in a court filing on Thursday. “By demanding an undertaking in the full amount of the judgment in order to appeal,...

The family of the teenage girl charged with violently assaulting Kaylee Gain says that she is the real victim who was 'harassed and bullied' before the viral incident – and are raising $150k for her legal defense, DailyMail.com can reveal. Kaylee, 16, from St Louis, Missouri has been left in a life-threatening condition by the student who repeatedly smashed her head into concrete. She suffered a skull fracture and frontal lobe damage during the violent March 8 brawl which was caught on camera near her high school. But her alleged attacker's family have hit back at calls to charge the...

A devastated mother has claimed her 16-year-old daughter died after being badly beaten by bullies at her California high school. Shaylee Mejia, 16, collapsed just days after she was attacked inside a bathroom at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. Video of the incident on March 5 shows the teenage girl having her hair dragged and hitting her head against a stall before she fell down. Numerous punches are exchanged by the girls involved in the fighting throughout the brawl. Mejia's mother, Maria Juarez, said her daughter complained about headaches for several days but continued to attend school before...

Despite the 2022 Supreme Court ruling, people are losing their property over tax bills that amount to a fraction of their home value and the built up equity. TUCSON, Ariz.—Horses taught Christine Searle the importance of being fair. Intelligent and innately honest creatures, horses know deceit when they see it. She wishes they could teach that principle to the state of Arizona. The 70-year-old horse trainer and Arizona native is on the verge of losing her life’s savings over an unpaid $1,607.68 property tax bill. “I owed them the money. And that’s what they should get—the money I owe them,”...

Murthy v. Missouri perfectly illustrates the dangers of censorship, but Justice Jackson still thinks the government’s ‘perspective’ of ‘threatening circumstances’ should matter.. Following Monday’s Supreme Court oral argument in the social media censorship case Murthy v. Missouri, outraged free-speech advocates rightfully excoriated Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson for worrying that the First Amendment will “hamstring[] the government in significant ways in the most important time periods.” Given that “hamstringing” the federal government was precisely the purpose of the Bill of Rights, Justice Jackson’s comment laid bare the fundamental disdain she and other politically liberal justices hold for the classically liberal freedoms...

City leaders in San Francisco, California, are working to install 400 license plate readers across the area to reduce criminal activity. Leaders and community groups held a press conference on Wednesday to highlight the technology for which the city received a $15.3 million grant to install, KTVU reported. Mayor London Breed (D) said, “This does not include speed cameras. This does not include facial recognition, but it will be useful for Amber Alerts. It will help us to find missing persons as well.”

For thousands of years, farming was driven by the muscle of either animals or humans. With the invention of the steam engine, industrialists brought steam power to farms. The inventions of the reaper and steel plow began a rush to mechanize farming. In the early 20th century, hundreds of companies were experimenting with vehicles to bring power farming to agriculture. By 1929, Deere, Ford and International Harvester were among the few dozen companies that remained, but the tractor form we recognize today had finally emerged and began rapidly replacing muscle as the primary source of power on the farm.

While providing few details, Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said a flight with 14 people, including children, had departed Wednesday afternoon to go to Orlando Sanford International Airport. Guthrie said about 500 Americans and 360 Floridians had contacted the state about evacuating. Guthrie said the state is also working to get people from where they have been staying to an undisclosed airfield in Haiti.

President Biden was met with a few dozen anti-Israel protesters standing outside his hotel in Dallas, Texas, Thursday morning, threatening to withhold their votes if he doesn’t change his administration’s policies toward the Gaza Strip. The protesters held signs calling for a cease-fire between Israel and the terror group Hamas — which controls the 3-mile-wide Palestinian territory of Gaza — amid humanitarian concerns over Israel’s planned ground invasion of Rafah. They also held signs saying, “In November, we will remember,” alluding to the protest movement threatening to not vote for Biden in 2024. “If we don’t get no justice, you...

The executive director of the Little Rock airport who was shot by federal agents serving a search warrant at his home earlier this week has died. A statement from the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport announced the death of Bryan Malinowski at noon Thursday. The statement from Bill Walker, chair of the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission, noted that under Malinowski’s leadership the airport saw “significant growth and success” and offered condolences to Malinowski’s family. “With a heavy heart, we announce the passing of our executive director Bryan Malinowski. Bryan was a 16-year employee of the airport. Under his...

Former President Donald Trump is seeking the help of MAGA supporters to post the bond from his New York fraud civil suit. In a message via his joint fundraising committee, the former president asked for donations of $20 and above. Trump also said that he was the victim of a "witch hunt" and that the New York Attorney General was after his properties

The Post witnessed around 600 migrants massed at the international border, whom Texas National Guard troops were attempting to push back in small groups. The situation grew tense as groups were separated out, and video shows the migrants crying out for help and rushing to the border gate. A group of men with hoodies, gloves and winter jackets pull the fencing away as a group of five guards stand in a defensive formation to fill the gap. Some migrants can be seen putting their hands up in surrender in the video, but seconds later, others scramble through, knocking the guards...

Explanation: This popular group leaps into the early evening sky around the March equinox and the northern hemisphere spring. Famous as the Leo Triplet, the three magnificent galaxies found in the prominent constellation Leo gather here in one astronomical field of view. Crowd pleasers when imaged with even modest telescopes, they can be introduced individually as NGC 3628 (left), M66 (bottom right), and M65 (top). All three are large spiral galaxies but tend to look dissimilar, because their galactic disks are tilted at different angles to our line of sight. NGC 3628, also known as the Hamburger Galaxy, is temptingly...

New York Attorney General Letitia James appears to be gearing up to potentially seize Donald Trump's Westchester golf club and Seven Springs estate as the deadline looms for the ex-president to secure the $454 million bond in his civil fraud trial. The attorney general formally registered judgements in Westchester County where Trump has the two properties just north of Manhattan on March 6. According to the county clerk's online database, the judgements were registered against Trump, the Trump Organization and his two adult sons Don Jr. and Eric. The action was first reported by Bloomberg News.