Free Republic

Jerrod Carmichael recently opened up to Esquire magazine about tensions with fellow comedian Dave Chappelle. Carmichael, who is making the press rounds in support of his new HBO series, generated headlines in June 2022 when he criticized Chappelle, who had already been earning backlash for making jokes about the transgender community. “Chappelle, do you know what comes up when you Google your name, bro?” Carmichael asked during a GQ magazine profile at the time, referring to the comedian’s comments about trans people. “That’s the legacy? Your legacy is a bunch of opinions on trans ---? It’s an odd hill to...

From 2019 and 2022, Scott Pelley's investigation into neurological symptoms and serious brain injuries reported by U.S. diplomats, intelligence agents and troops around the world and even on the grounds of the White House.

[Catholic Caucus] Francis: Cardinal Sarah Is "Bitter" and Archbishop Gänswein "Has Hurt Me"Archbishop Georg Gänswein "did some very difficult things to me", the vengeful Francis claims in his interview book 'El Sucesor'.His example: When he replaced a head of a Vatican department, whose name he doesn't mention, the decision sparked controversy: "In the midst of all the noise, the secretary took the initiative to take him to see Benedict, because this person wanted to greet him. Since the retired Pope was very friendly, he accepted".The problem was that "the photo of this meeting was circulated, as if Benedict had reacted...

So I've been thinking about this for a while, and it's time for a change.

Father Raffray is a well-known priest who has a growing apostolate on the internet and social media aimed especially at young French-speaking people.The French government has initiated a series of legal measures against Father Matthieu Raffray for calling homosexual relations sinful and for describing homosexuality as a “weakness.” On March 15, the priest of the Institute of the Good Shepherd — created in 2006 in Rome for “the defense and dissemination of Catholic Tradition in all its forms,” according to the website of this society of apostolic life — posted a video on Instagram in which he encouraged the faithful...

Former President Donald Trump vowed to create a “Christian Visibility Day” following President Biden’s declaration of “Transgender Day of Visibility,” which happened to land on Easter Sunday this year. “And what the hell was Biden thinking when he declared Easter Sunday to be Trans Visibility Day?” Trump asked his supporters during a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Tuesday. “Such total disrespect to Christians.” The presumptive Republican nominee for president promised that Nov. 5 would be “Christian Visibility Day” if he is elected. “And on Nov. 5, it is going to be called something else. You know, it’s going...

President Biden’s campaign manager has insisted that the chief executive is not talking “about shutting down the border” — despite Biden’s past overtures to Republicans about doing exactly that. Julie Chavez Rodriguez told the Washington Post in a profile published this week that “the president doesn’t talk about shutting down the border” and is “not advocating for shutting down the border.” Earlier this year, however, while seeking to corral Republicans into backing a bipartisan Senate supplemental spending bill that included money for border security, Biden, 81, suggested that he would crack down on migration across the US-Mexico frontier. “It’ll also...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that Russia’s military plans to draft some 300,000 new troops over the next two months. “I can say that Russia is preparing to mobilize an additional 300,000 military personnel by June 1,” Zelensky said during a joint press conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, according to the news outlet RBC Ukraine. He did not provide further details about the alleged recruitment campaign or state the source of the information. Later Wednesday, the Kremlin denied Zelensky's claim. “This isn't true,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Moscow drafted some 300,000 reservists during a “partial” mobilization drive...

Luke 24:13-35 Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus enlightens the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Have you ever tried to solve a puzzle and then were surprised when the various pieces suddenly fell into place? Well, this is what happens to these disciples as Jesus begins to speak: “How slow of heart [you are] to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”The whole of Christianity is hanging here in the balance.The disciples didn’t get it at first. They didn’t get the secret, the mystery, the...

The music icon said she somewhat agreed with her two sons who strongly disliked “Barbie,” suggesting that it was a piece of pop culture that robbed “men of their possibility to be men.”Shakira graces the cover of Allure magazine and holds nothing back when asked about her thoughts on “Barbie,” the Greta Gerwig-directed blockbuster that topped the 2023 box office with $1.4 billion worldwide and earned eight Oscar nominations, including best picture. The music icon said she somewhat agreed with her two sons who strongly disliked “Barbie,” suggesting that it was a piece of pop culture that robbed “men of...

A federal judge admonished a Jan. 6 rioter during his sentencing Wednesday after the man downplayed the severity of the riots and his violent conduct. “This cannot become normal. … We cannot condone the normalization of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot,” Judge Royce Lamberth said during the sentencing of Taylor James Johnatakis, CNN reported. Johnatakis, a self-described “sovereign citizen,” was found guilty of assaulting a police officer and other felony and misdemeanor charges related to the riot, and he was sentenced to seven years in prison. After his conviction last year, he repeatedly downplayed the riots in interviews, calling...

Wausau voters ousted Mayor Katie Rosenberg, electing conservative challenger Doug Diny with 52 percent of the vote. Wausau spent millions modifying a new water treatment facility after testing in 2022 found all city wells contained elevated PFAS levels. The city instituted new filtration systems in early 2023, but facility costs led to skyrocketing water bills that became an issue in the local race. Diny, who was elected to Wausau City Council in 2020, won 5,222 votes to Rosenberg’s 4,798. Like many local races, the nominally nonpartisan race was characterized by ideological spending on both sides. According to WisPolitics, the state...

Francis and His Collaborators Reject More of Vatican II Than Traditional Catholics DoChrist is the goal of human history; He is the focal point of the longings of history and of civilization; He is the center of the human race; He is the joy of every heart and the answer of all its yearnings; He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end; and it is the Church’s “single intention” that God’s kingdom may come. Thus says Vatican II, and yet the “great defenders of Vatican II” persecute Traditional Catholics because we assert...

Israel faces the prospect of a U.S.-backed “color revolution” in the middle of its war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza as the opposition backs street protests against government, and a key cabinet minister has demanded new elections. A “color revolution” is a coup d’état accomplished through mass protests targeting the existing government, elected or not, with the assistance of the media — and, usually, with backing from foreign powers, including the United States. For the six months since the October 7 terror attack, Israel had seen remarkable unity, with protests — mostly centered in Tel Aviv — against Israeli Prime...

As the superyacht industry navigates its way toward a sustainable future, the experts at Northrop and Johnson explain how the company is leading the way with its Responsible Yachting Strategy. There is no escaping the fact that a superyacht can have a detrimental effect on the ocean, yet the ocean is the yachting industry’s biggest ally – both for its livelihood and in mitigating climate change. In a realm that has traditionally been somewhat detached from sustainability, the superyacht industry has typically been driven by luxury and exclusivity. But with this comes a cost. Whether it is the fossil...

Two things keep the IRS out of most people's hair: the annual gift tax exclusion and the lifetime exclusion. Nerdy takeaways: * A gift tax is a tax owed on the transfer of money or property to another person while receiving nothing or less than full value in return. * The gift giver is the one who generally pays the tax, not the receiver. * If you give more than the annual gift tax limit, you may have to file a gift tax return, but this does not necessarily mean that you'll owe taxes on the gift. * The 2024...

In yet another move that feels designed to tick off long time fans while boosting the returns for short term investors, the San Francisco Giants announced this morning that effective this season, fans ages 17 and under will no longer be permitted to attend games at Oracle Park. Yes, the move is surprising, because Baseball is a kids’ game and the sport has always been a draw for families, but some stark market realities have influenced the decision. On the condition of anonymity, I exchanged some texts with an unnamed exec in the Giants front office, who had this to...

A troubling new study has found that deaths and severe illnesses caused by Covid mRNA vaccines are higher in Republican-voting American states. The study, published in the prestigious JAMA Network Open medical journal, found that the rates of adverse events among the Covid vaccinated were lower in Democrat-voting states. The cross-sectional study looked at more than 620,000 entries in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from 2020 through 2022. The data shows that a 10% increase in ballots cast for President Donald Trump in the last presidential election was associated with...

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) pursuit of pro-life activists has resulted in four more Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act convictions. Four people — Eva Edl, 87, of Aiken South Carolina; Eva Zastrow, 24, of Dover, Arkansas; James Zastrow, 25, of Eldon, Missouri; and Paul Place, 24, of Centerville, Tennessee — were found guilty on Tuesday of violating the FACE Act during a peaceful protest at a Tennessee abortion clinic in 2021, the Daily Wire reported. The activists face up to a year in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. They await sentencing on July 30. Six...

Prior to Monday night's game between Iowa and LSU, there were plenty of people who already respected Caitlin Clark's game. Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce, however, needed to see Clark dismantle LSU's star-studded to truly admire her skillset and talent. Unfortunately, Pierce's commentary about Clark on FS1's "Undisputed" wasn't well articulated. "We saw a white girl in Iowa do it to a bunch of Black girls," Pierce said. "That gained my respect. That gained my respect. She didn't beat other white girls from Colorado or wherever. She did it to LSU, who we thought were some dogs. She put them...