Free Republic

Washington: Former President Donald Trump said in an interview with the All-In podcast that the possibility of NATO expanding to Russia’s border has always been understood to be off the table and such rhetoric now is provocative.“They don’t want to have it, it’s always been understood, and that’s even before Putin,” Trump said in the podcast that aired on Thursday. “It’s always been understood that was a no-no… that was very provocative, and now it’s even more provocative.”Trump said that it’s understandable that Russia would be bothered by NATO troops on its border, adding that NATO’s eastward expansion is a...

A Louisiana federal court has ruled in favor of the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), stopping an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) pro-abortion mandate from taking place in Mississippi and Louisiana. The USCCB praised the ruling. “We have said from the start that abortion has no place in the pro-life, pro-woman Pregnant Workers Fairness Act,” spokeswoman Chieko Noguchi said in a statement, adding, “We’re grateful the court has agreed and look forward to full and permanent respect for our rights and this law’s noble purpose.” The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) became law in June of 2023, with...

The age of your spirits can be the difference between something lackluster or a life changing cocktail.Wine people approach the storage and consumption of their collections rigorously. There are apps for tracking the most optimal moment for a bottle of wine to be consumed, wine refrigerators have multi-zone technology to store Bordeaux at a different temperature than Champagne, and wine service is a whole other area of nuance. Consumers aren’t nearly as precious about their spirits. Liquor bottles are typically stuffed on a bar cart, in the back of a cabinet, or buried somewhere in the freezer. But spirits, liqueurs,...

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.) apologized this week months after dismissing reports that Hamas raped Israeli civilians on Oct. 7 as "propaganda" and "lies." "I apologize for my comments," Bowman said during a radio show appearance, "and now we’re continuing to do the work to fight sexual violence and domestic violence in all its forms." A month after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli civilians that left 1,200 people dead, Bowman said, "There’s still no evidence of beheaded babies or raped women. But they still keep using that lie [for] propaganda," Politico reported. After initially refusing to address the remarks,...

In Japan, “Johatsu” refers to people who disappear due to pressures like failed marriages, debt, and job loss. They abandon their lives and live anonymously off the grid. Specialized companies, called “night movers,” assist them in vanishing completely Behind the scenes, specialized businesses known as “yonige-ya” facilitate these disappearances. These “fly-by-night shops” provide services to Johatsu, helping them erase their existence. From creating new identities to arranging housing and employment, these discreet agencies operate in the shadows, ensuring their clients vanish without a trace.

During a recent Senate hearing, a witness snapped at Sen. John Kennedy over late-term abortion, in a moment abortion advocates are applauding. Yet the statement relied on pro-abortion lies used to promote legalized abortion. The hearing was focused on interstate travel for abortion following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court ruling in 2022, which overturned Roe v. Wade. Jocelyn Frye, president of the pro-abortion National Partnership for Women & Families, was a witness during the hearing and was questioned by Kennedy. While discussing a woman who allegedly asked for an abortion at 34 weeks, Kennedy asked, “Should...

Congressional Progressive Caucus chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) let out a laugh after MSNBC host Joy Reid read a Fox News chyron describing the rape of a 13-year-old girl in New York City by an illegal immigrant aloud during Reid’s show earlier this week. The conversation began with Reid noting that a strong majority of the country now favors the deportation of all illegal immigrants in the country and Jayapal arguing that the better alternative to such a policy would be to let those who entered the country illegally begin to work more easily. “There’s a lot of fearmongering,” she lamented....

Are America’s intelligence agencies being used to silence citizens and influence elections? Mike Benz, Executive Director of the Foundation for Freedom and a former State Department official, explains who he views as the main actors behind the industry of Big Tech censorship and what should be done to preserve freedom of speech in the U.S.

Six years after California legalized marijuana, the bodies keep piling up. Earlier this year, six men were murdered in the Mojave Desert. Four of the men had been burned after being shot with rifles. In 2020, seven people were killed at an illegal pot operation in Riverside County.Violence like this was supposed to disappear after legalization. ...California's legal drug revenues have fallen consistently, as have those in other legal drug states including Colorado, whose model helped sell the idea that drug money would fix everything.***Cartels and gang members dominate the business. And open borders allowed them to bring massive numbers...

The Biden administration’s decision to temporarily halt deliveries of Patriot and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS interceptors for all countries except Ukraine and Taiwan won’t just affect allied air defense capabilities. Patriot interceptors can only be used on the Patriot system, at least for now. The primary weapon for NASAMS is the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), which is also the most widely used western beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, as we explained in our deep dive here. As such, it is a critical component of many Foreign Military Sales (FMS) the U.S. has for combat aircraft and to...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Parolin says infamous Vatican-China deal will be renewed at end of 2024Cardinal Pietro Parolin has announced that the Vatican will renew its heavily criticized secret deal with Communist China at the end of this year.During a presentation of the book Cardinal Celso Costantini and China – Constructor of a “bridge” between the East and West on Thursday at Rome’s Pontifical Urban University, Parolin told journalists, “With China, we are dialoguing as we have been for some time.”READ: Cardinal Zen torches the Vatican and his critics over China deal“We are trying to find the best procedures also for...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) and co-counsel Jonathan F. Mitchell secured a resounding win before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra. A unanimous panel of the Fifth Circuit held that a key provision of the Affordable Care Act violates Article II’s Appointments Clause by empowering the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to dictate the preventive care that all private insurers must cover. In other words—unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats don’t get to make unilateral decisions about Americans’ healthcare coverage, which has led to tremendous increases in the cost of...

Two people were killed, and fourteen were injured in the Juneteenth festival shooting, per police reports by the Round Rock Police Department.

The FRONTLINE documentary China’s COVID Secrets tells the story of the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic that would overtake the world, and how Chinese doctors, scientists, health officials and political leaders responded. Here, we highlight some of the key moments in the earliest days of the outbreak.

After five seasons and 155 episodes of macabre twists and turns, the original run of the CBS anthology The Twilight Zone concluded with an uncharacteristically happy ending. First screened 60 years ago, “The Bewitchin’ Pool” centers on Sport (Mary Badham) and Jeb (Jeffrey Byron) Sharewood, two affluent young siblings seemingly unperturbed when a straw-hatted boy suddenly emerges from their swimming pool, the latter poetically described by creator and narrator Rod Serling as “a structure built of tile and cement and money, a backyard toy for the affluent, wet entertainment for the well-to-do.” The pair subsequently accept his invitation to follow...

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has launched a new project that seeks to introduce “maggot milk” into the food supply of the general public. The new “EntoMilk” is described as a “dairy alternative” that is made from “black soldier fly larvae” or maggots. The maggots are blended into a “rich and creamy liquid which looks and acts just like dairy,” according to its creators. “It’s got a very creamy mouthfeel,” a promotional video claims. Gates and his allies argue that EntoMilk should replace traditional dairy milk because farming allegedly destroys the planet. “The world needs alternatives to survive,” the promo claims....

Jim Hoft reported yesterday that America First Legal (AFL) released documents demonstrating how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) put together a since-disbanded DHS intel group that included Deep State goons John Brennan and James Clapper to reclassify political dissent under the guise of “public health” so that ordinary Americans felt empowered to rat on their neighbors. Now, AFL has released an even more infuriating batch of documents that should send chills straight up your spine because Trump supporters are on the menu. These newly released internal files by AFL show the Biden regime classifies someone as a person likely...

Get Ready to Ignite Southern Oregon at MOGA 2024! Join us on June 22nd for an electrifying event hosted by the Jackson County Republican Party. Featuring keynote speaker Mike Lindell, alongside powerhouse voices like Joe Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, Andy Pollack, Dave Douquette, John Lott, Donna Kreitzberg, and Sarah Phillips of the Young Republicans of Oregon. Experience the energy as local Republican leaders and top MAGA & America First candidates take the stage, amplified by the soul-stirring performance of Nashville recording artist, Mark Mackay

AS VEGAS (AP) — A strange monolith found jutting out of the rocks in a remote mountain range near Las Vegas has been taken down by authorities. How it got there is still a mystery. “It remains unknown how the item got to its location or who might be responsible,” Las Vegas police said Friday in a series of posts on X announcing the removal of the glimmering, 6-foot-4 prism.

As the temperature in Mecca reached 125.24° F. (51.8° C.) on Tuesday, word leaked out that nearly 600 pilgrims had died of heat stroke and 2,000 have been hospitalised for treatment. A virtual clinic treated more thousands remotely. Some 324 of the dead were Egyptians, while dozens were from Jordan. The season of the annual Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, the birthplace of Islam, just ended. Some 1.8 million pilgrims participated. Eyewitnesses said that not all the dead were elderly, that young persons died, as well. Pilgrims carry out a series of rituals during the pilgrimage, beginning with preparing themselves...