Free Republic

President Joe Biden gave his first post-debate television interview to reassure Americans he could handle another four years in office-- but it turns out, it wasn't just one "bad night." After a shaky debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week, Biden has faced an avalanche of pressure to drop out of the 2024 race, citing his cognitive decline. Biden, who says he's staying in the race, has defied calls to drop out of the running, confident he will beat Trump. The 81-year-old president agreed to a sit-down interview with CBS News’ George Stephanopoulos because he said he would...

A Roman Catholic archbishop who questioned the legitimacy of Pope Francis and portions of the Second Vatican Council was excommunicated from the Catholic Church on Thursday for the canonical crime of schism. Carlo Maria Viganò, 83, who served as the Vatican's ambassador to the United States from 2011 to 2016, was informed Friday by the Vatican's doctrinal office that it had found him guilty, according to a press release from the Holy See. "His public statements manifesting his refusal to recognize and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, his rejection of communion with the members of the Church subject to him,...

Dozens of world leaders will convene in Washington next week for NATO’s 75th-anniversary summit, where they will offer Ukraine a path toward membership in the alliance even if they aren’t quite ready to give Kyiv a key to the front door. On Friday, a senior White House official said the allies will reaffirm at the summit that Ukraine’s future is with NATO. The U.S. will announce new steps to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses and other military capabilities to help them defend themselves and deter future Russian aggression. “President Biden will host an event with (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and nearly...

On Friday, while at a campaign stop in Wisconsin, Joe Biden defiantly announced that he is "staying in the race" ahead of his crucial prime-time interview with George Stephanopolous, which is set to air Friday night. The interview could be a critical moment for his campaign following his disastrous presidential debate performance last week that has led to many in the mainstream media and even some Democrats urging him to drop out of the race. Speaking in Madison, Wis., Biden addressed the debate but merely conceded it wasn't his "best performance." He did, however, acknowledge the speculation regarding the future...

Big-money Hollywood donors are reportedly enraged at movie mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg for the “agewashing” of President Joe Biden. Katzenberg, who was named a campaign co-chair due to his prolific fundraising abilities, is being accused by his entertainment industry peers of misleading them by downplaying Biden’s age-related decline and failing to sound the alarm in time to allow the Democrats to pick a suitable replacement, The Ankler reported. “Everyone in town is furious with him. Furious,” a top Hollywood observer told The Ankler when asked about donors’ views about Katzenberg, who has long insisted that the president is “fine” even though...

[Catholic Caucus] Glaringly Obvious Signs that the Spirit Guiding Francis’s Synod is NOT HolyAs we can grasp from the considerations that follow, the Synod on Synodality is perhaps the most vile offense against God taking place in the world today because its leaders suggest that the Holy Ghost is guiding the Synod, whereas it is obvious that the guiding spirit is Satan.“In a synodal style, decisions are made through discernment, based on a consensus that flows from the common obedience to the Spirit.” (Synod on Synodality Preparatory Document)Not many Catholics appear to care much about the ongoing Synod on Synodality,...

Scientists have been striving to tackle the accelerating climate crisis by developing novel ways to develop sustainable cooling materials. Recently, a team of researchers from Sichuan University in China has devised an aerogel composed of gelatin and DNA that surpassed 100 percent solar reflectance. Additionally, an official statement by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) noted that the aerogel is biodegradable and provides exceptional radiative cooling. Aerogel crossed over 100% solar reflectivity Jian-Wen Ma, the first author of the study researching and developing the aerogel material told Interesting Engineering that the material has a reflectivity of 104...

Ukraine has used sea drones to devastating effect against Russia's far superior Black Sea Fleet. Drones could 'radically' change naval warfare, Pavlo Lakiychuk told the Kyiv Independent. He said they pose a threat to larger navies and give smaller navies a chance to turn the tide. Sea drones could radically change naval warfare, giving smaller navies a chance to "flip the chessboard," a retired Ukrainian naval officer told the Kyiv Independent. Pavlo Lakiychuk told the outlet that sea drones present a "serious" threat to modern navies, which have spent billions creating enormous, supposedly "impenetrable killing" weapons. For those nations that...

INDIANAPOLIS — One woman is dead and three others wounded following a shootout between neighbors on Indy’s near northwest side. Just before 9:30 p.m. Thursday, a Fourth of July celebration led to a dispute between neighbors that erupted into gunfire. Cell phone video shared by a neighbor clearly shows a man standing at his front door firing the first shot into a crowd of people next door. Those victims then returned fire, leading to a shootout that left one woman dead. “I’m frustrated because this could have been avoided. This didn’t have to happen,” said the woman who lives next...

Self-proclaimed "radical" protesters disrupted a performance of a Broadway musical about American suffragettes on Tuesday, arguing it is a "White wash" of history. Former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a co-producer of the Broadway production of "Suffs: The Musical," which is described on its website as a show that "brings to life a complicated chapter in the ongoing battle for the right to vote: the American women’s suffrage movement," and "boldly explores the victories and failures of a fight for equality that is still far from over." Cell phone footage showed what appeared to protesters in...

Health officials issued an urgent warning after a train carrying toxic materials derailed and exploded into a fireball in North Dakota. Hazmat crews have been deployed to a remote area around 140 miles north of Fargo, after 29 cars of a CPKC train derailed at around 3:45 am on Friday. The hazardous materials in the train included anhydrous ammonia, sulfur and methanol, which officials warned are being expelled from the wreckage in toxic smoke. Ammonia is the biggest risk, and if exposed to the compound, it can cause burning to the eyes, nose and throat, as well as blindness, lung...

President Joe Biden, in his first television interview since his CNN debate with Donald Trump, brushed off the poor performance as a "bad episode" and said he alone was to blame for what transpired. … “Did you ever watch the debate afterwards?" Stephanopoulos asked Biden. "I don't think I did, no," the president said. But did he know how badly it was going while he was on stage? "Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobody's fault, mine. Nobody's fault but mine. I-- I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders...

This is a II V progression jam with Count Vlad on the guitar. If you are a guitarist, you'll see a lot of this progression in Latin songs. The Count is playing with people he didn't know, as what happens at blues jams. If you like the music, give it a thumbs up and subscribe.

Watch the handler in the striped shirt help senile Joe keep from getting lost. (I wonder if he was the guy in the bunny suit?)

"Did you ever watch the debate afterwards?" BIDEN: "I don't think I did." "Did you know how badly it was going?" BIDEN: *incoherent rambling* "It seemed like you were having trouble from the first question in..." BIDEN: "Well I just had a bad night."

President Biden had a message on Friday for Democrats and others who are calling on him to drop his reelection bid after last week's debate: "I am going to run and I'm going to win again." Speaking to supporters in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Friday, the president reiterated that he won't be forced out as the Democratic presidential nominee amid a chorus of criticism and concern sparked by his startling debate performance.The president cited the results of the primary process, which was tightly controlled by the Democratic Party and featured no serious challengers to his renomination."I'm the nominee...

CHICAGO -- At least 56 people have been shot, 11 fatally, in gun violence across Chicago so far this weekend, police said. The shootings happened across the city since 6 p.m. Wednesday, during the extended July 4th holiday weekend. The violence includes three mass shootings, one in which two women and an 8-year-old boy were killed and two young boys were left in critical condition after multiple shooters opened fire into a Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood home on the South Side. At least 43 shot, 6 fatally, in Chicago in less than 12 hours.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has benefited from frustrated Democratic donors and elected officials failing to rally behind a single plan for replacing him, but that may be changing. Some Democrats would like Biden to stay in the race. Others want him to step aside so that Vice President Kamala Harris can become the party’s nominee. A third set believes the nominee should be someone else — or at least that there should be competition for the spot. That fundamental disagreement has contributed to paralysis within the party, buying Biden more time to try to reassure his allies. But he...

People living in southern Australia won’t have failed to notice how cold it is. Frosty nights and chilly days have been the weather for many of us since the start of July. As winter continues, we are left wondering how unusual the cold is and whether we can expect several more months of this. Warmer conditions are in the forecast but winter has a long way to go. Further cold snaps could occur. Cold conditions have been in place across southern Australia for the past few days. Temperatures have fallen below zero overnight in many places.

Following the Supreme Court's landmark decision on presidential immunity, former President Donald Trump's lawyers on Friday asked the judge overseeing his classified documents case to delay the proceedings and reconsider two motions to dismiss the case in light of this week's immunity ruling. Trump's lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to pause all the proceedings in the documents case -- other than a pending ruling regarding the special counsel's request for a gag order -- so that she can determine whether Trump's alleged conduct in the case is "official or unofficial." In a blockbuster decision Monday, the Supreme Court...