Free Republic

For almost two weeks, the Democrats have had only one term in their word cloud when it comes to J.D. Vance: “Weird.”On Sunday, Vance finally responded to the charge, on CNN’s State of the Union, calling it: “fundamentally schoolyard bully stuff.” “No, we’re not ,” Trump had told a rally in Montana, a couple of days earlier. “We’re very solid people.”Yet on it goes. From dawn to dusk, the CNBC/USA Today/NPR message machine has been pumping out the same word in the mouths of different commentators. This is no accident. The “weird” meme is supposed to have started with Tim…For...

The most consequential moment from Donald Trump’s glitchy interview with Elon Musk on Monday came during a discussion of government cost-cutting. “Well, you, you’re the greatest cutter,” Trump told Musk, before launching, apropos of nothing, into a reverie about how Musk dominates his employees. “They go on strike,” said Trump. “I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, ‘That’s OK. You’re all gone. You’re all gone. So every one of you is gone,’ and you are the greatest.”Trump’s sympathy with plutocrats over unions is not a surprise, given both his record in...

The United States, Egypt, and Qatar presented Hamas and Israel with a “bridging proposal” for the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal after holding talks in Doha on Thursday and Friday. This is a document aimed at birding the gaps between Israel and Hamas when it comes to the implementation of the three-phase hostage deal US President Joe Biden first unveiled in Washington on May 31. The White House said that another summit would be held in Cairo at the end of next week with an eye to securing a final agreement. “Senior officials from our governments will reconvene in Cairo...

Daily Readings from the USCCBHe answered, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted.” Matthew 19:11This was Jesus’ response to a lengthy discussion about the indissolubility of marriage. One of the reasons that “Not all can accept this word…” is because marriage, and every other vocation, requires wholehearted sacrifice and selflessness. When this is not present, and when the selfless living that is required of us turns to selfishness, then every conflict becomes a heavy burden. A burden that is unbearable without grace. What is love? What form of love is required in marriage...

Bryne🍁@riss1130Why is Bill Gates pushing the vaccines? ---- Dr Peter McCullough explains in 1.5 minute video https://x.com/riss1130/status/1824421075804958779

New York State Public Service Commission has approved the implementation of the Energy Affordability Guarantee pilot program. The PSC’s decision provides a plan for the design and implementation of an energy affordability pilot program for low-income households who fully electrify their space and water heating through the EmPower+ program. This pilot program will provide approximately 1,000 EmPower+ program participants with tailored bill assistance to ensure they pay no more than six percent of their annual household income toward electricity costs. To be eligible for the guarantee, the customer’s home must meet the income eligibility standard for low-income programs, which is...

It is “hard to exaggerate how bad” Vice President Kamala Harris’s proposal to implement government-enforced price control on groceries is, according to a Washington Post essay slamming the plan as both vague and harmful, and cautioning those labeled “communist” by their opponents should think twice before pushing such radical economic policies. In a piece published Thursday, titled “When your opponent calls you ‘communist,’ maybe don’t propose price controls?” Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell argues that it’s difficult to overstate just “how bad” Harris’s plan is. “It’s not hard to figure out where this proposal came from,” the essay states. “Voters...

An estimated 1.5 million taxpayers will be notified of their automatic eligibility for a new round of state-funded Anchor property-tax relief benefits starting next week, state Treasury officials said Tuesday. The benefits, intended to help offset the state’s high local property taxes, will once again total as much as $1,750 per household. Those eligible for automatic enrollment will see letters notifying them that their applications for Anchor benefits will be filed with the state automatically beginning Aug. 19, the officials said. Later this month the Department of the Treasury’s Division of Taxation will also be sending out information via mail...

The numbers: Construction of new homes fell 6.8% in July compared with the previous month, as builders scaled back new projects. Housing starts fell to a 1.24 million annual pace from 1.33 million in June, the government said Friday. That’s how many houses would be built over an entire year if construction were to continue at the same rate each month as in July. The data fell short of Wall Street’s expectations of a 1.34 million pace. All numbers are seasonally adjusted. Housing starts fell to the lowest level since May 2020. Outside of the pandemic, new-home construction was at...

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a big promise when he launched his war on Ukraine: conscripts would not be involved in combat. But as Moscow struggles to contain Ukrainian advances deeper into its territory, families of young soldiers deployed in the area are raising the alarm about their loved ones. Messages shared in Russian Telegram channels and other social media over the past few days have revealed how unprepared Moscow was for this kind of attack, including the fact that its military had left poorly trained conscripts in charge of defending the border with Ukraine – the country Russia has...

Vice President Kamala Harris supports a parent tax credit, her campaign announced Friday, the same policy the Trump-Vance ticket advocates. It is not the first time Harris copied Trump’s populist agenda. She also copied Trump’s no tax on tips policy, a popular idea among service industry workers. “Kamala Harris copied President Trump on No Tax On Tips,” Republican communications guru Steve Guest posted on X. “Now she is copying JD Vance on a child tax credit”: Kamala Harris copied President Trump on No Tax On Tips. Now she is copying JD Vance on a child tax credit: pic.twitter.com/MR7bGKENtm — Steve...

Lawyer for Mostafa Eldidi, 26, says he’ll defend his client’s innocenceA 26-year-old Toronto man accused of plotting a deadly ISIS-inspired rampage previously lived in Egypt and once studied at a U.S. university, CBC News has learned. Mostafa Eldidi and his father, Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, were arrested last month and charged with terrorism offences over what police described as a plan to carry out "a serious, violent attack in Toronto." On Thursday, Mostafa Eldidi's lawyer, Nate Jackson, appeared in court on his behalf for the first time. He told the court he would be meeting with his new client in...

North Korea's supreme leader has reiterated his country's support for Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and expressed his intention to foster closer ties between the two regimes. "I express firm belief that the strong and brave Russian people will firmly defend the sovereign right and security interests of the state and surely win victory in the sacred war for regional peace and international justice," Kim Jong Un said on Thursday, according state news agency KNCA.

Standing next to a spread of coffee, cereal and breakfast meats at his New Jersey golf club on Thursday, former President Trump started what he billed as his second news conference in as many weeks by highlighting increased costs of everyday foodstuffs due to inflation — a major issue for voters in November.Then, he veered off into a rambling 40-minute speech — uninterrupted by media questions — in which he aired old political grievances and debunked conspiracy theories, and lied, repeatedly, about the state of the economy, the safety of the nation and the policies of Vice President Kamala Harris,...

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order last week preventing dead people and illegal immigrants from voting in his state. Codifying election integrity measures is the sort of routine work every state’s chief executive is supposed to undertake with an important election less than 90 days away, but failure to do so has consequences. Last year, the Old Dominion identified and deleted the names of 79,867 dead people from the state’s voter rolls. Likewise, between January 2022, when the Republican took office, and last month, 6,303 noncitizens were on the voter list. They’ve been purged. A handful of ineligible...

The Secret Service is providing Kimberly Cheatle, its former director who resigned last month, a security detail in an unprecedented effort to protect a former agency chief amid lingering national anger about the myriad security lapses under her watch that led to the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump and the killing of firefighter Corey Comperatore, according to three sources in the Secret Service community. Cheatle has faced an ongoing firestorm of fury from Americans citizens, and even rank-and-file Secret Service special agents and officers, over the agency’s failures that created an opening for shooter Thomas Crooks to open...

Columbia University’s new school year starts Sept. 3 — and some professors are already worried about another semester of chaotic protests, after activist groups have declared they “will be back.“ And with news on Wednesday that university president Minouche Shafik has stepped down to be replaced by interim president Katrina Armstrong, the next semester is even more uncertain. Last spring, raucous protesting, an illegal encampment and an occupation of Hamilton Hall sent classes remote and upended final exams and the main commencement. In a July statement, Minouche Shafik said the university is undertaking “community-building” efforts to quell the tensions —...

House Oversight investigating Walz over 'longstanding connections' to China [08/16/2024]Kamala's Last Walz? [08/16/2024]10 Things To Know About Tim Walz And His Ties To Communist China [08/15/2024]Tim Walz LIED for 20 years and ALMOST Got Away With It. [even worse that previously reported] [08/15/2024]"Like, I Have White Guy Tacos" – Tim Walz and Kamala Harris Release Racist, Cringey Chat on YouTube (VIDEO) [08/15/2024]Kamala Harris and Tim Walz Interview Each Other and Copy the Trump-Vance Campaign… Again [08/15/2024]Kamala / Tim Walz Phone Call PARODY [08/15/2024]Stolen Valor Walz Strikes Again With Misleading Congressional Challenge Coin [08/15/2024]When the Twin Cities Burned, Tim Walz Dithered...

A reputed Peruvian gang leader suspected in nearly two dozen killings in his home country was arrested Wednesday in New York by U.S. immigration authorities. Gianfranco Torres-Navarro, the leader of “Los Killers” who is wanted for 23 killings in his home country, was arrested in Endicott, New York, about 145 miles (233 kilometers) northwest of New York City, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday. He is being held at a federal detention facility near Buffalo pending an immigration hearing, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. Torres-Navarro, 38, entered the U.S. illegally at the Texas-Mexico border on May 16. He was...

One of the hallmarks of the Biden/Harris administration has been its insistence on denying reality. We fled Afghanistan and left a security vacuum into which all the Islamic terrorist organizations on the planet flooded. The results will be catastrophic for the entire world. Joe and Kamala never speak of it and do nothing to stave off what is at this point the inevitable. The Afghan Taliban are working hand in glove with their brethren in the Pakistani Taliban. An army of jihadists is being armed and trained and is already waging war inside Pakistan. The goal is to topple the...