Free Republic

Why, exactly, did Washington back Sunni rebels taking down Assad, and if Washington wants a Turkish-backed Sunni Muslim caliphate in Syria, should we as Christians cheer Washington getting its way?All of those in the West celebrating the fall of the Assad regime in Syria had better be careful what they wish for.I’ve heard some awfully dumb statements coming from conservative circles in recent days about the “stunning” nine-day collapse of Syria. It’s not so stunning when you learn that the American CIA had been planning the offensive for months with the full support of its NATO ally Turkey.One prominent regular...

[Catholic Caucus] EXCLUSIVE: Chartres pilgrimage will continue even if Vatican cracks down, president saysIn an exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews, Notre Dame de Chrétienté president Jean des Tauriers explained why he feels serene and optimistic about the future of the traditional Chartres pilgrimage.Thousands of Catholics gather for the 2024 Chartres PilgrimageIn a report published last Thursday by the French newspaper La Croix, it was rumored that a “major annual French pilgrimage promoting the Tridentine [i.e. Traditional Latin] Mass is under Vatican review. The Dicastery for Divine Worship believes organizers are not adhering to current regulations for celebrating Mass following the pre-Vatican...

DONALD J. TRUMP President, Commander-in-Chief J.D. VANCE Vice-President, President of the Senate SUZIE WILES Chief of Staff WILLIAM McGINLEY Counsel, Dept. of Govt. Efficiency STEPHEN MILLER Deputy Chief of Staff MICHAEL WALTZ National Security Advisor PETE HEGSETH Sec. of Defense MARCO RUBIO Sec. of State ELISE STEFANIK Amb. to United Nations MIKE HUCKABEE Amb. to Israel STEVE WITKOFF Middle East Envoy KRISTI NOEM Sec. of Homeland Security TOM HOMAN Border Czar JOHN RATCLIFFE CIA Director ELON MUSK Co-Sec. of Govt. Efficiency VIVEK RAMASWAMY Co-Sec. of Govt. Efficiency PAM BONDI Attorney General LEE ZELDIN EPA Administrator TULSI GABBARD Dir. of...

Rob Reiner Breaks Down After Studio Cancels Him In Epic Fashion. Rob Reiner faces a shocking turn of events as a studio cancels him, leading to an unexpected fallout.Rob Reiner Breaks Down After Studio Cancels Him In Epic Fashion | 7:47Nostalgia Nest | 1.84K subscribers | 49,559 views | December 9, 2024

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled his country, now under the protection of Vladimir Putin in Moscow. In only a few days, a regime that had withstood over a decade of brutal civil war crumbled into dust before the onslaught of a new rebel offensive.Now, Syria teeters on the brink of tribal mayhem as disparate factions espousing differing strains of radical Islamism begin to squabble over the carcass and jostle for power. ISIS has even reemerged as part of the victorious rebel coalition, prompting U.S. airstrikes over the weekend.But, on cue, the neocons crawled out of the woodwork to gloat,...

(NewsNation) — On Monday, a jury found Daniel Penny not guilty in the death of Jordan Neely, who he held in a chokehold for roughly six minutes on a New York subway. Neely, an agitated but unarmed homeless man, did not touch any passengers. One said he made lunging movements that alarmed her enough that she shielded her 5-year-old from him, which caused Marine veteran Penny to intervene. Donte Mills, the attorney for Neely’s family, told “CUOMO” that Monday’s ruling shows “we don’t value” everyone equally

[Catholic Caucus] LGBTQ+ Jubilee Year Pilgrimage Is a Reminder of How Far We’ve ComeThe news that the Vatican has included an LGBTQ+ pilgrimage event during the upcoming Jubilee Year of 2025 touched my heart deeply because it brought back memories of another Jubilee Year, 25 years ago.A Reuters article explains the news:“A pilgrimage by the Italian group “La Tenda di Gionata” (Jonathan’s Tent), set for next September, is listed among the hundreds of events planned for the Jubilee. . . .“The group, which describes its goal as to promote the welcoming of LGBT people within the Church, is expected to...

If you've ever lived in a capitalist country, you'll know exactly how difficult it can sometimes be to keep your nose above the poverty line. We at the Babylon Bee have conducted extensive research and discovered 17 red flags of poverty that often show up in capitalist countries. Take a look. You can only afford the standard iPhone and not the Pro Max: How do people even live under these conditions? Your vacation cabin is single-story: And it doesn't even have wifi. You're forced to buy generic Dijon mustard instead of Grey Poupon: Now every time someone asks you...

The first significant Russian strategic defeat as a direct consequence of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine is the loss of its Mediterranean outpost. Vladimir Putin’s obsession with Ukraine has led Russia to channel virtually all its military forces and resources into the Ukrainian conflict. Russia has suffered massive losses, stretching its military thin and making it increasingly difficult to defend the country’s geopolitical interests elsewhere. Not only has the Kremlin pulled its military forces from vast stretches of Russia’s enormous territory and thrown them into the Ukrainian meat and metal grinder, but Moscow has also neglected other areas where the...

VIDEOWhat motivated alleged assassin Luigi Mangione to kill the CEO of a Health Care organization? It is not normal for someone with a wealthy and highly educated background to just shoot someone down in cold blood. Could Luigi's photos provide some clue as to what makes him tick? After carefully analyzing many photos of Mangione there still seems to be absolutely no clue. Remember, that he is only the alleged killer but the evidence seems so stacked against him that the best Mangione could probably hope for is a hung jury.

A group previously backed by tech billionaire Elon Musk is running an advertisement pressuring senators to support President-elect Trump’s pick for Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. The ad, from conservative group Building America’s Future, is set to air on national television and will have a particular focus on Iowa via digital platforms. It was first reported by the Daily Caller. “America needs a Defense secretary who knows what it means to fight and understands the price of freedom,” a voiceover says in the ad posted Friday to social platform X. The ad, which is costing Building America’s Future $500,000, features photos...

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri business groups announced Monday that they have filed a lawsuit to try to stop a voter-approved law that will raise the state’s minimum wage and require employers to give workers paid sick leave. The powerful Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, restaurant and grocers associations say the law violates a state constitutional requirement that ballot measures only address one issue because it included the minimum wage increase and paid sick leave. The law will increase the state’s minimum wage from the current $12.30 an hour to $13.75 in January and $15 in 2026. It gives...

The breakthrough — achieving this "below threshold" milestone — means that errors in a quantum computer will reduce exponentially as you add more physical qubits. It charts a path for scaling up quantum machines in the future. The technology relies on logical qubits. This is a qubit encoded using a collection of physical qubits in a lattice formation. All the physical qubits in a single logical qubit share the same data, meaning if any qubits fail, calculations continue because the information can still be found within the logical qubit.

The pictures are incontrovertible proof the soon-to-be First Son has moved on from fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle to be with the stunning 'it girl' – a pillar of top-drawer society in the Florida billionaires' enclave who Don calls 'perfect'.

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said New York City subway riders should be scared of Daniel Penny after he was found not guilty in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely — sparking swift backlash from straphangers who blasted the lefty lawmaker as “delusional.” Penny, 26, was acquitted of all charges by a Manhattan jury Monday following the high-profile trial over the fatal, caught-on-camera encounter with the troubled homeless man on an uptown F train last year. In a previous clip that has gone viral on X after the acquittal, Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Penny’s apparent lack of remorse could mean he could...

Israel has confirmed it carried out attacks on Syria's naval fleet. The BBC has verified videos showing blasts at the port of Latakia in Syria, with footage appearing to show extensive damage to ships and parts of the port. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says it has documented more than 310 strikes by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) since the fall of the Assad regime on Sunday. Israeli warplanes have also reportedly carried out hundreds of airstrikes across Syria, including on the capital, Damascus.

Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the whiz kid Ivy League-educated high school valedictorian accused of the execution-style murder of the CEO of one of the nation's largest healthcare providers, may have spiraled out of control after traumatic back surgery. The procedure, which allegedly left Mangione in significant physical and emotional distress, may have contributed to his deteriorating mental state, a factor authorities are considering as part of their investigation. New York prosecutors have formally accused 26-year-old Mangione, a native of Towson, Maryland, of the fatal shooting of United Healthcare executive Brian Thompson. The incident occurred outside the New York Hilton in midtown...

Two suspects in connection to the death of Reba the bulldog appeared in court Monday. Issac Laushaul Jr. and Markeisha Foster were arrested over the weekend. Laushaul refused to show up to his Sunday court appearance. During Foster's court appearance later Sunday afternoon, the judge set a no-contact order between her and Laushaul. ***They both face one felony charge each of animal cruelty. We've been following this story for months, first making you aware of Reba in late July. According to the Vegas Pet Rescue Project, Reba was found in a container behind a grocery store at Maryland Parkway and...

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I have used eleven Nuggets to investigate the notion of life on earth and whether there is a possibility of life elsewhere and have come to the conclusion that the Earth is the perfect place for life and the chances of life elsewhere is remote. The Bible makes it clear over both Genesis accounts of creation (Genesis 1 and 2 – read Beginnings) that God made the heavens and the Earth for the habitation of the crowning glory of His creative acts. There are commentators who regard the first two chapters of Genesis as an account of two different and...