Free Republic

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) accused the Biden government of facilitating the regime change in Syria that led to rebels storming the capital of Damascus and overthrowing dictator Bashar Assad’s regime.

Elon Musk has been increasingly compared to billionaire George Soros as the tech mogul looks to continue pushing his influence into political parties across Europe and targeting district attorneys in the United States. What To Know Musk noted the comparison and commented on it during a speech at Mar-a-Lago, President-elect Donald Trump's Florida estate, on Nov. 14, in which he said: "I guess someone's got to be the George Soros on the right." "I mean, I'd call myself George Soros of the center, I think," he said. "We obviously need to have just the basics. As President Trump rightly said,...

Gunmen in the streets, snipers on the rooftops, shooting all the time: Palestinians fight Palestinians in Jenin. Rare clash between Palestinian Authority security forces and the armed Jenin Brigades in the West Bank city as observed by the Washington Post; The PA hints at a similar model in Gaza. Jenin Brigades fighters race through alleys flooded with sewage to evade the gunfire that echoes all around. "Quickly," one of the fighters urges his comrades as they pass through patrols and barricades of the Palestinian Authority security forces. "Watch out," another cautions at an intersection where an improvised explosive device had...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the U.S military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels. Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become, with ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite U.S. and European military coalitions patrolling the area. The U.S. military had conducted airstrikes targeting...

The U.N. Agency UNRWA, has been planning all year for winter in Gaza, but the aid it was able to get into the territory is “not even close to being enough for people,” said Louise Wateridge, an agency spokeswoman. UNRWA distributed 6,000 tents over the past four weeks in northern Gaza but was unable to get them to other parts of the Strip, including areas where there has been fighting. About 22,000 tents have been stuck in Jordan and 600,000 blankets and 33 truckloads of mattresses have been sitting in Egypt since the summer because the agency doesn’t have Israeli...

KASH PATEL, ONETIME FBI TARGET, NOW ON TRACK TO RUN THE FBI. Not long ago, a left-wing journalist argued that when Republicans describe Kash Patel’s nomination to be FBI director as a way to “clean out” the FBI and “restore its integrity,” they are in fact creating “cover to go along with Trump’s scheme to unleash the FBI on enemies.” It’s a common criticism in anti-Trump circles. But it raises a question. Where were these people in 2017, 2018, and after? If one wants to discuss the prospect of a new director unleashing the FBI on enemies, shouldn’t he grapple...

Jim Carrey Reveals How His Suffering Led Him to God | #shorts 213K Likes 2,013,030 Views 2023 "Sometimes it's through suffering that we relate to the forgiveness Jesus gave us through the cross. 2nd Corinthians 4:17 says "our suffering is light and temporary and is producing for us an eternal glory that is greater than anything we can imagine.""

Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) was AWOL for months. She was “missing”—no one knew where she was, which was made more conspicuous apparently with the mountain of missed votes. Calls to her office went straight to voicemail. When Congress was barreling toward a total shutdown this week, which has been averted, Dallas Express wanted to know how Congresswoman Granger would vote on the continuing resolution. They found her office locked, with no staff in sight. Now, we know where she has been for weeks: an assisted living facility that specializes in those living with dementia.

President-elect Donald Trump will withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) on the first day of his new administration, according to a report from the Financial Times The move will sever ties with the global health body and cut all of its funding. “Donald Trump’s transition team is pushing to pull the US out of the World Health Organization on the first day of the new administration, according to experts who warn of the “catastrophic” impact it would have on global health.”

The vicar Father Alex Frost surveys a small, shabby block of 1960s flats in Burnley, Lancashire. “Most people here are on drugs,” he says matter-of-factly, then nods to a spot under a concrete walkway. “I found a man living right there. He was sleeping outside, on a mattress, with nothing. Nobody else was helping him, so we did.” If you want a picture of the Church of England at its best, Frost’s parish is a good bet. ... ... If you want a picture of the CofE at its worst, that’s easier to find: just look at the headlines. In...

Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that after last week’s budget battle, it would be difficult for Republicans to pass President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda. Co-host Dana Bash said, “We’ve heard Democrats touting what ended up happening in the early wee hours of yesterday morning as a victory over Donald Trump. But in the end, the bill that you all voted for didn’t include a lot of Democratic priorities that were initially in the deal with Speaker Johnson. So what does that portend about what’s going to come up? I mean, this fight is going...

Girl wishes people would move at a faster pace in her town. She gets her wish, and it goes south real fast.

Hundreds of students at Madison High School marched to the state Capitol on Friday to demand an “assault weapons” ban after the December 16, 2024, Abundant Life Christian School handgun attack. The Cap Times reported the students chanted “books, not bullets” and “no more silence, end gun violence.” The Wisconsin Examiner quoted the high schoolers saying, “Graduations not funerals.” Once at the Capitol, the students called for an “assault weapons” ban and enhanced background checks. The students did not mention that the alleged 15-year-old shooter did not use a firearm categorized as an “assault weapon” nor did she buy her...

The big story this week is how X (formerly Twitter) worked to dramatically change the American legislative process. As Chamath Palihapitiya said, "People are underestimating what happened here [The Continuing Resolution]. This was a multi-hundred billion dollar grift that was stopped on a dime over 12 hours of tweets. You would have never thought this was possible. To put a dagger in something that big that had so much broad support just a few hours earlier is so consequential in how the United States can run going forward." But if you grasp the background for this feat -- the story...

Say what you like about Germany but their crack police investigators are second to none:Prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens said on Saturday that the investigation was ongoing but suggested one potential motive for the attack "could have been disgruntlement with the way Saudi Arabian refugees are treated in Germany".Gotcha. So, two months before the federal election, the German state's message to voters is: It's all your fault and nothing's gonna change. Nothing against the nine-year-old boy who's dead or the four ladies - aged 75, 67, 52 and 45 - but that's just the way it is. There will be a...

No matter how aggressive they are with the thermostat at 5800 Airline Drive, the New Orleans Saints can't do much to prepare for the cold weather conditions in Green Bay this week. Or can they? "This morning, (quarterbacks coach Andrew) Janocko took us into the cafeteria freezer where it was like 10 degrees," quarterback Spencer Rattler said. "We're just going through the whole script in there. Just doing that helped a lot. Hopefully it's not 10 degrees (in Green Bay), but we'll be ready." It's a novel concept, but it remains to be seen how much it actually helps —...

Scorched earth is one of the most brutal strategies in war. It can be an offensive or a defensive strategy and usually leaves a wasteland of destruction and starvation in its wake. One of the most famous examples of offensive use of scorched earth is Sherman’s “March to the Sea” from Atlanta to Savannah in November to December 1864. He not only burned Atlanta to the ground, but for a wide swath of the ocean, he left a trail of destruction, from military targets to infrastructure to crops. The goal of course was to damage the military, but more than...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, when asked if current events amounted to a world war 3, advised against sowing scare but admitted that dangers were growing and Russia's opponents were escalating the situation. "You know, there is no need to scare anyone. There are many dangers, they are growing. We can see what our current opponent is doing — they are escalating the situation. If that's what they want, fine," Putin told Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin. "We will always respond to any challenge. Always. When our current opponents and possible partners hear, understand and realize this,...

Elon Musk’s push for transparency and fiscal responsibility has reshaped the debate over government spending, exposing inefficiency and forcing Congress to answer to the public. Move over, Trump Derangement Syndrome! It is time to make room for the latest pathology: Musk Derangement Syndrome. The hysteria has been building for some time. It wasn’t so long ago that Elon Musk enjoyed enviable street cred among the brotherhood of snotty, self-congratulating elites. A green energy guru, he made the hearts of the Sierra Club Sultans go pit-a-pat with his talk of “sustainable transport” and solar roofs. Then Musk made several missteps. The...

California Democrats have written to outgoing Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to ask for more than half a billion dollars in funding for an ailing high-speed rail project that President-elect Donald Trump defunded in 2019. As Breitbart News reported, Trump withheld $1 billion in funding from the project after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) canceled the original project. Newsom had explained to the state legislature that the original plan for a Los Angeles-to-San Francisco “bullet” train “would cost too much and, respectfully, would take too long.” Trump then demanded the state refund the money federal taxpayers had given it — applying...