Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged retaliation after Ukrainian drones struck residential buildings in the city of Kazan in Russia’s Tatarstan region. Putin made the comments via videolink on Sunday while addressing the local leader of Tatarstan in a road-opening ceremony. “Whoever, and however much they try to destroy, they will face many times more destruction themselves and will regret what they are trying to do in our country,” Putin said. -snip- Kazan is more than 1,000km (600 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

"If it's time for you to go, leave willingly, as you would to accomplish anything that can be done with grace and honor." — Marcus Aurelius. The longest and coldest night of the year is upon us with its portents of endings, the death of things, of people like ourselves, and also bodies of thought, movements of culture and politics. And for all the cold and darkness, you feel the stirrings of things waiting to be born. Christmas is the lovely distraction for a brief spell, and after that, the difficult labor of the nation commences for-real in the long...

... “We are set up for a big and important new start in January,” Johnson said. “We can’t wait to get started.” ....

When arch-heretic Kenneth Copeland is not giving false prophecies about COVID being destroyed, throwing someone in a wheelchair to the floor, casting away bald spots in Jesus’ name, or even running his own bizarro Bible college, the most prosperous prosperity preacher in America can be frequently found making up stuff about Jesus and justifying his personal theological idiosyncrasies for personal gain. Earlier this month, during a message at Eagle Mountain International Church, Copeland shared what God has revealed to him about the next few years, claiming unique insights and revelation into the future. Notably, while his conscience is so seared...

“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” has powered to the top of box office charts while “Mufasa: The Lion King” is getting trampled in its first weekend of release. Paramount’s third “Sonic” adventure has opened at No. 1 with $62 million from 3,761 North American theaters. Bolstered by positive reviews and strong audience scores, the film beat initial expectations of $55 million to $60 million and looks to remain a holiday hit through the new year. “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” was tracking for a trilogy-low start but instead opened above the original 2020 “Sonic the Hedgehog” ($58 million in February) and just...

It has been obvious now for many years to the numerate that the fantasy future powered by wind and sun is not going to happen. Sooner or later, reality will inevitably intrude. And yet, the fantasy has gone on for far longer than I ever would have thought possible. Hundreds of billions of dollars of government largesse have been a big part of the reason, going not just to green energy developers but also to academic charlatans and environmental NGOs to fan the flames of climate alarm. It was three years ago, in December 2021, that I asked the question,...

President Biden commutes the sentences of most federal death row inmates. Calling it a “common sense revolution,” President-elect Donald Trump delivers a rally-style speech about the transition and policy, less than a month from taking office. And two big-name auto companies officially announce plans to join forces. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. President Joe Biden granted clemency to almost all the inmates on federal death row Monday morning, Dec. 23. Now, the sentences of 37 of the 40 people facing death will be commuted to life without parole. “I am more convinced...

CV NEWS FEED // “Adult” industry giant Pornhub in the new year will block its website in Florida after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an age-verification law in March protecting children from accessing pornographic material. Pornhub’s slated exit from the Florida market follows a growing trend across several states that have enacted similar legislation: when a state passes an age-verification law, the website stops providing pornography there. Axios reported on Wednesday that users who logged on to the pornography site from the Sunshine State this week received a popup informing them that they will “lose access to Pornhub” on New...

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to immediately stop “transgender lunacy” and make it “official policy ” to only recognize two genders, male and female. “With the stroke of my pen on day one, we’re going to stop the transgender lunacy,” Trump told supporters at AmericaFest 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday, according to a video shared by C-Span. “I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools,” he said, drawing cheers from the crowd. “Under the Trump administration, it will be...

Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan have announced plans to join forces, forming the world’s third-largest automaker by sales as the industry undergoes dramatic changes in its transition away from fossil fuels. The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday and that smaller Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors also had agreed to join the talks on integrating their businesses. “We anticipate that if this integration comes to fruition, we will be able to deliver even greater value to a wider customer base,” Nissan’s CEO Makoto Uchida said in a statement.

For the third consecutive year, Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin has proposed a budget amendment that would eliminate taxpayer-funded abortions for fetal anomalies. According to Virginia Mercury, current state law allows state insurance to cover abortions for cases in which a doctor has diagnosed “gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or with a gross and totally incapacitating mental deficiency.” Youngkin’s proposed budget amendment would explicitly remove this, with language saying “no expenditures from general or non-general fund sources may be made out of any appropriation by the General Assembly for providing abortion services, except otherwise as required by federal law or...

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FESTIVUS Each year on December 23rd, Festivus commemorates a holiday episode of the television comedy, Seinfeld. In 1997, the popular television comedy brought Festivus to the masses when Frank Costanza (played by Jerry Stiller) explains he invented the holiday in response to the commercialism of Christmas. Its slogan is "A Festivus for the rest of us." #Festivus Sitcoms often combine holidays and family discord. However, one only has to look to our own families to find a little humor. This holiday reminds us how easily we take things too seriously at times. Politics, traditions, grudges and more lead us down...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear arguments that a law that would effectively ban TikTok if its parent company does not sell the popular social media app violates the U.S. Constitution's free speech protections. The Supreme Court scheduled oral arguments in the case for Jan. 10. That is nine days before the law targeting the app, which is used by an estimated 170 million Americans, is set to take effect. The law would require TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or force Google, Apple, and other platforms to stop supporting the app in the United...

ProPublica has ramped up its biased attack on pro-life states in no less than four new articles this week, published in rapid succession, and pointed largely at the maternal mortality review committees of pro-life states, which it alleges are turning a blind eye to how pro-life laws are risking women’s lives. The outlet is now even taking a swipe at hospital attorneys, along with advising women on the questions to ask when seeking an OB/GYN. These overlapping topics require a response, because ProPublica is unfortunately still misleading readers on many counts. At a Glance: * ProPublica’s experts predicted that maternal...

This weekend, it emerged that Granger has been suffering from dementia and has been residing at a senior living facility — which neither she, her congressional office, nor House GOP leaders had disclosed to the public.

Prominent Democratic National Committee (DNC) powerhouse fundraiser Lindy Li announced that she is leaving the Democratic Party, which she referred to as a "cult," after facing an onslaught of internal attacks for criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris last week. Li, a Democrat strategist, served as both a surrogate for Harris and a member of the DNC’s national fundraising committee, where she raised "tens of millions of dollars" on behalf of Democratic candidates. She also frequently appeared on the air to stump for Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign. Li became the target of the left's attacks earlier this month when she expressed...

Florida administrators are revising general education in universities and colleges. Perverse incentives have diluted and politicized general-education courses at the expense of foundational knowledge. Since universities will not fix themselves, state administrators must safeguard educational vision where faculty and university administrators will not. How did we get here? Most college curriculum was prescribed in the 1800s. Harvard under legendary president Charles William Eliot swung the pendulum toward a totally elective college experience in the late 1800s. Under a strict elective system, students could make their way through Harvard guided only by their own choices. Schools stampeded to the elective system....

~It is Christmas Week and I had not intended to set aside the daily horrors until Boxing Day at least, but this story is too telling to ignore. From The New York Post: A Guatemalan migrant has been arrested for allegedly lighting a sleeping subway rider on fire in Brooklyn on Sunday morning — then watching as his innocent victim burned to death in what the police commissioner called "one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit." This poor woman is dead because she made the mistake of using public transit in the most famous and glittering...

President Biden’s border policies created a humanitarian, economic, and legal crisis that dismantled immigration enforcement and overwhelmed American communities. Joe Biden, to the degree he was cognizant, has always reflected the Obama-era utopia dream of a borderless world, and thus millions of poor have illegally entered the United States. On numerous occasions, he offered clear warnings of what he would do if he ever had power over immigration policy. Do we remember this 2020 Biden boast to let in millions and offer blanket amnesties? “But I will send to the desk immediately a bill that requires the access to citizenship...