Free Republic

To honor the memory of the conservative Christian singer, beauty queen, commercial spokeswoman, and culture warrior who recently passed, this video clip shows her in her prime performing a cover of the classic hit song on show biz legend Ed Sullivan's show back in 1964.

California has focused on fortifying communities against wildfires. But with growing threats, that may not be enough. This week’s fires around Los Angeles present a puzzle: Why is California, the state best equipped to deal with wildfires, seemingly unable to prevent blazes from consuming entire chunks of the country’s second-largest city?California’s building code for wildfires is among the most protective in the nation. Its local fire departments are backed up by CalFire, the state fire agency, which has a $4 billion budget and some of the best trained firefighters in the world. The state’s huge tax base generates effectively unlimited...

“While we were dealing with a terrorist attack in New Orleans, we had drones being flown over our nuclear reactors in Louisiana.” That’s what Gov. Jeff Landry said Thursday night while sitting next to President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in during dinner with some of the country’s Republican governors in Palm Beach, Florida. Landry's comment came during a discussion arising from a reporter's question about the lack of available information on drone sightings over New Jersey. “We’ve been asking the FAA to give these states the ability to mitigate these drones,” Landry said, referring the ability to take down or...

At least 11 people have died as wildfires rage in Los Angeles - and there are fears that number will rise. Officials say it may take several weeks to identify victims as traditional methods - such as fingerprinting and visual identification - may not be possible. Here is what we know about those who are reported to have died, according to their family members. Victor Shaw died trying to defend his home from the wildfire in Altadena, his family said. The 66-year-old's body was found on the side of the road by his property, with a garden hose in his...

Neither sleet, snow, nor major firestorms will ever prevent California’s one-state Democrat majority from conducting its rounds of pushing woke politics above everything else.As wildfires continued to ravage parts of Los Angeles on Thursday, California lawmakers in Sacramento officially began a special legislative session to prepare the state for President-elect Donald Trump.Thursday marked the first regular floor session for state lawmakers since the fires began. Those fires are expected to leave Southern California with one of, if not the, most expensive catastrophes in U.S. History. The damage also raises questions about California’s future with the property insurance market, which has...

This weekend, the mountain-size space rock will peak in brightness in a rare once-in-a-decade event that you can observe from home with basic stargazing binoculars — or in a free livestream. Named (887) Alinda, the near-Earth asteroid measures an estimated 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers) wide — roughly the width of Manhattan — according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. On Wednesday (Jan. 8), the chunky space rock made its closest approach to Earth in decades, swooping to within 7.6 million miles (12.3 million km) of our planet, or about 32 times the average distance between Earth and the moon. Alinda isn't...

She’s a politician who cringes at having her picture taken and is content to let others grab headlines. She repeatedly had to be dragged into taking risks to elevate her political career. In many ways, Karen Bass is the anti-Kamala Harris. And yet, the Californians have ended up in a similar spot: On Joe Biden’s vice presidential shortlist. While the congresswoman from Los Angeles remains a long shot, her unassuming approach, muted ambitions and decades of advocating on health care and race issues while far outside the national spotlight have captured the interest of the Biden campaign. A former physician...

Los Angeles residents are demanding that Mayor Karen Bass (D) be immediately recalled as fires devastate their communities. As of Saturday morning, their Change.org petition has 59,150 verified signatures. “We, the undersigned residents of Los Angeles and concerned citizens, urgently call for the immediate recall of Mayor Karen Bass due to her gross mismanagement and failure to effectively respond to the devastating 2025 fires in and around the city of Los Angeles,” the petition reads.

The Gateway Pundit reported Friday that Joe Biden decided to shield roughly 200,000 El Salvadorians from deportation. But that was just the start of his de facto amnesty for nearly 1 million migrants. The New York Post revealed that in addition to El Salvador, the Biden regime took action to protect over 700,000 more migrants who could have ended up on President Trump’s deportation list early next year. The other countries included are Sudan, Ukraine, and Venezuela. All told, 1,900 Sudanese immigrants, 103,700 Ukrainian immigrants, and 600,000 Venezuelans will be able to roam the streets of America freely for at...

11 January 2025 Saturday after Epiphany SundaySt. Paulin Church, Trier Readings at MassThe readings shown here are for places where the Epiphany is celebrated on Sunday 5 January.If you are celebrating the Epiphany on Monday 6 January this year then these are not the right readings. To see the right readings, you need to set this web site to use your own local calendar. On this web page, find the list of dates. After the last date there is a heading which says “Calendar Used”. Click on the calendar name below this heading, and choose your local calendar from...

On MSNBC, Michael Cohen said that he had applied for one because he believes himself to be on a Trump "enemies list." He continued: "Yeah, I put in the application for a presidential pardon because I believe that Joe Biden has the same responsibility to me that he had to his own son. And I would expect that the same exact pardon that he gave his son has to go to me."That prompted this pointed [see screencap] response from co-host Symone Sanders, a former Kamala Harris spokesperson: "I am struck by your, your, your, your comparing yourself and Hunter Biden....

VIDEOWatch as Roland Martin and his crew go into a full, very ANGRY, defense mode against those who point out that the Democrat run governments of California are to blame for not taking greater measures to better control the spread of the wildfires that have broken out in that region. Common sense measures such as clearing out brush and keeping the reservoirs FILLED with water instead of emptying them out.

10 January 2025 Friday after Epiphany SundaySan Pietro I Orseolo, Venice Readings at MassThe readings shown here are for places where the Epiphany is celebrated on Sunday 5 January.If you are celebrating the Epiphany on Monday 6 January this year then these are not the right readings. To see the right readings, you need to set this web site to use your own local calendar. On this web page, find the list of dates. After the last date there is a heading which says “Calendar Used”. Click on the calendar name below this heading, and choose your local calendar...

Before PDJT does anything else, he MUST grant unconditional pardons for EVERY J6 prisoner, with a $1M restitution for each one. NO EXCEPTIONS!We must close the American Gulag - now and forever - and jail for life those who ran this disgusting communist spectacle, which turned the FBI into the NKVD.

History will remember this era as the moment when America’s most sacred principles collided with unprecedented institutional power – and lost. The systematic dismantling of fundamental rights didn’t happen through military force or executive decree, but through the quiet cooperation of tech platforms, media gatekeepers, and government agencies, all claiming to protect us from “misinformation.” Meta’s sudden dismantling of its fact-checking program – announced by Zuckerberg as a “cultural tipping point towards prioritizing speech” – reads like a quiet footnote to what history may record as one of the most staggering violations of fundamental rights in recent memory. After eight...

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has banned insurance companies from canceling or not renewing polices for homeowners affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires for one year, his office announced. He also wants to backdate that to Oct. 9. pretty much reminds you of Directive 10-289 ... https://theexplanationproject.fandom.com/wiki/Directive_10-289

Celebrities who have lost their homes in the firesEastEnders actress Patsy Palmer says her home has "miraculously" escaped the flames, after her husband and children were evacuated. The soap star, 52, who is in London, said her Malibu home had been surrounded by fires twice recently. But many others have not been so lucky: The list of celebrities who lost their houses in the worst fire in Los Angeles history reads like a Hollywood who's who. Reality star Paris Hilton said she watched her Malibu home "burn to the ground on live TV". She has launched an emergency fund to...

When Hurricanes Milton and Helene ravaged the Southeast in the fall, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said she feared that a whole new level of disinformation was taking hold. “It’s absolutely the worst I’ve ever seen,” she told reporters, as conspiracy theorists claimed their favorite agency was suddenly, absolutely detaining locals in tents, only saving trans people, not saving white people, demanding all aid money be repaid with interest and other blatant absurdities spread in online posts. Criswell may have wanted to save the superlatives for January. The fires currently tearing through the homes of entertainment-industry professionals and (a far greater...

Actor Mel Gibson slammed California Governor Gavin Newsom‘s handling of the devastating wildfires during an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Thursday. Gibson highlighted Newsom’s neglect of wildfire prevention efforts while directing billions of taxpayer dollars towards woke initiatives.

The suspects made an unsuccessful attempt to cut a lock to uniform storage Three Humvees and other military equipment were stolen from an Army Reserve Center in Tustin, California earlier this week, according to police. Unknown suspects entered a storage warehouse at the Army Reserve Center on Wednesday between 8 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., Tustin Police wrote in a press release. Multiple storage lockers at the facility were found with removed locks and missing gear. The suspects made an unsuccessful attempt to cut a lock to uniform storage. Police said the suspects cut a fence to gain access to a...