Free Republic

There is so much anger about the unprecedented fires that are ravaging the Los Angeles area, because there is a widespread belief that they could have been prevented. Some are blaming mismanaged forests, some are blaming the extreme incompetence of our leaders, some are blaming “climate change”, and some are blaming budget cuts. But could it be possible that the real reason why Los Angeles is burning is not related to any of those factors? What is the one thing that sets Los Angeles apart from any other city in the world? Needless to say, it is the entertainment industry....

I have been warning for many years that the Schengen Agreement would fail. As I explained half a decade ago: “As the economy turns down very hard after 2015.75, we are more likely than not going to see the freedom of movement in Europe fragment and that will be the crack that signals the eventual risk of breaking up the EU idea of empire-building.” We saw things come to a head at the dawn of the refugee crisis when Merkel embarked on an open border policy. Nations began temporarily closing their borders to one another to curb migration. Brussels encouraged...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson 🚨BREAKING: Gov. Ron DeSantis calls a special session to enforce Trump’s deportation policies statewide. From Eric Daugherty 9:27 AM · Jan 13, 2025

The word "prig" isn't very common now, but if you look up the definition, it will sound familiar. Google's isn't bad: A self-righteously moralistic person who behaves as if superior to others. This sense of the word originated in the 18th century, and its age is an important clue: it shows that although wokeness is a comparatively recent phenomenon, it's an instance of a much older one. There's a certain kind of person who's attracted to a shallow, exacting kind of moral purity, and who demonstrates his purity by attacking anyone who breaks the rules. Every society has these people....

The devastating fires in California have hit a major base of operations for communism in America, as Hollywood liberals are up in arms over incompetence by local and state authorities. In addition to the lives and property that have been lost, the ideology of communism, on display for decades since the days of Governor Ronald Reagan, has suffered a monumental hit. The movie “Reagan” shows how the conservative governor and future two-term Republican president confronted unrest on college campuses such as Berkeley. The communist presence, however, extended far beyond the campuses. California Dynasty of Communism, a book by Karl Prussion,...

Special Dispatches to the New-York Times. WASHINGTON, Thursday, Jan. 12. REPORTED RETURN OF FRANCIS P. BLAIR, SEN. It is reported in town this evening that FRANCIS P. BLAIR, Sr., has arrived in town from Richmond. THE WILMINGTON FAILURE. The causes of the failure of the recent Wilmington expedition will be immediately investigated. Gen. BUTLER has been summoned to appear before the Committee on the Conduct of the War as a witness. The object of this investigation will be to ascertain the cause of Gen. BUTLER's removal. THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Sensible men in Congress begin to feel that the debate on...

A Kentucky woman was arrested on suspicion of arson amid the wildfires in Los Angeles that have destroyed 35,000 homes and businesses. Gloria Lynn Mandich, 60, was charged with felony arson related to a January 8 brush fire in Los Angeles County. She allegedly started a new blaze near Leo Carrillo State Park outside of the city's multiple wildfires, announced California State Parks. Mandich allegedly started the fire in an area that's currently under a red flag warning due to the multiple wildfires around it, which are being fanned by severe Santa Ana winds and dry plants, reported AccuWeather. Mandich's...

A former Capitol rioter who publicly turned on President-elect Donald Trump after serving 60 days in federal prison has said she would “refuse” a pardon from the incoming president, who has previously promised to free nonviolent offenders who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection. Pamela Hemphill, a grandmother in her seventies who pleaded guilty to charges related to the riot, sounded off on social media about her thoughts on her prospective pardon. “I’m not going to be bullied by MAGA anymore, as those who went as far as calling my Probation Officer trying to get me in trouble backfired on...

“Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said. ‘One can’t believe impossible things.’ ‘I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. There goes the shawl again!” –Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) It’s been another disastrous week for the Democrats. Between the continuing revelation of the deadly consequences of blue state management that are impossible to miss (yet still being denied) in the sad saga of the...

A San Diego law firm already has retired police and firefighters ready to investigate the cause of Los Angeles-area fires to determine the cause of the devastating blazes and whom to sue VIDEO AT LINK............ Dozens of victims of the Los Angeles area fires are turning to a San Diego law firm to help them recover from devastating losses. Gerald Singleton, one of the nation's top lawyers when it comes to fire-related lawsuits, said his firm already has dozens of clients. During the past two decades, his firm has represented 26,000 victims including those affected by the devastating wildfires in...

Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms Inc. joins a growing list of companies that are pulling back on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Like others before it, the social media giant cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision in July 2023 that outlawed affirmative action in college admissions. Conservative activists have gone after companies — both in the courts and on social media — seeking to set a similar precedent in the working world. They've been targeting workplace initiatives such as diversity programs and hiring practices that prioritize historically marginalized groups, and have widened their objections to include programs focused...

Mark Zuckerberg’s shock decision to scrap fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram has sparked concern and outrage—including from inside the top ranks of the company. Michael McConnell, co-chair of Meta’s Oversight Board, said in an interview Friday that the move looks like “buckling to political pressure.” “I would have liked to have seen these reforms laid out in less contentious and partisan times, so that they would be considered on the merits rather than… Donald Trump is president and now they’re caving in,” McConnell told NPR. According to him, neither he nor the board, an international group of experts in law,...

A pair of Chicago officials have joined together to urge City Hall to end its moratorium on cooperating with immigration officials to deport migrants accused or convicted of criminal offenses. Alderman Raymond Lopez of the 15th Ward and 23rd Ward Alderwoman Silvana Tabares, both Democrats, say they plan to introduce an amendment making changes in the city’s rules blocking the Chicago Police Department from aiding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when an immigrant is arrested by the CPD. The pair of officials want city hall to approve a policy of the CPD cooperation with federal officials if a migrant is...

Just hours after Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg announced last Tuesday that the social media giant would eliminate its US-based fact-checkers, the iconic hills above Los Angeles began to smolder. As fire crews scrambled in vain to contain the resulting firestorm, the fact-checking partners, still working for Meta, took on their own fight: trying to slow viral misinformation rapidly spreading around the wildfires. Rumor and speculation about the disaster began to swirl online like glowing embers, before eventually becoming a wild blaze of vast conspiracy theories. “Cutting fact checkers from social platforms is like disbanding your fire department,” said Alan Duke,...

As some Altadena residents start returning to the burnt shells of what used to be their neighborhoods, they're looking for any lingering pieces of what could be left behind. One of those residents, Mark Rodriguez, was among the many witnessing what was left of their homes on Mariposa Drive on Friday afternoon. He was hoping to find the wedding rings he left behind when fleeing the Eaton Fire. Hoping, maybe, by luck that we'd find our wedding rings. I hung 'em there and didn't take them, thinking we'd come back," Rodriguez said. He says that his wife, Yvonne, died in...

The Ford soybean car: Scam or hoax? Only 72 years late, Mac’s Motor City Garage rips the lid off the controversy with this probing investigative report. (An earlier version of this story appeared at Mac’s Motor City Garage on April 24, 2013.) Long before he reinvented mass production with the Model T, Henry Ford spent his childhood on a farm in rural Michigan, and in middle age he became fascinated with the notion of merging farming with industry. Much of this effort focused on finding uses for the soybean in manufacturing, with some limited success. However, as with many of...

... SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Bureau of Land Management has acquired the Lost Coast Redwoods property from Save the Redwoods League ensuring lasting protections of approximately 4,500 acres along eight miles of California coastline. Conservation of the Lost Coast Redwoods benefits coastal wildlife and future public access. Funded by the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, Save the Redwoods League, and the State of California’s Wildlife Conservation Board and Coastal Conservancy,... ...The future management of the Lost Coast Redwoods is supported by the Lost Coast Redwoods Sustainable Stewardship Endowment established through a $2 million donation from Save the Redwoods League,...

Just Stop Oil (JSO) supporters have spray-painted “1.5 is dead” on Charles Darwin’s grave after confirmation that last year was the first to breach the important global warming threshold. Two people used chalk paint on the naturalist’s grave in Westminster Abbey, London, at about 9.30am on Monday, the climate protest group said. Alyson Lee, 66, a retired teaching assistant from Derby, and Di Bligh, a 77-year-old former chief executive of Reading council, from Rode in Somerset, were involved in the action, JSO added. The Metropolitan police confirmed two women were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage “with what is...

As Los Angeles firefighters continue to battle deadly wildfires, authorities were forced to confront wild conspiracies - including a claim that firefighters are using 'women's handbags' to douse the flames. Disgraced Sandy Hook truther Alex Jones made the assertion on Thursday, sharing video of fire crews carrying bags filled with water. He claimed the department needed to use the 'women's handbags' because it sent supplies over to war-torn Ukraine. But LA Fire Department Chief Erik Scott, a public information officer, has since explained to the Wall Street Journal that the so-called handbags were actually canvas bags fire departments regularly use...

Potlicker, a 4-year-old bull from Black Pines, B.C., named 2024's Bull of The YearAt his ranch in Black Pines, just outside Kamloops, B.C., Ed LeBourdais knows how to get his bulls' attention. Grabbing a five-gallon bucket, he gives it a few firm thumps to summon his herd. "They all come once you beat the bucket," he told CBC's Daybreak Kamloops host Shelly Joyce. "The older guys will definitely come first. The younger ones, they'll follow when we start [scattering grain]." Among the towering figures lured by the rhythmic thuds is Potlicker, a 1,700-pound bull who has made a name for...