Free Republic

When Matt Raboin founded his hard cider company in Wisconsin eight years ago, he wanted to buy American. But he soon found out that his needs as a small, upstart cidery couldn’t be met by any existing American bottle makers because his orders were too small. Forced to look overseas, Raboin, like many American small business owners and consumers, found the best bang for his buck in China. Now, his vulnerable business model has been disrupted nearly overnight by President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, which escalated at a dizzying rate, giving business owners little time to adapt. While...

24 April 2025 Easter Thursday St. John the Evangelist Church, Sigmaringen, Germany Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: C(I).First readingActs 3:11-26You killed the prince of life: God, however, raised him from the deadEveryone came running towards Peter and John in great excitement, to the Portico of Solomon, as it is called, where the man was still clinging to Peter and John. When Peter saw the people he addressed them, ‘Why are you so surprised at this? Why are you staring at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or holiness? You are Israelites, and...

Although Vice-President J.D.Vance visited the Pope shortly before he passed away, and although the Internet has many photos of Franklin Graham flashing his smile for the cameras and shaking hands with Pope Francis a year ago, the Pope has not always been such a revered figure. In fact, the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1646, a founding document of the Presbyterian Church, states, “There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition,...

As China’s Belt and Road initiative tightens worldwide, the U.S. has a rare opportunity to stymie its inroads into Latin America. “We often say that to get rich, we must first build roads; but in coastal areas, to get rich, we must also first build ports.” – Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the China Central Committee The Chinese Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop CopiaPort-E, Chile’s deep-water port on the Pacific, raises national security questions given that Todd Callender, Esq., the CEO of the insurance conglomerate Cotswold Group in Barbados, would prefer to sell to the...

The Arkansas legislature is making an improvement to the state constitution’s right to keep and bear arms language to the ballot for the next election. Here is the current Arkansas Constitution Article 2, § 5: Right to Bear ArmsThe citizens of this State shall have the right to keep and bear arms, for their common defense.The current language is problematic because it only mentions “common defense” and does not specifically mention individual rights, although individual rights are implied. Arkansas became a Constitutional Carry state on April 4th, 2013. On April 12, 2023, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee signed SB480 into law,...

President Trump has repeatedly shared an image of Kilmar Abrego Garcia's finger tattoos in an effort to link the Maryland man, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador on March 15, to the notorious MS-13 gang. On Monday, Mr. Trump again shared a photo of Abrego Garcia's left hand on social media, alleging he "had 'MS-13' tattooed onto his knuckles." The image shows the characters "M," "S," "1" and "3" digitally added above Abrego Garcia's existing tattoos — a leaf, a smiley face, a cross and a skull — along with labels describing each symbol beneath. Many people online recognized...

And the corrupt press continues its sabotage campaign. It’s been three months since Vice President Vance cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as Defense secretary. The Deep State worked hard to scuttle Hegseth’s nomination in December and January with a steady drip of news stories calling his character into question, but President Trump and his trusted veep stood by their man and applied enough pressure on wayward Republican senators to secure his confirmation. Suddenly, corporate propagandists posing as reporters are back with fresh stories meant to undermine Secretary Hegseth and get him fired from the Pentagon’s top post....

ATLANTA (AP) — The pastor of a Georgia megachurch who led a nationwide 40-day “fast” boycott of Target stores over the retail chain's commitment to diversity initiatives is now calling for that effort to continue as a “full Target boycott.” The Rev. Jamal Bryant said this week that the Minneapolis-based retailer has not met all of the boycott effort's demands. Among them: Restoring its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion principles and pledging money to Black-owned banks and businesses. Target announced in January that it would phase out a handful of DEI initiatives, including a program designed to help Black...

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has strongly rejected a report that the country was considering whether to lift sanctions on one of Russia's main natural gas pipelines linked to Western Europe as part of a deal to end the war in Ukraine. Rubio dismissed as "unequivocally false" a Politico report that Washington would reverse U.S. policy on Russia's Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which would deliver a major coup for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Steve Witkoff, an envoy for the Trump administration, had floated the idea, according to the publication citing undisclosed sources, although he also rejected the...

Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the event it faces aggression by Western countries, Moscow's top security official, Sergei Shoigu, was quoted as saying in an interview with the TASS state news agency on Thursday. -snip- Shoigu, who served for over a decade as Russia's defence minister until he moved to head its powerful security council in a government reshuffle last year, cited amendments to Moscow's nuclear doctrine approved by President Vladimir Putin last November. Under the new terms, Russia could consider a nuclear strike in response to a conventional attack on Russia or its ally Belarus...

“‘But let your statement be, “Yes, yes” or “No, no”; anything beyond these is of evil’” (Matthew 5:37). Keeping your word is the mark of a genuine worshiper and demonstrates that you, as a child of God, hate lies. Everything in God’s kingdom is sacred and all truth is His truth, so truth has no degrees or shades. Thus even what seems to be the most minor false statement dishonors God’s name. The Lord has never had any standard other than absolute truthfulness. He wants every one of us to possess “truth in the innermost being” (Ps. 51:6). And it...

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President Donald Trump elicited laughter in the Oval Office on Wednesday after asking a wounded veteran about his "Let's Go Brandon" sticker. While meeting with wounded veterans, the president appeared to notice the sticker, asking: "Who is that picture on there?" "That is Joe Biden," the veteran replied. "And it says, ‘Let’s go, Brandon.’" Attendees inside the iconic office erupted with laughter. "I'm saying, ‘what was that picture?'" Trump said through laughter. "That's great." **SNIP** Trump's lighthearted Oval Office moment took a heartfelt turn following the sticker exchange. Trump then addressed the group of veterans and their families, many of...

"How can I help you today". That is what you see when you open Microsoft Edge's new tab page in the latest development version. Microsoft is replacing the traditional new tab page with a page that is all about Copilot. It is the second Copilot feature that has been added to Edge recently by Microsoft. Currently, that is only an experiment, but there is a chance that this new AI-powered page is replacing the classic new tab page, at least as an option. Snip.... Many of the interactions with Copilot redirect you to the Bing website where the results are...

A large-scale Russian missile and drone attack hit Kyiv overnight, killing nine people and injuring another 63, including six children, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday. The Kyiv City Military Administration said on its Telegram channel that Russia struck Kyiv with drones and ballistic missiles.

A Big Apple mayoral candidate forum turned ugly for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Wednesday night when a mob of angry protesters ambushed the stage and chanted, “Cuomo lies, people die.” The disgraced pol, who resigned from the governor’s office in 2021 following a slew of scandals, was answering a question about public safety at the Black Agenda’s Democratic mayoral forum at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn when a horde of demonstrators funneled into the auditorium and stormed the stage. The stunt, which elicited audible groans from the audience, only lasted for a few moments before the NYPD attempted...

US President Donald Trump has signaled a potential U-turn on his trade war with China amid continued market volatility, saying the high tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.” Trump’s remarks, made at a White House news event Tuesday, appear to mark a rhetorical climbdown after weeks of tough posturing and tit-for-tat retaliation that sent tariffs on China beyond a staggering 145%. “145% is very high and it won’t be that high,” Trump said in a question-and-answer session with reporters in the Oval Office. “It won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down...

Canada is a proud nation that will “never” submit to foreign domination — but if it is to be ruled by a landed septuagenarian from afar, its citizens would prefer King Charles to Donald Trump, hands down. In fact, Canadians would rather return to the to the British Empire than adopt Trump’s repeated insistence that it become the 51st U.S. state, even with his promises of lower taxes and better security, according to a new poll. The poll, conducted for DailyMail.com by J&L Partners, reveals that a 54 percent majority of Canadians would prefer King Charles III as their head...

President Trump signed an executive order this afternoon that targets the broken college accreditation system. Basically, colleges and universities become accredited through third-party agencies, which play a big role in determining whether these higher education institutions can receive federal funds. And, President Trump [requires] these college accrediting agencies to change their criteria to prioritize merit over woke ideologies. ... Colleges and universities are accredited to ensure they meet basic standards by third-party entities, not the federal government, though the Department of Education decides which accrediting agencies to recognize. The accreditation process has broad implications since the government uses it to...