Free Republic

On the to-do list of the progressives setting out the steps needed to perfect the world, right at the top we find “Get Rid of Cash.” That makes total sense. Use of cash for financial transactions is the source and enabler of human sin and failing almost without limit. Our free exchange (aka “capitalist”) system gives rise to endless varieties of undesirable activities, ranging from the criminal to the sketchy to the non-virtuous to the icky. If only we had a world without cash, all transactions could be forced onto electronic payment systems where they could be continuously monitored by...

The governor of the Mexican state of Baja California says the United States has withdrawn tourist visas from her and her husband.Marina del Pilar Ávila, of the ruling Morena party, posted on social media on Sunday that she and her husband had been notified of the consular measure, without specifying the reason for the Trump administration’s decision.”I fully trust that the situation will be satisfactorily clarified for both of us,” Ávila said on X.The Baja California press office confirmed to CNN that Ávila’s visa had been withdrawn. A spokesperson for the US Embassy told The Associated Press that visa records...

You and I have to pay more taxes so elite universities that willfully break the law discriminating against Jews, whites and Asians can get tax exemptions. It's a slap in the face. Yet Harvard alum Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is trying to turn the tables, accusing the Trump administration of "weaponizing" the IRS to strip Harvard of its 501c3 tax exempt status. Truth is, Harvard should lose its tax-exempt status because it's guilty of illegally allowing the civil rights of Jewish students to be trashed. The case against Harvard is a slam dunk. Numerous other universities where Jewish students are...

12 May 2025 Monday of the 4th week of Eastertide St Pancras Old Church, LondonReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: C(I).First readingActs 11:1-18God can grant even the pagans the repentance that leads to lifeThe apostles and the brothers in Judaea heard that the pagans too had accepted the word of God, and when Peter came up to Jerusalem the Jews criticised him and said, ‘So you have been visiting the uncircumcised and eating with them, have you?’ Peter in reply gave them the details point by point: ‘One day, when I was in the town of Jaffa,’ he began,...

PORTLAND, Me. — Miss Congeniality, Jordon Hudson is not. Bill Belichick’s 24-year-old girlfriend fell short yet again in the Miss Maine beauty pageant, placing third Sunday — and she couldn’t hide her disappointment. Hudson — who came in second in the contest last year — once again didn’t have quite the stuff to strut all the way to the crown.

Thaddeus G. McCotter writes that “Big Government is Chaos” and thank goodness for the new Trump budget that cuts $163 billion and returns discretionary spending other than defense to 2017 levels. Savings come from eliminating radical diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory (CRT) programs, Green New Scam funding, And so on. Did you know how mandatory vs. discretionary spending line up? Usgsovernmentspending.com has a page on it. Mandatory is blue, and keeps getting bigger. Of course, you know that defense spending is discretionary. But won’t the voters rebel against cuts in the programs they have come to...

Are we about to see Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sitting across from each other at a negotiating table in Turkey? It looks like that could actually happen this week. If both leaders really do show up, there will be peace negotiations in Turkey starting on Thursday. But will these negotiations lead to peace, or will they lead to World War 3? Western leaders were threatening to hit Russia with a new round of very harsh sanctions if the Russians did not agree to a 30 day ceasefire beginning on March 12th. In response, Russian President...

U.S. stock futures jumped early Monday after the U.S. and China agreed to temporarily slash tariffs following negotiations over the weekend in Switzerland. Nasdaq futures pointed to a 3.6% gain, with the S&P 500 futures higher by 2.8% and Dow up by nearly 1,000 points, or 2.3%. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that talks with China had been "very productive" and both countries had agreed to cut "recipricol" tariffs by 115% for 90 days. That brings U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods down to 30%, and Chinese tariffs on U.S. imports to 10%.

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LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised on Monday to cut net migration to Britain significantly over the next four years, saying greater control was needed to maintain social cohesion and drive investment in the local workforce. Controlling immigration was a key factor in Britain's 2016 vote to leave the European Union, yet net arrivals have quadrupled since it left the bloc, helping boost the popularity of Nigel Farage's right-wing, anti-immigration Reform UK party.

The US and China have agreed a deal that will significantly cut the import tariffs, or taxes, both sides have imposed on one another for a 90-day period. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said both countries would lower their reciprocal tariffs by 115% for 90 days. The announcement came after the two countries held intensive talks in Switzerland over the weekend.

MSNBC’s Jen Psaki appeared to mock White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt with her own spin as press secretary for the Trump administration during her show on Friday. "I have noticed the White House briefing room has taken a bit of a bizarro turn lately. And I figured, what the hell, it’s a Friday night. Why not dust off the cobwebs and field a few questions from the White House press briefing room today? Because it’s been a while. Of course, I’m going to answer them without the usual MAGA spin," Psaki said on "The Briefing." The former White House...

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[Abstract] The maritime Phoenician civilization from the Levant transformed the entire Mediterranean during the first millennium bce. However, the extent of human movement between the Levantine Phoenician homeland and Phoenician–Punic settlements in the central and western Mediterranean has been unclear in the absence of comprehensive ancient DNA studies. Here, we generated genome-wide data for 210 individuals, including 196 from 14 sites traditionally identified as Phoenician and Punic in the Levant, North Africa, Iberia, Sicily, Sardinia and Ibiza, and an early Iron Age individual from Algeria. Levantine Phoenicians made little genetic contribution to Punic settlements in the central and western Mediterranean...

President Trump vowed to bring “FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!” by deeply slashing prescription drug prices through an executive order he plans to sign Monday morning.

The institutions created to protect and build better lives for American children who have suffered abuse and neglect have made it much harder for religious families to adopt. In fact, the state nearly thwarted one Christian foster family’s sacrifice to build a better life for innocent kids, all because their beliefs did not align with radical gender ideology. In a new docuseries available now, Separated: When The State Takes Your Kids, the Daily Caller Original Series highlights the stories of three families who paid an awful price for refusing to participate in left-wing gender madness. The third and final episode...

Another case in which a man allegedly slipped abortion pills to a woman causing her to miscarry. David Benjamin Coots, a Washington state nurse practitioner, “is accused of secretly administering abortion pills to his mistress during sex leading to assault and rape charges,” Lesley Cosme Torres reporting for People Magazine. Yet even with a string of serious charges– second-degree assault, third-degree rape, tampering with a witness and five counts of violating a court order–Judge Stanley Rumbaugh will allow Coots to remove an electronic home-monitoring device on May 14th so he can start a business. Coots was a nurse practitioner at...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwGJtc0PHb0 Kilauea is currently erupting.

Three men have been arrested in Japan for attempting to smuggle hermit crabs out of the country. The suspects, aged 24, 26 and 27, and widely identified in Japanese media as being Chinese nationals, were detained on Amami, a southerly island where the spiral-shelled crustaceans are a protected species. Authorities were alerted to the men's live cargo when hotel staff, who had been asked to look after their luggage, noticed the suitcases making a "rustling noise", police told local media. Officers subsequently discovered "thousands" of hermit crabs, weighing around 95kg. The third man was found to have a further 65kg...

Approximately 25% of women in the United States between ages 45 and 60 are at high risk for breast cancer and should consider preventive medication, such as the commonly prescribed drug tamoxifen. Unfortunately, tamoxifen can cause side effects, including an increased risk for type 2 diabetes in women with excess body weight. In a study, researchers investigated the combined effects of bazedoxifene and conjugated estrogens in rat models as an alternative to tamoxifen. The BZA/CE combination reduced obesity-related changes in rats, including the number and size of fat cells in breast tissues, and increased the abundance of beneficial gut microbes....