Free Republic

The Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia’s only aircraft carrier, is likely headed for the scrapyard after a disastrous career. Plagued by mishaps, including a fire, a crane collapsing on its deck, and the sinking of its drydock, the carrier has been out of service since 2017. With its crew reportedly transferred to fight in Ukraine and the Russian economy strained by war, the Kremlin can no longer afford the “albatross.”

Preface. This is my book review of Chris Mooney’s 2012 “The Republican Brain. The Science of Why They Deny Science—and Reality”. This has grown from a review of this book (far below) to more recent science and writing on the conservative mind. People who want certainty and do not like change or changing their mind have been with us since humans evolved. That is discussed in another post: Garcia, H. 2019. Sex, Power, and Partisanship. How evolutionary science makes sense of our political divide. Lately with all the division and even talk of civil war, there have been many broadcasts...

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today launched a new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) campaign to recruit brave and heroic Americans to join ICE as federal law enforcement agents and remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from America’s streets. “Your country is calling you to serve at ICE. In the wake of the Biden administration’s failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “This is a defining moment in our nation’s history. Your...

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday many people were starving in Gaza and suggested Israel could do more on humanitarian access, as Palestinians struggled to feed their children a day after Israel declared steps to improve supplies. As the death toll from two years of war in Gaza nears 60,000, a growing number of people are dying from starvation and malnutrition, Gaza health authorities say, with images of starving children shocking the world and fuelling international criticism of Israel over sharply worsening conditions. Describing starvation in Gaza as real, Trump's assessment put him at odds with Israeli Prime Minister...

Fighter-writer Brandon Smith published a great piece last week entitled “Lefties, Illegals and Minorities Are Finally Experiencing ‘Consequence Culture.’” In that essay, Smith reminds readers of the psychological war that raged four years ago. We weren’t allowed to question the 2020 election’s mail-in ballot fraud or the statistically improbable results that dragged Biden’s dementia-addled brain back into the White House. Public health authorities were conspiring with social media platforms to censor anyone who doubted the efficacy of the pharmaceutical industry’s magical elixirs conveniently redefined as “vaccines.” The “woke” movement was aggressively shoveling its special brand of “trans” and child-grooming excrement...

Despite ongoing pressure from President Donald Trump, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is expected to leave key interest rates unchanged, according to market projections and analysts. Powell is set to announce his decision today. Most data indicates the economy is in good shape, with a relatively low 4.1% unemployment rate and relatively subdued inflation. But in June, the economy began to show prices for apparel, appliances and toys beginning to accelerate, and forecasters suggested tariffs would be likely to continue to drive up consumer prices. In a twist, Powell said the Fed might have already cut interest rates had it...

New evidence being taken from deadly Midtown office shooting Surveillance footage shows 27-year-old Shane Tamura entering 345 Park Avenue with an M4 rifle before shooting an NYPD officer and later killing himself. The building houses major firms including the NFL and KPMG. Police say Tamura drove from Las Vegas just days earlier. FOX 5 NY's Hayley Fixler has the latest. The Brief * An NYPD officer was one of four people killed in a Midtown Manhattan office building Monday evening. * The gunman wound up in the 33rd-floor offices of Rudin Management, one of the city's largest real estate firms....

30 July 2025 Wednesday of week 17 in Ordinary TimeChapel of St. Peter Chrisologus in RavennaReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First readingExodus 34:29-35Moses passes on to the people the orders given by the LordWhen Moses came down from the mountain of Sinai – as he came down from the mountain, Moses had the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands – he did not know that the skin on his face was radiant after speaking with the Lord. And when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, the skin on his face shone so much...

Yasmine Mohammed lived through a nightmare after her mother married an Islamist man. She joins Glenn Beck to tell her story about how she survived physical and mental abuse (including being hung upside down and whipped) in the name of "religion," and how a judge whitewashed it as a cultural issue. Video is 45:39 minutes long.

Four people were killed when a gunman stormed into a New York City skyscraper at the end of the business day on Monday. An off-duty New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, a security guard, a Blackstone executive and a Rudin employee were fatally wounded at 345 Park Avenue at 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan. Authorities said Monday night that a fifth victim had been shot and was hospitalized in critical but stable condition. The accused gunman – identified as 27-year-old Shane Tamura – died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the 33rd floor of the building, according to police....

“‘Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?’” (Matthew 8:26). Sometimes events seem so obvious to us, we wonder why others don’t see the problems or difficulties just as clearly. During the storm the disciples wondered two things: why Jesus could ask them what was so frightening, and how He could not be afraid Himself. In the midst of chaos, any other response seemed absurd. They even accused Him of insensitivity: “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38). But Christ had to rebuke His men because their fear sprang from faithlessness. He basically asked them,...

The “big lie” is the name of a propaganda technique, originally coined by Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf (1925), who wrote, “The great masses of the people ... will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one.” Sixteen years later, Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, actively promoted the big lie as the key principle of the Nazi propaganda machine. Sadly, lying has become so commonplace in our society that the truth often appears or is portrayed as a lie, and outright lies are given legitimacy by many of our political leaders, our courts, our institutions...

Despite U.S. sanctions, at least 130 Ram 1500 pickup trucks were imported into Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — eight of them via a U.S. company.

Leftists exploiting other people's pain for their political gain only works for certain tragedies. You've seen it happen hundreds of times: when a tragedy strikes somewhere, and if it fits the profile, the ghouls of the gun grabber lobby jump on it faster than Hunter Biden on crack. Along with the propaganda media, they go into overdrive with wall-to-wall coverage to squeeze as much emotional mileage out of the situation as possible, always exploiting other people's pain for their political gain. Except that only certain tragedies will do, because when you traffic in fear, logic and common sense are nowhere...

The gunman double-parked outside the tower at 345 Park Avenue, strode into the lobby with a cheap AR-15-style rifle, and killed three people, including an off-duty police officer. He took an elevator to the 33rd floor and fatally shot a final victim before turning the gun on himself. The episode was over in minutes. Despite New York’s stringent gun laws and the office building’s tight security, law enforcement officials and legal experts said, the shooting — the deadliest in New York City in 25 years — may have been all but unstoppable. New York has one of the world’s most...

They were the sort of people who could be found working into the evening in an office building anywhere across the city: a police officer with a baby on the way, picking up off-duty security shifts beside the longtime lobby guard. A senior executive at an investment giant, and a young associate with less than a year at her firm, each in the office building at 6:30 p.m. on Monday when a shooter burst into 345 Park Avenue, and killed them all. Armed with an AR-15-style rifle, the man sprayed the lobby with bullets, first shooting the police officer, Didarul...

When I was a kid in the 1980s, my parents sent me to a Waldorf school in England. At the time, the school discouraged parents from allowing their kids to watch too much TV, instead telling them to emphasize reading, hands-on learning and outdoor play. I chafed at the stricture then. But perhaps they were on to something: Today I don’t watch much TV and I still read a lot. Since my school days, however, a far more insidious and enticing form of tech has taken hold: the internet, especially via smartphones. These days I know I have to put...

Roy Cooper broke fundraising records in his first 24 hours as a Senate candidate — a massive cash boost the former North Carolina governor will need for what’s expected to become one of the most expensive statewide campaigns in U.S. history. National and North Carolina strategists from both parties said the race — likely between Cooper and Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley, who has President Donald Trump’s endorsement — could be one of the costliest Senate races in the 2026 midterms, topping out at $650 to $800 million, according to private estimates described by both parties. That would crack...

BSC WHBCVHCB’I WFMYEB XH BSC CEXHXFK SYI JCCH HX QVCYBCV BSYH BSC NYL FYESWHC'I - CHVXH YOTWICV MYZG DVZQFYH

King Charles is allegedly "very concerned" that US President Donald Trump could launch into a massive rant about immigration during his second state visit to the UK in September, a source has claimed. It comes shortly after the US president sent Prime Minister Keir Starmer "advice" about the ongoing small boat crisis. While on a private visit to Scotland, Mr Trump warned the Prime Minister that those coming across on dinghies are "bad people", but praised efforts to end crossings. Meanwhile, after arriving in Scotland on Friday, the US politician made headlines after he declared that illegal migration is a...