Free Republic

According to new report, opposition to abortion is more ‘extreme’ than rape.A European abortion lobby is warning against “religious extremism” on the rise across the continent, singling out Catholicism and ignoring the threat posed to Europe by Islam. The 158-page report “The Next Wave: How Religious Extremism Is Reclaiming Power,” published by the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights (EPF), faults “religious extremism” for the phenomenon of “accelerating financial expansion of movements working to dismantle decades of hard-won sexual and reproductive rights across Europe.”The EPF report derides the “anti-rights and religious extremist actors in Europe” working to oppose...

Vice President JD Vance has added fuel to the GOP's investigation into former President Bill and First Lady Hillary Clinton's ties to former financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. During an appearance on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures, Vance told host Maria Bartiromo that 'We know Clinton allegedly went to Epstein's infamous 'island 26 times, 28 times.'The vice president also added that it was 'totally appropriate' for House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) 'to be asking what was going on on that island.'Comer issued deposition subpoenas on Tuesday to Former President Bill Clinton and Former...

Vice President JD Vance gave a preview of his expectations for President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.“Look, it’s actually very simple,” Vance said during a Fox News interview with “Sunday Morning Futures” anchor Maria Bartiromo. “If you take where the current line of contact between Russia and Ukraine is, we’re going to try to find some negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and the Russians can live with, where they can live in relative peace, where the killing stops.He continued, “It’s not going to make anybody super happy. Both the...

The Miracle That Gave the Miraculous Medal Its NameAlphonse and Theodore Ratisbonne were born in 1802 and 1814, respectively, into a prominent banking family in Alsace, France. The Ratisbonne family was a nominally Jewish household that seemed focused on worldly success, and it would seem that such success was expected of both Theodore and Alphonse. However, at age 22, Theodore met Louise Humann, a devout Catholic and catechist. Under her guidance, he studied the New Testament and other Scriptures and was baptized Catholic in the year 1826. He went on to be ordained a priest just four years later.Theodore’s conversion...

Chairman Comer said the evidence his probe has uncovered could lead to questions about the validity of Joe Biden’s pardons, executive orders. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer says his investigation into Joe Biden's mental decline as president could be used as evidence to overturn some of his pardons or executive orders because his senior staff have failed to prove he knew what he was signing amid accusations of mental decline. “It's questionable whether or not it's legal to use an autopen on a legal document, but what's not questionable is if the President of the United States had...

The oldest son of Robert F. Kennedy, denounced the possible parole of the Palestinian man convicted of killing his father in California in 1968. "I understand that there are differing views about ending the sentence of this killer, including within my own family. But emotions and opinions do not change facts or history," former congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II said. "The prisoner killed my father because of his support of Israel," Kennedy wrote in a separate statement. "The man was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Yet he now may walk free, no doubt to the cheers of those who...

The ever-dramatic Margaret Brennan is in full pearl-clutching mode as she questions NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, about the upcoming meeting between horrible President Trump and even more horrible President Putin. It is simply unfathomable to allow a U.S. President to create a strategic reset with a Russian President.As Brennan acts out the role, she highlights how it is unimaginable, terrible, and just a no good bad thing. Horrid.NATO Secretary Rutte is quite happy with the new funds flowing into the NATO alliance as organized by President Trump. Rutte sits atop a new cache of taxpayer funded treasure for the...

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Sunday that President Trump will be "testing" Russian President Vladimir Putin in their landmark face-to-face meeting set for Friday, as world leaders push for a ceasefire deal in Russia's war with Ukraine. "On Friday, it is important to see how serious Putin is, and the only one who can do that is President Trump," Rutte said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." -snip- The secretary general said NATO-coordinated weapons deliveries will continue regardless of what happens at the Friday summit, emphasizing its commitment to "making sure that Ukraine has what it needs to...

In the immortal words of J.D. Vance, do they even hear themselves? The biggest names in Democrat gerrymandering are out taking to the Sunday talk show circuit, to complain about Texas's maneuvers to redistrict their state in what would likely bring in more Republican seats in Congress, in what they say is a bid to correct underrepresentation. "Threat to democracy," intoned Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzger, without irony. Questioned about his own state's famous gerrymandering, he insisted that his state is nothing like Texas, which its own way was true enough, because nothing is as badly gerrymandered as Illinois. New York's...

A Los Angeles County Fire Department captain has been charged with submitting a fraudulent long-term disability insurance claim for an injury prosecutors say could not have happened because he was not on duty at the time, the county district attorney’s office announced Friday. Thomas Merryman, 44, allegedly defrauded Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company of more than $25,000 by submitting forged documents, including a falsified physician’s note and altered paperwork from another fire captain. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Merryman faces one felony count each of insurance fraud and false personation, as well as two felony...

From a tiny hotel room that resembles a prison cell, James Talarico says that he will stay away ‘for however long it takes’ to stop a Trump-backed redistricting plan. James Talarico isn’t like most Democrats. For starters, the Texas state representative is a Joe Rogan–friendly guy whose twang leaks out between critiques of the billionaire class. This week, Talarico is making news for leading an exodus of Texas Democrats who fled the state to block a redistricting vote that could carve out as many as five new Republican congressional seats and help the Republicans keep their House majority next year....

From “envy of the world” to a sinking ship.It’s a poorly-kept secret that Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) has faced crisis after crisis. But the latest scandal over 3 million “unseen patients” may be its worst yet. In fact, this omnicrisis is worsened by the fact that barely anyone is speaking about it.Throughout the 2000s, headlines warned of an overwhelmed and underfunded healthcare system that was systemically failing, from facing “another winter of crisis” and bed shortages to a 2005 scandal forecasting that half of all NHS trusts would face hiring freezes due to a “cash crisis.”These problems spilled over...

As the war in Gaza continues to unfold, essential questions about Russian and Iranian support for Hamas remain. They include whether Russia played any role in providing support to Hamas ahead of its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Russia has maintained a relationship with Hamas for more than 17 years, since the group’s leaders visited Moscow in March 2006, just weeks after taking power in the Gaza Strip. In the ensuing years, President Vladimir Putin repeatedly invited Hamas’ political and military leadership back to the Russian capital. Russia has not limited itself to building a relationship with Hamas’ political leaders....

President Trump has ordered the military to use force against the drug cartels that he designated as terrorist organizations on his first day in office.The New York Times reported the development this morning, a day after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that a reward for the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro — also kingpin of the Cartel los Soles cartel — has doubled to $50 million dollars.Attacking the cartels was one of Trump’s key campaign promises. Border Czar Tom Homan said Trump would destroy them.DetailsNot yet published at the White House website, the “order provides an official basis...

U2 frontman Bono has said in a statement that he feels “revulsion” for the “moral failure” in Gaza, adding that he has tried to “stay out of the politics of the Middle East”. The singer, who had been criticized for not speaking publicly about Gaza, and his decision to accept the Medal of Freedom from then-US President Joe Biden earlier this year, said in the statement that his lack of commentary came from “uncertainty in the face of obvious complexity”. He said that “Israel’s revenge for the Hamas attack appeared more and more disproportionate and disinterested in the equally innocent...

Illegal migrants in LA have been raiding homes and apartments, in many cases with sophisticated jamming devices that take out security systems. However local police are warning the public that non-migrant thieves are embracing these same tactics, which may be why more homes than ever seem to be targeted not just here, but across america.

A while back, I asked for assistance with selecting a hearing aid manufacturer and supplier. https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4328166/posts Of the 50+ replies, most of them (about 35) said go to Costco and nobody had anything bad to say about Costco. As an update, I just got home from Costco with my new Phillips brand aids, and so far so good. My out-of-pocket was $1,599 plus a 1% Illinois tax. That's compared to several thousand for other suppliers. Next step is to send in receipts to see if any of this is covered by my Medicare supplement. I'm guessing no, but I know...

GPT-5 Launch: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has predicted that India could become the artificial intelligence (AI) giant's largest market globally. Altman made this statement as OpenAI launched its next-generation model, ChatGPT-5. Currently, India is the company’s second-largest market after the United States. Moreover, the CEO praised Indians as “remarkable” in their use of AI. “It’s incredibly fast-growing, but what users are doing with AI — what citizens of India are doing — is really quite remarkable,” Altman said during the launch of GPT-5, the latest version of the AI system that powers ChatGPT. He also stated that the company is...

President Donald Trump and his team are reportedly preparing to sell shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are government-backed companies that support the housing market by making home loans more stable and affordable. This sale would be a significant move, potentially involving a large amount of stock, and could have a significant impact on the mortgage industry and the overall economy. On Saturday, President Trump seemed to confirm The Wall Street Journal’s report that he intends to take Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public by the end of this year. He shared an AI-generated image on Truth Social...

Illinois Gov. JB . ...Pritzker slammed President Donald Trump as a "cheater" and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as a "joke" days after welcoming Texas Democrats who fled their state in protest of GOP-led redistricting efforts.... .