Free Republic

China today urged Donald Trump to stay away from Venezuela's oil after the US said it would run the country following an operation to capture president Nicolas Maduro. Its call came as the captured Venezuelan leader was driven to a court in New York this morning after being indicted alongside his wife on charges of 'narco-terrorism'. The US president revealed American oil firms will 'go in and rebuild this system' as he signalled a plan to take control of huge and largely untapped reserves in Venezuela. But China, which has invested billions in Venezuela's oil industry, claimed agreements it has...

CHRISTMAS BIBLE-ART EPISODE #23 of 33 BABY JESUS IN THE TEMPLE, WITH SIMEON & ANNA L U K E CHAPTER 2 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the...

In President Donald J. Trump's vision of American justice, there are two kinds of judges: "smart" ones who allow him and his administration to do whatever they want, and "radical activist" ones who uphold the law and thwart his illegal actions. But Mr. Trump is going far beyond political rhetoric in the realm of immigration courts. He is openly trying to turn judges into rubber stamps for his anti-immigrant agenda. Mr. Trump's manipulation of the system began earlier this year when he fired more than 100 permanent immigration judges who apparently were ruling too often in favor of people the...

The gas pump has emerged as a rare source of relief for Americans drowning in higher prices — and that positive trend is expected to continue in 2026, regardless of the uncertainty in Venezuela. Gas prices are projected to average just $2.97 a gallon nationally this year, according to forecasts from fuel savings platform GasBuddy. If that forecast, shared first with CNN, proves accurate, 2026 will be the fourth straight year of falling prices at the pump and the first with the annual average below $3 a gallon since 2020. It’s a far cry from 2022, when the gas pump...

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is expected to announce his withdrawal from the 2026 re-election campaign amid increasing scrutiny over fraud allegations, particularly concerning Medicaid programs and Covid-related relief efforts. This decision follows a meeting with Senator Amy Klobuchar and comes in the wake of intensified criticism from Republican lawmakers, who have called for his resignation due to claims of significant fraudulent activity. Federal action has also been triggered, with the SBA suspending thousands of loans linked to suspected fraud in Minnesota. As Walz prepares to address his political future, the implications of these controversies could reshape Minnesota's political landscape moving...

In the latest episode of the Deep State circus that’s turned our justice system into a bad joke, a 92-year-old federal judge appointed by none other than Bill Clinton back in the ’90s has been assigned to oversee the high-profile case against Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro in New York. This is the same judge who has a track record of rulings that seem tailor-made to thwart President Trump’s agenda and protect left-wing interests. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who took senior status way back in 2011, but somehow keeps popping up in major cases. He has issued several...

Following the inauguration of Socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, it was revealed that the Seattle Police Department issued an internal email announcing officers “are not going to enforce drug use,” instead, they will refer all open consumption cases to failed diversion programs. According to the message originally obtained by Homeless outreach group We Heart Seattle, “effective immediately,” officers are being instructed to refer all open drug consumption incidents to the diversion program LEA-PDA (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion–Purpose. Dignity. Action, a diversion initiative connected to community-based behavioral health and outreach services. Critics warn the move will likely accelerate the city’s ongoing...

0:50 Video at link............... Really, James? You just now figured this out?.............

2020. Chuck Schumer criticizes Trump for not bringing an end to the Maduro regime. Schumer: "The President brags about his Venezuela policy? Give us a break. He hasn't brought an end to the Maduro regime."

A Paris court found Monday 10 people guilty of cyberbullying France's first lady, Brigitte Macron, by spreading false online claims about her gender and sexuality, including allegations she was born a man. One defendant was sentenced to six months in prison, while eight were handed suspended sentences between two and eight months. All 10 were mandated to attend cyberbullying awareness training. The court pointed to "particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious" comments referring to false claims regarding alleged trans identity and alleged pedo criminality targeting Brigitte Macron. "Repeated publications have had cumulative harmful effects," the court said. The defendants, eight men...

After the latest wave of exposes made Somali fraud, Democrat state officials from Minnesota to Washington to Maine scrambled to conduct cover-ups and threaten anyone exposing the fraud. The head of Seattle’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, Hamdi Mohamed, “the first Somali woman elected in the state”, convened a meeting with Gov. Bob Ferguson, representatives of Attorney General Nick Brown, Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans, as well as other elected officials, who promised to protect Somalis from investigations and enforcement. Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson, a radical leftist, declared that she stands “in solidarity with our Somali and Muslim communities” who...

... The only thing more disgusting than the ugly spectacle, which had been timed around a Hamas famine propaganda campaign over the summer, was that one of the hate groups behind the anti-Israel protest, which ended in arrests, was funded by proceeds from Schindler’s List. When Steven Spielberg created the Righteous Persons Foundation with some of the profits from Schindler’s List, he wanted to educate people about the Holocaust and build up Jewish life in America. “I could not accept any money from ‘Schindler’s List’ — if it even made any money. It was blood money, and needed to be...

I was inspired to write this by a more than routinely interesting article by Wayne Root, “Trump Brings Back Maduro to USA. Why? I’m Betting This is About Stolen 2020 Election.”That article affected me in a surprisingly personal way. It impelled me to talk about some things I have mainly kept on the down low, including the story of why I resigned from The Epoch Times, and how a recent book of mine had to be printed twice, and why that might relate to the secrets of dictators. Mr. Root writes of several things, which you should read at the...

An online fundraiser has been launched to prevent Oscar-nominated actor Mickey Rourke from being thrown out of his Los Angeles home. Recent news reports said Rourke’s landlord was trying to evict him for what the owner said was $60,000 in back rent on the $7,000-a-month residence. On Sunday, a GoFundMe page for Rourke, 73, asked fans and supporters to help chip in to raise $100,000 to help the actor “cover immediate housing-related expenses.” “Mickey Rourke is an icon—but his trajectory, as painful as it is, is also a deeply human one,” a message on the page says. “It is the...

Some Democrats are grumbling at their party's largely oppositional stance to President Trump's raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, saying privately that their colleagues should be celebrating. Why it matters: These lawmakers argue it could be a major political miscalculation if the party fails to applaud the downfall of a brutal dictator with sufficient volume, even given grave concerns about the operation's legality and longer-term ramifications. Party leaders have raged at Trump for bypassing Congress and leaving them in the dark about the operation to capture Maduro, which involved striking several military targets in Venezuela's capital city. And many...

That the radical Left worldwide would celebrate the inauguration of communist Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City was entirely predictable. What is striking, however, is the ostentatious triumphalism displayed at a time when the Trump administration is systematically exposing illegal extraction mechanisms and financial flows step by step. It is a moment of celebration for the radical Left in the United States. After the defeat in the 2024 presidential election, the inauguration of Zohran Kwame Mamdani -- the first Muslim mayor of New York City -- marked the resurgence of socialist forces within the Democratic Party. Naturally,...

South Carolina state Rep. John Lastinger (R), a pastor, won the special election for South Carolina House District 88, defeating Democrat and retired Army Col. Joseph “Chuck” Hightower. The seat opened after former state Rep. RJ May (R) resigned following a guilty plea in a federal child sexual abuse material case. Lastinger, who ran as a conservative backing anti-abortion measures and gun rights, will serve through next November.

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem 🇮🇱(1/5/26)[Prayer]A New Study For A New Year: PersonalitiesGenesis 3:8-248 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that...

A person is in custody after an incident at the home of Vice President JD Vance in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Monday 5 January 2026 Saint John Neumann, Bishop on Monday after Epiphany Sunday Philadelphia’s National Shrine: St John Nepomucene Neumann Readings at MassThe readings shown here are for places where the Epiphany is celebrated on Sunday 4 January.If you are celebrating the Epiphany on Tuesday 6 January this year then these are not the right readings. To see the right readings, you need to set this web site to use your own local calendar. On this web page, find the list of dates. After the last date there is a heading which says “Calendar Used”. Click on the calendar name...