Free Republic

The former White House coordinator of the COVID Task Force says the contentious Senate hearing that put Dr. Anthony Fauci and his diary under scrutiny shows there is still "persistent anger" over the government's handling of the pandemic. In an interview on CBS News' "The Takeout," Dr. Deborah Birx said she thought Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who was Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor during the pandemic, "got it the most right for all of us." He wondered, she said, "Did I get the balance right between saving lives and preserving people's livelihoods?" "That is a very deep question, and I think what...

The US military says it’s launching strikes on Iranian targets in response to Tehran’s attack on American forces a day earlier. US Central Command said the strikes are “a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attack” and that they began Wednesday evening, in a post on social media. It’s a further escalation after a period of calm, with the U.S. saying it had intercepted strikes from Iran a day earlier and carried out separate strikes alongside Saudi Arabia on Tehran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq.

Willie Nelson urged Americans to think again when it comes to building the future. Nelson, 93, encouraged followers to “fight against data centers invading our land” in a social media plea shared Tuesday. The country music legend reflected on being able to see “stars at night” in his Texas hometown, but that light pollution and “water thieving” were imminent in a looming industrial climate. “I grew up in Abbott, and I still have a home there with farmed land where I can still see stars at night,” Nelson told his followers. “And now our community, like many others, needs to...

New York City business leaders aren’t inclined to go to war with Zohran Mamdani – but his latest stunt surrounding the controversial pied-à-terre tax is forcing them to reconsider, On The Money has learned. This week, our Marxist mayor released the names of taxpayers who are being subjected to his idiotic levy on owners of apartments worth $5 million or more that are not their primary residences. It’s idiotic partly because these wealthy out-of-state residents don’t use our services, but nevertheless already pay plenty of state and city taxes – the lion’s share in fact. They might decide to buy...

Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters have blockaded two trendy blocks in downtown Madison, Wisconsin a week after armed serial felon Corey Ruiz was shot and killed by police — erecting barricades similar to the infamous 2020 “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) in Seattle And the city of Madison — home to the state capitol and the University of Wisconsin — is helping them by providing portable toilets and other resources. Neighbors have had enough, telling WMTV 15 News they feel “trapped” by the rapidly expanding protest zone. “I feel the protest has turned into a very disrespectful occupation focused...

THE ORIGIN “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2” publication — which was used repeatedly by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab leak theory — was prompted by Dr. Fauci to push the preferred narrative that COVID-19 originated naturally. 1. The virus possesses a biological characteristic that is not found in nature. 2. Data shows that all COVID-19 cases stem from a single introduction into humans. This runs contrary to previous pandemics where there were multiple spillover events. 3. Wuhan is home to China’s foremost SARS research lab, which has a history of conducting gain-of-function research (gene altering...

The Ukraine war has evolved into an innovation contest since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Faced with a larger adversary that it can’t match tank for tank or aircraft for aircraft, Kyiv has compensated with ingenuity—adapting commercial tech for military purposes, pioneering new applications for drones, and refining battlefield tactics for maximum effect. The result has been a conflict in which information is as crucial as firepower. Ukraine is now exploiting that advantage in a new way. This summer, President Volodymyr Zelensky launched an online platform called TrophyLab, a digital repository devoted to the analysis of captured Russian military equipment....

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ We Kick Your Butt In Person & Online! Pictured from left to right; Staff Sgt. Charles Cook, Sgt. Michael Escutia, Esports coach Nick "Ashes" Ridgeway, Staff Sgt Christopher Caudillo, and Spc. Francis Ramos celebrate their win at the Armed Forces Esports Championship at Frisco, Texas. Competing in Esports tournaments allows the Army to showcase its talent, skill, and competitive spirit on a public platform. It serves as a means of representing the Army within the broader gaming community and highlighting the diverse interests and capabilities of its personnel....

We went undercover inside smoke shops and bodegas across New York City to answer a simple question: Would retailers accept taxpayer-funded EBT benefits to pay for alcohol or drugs? Store after store attempted to process EBT cards for kratom, a psychoactive substance that is not eligible for purchase with SNAP or EBT benefits. One clerk attempted to process the purchase as “EBT Cash.” Another processed it as “EBT Food”, treating kratom as if it were groceries. Federal law 7 CFR 278 and 7 U.S.C 2012 prohibits retailers from accepting SNAP or EBT benefits for non-food items, including drugs, alcohol, and...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said he'd asked President Trump for a "winter package" consisting of 300 Patriot interceptors to fend off the Kremlin amid Kyiv's war with Russia.The request follows Trump's approval for Ukraine to manufacture its own interceptors earlier this month. However, Zelensky said the process would take too long. "We need the Patriots yesterday," Zelensky said in an interview with Axios. The Ukrainian president remains committed to providing satellite imagery, intelligence or acquiescing to any other ask in exchange for the U.S. defense weapons, according to the outlet. However, the Trump administration has maintained that its...

Los Angeles is fighting its brutal summer heat from the ground up. More than 700,000 square feet of scorching asphalt in Pacoima — one of the hottest neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley — was coated with a special solar-reflective material as part of an ambitious experiment to see whether simply changing the surface beneath residents’ feet could cool down an entire community. And the results could be a game changer as Southern California swelters through another punishing stretch of summer heat. Even better for overheated locals, ambient air temperatures along treated streets dropped by up to 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit...

Shabana Mahmood is bracing for another chaotic day on the Channel, with up to 700 migrants feared to be crossing in dinghies. Border Force vessel Defender is bringing in dozens of asylum seekers to Dover, while a lifeboat has been deployed to another crossing. This cohort will arrive in Kent later, while French warships are patrolling as far south as Rue as fears intensify over smugglers expanding their routes into the UK. It represents a significant intensification in patrols in that region, with three navy vessels between Fort-Mahon-Plage and Le Touquet. More than 300 illegal immigrants have already reached UK...

They Just Dumped $86B in US Debt (And Nobody Noticed) Neil McCoy-Ward NMW shows how many of the worlds nations have had their financial foundations eroded, yea eviscerated by the tactics of Iran. And the worst is yet to come.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7tacgRfg1I For more, See: Psalm 83 and the shape of the locustshttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3638087/postsAnd for those who are on the Hebrew Calendar… Happy Tu B’ Av!Nicolette Larson - Lotta Love (Official Music Video)https://youtu.be/vpFfjWdhROU?list=RDvpFfjWdhROUAnd from my personal Tu B’Av events, past and future…Tommy James&the Shondell_Crytal Blue persuasionhttps://youtu.be/LN38vED24Eg?list=RDLN38vED24EgYes, the librarian… Tears For Fears - Head Over Heelshttps://youtu.be/CsHiG-43Fzg?list=RDCsHiG-43FzgBuckle up!Cuz the ride just gets wilder! John Lennon...

Full Title: Syrian teen given 10 months in closed youth care in Sweden for repeated rape of 14-year-old girl he called his ‘whore’ and a ‘dog’ The court heard how he would spit on the girl, and tell her he would kill her if she didn’t dress as he told her to, or didn't keep her coat on and zipped up during school A 15-year-old Syrian boy who repeatedly raped, threatened, and humiliated his 14-year-old girlfriend in Gothenburg, Sweden, has been sentenced to ten months in a closed youth care facility after an appeals court increased his punishment. The Gothenburg...

Leo XIV Helped Us Better Appreciate the Crisis. Here’s How to Combat It.One year into Pope Leo XIV's pontificate, this article revisits every major moment—from Synodality and ecumenism to the SSPX and Vatican II—in light of the warnings in Archbishop Lefebvre's 1974 Declaration... Archbishop Lefebvre diagnosed today's crisis more than fifty years ago, and nothing since has proved him wrong.Every so often, it is worthwhile to survey how, if at all, our thinking about a particular topic has changed over time. For Traditional Catholics who share the vision of the crisis in the Catholic Church that Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre set...

PARIS — Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz are trying to jump-start the Franco-German engine one final time. After joint ministerial meetings in Germany last week, the leaders of the European Union’s two biggest economies have tasked their governments with striking a grand bargain that they say would strengthen Europe’s industrial defenses and revive the bloc’s automotive industry — key priorities for the two countries. The pact would fuse France’s push to reserve more public procurement contracts and subsidies for European industry with Germany’s drive to rescue its ailing carmakers, whose crisis has reached an acute stage after Volkswagen warned recently...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop attacks Latin Mass, says ‘only’ Novus Ordo is compatible with Synodal ChurchAccording to Bishop Tomáš Holub, it is the Novus Ordo that allows the integration of synodality in the liturgy, whereas this would be ‘very difficult’ with the Traditional Latin Mass.The bishop of the Diocese of Pilsen in the Czech Republic stated in a recent article that the Synodal Church needs an adequate liturgy that can “only” be the Novus Ordo Missae.Tomáš Holub, a heterodox bishop who has endorsed Amoris Laetitia and announced that he would give Holy Communion to the divorced and remarried, shared his vision...

Mayor Mamdani with fanfare released a list of 960,000 owners of real estate in New York City that have been determined they could owe the pied a terre tax because NYC computers have determined they own what was billed as a market value of $5 million or more. Now there are only about 1 million residential tax lots in New York City so the first question is how did virtually every owner get put on the list?The answer is that you are subject to the tax in the first two years if your property has a “DOF valuation” of over...

As the war with Iran has continued, some are finding that the stress is bringing back old anxieties.A 4-year-old child began having behavioral problems when his father left for war.A wife whose husband works in Army intelligence is already dealing with heightened anxiety, even though he hasn’t been deployed yet.A woman found this year that she is struggling to cope with the news of conflicts at home and abroad, nearly 20 years after she lost her fiancé in combat.More than 80 percent of military families have reported elevated stress from the war with Iran, driven by safety concerns, deployment changes,...

🚨 JUST NOW: Sen. Rand Paul says he's working on a plan to BYPASS Senate Democrats and go DIRECTLY to the DOJ with Contempt of Congress findings for Fauci This would BLOCK Democrats from filibustering Fauci's contempt charge, and put it IMMEDIATELY in the hands of the DOJ THIS IS THE WAY! 🔥