Free Republic

The Fauci diaries have been a very revealing insight into how not only Anthony Fauci but the media and Democrats ran the COVID response. This entry, however, may be one of the most revealing ones. Apparently, President Joe Biden spoke with China's President, Xi Jinping, who told the former that a dictatorship was the way to go in terms of COVID response. Here's some of that passage (emphasis original): "However, during the discussion the president began to philosophize a little bit about the stress that is on the country. He refers specifically to a conversation he had with Xi Jinping,...

Leopold Aschenbrenner was hailed as the ‘Nostradamus of AI.’ But his Situational Awareness hedge fund took on too much leverage, leading to a crash he never saw coming.When the week began, Leopold Aschenbrenner was preparing for his wedding. The plan was for a multiday celebration in Carmel, a seaside town in Northern California, with the ceremony at a Tuscan-style villa and the send-off at a spa in the forest. There would also be a pre-wedding colloquium to discuss ideas in panels and breakout sessions. The couple’s only request: no gifts.The 24-year-old investor had amassed a fortune by promising he could...

At least 88 of the largest corporations in America paid no federal corporate income taxes in their most recent fiscal year despite enjoying substantial pretax profits in the U.S. While the biggest U.S. corporations have avoided taxes in this way for decades, it appears that corporate tax avoidance has increased in the most recent year. This is at least in part due to two separate packages of corporate tax cuts pushed through by the Trump administration: last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). These tax-avoiding corporations represent a variety of industries...

Pope Leo XIV meets pro-abortion singer Patti Smith as Vatican official hails ‘shared mission’One of Patti Smith's best known lyrics is, 'Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine.'Pope Leo XIV met with the pro-abortion, pro-LGBT punk rock star Patti Smith on Friday morning.Smith, who is originally from Chicago, like Leo, is a singer, songwriter, and poet sometimes known as the “Godmother of Punk” for her influential early role in shaping punk music. Her fame peaked in the late 1970’s with her biggest hit, “Because the Night,” a sensual song that declares the “night belongs to lust.” One of her...

Italy said on Friday it was suspending the ​EU's border-free Schengen arrangements with Spain for one month in response to a mass influx of ‌migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco. Italy does not share a land border with Spain but the measure - which looks certain to anger Madrid - will impact people travelling by plane or boat between ​the two countries, meaning they will need to show a passport to gain access. Italy's interior ​ministry said in a statement it had also agreed with Paris ⁠to strengthen controls along the Franco-Italian land border to try...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not planning an aggressive campaign at voting sites during the upcoming midterm elections, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday in response to a States Newsroom inquiry about a letter from U.S. Senate Democrats voicing concerns about armed federal agents at polling places.ICE, an agency within DHS that has sustained intense criticism since the start of the second Trump administration for its aggressive and sometimes deadly tactics, has no plans to target polling sites in November, a DHS official told States Newsroom in an email.The official left open the possibility, though, that...

WASHINGTON — Millions of parents refusing to pay child support may have their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility revoked after the US Department of Agriculture rescinded a Biden administration rule earlier this month, The Post has learned. The move, which revives a policy implemented during the first Trump administration, could save taxpayers billions of dollars per year in money that’s formerly gone to delinquent child support payees. “This is not about kicking people, who truly can’t afford to make payments, off SNAP,” said Alex Adams, assistant secretary for family support at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration...

31 July 2026 Saint Ignatius Loyola, Priest on Friday of week 17 in Ordinary Time Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Rome Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingJeremiah 26:1-9Jeremiah preaches in the Temple of the Lord and is threatened with deathAt the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word was addressed to Jeremiah by the Lord, ‘The Lord says this: Stand in the court of the Temple of the Lord. To all the people of the towns of...

As wildfires blazed in southern Italy this week, authorities probing for arson found a grisly clue: cats “with flammable-soaked rags tied to their tails.” “These animals were released into the fields, running around and spreading the fire,” said Domenico Costarella of Calabria’s Civil Protection Agency in a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday. He added that other pieces of evidence also pointed to arson, including candles lit among flammable rags and delayed ignition devices. Firefighters are still working to contain blazes around Calabria’s Pollino National Park, according to Italian broadcaster RAI, which reported Wednesday that firefighting teams have completed more...

California’s wine industry has gotten so desperate that one vineyard owner torched his own vines after deciding they were worth more as ashes than grapes. The Golden State’s struggling wineries have faced mounting financial pressure for years, with conditions becoming so grim that California lawmakers recently appealed to Canada to reopen its market to American wine. But while that international lifeline remains uncertain, a new report from The New York Times is offering a look at just how bleak the situation has become. Jason Smith, CEO of Valley Farm Management, said he recently sold all of his land — then...

A California law to prevent antisemitism in schools will be enforced after a federal judge dismissed a challenge from teachers and students who said it violated free speech. US District Judge Noël Wise on Tuesday ruled against a lawsuit opposing Assembly Bill 715, which went into effect in January. The new law introduces measures to curb the “widespread surge in antisemitic discrimination, harassment, and bullying” faced by “Jewish and Israeli American pupils across California.” As part of the law, California is establishing an Office of Civil Rights with a new statewide antisemitism prevention coordinator for public schools, who has not...

CULVER CITY, CA — Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared on the beloved trivia game show Jeopardy! last night, only to invoke the Fifth Amendment in response to every clue. Host Ken Jennings welcomed Fauci to the stage with enthusiastic applause before reading the first category, "Historic Pandemics." "Wow! Lucky break for Dr. Fauci to have that category on the board, wouldn't you say?" asked Jennings. "On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution," Fauci replied. "Erm. Well, okay," said Jennings. "First clue, for $200. Killing an estimated 50...

Pro-life leader says garden could lead to serious health risks or abuse if students use plants Purchase College, a public university in southeastern New York, is home to a student-run “Reproductive Justice Garden” that features plants promoted because of their abortifacient properties. Social media posts by the student club appear to encourage people to use the plants in the garden for self-induced abortions — which one pro-life leader told The College Fix she fears could lead to serious health risks or abuse. The garden, which was launched in 2019 and revamped in 2024, is run by students who are part...

FLASHBACK: Pope Francis invited Fauci to push COVID jabs at Vatican conferenceFauci stated that clergy were key to convincing religious people who were reluctant to take the experimental COVID shot.Editor’s note: This article was originally published here on May 10, 2021.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The face of America’s COVID-19 response believes that clergy are key to convincing religious people who are reluctant to take an experimental coronavirus vaccine.Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious (NIAD) diseases, was interviewed by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a journalist specializing in medicine for a Vatican-sponsored health conference published...

Luigi Mangione’s radical supporters are leading the charge pushing for a rarely-used legal loophole that could let the suspected healthcare CEO killer walk free — even if the jury believes he is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the cold-blooded murder. The December 4 Legal Committee, which has raised more than $1.5 million for Mangione’s defense fund, is raising awareness about jury nullification, a legal power by which a defiant jury can find a defendant not guilty if they believe the law the accused is charged with breaking is unjust, The Times reported. While rare since the 19th century, it’s used...

New York agreed to not enforce its assisted suicide law that ropes in Catholic nuns who provide care to terminally ill patients, which was scheduled to take effect next week, days before a scheduled emergency hearing. U.S. District Judge Anne Nardacci approved a consent order for temporary restraining order, dated Thursday but made public by the nuns' lawyers Friday morning. "During the period of the temporary restraining order Defendants' are barred from requiring that Plaintiffs, their medical providers, employees, clinical contractors, and any others acting on Plaintiffs’ behalf or providing care to patients or residents on Plaintiffs” premises," undertake several...

The storming of the Spanish enclave by 50,000 foreigners is a testament to the nihilistic cowardice of Europe’s elites.Can we say ‘invasion’ now? What other word is there for the rough intrusion of tens of thousands of young men into the sovereign territory of a foreign nation? Surely not even the sappiest leftist in his tattered keffiyeh and ‘Refugees Welcome’ t-shirt would describe the thuggish gatecrashing of an independent nation as ‘asylum seeking’? That might be the one and only upside to the extraordinary events in Ceuta yesterday: the death, at last, of euphemism. The impossibility of any longer dressing...

Several immigrant business owners are preparing to sue New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over his plan for city-owned grocery stores, Fox News Digital confirmed Wednesday.The Multicultural Business Coalition’s board voted this week to pursue legal action against the city over Mamdani’s proposal to open five taxpayer-funded grocery stores that would sell food at prices up to 30% below traditional retailers, according to the New York Post, which first reported the vote Tuesday.MBC Chairman Frank Garcia said the coalition plans to send a letter to Mamdani’s office in the coming days outlining its legal plans to protect bodegas, competing grocers...

President Donald Trump has now used one of the Bible's most prophetically charged phrases twice in connection with his efforts to reshape the Middle East.After announcing a preliminary agreement with Iran in June, Trump wrote, "This Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region." Regional hostilities subsequently resumed, demonstrating how quickly sweeping declarations of peace can outrun events on the ground.Now Trump has announced what he calls a historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and every other armed group in Gaza."This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY," Trump declared. For students of...

The Spanish enclave of Ceuta, located on the African coast next to Morocco, is being invaded by military-aged men who broke through border gates, fences, and the coastal barriers that mark the border. So far, several tens of thousands of Moroccans (and who knows who else?) have flooded across the border, creating panic in the city of 85,000, and the flow is not stopping. Moroccan authorities, in fact, appear to be facilitating the invasion. Not coincidentally, nearly 2,000 criminals were pardoned and released from prison, leading many to speculate that the two are connected. Spain's Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has...