Free Republic

Greetings, Dear Reader, I might have mentioned this in previous State of the Days, but my favorite bit of Ingersoll genealogy is that I’m related to the guy who hosted the first ever witch trials … in a bar. Lieutenant Nathaniel Ingersoll was a prominent local business owner, militia member, and church leader. Of the 20 women he either accused or testified against, eight were hanged. By the way, did you see … THE THREE CRONES There’s The Fates, The Grey Sisters, The Norns, and most popularly due to Shakespeare, The Weird Sisters, and then there’s the three batty crones...

The following is an excerpt from my memoir Keeping the Tryst. It appears just before the end of chapter 37. ~September 10, 2001… That night I was scheduled to work. And there were three things that I was eager to do when I got home… The first was to call Lisa. Secondly, I wanted to start work on writing the script for the movie. Even though I had no grasp whatsoever of crafting a screenplay. Finally, it was a big night for TheForce.net staff. We would be up all evening getting a bunch of stories about the Episode I DVD...

When pundits say that the United States — or the West, more generally — is “in decline,” what do they mean? Are they talking about Western nations’ rising and unsustainable sovereign debts, including a U.S. national debt of over forty trillion dollars? Are they acknowledging that forty-plus years of “free trade deals” have hollowed out once-bustling manufacturing and industrial towns and left tens of millions of blue-collar workers unemployed and dependent upon government welfare? Are they admitting that a century-long public policy campaign designed to arrest population growth by discouraging marriage and families and encouraging promiscuity and abortions has created...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem🇮🇱 (9/10/26)[Prayer]PersonalitiesPsalm 19[a] For the director of music. A psalm of David. 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of...

According to Politico Playbook on Wednesday, things are really, really bad for the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Texas. To support their claim of disaster for that convention, the Politico team of Adam Wren, Dasha Burns, Will Steakin, and Megan Messerly cited — wait for it —conveniently unnamed sources to back up their premise of doom and gloom.The unnamed sources made their invisible cameos in “‘The vibes are very bad’ in Texas,’” only to immediately disappear into the political ether to avoid anything resembling a fact check of their whispered claims:

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At first glance, the bright blue data dashboard looks like any other – a series of graphs, charts, numbers and menus belying its darker purpose. But The Telegraph can reveal that this platform is how China’s security apparatus can track foreigners and anyone deemed “of interest” to the state within the country. Read the full story here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/18/leaked-secret-chinese-surveillance-programme-tracks-foreign/

Otherwise why even have representative government? The great census debate is back. After Chief Justice John Roberts illegally colluded to block a question on citizenship from the last census, President Trump is vowing to bring it to the next census. The usual response is to misappropriate the 14th amendment, which was dealing with past attempts to limit the representation of slaves, and scream that it will limit representation. True and that’s the whole point. Elected officials are supposed to represent the people who vote for them. Not the people who don’t vote for them. This is a point so simple...

When I talk about post-viability abortions, a lot of pro-choice people claim those only happen for medical emergencies, meaning either the woman’s life is in danger or the fetus has some kind of fatal genetic abnormality. This is a myth, a pleasant fiction to help pro-choice people be comfortable with their stance. The reality is that there are multiple places in the country where people can get abortions at any stage of pregnancy for any reason. We have plenty of evidence to show that they will get abortions after viability on healthy fetuses carried by healthy women for no medical...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. "Finally, brothers, rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God...

When a group of European officials arrived in Kyiv to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day last month, they got some worrying news. The European Union, a key backer, had earlier this year finalized a loan of more than $100 billion for the country. But Ukraine now faced an unexpectedly large defense budget shortfall, President Volodymyr Zelensky told allies. To get through the year, he would need $27 billion more. Europeans understand Ukraine is in a fight for its existence but did not expect such a large budget shortfall, according to four European diplomats who, like others quoted in this piece, spoke...

Top White ⁠House ⁠advisers, including Vice ⁠President JD Vance and Secretary ​of State Marco Rubio, have privately warned ‌President Donald Trump that ‌the conflict with Iran could ⁠extend ⁠through the remainder of his presidency, the Wall ​Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing U.S. officials. The White House did not immediately ​respond to a Reuters request for comment. The ⁠advisers ⁠told Trump in private ⁠discussions ​in the Oval Office and the Situation ​Room that ⁠Tehran could continue to resist U.S. pressure, potentially prolonging the conflict beyond Inauguration Day in January 2029, the ⁠Journal added. The reported warning contrasts with Trump's own...

"Stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Eph. 6:11). Satan wants to render you ineffective for Christ. In 1 Corinthians 16:9 Paul says, "A wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." That's typical of spiritual warfare. The more opportunities you have to serve Christ, the more adversaries you'll face. That's because Satan seeks to hinder your spiritual service. Often seminary students ask me if ministry becomes easier over the years. In one sense it does because you learn better study skills, time management, and the like. But in a greater sense it...

President Donald Trump pledged Wednesday to send every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, an extraordinary gambit to reverse his party’s sagging fortunes in November. The dubious promise would likely cost more than $1 trillion and require congressional approval, and would further exacerbate the country’s nearly $1.8 trillion annual budget deficit and concerns about inflation. “If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000,” Trump said during the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas. “It will be called the Trump Dividend.”

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.” Luke 6:27–30Love, do good, bless, and pray. These four commands form the heart of...

Results from a recent global assessment indicate that reading scores for American high school students have dropped over the past three years, while math and science performance still falls behind their peers in several other developed countries.The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which tests 15-year-olds in math, science, and reading proficiency as metrics for college and career readiness, conducted its last tests in 2025.The initial findings, released on Sept. 8, indicate that children from Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom continue to outperform American public-school children in those three subjects.PISA has not yet shared comprehensive...

Twenty-nine health systems are dropping Medicare Advantage plans in 2026, citing prior authorization denials, reimbursement issues, and deal renegotiations.A Medicare Advantage PPO card sits on top of a Medicare card, in this file photo. AP/Jenny KaneThe number of terminated contracts this year is down from 40 in 2025 and 32 in 2024, Becker's Hospital Review reported on Sept. 4.Naples Comprehensive Health, one of America's top 50 hospitals, will go out of network with Centene's Wellcare and Health Care Service Corporation's HealthSpring Medicare Advantage plans, effective in 2027."This change allows us to ensure that the plans we partner with truly support...

There's a danger in any anti-elite movement that, at some point, it goes beyond opposing elite arrogance and starts opposing knowledge itself. You can see a strain of this in the Chinese Communist Revolution where professors were routinely denounced and made to kowtow by their own students who had become Red Guard revolutionaries following Mao. Mao taught that only the "pure people" who worked with their hands were virtuous. Those who taught subjects in schools were considered to be corrupted by capitalism and therefore were enemies of the revolution. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge took this even farther, murdering anyone...

In one of the most underreported happenings in the Persian Gulf conflict, Yemen’s internationally recognized government and allied militias have inflicted a series of ground setbacks on Iran-backed Houthi forces over the past month. These defeats are reversing parts of a late-summer Houthi push toward the Red Sea undertaken as part of the Iranian strategy of widening its conflict with the U.S. The Yemeni government is sufficiently confident in the new fronts that they now describe this as the start of a campaign to take the Houthi capital of Sanaa. The Iranian-backed Houthis have been Iran's key ace-in-the-hole for years....

Right on cue, Democrats are in full meltdown mode after Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) made a video that was shown at Republican National Committee's midterm convention Wednesday night. As RedState's Sister Toldjah reported, Fetterman made a video introduction for his Keystone State colleague, Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), before McCormick addressed the crowd in Dallas.Said Fetterman in the video:Yes, I’m Senator John Fetterman [from] Pennsylvania. Yes, I am a Democrat.Why am I here talking to you today? Because, well, I’m a common sense Democrat. I’m always going to stand with America, I’m always going to reject the extremes and socialism, and...