Free Republic

Schiff tucked an amendment into the National Defense Authorization Act that would prohibit any evidence collected in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act from being used in investigations. Why? Jeffrey Rosen had a secret on January 6, 2021. The then-acting attorney general—Rosen was appointed on December 24, 2020 to replace departing Attorney General William Barr—had assembled a team of elite and highly skilled government agents at Quantico, a nexus point between the FBI and U.S. military, the weekend before Congress met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. At the same time he was rejecting President Donald Trump’s...

Clifford was last seen alive as he was leaving his home in Benson, Arizona, just outside of Tucson, when he left to help a stranger who had knocked on his door seeking help for car trouble, his family said. The episode began when the family saw a man flashing a light through their windows, then beg for help She urged her spouse to let someone else help out but Clifford refused, telling her, ” ‘No nobody is coming to help them, I need to help them’ and went out the door.” The 53-year-old’s remains were later found next to a...

A "technical issue" disrupted American Airlines flights nationwide early on Tuesday, the airline said, at the start of a busy Christmas Eve for travelers around the country. The Federal Aviation Administration said American requested a ground stop for all its flights. "We're currently experiencing a technical issue with all American Airlines flights," the airline wrote in a post to X. The post added, "Your safety is our utmost priority, once this is rectified, we'll have you safely on your way to your destination." Replying to questions from other social media users, the airline said it was not able to estimate...

It wasn’t long ago when most comedians shared the same game plan as Nate Bargatze. The 45-year-old stand-up veteran—whose latest Netflix special arrives on Christmas Eve, and has a holiday variety show airing tonight on CBS—has dutifully steered clear of every pressure point currently mangling American society. Unlike so many other comedians his age, Bargatze is fundamentally disengaged with the curdled rage over the trans debate, racial justice, or “wokeness” writ large. Nor has he adopted the surly demeanor of the lefties who dominated the scene in the 2000s—guys like Patton Oswalt and David Cross, who managed to shape every...

Hawaii island police Chief Ben Moszkowicz said police didn’t have probable cause to arrest a new suspect in the 1991 Dana Ireland murder case before he killed himself last week. The suspect, 57-year-old Albert Lauro Jr., of Hawaiian Paradise Park, was recently confirmed to be the source of semen and other DNA retrieved from Ireland’s body and a T-shirt soaked with Ireland’s blood found near the crime scene. Ireland, a 23-year-old visitor from Virginia, was hit on her bicycle, raped, beaten and left on a fishing trail in Puna on Christmas Eve 1991. She died the next day at Hilo...

Besides my goofy rescue greyhound, I’ll be solo this Christmas Eve. All is well. Had some solid family time with my kids last night, and will be with family tomorrow. But, for now, I’m enjoying a salted caramel latte, basking in the glow of the Christmas tree lights and about to plug George Bailey and company into the old Blu-ray player. Anyone else spending this Christmas Eve alone?

“O Holy Night” (Luke 2:1-20) It’s Christmas Eve! A night to celebrate. A holy night. For on Christmas Eve we start our annual celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Tonight we hear again the familiar Christmas Gospel. We sing the Christmas carols. We light the candles. This is a night to gather here in church with our family and to celebrate as a church family. It is a holy night indeed. And so our theme this evening: “O Holy Night.” But imagine for a moment that instead of coming here, you went out to a place where...

NORAD Santa Tracker Christmas Eve 2022 Santa is currently packing his sleigh at the North Pole and departs for his spectacular trip across the Heavens in 3 hours. Merry Christmas FReepers.

Four MS-13 Gang members have been sentenced for the murder of a teenage boy in Lynn, Massachusetts. Illegal aliens Jonathan Tercero Yanes and Henri Salvador Gutierrez, both from El Salvador, were sentenced this week with their fellow MS-13 Gang members Erick Lopez Flores and Djavier Duggins for murdering a teenage boy. On July 30, 2018, the gang members lured the boy into a Lynn playground where they pretended to be friends with him. In a wooded area in the park, the gang members surrounded the boy and stabbed him to death with knives. They then left the boy’s body in...

Missouri police arrested a woman accused of killing her boyfriend on Christmas Eve with a sword after the couple allegedly took meth earlier in the day. The Cape Girardeau Police Department responded to a 911 call just after 11:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve for a report of suspicious activity at a home, according to police. They found a deceased man, identified as 34-year-old Harrison Stephen Foster, in the basement of the home with multiple stab wounds. The 911 call allegedly came from 32-year-old Brittany Wilson, who said she stabbed her boyfriend with a sword, according to KFVS. A sword was...

“Good News of a Great Joy” (Luke 2:1-14) For most of us, tonight or tomorrow everyone will be opening their Christmas presents. You’ll know which one is yours, because it will have your name on it and you’ll know where to find it: under the Christmas tree. Now suppose I got a Christmas present for you, but I didn’t tell you about it. I didn’t tell you that I had gotten a gift for you, and I didn’t tell you where you could find it. Well, it could be the greatest Christmas present in the world, but if you don’t...

NORAD Santa Tracker Christmas Eve 2021

"Once in Royal David's city..." As the pure, crystalline voice of one boy soprano rings out from King's College in Cambridge, England singing the traditional opening carol of The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, for millions listening live on the radio worldwide, Christmas has truly begun. The Festival grew out of a need to bind up the wounds of World War I and has continued every year from 1918 unstopped by war, unrest or even a plandemic. They say that during World War II, listeners to the Festival could hear the tar paper flapping in the wind as the...

“Christmas in Three Acts” (Luke 2:1-20) The Gospel reading that we hear every year on Christmas Eve, Luke 2, verses 1-20--this account naturally falls into three sections, three parts, corresponding to the three paragraphs you find in your bulletin. In a way, it’s like a play that has three acts. Only this play is entirely factual; nothing fictional about it. It really happened this way. And when I say it has three “acts,” I not only mean that the story presents itself in three scenes, but I also mean that these are acts of God. In other words, God is...

President Trump on Friday signed an order giving federal workers a paid day off work on Christmas Eve.The news was a welcome surprise for workers who expected at most a half day.Trump’s order says, “All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Thursday, December 24, 2020, the day before Christmas Day.”Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton only gave half days when Christmas fell on a Friday, as it does this year.Obama allowed a half day in 2015 and 2009, GovExec reported. Clinton also allowed a half day in...

Anyone else feeling this way right now?

“Christmas Carols Come Alive!” (Luke 2:1-20) Christmas carols are, obviously, very popular at this time of year. You hear them all over the radio these days--although that will probably stop after tomorrow. These secular radio stations start playing Christmas music back around November 1, and they stop right when the church begins the twelve days of the real Christmas season. But these stations wouldn’t be playing Christmas music unless lots of people liked to tune in and listen. The joy and warmth of the holiday season comes through when Christmas carols are played. What’s even greater, though, is when Christmas...

As reported in Table IV of the Daily Treasury Statement, the U.S. Treasury collected approximately $21.672 billion in taxes on Christmas Eve, the first business day of the partial federal “shutdown” that began at midnight last Friday. Those Christmas Eve tax collections brought total federal tax revenues for fiscal 2019, which began on Oct. 1, to approximately $666.482 billion. On Friday, Dec. 21, the last day before the partial government shutdown, the Treasury collected approximately $10.876 billion in tax revenues, according to the Treasury statement for that day. That brought total tax collections for fiscal 2019 to approximately $644.811 billion—at...

Well, this seems to have become an annual event. Alone on Christmas Eve, reaching out to my fellow FReepers. Myself, I have my daughter's hermit crab for company. And some great classical Christmas music. And, a little later, George Bailey and friends via BluRay. Anyone else spending this evening solo?

“What Child Is This?” (Luke 2:1-20) When a child is born, there are questions that people typically ask. Parents wonder, “Is he healthy?” “How much does he weigh?” Grandparents ask, “What did you name her?” “Who does she look like?” Nurses and doctors closely examine the child and want to know, “Is he alert?” “Are her lungs clear?” We expect those kinds of questions. But there are other questions we never expect to hear at the birth of a child. No one would ever think to ask, “Who will handle his funeral arrangements someday?” Or, “What cemetery do you think...