Free Republic

Chick-fil-A scrambled to explain itself after a reply to a customer with the phrase “your community” sparked allegations of racism. The social media backlash began last Friday after one user tweeted the message “grilled spicy deluxe but still noooo spicy nuggets” to the fast-food giant’s official account.

“Many people need desperately to receive this message: ‘I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.’”-Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., 1997, in his final book, TimequakeI have been hearing from people who feel very much alone. People who are grateful that I and many others are speaking up and out. We who speak up are publicly analyzing trends and claims. We refuse to kowtow to authoritarians, including the ones who wear lab coats or have fancy degrees or work at legacy...

The appearance of camouflage-clad militia members in the small Sierra foothills town of Mariposa as the Oak Fire raged nearby has sparked a furor in Mariposa County, with the local sheriff’s department praising the group for its help while some residents accused the militia of exploiting the disaster. The California State Militia 2nd Regiment — whose website features pictures of men in military fatigues, helmets and assault-style rifles preparing for “the unrest yet to come” — set up a mobile kitchen trailer from Saturday evening through Monday morning in the parking lot of a lumber store in Mariposa, just southwest...

This is Black Health Matters, a series shedding light on the health realities of Black people in America. Akilah Cadet, DHSc, MPH, in partnership with Healthline, aims to educate about inequities to inspire a world where everyone can attain their full health potential, regardless of the color of their skin. Imagine living in a constant state of stress. You repeatedly ask people not to touch your hair. You pretend it’s not hurtful when people say “you talk white.”

The Department of Energy on Friday announced a target of the equivalent of five million homes powered by community solar energy by 2025. The target would save $1 billion and contribute to administration goals of fully renewable electricity by 2035, according to the department. “Community solar is one of the most powerful tools we have to provide affordable solar energy to all American households, regardless of whether they own a home or have a roof suitable for solar panels,” Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm said in a statement. “Achieving these ambitious targets will lead to meaningful energy cost savings, create...

Source: Greg Burton, the head of Westrock Rescue Squad, teaches local first responder volunteers how to quickly and safely extract crash victims after an accident. Photo credit Salena ZitoHOT SPRINGS, Virginia -- Where the tidy brick sidewalks end at the edge of the business district, the carnage was jarring. Two cars had their roofs sheared off. Shattered glass was strewn everywhere. In the distance, an older van was upturned, on its roof, alongside two vehicles on their sides and another car in a ditch, completely upside down and touching the creek. Known colloquially as Sam Snead Highway, the winding road...

Left leaning commentator Matthew Yglesias, who’s Jewish, tweeted today: “Think I’m becoming a Straussian/Putnamist who instrumentally wants to get everyone to go to church again.” Columnist Ross Douthat, who’s Catholic, responded: “Be the change you seek.” Yglesias retorted: “Not gonna sell out the chosen people like that! But I’m gonna go neocon and root for the Christians vs the post-Christians.” (Political philosopher Leo Strauss is considered a father of neoconservatism. Robert Putnam wrote Bowling Alone about declining social capital and civic life in America.) Although personal religious faith remains strong for many Americans, institutional Christianity is declining, with a minority...

Netflix’s new limited series, “The Queen’s Gambit,” leads the site’s top ten most popular list for the third straight week since its late October premiere, making it one of the platform’s most-watched shows of 2020. This feat is all the more impressive considering the steep competition among streaming providers this year. Adapted from Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel and brought to life by veteran screenwriters Scott Frank and Allan Scott, the mini-series depicts the unexpectedly cutthroat world of 1960s chess against the lavish backdrop of the Cold War era, when chess boards were just another arena in which rival nations competed...

The Orlando Police Department has a new training tool where 65% of its simulator scenarios require de-escalation. The VirTra V-300 4K simulator surrounds trainees 300 degrees with 5 giant screens and more than 300 scenarios with an average of 85 different outcomes and paths towards resolution. The Orlando Citizen Police Review Board was recently invited to test out the different scenarios, and witness first-hand what officers truly face when they must make the decision to use force or not. Board member Tom Keen had the opportunity to try three different scenarios. In one scenario, he attempted to calm a virtual...

Victoria and New South Wales residents could remain banned from Queensland indefinitely as the Premier insists the borders will not reopen until there is zero community transmission. Qld recorded zero new cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, marking 28 days since the last case of community transmission was detected. “We will always put Queenslanders first,” Annastacia Palaszczuk said. “We do not have any intentions of opening any borders whilst there is community transmission active in Victoria and NSW.” The Sunshine State currently has eight active cases.

Does anyone in SoCal know of any active Conservative groups in the area? I don't want to believe that California is such a lost cause that no one out here will get active in the community and spread the gospel of personal liberty and self-determination.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now “actively looking into” results from universal COVID-19 testing at a Boston homeless shelter. The broad-scale testing took place at the Pine Street Inn homeless shelter in Boston’s South End a week and a half ago because of a small cluster of cases there. Of the 397 people tested, 146 people tested positive. Not a single one had any symptoms.

Faith Blooms in Adversity March 28th, 2020 Fear is a powerful force. It can make us anxious, paralyze us, frustrate us, or harden us against our loved ones and neighbors. But on the other hand, it can shake us into action, teach us, motivate us, and give us occasion to pronounce our loyalties. The difference seems a matter of perception and reception of hardship, hinging on our decisions and attitude. Today’s COVID-19 pandemic presents two grave concerns: first, of course, the disease itself; second, an unprecedented disruption of our society. Obviously there is no lack of information for navigating the...

The sanctity of life remains more relevant than ever in these moments. Here’s how we can continue to proclaim it and put it into practice with courage and compassion. So this is how it ends. Cancellations, social distancing, and the Great Toilet Paper Shortage. Dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria.With no Madness to distract us from the madness, with mass media fanning the flames of freak-out and social media throwing gasoline on them, what’s a Christian to do? Shall we hunker in those bunkers once built beneath basements for weathering nuclear winter, or scamper to their more recent manifestation,...

Why are wealthy left-wing donors across the country, the abortion industry, and national gun-control groups more interested in your local school board and city council races than most of the people who live in your own town? Because they’re funding efforts to ensure their far-left agenda pervades our entire society – from getting their abortion curricula into our schools to changing our election laws – and they want to make sure that no city, no town is left to stand against them. National left-wing organizations are collecting and funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to flip local city councils, school...

Volunteers build temporary housing for refugees

A crowd of about 40 protesters fed up with illegal drug use in their Alaska village gathered along the Galena airport runway on Wednesday and presented a choice to a suspected methamphetamine dealer who had just landed, residents said... A village resident chosen as a spokesperson climbed aboard and discreetly delivered the message: Stay in the village and have every move scrutinized. Or, leave town and we’ll cover your ticket home. The woman chose option two, and never left the plane. It marked a victory for an Interior village trying to keep out drugs, but with few options for doing...

When a dozen of conservatism’s best minds take on Socialism and expose it for the utopian fraud it is, attention must be paid. In a brief foreword to a special issue of National Review, Editor-in-Chief Richard Lowry admitted that many conservatives thought socialism in America had been “vanquished” after the collapse of Soviet Communism 30 years ago. But as T. S. Eliot insisted, “There is no such thing as a Lost Cause because there is no such thing as a Gained Cause.” The experts examine socialism in its many guises, beginning with Charles Cooke’s blunt assessment that socialism is not...

n Comiskey Park in Dubuque, Iowa, local barber Courtney Holmes decided to do something special. The father of two decided to give free haircuts to kids who would read to him.

A federal lawsuit aiming to halt the construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park is getting bigger. Three separate groups on Tuesday filed amicus briefs joining the original suit filed by Protect Our Parks, alleging that it would be illegal for the Obama Foundation to go forward with the project in federally protected parkland. The groups Preservation Chicago and Jackson Park Watch, composed of community members who have been opposed to the project from the beginning, argue that there is no precedent for a museum to be built on protected parkland, contrary to claims the city and Obama...