Free Republic

About ERCOTThe Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers -- representing about 90 percent of the state’s electric load. As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects more than 46,500 miles of transmission lines and 680+ generation units. It also performs financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers retail switching for 8 million premises in competitive choice areas. ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by...

Adam Townsend had a great podcast interview with journalist Lee Smith last week, and for the first time Smith eloquently hit on something CTH has discussed for several years. The “elites” writ large are so open in their current proclamations of being beyond reach, because they want us to know their power removes them from any accountability. Often we see people ask ‘why are they so openly admitting to their wrongdoing’? Within the answer I have written frequently ‘they simply do not care’… It is not a sense of boundless hypocrisy that drives them to showcase their disconnect, the disconnect...

"The world is an evil place," my parents always tried to impress on me. But twenty years ago, as a young woman with my eyes full of stars and my heart full of dreams, I found that hard to believe. I tried to take their warnings to heart and see a would-be attacker or rapist around every corner, lurking down every alley but as time went on, I learned that your normal, every day, garden variety American is a pretty nice, good person. Oh, I knew bad things happened but I believed that, for example, child molestation was rare. A...

In the wake of the passage of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Friday predicted the Democrats will throw away their control of Congress with a “radical” budget agenda. Gingrich told Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom” that the Democrats “have clearly decided” they will “go for broke on a radical agenda.” He said this “almost certainly guarantees” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) will take over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) role.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) previewed gun control during recent days and makes clear he thinks there is “a lot of work to do to make this country a safer place.” Days earlier, on Janary 27, 2021, Durbin tweeted he met with gun control proponents and assured them “reducing gun violence will be a top priority of the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

The Gift of GabIntroduction I want to take this occasion to write a bit about free speech, the importance of free speech, and the consequent importance of Gab. I am writing as one who has already transferred over to Gab, and I would encourage you all to do the same. Get your thinking sorted out on these free speech issues, and the biblical basis for it, and then make your way over. There may be some sluggishness in the sign-up because of how many people are getting woke to the woke and who are trying to do the same thing....

Big Tech’s moves to muscle President Donald Trump off social media have been heralded by some as victory. But a corporate-run state with politicians serving as mere figureheads amounts to the very fascism they claim to oppose. The smug, palpable air of "mission accomplished" emanating from Facebook, Twitter and Google in the weeks after the media called November’s election for Democrat Joe Biden has been hard to ignore. Thanks to an iron grip on the political narrative and the heavy-handed suppression of any influential dissenting voices, these insanely wealthy companies and their partners in the media establishment have managed to...

People have called 2020 "The Year of the Mask." I disagree. This past year is clearly the year when the left, media, and big tech dropped their masks and let us know they were no longer going to waste their time trying to convince us. They are going seize this nation, and they care not whether we know it. A dude with the appellation "Emanuel" quoted Churchill as a means of counseling the left to never allow a crisis to go to waste. But awaiting a crisis to exploit is so 2009. Today, a crisis created is far more effective....

Now that coronavirus vaccines are starting to roll out in the US and abroad, many people may be dreaming of the day when they can travel, shop and go to the movies again. But in order to do those activities, you may eventually need something in addition to the vaccine: a vaccine passport application. Several companies and technology groups have begun developing smartphone apps or systems for individuals to upload details of their Covid-19 tests and vaccinations, creating digital credentials that could be shown in order to enter concert venues, stadiums, movie theaters, offices, or even countries. The Common Trust...

I'm going to be quoting a lot of sources in this column rather than writing much original content. That's because there are so many others saying things better than I can. A few days ago, I read a piece by Daisy Luther (The Organic Prepper) called "How the COVID Response has Destroyed the Personal Finances of Americans." It was so depressing that I could only read it a little at a time. Normally Luther does a superb job of offering hope in seemingly hopeless situations; but boy, this one was a downer from start to finish. Among much else, the...

Monday on FNC’s “Fox & Friends,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) warned Democrats winning the two U.S. Senate seats up for grabs in Georgia on January 5 would have consequences. Scott told Fox News Channel’s Steve Doocy if Democrats were able to win those seats and take control of the U.S. Senate, it would enable Democrats to seize more control of Americans’ lives.

The point about the three great examples of the advanced part of a nation subjugating the backward part is insightful and chilling. I do believe that is what Blue America intends for Red. But Caldwell further says that dynamism does not need tradition in the same way that labor needs capital and vice versa. I suppose the qualification “in the same way” makes that statement true, but Caldwell’s implication seems to be that they don’t need each other at all. Is that really true?

Parler has been in the news quite a bit over the past year. The social media company has seen a remarkable increase in users as conservatives face increased censorship on other platforms. Oddly enough, the corporate press has taken a bizarre interest in Parler and its increased membership. Left-leaning news outlets would have you believe that their objection to the social media site is related to misinformation and conspiracy theories. But it seems that it might be something else that has motivated their hysteria over the app. Politico recently published a piece noting the rise of Parler acknowledging its recent...

A documentary made by a Russian journalist visiting North Korea. He photographed secretly. All of it is good, but really gets into what NK is like at the 20 mark. Done in voice over, but easy to watch. Toward the end...looks like our Leftists dream for us. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=inebLA3HqPo

Biden’s plan for “strengthening America’s commitment to justice” reads like a Black Lives Matter wish list; there is no reason to think that a Biden–Harris Justice Department will not implement it. Among its most consequential proposals, it calls for a return to the practice of imposing weakly-justified consent decrees on police departments. During the Obama years, career attorneys in the Justice Department regularly opened civil rights investigations into police departments (called “pattern or practice” investigations) without credible evidence that an agency was systematically violating citizens’ constitutional rights. Those investigations almost invariably resulted in settlements (called consent decrees) that placed police...

I don’t think it’s unusual to say that author George Orwell’s dystopian story of 1984 is the most intriguing, thought-provoking, frightening, and influential political work of fiction to ever hit bookshelves, media, and film. I think the reason as to why this is so, is because as human history continues to advance, we see numerous elements depicted within this story, play out in our society and in our everyday reality. 1984’s Influence in Politics: Some of the terminologies used within both the book and the film are words that have seeped into our political discourse, so much so, that they...

They know better than the experts they revered just months ago. It’s nothing new for political religions to produce radicals that develop their own sects or cults. This time around, rigid devotion to enforcing mask compliance has produced runaway fanaticism based on nothing but blind faith that more mask-wearing is always better. Even the public health experts, whom these followers all promoted as great prophets just months ago, can’t tame their fervor. That’s a problem, because a return to normalcy will require subduing radical factions that agitate for oppression. Restrictions such as mask mandates are like oxygen to followers of...

Where did this all come from: the vitriol and vice, the anger and hatred, the looting, the riots, the destruction, the nihilistic confusion, the science-denying gender-bending sexuality, the suicidal infatuation with socialism, the adolescent whining for safety rather than freedom? Just look over your son’s or daughter’s shoulder, and you might find the answer. Mr. Kay, who teaches English at... a Philadelphia public school, expressed his concern about the “damage” that “parents” might cause if they overheard the lessons he had prepared for their children. Mr. Kay then described how “conservative parents” are his chief concern when he and his...

I’m disgusted. I’m embarrassed. My heart is broken for the America that we’ve lost. This morning, I woke up at 3am. I proudly announced on Fox and Friends First that Law Enforcement Today was proudly joining a number of other groups in taking part in the largest Back the Blue event in America. Acclaimed keynote speaker Paul Butler and I were going to be the joint Masters of Ceremonies. We had rock and roll legend Ted Nugent flying in for the National Anthem – accompanied by Congressman Clay Higgins, the keynote speaker. The first wave in the attack came from...

A conservative activist says the mask has become a leftist symbol on how to belittle and punish people who choose to not submit to the demands of autocratic authority. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) recently issued an executive order authorizing business owners the right to deny entry to people not wearing masks or face coverings. The new edict comes as restrictions on shops are beginning to loosen around the state, though not yet in New York City. Face coverings are already required in New York when people are out in public and near others, and other states and municipalities...