Free Republic

This Thanksgiving we got a reminder of what might-have-been. And what we have been unburdened by. We should be truly grateful. For this was the week in which Kamala Harris broke her post-election silence. And I think anyone who saw it can agree: the vice president is not doing well. In an almost 10-minute-long word salad, the former presidential candidate told her supporters such things as: “You have the same power that you did before November 5, and you have the same purpose that you did. And you have the same ability to engage and inspire, so don’t ever let...

Oh the weather outside is frightful — enough to kill off Christmas trees. Yuletide firs are dying from a severe drought that’s plagued parts of the Northeast for weeks — with some farmers losing 25% of this year’s crop and predicting a future shortage, according to WBZ-TV. “They’re all yellow on the inside. The needles are falling off,” said Chris Moran, who runs Vandervalk Farm in Mendon, Massachusetts. “Without water we can’t grow anything.” Dry weather killed roughly 500 of his 2,700 Christmas tree seedlings — fragile, 1-foot-tall babies — after they were planted past spring, he said.

As we speed southwards along the potholed road near Lake Malawi’s shores, I tell my colleague Helen that overpopulation in Africa is just a myth. On either side of the road is an unbroken procession of women carrying firewood on their heads, of barefoot children, of poor men on bicycles, avenues of huts, suicidal goats, blighted crops and dusty lands rising towards distant, once–forested hills. Malawi had four million people at independence from Britain in 1964 and today it’s five times that number. It may look like a land that has eaten itself — but it’s going to be all...

We've been obsessed with Vice President Kamala Harris' step daughter Ella Emhoff's stylish Instagram ever since it was brought to our attention. Once we found out she recently did a raffle for a great trans organization, we love her even more! Emhoff is a 21-year-old apparel and textiles major at the Parsons School of Design in New York City. Her social media is full of selfies showing off her eclectic, artsy, and often androgynous style, as well as her skill at crafting her own clothes. Emhoff's Instagram features her creative projects ranging from knit pants and shorts, to hats, rib...

When President Biden took part in a Zoom call with lawmakers from the Congressional Progressive Caucus last weekend, an aide passed him a note that read, “Stay positive. You are sounding defensive.” Sources familiar with the call said Biden “intentionally” read the note out loud for a moment of levity during a call with anxious lawmakers. And on a separate call with centrist House lawmakers — which some sources described as “tense” — the president lashed out at Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Puck News reported Tuesday. “First of all, I think you’re dead wrong on national security. You saw what...

Vice President Kamala Harris is “the future of the Democratic Party,” the White House declared Wednesday as leading Democrats and their allies position themselves to replace President Biden as the party’s nominee if the 81-year-old president steps aside. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pronounced Harris as Biden’s political heir, at one point referring to her as “president,” when asked about his 2020 campaign remark that he would be a “transitional” candidate. “One of the reasons why he picked the vice president, President [sic] Kamala Harris, is because she is indeed the future of the party,” Jean-Pierre said at her...

A community of society-shunning Americans launched a survivalist haven in the Utah desert after finding themselves alienated from the modern world. Hundreds of people have set themselves up to live off the land under 'Operation Self-Reliance,' feeling that getting off-the-grid is the solution to a crumbling culture. The commune was established by Philip Gleason, 74, a former general contractor who felt a calling to allow people to grow their own food, pump their own water and rely on nothing but themselves. He admitted to Deseret News that while some choose to live there for environmental or health reasons, its intended...

In celebrating 12 years since former President Barack Obama created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said DACA illegal aliens are “the future of our country.” In 2021, Obama created the DACA program via executive order after Durbin and former Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) “DREAM Act” amnesty legislation failed to pass Congress. The program has shielded more than 800,000 illegal aliens from deportation from the United States. Commemorating 12 years of the program, Durbin spoke on the Senate floor on Wednesday, calling DACA illegal aliens not only “the future” of the United States, but...

If Donald Trump wins in November, it will be a massive victory for the Right. Some right-wingers may dismiss a second-term Trump as pointless. But they would be mistaken. A Trump victory would be both significant symbolically and in actual policy accomplishments. It would be a bigger boost to the Right than his first victory in 2016. Moreover, it would be a serious setback for nationalists if he lost. Let’s start with immigration. Trump’s first term marked the first time immigration had been positively addressed since the Eisenhower administration. Trump actually brought down immigration. Near the end of his term,...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced that the House will vote Saturday night on a yet-to-be-released foreign aid package that includes tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine. Johnson texted House Republicans late Wednesday morning that he would soon release the text of three bills to fund “America’s national security interests and allies,” reported Juliegrace Brufke of Axios, with votes on final passage Saturday night. ohnson text to members: After significant Member feedback and discussion, the House Rules Committee will be posting soon today the text of three bills that will fund America’s national security interests and allies in Israel, the...

CHICAGO — The debate over the future of gas stoves in Chicago has been heating up in recent months. Under one proposal, called the “Clean and Affordable Buildings Ordinance,” the City Council could ultimately ban gas stoves in all new construction projects. Chicago is not the only government agency looking at ways to limit gas emissions. Last year, New York became the first state to ban natural gas and other fossil fuels in new buildings. Prominent Chicago Chef Rick Bayless made the transition in his restaurants years ago. “We wanted to make everything as environmentally friendly as possible,” said Bayless,...

I wanted to ask questions about scenarios. I see several scenarios ahead, and none of them look good. 1) Democrats cheat their way to yet another "win" and the corruption is so obvious but again, Republicans and conservatives (not the same) don't do anything again, until they start trying to round people up who have disagreements with the federal government. When that happens, people fight back, but there are now marauding gangs of Chinese, Venezuelan and other country "Government support troops" are around to murder, execute and detain anyone who is not supporting Biden 2.0. 2) Trump wins. Obvious because...

Simply put, the idea of “Palestine” is dead and buried, and no matter how hard they may try, Western politicians will never be able to revive it. In recent weeks, various leaders of Western countries have publicly broached the idea of the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, asserting that the time has come to give the Palestinians independence, even in the absence of a negotiating process. UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and more recently French President Emmanuel Macron have floated this suggestion, despite the ongoing war in Gaza. But what these esteemed statesmen have apparently failed to grasp is...

This is the first time that I have gone out on a limb to post anything like this, but I just felt that its worthwhile and the general crowd here would appreciate the subject matter. This is a book that has helped me with my prayer-focus. The gal that wrote it apparently has a radio show and a website called Letspraytoday.com and the book is already an award winner.

Americans are more optimistic about the future of Social Security than they have been in recent years, a new survey from Gallup found. Among non-retirees, 50 percent expect Social Security to pay them a benefit when they retire, compared to 47 percent who do not think the system will help them. The response from non-retirees is up from readings taken between 2005 and 2015, when majorities of non-retirees polled said they did not think that they would receive benefits from the system, Gallup found. Current retirees believe they will continue to receive full benefits under Social Security.

Ronald Reagan’s famously sunny personal and political optimism was grounded by seeing the world as it was in its complex, often dark reality. His buoyancy was boosted by a bedrock belief that foundational American values of faith, freedom and individual dignity had the power to make the troubled world a better place. The rare combination of sunniness in the face of harsh reality and his faith in American exceptionalism gave the Great Communicator a gift to predict future events with remarkable accuracy.

Editor’s Note: Matthew Smith is a close friend of Doug Casey’s. He is the co-founder of the podcast “Doug Casey’s Take,” where he and Doug discuss a variety of topics and share wisdom on how to navigate today’s uncertain environment. We urge you to read Matthew’s article on how to thrive in “The Great Reset.” — If you watch our podcast Doug Casey’s Take, you already know. We’re in the middle of a complex and destructive phase full of unknowns. Our goal with The Phyle is to focus on solutions. To make progress, we must clearly articulate the problem. Amidst...

Former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said he is worried about the future of the U.S. due to what he described as the “normalization of untruths.” While appearing at The Hill’s Future of Health Care Summit on Thursday, Fauci was asked if he was worried about the country as it heads into the 2024 election season. As The Hill’s Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack noted, Fauci has already made appearances in campaigns so far, albeit not from his own participation. Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has used Fauci’s likeness through artificial intelligence (AI) in campaign ads to generate...

Russians will soon get an “unpleasant surprise” regarding their invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly made an ominous statement regarding the future of the Ukraine war, saying that the invading Russians will soon experience an “unpleasant surprise” regarding the conflict. It comes as the current Russian offensive against the city of Bakhmut appears to falter slightly, with forces loyal to the Putin administration now engaged in significant political infighting over preferential treatment and the availability of vital ammo supplies.

Some energy experts are raising a red flag that Illinois’ transition to clean energy may prompt reliability issues. With more coal and gas plants going offline under Illinois' Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, some lawmakers are concerned of possible brownouts. During a recent Senate Energy Committee hearing, Brian Thiry, external affairs director with Reliability First Corporation, said retirements of old power sources are outpacing new power sources coming online. “As we shrink these margins, it is a reliability risk, so it is just something we need to consider. It is a risk that we are seeing and it's a risk...