Free Republic

A Southern California mayor is under fire for wanting to eliminate his city’s homeless population by giving them “all the fentanyl they want” — a shocking remark he reinforced by calling for a federal “purge.” Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris shared his controversial views during a Feb. 25 city council meeting when a resident took issue with the city’s attempt to address the homeless crisis by “enclosing” the unhoused at an abandoned golf course near a residential neighborhood. “What I want to do is give them free fentanyl,” Parris said as he interrupted the woman’s comments, according to footage of...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Thursday that Republicans are open to giving Democrats an amendment vote on a monthlong stopgap funding patch in exchange for votes to help Republicans pass a yearlong spending bill to avert a government shutdown. Thune told reporters he has yet to speak directly with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on a path forward. “If they want a vote on that in exchange for getting us the votes to pass the [CR] to Sept. 30, I think we’re open to that,” Thune said Thursday morning. “But as you all know, the House is...

It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn't been enough money to buy me the rifle that I'd wanted so bad that year for Christmas. We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Daddy wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible. After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Daddy to get down the old Bible. I was still feeling sorry for...

I just got word from the North Pole that Santa is looking for really, really, kind people this year. Supply chain issues of all kinds due to red tape and weather may cause shortages and delays of the usual things children ask for at Christmas. Now, here's the thing. Santa knows that families in North Carolina have lost so much, and even everything. Houses, pets, family members, land, jobs, some whole towns were washed away in the terrible floods of Helene. Many families and children are sleeping in shelters and tents, they have no clothes of their own, their toys...

Ford Motor Company is hoping to boost sales of its electric vehicles (EVs) by giving away free at-home charging stations, executives announced this week. “Auto shoppers say they’re more likely to buy an electric vehicle if they could fill up at home. So we’re going to make it easy for our customers,” Ford CEO Jim Farley wrote on X: If you buy or lease a new [Ford] electric vehicle, we’ll include a complimentary home charger. This is part of something we’re calling the Ford Power Promise, which is about giving our electric vehicle customers convenience, peace of mind and expert...

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said during an interview over the weekend that “the spirit” of giving free handouts to illegal aliens should absolutely be part of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris’ agenda if she becomes president. Whitmer made the remarks during a Sunday interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press” while discussing some of the extreme things that Harris’ vice presidential running mate Tim Walz has provided to illegal aliens in the state of Minnesota where he serves as governor. Left-wing host Kristen Welker noted that Walz has given illegal aliens driver’s licenses, the ability to qualify for...

Domestic dogs show many adaptations to living closely with humans, but they do not seem to reciprocate food-giving according to a study, publishing July 4 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, led by Jim McGetrick and colleagues at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria. The researchers trained 37 domestic dogs to operate a food dispenser by pressing a button, before separating the button and dispenser in separate enclosures. In the first stage, dogs were paired with two unfamiliar humans one at a time. One human partner was helpful—pressing their button to dispense food in the dog's enclosure—and one...

On the first day of Christmas I gave to charity one chocolate-cherry milk shake. On the second day of Christmas I gave to charity two turkey legs, and one chocolate-cherry milk shake. On the third day of Christmas I gave to charity three baked potatoes, two turkey legs, and one chocolate-cherry milk shake. On the fourth day of Christmas I gave to charity four scoops of dressing, three baked potatoes, two turkey legs, and one chocolate-cherry milk shake. On the fifth day of Christmas I gave to charity five cherry pies, four scoops of dressing, three baked potatoes, two turkey...

A brutal business climate and societal breakdown have brought major changes to America. In response, many Americans, especially conservatives, are soul searching for something more compassionate for those left behind. Unfortunately, they are looking in the most unlikely places: business and government. They will likely be searching for a long time. The controversy over this shift in mentality erupted with the publication of a Wall Street Journal advertisement in which major firms pledge a commitment to “stakeholder” capitalism, which holds businesses should be run having all society, not just shareholders, in mind. Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) stirred the pot with...

Amid reports that fast food chain Chick-fil-A was halting donations to Christian groups, the restaurant's foundation is maintaining they are philanthropically restructuring, not caving to political correctness in pursuit of higher profits. Reports emerged Monday that after months of consistently negative press coverage related to their long-held views about marriage and human sexuality and donations to like-minded organizations, that the famous chicken sandwich shop was discontinuing their financial contributions to groups characterized as "anti-LGBT." The Christian Post reached out to Chick-fil-A Monday, asking them to respond to the criticisms that they were compromising their principles in order to appease their...

The guy lives in a 4,700-square-foot home, according to the AP, and as of 2015 had a personal net worth of $9 million. His father-in-law is a bona fide real-estate tycoon who’s worth around $500 million by Forbes’s estimate. According to his newly released tax returns, he and his wife had income in 2017 of $370,412. Asked recently whether he’d support a wealth tax, O’Rourke answered in the affirmative: “I think fundamental to this experiment of America and democracy is ensuring we don’t have princes and princesses, kings and queens, a concentration of wealth and power and privilege, and that’s...

There are a lot of things that make Desiree Linden’s victory at the 2018 Boston Marathon a race story for the ages. There’s the headline you’ve been seeing everywhere: She’s the first American woman to win the race in over three decades! And if you saw even a single picture taken on Marathon Monday, you know that she ran in some of the worst weather in the race’s history. (In case you didn’t, here are 15 pictures that captured the 2018 Boston Marathon.)Then, there’s the comeback component: Linden was two seconds away from victory at the 2011 Boston Marathon, and...

A common theme among progressives is that conservatives aren't just wrong; they're dumb. Reagan was dumb. G.W. Bush was dumb. Trump is dumb. "Knuckle-dragger," "mouth-breather," "stupid," and "uncultured" are typical pejoratives hurled at conservatives, who apparently tend to live in trailer parks, require dental care, handle snakes, and marry first cousins. Why, I had a liberal actor (excuse the redundancy) tell me once that I wasn't necessarily bad, just not as "evolved" as he was. (I had a great retort at the ready, but I decided just to lash him with my tail instead.) The reason for this arrogance isn't...

The pastor of the tiny Texas church where a madman massacred 26 people and wounded 24 last Sunday wants the building torn down.“The pastor expressed his desire that perhaps the best way forward is to have the church demolished and replaced with a prayer garden,” Southern Baptist Convention spokesman Roger “Sing” Oldham, told USA Today.The Southern Baptist Convention’s president and CEO of the executive committee, Frank Page, and SBC President Steve Gaines confirmed the church will be razed, Religion News Service reported. The decision came after meeting with the Sutherland Springs pastor Frank Pomeroy, whose 14-year-old daughter, Annabelle, was killed during the...

Pondering the Collection Basket in an Age of Electronic Giving Msgr. Charles Pope • June 5, 2016 • New financial realities and mechanisms raise questions for the traditional collection and offertory procedures at Mass. For as far back as most of us can remember, the “collection” has always taken place after the Creed and Intercessory prayers. A basket is passed and people drop in cash or a check, often inside an envelope. It is often brought up along with the bread and wine as an actual offering to the Lord and His Church.But the problem is that cash, and...

In his emotional monologue a few nights ago, Jimmy Kimmel told us a heartbreaking story with a happy ending.His newborn son, Billy, was diagnosed with a heart disease and underwent immediate surgery—which thankfully was successful.Millions have since watched and sympathized with the comedian and his family—crying when he cried, rejoicing when he rejoiced.No one ever wants that diagnosis to be their story. It’s scary, especially when you consider that a solution comes in the form of open heart surgery on the tiniest of chest cavities.Kimmel was right to praise the doctors and nurses at Cedars Sinai Hospital and the Children’s...

A very good friend of mine, who is a die-hard Republican told me today after New York: “Let’s just get this over and nominate Trump, so I can once-for-all give up on the Republican Party.” I responded that we shouldn't give up hope just yet. If we can get through next week, Cruz will have a great May heading into the convention. There is at least an even chance that Trump will be short of 1237 on the first ballot. And watch this really historic and inspiring speech by Ted Cruz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2BhhhtiA04 This compares to Trump’s speeches, which go something...

Don’t you love donating to causes you believe in? Don’t you love that warm fuzzy feeling from knowing that contributing to a worthy cause? And don’t you especially love that you can support whatever organization you choose anonymously? That last one is especially important given the news over the last few years that the IRS has been targeting conservatives with audits and denial of tax-free status for nakedly political reasons. Well, if the IRS has their way, this may be a luxury that will soon go the way of the dinosaur. A new rule is proposing that non-profit organizations collect...

An Israeli rabbi who recently authored a book on charity has argued that the Bible actually calls on people to give 20 percent in charity rather than a 10 percent tithe. Shneor Cohen, a 27-year-old ordained rabbi, has argued that a commonly cited justification for giving 10 percent may actually be 20 percent. "Cohen, an ordained rabbi, said that the sages of the Talmud pointed to Deuteronomy 14:22, which states: 'Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.' The verse is often cited as the biblical basis for tithing one's income," reported The...

A few weeks ago, I was in New York City to meet someone for drinks, and got on the subway at 34th and 7th to head downtown. I dislike the New York subway for many reasons. It is the only such system in a major Western city to look as if it had been swapped with the metro of a third-world backwater. Pick any otherwise dodgy country on Earth, and chances are the subway of its capital city is a gleaming tube with smooth rolling stock and palatial stations. Not New York. The trains lurch between filthy platforms like...