Free Republic

Actor Danny Masterson has been found guilty of drugging and raping two women at the end of his second trial, after a jury was left impossibly deadlocked in December. The 47-year-old Scientologist looked stunned as jurors delivered their unanimous verdicts on two of the three charges, and he was handcuffed and taken to the cells. Masterson, star of That 70s Show, could get 30 years in prison when he is sentenced: the judge on Wednesday ordered he be held in jail until the next hearing. A group of about 10 Scientology friends and family - including actor Billy Baldwin, who...

an illustration of a planet covered in active volcanoes Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Chris Smith / KRBwyle Astronomers have discovered an Earth-sized exoplanet they suspect is covered in volcanoes — making it a promising lead in the hunt for extraterrestrial life. Volcano planet: An international team of astronomers spotted the exoplanet, dubbed “LP 791-18 d,” using data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), and ground-based observatories. Based on their analysis, it has a radius 1.03 times that of Earth’s and a mass .9 times that of our home planet. It’s now...

For the last couple of years I have been looking at relocating out of North Kalifornia (aka Washington State), the political climate and values I hold dear are no longer recognized or respected. I cannot hold onto the hope that the Idaho boarder shifts my way. Texas was my first choice, then I remembered how many poisonous crawlers live there, and honestly I need my mountains, evergreen trees and snow. Alaska really is the state for me. It will pain me to leave my mountain (Mt. St Helens). For years I have felt a calling to Alaska, not just because...

as someone who has spent years with the knife edge of the Chinese Communist Party bearing down on my throat for my human rights work, I know that the president is on to something. Tariffs and economic threats may be blunt tools, but they are the kind of aggressive tactics necessary to get the attention of the CCP regime, which respects only power and money. ... It’s about justice, and doing what’s right for ordinary Chinese and American people. Presidents before Trump naively believed that China would abide by international standards of behavior if it were granted access to institutions...

Several pro-abortion protesters gathered at the Florida Capitol Building on Thursday were removed from the House gallery after throwing debris at lawmakers while they debated amendments to Senate Bill 300.

Liberals heads will spin right off their axes when pregnant women demand that everyone use the pronouns “they“ and “them“ during their pregnancy. Liberals will say these women are abusing the pronouns because there’s no gender change. Women will explain that there are two lives whenever they are being addressed, so “they” makes the most sense. In fact, it makes more sense than using it to explain your gender dysphoria.

Washington D.C., Mar 22, 2023 / 14:47 pm A coalition of conservative organizations is taking legal action to obtain documents from the Department of Justice related to the surge in pro-abortion attacks on churches and pro-life pregnancy centers and a lack of prosecution from the agency. Based on data compiled by CNA, there have been more than 100 attacks on churches and pro-life pregnancy centers since the May 2022 leak of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which overturned the abortion protections guaranteed in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The DOJ has...

The correct ‘processes were all followed’ regarding the widely-criticized SWAT raid of the Houck family, FBI Director Christoper Wray claimed.(LifeSiteNews) — The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently defended the agency’s dramatic raid of pro-life advocate Mark Houck. During an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier on Tuesday, FBI director Christopher Wray backed his agency’s actions on September 23, 2022, when numerous armed agents swarmed Houck’s Pennsylvania home early in the morning and arrested him in front of his seven children. After an incident occurred with an “escort” outside an abortion center, Houck was accused of...

We should be suspicious of weird coincidences. It’s week five of the Justice Department’s most high-profile—and high-stakes—criminal trial related to the events of January 6, 2021. Five members of the Proud Boys face the rare “seditious conspiracy” charge. Guilty verdicts—almost certain given the government’s near-perfect conviction rate for January 6 defendants—would build legal momentum for a similar indictment against Donald Trump. (The trial is so crucial that Matthew Graves, the Biden-appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia responsible for prosecuting every January 6 case, has shown up in the courtroom on at least three occasions.) Trump is a major...

On Monday, pro-life activist Mark Houck was found not guilty of federal charges alleging he violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act over an incident outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia in October 2021. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the FACE prohibits violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain or provide reproductive health services. As Townhall reported, Houck, 48, was accused of shoving a Planned Parenthood abortion escort named Bruce Love in 2021. As a result, Houck was charged with two counts of violating...

A senate hearing to evaluate the suitability of Spokane Superior Court Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren, a Biden nominee for US District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington, resulted in some interesting answers. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La) asked Judge Bjelkengren several basic questions about the Constitution's Article II (the powers of the executive branch) and Article V (the power to amend the Constitution). To both, the Judge responded "nothing comes to mind at the moment." Considering that US judges frequently have to adjudicate issues in which the Constitution has some bearing it is disturbing that this nominee was so ill-prepared for...

An Indonesian family have been reunited with their drowned son after his body was carried to the surface of the Mahakam River by a crocodile. In footage shared to social media, the crocodile can be seen carrying the body of the 4-year old boy to a boat of rescuers, who retrieved him from the water and brought him back to his family. The boy, who was later identified as Muhammad Ziyad Wijaya, had gone missing two days before near the Jawa Estuary. Members of the East Kalimantan Basarnas Search and Rescue Agency had been searching for the boy. "Around seven...

January 22: Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn ChildrenA great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world. Through special initiatives and in daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God, the Creator and lover of life, from every Christian community, from every group and association, from every family and from the heart of every believer. Pope Saint John Paul IIEvangelium vitaeOn January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion throughout the United States in its companion decisions Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. Since that time, millions...

Experts are airing concerns that deep-pocketed billionaires will soon be able to use their vast wealth to increase their lifespans - allowing them additional time to add to their billions. The scary hypothesis - which seems like something out of a science fiction novel - has been laid by an increasing amount of scientists in recent years, amid recent strides in anti-aging science. Long just a pipe dream, the concept of a modern-day Methuselah - the biblical grandfather of Noah who lived to 969 - is becoming more and more likely. That said, the concept of a driven mogul like...

Sorry for the shameless vanity but some of you may be able to offer advice for my situation. God designed women to last longer than men, I think, because they are better at carrying on with life after loss of a spouse.My loving wife of 38 years left me almost two months ago and I still have trouble going out by myself for more than short errands. She was a wonderful, sweet and very traditional lady. She was also a solid conservative who once told me she would never, ever vote for a Democrat even if they were better qualified....

California, Oregon, D.C., Hawaii, Washington, Maine, Colorado, New Jersey, and Vermont have each legalized assisted suicide.A Canadian fashion company published an ad last month that had nothing to do with fashion. At the end of the advertisement, it turns out the star, 37-year-old Canadian Jennyfer Hatch, is dead.“Last breaths are sacred. Even though as I seek help to end my life,” she says in the 30-second montage of her final days as if it’s a lucid dream. “With all the pain and in these final moments, there is still so much beauty.”According to the National Post, a Candian newspaper popular...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is still actively searching for ways to safeguard abortion access for millions of women, even as it bumps up against a complex web of strict new state laws enacted in the months after the Supreme Court stripped the constitutional right. Looking to seize on momentum following a midterm election where voters widely rebuked tougher abortion restrictions, there’s a renewed push at the White House to find ways to help women in states that have virtually outlawed or limited the treatment, and to keep the issue top of mind for voters. In reality, though, the...

1-7: CHILDHOOD - the age of accidents, griefs, wants, sensibilities 8-14: ADOLESCENCE - the age of hopes, improvidence, curiosity, impatience 15-21: PUBERTY - the age of triumphs, desires, self-love, independence, and vanity 22-28: YOUTH - the age of pleasure, love, sensuality, inconstancy, enthusiasm 29-35: MANHOOD - the age of enjoyments, ambition, and the play of the passions 36-42: MIDDLE AGE - the age of consistency, desire of fortune and of glory 43-49: MATURE AGE - the age of possessions, the reign of wisdom, reason, and love of property 50-56: DECLINE OF LIFE - the age of reflection, love of tranquility,...

his is America's first mobile abortion clinic — a 37-foot long RV that will operate on the outskirts of states where the procedure has been outlawed. The clinic is operated by the women's health non-profit Planned Parenthood and will travel along the Illinois border to provide abortions to residents in Kentucky and Missouri. It only contains three rooms, big enough to hold a few people at a time. There is a waiting room at the entrance before a long, narrow, hallway brings a woman to a small operating room in the back where the procedure is performed. Outside, there is...

The Last Enemy (as named by St. Paul in 1Cor 15:26) was also the first enemy, and has been our enemy throughout human existence: it is death. Death is more than the separation of the soul from the body, it is the threat of non-being. In the writings of the Fathers, particularly those of the East, being is equated with goodness. For it was God who called all things into existence and saw that they were “very good.” As such, being and goodness are deeply and utterly intertwined. We do not say that any created thing is inherently evil. If...