Free Republic

As the U.S. military escalates its posture around Venezuela—with naval deployments in the Caribbean, B-52 overflights, lethal strikes on alleged drug boats, and confirmed CIA covert operations—advocates of regime change are reviving a dangerous analogy. Many have pointed to the United States’ 1989 invasion of Panama and toppling of dictator Manuel Noriega as proof that swift, surgical operations can get the job done. In private conversations with several current and former U.S. officials, they have nodded toward this parallel. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who just last month was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has appealed to the United...

“Make no mistake, the blame behind the skyrocketing health care costs millions are facing today is squarely at the feet of House Republicans, and the American people know it,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) said in a statement. “Instead of putting forth a serious proposal to address spiking health care costs, House Republicans chose to focus on delivering massive tax breaks for the wealthiest few — never even allowing a floor vote to save the tax credits before their expiration.”It is true no vote took place before the expiration, but jitters about an electoral backlash prompted a handful of House...

Israel has taken the controversial decision to recognise the breakaway state of Somaliland as an independent nation, sparking condemnation from many other countries. China is the latest to condemn the decision, with its foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian telling reporters: "No country should encourage or support other countries' internal separatist forces for its own selfish interests." China outlined its position ahead of the UN Security Council holding an emergency session to discuss Israel's decision. Israel on Friday became the first country in the world to acknowledge Somaliland as a standalone republic, more than 30 years after the region declared independence...

A politically charged YouTube video thrust a group of Somali-owned day cares in Minnesota into an uncomfortable spotlight this week, accusing the owners of defrauding the state and unleashing a torrent of threats against them. A lawyer who represents one of the operators of Minnesota Best Childcare Center in Minneapolis, which was featured in the 43-minute video, said his Somali clients have received hundreds of death threats since the video went viral late late last week. “Everybody is very scared right now of being targeted,” attorney Jason Steck said Dec. 31. “Nobody wants to stick their head up. Nobody wants...

ZeroHedge is out with a year-end list of 30 numbers. They are in no particular order, but when you group a few together here and there, you start to get a picture of things.For instance, here’s some numbers to tell us how bad inflation is, and notably, who caused it. It all started to go south after 2019, a.k.a. after Trump and solidly into the Biden years. We knew that, but yikes. Check out the data.In 2019, you could get a cheeseburger at McDonald’s for a dollar. Today, the average price of a cheeseburger at McDonald’s is $3.15.Since 2019, the...

Jack White has issued a sharp rebuke to Tim Burchett after the Tennessee congressman posted an AI-generated video of the rocker on social media. The video featured a fake version of White -- dressed as the real White did during his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction earlier this year -- declaring, "Don't even think about listening to my music, you fascist." In the caption, Burchett added his own shot, saying: "That cute little girl from the Addams Family got really ugly and angry.” The clip continues a false narrative that White "forbids" any Donald Trump supporters from attending...

Friday on “Democracy Now!,” leftist political activist Noam Chomsky said President Donald Trump’s supporters at his rallies remind him of listening to the crowds at Hitler’s Nuremberg rallies. Host Amy Goodman asked, “Can you talk about what he’s threatening to do right now? First, they reject the WHO tests, that would have been critical, and now saying they’re going to defund the World Health Organization.” Chomsky said, “Well, this is typical behavior of autocrats and dictators. When you make colossal errors, which are killing thousands of people, find somebody else to blame. And in the United States, it’s, unfortunately, the...

A New York teenager has said she was left traumatized after allegedly being hit over the head with a metal Stanley Cup by another girl's mom at her school. Madison Evans, 14, said she is now 'shaking all the time' after the attack left her with 17 stitches - and admits she may never use the brand again because of the distress. 'I can’t even look at those cups anymore. Every time I see one, it just brings it all back,' she told the New York Post. The teen said the incident unfolded around 11am Tuesday as she was leaving...

JD

Pollster Nate Silver, the founder of ABC’s FiveThirtyEight, called for President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 White House race after making “incoherent comments” in his first postdebate interview Friday.

Fifty-six years ago in August 1968, Richard Nixon achieved what The New York Times called “the greatest reversal of fortune in American political history.” Times columnist James Reston went further, calling it “the greatest comeback since Lazarus.” This from a newspaper, along with The Washington Post, that hated Nixon, as they now hate Donald Trump. How did he do it and could presumptive Republican presidential nominee and former president Trump learn anything from Nixon’s seeming transformation? First, the parallels between Nixon and Trump are striking. Nixon, like Trump, believed America was in bad shape. In 1968, crime, the war in...

Alan Dershowitz, a longtime trial lawyer and former attorney for Donald Trump, says that the ex-president's jury at his New York hush money trial is bad news for his one-time client. Following three days of legal wrangling a panel of seven men and five women has now been selected and they will assess his guilt or innocence over the coming weeks. Dershowitz, 85, says that the makeup of the jurors - who include a corporate lawyer, an investment banker, a software engineer and a teacher - suggest Trump will fare poorly.

Tyla-Simone Crayton of Shark Tank fame, who started her Sienna Sauce at just 15 years old, recently suffered a setback when Target informed her that this spring its stores will no longer carry the condiment. The young entrepreneur and restaurant owner from Houston has been in the business for over five years, and she is now asking for help from the public. In a post shared on social media, Simone and her mother, Monique thanked supporters of the brand and urged them to empty Target’s inventory before the stores pull the product out of the shelves. Monique said that it...

In 2019, the Trump administration blocked a costly and ineffective mandate for two-man railroad crews long sought by unions. Now, the former president wholeheartedly supports it.Under the watch of then–President Donald Trump in May 2019, the Department of Transportation withdrew a proposed regulation that would have required all freight trains in the United States to operate with two-person crews. That rule, which the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) had been contemplating since the waning days of the Obama administration, was backed by labor unions as a way to protect railroading jobs from automation that allows trains to operate safely with only...

David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 Parkland school shooting and co-founder of March for Our Lives, will be the keynote speaker at Cal Poly’s annual Student Leadership Institute conference on Friday. The theme of this year’s one-day conference is “Amplify the Voices of All Leaders,” and it is open to students only. It will be held from 12 to 6:30 p.m. in the campus’ multi-activity center in the Recreation Center. “The Student Leadership Institute will bring students from a variety of experience levels together to learn from each other and explore topics that are rich and relevant to our...

Marjorie Taylor Greene's husband is filing for divorce from the controversial 48-year-old Georgia Republican congresswoman. Her husband, Perry Greene, filed for a formal split on Tuesday after nearly three decades of marriage - and just weeks before November's midterm elections. The pair were married in August 1995, whilst Greene was still a student at the University of Georgia. The couple had three children together, all of who are now adults. Although the divorce documents do not reveal explicitly what led to the couple's split, Perry Greene states that the pair had separated in the past. He also asks for the...

John Fetterman is not well. That’s been obvious to anyone following the senate race currently going on in Pennsylvania. ... the reality is that Fetterman is a professional bum who has lived off his parents, ignored his doctors, and is currently suffering serious side effects from a massive stroke. His much-heralded “return” to the campaign trail consisted of a speech that lasted about 10 minutes, and he just barely made it through it, ... *** Fetterman has also refused to commit to any debates. And while Mehmet Oz, the GOP candidate, had been very careful not to talk about his...

(CNN)Despite running as a staunchly anti-transgender and anti-abortion candidate, far-right Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake once posted in support of transgender youth and asked her followers about aborting fetuses who would be born with disabilities in social media posts from 2015 and 2016 reviewed by CNN's KFile.

Dr. Mehmet Oz has quietly ditched his campaign messaging away from President Trump after winning the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. Prior to Oz’s win, Trump was proudly featured on his campaign site and popped up on the doctor’s Twitter. However, after winning the Republican nomination, Oz hasn’t included or mentioned Trump since. Oz’s Twitter banner used to say “endorsed by Trump,” featuring a photo of the pair, now there is only a solo photo of Oz that reads “Thank you Pennsylvania.”

Stephen Curry swished a deep three-pointer midway through the third quarter, backpedaled down the court and allowed himself a quick indulgence. As the Boston Celtics called a timeout to gather themselves, the Golden State Warriors star turned to the sideline and pointed at his right ring finger. There were 18 minutes left, but Curry was sure his fourth championship was already in hand. The Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics, ­103-90, in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night, completing an exhilarating comeback from a 2-1 series deficit to complete a 16-6 run through the playoffs to win their...