Free Republic

It's entirely possible that Trump, the "Art of the Deal" master, never saw the details of the MoU --brokered by fake "friends" Qatar/Pakistan-- before blindly placing his confidence in JD Vance. Yet virtually no one argues that this deal is good for America. There is broad consensus across Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, and many others that the sole beneficiary would be Iran's oppressive regime and its jihadist proxies. No one believes that the $300 billion would simply be spent on "reconstruction." Just like the regime has been doing with Obama's cash release for its annihilation nuclear program, ballistic missiles, shahed drones...

Nobody believes that Karen Bass is indifferent to whether she faces Nithya Raman or Spencer Pratt as her opponent in November. Raman is a weak candidate, and every Democrat wants Spencer Pratt out of the race for obvious reasons, not the least of which is that anybody but a leftist on the ballot is an atrocity in their eyes. When Raman collapsed after the sole mayoral debate, Raman's polling and chances of victory, which were considered good, nosedived into single-digit territory. On election night, nobody was shocked that Pratt had closed the gap with Bass, just as nobody was surprised...

Nithya Raman continued to gain ground on Spencer Pratt in the latest vote tally released Thursday as the pair battle for second place in the race for mayor. Though the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office will continue counting ballots for the next two weeks, Mayor Karen Bass' comfortable lead led the Associated Press to conclude that the incumbent had secured her place in the November runoff on election night. Still to be determined is who will face off against Bass in November. The registrar's office released another round of ballot-count results on Thursday afternoon, which showed Bass with 35.08%...

The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing operation, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. President Donald Trump’s national security team failed to fully account for the potential consequences of what some officials have described as a worst-case scenario now facing the administration, the sources said. And now it may be weeks before the administration’s efforts to alleviate the intensifying economic fallout take hold, officials said Thursday, including high-risk naval escorts of oil tankers through the strait that the Pentagon...

A new review of more than 120 studies concluded that there is little evidence supporting the use of medical cannabis for a variety of conditions, including insomnia.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved cannabinoids, a chemical compound extracted from cannabis, for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and seizures, among other conditions. Many patients use cannabinoids or other medical cannabis for other conditions, such as anorexia, insomnia, and chronic pain, either through off-label prescriptions or through state availability. A look at research published from January 2010 through September, though, showed that for many conditions, “evidence is insufficient,” researchers with the University...

The ministration of holy angels, as presented in the Scriptures, is a truth most comforting and precious to every follower of Christ. But the Bible teaching upon this point has been obscured and perverted by the errors of popular theology. The doctrine of natural immortality, first borrowed from the pagan philosophy, and in the darkness of the great apostasy incorporated into the Christian faith, has supplanted the truth, so plainly taught in Scripture, that “the dead know not anything.” Multitudes have come to believe that it is spirits of the dead who are the “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister...

James O’Keefe, the Project Veritas founder and longtime pro-MAGA activist, published a clip on Thursday of a Trump Justice Department official claiming that Ghislaine Maxwell was moved to prison “to keep her quiet.” In the clip, an off-camera woman asks Joseph Schnitt, an acting deputy chief of special operations, about the Epstein Files and Maxwell – a convicted sex offender and Jeffrey Epstein accomplice. “But those files do exist,” noted the woman. “Yeah, thousands and thousands to page through. They’ll redact every Republican or conservative person in those files, leave all the liberal, Democratic people in those pages,” Schnitt replied....

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of attempting to mislead Washington, a few days before a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska."We understand Russia's intention to try to deceive America – we will not allow this," Zelensky said in his evening video address on Sunday.The two presidents are set to meet Friday in Alaska to discuss a possible solution to the Ukraine war after more than three years of conflict. Zelensky was not invited.

President Donald Trump disputed his own director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, on how developed Iran’s nuclear capabilities are and said Iran was on the verge of obtaining a nuclear weapon when Israel struck in recent days.I don't care what she said...."Video at the link

Should Minnesota House Rep Kaohly Her be deported after she admitted to being an illegal alien? The fact is that I think she is lying. She's implying that since her citizenship is based on a mistake she is somehow 'illegal'. I call B.S. but if she insists perhaps Secretary Rubio can make an exception and deport her based on her claim... UNFORCED ERROR? ... with her parents.

The Trump Administration has frozen billions in federal grants to Harvard University, threatened its tax-exempt status, and sought to dictate its curriculum and hiring. Now the government seems bent on destroying the school for the offense of fighting back. And for what purpose? That’s how we read the Department of Homeland Security’s move Thursday to bar foreign students from attending the world-renowned institution. That’s 6,800 students, or a quarter of Harvard’s student body, whose futures are suddenly in disarray. It’s also a short-sighted attack on one of America’s great competitive strengths: Its ability to attract the world’s best and brightest....

Majority Leader Thune and Speaker Johnson reportedly pushing back on Trumps EO on prescription drug prices. Since 1997, Thune has received over $1.2 million and since 2018, Johnson has received over $300,000 from the pharmaceutical companies. Hmm 🤔. ... 1. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI): $600,000 2. John Barrasso (R-WY): $500,000 3. Michael Bennet (D-CO): $1,500,000 4. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN): $600,000 5. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE): $320,793 6. John Boozman (R-AR): $200,000 7. Mike Braun (R-IN): $150,000 8. Katie Britt (R-AL): $50,000 9. Ted Budd (R-NC): $100,000 10. Laphonza Butler (D-CA): $50,000 11. Maria Cantwell (D-WA): $200,000 12. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV):...

Investigative journalist Michael Shellenberger says that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the CIA and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) helped orchestrate President Trump’s 2019 impeachment. In an interview on Fox News, Shellenberger recounted how the impeachment case was brought about based on the word of a CIA analyst, left over from the Obama administration, who claimed to have heard from White House staff that Trump had pressured Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, in a phone call, to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden. Shellenberger said that a memo written by that analyst, which served as the...

I am less optimistic about the election of Donald Trump than most. As he adorns the cover of Time magazine as their “Person of the Year,” as Antifa and Black Lives Matter fail to riot, as the left cannot even be bothered to feign outrage, as predictions of Civil War on the horizon melt away, and as the media collectively limps to the acceptance that he will once again be president and that the “woke era” is well and truly over, I cannot help but feel something is up. Surely, all that should signal ultimate triumph and victory, no? Well,...

The FBI thwarted an apparent plot to harm employees at a Florida office of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), according to court documents filed Monday. Law enforcement arrested Forrest Kendall Pemberton after he allegedly traveled to Plantation, Fla., in search of AIPAC’s office with several firearms, including an AR-15 rifle. Pemberton told police he went to the site, a former AIPAC office, to “scout” out the location before returning with the firearms, according to an affidavit signed by FBI special agent Taylor Nicklin. He was intercepted in a ride-share vehicle carrying the guns on Dec. 25, the first...

Forgive us if we missed it, but we don’t recall Donald Trump campaigning to invade Panama and retake its famous canal. But there was the President-elect on the weekend, threatening our Central American ally with punishment if it doesn’t meet his demands. “Our Navy and commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama—I say, very foolishly, by the United States,” Mr. Trump told a crowd in Phoenix. “This complete ripoff of our country will immediately stop.”...

"As a cheerleader at St. Alphonsus High School, before each game, we gathered in a circle and prayed a 'Memorare.' We prayed to win. Back then, most Catholics sent their children to Catholic schools, so there were enough schools in suburban Detroit to have Class A, B, C and D divisions. That meant that before every sporting event, dueling Catholic prayers went up for the win. Did the victors just pray better?"

Hamas' advanced tactics using drones on armored vehicles must have been the result of Russian training, Ukraine's military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravada released on Oct. 12. While it did not constitute a clear indication of Russia's direct involvement in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the tactics strongly mirrored those used in Russia's war on Ukraine, he said. In addition, there were several other signs in the weeks leading up to the attacks that provide further evidence of increased Russian connections with Israel's foes in the region. Budanov noted that the Russian state-run news...

Earlier today the US House of Representatives passed a last-minute spending bill to keep the government funded for an additional 45 days, narrowly averting a government shutdown that would have commenced at 12:01 a.m. The bill, spearheaded by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to pass. With a 335-91 vote, the House approved a 45-day temporary funding measure that excludes border security and $6 billion in funding for Ukraine. The bill includes provisions for disaster relief funds that likely swayed some Democrats to vote in favor. Shortly after today’s vote news broke...

The Pentagon will exempt its Ukraine operations from a potential shutdown if lawmakers can’t agree on a deal to fund the government by the end of the month, allowing key training and other activities in support of Kyiv’s forces to move ahead uninterrupted, according to a Defense Department spokesperson. (snip)“Operation Atlantic Resolve is an excepted activity under a government lapse in appropriations,” Sherwood said, referring to the named operation for DOD’s activities in response to the Russian invasion. The move means that the U.S. military’s activities related to the war, such as training of Ukrainian soldiers on American tactics and...