Free Republic

How to Forge the Spectator ClassMy father could disassemble and rebuild a car engine in our garage. I, like many of my generation, was steered toward the ‘civilized’ path – white collar work, climate-controlled offices, and an increasing detachment from the physical world. While I grew up loving sports, memorizing baseball stats with religious devotion, and finding genuine joy in the games, something fundamental has shifted in how men engage with athletics today.In dimly lit rooms across the nation, millions of men gather every weekend, adorned in jerseys bearing other men’s names – not as a complement to their own...

GLSEN, the national nonprofit dedicated to fostering safe and inclusive schools for LGBTQ+ students, has laid off 60 percent of its workforce. The organization’s leader says that the business decision was painful and necessary in response to mounting financial pressures and coordinated right-wing attacks. Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, GLSEN’s executive director, confirmed to The Advocate that 18 employees—more than half of the organization’s staff—were let go on Monday as part of a restructuring effort the organization says is aimed at ensuring the group’s survival and long-term impact. The decision, Willingham-Jaggers noted, was driven by a steep decline in revenue and a broader...

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is now targeting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sparking concerns that the Trump administration may be considering dismantling the federal agency. On Tuesday, staffers with DOGE unexpectedly entered the headquarters of NOAA located in Silver Spring, Maryland, and demanded access to confidential systems, according to a former NOAA official. Andrew Rosenberg, who worked at NOAA under the first Bush administration and Clinton administration, told the Washington Examiner that the staffers “blew past security like it didn’t apply to them, and then wandered around for a while and asked…to have access to the IT...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor pointed to her conservative colleagues' willingness to upend decades-old precedents when asked Wednesday night about sagging public confidence in the court. “I think my court would probably gather more public support if it went a little more slowly in undoing precedent,” Sotomayor said during an appearance in Louisville. The conservative-led court — reshaped by three justices nominated by Republican President Donald Trump — overturned Roe v. Wade, ending nationwide protections for abortion rights. And it struck down affirmative action in college admissions, effectively overturning cases reaching back decades. Sotomayor, a...

During the COVID pandemic, nearly half of all Democrat voters told pollsters for Rasmussen Reports and the Heartland Institute that they backed measures that would require "the unvaccinated" to live, at least temporarily, in detention facilities. The national telephone and online poll surveying 1,016 likely voters found that 45% of Democratic voters favored such measures for unvaccinated Americans. A shocking 59% of Democrat respondents – 3 out of 5 – favored a government policy requiring citizens to "remain confined to their homes at all times, except for emergencies" if they refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine – which later turned...

In the Grand Canyon state, it's illegal to slow traffic down by traveling below the speed limit. However, it's also illegal to "camp," or use the left (or passing lane) as a travel lane. In most states, the law mandates drivers to travel in the right lane and use the left lane strictly as a passing lane. If you travel in the left lane and slow other drivers down, Republican Rep. Teresa Martinez is coming after you with a new bill. She became inspired to propose the bill when she found herself caught in traffic caused by a bad driver....

an. 29 (UPI) -- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is appearing before the Senate Committee on Finance on Wednesday as he seeks confirmation to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.Kennedy, a former Democrat, addressed criticism that he is anti-vaccine, saying this is not true."News reports have claimed I'm anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither," Kennedy said. "I am pro-safety. I believe that vaccines play a critical role in healthcare. All of my kids are vaccinated. Nor am I the enemy of food producers."Democrats on the committee remained unconvinced, continuing to hone in on conspiracy theories Kennedy has espoused and...

Rep. Finke (D) just sent an angry mob to storm MN's House to block Republican control:

Last month, Simon Price graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. But his last semester in school turned into an ugly scene after he was assigned a project for a class called "Songwriting and Social Change." The project was to put together a public event about a social issue the student felt passionate about. White other students did projects about homelessness and eating disorders, Price decided he would talk about his own experience living as a trans person for 3 years before detransitioning.In middle school, my peers targeted me with homophobic bullying. They called me slurs, threatened me,...

Across the globe, as more nations legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia under the guise of "death with dignity," more suicidal people are given the tools to kill themselves. But it's not enough for the culture of death to simply be accepted; instead, death must be celebrated. Case in point: a Georgia newspaper reported on the emergence of "Death Cafes" as part of its "reasons to be cheerful" series. At Death Cafes, end-of-life doulas lead participants in navigating their feelings about death — including after a loved one has killed himself or herself through assisted suicide or euthanasia — but participants...

Apple's board of directors has recommended shareholders vote against a proposal to end the company's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, going against the grain of decisions by other large US corporates. The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, proposed Apple shareholders consider ending the firm's DEI program to prevent lawsuits following a 2023 Supreme Court's ruling against affirmative action in universities. But the Apple board has recommended voting against the proposal when it meets late this month. "The proposal is unnecessary as Apple already has a well-established compliance program," said the board, which includes Tim...

History will remember this era as the moment when America’s most sacred principles collided with unprecedented institutional power – and lost. The systematic dismantling of fundamental rights didn’t happen through military force or executive decree, but through the quiet cooperation of tech platforms, media gatekeepers, and government agencies, all claiming to protect us from “misinformation.” Meta’s sudden dismantling of its fact-checking program – announced by Zuckerberg as a “cultural tipping point towards prioritizing speech” – reads like a quiet footnote to what history may record as one of the most staggering violations of fundamental rights in recent memory. After eight...

Do you carry a gun?Bad idea, says Hollywood. Civilians with guns are fools. You are more likely to hurt yourself than the bad guy.“Leave it to a good guy with a gun to really screw things up,” says a cop on ABC’s “The Rookie.”Liberal politicians agree.“A good guy with a gun will stop bad guys with a gun?! It doesn’t hold up,” smiles New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.“An adolescent rescue fantasy,” adds an “expert” on CBS.Now, I’m not a gun person. I was raised among lefty gun haters. I assumed Hollywood and “experts” were right.When I saw economist John Lott’s...

I was surprised, if not shocked, when two A-list celebrities, country singers Garth Brooks and his wife Trisha Yearwood, took the microphones at the State Funeral for Jimmy Carter yesterday and began performing “Imagine,” written by former Beatle John Lennon in 1971. The song is widely described as an “atheistic anthem” and incredibly is said to be one of the late 39th president’s favorite songs.Imagine there’s no heavenIt’s easy if you try.No hell below usAbove us, only sky. . .Imagine all the peopleLivin’ for todayAhImagine there’s no countriesIt isn’t hard to doNothing to kill or die forAnd no religion, tooTo...

Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, recently cited internal divisions within his party over immigration policies as a factor in November's electoral defeat. ... On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act, a Republican-backed bill that seeks to curb illegal immigration by boosting border security and expanding detention powers for migrants accused of minor offenses. Though Republicans control the Senate, they require the support of at least seven Democrats—in addition to Fetterman, who co-sponsored the bill—to secure the 60 votes needed to surpass a filibuster and advance the legislation. ... "There's 47 of us in...

Judd Apatow has become a household name in Hollywood, celebrated for his sharp wit, comedic brilliance, and groundbreaking contributions to entertainment. However, beyond his role as a writer, producer, and director, Apatow’s political perspectives and activism have significantly shaped his public persona and professional narrative. Known for combining humor with heartfelt storytelling, Apatow’s political views often weave into his work, creating a bridge between comedy and critical social commentary. From championing progressive causes to leveraging his platform to address pressing societal issues, Judd Apatow has never shied away from voicing his opinions. Whether it’s through interviews, public appearances, or even...

Hermeticism is an ancient Egyptian secret magic tradition based on a set of fourteen books known collectively as the Corpus Hermeticum attributed to a mysterious figure known as Hermes Trismegistus. Implied in Hermeticism is an evolutionary process of magical transformism moving from one kind of lower thing (matter) to another kind of higher life form:“Human beings are themselves the product of a long spiritual evolutionary process that moves from ‘creeping things’ to fish, mammals, birds and then people. Humans can – through occult knowledge and extraordinary ability – continue this evolutionary process and become daemons, then gods, and finally planets...

The combined cabal of woke and the teachers’ unions have struck again. This time, the target was New Jersey. Effective Thursday morning, public school teachers in New Jersey no longer must pass even the most basic educational skills test. The test was not for complicated subjects such as calculus. This now abandoned test verified teacher’s ability to read, write, and calculate simple math problems.Jersey governor Phil Murphy approved eliminating even these most basic requirements for teaching applicants in those three essential areas. Democrat state senator Jim Beach sponsored the bill, further dumbing down the state’s educational system. Beach said, “We...

The latest shocking “medical assistance in dying” (MAiD) report from Canada reveals that 622 of the MAiD deaths that occurred in 2023 never should have been approved at all, as they did not meet the standard requirements by law. In an analysis, CTV News correspondent Kamil Karamali noted that the 622 deaths fell into a category known as “Track 2,” in which the patient still had the possibility of living a long life, but chose MAiD for other reasons. However, he said, while a “terminal” illness is no longer necessary by law, the patient must still have a “serious or...

Elon Musk urged his supporters not to donate to the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia after the organization budgeted more than $50 million to spend on controversial diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.“Stop donating to Wokepedia until they restore balance to their editing authority,” Musk wrote Tuesday on X, where he has nearly 210 million followers.The Tesla mogul, and key adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, was responding to a post by the right-leaning commentator “Libs of TikTok,” who shared a pie chart that showed 29% of Wikipedia’s $177 million budget for 2023-24 was targeted for “equity” and “safety & inclusion.“ 4...