Free Republic

One of the great qualities of the West is its belief in the directionality of history. Many ancient cultures believed that history was circular: Native American cultures often believed that reality itself was circular; Hinduism thinks similarly. The Judeo-Christian West thought differently: that God exists outside of time, but that He guides mankind forward, step by stumbling step, toward an eschatological culmination. This means that the West has thought, more than any other culture, about progress. It also means that the West tends to mistake movement in time for progress, and waystations in history as endpoints. Thus, World War I...

California’s health is vital to this country. It’s too important to be run by political cranks. Unfortunately, it has become a True Blue state, setting much of the agenda for progressive politics everywhere. At the top is Gov. Gavin Newsom, who at one time seemed almost a happy warrior. Now it’s clear he’s an impulsive leftist hack who’ll say and do anything in the service of seeking ever greater power. His most recent descent into Democratic madness was obvious a couple of weeks ago, when he blamed California’s $45 billion deficit on climate change. “We anticipated that shortfall,” Newsom said...

The senators claimed the reason for the State Department's interference was because of ongoing negotiations related to the Obama administration's Iran nuclear deal, which former President Barack Obama signed in 2015. Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson unveiled evidence Wednesday that former Secretary of State John Kerry's State Department "actively interfered" with the FBI's attempts to arrest people suspected of being in the United States illegally to support Iran's efforts to create weapons of mass destruction. Whistleblowers allegedly told the senators and shared unclassified documents with them that supported their claims, and showed that the Justice Department and FBI...

In late April, near my home in Tampa, a woman from Guatemala and her four-year-old daughter were brutally killed with a knife and a shovel by the woman’s live-in boyfriend. The alleged killer, described in the press as “a Florida man,” apparently killed his girlfriend because she returned home late from an outing with friends. You would think that CNN, NPR, the New York Times, and other prominent media outlets might cover this story. You would also assume that progressive legislators and groups that purport to care about women, immigrants, and domestic violence would highlight the case, condemn the horrific...

Brown claims his assets are worth just $50,000 or less, according to court documents Former NFL star wide receiver Antonio Brown has filed for bankruptcy. According to the Times Union, Brown owes nearly $3 million to eight different creditors as stated by paperwork filed on May 15 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of Florida. He reportedly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which involves the court-supervised reorganization of a debtor's assets and liabilities. That amount includes a $1.2 million court judgment to Anton Tumanov -- a moving-truck driver who sued Brown for assault and battery during an...

The American presidential election of 2024 will be the most important since 1860 and could witness America’s end and a descent into tyranny from which there will be no return. Given the realities of the past three years of the Biden Administration, this article expands on the thesis we have made in these pages that the American presidential election of 2024 will be the most important since 1860. That is not hyperbole, but a recognition of the grave conditions the American people face—these are matters of life and death for the country. Like in 1860, the election on November 5,...

Benjamin Atkins killed his lodger over a minor financial dispute, prosecutors said A man has been found guilty of murdering his lodger before scattering his severed body parts in packages and a suitcase. Benjamin Atkins, 49, killed Simon Shotton, of the same age, at their home in Bournemouth in August 2023 following a dispute over money, prosecutors said. Atkins' partner, Debbie Pereira, 39, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice. They are due to be sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on 26 July. Warning: This story contains graphic details which readers may find upsetting Mr Shotton's legs were...

As the sun set on a shattered Europe in the aftermath of the First World War, the birth pangs of a nightmarish reality were felt across Germany. From these turbulent times emerged the National Socialist German Workers' Party, colloquially known as the Nazis. Rising to full power in 1933 under the malevolent leadership of Adolf Hitler and his cadre of ruthless lieutenants like Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany erected an edifice of tyranny, intolerance, and unparalleled cruelty. Picture this: the year is 1939, and you are a resident of Berlin. Kristallnacht, the infamous "Night of Broken Glass," occurred...

Who the heck made this bad decision? And how does it differ from something an embedded Cuban operative in the U.S. might do? After the arrest of Ambassador Manuel Rochas on espionage charges for Cuba, a logical question was whether there were one, two, many, Manuel Rochases (and Kendall Myerses) over at the State Department? What else can one conclude with whoever it was at State who made a decision like this? According to the Washington Times: Homeland Security gave a delegation from Cuba a look behind the curtain at airport operations at Miami International Airport, in a move critics...

Millions of people in the U.S. report using marijuana daily or nearly every day, according to an analysis of national survey data, and those people now outnumber those who say they are daily or nearly-daily drinkers of alcohol. Alcohol is still more widely used, but 2022 was the first time this intensive level of marijuana use overtook daily and near-daily drinking, said the study’s author, Jonathan Caulkins, a cannabis policy researcher at Carnegie Mellon University. “A good 40% of current cannabis users are using it daily or near daily, a pattern that is more associated with tobacco use than typical...

For those who are looking to slim down and achieve an all-around healthier lifestyle, Ozempic and other popular weight-loss drugs are currently all the rage. But as with any weight-loss method, it's essential to make some serious life changes to support the journey and healthily maintain your new goal weight. This includes implementing necessary diet tweaks. Get excited, because Nestlé is making the entire task a whole lot simpler with their new food line, "Vital Pursuit," for Ozempic users, which will launch in the latter part of 2024.

NATIONAL VANILLA PUDDING DAY | MAY 22 May 22nd is the day we recognize National Vanilla Pudding Day. Enjoy it with a delicious dish of cold, creamy vanilla pudding. #VanillaPuddingDay The puddings we enjoy as desserts today are not what was commonly known as pudding at ancient dinner tables. Most medieval puddings were meat-based and seasoned with herbs and spices. Even sweetened cooks usually served them hot. Toward the end of the 18th century, people more than likely made puddings from grains or day-old bread with nuts, fruit, or meats. They used these puddings to stretch meals for a large...

Last week, I talked about the best places to keep your short-term cash, including Treasurys and certain certificates of deposit (CDs).Perhaps Warren Buffett is a Wealthy Retirement reader, because his firm, Berkshire Hathaway, is holding more cash in Treasurys than ever before: $189 billion. (As they used to say in the old New York state lottery commercial, “That’s a lot of bread!”)Interestingly, the only time Berkshire’s cash stash has declined since 2016 was in 2022, when the market had an awful year and dropped by more than 19%. That tells us that as the market was falling, Buffett was putting...

By now we’re all painfully aware of how LGBT activists insist on having about 500 days on the calendar to celebrate themselves, from International Pronouns Day to Pride Month to the Transgender Day of Remembrance to my personal favorite, Gay Uncles Day. There’s clearly something pathological about all of this. But it’s also strategic at the same time. Leftists understand that to win, they have to completely flood the zone with their propaganda. They don’t want anyone have any kind of reprieve from it, even for a single day. Unfortunately, as mind-numbing as this tactic is, it’s also effective —...

NATIONAL CRAFT DISTILLERY DAY | MAY 22 On May 22nd, National Craft Distillery Day adds spirits to the small-batch revolution. Recognizing the diversity of distilled spirits, the industry followed in the footsteps of the craft brewers and began creating a market for themselves. #NationalCraftDistilleryDay History of Distilling Spirit distillation has a long and influential history going back to the Greeks. Some scholars trace the earliest recorded wine distilling recipes back to Anaxilaus of Thessaly. Despite this, Rome expelled him for practicing magic in 28 B.C. The Greeks also took this idea and learned if they boiled wine in an open...

A crowd booed after a male high school student who identifies as a girl crossed the finish line ahead of his female competitors in a girls’ state championship race. Multiple female athletes later refused to applaud when he was crowned as Oregon Girls’ 6A 200-meter state champion. Aayden Gallagher, a sophomore at McDaniel High School in Portland, Oregon, competed as a girl at the Portland Interscholastic League Championship semifinals. There, his performance qualified him for the girls' state finals. According to The New York Post, the male athlete won the girls' state title by “two-tenths of a second.” The crowd...

I have been reading "The Thrid Reich in the Ivory Tower" by Stephen Norwood. It is a well researched book about the relationship between Ameriocan universities and the German NSDAP (NAZI's) in the thirties. It is especially interesting in light of recent events.

In the 24 hours after the unexpected death of the Islamic Republic’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, the following things happened: the BBC published a headline about his “mixed legacy,” the UN flew its flag at half-staff to honor him, and the U.S. Senate chaplain offered a prayer for him on the Senate floor. Such morally bankrupt responses would shock Iranians who launched fireworks in cities across the country after his death, took to social media to celebrate it, and handed out candy in the street. The question is whether the people celebrating on social media, and the ones keeping their disgust...

She is charged with failure to virtue signal correctly. "From the mountains to the sea, Palestine will be free!"............Wait, what????................... VIDEO AT LINK.......................

Taking away his best friend was a cold-blooded thing to do. An upstate New York man who kept a 750-pound pet alligator in his house is an emotional wreck after government agents hauled his pal away – and he sees the same heartbreak in Albert’s scaly face. “I know his look, and that happy face that you see is not there no more,” an emotional and sleepless Tony Cavallaro told The Post. “He looks very lost and very distraught. Cavallaro raised Albert since he was a hatchling 34 years ago, an elaborate pen in his home to house the gator....