Free Republic

We've gone beyond virtue-signaling to toxic brew of all-you-people-need-to-shut-up-and-listen-to-why-you're-the-problem ranting. MTV—which famously took years to feature black musicians on its regular programming—has come full circle since its launch in 1981. It has released a short video titled "2017 Resolutions for White Guys." Among the suggestions, some of which were articulated by white folks who seemed plucked from the junior versions of Prairie Home Companion and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir: "Try to recognize that America was never 'great' for anyone who wasn't a white guy"; "Blue Lives Matter isn't a thing"; "stop bragging about being 'woke'; "feel free to take Kanye...

IS (also known as ISIS or ISIL) executed four men in the group’s Syrian stronghold of Deir Ezzor after the men were accused of aiding Kurdish forces in their fight against the twisted Islamic death cult. The men were not only accused of supporting the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) but also charged by the militant group with having leaked information about IS’ movements in Deir Ezzor to the YPG, acts that IS considers to be treason and even apostasy. In a statement, the sharia court in Deir Ezzor claimed that the men “confessed” to their crimes during “interrogations” and...

Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle is in the running for the White House press secretary position, Politico reported. Guilfoyle, who joined Fox News in 2006, does not have political experience. She currently is a co-host on the "The Five," and also offers legal and political analysis on other shows. She is still serving in those roles, despite meeting with President-elect Donald Trump's transition team three times.

BERLIN (AP) - Germany: Suspect in Berlin truck attack was under covert surveillance for several months this year

Disturbing footage of a Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS) fighter in Syria convincing his two young daughters to take part in suicide missions has emerged online. In two videos, the man who belongs to JFS – the newly adopted name of al-Nusra, or al-Qaeda in Syria – films his wife saying goodbye to eight-year-old Fatimah and seven-year-old Islam. “Why are you sending your daughters?” the man asks from behind the camera. “One is seven and the other is eight, they’re young for jihad.” “No one is too young for jihad, because jihad is a duty for every Muslim,” the woman replies,...

On December 1, the Michigan Senate passed a package of bills that would dramatically improve the ability of Michiganders to get around. The package was originally written to provide a statewide regulatory framework for ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft, which have been operating in Michigan in a legal gray area. Some cities embraced the services, others banned them. The uncertainty has made it difficult for ridesharing companies to expand beyond a handful of areas in Michigan, and has caused major headaches for drivers, who have received tickets for not having commercial licenses. The latest bills provide not just a...

You know jet streams as fast-flowing air currents in the atmosphere that can help predict temperature and help planes fly faster. According to data sent back by a trio of ESA satellites called Swarm, though, there's also a jet stream deep beneath our planet's surface, and it's made of molten iron. A team of European scientists have discovered the jet stream in the Earth's outer core that's located 1,900 miles underneath its crust. It moves at 25 miles per year, three times faster than the speed of the other layers in the outer core and a thousand times faster than...

Yule is observed on the day of the Winter Solstice. Also known as Jul, Yule predates the Christmas holiday by thousands of years. There is some debate as to the origin of the word Yule. Some linguists suggest the word is derived from “Iul”, the Anglo-Saxon word for wheel. This makes a connection to a Celtic calendar, the Wheel of the Year. In the Norse culture, “Jul” refers to the god, Odin. Odin was celebrated during Yule as well. Yule celebrations included bonfires, decorating with holly, mistletoe and the boughs of evergreen trees, ritual sacrifices, feasts and gift giving. Do...

“…WE THE PEOPLE have…been gifted with President Donald Trump and Vice-President Pence, who are truly honorable men ready to clean up the Country. Plus, they are putting together a Cabinet who will be allowed to do their job. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be allowed to revitalize the Clinton Foundation investigation. New York Attorney Preet Bharara has been nursing the investigation in the wings waiting for cooperation from the Department of Justice which is sure to come now that Sessions will be in control. Sessions has been quoted as saying, the Clinton case is ‘a high prosecution case’…”

On this day in 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members aboard, as well as 11 Lockerbie residents on the ground. A bomb hidden inside an audio cassette player detonated in the cargo area when the plane was at an altitude of 31,000 feet. The disaster, which became the subject of Britain’s largest criminal investigation, was believed to be an attack against the United States. One hundred eighty nine of the victims were American. Islamic terrorists were accused of planting the bomb on...

The FBI was able to track the DNC hack to an IP address located somewhere close to the North Pole, but sources close to the investigation said the trail had grown cold. "As soon as special agents were close to apprehending the suspect, they unexpectedly left the area," one source confirmed. "They suddenly grew very eager to spend Christmas vacations with their families." All we know about the "North Pole Hacker" at this time is that he has an uncanny ability to monitor even the most secret communications in order to compile his annual "naughty or nice" list, which he...

A German security official has told CNN that the suspect involved in Monday's Islamic attacks had been arrested with forged documents in the southern German town of Friedrichshafen in August, on his way to Italy, but was released by a judge under Chancellor Angela Merkel. The suspect also came onto the radar of German police because he was looking for a gun, the official said. On Monday, the suspect drove a bus drove into a crowd of innocent bystanders shopping in a Christmas market, killing a dozen people and injuring many more. Police had arrested a suspect, a refugee from...

Michèle Morgan, a French movie actress who starred in the moody masterpiece “Port of Shadows” and who, during a brief Hollywood sojourn, helped introduce Frank Sinatra to film audiences in his first big role, died Dec. 20. She was 96. French President François Hollande announced the death, calling her “an elegance, a grace, a legend that left a mark on many generations. . . . The greatest directors called upon her, and she was part of masterpieces that still live in everyone’s memories.” No other details were provided. In a career spanning seven decades, Ms. Morgan was best known as the ethereal...

Kate TaylorDecember 21,2016 Walmart pulled a Black Lives Matter shirt and hoodie from its online store Wednesday after police accused the retailer of helping third-party sellers profit "from racial division." The hoodie and shirt that were pulled featured the slogan, "Bulletproof: Black Lives Matter," and were being sold through Walmart Marketplace, the retailer's website that features millions of items from third-party sellers. On Tuesday, Chuck Canterbury, the national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, wrote a public letter to Walmart calling out its Marketplace site for selling merchandise that promotes the Black Lives Matter movement, which organizes protests across...

From AP — Gun manufacturers have the right to present evidence supporting their claim that technology does not exist to comply with a California law requiring new models of semi-automatic handguns to stamp identifying information on bullet casings, a state appeals court said Thursday. The ruling by the 5th District Court of Appeals in Fresno overturned a lower court ruling rejecting a lawsuit by two firearms trade associations that challenged the law.

Nearly Two Years Of Outreach With CSX Has Only Resulted In Dead-End Communication, The City’s Largest Redevelopment Project Since The 1980s Has Effectively Come To A HaltSenator Says The Parcel Of Land Is The Missing Key To Help Hudson Launch A Major Development ProjectSchumer To CSX: Get Project Rolling!U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today urged CSX to be a good neighbor and work with the City of Hudson as the local development corporation presses ahead in its proposal to acquire a CSX-owned parcel of land that could be the linchpin in its multi-million dollar redevelopment of the former KAZ warehouse...

President Barack Obama reportedly told Russian President Vladimir Putin in October that directly interfering with the U.S. election could result in an "armed conflict." According to NBC News, Obama opted to use the red phone to contact Moscow directly, a communication system that dates back to the Cold War. It's not an actual telephone, but instead sends a secure email message between the two countries. "International law, including the law for armed conflict, applies to actions in cyberspace," part of the Oct. 31 message read, according to NBC. "We will hold Russia to those standards."

31-year-old Tehilla Nagar is the woman who was murdered Tuesday and whose body was found next to the road bypassing the Sea of Galilee, adjacent to the village of Migdal. The body exhibited signs of violence. Police placed a gag order on the murder investigation. "When we came to the place we found a young woman in her 20's with violent wounds inflicted on the upper part of her body. She was lying next to the road," said Meir Ashraf, an MDA paramedic who arrived on the scene. 'She was not breathing and after a few moments we determined that...

The head of the Southern Baptist Convention's public affairs division is apologizing for statements he said were interpreted as criticism against evangelical Christians who voted for Donald Trump. ...however. Russell Moore,... said his pre-election comments ...could have been misinterpreted.... Moore had drawn criticism during the general election for calling Trump support by evangelicals and other conservatives "illogical."..... ...However, white evangelical voters turned out in huge numbers for the Republican nominee, with 80 percent backing Trump over 16 percent for ... Hillary Clinton. ... the highest evangelical vote for any candidate since 2004 when they overwhelmingly supported President George W. Bush....

In the Sahara desert, known for its suffocating heat, a freak snow shower coated the dusty dunes near the Algerian town of Ain Sefra. It hadn’t snowed in the town called “The Gateway to the Desert” since 1979. Photographer Karim Bouchetata captured gorgeous images of the red rolling dunes frosted in white. “Everyone was stunned to see snow falling in the desert, it is such a rare occurrence,” Bouchetata told the Independent. “It looked amazing as the snow settled on the sand.”