Free Republic

"The first time I encountered The Story of Holly and Ivy was when my Great-Aunt gave me the book in the 1980s. Six-year-old-me was enamored with the story. My dad read it to me every Christmas. When I became a parent, I wanted to continue this tradition. However, reading this to my son and daughter was like reading science fiction to someone who only reads romance novels. My kids just weren’t interested. This is likely because the message of Holly and Ivy runs smack up against the safety guardrails that many children, including my own, have grown up with..."

Many leading Republicans and conservatives want someone other than Donald Trump to run for President in 2024. But this judgment requires an assessment of Trump’s vices and virtues in the context of our current political and cultural circumstances, as well as an assessment of other prospective Republican presidential candidates. Tom Klingenstein, Chairman of the Claremont Institute, explains Trump's Virtues.

Police in Missouri are asking for the public’s help in identifying two suspects after a video emerged purportedly showing one of them striking a Walgreens employee outside of a store. The Independence Police Department says the assault unfolded last Wednesday in the 3900 Block of South Noland Road. “An employee of the business was assaulted when they attempted to intervene in a shoplift,” the department said in a statement. Video broadcast by Fox4 KC appears to show an employee getting knocked to the ground while engaging in a struggle with a female suspect outside the front of the store. Another...

Far-left Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) used Independence Day not to celebrate the ideals, risks, and sacrifices that led to the success of the great American experiment but to demand “reparations now.” July 4, the celebration of American independence and reminder of the revival of the very “Spirit of 1776,” appeared to be a dismal day for the leftist congresswoman, who seemingly dismissed the risks taken by the Founding Fathers and, rather, used the opportunity to demand reparations. “The Declaration of Independence was written by enslavers and didn’t recognize Black people as human. Today is a great day to demand Reparations...

Gun sales topped 1 million in June, marking the 47th straight month of record gun sales. The National Shooting Sports Foundation said that 1,110,696 background checks were for gun purchases of the 2,152,187 conducted in June, according to the Washington Examiner. The rest were for the right to carry in public places and other security permits. "Americans have another million reasons to celebrate this Independence Day. More than 1.1 million times in June, Americans exercised their Second Amendment rights to lawfully purchase a firearm," NSSF spokesman Mark Oliva said. "That extends the streak to 47 continuous months that background checks...

A federal judge has made a historic ruling by partially granting an injunction that blocks various Biden administration officials and government agencies like the Justice Department and the FBI from working with big tech firms to censor posts on social media. The injunction came in response to a censorship-by-proxy lawsuit brought by attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, who have accused Biden administration officials and various government agencies of pressuring social media companies to suspend accounts or take down posts. The judge, Terry A. Doughty, wrote in the July 4 judgment (pdf) that various government agencies, including the Cybersecurity and...

Today we celebrate the 13 original states seceding from the Union and forming a confederacy. (Articles of Confederation.)

SOMEONE'S GETTING FIRED at the US Navy for posting photo of US Pacific Fleet saluting Russian fighter jets and a Soviet destroyer on 4th of July (American Independence Day Holiday). Whoever runs the account underestimated Internet's Eagle Eye, so good they figured out they're Russian from the equipments' silhouette alone! IntelRepublic https://twitter.com/dana916/status/1676252717323354116

The Continental Congress chose Thomas Jefferson instead of John Adams to write the Declaration of Independence, because they wanted to solidify the southern states participation in the revolution.Jefferson suffered through Congress remaking his work. His draft at 1704 words was 366 words longer than the final. The Congress added 253 words, and removed or rephrased 792 words, thereby transforming over 60% of his work. Among passages removed was a 168 word section complaining the mercantile system, imposed on the colonies by commercial charter, mandated the importation of slaves to the New World. Such is my analysis, but you can find...

“Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her. Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind.” Thomas Paine, Common Sense. July 4, 2023, finds the American Founding and its constitutional order under intense and coordinated attack by an assorted mob of radical academics, Marxists, communists, anarchists, anti-capitalists, globalists, and the digital super-elite poised to claim their own superpower status among the world’s powers. The reason these...

One man's Independence, another man's Treason.

A shooting in Baltimore, Maryland, early Sunday morning left dozens of people wounded and multiple fatalities. The incident happened during a gathering overnight in the Brooklyn Homes section of South Baltimore, according to Fox 45 Baltimore. Police officers and medical personnel responded to the scene in the 800 block of Gretna Avenue, Baltimore Police said. Witnesses told Fox 45 Baltimore they heard 20 to 30 shots fired.

Today, I filed HB 3596, which is commonly known as the “Texas Independence Referendum Act," or TEXIT If passed, it will place a referendum on the ballot during the next general election, allowing the people of Texas to vote on whether or not the State should investigate the possibility of Texas independence, and present potential plans to the Legislature.

Day 163 of the Iranian national uprising for democracy was eventful in Iran's provinces. nationwide uprising entered its 163rd day on Saturday in different parts of the country against the mullahs' brutal dictatorship. The Iranian opposition MEK has published the names of 17 more martyrs of the February 25 nationwide uprising. So far, the names of 664 martyrs have been published. Mass demonstrations in BaluchistanOn Friday, February 24, the 162nd day of the nationwide uprising, the brave people of Zahedan held demonstrations after Friday prayers for the 21st week after the Zahedan Bloody Friday. The demonstrations took place despite the...

Independent thinking is an increasingly rare phenomenon in our society. Human beings are wired for conformity and herd mentality, and there is a reason for that. Millennia ago, these evolutionary mechanisms helped us survive in the wild prehistoric world. But even today, in the modern world that is much safer than the ancient one, we still tend to conform to public opinion and follow the crowd. Why? Because it feels more convenient and safe. The majority can’t be mistaken, right? Yet, in our pursuit of being “normal”, we often fall victims to thinking biases and stereotypes. That’s why someone who...

“I find it distasteful when billionaires brag about how much control they have over political leaders,” Smith said at a news conference Monday after her new cabinet was sworn in. “That is offensive, the people who should be directing government are the people who vote for them. “Quite frankly, until that organization stops bragging about how much control they have over political leaders, I have no interest in being involved with them.” The United Conservative Party premier said she is in lockstep with federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has stated he and his caucus will having nothing to do...

Russia typically supplies about 40% of Europe's natural gas, mostly by pipeline. Deliveries last year were around 155 billion cubic metres (bcm).... Germany, Europe's biggest consumer of Russian gas, which has halted certification of the new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia because of the Ukraine war, could import from Britain, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands via pipelines. Norway, Europe's second biggest gas supplier behind Russia, has been raising production to help the European Union towards its target of ending reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2027. Britain's Centrica (CNA.L) has signed a deal with Norway's Equinor (EQNR.OL) for...

A hypothetical declaration for your consideration: When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for people to dissolve the political bonds that have connected them to a government, and to establish a new government to which the laws of Nature and God entitle them, they should declare the causes that impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted...

SEATTLE, WA — A strong, independent woman accompanied a strong, independent woman to the restroom in a pub in downtown Seattle, according to sources. "Just because I want my bestie with me at all times doesn't mean I'm not independent!" said Kira Jules, a strong, independent woman standing next to her friend, also a strong, independent woman. The women said they have always been capable on their own as they stood in the hallway waiting for the restroom together. "I do everything on my own," said Kira's friend, Sasha Wallens, "Except when I'm out having fun, or at work, or...

Joe Biden is celebrating July 4th with a massive expansion of the IRS. How better to celebrate the colonists who chased British tax collectors out than by replacing them with Biden's tax collectors. But every progressive person knows that Independence Day is for extremists. The dream of the new post-national nation is Co-Dependence Day in which we all live happily together in a planned economy.