Free Republic

Two years ago, slippers went stratospheric. Normally, they sell in cycles. There is an “on” season for slippers through the fall and winter. Then, sales taper off during the warmer months. But 2020 was different. Slipper sales that April almost doubled versus 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. Folks were in no hurry to leave their homes. They were dressing for leisure, streaming entertainment, and saving their cash… And while we saw odd bursts in products like slippers, huge swaths of the economy suffered. But today, a big thaw is coming to the global market. Travel plans are...

TEL AVIV: Five days ago, an undisclosed intelligence agency intercepted a telephone call made by the head of Iran’s Quds Force, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, in which he was heard ordering his proxies in Iraq to attack the U.S embassy in Baghdad, as well as other Israeli and American targets, with the aim of taking hostages, Israeli sources say. It’s unclear whether this was a lapse in tradecraft on the part of the usually savvy Soleimani or whether the notorious Iranian military leader’s phone calls were being routinely intercepted. Nor is it clear whether it was the US or another...

<p>SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Disgusted by what they see as the extinction of the all-male Southern military college, some graduates want to build one of their own, based on the way The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute used to be.</p>

A new Tennessee-based, all-male military school hopes to bring back the traditions of the original Virginia Military Institute by focusing on Christian principles and teaching the history and heritage of the Deep South. Flag of the Southern Military Institute. The Southern Military Institute – founded Aug. 20, 1997, by Dr. Michael J. Guthrie, a 1977 VMI graduate – is still in the planning and organizational stages, but officials say they are seeking qualified student applicants and will break ground on a new campus as soon as land can be procured. "Realistically, it will probably be fall 2004 before we begin...