Free Republic

In the past 72 hours, there have been two major, all-consuming news cycles based on either inaccurate or outright false allegations. Equally distressing as the fact that the press promoted these stories, despite obvious red flags, is that some reporters continue to cling to the original bogus narratives. Because when it comes to accusations leveled against President Trump and conservatives, many in the nation’s largest and most powerful newsrooms are less arbiters of the truth and more active participants in the toxic, hyper-partisan culture wars. If there’s one takeaway from this weekend of clown-shoe news reporting, it’s that a disproportionate...

A couple weeks ago a California Assemblyman introduced a bill that would ban paper receipts in the state. To be precise, the bill would require the customer to ask for one, similar to the state’s straw ban. The announcement made some news, mostly for the poor staffer who was stuck wearing a life-size receipt over his head. WATCH: A San Francisco assembly member put a life-size receipt on display Tuesday in order to introduce a new legislation that would require retailers to offer digital receipts as the default to customers beginning January 1, 2022. https://t.co/dw4hddKPRu pic.twitter.com/wLZfhz1rNK— CBS Evening News...

Rep. Joe Neguse is a freshman Democrat from Colorado. Last Friday, Rep. Neguse held a small meet-and-greet with Colorado residents where he was asked, “Looking ahead at the whole impeachment thing, do you see Kavanaugh as like a key part of that?” The man asking the question added, “Are you going to try to use his perjury against him?”Rep. Neguse replied, “So I think that’s another thing that will come up before the judiciary committee.” He continued, “There’s no question that he committed perjury, right? In the last…during the confirmation hearings and so forth. So I think the judiciary...

You'll hear Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) rejecting President Trump's border security proposals these days, but about a decade ago, she was singing a different tune.During her 2008 campaign for Congress, Gillibrand bragged in a mailer how she had called for the deportations of illegal immigrants. The ad also highlighted her opposition to illegals getting drivers licenses, a boost in the number of border agents, fines on companies who hired illegal immigrants, expanding the E-Verify programs for employers, and other now-unheard-of policy stances from a Democrat. Here's the mailer @jaketapper cited, from my story on Thursday. https://t.co/DHKJeiHVig pic.twitter.com/4p39Frxq9G— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE)...

I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out a change in my tax situation, and hope that I'm just stupidly missing something. I turned 65 last year, and I only learned today that I should be eligible for an increased exemption on my federal taxes - it appears to be $1,300 for our situation. But when I look at the 1040 form, I can't see where you enter that amount, or see a line for it. There's a box to check if you turned 65, but I don't see what you do after that. Our taxes have always been...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem (New Testament) Colossians 3 Living as Those Made Alive in Christ 3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which...

A former top FBI lawyer acknowledged he was personally involved in the warrant application to surveil then-Trump campaign aide Carter Page and confirmed other "unusual" steps taken in the FBI’s Russia probe in 2016, during a closed-door congressional interview. “I was aware of the [Russia] investigation,” James Baker told House investigators in October. Fox News has confirmed details of the transcript which is still under government review before its public release. Baker said he was briefed on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant “as time went by” and recalled how he got involved early in the process. The warrant...

In the hours and days since those first snapshots of the encounter made the rounds, however, it has become crystal clear that the original narrative was hugely misleading. Additional videos from different angles began to emerge, proving that the students did not swarm or try to block the drum-toting man; rather, he proactively approached them. We also learned that a small group of African-American men were hurling racial and homophobic insults at the boys, singling out the small number of non-white students in the group for especially grotesque abuse (including creepily telling a black student that his classmates would harvest...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Doris Cochran, a disabled mother of two young boys, is stockpiling canned foods these days, filling her shelves with noodle soup, green beans, peaches and pears — anything that can last for months or even years. Her pantry looks as though she’s preparing for a winter storm. But she’s just trying to make sure her family won’t go hungry if her food stamps run out.For those like Cochran who rely on federal aid programs, the social safety net no longer feels so safe.

Evidence collected by the WHO suggests migrants and refugees are less likely to be affected by non-contagious diseases such as cancer, stroke or heart disease, but their risk of developing such illnesses increases when they move to more developed countries, particularly as they are often living in poor conditions. While refugees and migrants are more vulnerable to infectious diseases when in transit from their home countries, the proportion with tuberculosis or HIV varies widely. WHO Europe said: “Despite the widespread assumption to the contrary, there is only a very low risk of refugees and migrants transmitting communicable diseases to their...

President Trump on Monday challenged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has called the White House's proposed southern border wall "an immorality," to explain why she is not insisting on the removal of existing physical barriers, or opposing ongoing construction of new wall projects near San Diego, Calif. Trump, in a follow-up tweet, asserted that the country needs a "powerful Wall" to deter the incoming migrant caravan that marched freely through the Guatemala-Mexico border last Friday, after the gates were left wide open by officials seeking to avoid a confrontation. The caravan, which consists of approximately 1,000 Central American migrants, was...

Police in Arlington, TX had their hands full after an officer-involved shooting that left one dead and an officer seriously wounded. The dead man’s family demanded to know why 20-year-old Tre’Shun Miller ended up dead after a simple traffic stop. The family presented the media with the photo above. Meanwhile, for anyone looking, Tre’Shun’s Facebook page provided a treasure trove of photos indicating crime: Of course, most folks don’t dig that deep. But the Arlington PD didn’t disappoint. Days after the family challenged the cops for proof of what happened, Arlington PD delivered. They released the bodycam video showing...

EXCERPT: We have a new bourgeoisie, but because they are very cool and progressive, it creates the impression that there is no class conflict anymore. It is really difficult to oppose the hipsters when they say they care about the poor and about minorities. But actually, they are very much complicit in relegating the working classes to the sidelines. Not only do they benefit enormously from the globalised economy, but they have also produced a dominant cultural discourse which ostracises working-class people. Think of the ‘deplorables’ evoked by Hillary Clinton. There is a similar view of the working class in...

Next time there’s a viral story, I’ll wait for more facts to emerge. ... If the Covington Catholic incident was a test, it’s one I failed—along with most others. Will we learn from it, or will we continue to roam social media, looking for the next outrage fix? Next time a story like this surfaces, I’ll try to sit it out until more facts have emerged. I’ll remind myself that the truth is sometimes unknowable, and I’ll stick to discussing the news with people I know in real life, instead of with strangers whom I’ve never met. I’ll get my...

Charlie Chaplin was one of the pioneering film making greats in Hollywood but could no longer live in America in the time of Joe McCarthy. The scale of things in America as opposed tp Chaplin's country of birth, England, may have helped him to get the star power that enabled him to do things like establish United Artists and thereby be independent. Not possible now? (Some bid stars can become producers but only as part of a team of producers not as sole producer/director.) To some people in America Chaplin was a communist. When forced to leave America he went...

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.( I John 1:5-7)There is only one indispensable pre-condition for fellowship with God. We must be willing to come into the Light....

Post by Franciscan Media Mosaic of Saint Agnes of Rome | Haarlemmermeerplein, Amsterdam | flickr Image: Mosaic of Saint Agnes of Rome | Haarlemmermeerplein, Amsterdam | flickr Saint Agnes Saint of the Day for January 21 (d. c. 258) Saint Agnes’ Story Almost nothing is known of this saint except that she was very young—12 or 13—when she was martyred in the last half of the third century. Various modes of death have been suggested—beheading, burning, strangling. Legend has it that Agnes was a beautiful girl whom many young men wanted to marry. Among those she refused, one reported her...

Native American elder Nathan Phillips, in his own words Native American elder Nathan Phillips, who has made headlines everywhere after a video showed him in a face-off with a Catholic school student in front of the Lincoln Memorial, spoke at length with CNN the day after the incident. Phillips described what he felt was hatred coming from the young people in the crowd, who are pupils at Covington Catholic School in Kentucky and who had traveled to the nation's capital to attend the March for Life rally, also held Friday. The interview was conducted Saturday after the video went viral....

The fallout is continuing from last week's dispute over a Donald Trump re-election flag being displayed by fans of the Jordan High School boys basketball team during its game against visiting Minneapolis Roosevelt. Jordan has pulled out of an invitational basketball event scheduled for Monday — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — being hosted by Minneapolis Roosevelt. Jordan was to have played Minneapolis Patrick Henry at 5 p.m. "Given recent events, we believe the participation of our team in the event will detract from the hard work of the athletes and the upbeat focus of the MLK Showcase," Jordan...

Louis XVI, King, Martyr: a Catholic going to death and His Last Will and Testament Louis XVI, King, Martyr: a Catholic going to death and His Last Will and Testament Procession to eternity On January 20, 1793, the National Convention condemned Louis XVI to death, his execution scheduled for the next day. Louis spent that evening saying goodbye to his wife and children. The following day, January 21, dawned cold and wet. Louis arose at five. At eight o'clock a guard of 1,200 horsemen arrived to escort the former king on a two-hour carriage ride to his place of...