Free Republic

Longtime Democrat strategist James Carville said Wednesday on CNN’s “The Source” that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) launching an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden was a good thing for Democrats because the case is “nonexistent.” Carville said, “My honest opinion is the people they have leading it are not very smart. In fact, they’re borderline stupid. James Comer, Jim Jordan against the people in the House that will be on this committee like Dan Goldman.”

They were treated for dehydration and hypothermia after their perilous trip, officials said. Txema Santana, a migration adviser to the local government, said in a tweet: “It is not the first and it will not be the last. Stowaways do not always have the same luck.” In 2020, a 14-year-old Nigerian boy was interviewed by Spain’s El País after lasting 15 days on a ship’s rudder after a trip from Lagos. Thousands of African migrants and refugees have reached the Canary Islands in recent years by making the dangerous voyage on crowded boats after departing from the coast of Morocco,...

A Pennsylvania family's pet cockatiel was identified after three years on the loose thanks to the bird's love for a classic TV theme song. Louise Duncan said she knew the bird she found on the front porch of Christ United Methodist Church in Lancaster County was not a native species. "I knew it was not a normal bird that comes by because it had an orange or yellow plume," Duncan told WGAL-TV. Duncan and Pastor Roseann Goldberg-Taylor wrangled the bird into a box and contacted local animal rescue group ORCA. ORCA posted photos of the bird on Facebook, and soon...

Meritocracy has become a leading social ideal. Politicians across the ideological spectrum continually return to the theme that the rewards of life—money, power, jobs, university admission—should be distributed according to skill and effort. The most common metaphor is the ‘even playing field’ upon which players can rise to the position that fits their merit. Conceptually and morally, meritocracy is presented as the opposite of systems such as hereditary aristocracy, in which one’s social position is determined by the lottery of birth. Under meritocracy, wealth and advantage are merit’s rightful compensation, not the fortuitous windfall of external events. Most people don’t...

Wang reportedly admitted having thrown six coins wrapped in red paper inside the plane's engine. A picture of the coins has now been shared online. The incident reportedly took place at an airport in Weifang. A male passenger, identified with the last name Wang, was scheduled to fly from Weifang to Haiku on a Beibu Gulf Airlines flight GX8814 when he threw a handful of coins into the engine. Fortunately, the staff was soon alerted about the coins in the engine after workers found coins on the ground during the pre-takeoff inspection. The staff managed to recover all the coins...

Thursday as part of CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage, network correspondents Gary and Lindsay Tuchman hit the slopes at Mt. Hood Skibowl in Oregon. The Tuchmans decided to interview fellow skiers about coming out to ring in the new year on the slopes. “Can I ask you a quick question? What made you decide to come here New Year’s Eve?” Tuchman asked a skier. “Oh gosh, just to get out and get some fresh air; be with friends and family,” the skier replied. Tuchman then shamed the skier for not wearing a mask during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “You don’t...

I normally like to post this 2 minute video from poet Baxter Black on Thanksgiving in an effort to avoid spoiling my mood with political talk. But, I forgot to do it this year.

This is a vlog from one of my favorite contemporary philosophers, Baxter Black. I am posting it both to share some inspiration and to point to how fast the political tides are changing our country. Please enjoy this 2:30 video and see if you notice the two major shifts in our culture that have taken place in 9 short years since this was done in 2008

Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China's runways and military installations across the vital trade route, according to Western officials. Diplomats and military officers told Reuters that intelligence shows Hanoi has shipped the launchers from the Vietnamese mainland into position on five bases in the Spratly islands in recent months, a move likely to raise tensions with Beijing.

President Obama addresses graduates at Howard University “Be confident in your heritage. Be confident in your blackness,” President Barack Obama told graduates and their families at Howard University’s 2016 commencement ceremony. Obama told the graduating class that success is based more on luck, not hard work, and those who achieve great things do so because the fates have shined brightly upon them. Successful people are “just lucky,” Obama said, Breitbart reported. “It wasn’t nothing you did.”

Pres. Obama doubled down on his infamous “You didn’t build that” claim when he declared “You can’t build” that and then told college graduates they gained their degrees by being “lucky.” In remarks about the economy on Friday, Obama chastised those who think they’re self-sufficient and don’t need government:“You can’t build your own metro system. You can’t build your own highway. You can’t build your own airport. And so we have a specific problem with under-investing in infrastructure.”Then, on Saturday, Pres. Obama told Howard University graduates that his “pet peeve” is people like them who don’t credit luck for their...

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A mother dog and her six puppies were found abandoned at a mobile home Thursday while Jackson County deputies went to assist with an eviction. All the dogs are at the Jackson County Animal Shelter. “They do not appear to have been mistreated.” The dog and her 10-week-old puppies, which are all a mixed breed, appear to be in healthy condition, having good weight and playful personalities.

JONATHAN GRUBER, M.I.T.: Let’s start with understanding that we're not talking about the vast majority of Americans. This law is really leaving those with employer insurance, those with government insurance alone. We’re talking about a small minority of Americans that buy insurance on their own through the individual market. CHUCK TODD: Still millions of people. GRUBER: Exactly. It's 12 million people, about a third of which will end up paying more under this law. And that as you said in the introductions sort of the idea. We currently have a highly discriminatory system where if you’re sick, if you’ve been...

Stick Commander footage of 3 PPCLI paratroopers being "Off-dropped" during Ex Maple Flag. Nothing says pucker factor than the fear of a pine tree up the tail! FYI, drills worked, amazingly only one minor injury. ------------- Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as The Patricias) is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army of the Canadian Forces. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAvPEzvrbX8

One month to the day after his infamous ‘you didn’t build that’ speech, President Obama’s description of wealthy people did not include “smart” or “hardworking,” as he instead ascribed their success to good luck. “If you’re lucky enough, and fortunate enough, and been blessed enough to be in the other two percent, the top two percent, you still get a tax cut for your first $250,000 of income,” Obama said during a campaign stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa. “All we’re saying is after that, maybe you can do a little bit more to help pay down this deficit and invest...

REXBURG, Idaho (AP) — A small red stunt plane crashed into a nearby golf course Friday evening during an eastern Idaho air show preview but officials said the pilot suffered only minor injuries. The annual Legacy Air Show in Rexburg attracts stunt pilots and vintage aircraft from around the country. The Friday evening preview was supposed to be a casual affair with sponsors and guests lined up along the runway.

The bungee cord holding an Australian tourist snapped during a trip to Zimbabwe, plunging her into crocodile-infested waters. Erin Langworthy, 22, had jumped from the Victoria Falls bridge above the Zambezi River, when the cord snapped in two, according to Australia’s Channel 9 News. "It went black straight away and I felt like I had been slapped all over," Langworthy told the station of the New Year’s Eve incident.

A source on the Rick Perry campaign tells Hot Air that the Texas governor conducted some Texas-size fundraising in the third quarter. Coming in just a little over halfway through, Perry raised $17.1 million. That number would put Perry somewhere between $4-6 million ahead of Mitt Romney’s rumored total for Q3, according to this report last week from the Boston Globe. It’s also likely to far outpace Herman Cain’s fundraising or that of the other Republicans currently in the race. The pace is even more impressive. Perry had 49 days in which to raise funds, rather than the full 92...

U.S. forces finally found al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden not in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan's border, but in a million-dollar compound in an upscale suburb of Pakistan's capital, with his youngest wife, U.S. officials said early on Monday. They were led to the fortress-like three-story building after more than four years tracking one of bin Laden's most trusted couriers, whom U.S. officials said was identified by men captured after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. "Detainees also identified this man as one of the few al Qaeda couriers trusted by bin Laden. They indicated he might be living with...