Free Republic

During the most recent total solar eclipse visible in the U.S., on Aug. 21, 2017, the skies darkened as the Moon crossed in front of the Sun. It blocked out all sunlight – except for that from a golden ring visible around the Moon’s shape, called the corona. Not surprisingly, solar power generation across North America plummeted for several hours, from the first moment the Moon began to obscure the Sun to when the Sun’s disk was clear again. On April 8, 2024, another total solar eclipse will track across the U.S., causing perhaps an even greater loss of solar...

BOBBY CALDWELL, THE oft-sampled, blue-eyed soul singer behind the late Seventies smash “What You Won’t Do for Love,” has died at the age of 71. “Bobby passed away here at home,” Caldwell’s wife Mary tweeted Wednesday. “I held him tight in my arms as he left us. I am forever heartbroken. Thanks to all of you for your many prayers over the years.” While no cause of death was provided, Caldwell had struggled with health issues over the past six years, which Mary cited as a result of an adverse reaction to fluoroquinolone antibiotic. Caldwell was best known for his...

Researchers have developed a new tool to measure Twitter users' exposure to misinformation from political elites. A study recently published in Nature Communications used the Politifacts fact-checking database to calculate a "falsity score" for 816 public figures and organizations based on the likely truthfulness and accuracy of their statements on social media. They then assigned Twitter users an "elite misinformation exposure" score, based on the falsity scores of the political elites they follow on Twitter. Instead of focusing on the sharing of fake news, which came to prominence during the 2016 U.S. election cycle, the study centers on a more...

Coastal erosion is threatening beachfront homes and a popular railroad route in San Clemente, California. The Pacific Ocean’s powerful swells have reclaimed much of the Cyprus Shore community’s beachfront, which includes the passing of Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner. The rail line offers uninterrupted picturesque views of the Southern California coastline to more than 8 million passengers each year, AFP reported. A portion of the tracks was closed for emergency repairs on Sept. 30, and at least two homes have been deemed uninhabitable due to the encroaching sea water. San Clemente resident Steve Lang told AFP that his neighbors feel they can't...

Cleotha Abston-Henderson, 38, has been charged with first-degree murder in relation to mother-of-two Eliza Fletcher He is accused of kidnapping her as she was out jogging at 4.30am on Friday and 'violently' bundled her into his SUV Authorities announced on Tuesday that Fletcher's body had been found by an abandoned house after an exhaustive search Abston-Henderson was previously jailed for 22 years after kidnapping a lawyer in Memphis in 2000, driving him around at gunpoint Records show that he was previously arrested for raping a man and several assaults before he turned 16, and was first in juvenille court aged...

The United States Geological Survey is tracking a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that has hit off the coast of Japan, triggering a tsunami warning.

Someone commented that the article I posted, Why are so many people going Blind after getting the Covid-19 Vaccine? (freerepublic.com), has no basis in fact and and is sensationalized to create fear. They wanted to see proof. I exported data from the CDC's VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) database which indicates that, like reports of deaths to VAERS, the Covid 'vaccines' have far more reports of adverse events (i.e., blindness) than other all other vaccines.Consider that the target audience for influenza vaccines is around 250 million per year. After years of flu vaccine administration, there are a total of...

A rash of seismic activity across an arc of southern Japan in recent weeks – including the most powerful earthquake to strike Tokyo in a decade – has triggered renewed concern that a major natural disaster may be imminent, potentially the much-feared rupture of the Nankai Trough. Experts and government agencies have called for calm and insist there are no signs of an impending disaster to rival the March 2011 magnitude-9 quake, a tremor that unleashed a towering tsunami and caused devastation across much of northeast Japan. The Great East Japan Earthquake caused nearly 20,000 deaths and the meltdown of...

A suspect believed to be the man caught on camera shoving a woman down a New York subway station escalator has been caught by cops. Police arrested Bradley K. Hill, 32, on Friday and charged him with assault. He was filmed with police Friday night, wearing a smart dark suit, opened necked shirt, Nike face mask and freshly-buzzed hair.

Hey folks, I thought we could get a re-start on OFST, but after getting the last one I did (mostly) removed by one of the Mods, I don't know if it's worth the effort. Not blaming the Mods, of course...there are probable copyright issues I may have stepped all over. Anyway, let's be silly in random spots, because we need all the silliness we can get.

This is not a Beta test. We have another Gulf of Mexico storm this busy 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season. We ran out of Alphabet names, and moved on to the Greek alphabet. Beta did not wait for the news cycle to end following the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Mash the graphics below to enlarge. All links and images are self-updating. NHC Public Advisories NHC Forecast Discussions Key Messages for Beta Naval Oceanographic Tropical GOES Satellite Loops Corpus Christi Radar Houston/Galveston Radar Bouy Locations with Beta's Forecast Track

The Tour de France will do away with its traditional pair of podium hostesses, Tour director Christian Prudhomme announced at a press conference Wednesday. Instead, the Tour will have a male host on one side of the podium and a hostess on the other side.

Anthony Fauci ANTHONY FAUCI, the country’s leading infectious diseases expert, underwent surgery to have a polyp removed from his vocal cord on Thursday morning. Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and has been helping to lead the federal government’s response to the ongoing pandemic, confirmed the news to CNN. He did not specify how long he would need to recover from the surgery. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, said on Twitter that Fauci texted him shortly after the surgery to let him "know he was doing ok." Gupta said Fauci "had general anesthesia"...

#Breaking: President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, tests positive for Coronavirus

The Memo: After Vindman, GOP anxiety deepens BY NIALL STANAGE - 10/30/19 06:08 PM EDT Republican concerns are mounting about President Trump as damaging information piles up regarding his dealings with Ukraine. The dam is not yet at the bursting point, but anxiety — fueled by the sense that more revelations could emerge at any moment — is rippling through the GOP. “It’s fair to say my conversations with members continue to go to a worse place,” said Doug Heye, a former communications director of the Republican National Committee. Heye added that, for the moment, there was a sizable gap...

A Portland antifascist activist was killed in the early hours of Saturday in an apparent hit-and-run near Cider Riot, a cidery and taproom popular with the city’s anarchist left that has been the scene of conflict with rightwing groups. According to the Portland Police Bureau, the car involved was fired upon and crashed into a nearby building. Its occupants fled the scene. Police said in a statement that the 23-year-old victim, Sean D Kealiher, was taken to a local hospital by associates. The Multnomah county medical examiner determined the cause of death to be homicide, caused by blunt force trauma....

By less than an hour agoweather.com (Getty Image) A dry landscape stands on Navajo Nation lands on June 7, 2019, in the town of Gallup, New Mexico. Rising temperatures associated with global warming have worsened drought conditions on their lands over recent decades leading to a worsening of water access. At a Glance • The U.S. Southwest experienced a dozen megadroughts from the years 800 to 1600. • These droughts lasted for decades at a time. • Researchers say they have discovered the cause of those droughts. • Climate change could cause another megadrought soon, they say. Scientists say they...

“Q The suspect in the Virginia Beach shooting used a silencer on his weapon. Do you believe that silencers should be restricted? THE PRESIDENT: I don’t like them at all.”

A man mauled by another passenger’s emotional support dog on a Delta Air Lines flight has sued the airline and the other passenger for negligence. The lawsuit filed in Fulton County state court alleges Marlin Jackson was in a window seat when a dog sitting in the lap of the passenger next to him suddenly attacked his face and pinned him against the window of the plane.

3,000 Yazidi sex slaves missing and feared dead 3000 Yazidi sex slaves are lost and feared dead. This story should be in headlines everywhere. Is it? Are the lives of Yazidi girls and women so valueless in the eyes of the Western media? Add to that the fact that thousands of other Yazidi sex slaves who were tortured and murdered. Where also are the human rights activists? Why do they ignore these victims of jihad terror and abuse? “LOST FOREVER ISIS’ 3,000 Yazidi sex slaves feared dead as hopes of finding any of them alive fade with collapse of evil...