Free Republic

With the death toll at 83 and counting, the Camp Fire in Butte County ranks as the deadliest wildfire anywhere in the United States in 100 years. But the last time a wildfire killed this many people in America, many of the circumstances were eerily similar: Parched forests. Strong winds. Terrified townspeople killed while fleeing in their cars. Towns wiped off the map. A nation stunned. It happened in 1918 in Northern Minnesota, near Duluth.

They lost everything in the Paradise fire. Now they’re reliving their grief as fires rage in Hawaii Fri, August 11th 2023, 10:45 AM PDT... ...Lahaina, Hawaii, is a tropical paradise on the northwest coast of Maui. But wildfires ravaging the region have forever linked it to another Paradise, this one in California. The two small towns have the grim distinction of experiencing the two deadliest wildfires in U.S. history — tragedies that played out in a remarkably similar way. .

There’s trouble in Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen paradise, multiple sources tell Page Six exclusively. The model has left their family compound in Tampa, Fla., for Costa Rica following a series of heated arguments over Brady’s shock decision to un-retire from the NFL, while he has remained behind for team training. “Tom and Gisele are in a fight right now,” a source tells Page Six, adding that this has happened before with the couple, but they have always reunited in the past.

[Video] HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- Want to live longer? Living in Hawaii may help. A new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr71/nvsr71-02.pdf says Hawaii residents still live the longest compared to the rest of the nation. The CDC compiled data from 2020 and analyzed life expectancy for each state and the District of Columbia. Hawaii had the highest life expectancy: 80.7 years. Life expectancy in the U.S. declined overall from 2019 to 2020, mostly due to the coronavirus pandemic and drug overdose deaths. Overall, life expectancy in the U.S. declined by 1.8 years. Life expectancy in...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - A Florida man is charged with providing material support to the Islamic State extremist group, including attempting to buy multiple weapons and scouting potential targets for an attack in the Tampa Bay area, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. A criminal complaint charges Muhammed Momtaz Al-Azhari, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, with attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. The charge carries a potential 20-year prison term. **SNIP** According to the affidavit, Al-Azhari scouted a number of targets in the Tampa Bay region, including beaches, parks and even the Tampa FBI field...

It was after the crucifixion of the Messiah of Israel that Satan and godless Israelites rejoiced in their demonic triumph of unrighteousness. They thought that they had done away with “This Man”, this Miracle Worker, this Preacher of RIGHTEOUSNESS, this violator of the Sabbath, the "messiah", this One who claimed to be Almighty God the Son; and it was exhilarating to their godless mind (Matt. 27, Luke 23). As the Sabbath day was about to begin these godless men made their preparation to finish “their” Feast of Passover and partake in “their” man-made traditions (Matt. 15:7-11, 23, John 18:28). Satan...

I explore Surah 56, which describes the torments awaiting those who reject Islam, and explain why the "paradise" of Islam is filled with unrepentant sin.

I explore Surah 55 of the Koran, and explain the pagan origins of Islam's belief in djinn. I also delineate the differences between the true heaven and the perverse vision of paradise sketched out by Muhammad.

I am a New Zealander (or "Kiwi," as we affectionately refer to ourselves) who has spent many years outside my home country — including several years in the United States.  At present, I live in Asia and cannot see myself returning to the land of my birth and upbringing anytime soon. My home country is simply not the paradise that many people, including a lot of Americans, perceive it to be. Background It's important to note that I drafted this article back in April — soon after the mass shooting that took place in Christchurch — but opted to have it sit in limbo...

I explore the difference between heaven as described in scripture, and paradise as it's portrayed by the perverse prophet of Islam.

GARDEN OF EDEN—A reputable whistleblower in the form of a snake has reportedly tipped Adam and Eve off to a rumor that God was withholding the knowledge of good and evil from them. The whistleblower suggested that God has been lying to His creation by claiming that if they eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they'll die. "He's totally gaslighting you," the whistleblower said, hanging from a tree. "You won't surely die! It's just another one of His lies. He's unconstitutionally withholding the knowledge of good and evil from you---He doesn't want you to know...

Venezuela's murderous 'Crazy Boys' make their living by kidnapping in one of the world's most violent cities, with lawlessness spreading in the failing socialist state. Feared Caracas street gangster El Negrito, 24, sleeps with a silver revolver under his pillow and says he's lost track of his murder count. But despite his bloody record, the killer says firing his gun has become a luxury with soaring inflation in President Nicolas Maduro's economy. 'If you empty your clip, you're shooting off $15,' said El Negrito, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition he be identified only by his street...

In early November, gale-force winds whipped a brush fire into an inferno that nearly consumed the town of Paradise, California, and killed at least 86 people. By the second morning, I could smell the fire from one foot outside my door in Berkeley, some 130 miles from the flames. Within a week, my eyes and throat stung even when I was indoors. Air quality maps warned that the soot-filled air blanketing the Bay Area had reached “very unhealthy” levels. For days, nearly everyone wore masks as they walked their dogs, rode the train, and carried out errands. Most of those...

Many of you have asked if we will be brewing a fundraiser beer to support Camp Fire relief efforts. The answer is a resounding “yes.” We are proud to announce the upcoming release of Resilience Butte County Proud IPA. We will be brewing Resilience on Giving Tuesday, November 27 and donating 100 percent of the beer sales to the Camp Fire Relief Fund. In addition, we are also asking every brewer in America to brew Resilience and do the same. I’m sending a letter to brewers across the country, inviting them to join us in this effort. We are working...

The Camp Fire ripped through 153,336 acres of Northern California over 17 days in November, demolishing more than 13,000 single-family homes and killing 88 people as of Monday. ...Newly-released photography and drone footage brings the devastation of what’s now known as the deadliest and most damaging wildfire in California’s history into sharp, visceral focus. Drone engineer Greg Crutsinger, alongside 16 teams of Northern California law and fire departments and task forces of public safety drone operators, captured the destruction in aerial shots and 360-degree panoramas of what’s left of Paradise, California. The teams performed 518 drone flights in smoky conditions,...

Bird-of-paradise flower pigment surprise. The ‘animal-only’ pigment bilirubin is discovered in plants by David Catchpoole Aside from the widely recognized shape of their flowers, which resemble the head of a tropical bird, bird-of-paradise plants (Strelitzia spp.) are admired for their vibrant floral coloration. The brilliant orange is even more intense on the furry outside of their seeds, and is able to persist for decades,1 unlike most plant pigments, which degrade rapidly after cell death.

Christina Taft couldn't persuade her mother to flee the California fire, and she diedAs Christina Taft walks through the chalky rubble and blackened ash strewn on her property in Paradise, Calif., she winces as she tries to make sense of the destruction around her. "This is just completely levelled," she says. "There is nothing here." In the corner of what was once her living room, yellow caution tape ropes off a rectangle on the ground. It looks as if someone was digging in the area, and right away Taft knows why. "This is where they must have found her." This...

Paradise, California has become hell on earth. My thoughts and prayers go out to the thousands of displaced families. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain and devastation they are currently experiencing. Only 80 miles north of my hometown of Sacramento, this has been an issue close to home for me, but the smoky skies we’ve been experiencing here are nothing compared to what the residents of Paradise are now going through. I am so proud of our firefighters, first responders, and many volunteers who have come together during this crisis to do everything they can to alleviate the...

Looney Governor Jerry Brown blamed the rash of apocalyptic-level forest fires on Global Warming deniers. His nonsensical and rash comments will not be missed. Many will remember him for endangering Californians by ignoring the infrastructure needs of the state. Oroville Dam’s maintenance had been slipshod since its completion in 1968. Flakey inspections by state agencies risked the lives of hundreds of thousands of North State dwellers during the heavy rains and spillway collapse in February 2017. The failure will cost taxpayers more than $1 billion to repair. No one has estimated the hundreds of millions it cost 180,000 people to...

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1 Oregon is used to two to five hundred square mile forest fires with their blast furnace heat, but it has never had one race through a community like the Paradise CA fire. Oregon is the American Outback where there are only four million people living in over a hundred thousand square miles. Most of the state except the western one third is barely populated so forest fires only destroy forests not people and houses. When the...