Free Republic

TECOPA, Calif. — Sometimes the desert holds its secrets close, whispering them only to those who carefully listen. But this year, the hottest and driest place in America might as well be shouting. In California’s Death Valley region, the last few months have been remarkably loud. And the latest bellow is still ringing out, with the area’s native wildflowers bursting into bloom. The flowers have filled a place best known for its shades of browns and grays with brilliant blasts...

Friday, during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime,” former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) said she was “open” to serving as a vice-presidential nominee. “Tulsi, you’re being considered for a VP slot,” host Jesse Watters asked. “Is that something you’re open to?” “I would be open to that,” Gabbard replied. “My mission is to serve our country. I want to be in a position to solve problems, Jesse, and we’ve got a lot of them to solve.”

Cher is vowing to exit the United States if former President Trump wins the 2024 presidential election. “I almost got an ulcer the last time,” the “Believe” singer said of Trump’s time in the White House, during an interview with The Guardian published Wednesday. “If he gets in, who knows?” Cher said. “This time I will leave [the country,]” the Grammy Award winner declared.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Sunday granted an “absolute pardon” to the father who was arrested at a school board meeting after the superintendent lied about his daughter’s rape by a skirt-wearing boy. The pardon says that in June 2021, Scott Smith “exercised his constitutional right to attend a public meeting of the Loudoun County School Board to observe the proceedings, during which time a community member threatened to spread false and malicious information about Mr. Smith’s business with the intent to damage his reputation.” “After an ensuing verbal confrontation, Scott Thomas Smith was charged with Obstruction of Justice and...

A new study finds that whole-fat dairy — including cheese, whole yogurt and whole milk — can help to prevent heart attacks, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. What’s more, the study found that unprocessed red meat “can be part of a healthy diet.” Those are the surprising results from experts who created a dietary ranking named the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological Healthy Diet Score. The PURE diet finds six food groups — fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, fish and whole-fat dairy — can lower the risk of heart disease.

Former USA gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar is 'lucky to be alive' after being stabbed multiple times by another inmate during an assault in federal prison. Nassar, 59, was stabbed twice in the neck, twice in the back and six times in the chest at the United States Penitentiary Coleman in Florida. 'He has a collapsed lung,' said Joe Rojas' who is the prison guard union chief. 'He is lucky to be alive and the only reason he is alive, in my opinion, is because of the staff members who were there.' The extent of his injuries is currently unknown,...

"...While the banks might be fine, some cash-strapped and credit-abusing consumers clearly are not. The idea that JPM is building reserves to cushion themselves against bad loans amid rapidly increasing charge-offs tells you all you need to know. Similar story at Bank of America (BAC), who also increased reserves. Across the nation’s four biggest banks, consumer loan charge-offs increased 73% in Q1, as they wrote off $3.4 billion in bad debt during the first three months of the year. "

Former South Carolina governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced Tuesday that she is running for president, seeking the Republican nomination for the 2024 election. In a video message posted on Twitter, Haley touted her record as South Carolina's governor, while looking to the future and the needs of the country. "It's time for a new generation of leadership," Haley stated. Haley identified numerous threats facing the country, from the "socialist left" to Russia and China, warning that there are those who see the United States as vulnerable. "They all think we can be bullied, kicked around. You should know...

Spokane county judge ordered Church at Planned Parenthood to pay $960,000 for interfering with patient care An anti-abortion group has been ordered to pay almost $1m in fines to Planned Parenthood, over demonstrations outside a clinic in Spokane, Washington state. According to its website, the group, Church at Planned Parenthood, was formed to stage “worship service at the gates of Hell”. It also calls itself a “gathering of Christians for the worship of God and the corporate prayer for repentance for this nation, repentance for the apathetic church and repentance of our blood guiltiness in this abortion Holocaust”. In September...

A 13-year-old boy in Washington, DC, was shot and killed by a homeowner who claimed he was breaking into cars. The community is demanding the shooter's identity be revealed. Karon Blake was fatally shot with a legally registered firearm on Quincy Street around 4am on January 7 by an unidentified homeowner who heard noises outside of his home and thought someone was 'tampering with a vehicle,' DC Police reported. The teenager and the man reportedly got into a confrontation before the shooting occurred, and after shooting him, the homeowner did perform CPR. Blake, who was found by police with multiple...

Decision Desk HQ @DecisionDeskHQ · Follow Decision Desk HQ projects Rand Paul (R) wins re-election to the U.S. Senate in Kentucky. #DecisionMade: 7:00pm EST Watch our livestream: https://youtu.be/IZ9E7inZPV0 CBS News @CBSNews · Follow CBS News projects Republican Tim Scott wins reelection to the U.S. Senate in South Carolina, defeating Democratic challenger Krystle Matthews. https://cbsn.ws/3teSDst

Researchers at the Department of Microbiology of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) have found that the COVID19 virus can cause acute testicular damage, chronic asymmetric testicular atrophy, and hormonal changes in hamsters despite a light pneumonia. “In managing convalescent COVID-19 males, it is important to be aware of possible hypogonadism (low sex drive) and subfertility,” said Chair of Infectious Diseases Professor Kwok-yung Yuen, who led the research effort. “ COVID-19 vaccination can prevent this complication.” The HKU study of testicular damage of the virus, SARS-CoV-2, has been accepted for publication in the leading journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. COVID 19...

China's rapid military expansion in recent years has alarmed other countries. China's nuclear arsenal is much smaller than the US's, but US officials are warning about its growth. Experts say Beijing wants to have enough nuclear weapons to survive and respond to an attack. The US Department of Defense's annual report on China's military, released in November, again illustrated the breathtaking pace and scale of China's conventional military modernization.This year's report also highlighted a number of developments that could threaten the US more directly than China's conventional forces — namely China's "large-scale expansion of its nuclear forces."That expansion is well...

Ok Gettr has been open for one month now, and there are a number of interesting people there. Including Newt Gingrich, Bill Gertz, Ben Carson, Matt Gaetz, Diamond and Silk, Steve Bannon, and even Mike Pompeo... But we now have MIKE LINDELL. Welcome Sir !

BEIJING is using an "insidious" policy of coercion and pressure to assert its control over the South China Sea, a leading Asia analyst has said. China has long claimed sovereignty over the disputed waters, saying that the entire waterway up to the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan belongs to it. Beijing's claim is based on the U-shaped nine-dash line etched onto a map in the 1940s by a Chinese geographer. In 2016, an international court of arbitration dismissed China's territorial claims. Despite the ruling, the People's Republic has in recent years built artificial islands in the waters claimed...

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Saturday that Senate passage of his $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill means that $1,400 payments to most Americans will start to go out this month ...

It seems the performance issue has been resolved. Mumble mumble Apache2 was configured with MPM event causing mod_perl to segfault, changed to prefork mumble mumble and now it works. Now that the show-stopping issue is solved, next is mail (for flesh blood/registration) and the whack line noise especially in replies. Later is mumble mumble UTF8 encoding issue, double encoding probably mumble mumble.

"I love Australia," he continued. "Every time, we have nothing but good times down there. It’s always a treat to come. Love the people, love the geography, great place for motorcycle trips, it’s close to our hearts." The star then added of a potential move, "If Trump is re-elected – which he will not be; I’m predicting right now he’s gonna lose – if by some happenstance he should be, I’ll see you on the next plane," Springsteen stated.

The Trump administration is considering effectively shutting down the country’s refugee resettlement program, according to a report, a scheme which has brought more than 3.5 million foreign nationals to the United States since 1980. According to three sources who spoke to Politico, federal immigration officials at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have suggested that the annual refugee cap be set anywhere between zero or 3,000 to 10,000. Politico‘s Ted Hesson reported: The Trump administration is considering a virtual shutdown of refugee admissions next year — cutting the number to...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Ron DeSantis was elected governor of Florida on Tuesday, handing President Trump an important victory and extending the Republican Party’s dominance in the nation’s third-largest state. Mr. DeSantis, a 40-year-old former congressman, fended off his opponent, Andrew Gillum, one of the strongest candidates Florida Democrats had fielded in years. Republicans have now won every election for governor since 1998. “Every two years there’s one day in November where elites don’t call the shots, don’t craft the narrative or set the agenda,” Mr. DeSantis told jubilant supporters festooned in confetti in an Orlando hotel ballroom late on Tuesday...