Free Republic

French tuna ship sank in the Atlantic Erofey Schkvarkin News October 29, 2019 1:56 pm French tuna fishing vessel AVEL VOR sank early morning Oct 29 in the Atlantic, some 170 nm off Liberia coast, West Africa. The ship was under way sailing to fishing grounds, when in the evening Oct 27 she struck unidentified underwater object. Hull was breached, water flooded engine room. Ship’s pumps weren’t capable of controlling water ingress, Captain ordered 22 crew to abandon AVEL VOR. They were picked up by another fishing vessel of the same owner, all reported safe and sound. AVEL VOR was...

Capesize bulk carrier gas explosion killed Chinese crew NIKOLAY TORKIN News October 29, 2019 6:13 am Chinese crew member of Capesize bulk carrier CAPE INDIA was severely injured in gas explosion on Oct 28. The ship was transiting Makassar Strait, en route from China to Australia. The ship reported accident to Indonesian Maritime Authorities and requested medevac. She was directed to Balikpapan, eastern Kalimantan. Injured seaman was transferred to rescue boat at around 0400 LT Oct 29, but was declared dead by paramedics some time later. His body was delivered to hospital in Balikpapan. Details of accident unknown, the ship...

<p>Viewers were left in disbelief after former White House press secretary Sean Spicer advanced to yet another round of Dancing with the Stars Monday night, with some calling it “bullshit” and others lamenting “the scariest thing about #DWTS is that Sean Spicer is still dancing.” Spicer and dancing partner Lindsay Arnold danced the Jive to “Monster Mash” for DWTS’ Halloween-themed night. Despite receiving what ET described as “by far, the lowest scores of the night” — 18/30 — the dancing duo did not find themselves in the bottom two, thanks to the weight of fan votes. It means that conservatives, as Spicer has mentioned on Breitbart News Sunday, are showing up and sending a message to Hollywood.</p>

On Monday evening, Sabo, the conservative street artist who is mostly known for his street posters that randomly pop up in California, reported on his Facebook page that he has now been kicked off of PayPal. "Today Paypal canceled my account with all of my money in it," he announced. "They are holding my funds for the next 6 months." PayPal is the money exchanging platform Sabo used to earn income, and this de-platforming hits him hard financially. "I explained to them that I live in a city with 60,000 homeless people and that they are about to make me...

Judicial Watch announced today it received through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit 13 pages out of 42 responsive pages of communications between former FBI official Peter Strzok and DOJ official Bruce Ohr that the DOJ claimed previously it could not find. Judicial Watch obtained the documents in an April 2019 FOIA lawsuit filed after submitting July 2018 FOIA requests to the DOJ and the FBI. The FBI failed to respond, while the Justice Department claimed to find no records of communications between Strzok and Ohr (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:19-cv-01082)). The lawsuit seeks: All...

Whilst on a walk close to Dingwall, I came across a site that struck me as being slightly mysterious, atmospheric and with an air of neglect about it. I was immediately fascinated, and started to try and find out more about it. I established that it was an early religious site, privately owned, and asked the landowner if I could have permission to survey it. This granted, and because of the difficult access, I began to form a plan of just how to carry this out. A specific parking place for one car was established and the survey began.

A USA TODAY/Suffolk poll states 36 percent of respondents support the House voting to remove the president, while 22 percent say Congress should continue with its impeachment inquiry but should not vote to remove him. Further, 37 percent say lawmakers should end their impeachment probe, while four percent remain undecided on the matter. When it comes to a Senate impeachment trial, 46 percent are in favor of convicting President Trump and 47 percent are against. The poll, conducted by telephone, is made up of 1,000 registered voters and was taken between October 23rd and 26th. It has a margin of...

Chelsea Clinton thinks Jay-Z‘s reaction to Beyoncé‘s post-pregnancy weight loss was underwhelming. Clinton, 39, recalled being pregnant with her third child while watching Beyoncé’s Netflix documentary, “Homecoming,” with her husband, Marc Mezvinksy. In the film, Beyoncé is seen FaceTiming her rapper husband about how excited she is about fitting into a costume after giving birth to twins. Clinton was less than pleased with Jay-Z’s reaction. “I said, ‘Marc, if that’s ever me, you better have more enthusiasm,’” she told The Cut in a recent interview. “It wasn’t the ‘I’m so proud of you. That’s amazing’ that I arguably think any...

Here's Nancy's resolution: RESOLUTION Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes. Resolved, That the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committees on Financial Services, Foreign Affairs, the Judiciary, Oversight and Reform, and 3 Ways and Means, are directed to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for...

KAYLA MUELLER (before being kidnapped, tortured and raped by al-Baghdadi) KAYLA MUELLER (after being kidnapped, tortured and raped by Washington Post's ‘Austere Religious Scholar’ al-Baghdadi)

Russia has unveiled a new combat icebreaker vessel in St. Petersburg on Friday which it says will help defend its national interests in the Arctic, the state-run TASS news agency reported. The launch of the Ivan Papanin comes amid Russia’s rapid military and economic development in its strategic Arctic region. Earlier this month, over 12,000 troops took part in nuclear war drills across Russia’s Arctic. Russia has also said it obtained new data that supports its territorial claims in the Arctic. 'The Arctic Shelf Is Ours,' Russian Defense Ministry Says Read more According to Viktor Cherkov, an admiral at the...

Burdening the poor with vexatious fines—which potentially lead, if people are unable to pay their fines, to imprisonment—is bad for society. A new study from the Institute for Justice, "The Price of Taxation by Citation," demonstrates the serious consequences not just for unfortunate citizens who have harmed no one, but for civic peace in general. The study focuses on three Georgia cities that derive 14 to 25 percent of their revenue from such fines and fees: Morrow, Riverdale, and Clarkston. (The average for the state is more like 3 percent.) "The cities have their own courts to process citations, and...

Rev. Bryan Fulwider, a former Winter Park minister who was recently arrested on charges that he repeatedly raped a teenage girl while he was her pastor, killed himself at his Altamonte Springs home, according to police. Emergency crews were called to Fulwider’s home in the 600 block of Post Oak Circle about 11:50 p.m. Sunday for a possible suicide. Fulwider was pronounced dead there, ASPD spokeswoman Michelle Sosa said. Fulwider, 59, had been out on bail since Oct. 17. The former 'Friends Talking Faith’ co-host faced a slew of charges including sexual battery on a minor by a person in...

Two Democratic lawmakers told a liberal Jewish conference on Monday they support the inclusion in the 2020 party platform of language on Israeli “occupation” of territories claimed by the Palestinians. One of them also argued that their party has not shifted on the Israeli-Palestinian issue; rather the Republicans have veered away from what he suggested used to be the “mainstream” position. Speaking at the J Street national conference gala dinner in Washington, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) expressed strong support for the idea – now being actively championed by J Street – of inserting opposition to “occupation” in the platform. “I...

Dogs have helped law enforcement and search-and-rescue crews discover human remains for decades. But recently, a new group has enlisted the help of canines and their olfactory superpowers: archaeologists. ... To test the dogs, Glavaš had them sniff around an area where they she had excavated three grave sites the year before. The human remains had been removed, and due to weathering, it was no longer apparent where the excavations had taken place. Two dogs, working independently, easily located all three spots. They then allowed the dogs, Sattve and Mali, to sniff around another site where they suspected there were...

Is there any interest in a separate 'Fiber Arts' thread on FR? It would probably be a monthly thread, and we'd post to it all month, share our projects, yarn/fabric recommendations, etc., as we do weekly for the Garden Thread. We're finding a lot of over-lap between the Gardening Thread and the Cooking Thread and a few other General/Chat threads posted from time to time. Those of us that like to garden and cook seem to like to sew and craft and knit and crochet, too. Any takers? Ping me here, or send me (Diana in Wisconsin) a message if...

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) responded on Tuesday after #MattGaetzIsATool began trending on Twitter in the United States, saying, “I kinda like it...” The Trump ally used the hashtag himself and shared an image of a man swinging a sledgehammer with a quote from Miley Cyrus’s song “Wrecking Ball.” Gaetz's tweet came after Andy Lassner, the executive producer of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show", launched a Twitter campaign against the congressman. As of Tuesday afternoon, the hashtag had tweeted more than 61,000 times. Actor Zach Braff used the hashtag along with a GIF from his time on the television show “Scrubs.” SNIP

No need to read the linked article. The fans at the Nationals stadium booed our President the other night. People who go against Trump tend to lose.

The CRISPR genome-editing technique revolutionising biology just got a major upgrade. A new variant, called prime editing, should be even better at correcting disease-causing mutations. This approach, devised by Andrew Anzalone at the Broad Institute in Massachusetts makes it possible to add or delete short DNA sequences, or change one DNA letter to another, with fewer unwanted side effects. The technique gets closer to the ideal form of genome editing, which would work like the “find and replace” command in a writing app. Use of CRISPR has grown rapidly since it was devised in 2012 because it made the “find”...

It has been a stop-start affair of late for the Bloodhound supersonic car, which was on the brink bankruptcy last year but now has the land speed record again firmly in its sights. Then for the grand finale, the EJ200 jet engine fired up its afterburners for a full 12-second reheat, which established that it is functioning properly, and propelled the Bloodhound LSR to 334 mph (537 km/h), a record for the now 11-year-old project. This run marks the beginning of the high-speed testing program, with the team to build up to a target speed of 500 mph (800 km/h)...