Free Republic

...just how bad is the situation? Our new paper shows the outlook for life on Earth is more dire than is generally understood.The research published today reviews more than 150 studies to produce a stark summary of the state of the natural world...Our paper was authored by 17 leading scientists... While the problems are too numerous to cover in full here, they include:a halving of vegetation biomass since the agricultural revolution around 11,000 years ago...about 1,300 documented species extinctions over the past 500 years, with many more unrecorded... Read more: What is a 'mass extinction' and are we in one...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo late Friday revealed previously unreported intelligence that may link a lab in Wuhan, China, to the start of the global coronavirus pandemic. Pompeo also called on the World Health Organization to fully investigate the possibility that the deadly bug accidentally escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology

Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar submitted his resignation in a letter to President Trump on January 12, citing the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol last week, NBC reported. Azar’s resignation will take effect on January 20, the same day that Joe Biden will be sworn in as president. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic early in 2020, Azar has been involved in the Trump administration’s response as a member of the White House coronavirus task force. Azar has also overseen Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccine development program.

White women have been part of white supremacy in America since the very beginning, experts point out, dating back to their role in slavery. “They were at the table when the system was designed,” Stephanie Jones-Rogers, a history professor at UC Berkeley and author of the book They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South, told Vox. “They were co-architects of the system.”That remained true after the Civil War, through the birth and evolution of the Ku Klux Klan, and during the civil rights movement when white women were some of the most vocal opponents...

Prayers up for a great and prosperous new year!! FR is funded solely by contributions made by the liberty loving patriots who love and use it. We are beholden to no political party. No advertisers, no outsiders, no sugar daddies, no corporate string pullers. Definitely no government subsidies or tax breaks. No 501c or other IRS non-profit status. This means no commercial ads. No annoying pop-ups. No ad tracking. No mail campaigns. No spam. No third-parties -- not even the IRS -- trying to control what we do or say. We are self-funded, fiercely independent and enjoy our freedom to...

After last week’s Capitol riot that left five people dead, Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said President Donald Trump’s decision not to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration is probably for the best. Outgoing presidents traditionally attend their successors swearing-in to illustrate the peaceful transfer of power. But the Jan. 6 riot at the capitol preceded by Trump’s comments have led to security concerns in Washington, D.C., and around the country. “The statement he gave a couple of days ago was a major step in the right direction renouncing violence, saying that violence is not part of his movement,” Graham said speaking...

Since 2007, Adrian Peterson has been paid handsomely to carry a football. However, despite earning millions of dollars during the course of his decorated NFL career, the 35-year-old barely has anything to show for it. In fact, the Detroit Lions running back may have hit rock bottom recently.(snip) Given the fact he’s collected NFL paychecks for 14 years, you’d expect Peterson to be in a terrific financial position. Yet, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Since entering the league more than a decade ago, Adrian Peterson has been well-compensated for his ability to run through, around, and over NFL...

Joe Biden continues to get the old Obama band back together while assembling his cabinet and White House staff. (Seriously… are there no new people in the Democratic Party?) His latest addition, however, should raise some eyebrows even in his own party. Anita Dunn is having her career resurrected by Uncle Joe, signing on to be one of his senior advisors in the Oval Office. (She’s actually been working on Biden’s campaign since 2019, though primarily in the background.) If that name sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because she served as Barack Obama’s communications director briefly at the beginning...

Parler CEO John Matze says he and his family have been forced to go into hiding after death threats and "security breaches" and left them fearing for their lives. A new court filing on Friday from the Parler legal team revealed Matze and his wife and young child are now in hiding after being placed in danger. Parler is a free speech-focused social media app that has been widely embraced by Trump supporters as it offers an uncensored alternative to restrictive Big Tech rivals.

In the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel, Major Uziel “Uzi” Gal began the development of a revolutionary submachine gun (SMG). Introduced to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Special Forces in 1954 and placed into general use with the Israeli military two years later, the Uzi was a blowback-operated weapon that fired from an open bolt. Origin Story The original weapon was just 7.72 pounds and had a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute.

#QAnon is literally a carbon copy of a massive #Bolshevik psy-op from the 1920s that was created to neutralize the remaining reactionary forces opposed to the communist takeover of Russia. The name of that psy-op was "Operation TRUST"! #TrustThePlan, guys! #MAGA #Trump #Capitol...

'This one is not THAT good' Aunt Dai offers a mix of authentic and North American Chinese food. And Fei tries to be very clear about what's what. "Don't let the name fool you, this one is NOT authentic Chinese food," he warns patrons of his Hēi Jiāo, a.k.a. black pepper stir fry. "True story, one customer got really mad because it's not so Chinese since he visited Sichuan China before." But that doesn't mean Fei only likes the traditional fare. After some cajoling from his customers, he added General Tao chicken to the menu, with the following description: "I...

An anti-masker in leopard-print was captured on video making bizarre claims after she was arrested in Florida for COVID-19 violations. Cindy Falco-DiCorrado, an ardent Trump supporter, was in an Einstein Bros Bagels joint in West Boca, Palm Beach County, on Thursday when staff asked her to put on a mask or leave, in compliance with local pandemic safety laws. The 61-year-old from Boynton Beach, wearing head-to-toe animal print, claimed it was her constitutional right not to wear a mask. After police back-up was called, Falco-DiCorrado was captured on video being taken out the shop as she screamed that police were...

The left understands that ideas mean nothing without power. Instead of complaining, we should follow their lead—starting small, but with ambitious goals. David Hines has a professional background in international human rights work with a focus on recovery from forced disappearances and mass homicide. He lives in Los Angeles.

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis’ Lesson on How to Make Female MinistersIn one of my weaker moments, I did something rather foolish, born from curiosity. That is, I read Pope Francis’ new motu proprio: Spiritus Domini. It was not so much what the document promulgated that interested me – that women shall be made official acolytes and lectors of the Church – but rather in how it was accomplished. How exactly does a pope go about codifying an illicit and vexatious practice? Is it as simple as a few magic words, a stroke of the pen, and voila, women can officially...

President Trump is considering a pardon for former adviser Steve Bannon during his final days in office, two people with knowledge of the matter told Politico on Friday. Bannon, formerly the CEO of Breitbart News, was the architect of Trump’s 2016 campaign and chief White House strategist until August 2017.

Frustrated by the loss of his Twitter account and forced to accept that he soon must leave office, President Trump has effectively stopped doing his job, delegating daily responsibilities to Vice President Mike Pence while hunkering down with a shrinking group of acquiescent aides and contemplating additional presidential pardons. Trump had considered leaving the White House before his final day in office Wednesday, even as early as this weekend, but he has opted to depart on the morning of President-elect Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day, according to two people familiar with discussions who cautioned that, with Trump, plans are always subject...

WASHINGTON, Tuesday, Jan. 15. The Post-office Department is making up the accounts of the Mail contractors in South Carolina for the fourth quarter of 1860. Some seventy thousand dollars of balances will be due contractors, for which it is proposed to give orders on, the Sub-Treasury of Charleston. The resolution of the New-York Bankers at their meeting on Saturday to sustain the Government with money, is hailed here as a most encouraging token of confidence in its stability, and chills the movers for the Southern Confederacy, for they foresee that the two Republics cannot borrow in the same market. Private...

Anyone seen hide nor hair..?

“The madness of Trump, as bad as it was, it really needed to happen. We really needed a reflection of our world’s greatest problem, which is not climate change, but sociopathy and narcissism. Especially in America. It’s going to kill the world. It’s not capitalism, it’s narcissism.” So said songstress Lana Del Rey, reflecting on the Trump administration this week. She’s right to dig deeper than climate change and capitalism, but wrong to finger an incurable element of the human condition for America’s ills. The broader point, however, is important. Del Rey is arguing that Trump’s political ascent exposed or,...