Free Republic

In one of nature’s mysteries, 15 states will soon witness the reemergence of Brood X — or the Great Eastern Brood — of periodical cicadas. These “large, winged, kind of scary-looking but mostly harmless flying insects known for their almost deafening buzz” emerge in-unison every 17 years. Periodical cicadas have “black bodies and bold red eyes,” and spend 17 years lying underground in “wingless nymph form,” feeding on sap. While most cicadas travel as individuals or in small groups after reaching adulthood, periodical cicadas follow a strict schedule... “The end of May through June, it can get pretty loud —...

Mayor London Breed delivered an upbeat message in her State of the City address Thursday about the future of San Francisco, which has been battered in the past year by the COVID-19 pandemic “I believe we are at the start of an incredible recovery,” Breed said. “We aren’t just going to go back to the way things were. We aren’t just going to repair. We are going to reinvigorate. To come back even stronger. We will put people back to work. Our businesses will flourish. Opportunities will expand.” Breed promised San Francisco will “bounce back” as she laid out a...

Detroit-style pizza was once locked down to the state of Michigan, but recently, thanks to chains like Jet’s, it’s slowly been trending its way around the United States. The original version was developed in 1946 at a restaurant called Buddy’s Rendezvous (now known as Buddy’s Pizza). Like so many American pizzas, it was inspired by an older version: it’s an offshoot of the puffy, bready Sicilian-style (think focaccia). It’s always baked in blue steel pans, and its one big defining characteristic is the crust. The crusts of Detroit-style pizzas aren’t the bare pizza bones a lot of people throw away....

When you’ve lost the New York Times… In actuality Joe Biden hasn’t lost the paper of record, but his non-stop signing of executive orders to the exclusion of any demands for legislative action has been met with some slight disapproval from the Times editorial board. Titled “Ease up on the executive actions, Joe,” the editorial acknowledges that “things are going the same way they often do in Washington” but emphasizes that “this is no way to make law.” Biden’s own disaffection with the way the Times and other media outlets are treating him in his early days is the subject...

January 29, 2021 saw the March for Life in Washington, D.C., which recently saw the storming of the Capitol by individuals incited to violence by President Trump’s documentation of 2020 election fraud and an exhortation for those marcging to “peacefully and patriotically” protest. This year’s “march” was a virtual one due to the Chinese Wuhan pandemic, the irony being that abortion has and will kill more huma beings than Cov-d-19 or ani other virus. President Trump spoke in person at last year’s live Mach for Life, the first President to do so. Joe Biden did not speak at this year’s...

I logged into my bank account and saw a message not seen before - timing is curious, "Alert: Comerica Bank does not currently allow the use of debit cards or web or mobile banking services for use with online gambling sites. Attempting to use these sites may result in your debit card or web banking being temporarily disabled."

The soldiers, along with some Illinois Air National Guard airmen, are expected to remain at the nation’s capital until mid-March =========================================================== Gov. J.B. Pritzker activated 500 Illinois National Guard troops Thursday, with plans to send them to Washington D.C. "at the request of the Department of Defense, his office announced. “The U.S. Department of Defense has asked Illinois to assist federal and local agencies in this continued effort, and Major General Neely and I are ready to ensure that the state of Illinois continues its proud legacy of protecting our democracy,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Ultimately, we must root...

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) introduced on Thursday the ‘‘Environmental Justice Mapping and Data Collection Act of 2021’’ to gather data and direct federal money to communities around the country they say face environmental injustice. Those injustices, they say, include pollution, police killing black Americans and other minorities, and poverty, among others.

Residents have launched an effort to get a measure on the November ballot that would explore a Colorado county becoming part of Wyoming. A Colorado campaign finance disclosure website showed that Christopher Richards registered political committee Weld County Wyoming last February, KDVR-TV reported. Its pushing a ballot measure that would instruct Weld County commissioners to engage and explore the annexation with Wyoming. The county just east of Fort Collins has a population of more than 324,000 people. Richards said during a November meeting that he got the idea in 2019 after reading an opinion article in The Denver Post and...

President Joe Biden met with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Friday to discuss the economy but promoted massive government spending to boost the economy during the coronavirus pandemic. “We need to act now, and the benefits of acting now and acting big will far outweigh the cost in the long run,” Yellen said to reporters during the meeting with Biden in the Oval Office.

UnXpected is an original AsiaOne series where we speak to people with unconventional interests to find out what keeps them going despite the sometimes negative perceptions of othersHis life is defined by three F-words - free(dom), frugality and freeganism. As a freegan, Daniel Tay gets most of what he needs in life - such as food, another F-word, for free. Part of his lifestyle also involves eschewing consumerism for frugalism and perhaps even one step further, choosing not to spend unless necessary. "Most people see frugality as being cheapskate, a freeloader, or like you're 'kiam siap' (stingy)," says Daniel, who...

HURON, Ohio, January 27, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A 39-year-old woman with no known comorbidities died unexpectedly in northern Ohio within 48 hours of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, which was reportedly required by her employer. Janet L. Moore, a nurse aide at Admirals Pointe Nursing Home (APNH) in Huron, was found unresponsive in her car outside her apartment complex on December 31 around 8:00 p.m., her brother Jacob Gregory told LifeSiteNews. “She was coming home from work and as soon as she drove into her parking lot she passed away,” he said. “According to her neighbors she wasn’t feeling good directly...

Everyone loves an exciting story with a happy ending. Today’s gratifying result comes to us from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Earlier this month, at o-dark-thirty, a pair of armed and masked aspiring rocket surgeons tried to kick in the door of a residence. One member of the dynamic duo had his finger on the trigger of his pistol and managed to shoot himself in the thigh with a negligent discharge. Better yet, Keanu Cook’s lack of trigger and muzzle control were captured by a Ring doorbell camera for posterity.

A gesture meant to bolster President Joe Biden's call for unity and inclusion instead inspired divisiveness, after news emerged that a White House American Sign Language interpreter was a Donald Trump supporter who previously interpreted videos rife with misinformation.

- “Social robots like me can take care of the sick or elderly,” Sophia says as she conducts a tour of her lab in Hong Kong. “I can help communicate, give therapy and provide social stimulation, even in difficult situations.” Since being unveiled in 2016, Sophia - a humanoid robot - has gone viral. Now the company behind her has a new vision: to mass-produce robots by the end of the year. Hanson Robotics, based in Hong Kong, said four models, including Sophia, would start rolling out of factories in the first half of 2021, just as researchers predict the...

Though the US has separation of church and state, we have long been accustomed to American Christianity being consonant with American patriotism. But close Christian observers of American life have wondered for the last couple of decades — at least in my experience — if and when the day will come when being a faithful Christian will require one to oppose the US government and the American system. As America de-Christianizes, what was once unthinkable by conservative Christians is now fast moving from the fringes to the mainstream of our thinking. Catholic World Report has published a blockbuster interview with...

An activist group accusing former President Trump, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and evangelist Franklin Graham of "inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol" is urging board members of the two ministries Graham leads to fire him. Board members of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association – for which Graham serves as president and CEO – are the targets of a petition drive by the group, Faithful America. Faithful America is described by D. James Kennedy Ministries as "a left-wing group" founded by the National Council of Churches and funded in the past by George...

I seem to remember something that happened a couple years back when someone was bullied into silence by CNN who used Twitter to issue a dox threat. Can anyone help me out?

TAIPEI, Taiwan—China escalated its war-mongering towards Taiwan on Jan. 28, warning the self-ruled island that “independence means war.” The threat was made during a monthly briefing by Wu Qian, the spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense. He made the remarks while responding to a question about recent activities by China’s air force near Taiwan. China made its largest-scale military incursion into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the weekend—13 military aircraft flew over Taiwan’s southwest waters on Jan. 23, and another 15 military aircraft made a similar incursion the next day. According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense,...

Former President Donald Trump has added two former federal prosecutors to his impeachment defense team, according to one of the lawyers. Greg Harris told the Associated Press that he and former acting U.S. Attorney Johnny Gasser were added to the team. A call to the private practice the men co-founded wasn’t immediately returned, nor were emailed inquiries. Harris was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina, specializing in the prosecution of white-collar crimes. His biography says he views the experience as one that helps him obtain the best results for the clients he...