Free Republic

Perseverance has successfully landed Mars, picture and video have already been received..... Really incredible...

"The days of Wikipedia's robust commitment to neutrality are long gone," co-founder Larry Sanger said. Big tech has faced repeated accusations of bias and censorship, but one platform has escaped much scrutiny: Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia, which claims "anyone can edit", is the 13th most popular website in the world, according to Alexa's web rankings. Google gives it special placement in search results. But critics – including Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger – tell Fox News that many Wikipedia pages have become merely left-wing advocacy essays.

Former Ohio GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken formally announced her candidacy for Ohio’s Senate seat that will be vacated by Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) in 2022, after he announced that he will not seek reelection.

I recently found myself in need of a stairlift for a family member. I am looking to purchase a system and install it myself. I began with a little research to educate myself about the different brands. Any recommendations good or bad would be highly appreciative. As well, any tips about unreputable marketers or manufacturers. This is a basic straight one story flight of stairs with landings at top and bottom. Thank you

Texas is nearing the end of what Gov. Greg Abbott (R) called "a once-in-every-120-year cold front," but that doesn't entirely explain why more than a million households still had no electricity early Thursday, after three full days of below-freezing temperatures. Plenty of places in the world keep their power on in prolonged arctic weather, and so did parts of Texas. Those edges of Texas, including El Paso, "are primarily in areas outside of those supported by ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the electric grid for 90 percent of the state and operates separately from federal oversight...

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thousands of people who live in Austin are without water Thursday, and there has been no word from the City of Austin when the water might return. KXAN reached out to Austin Water multiple times ahead of the city’s planned 2 p.m. news conference looking for answers but still has not heard back. Austin Water tweeted about the issue around 9:30 a.m. but still has not said when it might be able to resume water service to those areas affected.

Beto O'Rourke is back is the spotlight as Texas continues to face a statewide crisis. Hundreds of thousands of Texans remain without power Thursday morning as millions more deal with burst pipes and other consequences of unprecedented winter weather. O'Rourke, the former 2020 Democratic presidential and 2018 Texas Senate candidate, has been making the TV rounds to call out the Republicans who've shifted the blame for the power shortages — and is organizing to check in on senior citizens throughout it all. On Wednesday night, O'Rourke announced he and volunteers had made more than 150,000 wellness calls to seniors throughout...

A convicted cop killer who gunned down an off-duty NYPD cop trying to stop a trio of car thieves in 1980 has been granted parole, the city police union said Thursday. Paul Ford, 58, one of three men convicted in the Aug. 15, 1980 shooting death of Police Officer Harry Ryman, is scheduled to be released next month despite receiving a life sentence in the case, the Police Benevolent Association said on Twitter. Another man convicted in the cop’s killing, Barrington Young, 62, was released last year and deported, the records show. The third convict, Cornelius Bucknor, 59, has been...

These are crazy times. A pandemic led to national quarantine; to self-induced recession; to riot, arson and looting; to a contested election; and to a riot at the U.S. Capitol. In response, are we focusing solely on upping the daily vaccination rate? Getting the country back to work? Opening the schools as the virus attenuates? Ensuring safety in the streets? Or are we descending into a sort of madness? It might have been understandable that trillions of dollars had to be borrowed to keep a suffocating economy breathing. But it makes little sense to keep borrowing $2 trillion a year...

There are misleading reports asserting the blackouts were caused by large numbers of natural gas and coal plants failing or freezing. Here’s what really happened: the vast majority of our fossil fuel power plants continued running smoothly, just as they do in far colder climates across the world. Power plant infrastructure is designed for cold weather and rarely freezes, unlike wind turbines that must be specially outfitted to handle extreme cold. The blackouts, which have left as many as 4 million Texans trapped in the cold, show the numerous chilling consequences of putting too many eggs in the renewable basket....

A metal structure that mysteriously appeared on a roundabout in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been destroyed over fears about its origins. People in the capital, Kinshasa, stoned and torched the 12ft (3.7m) triangular prism that looked like other metal monoliths that have cropped up around the world over the last few months. It had begun to draw selfie-takers, which fuelled rumours on social media. Some feared it was satanic or put there by aliens or by a secret cabal.

New York City’s Health Department is now recommending that Big Apple residents wear two face masks instead of one to fight back against the spread of COVID-19. “We know that even as the vaccine is here the need to keep wearing a mask is paramount, it’s crucial. It’s amazing of how all the things that we’ve learned in this crisis, maybe the most profound is the power of a mask,” de Blasio said during a City Hall press briefing Thursday as the new mask guidance was announced.

According to CNN Mitch McConnell “laughed off” Trump’s attacks and plans on “ignoring the president at all costs.” CNN reported: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had an instant reaction when seeing the lengthy attack he endured from former President Donald Trump. He laughed about it, according to a source familiar with the matter. The reaction underscores how McConnell plans to navigate the post-Trump era: Focus squarely on winning back the Senate majority — while ignoring the former President at all costs. Indeed, amid their fallout following the deadly US Capitol riot at the hands of Trump supporters, McConnell has made...

The White House called a lid for Joe Biden on Thursday, after an inch of snow and sleet fell in Washington, DC. Calling a “lid” informs reporters the president will not appear in public or travel anywhere for the rest of the day. The lid was called by White House staff at 8:00 a.m. Thursday morning. A few inches of snow and sleet are forecast to fall in Washington, DC, for the rest of the day. White House press secretary Jen Psaki held her daily 12:30 p.m. briefing over the phone. Wednesday night, officials announced they postponed Biden’s trip to...

A private tropical island and house in the Bahamas, with 20 acres of land, 1.3 acres of waterfront and two beaches — plus some major celebrity cachet — has hit the market for $35 million. The property, named L’île d’Anges, meaning Isle of Angels, lies in the Exumas island chain in crystal-clear waters and features a 6,500-square-foot house a stone’s throw from its beaches, lush, wild vegetation and palm groves. The island went on sale with Knight Frank on Monday. The island’s white-stucco mansion lies on its highest part and resembles an Ibizan farmhouse fused with local Bahamian elements.

It’s Time To Build Our Own Economy The problem with the American Populist movement is that it was centralized. Centralized movements give the enemy a central attack vector to target and overcome. One man, who took on the weight of the world, became the sole focus of both the enemy and of the American Populist movement itself for over five years. The oligarchs removed that one man from the entire internet, then they removed him from office. Everyone knows this, we all watched it happen. What no one has clearly defined is where American Populism goes from here. The oligarchs...

Here's some running commentary leading up to the landing. If there are other links that are better please post for the forum.

The problem with the American Populist movement is that it was centralized. Centralized movements give the enemy a central attack vector to target and overcome. One man, who took on the weight of the world, became the sole focus of both the enemy and of the American Populist movement itself for over five years. The oligarchs removed that one man from the entire internet, then they removed him from office. Everyone knows this, we all watched it happen. What no one has clearly defined is where American Populism goes from here. The oligarchs believe that they have destroyed American Populism...

About ERCOTThe Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers -- representing about 90 percent of the state’s electric load. As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects more than 46,500 miles of transmission lines and 680+ generation units. It also performs financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers retail switching for 8 million premises in competitive choice areas. ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by...

Former President Donald Trump has largely been quiet since leaving office Jan. 20, but he is reportedly considering getting involved in a California gubernatorial election later this year if the efforts to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom are successful. On Wednesday, Bloomberg TV's Kevin Cirilli reported that Trump is "carefully eyeing and weighing" whether he should "inject some of the Trump political machine into a potential California governor runoff election."