Free Republic

The best explanation of Texas’s prolonged blackout was published by Mitch Rolling yesterday at AmericanExperiment.org. Texas gets electricity from six sources: coal, nuclear, natural gas, solar, hydro and wind. How did those sources perform, and what contributed to the blackout? [W]e created a reliability grading scale designed to judge which energy sources came to the rescue, and which ones were largely no-shows, during the statewide power outages that rocked Texas. *** For our grades, we used average capacity factors over the course of the Texas power outages to showcase which energy sources were performing the best, and which ones were...

A suspect fatally shot two people at a gun store in a suburb of New Orleans on Saturday afternoon, and the shooter also died during gunfire as others engaged the suspect both inside and outside the outlet, authorities said. ...the initial shooter fired inside the Jefferson Gun Outlet in the suburb of Metairie, striking the two people who were later pronounced dead. ...several other people — whether employees or store customers — then opened fire on the shooter, both inside and outside of the building. The suspect also was killed, according to Lopinto. He added that two other people were...

A 95-year-old Tennessee resident, who was part of acts of persecution in Nazi Germany, has been deported to Germany, the U.S. Department of Justice said Saturday. Friedrich Karl Berger, of German citizenship, was deported because of his participation in Nazi-sponsored persecution while serving as an armed guard of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp system in Nazi Germany, in 1945, according to the statement. "Berger's removal demonstrates the Department of Justice's and its law enforcement partners' commitment to ensuring that the United States is not a safe haven for those who have participated in Nazi crimes against humanity and other human rights...

House Democrats renewed a push Friday for a federal hate crimes tracking law, amid an increase in assaults on members of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The starboard engine of a United Airlines passenger jet burst into flames over Denver on Saturday — forcing an emergency landing and causing a huge piece of engine casing to land on a suburban front yard, officials and witnesses said. Amazingly, no injuries were reported from on board Honolulu-bound United Flight 328 or on the ground — despite dramatic images showing the rattling, burning engine and the front yard wreckage. The Boeing 777 took off from Denver International Airport at 12:49 p.m. with 231 passengers and 10 crew members on board but quickly experienced engine trouble and returned to Denver...

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says he has little sympathy for Ted Cruz amid the furious backlash over his Cancun trip because the Republican Senator 'made fun' of him over his infamous beach pictures. Christie was ridiculed in 2017 when images showed him lounging on a beach that was closed during a state shutdown. The photos resurfaced last week and became one of the many memes mocking Cruz for deciding to flee Texas to Mexico with his family during a historic storm in his state that left millions freezing and without power. In an interview with Fox News Radio's...

The fund is chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, a self-confessed games fan The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has reportedly purchased over $3billion (£2.1billion) worth of stocks in an array of major video game publishers. In a report by Al Jazeera, the SEC filings of the PIF detail an investment in Activision Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive, and Electronic Arts over the course of the fourth financial quarter of last year. The fund is chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who has been seen to take an interest in video game companies in the past. His charity,...

Former President Donald Trump likely will make his first post-White House appearance at the end of February. He will be a keynote speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2021 in Orlando, Florida, CPAC Communications Director Ian Walters confirmed to The Epoch Times. The former president’s speech is scheduled for the afternoon of Feb. 28, the last day of the conference, Walters said. It will likely be Trump’s first public appearance since he left the White House on Jan. 20. American Conservative Union (ACU), the host of the conference, invited the former president to speak at CPAC. “I’d love...

DOING WELL WHAT OTHERS MAY NOT SEE In the New Testament scriptures, the Apostle Paul talks about the importance of striving for excellence. He writes, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Philippians 4:8) Allow me to share with you a story about striving for excellence. . On one of the arches of a magnificent cathedral in Europe is sculptured a face of great beauty. Yet it can be seen only once...

If you still believe in Q, “trust the plan”, etc. I would like to know why. What makes you so confident that Q is not BS now that Biden is in the White House?

At least 100 people gathered at a rent demonstration in Detroit on Saturday afternoon following a mother who was evicted with police assistance not too long ago. People walked the streets in the metro area, shouting, “no slumlords, no cops, all evictions got to stop!” This comes as millions of Americans are behind in rent and face eviction if the nationwide moratorium expires at the end of March. Independent reporter Brendan Gutenschwage captured the rent protest in a series of tweets Saturday afternoon. He said about 100 people turned up for the event to march through Detroit’s West Side. The...

A very interesting article from Politico notes that President Trump is positioning himself to screen candidates for 2022 who support the MAGA initiatives. This would essentially be considered a hostile move by the professional republican elites. As we previously mentioned, no republican is going to win any nomination, primary or general election without the MAGA endorsement of President Donald J Trump. This is the leverage that begins the “Big Ugly”, the destruction of the DeceptiCon wing of the UniParty bird. POLITICO – […] According to three people familiar with the planning, Trump will soon begin vetting candidates at Mar-a-Lago who...

Pray For the Peace of JerusalemLambs, Sheep, and Shepherds.Zephaniah 3:2020 At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes[a] before your very eyes,” says the Lord.New International Version (NIV)(End of Scripture Passage) Zephaniah speaks of that Glorious Day when God brings all of His Children home.New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer]...

DEL RIO, TX — Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano pleaded with President Biden to halt the release of illegal migrants into the area. Mayor Lozano said the city does not have the resources to house and care for them. In 2019, thousands of illegal migrants flooded across the Texas-Mexico border, many with children, declaring asylum. The procedure for the federal administrative courts at the time was to arraign each asylum seeker and then release each with a court date many months or even a year into the future. Each asylum seeker was released into the U.S. on personal recognizance bonds....

It’s not surprising that a man called Saint Bernard once said, “Love me, love my dog” in a sermon. After all, dogs have long been the world’s most popular pet. But now, the meanies at conservative media giant Newsmax have refused to throw man’s best friend a bone, attacking President Joe Biden’s dog, Champ, in a Friday segment. Host Greg Kelly felt the need to lift his leg and woof on the dog’s appearance, saying that Champ “looks a little rough,” and “needs a bath, a comb, and some loving care,” adding that he looks like he’s “from the junkyard.”...

Since Sunday, Texas weathered a fierce storm that left cities without power, water and warmth for millions of people who aren’t used to this kind of cold. Amid the tales of people struggling to survive, a few stories of hope showed that Texas hospitality is the real deal. Timmons, who lives three hours away in Houston, said she makes weekly trips to Austin because the delivery market is better there. The 32-year-old picked up one last delivery on Sunday as the snow picked up, thinking she would have time to make it home. She struggled to drive into the hilly...

TED Cruz's wife and daughters are reportedly on their way home from Cancun amid intense backlash over the family's trip during a deadly winter storm in Texas. Heidi, 48, was spotted alongside Catherine, 12, and Caroline, 10, at an airport terminal on Saturday after her controversial stay at the $300-a-night Ritz Carlton resort in Mexico. Furious parents at St John's school in Houston have demanded the Texas senator's girls should quarantine when they return from Mexico - leaving them unable to study as they cannot learn online in isolation. Just weeks before Cruz embarked on his controversial Cancun trip to...

....Why is there virtually no incidence of seasonal influenza (“flu”) this year? The low incidence of flu cases this year is unprecedented. Why has the federal government not made a major push on comprehensive personal measures for improving one’s immune system other than a few anecdotal comments? Why has there been a 77% decline in virus cases in the US over the past six weeks? How did the various vaccines receive emergency approval given the existence of therapeutic treatments that work against the virus? How do vaccines receive emergency approval for use when human trials have not been completed? Will...

General Motors Co. GM 0.79% is betting its future on electric cars. By mid-decade it plans to spend $27 billion on manufacturing 30 electric models and developing driverless cars. By 2035, it expects to have phased out gasoline-engine options completely and to be selling only electric vehicles, a technology that currently generates about 2% of sales and no profit for the company. Planning for this transformation at the factory level is the responsibility of Gerald Johnson, a GM lifer who took over global manufacturing operations in 2019, and who is spearheading a $2.2 billion gut rehab of a factory in...

Facebook's decision to block people from sharing news in Australia has been rebuked by lawmakers around the world, raising the specter of a much wider showdown between the world's biggest social media platform and the governments and news organizations fighting to check its power. Elected officials and media publishers in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and the United States slammed Facebook's actions on Thursday, suggesting they were anti-competitive and underscored the need for a regulatory crackdown. "It is one of the most idiotic but also deeply disturbing corporate moves of our lifetimes," Julian Knight, the lawmaker who chairs the Digital,...