Free Republic

In the late '60s and early '70s, the open roads of America — particularly the American West — became a kind of shorthand for two things: white-knuckled driving movies and the concept of freedom itself. Richard C. Sarafian's Vanishing Point, which premiered on March 13, 1971, exemplifies this as well as any film of the era. Once regarded as a pretty dull affair — the New York Times' reviewer called it "a movie about which I can think of almost nothing good to say" — Vanishing Point has now ascended to that hallowed realm of "cult movie," coming in at...

In Calvary Chapel of Ukiahv. Newsom, (ED CA, March 10, 2021), a California federal district court refused to issue a preliminary injunction against California's COVID-19 restriction on indoor singing and chanting during worship services. The court rejected plaintiffs' free exercise, free speech, equal protection and Establishment Clause claims. The court said in part: [T]he State has now issued protocols allowing those who serve as performers during church services, presumably including choir members or soloists, to sing indoors subject to masking and distancing.

Kidnapped students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization Kaduna, have appealed to the Government not to use force to rescue them as their captors warned that such moves would lead to the killing of all the students. Benson Emmanuel, one of the students who spoke in a video that went viral on Saturday, said that they were surrounded by the gunmen who threatened that none of them would leave alive once the security agents attempt to rescue them by force. Emmanuel, who sat on the ground together with the other abductees, both males and females, said they needed urgent...

So completely ridiculous, like somehow naming them interrupts their “wild nature”. I and thousands of others have watched the pair of eagles in Hanover, PA. nest for many years. We have watched from mating, eggs hatching to fledging. Every year the watchers give the new babies names, the Adult pair are Freedom and Liberty. THIS year the PA Game Commission has issued a directive prohibiting this group from naming them. Looks like the cancel culture has a new target. “ THE naming of the hatchlings and their offspring introduces an element of domestication. In order to respect the eagles wild...

YouTube has taken down 800,000 videos containing COVID-19 misinformation since February 2020, The Hill reported March 12. YouTube spokesperson Elena Hernandez told The Hill the website has removed 30,000 videos containing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation since October. She said the removed videos "included claims about COVID-19 vaccinations that contradict local health authorities or the World Health Organization." YouTube's disclosure of the number of COVID-19 misinformation videos it has removed comes amid tech platforms' collective push to impose stronger measures against COVID-19 misinformation. Twitter recently revamped its policy, establishing new rules that target false claims about vaccines and lead to flagged tweets,...

Amnesty International is criticizing Zimbabwe's plan to evict 12,000 members of the Shangani indigenous minority from ancestral land. Zimbabwe's government this week indicated the evictions, which will make way for animal feed production, will go ahead despite a court order to halt the move. Robert Shivambu, Amnesty International's spokesman for Southern Africa, said Zimbabwe should stop the planned evictions of the Shangani people, who live in Chiredzi district’s Chilonga village on the border with Mozambique. The villagers are being kicked out to make way for grass production to make animal feed for a dairy company. "Zimbabwe authorities are attempting to...

Dar es Salaam — Tanzanian President John Magufuli, Africa's most prominent Covid-19 denier, disappeared from public sight 17 days ago. Now, he is widely rumored to be seriously ill with the same virus that he has dismissed and downplayed over the past year. Last May, Magufuli declared that "Tanzania has beaten coronavirus" after ordering three days of national prayer. The president abruptly stopped updating the number of cases, and assured foreign tourists that Tanzania's game parks and Indian Ocean resorts were open for business, leading to a wave of travel advisories cautioning travelers to avoid the country. Since then, he...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday she has directed key Democratic lawmakers to work with Republicans on drafting the next big legislative push from Congress—the much-anticipated infrastructure package. Pelosi said it would be “big, bold, and transformational” but it is also drawing scrutiny on how it will be paid for.

Pray For the Peace of JerusalemLambs, Sheep, and Shepherds Psalm 2Psalm 2 1 Why do the nations conspire[a] and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, 3 “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” 4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. 5 He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 6 “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” 7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:...

China’s absence of compulsory sex education in schools blamed for woman’s late discovery The woman tried to fall pregnant in the previous 12 months; she now has to decide her gender identityA 25-year-old woman in eastern China, who failed to fall pregnant after 12 months of trying, was shocked to discover she was actually born male and is intersex. The woman, whose external female genitalia never forced her to question her sex, stumbled upon the discovery after an X-ray of her injured ankle was taken in a hospital in her hometown. When the X-ray revealed that her bones had not...

French magazine Charlie Hebdo caused social media outrage Saturday over its front-page drawing of Queen Elizabeth II kneeling on the neck of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. A caption on the drawing translates to “Why Meghan left Buckingham.” A quote bubble near Meghan’s head reads, “because I couldn’t breathe anymore.” In the photo, shared on the magazine’s Twitter account, a menacing-looking Queen Elizabeth II pins Meghan down with her knee. The image is a cartoon recreation of George Floyd’s death when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during a May 25 arrest. […] Social media...

KEEPING THE FAITH The only survivor of a shipwreck washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stung with grief and...

Because of Samadams 76 thread earlier: https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3941981/posts of what people would have thought about planes and contrails 200 years ago, what is one thing you would like to know about in history before you die. I have several on my list. 1.How did the statues arrive on Easter Island. 2.How were structures built 1000's of years ago moving 100 ton stones into precise positions. 3. What was the purpose of the Nazca lines in Peru. What puzzle would you like to know before you die.

A new study based on police department statistics across major U.S. cities found a nearly 150% surge in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020, while overall hate crimes fell by 7%. The numbers reflect a growing trend of discrimination against Asian Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.The report, released this week by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, examined hate crimes in 16 of America's largest cities, found the first spikes rose alongside COVID-19 cases in March and April. New York City saw the highest jump, rising from 3 to 28. Boston and...

Rob Hoogland, a resident of Surrey, British Columbia, is the brave father of a young teenage girl who has been essentially stolen from him by the medical community and by the Canadian courts. Rob, whose daughter decided in 7th grade that she wanted to be a boy, believed that at 14-years-old, she was too young to make the decision to medically transition to a male. The doctors, school officials, and now the Supreme Court have decided that her father does not have the authority to make that decision, and furthermore, he is to always refer to his daughter by “his”...

First it was Huck Finn. Then it was JK Rowling. Last week it was “The Muppet Show.” This week it’s Dumbo. It’s only a matter of time before “Star Wars” gets canceled and you know it. Will Gen X please stand up? I have something I want to say to you — to us. We grew up in a country that didn’t ban books. We all agreed that witch hunts and blacklists were bad. Censorship was an outrage. The 1980s were not that long ago. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.

Boxing legend Marvin Hagler has died at the age of 66, his wife has announced. More to follow.

Total Vaccine Doses Delivered: 135,846,665 (3,720,700 J&J) People Vaccinated At Least One Dose: 68,884,011 (1,189,207 J&J) Fully Vaccinated: 36,929,777

Al Jaffee, one of Mad magazine’s longtime “Usual Gang of Idiots,” is enjoying a rather unusual week. Several days ago, the cartooning legend got vaccinated for the coronavirus. On March 13, he plans to celebrate turning 100 years old. “Hitting the century mark in age, it’s a nice number” for the brain to consider, Jaffee said with a warm laugh Thursday from his New York home — even if some body parts don’t “seem to appreciate it.” To mark the occasion, the humor publication is announcing that its “Mad Predicts the Future” edition, on sale next month, will salute its...

Explanation: What's the sound of one laser zapping? There's no need to consult a Zen master to find out, just listen to the first acoustic recording of laser shots on Mars. On Perseverance mission sol 12 (March 2) the SuperCam instrument atop the rover's mast zapped a rock dubbed Ma'az 30 times from a range of about 3.1 meters. Its microphone recorded the soft staccato popping sounds of the rapid series of SuperCam laser zaps. Shockwaves created in the thin martian atmosphere as bits of rock are vaporized by the laser shots make the popping sounds, sounds that offer clues...