Free Republic

Picture the street outside your home. Now erase the power lines. Imagine interstate highways without the unsightly cable towers that dot the expansive United States landscape. This could be the wireless future of energy if a partnership between New Zealand’s government and a startup called Emrod works out—and it all dates back to the wildest dreams of Nikola Tesla. Wireless electricity sounds like science fiction, but the technology is already realized and primed for a utility-scale case study. And in this first-of-its-kind pilot program, Powerco—New Zealand’s second-largest electricity distributor—will test Emrod technology beginning in 2021. “IT SOUNDS FUTURISTIC AND FANTASTIC...

Virginie MONTET Tue, April 6, 2021, 12:28 PM·3 min read Proposed by the United States, supported by the IMF and welcomed by major economies including France and Germany, a global minimum tax rate on corporations is gathering momentum toward becoming a reality. The reform aimed at ending tax competition between countries and the use of tax havens by companies will be on the agenda of G20 finance ministers when they meet virtually on Wednesday, and the group could unveil a proposal by July. The idea has been promoted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development but received a fresh...

From the personal defense files comes the latest broad daylight lesson from the great northwest about armed self defense and the effectiveness of orders of protection in deterring From KOMO News . . . Kennewick (Washington) Police say they were called out at about 1:20 p.m., to the 2700 block of south Sherman Street on Thursday. KPD says a woman called about an armed man with a two-by-two steel pipe, who was trying to break down her door. Police say the woman had a gun and barricaded the back door while waiting for officers. The 65-year-old creeper who tried to...

ANDERSON — A local woman who accepted the challenge when friends dared her to shatter the glass at the Madison County Sheriff’s Department is now facing criminal charges. Billie Jo Goodnight, 42, 1300 block of Pearl Street, is charged with Level 6 felony charges of intimidation and criminal mischief. During her initial court appearance on Monday Goodnight was granted a pretrial release by Criminal Magistrate Kevin Eads. “Somebody had me thrown into jail,” she said. According to a press release, Goodnight approached the administration offices of the Sheriff’s Department with a baseball bat about 6:20 p.m. Saturday. She proceeded...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is calling on Republicans to boycott Coca-Cola after the company stated its disapproval for a new voting law in Georgia. "If they want to boycott us why don't we boycott them," Paul said during an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday. "This is the only thing that will teach them a lesson. If Coca-Cola wants to only operate in Democrats states and have only Democrats drink them, God love 'em. We'll see how well they do when half the country quits drinking Coca-Cola." After the controversial bill was passed by Republicans in Georgia late last month,...

Gov. Gavin Newsom is scheduled to visit San Francisco on Tuesday, as he announced that California now has the lowest positivity rate in the country. He didn't provide a comparison but as of Tuesday, the state's positivity rate was 1.6%. More than 58,000 people in California have died from the virus, and several states are seeing surges in cases driven by new virus variants.

Joke’s on her. A Kansas woman wound up in cuffs after pretending she’d been shot as an April Fools’ prank, police said. Arnthia Willis, 58, allegedly called her daughter Thursday, told her of the “shooting” and then hung up, according to Wichita outlet KAKE-TV. Alarmed, the daughter called 911 — prompting more than 15 cops to respond to Willis’ home in full protective gear with guns drawn and EMS in tow. Officers broke the door down, but found no one inside, the report said. They later learned that Willis was actually at work and had allegedly made up the...

(UPI) — Chelsea Clinton will launch her own podcast next week. iHeartRadio announced in a press release Tuesday that Clinton, the daughter of president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, will launch the In Fact with Chelsea Clinton podcast April 13.

Michigan, under the leadership of Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, topped the U.S. daily tally of new coronavirus cases this week despite standing as a blue state with a mask mandate firmly in place. The state reported a record number of new cases on Monday, 11,082. The figure bests its last daily peak, 10,140, which it hit months ago on November 20. The state has reported roughly 780,000 cumulative cases of the virus since the start of the pandemic.

On April 6 Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order restricting state agencies or political subdivisions from creating COVID-19 passports, or any other ‘receipt’ detailing an individual’s vaccination status. The order also prohibits organizations receiving public funds from requiring consumers to provide documentation of vaccine status in order to receive any service or enter any place. “Everyday, Texans are returning to normal life as more people get the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. But, as I’ve said all along, these vaccines are always voluntary and never forced,” said Abbott.

Say hello to the r/Repaintings subreddit where people from all over the internet share their imaginative creations by improving old thrift store paintings. The results are genuinely awesome, scroll down to see for yourself!

A three-year-old boy is in critical condition after he was shot while riding in a car near Grant Park on Tuesday morning, police said. Several witnesses reported seeing a man get out of a dark blue car and open fire during an altercation in the traffic lanes of Lake Shore Drive around 11:07 a.m. Shell casings were found on Lake Shore Drive just north of Roosevelt. One round struck the boy in the right temple, according to a CPD statement.

Donald Trump and his allies have stayed quiet on Matt Gaetz Their silence is deafening as Gaetz struggles to save his political career Gaetz was one of Trump's top allies on Capitol Hill Trump, who has not been shy about blasting out statements on an array of matters, has yet to send one out on Gaetz Anyone that has ever spent 10 minutes with the guy would realize he's an unserious person,' one former Trump campaign aide told Politico of Gaetz

November 2020Israelis celebrated on Friday when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the country had signed a deal with Pfizer Inc. to buy its novel coronavirus vaccine. But the fact remains that if Pfizer succeeds – or Moderna, with whom Israel also has a contract – these will be the first-ever messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines brought to market for human patients.In order to receive Food and Drug Administration approval, the companies will have to prove there are no immediate or short-term negative health effects from taking the vaccines. But when the world begins inoculating itself with these completely new and...

A 74-year-old woman was arrested Saturday for suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, according to a Carson City Sheriff's Office booking report. Deborah Ellen McCauley was taken into custody at 5:47 p.m. According to the booking report, deputies responded to a Viking Way address after an open 911 call was made to dispatch where a woman was heard yelling in the background. Deputies arrived at the residence and met with the woman, who advised she was mad at her husband because he got the COVID-19 vaccination, stating her concern of side effects, the report states. She told officers she...

Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research is bringing back its “National Antiracist Book Festival.” The event will host leading “antiracist” authors and scholars, including one of Black Lives Matter’s co-founders. Tickets range from $10 to $250 and will support the Center for Antiracist Research.

A spokesperson for Frito-Lay tells TMZ ... the company is committed to ensuring the quality and safety of its products. The rep added, "This situation is highly unusual and troubling, and we have already taken steps to investigate and attempt to identify the root cause." Step aside, Cinnamon Toast Crunch ... Flamin' Hot Cheetos has raised a man's shrimp tails and rat poo claims with a bullet ... at least that's what a father in Montana's claiming. Bow Horn Weasel of Elmo, Montana tells TMZ ... he bought the bag of chips Saturday at a local convenience store and his...

A Tennessee woman opened fire inside a Burger King drive-thru window after apparently becoming enraged about the wait time, police said. Surveillance photos show the unhinged customer leaning through the Memphis fast-food joint’s open window while brandishing a black handgun. In one image, released by cops Friday, the woman holds up the firearm with both hands and aims it inside the drive-thru window. Cops said the woman pulled up to the restaurant Tuesday and got into an argument with workers because she felt that her order was taking too long to complete.

The highly contagious variant that first emerged in the United Kingdom has now spread to all 50 states — as experts warn that there are not enough vaccines on hand to prevent it from causing another surge in cases. More than 15,000 cases have already been detected across the US of the B117 variant, which is believed to be more transmissible and deadlier than previous versions, CNN reported.

Biden gets '4 Pinocchios' for election law claims Former Georgia Congressman Doug Collins weighs in on backlash by Democrats against the Peach State's election laws. CNN’s Don Lemon was called out as "incredibly dishonest and openly partisan" on Monday night for claiming President Biden simply misspoke about the new Georgia voting law, when even the liberal Washington Post has accused him of lying. The Post knocked Biden last week for falsely claiming Georgia's new law "ends voting hours early," giving him its harshest rating of Four Pinocchios for spreading the misinformation. But over on CNN, Lemon had Biden’s back and...