Free Republic

The South Carolina House voted Wednesday to add a firing squad to the state’s execution methods amid a lack of lethal-injection drugs — a measure meant to jump-start executions in a state that once had one of the busiest death chambers in the nation. The bill, approved by a 66-43 vote, will require condemned inmates to choose either being shot or electrocuted if lethal injection drugs aren’t available. The state is one of only nine to still use the electric chair and will become only the fourth to allow a firing squad. South Carolina last executed a death row inmate...

The Seychelles, which has fully vaccinated over 60% of its population against Covid-19, is bringing back restrictions amid a rise in cases. The archipelago of nearly 100,000 people recorded close to 500 new cases in the three days to 1 May and has about 1,000 active cases. A third of the active cases involved people who had had two vaccine doses, the country's news agency said. The rest had either had a single dose or were unvaccinated. Schools have been closed and sports activities cancelled for two weeks. Bars, restaurants and shops are to close early and some gatherings have...

LOS ANGELES - About four dozen migrant children being housed at an intake center at the Long Beach Convention Center have tested positive for COVID-19, along with 14 more at the Pomona Fairplex.

paceX launches Starship SN15 rocket and sticks the landing in high-altitude test flight By Mike Wall 8 minutes ago "Landing nominal," Elon Musk says. Click here for more Space.com videos... SpaceX's SN15 stuck the landing. The private spaceflight company's latest Starship prototype aced a high-altitude test flight today (May 5), checking every box from takeoff to touchdown for the first time. "We are down! The Starship has landed," John Insprucker, SpaceX's principal integration engineer, said during live commentary. Today's uncrewed test came on the 60th anniversary of the United States' first-ever crewed spaceflight, the suborbital jaunt of NASA astronaut Alan...

Tune in for the latest test launch of Elon Musk's Starship 15. The launch happens in Boca Chica, TX, where SpaceX has been launching its Starship rockets for an eventual trip to the Moon and Mars.

Meghan McCain on Wednesday slammed Republicans working to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from her House GOP leadership position, promising “consequences one way or another” if she is forced out of her post. “I feel very defensive of Liz Cheney and if you do this, which it looks like they're gonna do, I promise you there will be consequences, one way or another there's going to be consequences,” McCain said on “The View.” In the fiery segment, McCain called the group of Republicans supporting the ouster of Cheney a “sausage fest of MAGA.” “Go ahead in this sausage fest of...

Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney has penned a slashing op-ed where she lays out a stark choice for her party between Donald Trump's crusade to 'delegitimize' Joe Biden's election and her own and fidelity to the U.S. Constitution. Cheney issued the withering attack on elements of her own party as she prepares to confront difficult odds to maintain her elected leadership post. Trump and Trump loyalist in Congress are already coming out against her, and Trump backer Elise Stefanik is already launching a campaign to replace her. But Cheney, the daughter of the former vice president, cast the battle as...

President Joe Biden joined Democrats on Wednesday in defending Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) to keep the Republican Conference chair position. When Biden was asked if he had “any comments on the efforts to oust Liz Cheney from the House Republican leadership post?” Biden replied, “I don’t understand the Republicans.” Biden’s comment comes after several Democrats voiced support for Cheney as current Republican Conference chair after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Tuesday Cheney’s family-like style of big government politics is incompatible with “carrying out the message.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) praised Cheney on Tuesday for her “courage” and...

A surveillance video shows a black man repeatedly punching an Asian man pushing a stroller in an unprovoked attack in San Francisco. The violent attacker, 26-year-old Sidney Hammond, was arrested by San Fran PD.

A UK woman was sentenced Tuesday to at least 23 years in prison for murdering her housemate who spurned her sexual advances — and then dismembering the corpse with a saw and stuffing the pieces in suitcases, according to a report. Gareeca Gordon, 28, stabbed Phoenix Netts, also 28, four times in their Birmingham home on April 16, 2020, the Evening Standard reported. After murdering Netts, Gordon deceived her friends and relatives via text messages, emails and voice messages that she had moved to London. When she was nabbed beside a quarry in Coleford about a month after the horrific...

You may remember the controversial and rude statement from California’s Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (District 80) from last year regarding Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, which specializes in both electric vehicles and home energy solutions that include rooftop solar. Recently, Gonzalez not only backed but amended AB 1139, which could bring the state’s rooftop solar and storage market to a halt. The bill, nicknamed the “Anti-Solar Bill,” would kill the net energy metering policy that has allowed rooftop solar to grow sustainably Introduce new “grid access” monthly charge that will add $50–$86/month for the typical residential solar use. Adds prevailing...

"After hiking to the viewing area for the volcano and photographing for more than an hour, I packed my tripod but then noticed a tornado forming over the lava flow, luckily I caught it on video".Rb: What Sigfús Steindórsson is trying to say here is a whirlwind formed over the lava flow. Very cool at higher resolution as embers are spraying everywhere.Sigfús' 1:48 video here.

The battle is on, as President Biden pushes a raft of tax hikes to pay for roads, bridges, green energy, and expansive new social programs. His plans are generally popular—but nobody wants to be the one footing the bill. Business groups argue that instead of raising corporate taxes to pay for infrastructure, as Biden wants to do, the government should rely on user fees such as tolls and dedicated taxes, so that people getting the benefit of the new asset bear the cost. Higher corporate taxes can depress investing, send US companies overseas and trigger aggressive tax avoidance. Douglas Holtz-Eakin,...

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — On Wednesday, May 12, The Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization will hold a public meeting to amend the 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan to include Phase 1 of the I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project. In March 2021, local leaders on both sides of Mobile Bay held a news conference discussing a new concept to relieve traffic on Interstate 10 and the Bayway. The proposal includes a toll bridge meant for just 18-wheelers, and truck drivers previously told WKRG they’re opposed to this idea. The plan not only includes the construction of a new, truck-only bridge...

The state’s plan to build three massive toll roads through rural swaths of Florida were scrapped Tuesday, when the House of Representatives cast the last vote needed to repeal the controversial projects and send the legislation to the governor for final review. But the repeal isn’t exactly a total repeal: The legislation still authorizes new toll roads and highways, including expansion and “road upgrades” along 130 miles of scenic U.S. 19 between Citrus County and I-10 in north Florida, which could impact sensitive parts of Florida. It’s now in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ hands, following the Legislature’s action on 330 miles...

Food insecurity in the world’s poorest countries reached record highs in 2020, with millions staring at famine, a situation exacerbated in part by the COVID pandemic, according to a UN report. From Haiti to Syria, some 155 million people across 55 countries who rely the most on humanitarian assistance were classified as being in “crisis” – meaning in urgent need of food – a 20 million increase since 2019, according to the report released Wednesday. The report – based on a study organised by the Global Network Against Food Crises, a partnership between the European Union, Food and Agriculture Organization,...

Cardinal Tobin: Synodality is Pope Francis' vehicle for changing the churchChurch leaders, including those in the United States, uncomfortable with Pope Francis' emphasis on mercy and an attentiveness to the voices of those on the peripheries should reexamine their skepticism, according to Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, who says such priorities are here to stay."The election of Pope Francis opened up the rest of the world to the rich theological foment of the church in Latin America, with its strong sense of mission, encounter, the peripheries and mercy," said Tobin. "Many, including church leaders in this country, have...

SNIP Following their announcement, unusual details about their marriage from a 1997 Time magazine profile resurfaced. Gates, now 65, revealed a questionable “arrangement” he had with his ex-girlfriend, Ann Winblad, while married to Melinda. Each spring, Gates and his former gal pal spent “a long weekend” together at her Outer Banks, North Carolina beach bungalow enjoying several activities including long walks on the beach. “We can play putt-putt while discussing biotechnology,” Gates said of his yearly trip, which he had done for decades. The Post obtained photos of their secluded Outer Banks hideout home — now used as a “retreat”...

Explanation: What creates STEVEs? Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancements (STEVEs) have likely been seen since antiquity, but only in the past five years has it been realized that their colors and shapes make them different from auroras. Seen as single bright streaks of pink and purple, the origin of STEVEs remain an active topic of research. STEVEs may be related to subauroral ion drifts (SAIDs), a supersonic river of hot atmospheric ions. For reasons currently unknown, STEVEs are frequently accompanied by green "picket-fence" auroras. The featured STEVE image is a combination of foreground and background exposures taken consecutively in mid-March...

The U.S. trade deficit rose in March to a record $74.4 billion, driven by demand from American consumers for goods and services from overseas, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday. The deficit with China increased $6.7 billion to $36.9 billion in March, while the gap with Mexico increased $1.6 billion to $8.4 billion in March. The deficit with the European Union decreased $2.1 billion to $16.9 billion. Overall, imports increased 6.3% to $274.5 billion, driven mainly by shipments of consumer goods like toys, furniture, phones and vehicles. Exports also increased, by 6.6%, to $200 billion. Industrial and capital goods led...