Free Republic

In a Twitter discussion last week on ransomware attacks, KrebsOnSecurity noted that virtually all ransomware strains have a built-in failsafe designed to cover the backsides of the malware purveyors: They simply will not install on a Microsoft Windows computer that already has one of many types of virtual keyboards installed — such as Russian or Ukrainian. So many readers had questions in response to the tweet that I thought it was worth a blog post exploring this one weird cyber defense trick.The Twitter thread came up in a discussion on the ransomware attack against Colonial Pipeline, which earlier this month...

The new guidance could essentially allow anyone to go mask-free indoors without proof of vaccination. And that kind of honor system might jeopardize others, including children under the age of 12 who can't get vaccinated yet and adults who might be at more risk than they think. "We've seen governors and mayors and business owners drop mask mandates, and as a result of that, we've now made life much less safe for people who are unvaccinated, for immunocompromised individuals and for young children who cannot yet be vaccinated," Wen said. "I think the CDC meant to say something really good,...

A 10-year-old stood in front of Martin County board members in Florida, hoping to make masks optional for the remaining days of the school year and also called out teachers for their hypocrisy!

Former President Donald Trump only wanted buff Secret Service agents, a new book claims Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig's new book 'Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service,' says Trump didn't like agents who were fat or short 'I want these fat guys off my detail,' Trump once said. 'How are they going to protect me and my family if they can't run down the street?' The Secret Service demands agents to be physically fit, including running a mile and a half in under 11 minutes and 44 seconds Trump was known for putting people around him...

Imagine the headlines on CNN and every mainstream news website if a white teenager picked a random 4-year-old black child, grabbed him from his bed, and brutally stabbed him to death. The marches and cavalcade of television personalities calling for an end to the dangers of white supremacy would be off the charts. But that does not appear to be the case now, as an 18-year-old black man did precisely that to a 4-year-old white child.

Some women want the mask mandates of the COVID-19 pandemic to continue because they act as an "invisibility cloak" and curb "the male gaze." "I don't want to feel the pressure of smiling at people to make sure everyone knows I'm 'friendly' and 'likable.' It's almost like taking away the male gaze," said Aimee, 44, of Los Angeles, in a report by the Guardian. "There's freedom in taking that power back."... The Guardian also spoke with Francesca, 46, a teacher who views her mask as an "invisibility cloak." "Maybe it's because I'm a New Yorker or maybe it's because I...

Michael Bloomberg and his top associates at his namesake news conglomerate, Bloomberg LP, have regularly met in Beijing with top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials and propagandists, according to the Chinese government. I document these meetings, which have taken place over several years, in my book Breaking the News: Exposing the Establishment Media’s Hidden Deals and Secret Corruption, released May 18th. According to documents reviewed while researching for this book, these propagandists regulate Bloomberg LP and control the extent to which the former Democrat mega-donor-turned presidential candidate’s business can access the gigantic Chinese market. Michael Bloomberg himself has spoken favorably—even...

~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickman, HawaiiJoint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam is a United States military base adjacent to Honolulu, Hawaii. It is an amalgamation of the United States Air Force's Hickam Air Force Base and the United States Navy's Naval Station Pearl Harbor, which were merged in 2010. Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam is one of 12 Joint Bases the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission created. It is part of Navy Region Hawaii and provides Navy and joint operations Base Operating Support that is capabilities-based and integrated.Pearl Harbor is 8 miles from Honolulu. Naval Station...

An internal poll obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller shows pro-Trump candidate Hirsh Singh leading in the crowded Republican primary for governor of New Jersey. According to the poll Singh leads the three other Republicans who look to take on incumbent Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Singh, an engineer and entrepreneur, led in the poll by just over 2 percentage points with 22.2%, which is within the margin of error. A former member of the New Jersey General Assembly, Jack Ciattarelli, who has a past history of criticizing former President Donald Trump, came in second place with 19.9%. The poll was...

The nation of Mexico generally, and more specifically Mexico City, one of the world’s most populated cities with 22 million people, experienced a greater spike in COVID-19 cases by December 2020. It was at the end of 2020 that the Mexico City Government, concerned about hospital capacity, implemented an expanded population-based health intervention to manage COVID-19. Based on the growing data available from ivermectin research, the government organized a prehospital home-care program combining early detection with antigen tests, a phone-based monitoring process for positive patients and the provisioning of a medical kit containing ivermectin. Testing, based on World Health Organization...

Indiana will drop out of the federal program providing an extra $300 in weekly payments to unemployed workers and other programs that expanded unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor announced Monday. The changes taking effect June 19 could cut off or reduce unemployment benefits to more than 220,000 people. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed an executive order last week that reinstates a requirement that those receiving unemployment benefits will again have to show they are actively searching for work as of June 1. The changes come as many businesses blame the extra $300 weekly payment and the ease...

The Chinese regime fined Alibaba $2.8 billion in April under anti-monopoly law, highlighting the regime’s comprehensive review of Chinese internet companies.However, Tencent was only fined $310,000 despite its comparable monopolistic influence in China. For a mega-corporation like Tencent, a fine of this size is equivalent to pennies.The CCP’s biggest grievance with Alibaba is its very large share of the CCP’s precious authority over Chinese banking and finance. However, this alone doesn’t justify the disparity in fines. Tencent’s monopolistic actions in many leading industries are in no way smaller than Alibaba’s.China’s three main technology companies are Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, forming...

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill into law over the weekend that would require death row inmates to choose their execution method if lethal injections are not available in the state.The measure will allow the state to restart executions after nearly a decade-long pause, adding firing squads as an alternative method. A bipartisan group of lawmakers pushed the bill forward earlier this year and voted 32–11 in favor on March 2.According to the new law, death row inmates will have to choose between the electric chair or the newly formed firing squad. The state Senate bill will keep...

Catholics and Protestants Share Communion at German Ecumenical ConventionFrankfurt’s Cathedral of St. Bartholomew served as the site where Catholics and Protestants defied Church teaching against shared communion.FRANKFURT, Germany — Protestant and Catholic worshippers in Germany defied Church teaching on Sunday by taking part in each other’s celebration of the Lord’s Supper at an Ecumenical Convention in Frankfurt. In four services in the city, Catholics were invited to take part in an Evangelical Supper with Protestants and similarly invited to celebrate the Catholic Eucharist, with the decision to receive Holy Communion at Mass or bread at a Protestant service left...

1 There is a green hill far away, without a city wall, where the dear Lord was crucified, who died to save us all. 2 We may not know, we cannot tell, what pains he had to bear; but we believe it was for us he hung and suffered there. 3 He died that we might be forgiv'n, he died to make us good, that we might go at last to heav'n, saved by his precious blood.

Visualise the reality. And SHARE like hell. Big thanks to Geoffrey Kell who sent me this to share – four OUR CHILDREN.

Quasicrystals contain building blocks of atoms that...do not repeat in a regular, brickwork-like pattern. Whereas ordinary crystal structures look identical after being translated in certain directions, quasicrystals have symmetries that were once considered impossible: for example, some have pentagonal symmetry, and so look the same if rotated by one-fifth of a full twist. Materials scientist Daniel Shechtman... first discovered such an impossible symmetry in a synthetic alloy in 1982. It had pentagonal symmetry when rotated in each of various possible directions, something that would occur if its building blocks were icosahedral... Paul Steinhardt...had begun to theorize the possible existence of...

Explanation: Is our Milky Way Galaxy this thin? Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the spiral galaxy's boxy, bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. An assortment of other background galaxies is included in the pretty field of view. Thought similar in shape to our own Milky Way Galaxy, NGC...

After being put through hell years ago, Aaron Bianco fights for — and finds — peace h2 class="art-title">Taunted and harassed for being a gay Catholic, he resigned his post at a local church when his life was threatened. Now, he’s still a devout Catholic and ‘life is good’Three years ago, Aaron Bianco was going through hell.Homophobic notes were being left on his car. His tires were slashed.Someone broke into the church where he worked and painted an anti-gay slur on a wall.The front doors to that church were set on fire.He was getting death threats.Conservative websites published lengthy diatribes...