Free Republic

Maryland is the latest to join a growing number of states looking to cash in by legalizing sports gambling, as Governor Larry Hogan prepares to sign a bill opening the state to sports bettors. The governor plans to sign a bill that would grant in-person sports betting licenses to several prominent Maryland sporting and gambling venues such as casinos, Pimlico Downs, Laurel Park, and the stadiums for the Baltimore Orioles, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Washington Football Team.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's $5 million lottery to encourage vaccinations appears to be an early win. State health officials said Monday that more than 25,400 Covid-19 vaccine shots were administered Friday, two days after the program was announced, making it the highest vaccination day in three weeks. Maybe more telling were the people who got vaccinated. Vaccinations for residents ages 30 to 74 spiked by 6 percent after weeks of steady decline. "Not only have we achieved our goal of increasing public awareness and interest, but we have slowed what was a consistent decline, and in certain age groups we're...

Top Republicans in the Arizona Senate are meeting at 1 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the ongoing audit of Maricopa County's election results. Senate leaders had invited county officials to attend, but county leaders have made clear they do not plan to participate, having issued a blistering rebuke to accusations by GOP senators that they deleted and mishandled election materials. Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, invited county officials to the meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, and Senate liaison Ken Bennett to discuss the claims first outlined in a public letter last week. However, the Senate backed off...

Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a Monday interview that, despite being confident that as a fully vaccinated individual he was at low risk of COVID-19 infection, he wore a mask indoors because he did not want to send “mixed signals.” Fauci made the remarks in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, who asked how the recently updated mask guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) affected Fauci’s mask-wearing practices. The CDC recently announced masks and social distancing were generally no longer necessary for those who are inoculated against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus,...

She's keeping score on all the ones who aren't fawning over her. Like Nixon, Kamala Harris has an enemies list. It comprises media characters who "don't fully understand her or appreciate her life experience," writes Edward-Isaac Dovere in the Atlantic Monthly, noting her self-absorption. Instead of going to the border, or doing her job as vice president, seems she's replaced concerns about her home decorating with seething about reporters who don't gush as enthusiastically about her as she'd like them to, and like Nixon, or Hillary Clinton, she's keeping score. The Washington Free Beacon's Andrew Stiles writes: According to Dovere's...

In more dioceses than not, the Feast of the Ascension is celebrated this Sunday. The liturgist in me regrets the move from Thursday, but here we are any way. Let’s ascend with the Lord, three days late! This marvelous feast is not merely about something that took place two thousand years ago, for though Christ our head has ascended, we the members of His body are ascending with Him. Because He was ascended, we, too, have ascended. In my own life as a Christian, I am brought higher every year by the Lord, who is drawing me up with Him....

“Scammers” and “vultures” are some of the names that Elon Musk has called short sellers. But few would describe Michael Burry as a vulture and his correct investments against the housing market as profiled in "The Big Short.” Short sellers can serve as investor advocates and continued calls from Democrats for new laws and regulators can hinder this valuable market tool. During the GameStop stock market surge at the end of January, investors, the media, Congress, and regulators watched as social media users and retail shareholders of the stock collectively enacted a short squeeze. The squeeze caused the stock price...

Wisconsin senators approved a bill earlier this week allowing dead bodies to be dissolved in a chemical bath and disposed like sewage. The bill, Senate Bill 228, authorizes a practice called alkaline hydrolysis, or “water cremation,” which liquifies the human body using a mixture of water, heat, and chemical agents, leaving only bones behind. The liquid is then dumped into the sewage system or boiled off, and bones can be crushed and deposited in an urn. The Republican-led Senate passed the legislation without debate on Tuesday over the objection of the Catholic bishops of Wisconsin.

Elise Stefanik has taken over as chair of the House GOP conference from Liz Cheney, and in a wonderful surprise, is calling for free and fair elections. She's blasting the trash coming from the Democrats who are trying to block the Arizona audit of Maricopa County. Seems there's something in it they'd rather the Republicans not see, so they're throwing up roadblock after roadblock. Instead of sweeping that appalling picture under the rug, as Liz Cheney might do, Elise is speaking out as the new Republican House leader: BREAKING: GOP Chair Elise Stefanik: Justice Department Is ‘Trying to Block’ Maricopa...

Officials are claiming that Pennsylvania county is experiencing issues scanning Republican ballots during local elections and primary races. “Chris Varney, Judge of Elections says they were initially under the impression that it was a problem with all ballots, but then determined it was only a problem with Republican ballots,” local news reported. The election official was unaware how many other precincts were experiencing the same issue, but noted it was occurring in numerous locations across Fayette County. The Fayette County Bureau of Elections confirmed the reports of precincts across the county rendered unable to scan ballots.

NEW YORK — Colonial Pipeline is having network issues preventing shippers from planning upcoming shipments of fuel, the company said on Tuesday, just after the system reopened after a week-long ransomware attack.

A teenager who collapsed during a basketball tryout while wearing a mask said Tuesday on "Fox & Friends" that she believes mask mandates are harmful to athletes. On the second day of basketball tryouts at Crooks County High School in Prineville, Oregon, Savannah Lay said she experienced what she called a near-death collapse due to lack of oxygen. Lay told "Fox & Friends" that she was doing "drills" that were usually easy to do, but, after she told the coach that she had "difficulty breathing," she asked for a break and removed her mask. She said she was confronted by...

SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER JOHN 17:1–11A Friends, Jesus’ prayer in today’s Gospel sums up his wonderful work as he is about to return to his Father. Jesus was, in his very person, the meeting of heaven and earth. God and humanity came together in him, and his entire ministry was the outward expression of that inward identity. By calling a scattered Israel to unity, inviting the poor to table fellowship, healing the sick in body and heart, and embodying the path of forgiveness and love, Jesus was bringing God’s will and purpose to earth. Now, in his Passion and death,...

I recently purchased a new computer, and over the last few weeks I've been transferring files from the old one to the new one. While doing this I've been combing through some of these files and checking to ensure that they will work with new versions of various applications I commonly use. One of the things that caught my eye was the "Play Count" number for each of the MP3 and MP4 files I am moving from one computer to the other. As I went through these tracks on iTunes, I decided to rank them in the order of their...

Given the history of the region, it is a given that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will be complex and painful. It is also a given that, in the international court of opinion, the guilt of Israel is assumed and Jew-hatred is never far from the surface.To be sure, there are different sides of the debate about the potential eviction of 13 Arab families from Sheikh Jarrah and about the riots at the Al-Aqsa mosque. (For a pro-Israel perspective, see here; for a pro-Palestinian perspective, see here.)But there is no debating the fact that Hamas seized this moment to launch a murderous...

Employers may be liable for ‘any adverse reaction’ from mandated coronavirus shots: OSHAIt’s also possible that employers requiring the injections may be held legally liable for violating federal law.WASHINGTON, D.C., May 10, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has put employers on notice that should they attempt to require employees to receive injections of experimental COVID-19 gene-therapy vaccines a resulting adverse reaction will be considered “work-related” for which the employer may be held liable.OSHA released its new guidance on April 20 under a “Frequently Asked Questions” section of its website having to do with COVID-19...

NEW DELHI/BANGALORE - The flames leapt high from the pyres, outshining the mellow glow of the setting sun in the backdrop. The heat was oppressive but even more searing was the heartbreaking scenes on Thursday (April 22) at the Hindon Cremation Ground in Ghaziaba

Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean, who lost both her in-laws to COVID-19 in New York care facilities, reacted on "Fox & Friends" Tuesday to tax returns revealing Gov. Andrew Cuomo is set to receive $5 million from his book deal on the pandemic.JANICE DEAN: When I first read that the governor was writing a book in the middle of the pandemic, I thought it was a joke. I thought it was a headline in the Babylon Bee or The Onion. How could the governor write a book about leadership when thousands of elderly were dying? It was incredible. And...

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Looking for a more hygienic way to roast a hot dog that doesn’t involve it rolling around on a rarely cleaned grill? Taking advantage of the Coandă effect, YouTube’s NightHawkInLight has created a bizarre BBQ alternative that instead levitates a wiener inside a red hot coil. Even if you’re not familiar with the Coandă effect, you’ve probably seen a video or two online of it in action, and have definitely experienced it in real life. Named after Romanian inventor Henri Coandă, it describes an effect where a fluid jet—either a liquid or gas—has the tendency to cling to the contours...