Free Republic

A giant sinkhole measuring 80 m (262 feet) in diameter has opened up on a field in southern Mexico on Saturday, May 29, 2021. No damage or injuries were reported, but a nearby home is at risk of being swallowed as the gaping hole continues to expand rapidly each day. Scientists are considering several hypotheses as the possible causes, including variations in the soil's water content. The sinkhole appeared in the town of Juan C. Bonilla, Puebla State, in the southeastern region, according to state officials. It is estimated to be about 15 m (50 feet) deep. Authorities said there...

US/AMERICAS: The US economy added 600,000 positions in March. However, 8.1 million jobs remain vacant, according to a report released today by the US Chamber of Commerce. “More than 90 percent of state and local chambers of commerce say worker shortages are holding back their economies, and more than 90 percent of industry association economists say employers in their sectors are struggling to find qualified workers for open jobs,” the Chamber stated on Tuesday. Chamber President and CEO Suzanne Clark said there is an official labor shortage that is worsening each day. A poll found that nearly 70% of businesses...

The Pentagon is examining a Trump-era policy that restricts the types of flags that can be flown on military bases, according to a senior defense official, CNN reported Tuesday.The consideration comes as the nation kicks off Pride Month, a celebration to honor the LGBTQ community. While the defense official said that no decision have been made, changes to the policy could allow the rainbow Pride flag to be displayed.“This goes beyond the issue of the Pride flag,” the official said, noting that the change would apply to numerous non-governmental flags. “The truth is we haven’t resolved it yet.”According to the...

Press-wary Hillary Clinton on Wednesday came to the defense of tennis star Naomi Osaka of Japan amid a flap over the athlete’s refusal to attend a news conference following her first-round victory at the 2021 French Open. “I’m inspired by Naomi Osaka’s courage,” Clinton tweeted. “This is a moment for all of us—especially the press—to ask why it’s not enough to let her stellar performance on the court speak for itself.” The second-seeded Osaka on Sunday was slapped with a $15,000 fine and threat of expulsion from the French Open after she refused to attend a news conference following her...

Anything can be a work of art, even nothing. Italian artist Salvatore Garau recently auctioned an invisible sculpture for 15,000 euros ($18,300). According to as.com, the sculpture's initial price was set between 6,000 and 9,000 euros; however, the price was raised after several bids were placed. Titled 'Io Sono' (Italian for "I am"), the 67-year-old artist's sculpture is "immaterial," meaning that the sculpture does not actually exist. Though he's received much critique for the sale, Garau argues that his work of art isn't "nothing," but is instead a "vacuum."

The Knesset voted Wednesday to elect former Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog as the country’s 11th president, the mostly ceremonial job that is currently held by President Reuven Rivlin.The 120-member legislature voted 87-26 with seven members absent or abstaining to elect Herzog, who will serve a a single seven-year term, as Rivlin’s turn comes to an end on July 9. Herzog beat his opponent by a larger margin than any previous president, N12 noted.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a draw in crude oil inventories of 5.36-million barrels for the week ending May 28. Analysts had predicted a draw of 2.114 million barrels for the week. In the previous week, the API reported a draw in oil inventories of 439,000 barrels after analysts had predicted a draw of 1.050 million barrels. Since the start of 2020, crude oil inventories have grown by more than 46 million barrels, according to API data. ---- Oil prices were trading up on Wednesday afternoon, on bullish signals from OPEC that saw the group stick to...

PHILADELPHIA -- The NFL on Wednesday pledged to halt the use of "race-norming" -- which assumed Black players started out with lower cognitive functioning -- in the $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims and to review past scores for any potential race bias. The practice had made it harder for Black players to show a deficit and qualify for an award. The standards were designed in medicine in the 1990s in hopes of offering more appropriate treatment to dementia patients, but critics faulted the way they were used to assess legal damages in the NFL case.

The Ohio Senate Finance Committee has inserted language into a proposed budget bill that would allow workers to seek refunds for income taxes paid to cities where they did not live or perform their jobs during 2020 and 2021. The bill’s language differs from House Bill 157, passed by the House last month, that would allow for refunds for 2021 but would essentially leave it up to the courts as to whether taxpayers could request refunds for 2020. Jay Carson, an attorney with the conservative Buckeye Institute, said if the language in the proposed Senate bill becomes law it would...

The United Kingdom is on the verge of emerging from lockdown, but faced with the prospect of greater freedom in the coming weeks a poll claims a strong majority of Britons want to keep the movements of unvaccinated countrymen restricted. A significant 71 per cent of Britons support “requiring COVID-19 passports for admission to large events in the UK”, a poll claimed, with just 20 per cent against apparently banning the unvaccinated from some public places. Despite the high level of interest in vaccine passports, when it comes to whether a large event requiring vaccine proof would impact an individual’s...

Tarta de Santiago – or St. James Cake – is a traditional Spanish cake from Galicia made with almonds and flavored with cinnamon, lemon zest, and sometimes sweet wine or brandy. I found it on Albert Bevia’s YouTube channel, ‘Spain on a Fork’ (lots of nice recipes here): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JesYuzdlu_sUnderneath the video, ‘Show More’ includes the full recipe and a link to a pattern for a St. James Cross stencil that you can make for the powdered sugar top decoration - or you can buy a nice birch wood stencil on Etsy that comes with recipes: https://www.etsy.com/listing/841418990/tarta-de-santiago-cake-stencil-st-james?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=tarta+de+santiago&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&organic_search_click=1Another very nice website for...

Can the Pope be a Heretic and Remain the Pope? Is Francis a Heretic?Francis: Pope or Anti-Pope?The question about Francis and his heretical positions was raised in 2019 in an open letter signed by 19 theologians/priests/church leaders. Since then, dozens of others added their names to the letter and thousands of Catholics signed a petition for the bishops of the world to respond to the letter. Today, the information below was on Bishop Rene Gracida's website. Has Pope Francis embraced positions that are "heretical in the strict sense?" And if he has, what is the current state of the papacy?...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) decided to dispense with actually doing her job of advising and consenting on Joe Biden’s various nominees, electing instead to vote for all manner of crazy and unqualified people in the name of bipartisan unity. She also recently voted for the so-called “January 6th commission,” which would have been solely another painful democrat colonoscopy of President Trump. This from redstate.com. Well, RINOism is not working out very well for the soon-to-be-retired Senator from the state of Alaska as Murkowski got served a large helping of said unity from Joe Biden yesterday. It came in the form...

Twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, citing the opinion of over 100 “democracy scholars,” warned that the very “survival of American Democracy” could depend on Democrats passing legislation that would effectively loosen election safeguards by stripping states of their authority to impose basic election integrity measures, such as requiring voter ID and restricting vote by mail. “Over a hundred democracy scholars warn that the survival of American democracy could depend on passing national voting rights protections over the next few months,” Clinton said, linking to a Washington Post op-ed titled, “A frantic warning from 100 leading experts: Our democracy is in...

KELLY TSHIBAKA: Lisa Murkowski has been complicit in enabling Joe Biden’s radical environmental extremism agenda. She was opposed to Donald Trump in 2016, opposed to him in 2020, was an obstacle to him through his entire administration—never mind that he was one of the best presidents we’ve had for Alaska and our energy policy. But, on top of that, she’s helping Joe Biden. She was the deciding vote that let Deb Haaland through the energy committee and it’s under Secretary Haaland and the Department of Interior that’s leading this suspension of our leases that have been lawfully executed. That vote...

Tune in via Roku/AppleTV/AmazonFire with the America’s Voice App PM tennmountainman, if you want On/Off this list https://pluto.tv/live-tv/americas-voice https://americasvoice.app Past episodes: https://rumble.com/c/BannonsWarRoom

To highlight the Prometheus Awards’ four-decade-plus history and make clear why each winner deserves recognition as a pro-freedom and/or anti-authoritarian work, the Libertarian Futurist Society has been publishing since 2019 a series of Appreciations of past award-winners. Here is an Appreciation of Harlan Ellison’s “Repent Harlequin!’, Said the Ticktockman,” the 2015 Prometheus Hall of Fame winner for Best Classic Fiction.

A cargo ship carrying chemicals and plastic pellets has been burning off the coast of Sri Lanka for nearly two weeks. Now, efforts to tow the ship to deeper waters have failed – and the boat's sinking looks increasingly likely. The ship, the X-Press Pearl, was carrying 1,486 containers. Eighty-one of those were dangerous goods containers, including 25 tons of nitric acid. At least one container has leaked nitric acid. Infrared footage over the weekend showed that the fire has mostly died out. X-Press Feeders, the cargo ship company, said Wednesday that it "regret[s] to report that despite salvors successfully...

Democrats lost last year's election for Iowa's 2nd Congressional District by the narrowest margin in a House race in almost 40 years. After the six-vote heartbreaker, some expected Democrat Rita Hart to immediately declare a rematch in the southeast district long held by her party. So far, no Democrat has stepped up to run. The hesitancy to jump into a district now as competitive as they come is one measure of Democrats' fatigue in a state viewed for decades as a true battleground. Even as the coronavirus pandemic gradually wanes and President Joe Biden's job approval remains strong, Iowa Democrats...

On Wednesday, The AZ Audit War Room tweeted this out: “The Pennsylvania Legislative Delegation is currently meeting with Members of the Arizona Legislature to discuss election integrity in the United States.” The Pennsylvania Legislative Delegation is currently meeting with Members of the Arizona Legislature to discuss election integrity in the United States. pic.twitter.com/JzDan3tD0V — AZ Audit War Room (@AuditWarRoom) June 2, 2021 Yesterday, The Gateway Pundit reported that Pennsylvania sent a delegation to Arizona for an on-the-scene tour of the audit facility, broken first by Christina Bobb on One America News. This is HUGE NEWS! The audit team recently announced...