Free Republic

Democracy, by definition and in its most general form, is a system of government in which the people ‎have the power to choose their rulers. Of the main indicators for democracy is the existence of free and ‎fair elections. In addition, a free press, freedom of expression, and adherence to freedom of religion and ‎beliefs are some of the other pillars of democracy that enable the people of a country to consciously and ‎voluntarily elect government officials. There are democratic or parliamentary governments in which the ‎president or prime minister is determined by parliamentary elections or by direct popular vote.‎...

There are 2,755 billionaires globally – and combined, they are worth over $13 trillion. Of these ultra wealthy individuals, Visual Capitalist’s Avery Koop notes that just over 100 are millennials, born between the years 1981 and 1996. This young generation represents around 3.8% of all billionaires on a global basis with a combined net worth of $573.1 billion. This visualization, using data from Forbes, ranks the richest 25 millennial billionaires and details their source of wealth, total net worth, nationality, and age.Note: Forbes categorized billionaires by current age (2021). For those slightly over or under the age range of Millennials,...

A preacher in Turkey has said that men should grow beards to make clear they are not women. Islamic speaker Murat Bayaral spoke on TV show Fatih Medreseleri this weekend, slamming men without beards. Bayaral said: 'Men should grow beards. One of the two body parts that separate men from women is the beard,' ..'For example, if you see a man with long hair from afar you may think he is a woman if he does not have a beard. Because nowadays women and men dress similarly. Allah forbid! You could be possessed by indecent thoughts.'

Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell said Wednesday that President Joe Biden offended African Americans when he told a crowd observing the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre that Black businessmen and women don’t have lawyers to represent them or their businesses. "Joe Biden, look at me! I’m Black. I’m a lawyer," an outraged Terrell said on "Hannity." "There are thousands of Black lawyers. This is insulting, this is offensive," the Fox News contributor continued. "I’m Black. I’m a lawyer, 30 years as a lawyer, and here's the other part that is so insulting. It makes an assumption, a racist assumption...

Concerns about increased violence and crime continue to fuel a surge in gun purchases and background checks. The FBI set a record for May in background checks. The bureau's latest data suggests 2021 will be another record year for background checks and sales, topping the nearly 40 million checks last year, the Washington Examiner reported Wednesday. A total of 3.22 million background checks were performed in May, according to Forbes. That number was down 8% from 3.51 million in April but up 4% from 3.09 million in May 2020. Inventory of firearms is low and the availability of ammunition is...

The incident occurred in Etawah district's Sanadpur where Surabhi was tying the knot with local resident Manoj Kumar. Surabhi died due to a cardiac arrest.In a disturbing incident, the sister of a bride in Uttar Pradesh (Northern India) was made to marry the groom after the bride collapsed and died in the middle of the wedding ceremony. The incident occurred in Etawah district’s Sanadpur where Surabhi was tying the knot with local resident Manoj Kumar. After exchanging garlands as part of Hindu wedding rituals, however, Surabhi collapsed on the stage of the ‘Jaymala’. A doctor was called to treat her...

On Thursday (5/27/21) a new local video was posted to Youtube by Buffalo Biodiesel. The company shared the video in an effort to identify a man they say stole fry oil from Famous Pizza in Bethel, CT. Again, this video does not come from the Bethel Police Department, but if you have any information, they would be the people to contact. The video is accompanied by the following description: "On the morning of May 26, 2021, security cameras at Famous Pizza in Bethel, CT captured this footage of an adult male, pictured left, who pulled up in a white van...

Iran’s failure to provide credible explanations for traces of uranium found at two undeclared sites is “a big problem” that is affecting the country’s credibility, the head of the UN’s nuclear inspectorate, has said. Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also said Iran and the US could not simply return to the old nuclear deal... ...He said the issue of knowledge acquired by the Iranians was “very hard to resolve. They have developed new centrifuges. Research and development has taken place. It was not allowed by the original JCPOA. It has happened and now...

Shocking scenes in Melbourne, Australia as a church service is attacked by police and new government is on the way in Israel but first... Israel's health ministry says its probable that heart inflammation cases found mainly in vaccinated young men are linked to the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine... That news Tuesday and today Israel's health ministry announcing that 12 to 16-year olds will be vaccinated starting next week... (Story Updated) Shocking video of the crackdown on outdoor worship in Melbourne, Australia last Sunday. Worshipers outdoors after their pastor was arrested Saturday night and the church blocked off by police on Sunday....

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has effectively ruled that only one more automatic budget reconciliation is permissible this year, dealing a blow to Democrats who previously thought they would have two more chances to sidestep Republicans in advancing President Biden's agenda. MacDonough ruled that a revision to the 2021 budget resolution cannot be automatically discharged from the Senate Budget Committee, meaning Democrats would need at least one Republican on the 11-11 panel to vote with them. The bombshell ruling effectively means Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will be able to use only one more reconciliation vehicle to pass Biden's key...

Penn State plans to host full-capacity crowds at all sporting events this fall, which means the football Whiteout at Beaver Stadium will be restored after going quiet in 2020. In addition, Penn State said that tailgating, team-arrival festivities and gameday traffic patterns will return to normal.

An Anaheim man has been charged with murder in connection with fatally attacking a 70-year-old man earlier this week, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday. The incident was reported about 12:20 p.m. Monday near the intersection of Catalpa and Falmouth avenues, where the victim was found suffering from severe head trauma. Anaheim police said the attack on Rahmatolah “David” Yaghoubi was unprovoked and random. Authorities have not elaborated on how the victim died. An investigation revealed that the same day, a 60-year-old man was in his front yard when he was assaulted by an unknown assailant. While officers...

The chairmen of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) on June 1 called on NBA players to end endorsement deals with Chinese sportswear firms that are linked to forced labor. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), in a letter to National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) President Chris Paul and Executive Director Michele Roberts, expressed concern over contracts that more than a dozen NBA players have signed, with firms that include Anta, Li-Ning, and Peak, which have all admitted to using cotton produced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. The commission’s letter to the labor...

(Singapore)Delivery riders here have again been inconvenienced by another 'prank' allegedly made by a loan shark. Earlier this week, several of them went to a unit at Block 468C Fernvale Link with cash-on-delivery orders only to find out from the resident that they did not order anything. The police told AsiaOne that they were alerted to a case of intentional harassment on May 31 at 1.29pm. "Preliminary investigations revealed that a residential unit had received multiple food delivery orders allegedly made by an unlicensed moneylender. The police are looking into the matter," they added. According to a Shin Min Daily...

The U.S. Commerce Department is failing to do its part to protect national security and keep sensitive technology out of the hands of China’s military, according to a U.S. congressional advisory report (pdf).The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report said the Commerce Department had been slow to create a list of sensitive technology that should be scrutinized before export to China.The lag in developing the list of emerging and foundational technologies, as required by a 2018 law, may exacerbate national security risks, the report said.The Commerce Department, entrusted to strengthen U.S. export control laws, “has, to date, failed to...

...President Joe Biden is pouring new incentives into his administration’s push to vaccinate at least 70% of adult Americans against COVID-19 by Independence Day — including offers of free beers, baseball tickets, groceries, child care and a plethora of other pandemic perks. Biden laid out the latest vaccine freebies on Wednesday as part of what he declared a “month of action” to persuade as many Americans as possible to roll up their sleeves for coronavirus shots ahead of the July 4 holiday. “It’s clearer than ever — the more people we get vaccinated, the more success we’re going to have...

The publishing industry can be a fickle enterprise, as the time to roll out a new edition can entail many changes, especially when the topic of note is so deeply rooted in current events. It was only yesterday when the announcement was made that a book was set to be released featuring the figurehead of the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, entitled “Expect The Unexpected”– an unintentionally ironic description of the man infamous for contradicting himself repeatedly.Since yesterday’s announcement, and the release of the cover art, the news cycle has exploded over the release of thousands of pages of emails from...

Fox’s Martha MacCallum had a fascinating interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci’s boss at the NIH, Dr. Francis Collins.MacCallum asks him about an April 20, 2020 email which references a Bret Baier report on the Wuhan lab leak theory. She asks why he, at that point, referred to it as a conspiracy theory. He claims there were “a lot of conspiracy theories floating around” and then he starts listing things including the lab leak theory, claiming he never ruled that out..@MarthaMacCallum is torching NIH Director Francis Collins over #FauciEmails. She asked about one w/the subject line "conspiracy gains momentum" re: the...

A team of researchers in Japan has succeeded in making catfish all female with a compound found in soybeans -- a development that promises to increase the production efficiency of this and other species whose females are more valuable than males in the food market. The team, from Kindai University's Aquaculture Research Institute and based at the institute's Shingu Station in Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture, used isoflavone -- a compound found in soybeans similar in effect to female hormones -- to create the all-female groups of catfish. The feat is a Japan first, according to the university. As female catfish grow...

The San Francisco Giants will debut special uniforms to honor the LGBTQ+ community this week, the team announced on Tuesday, the first day of Pride Month. The move will make the Giants the first team in Major League Baseball to incorporate the 11 Pride colors into an on-field uniform. “We are extremely proud to stand with the LGBTQ+ community as we kick off one of the best annual celebrations in San Francisco by paying honor to the countless achievements and contributions of all those who identify as LGBTQ+ and are allies of the LGBTQ+ community,” Giants president and CEO Larry...