Free Republic

Best touted as the beacon of democracy, Canadian values are supposed to be emulated by the rest of the world. Its good governance practices and rich Human Development Index are categorised as a cornucopia of an ideal modern society. However, the way it is dealing with its persecuted indigenous people reflects the legacy of its dark colonial past. Behind its glittering facade of social justice and equality lies the legal discrimination and violence against the natives. Racial discrimination and violence towards the indigenous people is not new to North America. The history, culture and society of countries in the region...

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel is ready to step out and party - well, almost. The chair of the department of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania hasn't been to the theater in over a year and he says he's "dying to go." He's also planning to travel to Switzerland this summer. But first, he has to sort out a big open question - both for himself, and for anyone he's going to share some air with. "How am I supposed to prove that I've been vaccinated?" he asks. "What I have now is a CDC cardboard piece...

Drug cartels are using weaponized drones armed with explosives to attack law enforcement in Mexico and the United States, equipping themselves like terror groups, authorities said. One drone operator with the Carteles Unidos cartel – who didn’t provide his name – told The Courier-Journal last week that the criminal organization has nearly 100 drones and many carry explosives. “We have many drone models. They’re not too sophisticated but can carry a considerable amount of explosives,” the cartel member told The Courier-Journal, adding that the equipment comes “legally from the U.S.” via “groups in Michoacán that support us and have legit...

The FBI released a statement on the recent ransomware attacks, calling its investigations a "top priority...The FBI has a long-standing history of confronting unique challenges in the cyberspace and imposing risk and consequences on our nation's cyber adversaries," it said. "Through trust-based relationships with our private sector partners, we are indispensable in the fight against cyberattacks."

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia bike riders won’t need their shirts, pants, skirts or even underwear - just a mask. Organizers of the annual Philly Naked Bike Ride say this year’s event will take place Aug. 28 and will require masks, based on the city’s earlier coronavirus restrictions. The city lifted most of its COVID-19 rules this week, citing an increase in vaccinations and a decrease in cases. But ride organizers said they hadn’t had a chance to chat since the city’s guidelines changed so for the time being, they’re “going to stick with our initial mask guidance.” Lead organizer Wesley Noonan-Sessa...

White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci late Friday pushed back on fresh criticism from Republicans following the release of thousands of his emails this week, calling the backlash "inappropriate" and "misleading." "It's really very much an attack on science," Fauci said during an interview on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" when asked about the latest attacks targeting him. "I mean, it is what it is. I'm a public figure, I'm going to take the arrows and the slings, but they're just — they're fabricated, and that's just what it is," added Fauci, the head of the National Institute of...

NYC mayoral hopeful has been endorsed by fellow defund the police supporter Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - despite paying for private security to patrol her leafy Brooklyn street. 'We have an option of a candidate who can center people, racial justice, economic justice and climate justice,' Ocasio-Cortez said during her announcement in New York City on Saturday. '(Wiley) didn't just come up to run for mayor but has experience and has a lifetime of dedication to this,' she added.

Nigeria said it suspended Twitter indefinitely on Friday, two days after the company removed a Tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari for violating the site’s rules, according to BBC. A statement by the government on the suspension cited, "the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria's corporate existence." On Saturday, Twitter said it will work to restore access "for all those in Nigeria who rely on Twitter to communicate and connect with the world."

Trees and wildflowers blossom during all four seasons in Kunming, which is known as The City of Eternal Spring because of its year-round mild temperatures. However, it is also home to something much less natural: a laboratory where scientists have been creating monkey embryos with a mutated gene so that, when born, they will age unusually fast. Such experiments are done to study human diseases such as autism, cancer, Alzheimer's and muscular dystrophy.

“When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life" (Proverbs 6:22-23).

Facebook's 'independent fact checkers' relied on a letter spearheaded by a major financial backer of the Wuhan Institute of Virology to 'debunk' articles exploring the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a leak from the lab, it has emerged. For nearly a year, Facebook censored articles exploring the lab leak theory, labeling them 'false information' and punishing news publishers by limiting their reach on the platform, before the social media giant sheepishly reversed course last month. Facebook relies on third-party fact-checkers to 'debunk' false claims, and in the case of the lab leak theory, a February article from Facebook...

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Mattie Parker declared victory Saturday as the next mayor of Fort Worth, Texas, keeping it one of America's biggest cities with a GOP mayor. The 37-year-old Parker was in a runoff with Deborah Peoples, a former Democratic county chairwoman who would have been the city’s first Black mayor. Peoples conceded defeat as Parker had more than 53% of the vote with ballots still being counted

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A trove of recently released emails to and from top government epidemiologist Anthony Fauci is sparking fierce backlash against him from some Republicans, particularly among those who are harshly critical of his comments on mask-wearing, the potential that the coronavirus leaked from a lab the U.S. gave money to, and more. The emails were obtained first by BuzzFeed via a Freedom of Information Act request. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has been among Fauci's harshest critics for months, led reaction Tuesday morning "It seems like he was very troubled early on that there was gain of function. He's like ‘What,...

Compare and contrast. A British family, who have saved all year for a holiday after long months of house arrest and general dreariness, have to interrupt their break in Portugal to go home, on the stern orders of the Government in London. Before them lie hours of bureaucracy, unpleasant and ruinously expensive nasal swabs, long forms to fill in, shuffling queues, more nasal swabs, more queues, and then days of being snooped on at home. You'll know that I think this is ridiculous and useless. But even if you disagree with me, you must see that it is profoundly unfair,...

Former President Donald Trump said the Republican Party will take back Congress and the White House "sooner than you think." He was speaking in a video for the National Republican Senatorial Committee that was shared online Friday. "We're going to take back the Senate, take back the House, we're going to take back the White House, and sooner than you think. It's going to be really something special," Trump said in the video.

Apparently the republicans in Georgia are not very happy with Governor Brian Kemp for blocking audits into transparent election fraud within the state. During his introduction to the delegates at the GOP convention yesterday the Georgia governor was greeted by jeers and boos from the crowd. It should be noted Brian Kemp is in charge of the voter integrity initiative within the Republican Governor’s Association (RGA), and recently requested that Mike Lindell be blocked from attending the conference in Tennessee. (video of booing at the link)

Republican Javier Villalobos flips this seat from Blue to Red in an 85% Hispanic city. Continuing the Republican trend in the RGV of Texas started by Trump

The Pope’s Horizontal Church Reports that he may restrict the old liturgy fit with it.Before leaving office in 2013, Pope Benedict XVI mused about the dangers of a horizontal church, one that is more preoccupied with this life than the next one. He decried the “hermeneutic of politics” that had lowered the vision of churchmen and convinced them “that the pre-conciliar Church was finished.” He might as well have been describing his successor. The relentless focus of Pope Francis on temporal politics and contempt for tradition conform to that view perfectly. His pontificate has resembled a U-turn, taking the Church...

The attack took place in the landlocked nation of Burkina Faso, where the government said the perpetrators also burned homes and the market in the village of Solhan, in the country’s eastern Yagha province... Attacks by jihadists linked to al Qaeda and an ISIS affiliated group called the Islamic State in West Africa’s Sahel region have displaced tens of thousands of people in recent months. In the past two years, more than 1.14 million people have lost homes and livelihoods in the poor country, which is also hosting some 20,000 refugees from neighboring Mali who are seeking safety from jihadist...