Free Republic

Bezos’s Reign at Amazon Comes to An EndJeff Bezos will officially step down as CEO of Amazon this Monday, putting Andy Jassy at the helm of the e-commerce company led by Bezos since its founding in 1994. As the pioneer of Amazon Web Services, the company’s remarkably profitable cloud-computing business, Jassy has been . . .The Financial Times reports:Several people who have worked with Jassy speak of his affable yet precise manner — with an impressive recall of relevant data and technical detail — that should serve him well under the political spotlight, as he contends with unprecedented levels of...

We've spent over a year debating nonexistent evidence that masks effectively protect against the spread of viruses. However, there has been little debate and few published studies on potential harms of mask-wearing, a reality that has allowed zealous maskers to aggressively push their mandate as harmless, with no downside. Well, now we have a randomized controlled trial published in JAMA that raises serious concerns about this practice. Researchers from Germany conducted a blinded randomized controlled trial of 45 children wearing masks and measured the baseline carbon dioxide levels during inhalation and exhalation behind various masks as compared to the levels...

Furious Democrats have behaved “childishly” by yelling and pounding their desks while Ohio Republican Jena Powell attempted to speak on an amendment to a state bill banning biological males from female sports. Jena Powell attempted to add an amendment to the Ohio NIL bill - the ‘Name.Image, Likeness’ bill - which allows college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness. Ms Powell’s amendment would see biological males banned from competing in female sports. The state Republican told the House it was an amendment needed for women trying to achieve their dreams in sport.

Driver Shoots, Kills Armed Motorcyclist Who Came Towards Him On I-35, Fort Worth Police Say Police said Tuesday, that the SUV driver was cooperating with the investigation and hasn't been arrested.

Earlier this month Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán—long maligned by the Brussels machine as an authoritarian reactionary inside the ever-so-progressive European Union—gave an interview to the Croatian Catholic weekly Glas Koncila (The Voice of the Council, 20 June 2021). Orbán made several important points in the course of this interview: on the civilizational challenges currently facing Europe (including immigration), on national sovereignty challenged by Brussels, and on the nature of politics in the 21st century. No politician in such a position of authority in any EU member country has had the vision and the courage to talk and act like...

Brewster, 41, agreed to pay her ex-husband, Andrew Form, $5 million as part of their divorce settlement, The Blast reported this week. The figure represents his half of their marital home in Los Angeles, which she will keep. Any income Brewster makes from the latest “Fast and Furious” flick is solely hers, as her producer ex agreed that any income either earns “as a result of their personal and professional effort” from their May 13, 2020 and beyond “shall be the separate property of the earning party.” Neither Brewster nor Form will receive or pay spousal support.

Holy Trinity Parish is a bastion of fringe liberal Catholicism in an archdiocese whose leaders have exhibited complicit behavior regarding homosexuality, transgenderism, and abortion.WASHINGTON, June 30, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — The parish council at historic Holy Trinity Catholic Church, the Jesuit-run parish where President Joe Biden normally attends Sunday Mass, has issued a statement declaring that their church “will not deny the Eucharist to persons presenting themselves to receive it.” The parish declaration is clearly a response to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) stated intention to draft a formal statement on the Eucharist addressing Church teaching on worthiness to...

“Old School,” which is featured in the app’s Effect Gallery, gives the impression that the selfie-taker’s skin is covered in tattoos — including snakes, a Native American headdress, the words “pray for me” and what appears to be a swastika. Sabrina Zohar, 31, a California clothing designer with more than 17,000 followers on Instagram, tried out the filter and was left “speechless” when it made it appear as if she had the Nazi symbol inked on her arm. “This _____ has to end, not just for Jews but for everyone,” she wrote to her followers. “Hitler and then nazis is...

Red Bull Ring First Grand Prix1970Number of Laps71Circuit Length4.318kmRace Distance306.452 kmLap Record1:05.619 Carlos Sainz (2020)

The unraveling of social cohesion has consequences. Once social cohesion unravels, the nation unravels. My recent posts have focused on the systemic financial risks created by Federal Reserve policies that have elevated moral hazard (risks can be taken without consequence) and speculation to levels so extreme that they threaten the stability of the entire financial system.These risks are well known, though largely ignored in the current speculative frenzy. But there is another systemic risk which few if any see: the collapse of social cohesion. President Carter was prescient in his understanding that a nation’s greatest strength is its social cohesion,...

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - The Beloit Police Department identified two juveniles in connection to a church fire in Beloit as insurance continues to assess the damage. For now, the community is paying the price as St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church is closed indefinitely after Sunday night’s fire. “The church is immensely, extremely valuable, immensely, extremely important to the community, to myself through my own sort of story of God’s call in my life,” said Father Jarett Konrade. “So, the idea that there would be a fire, the idea of the possibility of loss was extremely scary and extremely...

An LGBT activist danced and stripped to scanty underwear in the atrium in front of the cathedral in the town of San Gil, Colombia this week. The suggestive dance took place amid the ongoing demonstrations for the national strike, and as part of "gay pride" month, creating a controversy on social media and outrage among Catholics. On the night of June 21, a group of LGBT activists gathered outside the cathedral in San Gil, which is located about 150 miles north of Bogota, and watched a member of their group dance and strip to the rhythm of the music. In...

Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, was formally accused by New York prosecutors Thursday of participating in a years-long scheme that allowed him and other company executives to receive "off-the-books" compensation, benefits for which he allegedly neglected to pay taxes on while also raking in tens of thousands in federal and state refunds...[Detailed summary of indictment]

The 35-year-old actress took to Instagram to share a snap of herself cradling her daughter with a lengthy caption about wanting to have a child under her own conditions. She captioned the snap to her 3.9million followers: 'I’m so excited to share this news with you. Four years ago, I decided I wanted to have a child. I wanted to do it on my own terms.' She also revealed that she has named the child Oonagh Paige Heard as the child was born on April 8, 2021. The name Oonagh (also spelled Una and Oona) is pronounced oo-nuh. It is...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tells Newsmax he's "considering" another run for the White House in 2024, but he'd be happy seeking another term representing Texas in the U.S. Senate as well. Appearing Thursday on "The Chris Salcedo Show," Cruz told guest host Tom Basile he was "just considering it, just thinking about it," when asked about his 2024 plans. Former President Donald Trump has yet to announce whether he will seek reelection after his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden. A move by Trump to reclaim the Oval Office would certainly make the still popular former commander-in-chief the strong front-runner...

A new study of U.S. service members found higher than expected rates of heart inflammation following receipt of COVID-19 vaccines. It's a finding Defense Department researchers say should call attention to the condition, known as myocarditis, as a potential side effect of the immunizations.In an article published Tuesday in JAMA Cardiology, U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force physicians described 23 cases of myocarditis in previously healthy males who developed the condition within four days of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.Physicians would have expected to find eight or fewer cases of myocarditis among the 436,000 male military members who received two mRNA...

The FReeper Canteen Presents... Tell Us A Song That Shows Your Appreciation Of America*Video* The Americans*Video* Star Spangled Banner As You’ve Never Heard It Before Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.

A Fistful of Dollars is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role. The film, an international co-production between Italy, West Germany, and Spain, was filmed on a low budget (reported to be $200,000), and Eastwood was paid $15,000 for his role. Released in Italy in 1964 and then in the United States in 1967, it initiated the popularity of the Spaghetti Western genre. It was followed by For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, also starring Eastwood. Collectively, the films are known...

A South Carolina corrections officer found herself in a sticky situation after she was caught attempting to smuggle Rice Krispies Treats to inmates — that were studded with drugs. Marcy T. Shafer, 43, was busted with the sweet and crunchy contraband Thursday as she tried to enter the Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution in Richland County, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections. Photos showed the doctored marshmallow snacks inside plastic bags — and dotted with four orange, oval pills.

Straw hat in hand, Tyrean “Heru” Lewis jumped out of his pickup truck along busy Shackelford Road in North St. Louis County and walked into the treeline, where he had something special to show. On the other side, uniform rows of vegetables — lettuce, radishes and bok choy — sprouted on half an acre. The land is not on a remote country farm, but just 17 miles from the Delmar Loop in the heart of the metro. As Lewis, founder of Heru Urban Farming, checks the crop he gets excited about its progress, raising his voice over the sound of...