Free Republic

On July 1, Xi Jinping, head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), declared that China had achieved a moderately prosperous society. At the same time, the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission also stated that China’s per capita GDP had exceeded $10,000 in 2019. However, these statements were very different from those of the CCP Premier Li Keqiang last year.On July 1, Xi declared that China had achieved a “moderately prosperous society.” What is a “moderately prosperous society?” A moderately prosperous society is the “ideal state of societal living conditions,” according to China’s Baidu Encyclopedia. “It is not only about...

White House climate envoy John Kerry was photographed without a face mask while walking through Boston Logan International Airport on Monday morning—the second time he has been snapped apparently flouting the mask mandate during air travel this year—according to photographs obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. In photos, Kerry can be seen walking through an airport body scanner without wearing a mask. The source who provided the photos said they were taken at 11:41 a.m. on Monday at Logan Airport. Kerry previously denied that he went maskless on an American Airlines flight after a picture emerged in March, calling the...

A senior IRS executive who had previously denied tax-exemption to Christians Engaged has reversed his decision, awarding the favorable designation to the Texas prayer group.Stephen K. Martin, director of exempt organization rulings and agreements, had initially cited a claim that prayer and Bible study favor Republicans as the reason for Christians Engaged’s denial of tax-exempt status. However, in a letter received by the Christian organization on July 7, Martin announced a reversal regarding that decision.“We’re pleased to tell you we determined you’re exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code 501(C)(3). Donors can deduct contributions they make to you...

The national gas price average has increased 40 percent since the start of the year, according to the latest data from AAA. Gas prices are up from $2.25 to $3.13, the motorist service club reported. Ac cording to data from the Federal Reserve, this is the highest price for gas since October 2012. “Moreover, it is not stopping there. Motorists can expect gas prices to increase another 10–20 cents through the end of August, bringing the national average well over $3.25 this summer,” AAA reports. “Robust gasoline demand and more expensive crude oil prices are pushing gas prices higher,” said...

(The Wall Street Journal) YouTube has instituted many changes over the past year to limit the problematic videos it recommends to viewers. A new study suggests the repairs have a way to go. Software nonprofit Mozilla Foundation found that YouTube’s powerful recommendation engine continues to direct viewers to videos that they say showed false claims and sexualized content, with the platform’s algorithms suggesting 71% of the videos that participants found objectionable. The study highlights the continuing challenge Alphabet Inc. subsidiary YouTube faces as it tries to police the user-generated content that turned it into the world’s leading video service. It...

Singapore’s health agency said that individuals who have received the Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine won’t count as being vaccinated.“The national vaccination numbers reflect only those vaccinated under the national vaccination program,” the country’s Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. “Currently, this only includes those vaccinated with the Moderna COVID-19 and Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty vaccines.”COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, otherwise known as the coronavirus.The city-state’s health officials said there is inadequate efficacy data for the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, namely against the Delta strain. The variant has become the most prevalent COVID-19 strain in the country.“We don’t really...

The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus last week released a music video titled, "A Message From the Gay Community." The video begins with one singer introducing the tune by saying, "As we celebrate Pride and progress we've made over these past years, there's still work to be done. So to those of you out there who are still working against equal rights, we have a message for you." With that he begins to sing over a lone piano: You think we're sinfulYou fight against our rightsYou say we all lead lives you can't respectBut you're just frightenedYou think that we'll...

An elite annual invite-only conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, organized by the investment bank Allen & Company is taking place this week, with the guest list including billionaires and powerbrokers from the Big Tech Masters of the Universe and the media such as Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Disney CEO Bob Iger, CNN host Anderson Cooper, Patriots Owner Robert Kraft, and possibly Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The estimated wealth of attendees tops $588 billion this year. The Daily Mail reports that key tech and media industry players are arriving in Sun Valley in Idaho this week for the start of the...

Tucker Carlson was talking to U.S.-based Kremlin intermediaries about setting up an interview with Vladimir Putin shortly before the Fox News host accused the National Security Agency of spying on him, sources familiar with the conversations tell Axios. Why it matters: Those sources said U.S. government officials learned about Carlson's efforts to secure the Putin interview. Carlson learned that the government was aware of his outreach — and that's the basis of his extraordinary accusation, followed by a rare public denial by the NSA that he had been targeted. Axios has not confirmed whether any communications from Carlson have been...

Thomas Zimmerman – a Special Assistant to Joe Biden on National Security Agency personnel – formerly served as a visiting scholar at a Chinese Communist Party think-tank labeled as a “front group for Chinese intelligence collection and overseas spy recruitment” by the FBI, The National Pulse can reveal.The stunning revelation – that Joe Biden’s intelligence apparatus relies on the recruitment from a recent collaborator with the Chinese Communist Party – comes just weeks after the G7 summit where Western nations pledged tougher measures against an increasingly aggressive Beijing.Zimmerman’#8217;s influence over the National Security Agency (NSA) also follows explosive allegations from...

Four “mercenaries” suspected of assassinating Haitian President Jovenel Moïse were killed by police on Wednesday night — and two others were arrested in a tense gunbattle in the impoverished country, officials said. Three officers were held hostage and freed in the standoff, according to Haiti’s police chief, Léon Charles. “We blocked them en route as they left the scene of the crime,” he said. “Since then, we have been battling with them,” Charles said in a televised statement. “They will be killed or apprehended.” Moïse, 53, was killed in a gun attack at his home outside Port-au-Prince around 1 a.m....

April 2021 The Political Pandemic : 2None Dare Call It Conspiracy"We talk about it as the ‘Covid-19 crisis’. It’s not. It’s a specific political crisis... Because... [historically], this virus is rather small in scale. It's gigantic in consequences because we have chosen to inflict a form of economic suicide on ourselves."- David Starkey, British historian, May 2020 To picture the self-inflicted nature of the Covid catastrophe, simply replay March 2020 in your mind's eye. There, with the benefit of hindsight, you will not only re-visualise but perceive more readily the contrived and controlled chaos set in train as politicians, technocrats...

Reflections on the Anniversary of the Congressional Decision to Award a Pension to Margaret Corbin ... Some serve in the military for years and years, never seeing action in combat; others see action before their training is even complete. Today’s story concerns a moment of tragedy and heroism at one of the worst days of the War of Independence: November 16, 1776, the Battle of Fort Washington. One of the legendary characters of our Revolutionary War is the valiant Molly Pitcher, a female volunteer who operated the cannon in battle, as courageously and precisely as any male soldier. This may...

Archdiocese won't support vax religious exemptionThe Church's promotion of the China virus experimental gene therapy is becoming more aggressive in the archdiocese of St. Louis. From parish vax clinics to job threats, the Catholic hierarchy wants St. Louisans to get the jab. Church Militant's Kristine Christlieb is investigating the latest pressure tactic. St. Louis Catholics seeking a religious exemption from taking the vaccine are getting no support from the archdiocese.This new front in the vaccine wars began developing last week.Reporter: "SSM Health is joining a growing list of hospital systems to require staff to get vaccinated."The only way to avoid...

SEATTLE — A 46-year-old man was arrested for breaking into an occupied Capitol Hill apartment armed with an axe, a hatchet and a spiked glove was released from jail without charges Monday — after state case workers concluded he is incompetent and unable to defend himself in court. Stanley Dion Red, 46, who has a long criminal history, and a history of treatment for mental illnesses, was captured on video climbing onto the balcony of a Capitol Hill apartment complex on June 17th. According to Henry Stelter, the tenant who was working from home at the time, Red entered the...

Last month, 130 people died of Covid-19 in Maryland. None of them were vaccinated, according to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.In addition, unvaccinated people made up 95% of new Covid-19 cases in the state and 93% of new Covid-19 hospitalizations, Hogan said at a news conference Wednesday.The connection between vaccination status and Covid-19 is not specific to Maryland and is not limited to last month, medical experts have said.Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, said Maryland's data is a trend that will be seen in states across the country."No question...

A family who gifted the Tampa school $1.35 million wants their donation rescinded, tuition returned.At a fundraising gala in 2017, Anthony and Barbara Scarpo announced they had pledged $1.35 million to “our cherished” Academy of the Holy Names, a Catholic school in Tampa attended by their two daughters. The couple asked for their donation to be used toward the school’s master plan and for scholarships for disadvantaged students. They were named chairs of the academy’s fundraising campaign and the school renamed its auditorium the “Scarpo Family Theatre.”Four years later, the family and the school are at odds, with the Scarpos...

A 100-strong Black Lives Matter mob in Mount Laurel, an edge city suburb of Philadelphia, surrounded a man’s home on Monday after an out-of-context video of him going on a racist rant during a heated dispute with his neighbors went viral on social media. The video cut out the beginning of the dispute so it wasn’t clear what the man, later identified as 45-year-old Edward Cagney Mathews, was so angry about. The video shows Mathews was first pushed by his neighbor after getting up in his face. After police eventually showed up, the mob was filmed attacking Mathews with a...

A rising college football quarterback was killed when a barrage of 50 bullets was fired into his car, causing him to crash at a Florida intersection, authorities said. Ladarius Clardy, an 18-year-old who played in two games for Georgia’s Kennesaw State University last year, was set to return for his sophomore season before he was gunned down Thursday as he drove in Pensacola, WAGA-TV reported. “Someone fired over 50 rounds into the car, most of them into the car, the driver’s door,” Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said. The 6-foot, 170-pound KSU backup quarterback and Pensacola native was killed just...