Free Republic

17 second video at the link - better quality than the gif below.Golf ball gets hit by lightning - GIF - Imgur

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said during an interview published this week that Taylor Swift, who came out against her ahead of the 2018 midterms, and other performers would be “the first victim” of a socialist or Marxist government. “When I’m talking to my friends who are musicians and entertainers, I say, ‘If — if we have a socialistic government, if we have Marxism, you are going to be the first ones who will be caught off because the state would have to approve your music,’ ” Blackburn told Breitbart News. “And, you know, Taylor Swift, came after me and my...

At the end of January, reports that yet another COVID-19 vaccine had succeeded in its clinical trials—this one offering about 70 percent protection—were front-page news in the United States, and occasioned push alerts on millions of phones. But when the Maryland-based biotech firm Novavax announced its latest stunning trial results last week, and an efficacy rate of more than 90 percent even against coronavirus variants, the response from the same media outlets was muted in comparison. The difference, of course, was the timing: With three vaccines already authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the nation...

Join together with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

The police officer who abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard could spend the rest of his life in prison, it emerged today, as a second opportunity for him to have been stopped earlier was revealed. PC Wayne Couzens, 48, will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty to murder today and Lord Justice Fulford told the Old Bailey that he was considering a whole life tariff.

No Pride in Boston this year? That appears to be the case after Boston Pride released a statement late on Friday, July 9, 2021, that Boston Pride is dissolving. "The organization's board dissolved, it announced Friday afternoon, and it won't be putting on any of its planned events. The move was made after Boston Pride worked to change amid criticism over inclusiveness," writes NBCBoston.com. Whether or not this year's Pride parade, which was scheduled for June but was pushed back to September, will happen is up in the air. "The group grappled for months with complaints of structural racism, and...

“To get rich is glorious.” - Deng Xiaoping “Among the richest men in China, few have good endings.” - Jack Ma No good endings? Indeed. Start with this: We know more about the whereabouts and the condition of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s prize prisoner, than we do about Jack Ma. Last Fall Jack Ma was rich, and famous, and we knew all about him, followed his every move. He was in fact the richest man in China, and the most famous living Chinese person (according to polls). He was poised to crown his career with a triumphant public offering for...

A California judge ruled that victims of a 2019 shooting in San Diego that left one dead and three wounded can sue the manufacturer of a rifle and the gun shop that sold it. Superior Court Judge Kenneth Medel ruled (pdf) Wednesday that the victims and families in the shooting in Poway, California, can file a lawsuit against Smith & Wesson, one of the largest gun manufacturers in the world, over alleged negligence. Lawyers for Smith & Wesson argued that the lawsuit was barred by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a federal law that shields gun...

The Health Ministry denied accusations that it had inflated the number of COVID-19 patients in serious condition, but also lowered its count of seriously ill by nearly a quarter on Thursday. Data published by the ministry late Thursday showed 37 patients hospitalized with serious COVID-19 infections, down from 46 patients it had reported Thursday morning. It was the first time the number of seriously ill patients has dropped since June 27, when it fell from 22 to 20. The numbers came hours after the ministry pushed back vociferously against reports by two media outlets that it had inflated the number...

When the Biden administration knocks on your door... Operation strike force at its best! Funny and true skit of what may be the future...

ONE of the few outlets that publishes daily information on the infection rate in vaccinated and unvaccinated people is the ZOE Covid Symptom study. Above is Wednesday’s estimate for the UK based on the data submitted by users through the ZOE app, and it shows something very striking. While the infection rate in vaccinated people has been trending well below that in the unvaccinated for months, in the last two weeks the rate in the vaccinated has surged while in the unvaccinated it has reached a plateau.We don’t know what is causing this. The vaccinated group is older than the...

Fifty-eight percent of likely voters agree that media outlets are the enemy of the people, according to a new Rasmussen Reports poll. Thirty-six percent disagree. Here is how the poll results break down: •76% of Republicans agree with the "enemy of the people" phrase in describing the media. •37% of Democrats agree with the phrase. •61% of independents agree with the phrase. •83% of voters believe "fake news" is a serious problem in the media, compared to 14% who disagree. •92% of Republicans believe "fake news" is a serious problem, compared to 74% of Democrats. 82% of independent believe it...

NEW DELHI—As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) celebrated its 100 year anniversary on July 1, Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke of the “rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” and the “rise of the east.” These agendas that the Chinese are likely to relentlessly pursue will have a direct impact on India, the country next door with whom the PLA has been engaged in a fierce confrontation since last year, said an Indian analyst. “All the struggle, sacrifice, and creation through which the Party has united and led the Chinese people over the past hundred years has been tied together by one...

Most police departments—including Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police—are required to release an officer’s name within days of a fatal shooting. Not the U.S. Capitol Police, which is controlled by Congress and answers only to Congress. It can keep the public in the dark about the identity and investigation of an officer involved in a shooting indefinitely. Which is what happened with the Jan. 6 shooting of Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed protester in the U.S. Capitol riot who was fatally wounded by a plainclothes police lieutenant as she attempted to breach a set of doors inside the building. For the past six...

President Joe Biden on Friday fired Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul, according to the former commissioner, who said he won’t leave his post and will log into work on Monday morning because his term isn’t over. Saul was one of the few remaining holdover officials who were appointed by former President Donald Trump. The White House confirmed to Fox News and other news outlets that it terminated Saul’s employment after he refused a request to resign. In an interview with the Washington Post, Saul said he received an email from the White House Personnel Office on Friday morning about the...

We outlined Tuesday that multiple heat waves would plague the Western half of the US. The first round struck early in the week and lasted through mid-week, and the second is just beginning. The worst of the second wave is expected to affect upwards of 28 million people from California to Washington State. Excessive heat warnings have already been posted for California, Nevada, western Arizona, and western Utah. Watches have also been posted for interior portions of Oregon and southern Idaho. Large swaths of the West could experience temperatures 20 or more degrees above average. Below is a temperature anomalies...

BANGKOK (AP) — Several countries around Asia and the Pacific that are experiencing their first major surges of the coronavirus rushed to impose tough restrictions, a year and a half into a pandemic that many initially weathered well. Faced with rapidly rising numbers of infections in recent months, authorities in such countries as Thailand, South Korea and Vietnam announced or imposed measures Friday that they hope can slow the spread before health care systems are overwhelmed. It’s a rhythm familiar in much of the world, where repeated surges deluged hospitals and led to high numbers of deaths. But many Asian...

Arkansas is seeing its highest spike in coronavirus cases in nearly five months. The spread of the Delta variant has made it a new epicenter of the US outbreak. But Arkansas health officials are still struggling to convince people to get vaccinated. Few states have had a harder time vaccinating people than Arkansas. Less than 43% of the state's population has received at least one vaccine dose, and just 34% of residents are fully vaccinated - among the lowest vaccination rates in the US. That made the state a sitting duck for the Delta variant, which is significantly more transmissible...

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. — Parents of a 4-year-old boy are behind bars after leaving their child in a car with a loaded gun when he allegedly shot himself Tuesday afternoon. Around noon, the Manitou Springs Police Department received multiple calls about a shot being fired in the 400 block of Manitou Avenue. When officers arrived they found the child dead in the parking lot. After the preliminary investigation, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPSO) learned that while the father went to make purchases at Maggie’s Farm, a marijuana dispensary, the 4-year-old boy was with his mother and younger sibling...

Team USA swimmer Michael Andrew confirmed Thursday that he remains unvaccinated for the coronavirus ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, reaffirming a stance he and his family made clear at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials last month and probably subjecting himself and U.S. officials to further uncomfortable questions when the Games begin in two weeks. Andrew, 22, said during a remote media availability from the U.S. swim team’s training camp in Hawaii that he chose not to get vaccinated in the month between the trials and the Olympics, explaining: “It was kind of a last moment. I didn’t want to put...