Free Republic

TOPLINE Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Thursday shot down the idea of creating a carve-out to the Senate filibuster for voting rights bills after a meeting with Democratic state lawmakers from Texas who are in Washington, D.C., to protest a voting restrictions bill in their state, effectively killing a proposal that has gained steam among even some Democratic leaders in recent weeks.

NASA has identified the possible cause of the payload computer problem that suspended Hubble Space Telescope science operations on June 13. The telescope itself and science instruments remain healthy and in a safe configuration. The payload computer resides in the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling (SI C&DH) unit. It controls, coordinates, and monitors Hubble’s science instruments. When the payload computer halted, Hubble’s science instruments were automatically placed into a safe configuration. A series of multi-day tests, which included attempts to restart and reconfigure the computer and the backup computer, were not successful, but the information gathered from those activities...

The Texas Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to prevent the passage of a GOP-backed election reform bill are having their trip to DC heavily funded by Beto O’Rourke’s political action committee — which includes a sizable donation from country superstar Willie Nelson. O’Rourke — a Democrat who represented Texas in the House until losing a 2018 challenge to incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — said Wednesday night that his Powered By People PAC had raised more than $525,000 to cover travel, lodging, food and other expenses. The former lawmaker, who represented El Paso, launched the PAC shortly after his...

Before his corpse was dumped in a shallow grave 50 miles north of Los Angeles, Mauricio Ismael Gonzalez-Ramirez was held prisoner at one of the hundreds of black-market pot farms that have exploded across California’s high desert in the last several years, authorities say. He worked in what has become California’s newest illegal marijuana haven: the Mojave Desert. A world away from the lush forest groves of the “Emerald Triangle” of Northern California, this hot, dry, unforgiving climate has attracted more than a thousand marijuana plantations that fill the arid expanse between the Antelope Valley and the Colorado River. It’s...

There’s a reason you might not find your favorite Coca-Cola Zero Sugar flavor soon — the cans will look way different. Deseret News Coke Zero is getting a makeover. Here’s what to expect Herb Scribner 1 day ago 1 Comment | 15 Leaked Kremlin documents support claim that Russia has compromising… A Delta pilot is reportedly suing the airline for $1 billion after accusing them… There’s a reason you might not find your favorite Coca-Cola Zero Sugar flavor soon — the cans will look way different. a close up of a bottle: Cans of Coca-Cola and Diet Coke sit in...

Plasma test in the MAST tokamak, a plasma fusion chamber. =================================================================================== A new way of classifying magnetized plasma has led to the discovery of 10 previously unknown topological phases of plasma. Learning more about these phases, and specifically the transitions between them, could help plasma physicists chase down the white whale of energy - plasma fusion. That's because the transitions between them support edge modes, or waves at the intersection of the plasma surfaces. These exotic excitations could broaden the potential practical uses for magnetized plasma. "These findings could lead to possible applications of these exotic excitations in space and...

Lately, the term "gain-of-function" shows up in half the headlines. It appeared in Dr. Deep State’s secret emails to Wuhan along with another batch to Mark Zuckerberg, alleged creator of Facebook, originally called "Project LifeLog" when DARPA started it. Now, Zuckerberg and his New World Order cronies try to walk all the oppression back like it never happened.

(President Trump's Operation Warp Speed Update) (New Cases up to over 30K, Hospitalizations rising and Deaths up - Vaccinations slow/steady - New Cases, Hospitalizations and Death curves are accelerating upward) Administered: 336,054,953 (12,936,594 J&J) People Vaccinated, At Least One Dose: 185,135,757 Fully Vaccinated: 160,408,538

Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) introduced a resolution to support the Cuban people in their demands for freedom against “the brutal oppression of the Communist dictatorship in Cuba.” Díaz-Balart — a Cuban-American — asked the international community to stand behind the recent protests against the island’s regime. Initial cosponsors for the House resolution include Steve Scalise (R-LA), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Greg Steube (R-FL), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Liz Cheney (R-WY). According to Díaz-Balart’s statement: For 62 years, the Cuban people have struggled for freedom and...

SARS-CoV-2 (SARS2 – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome 2) was ferocious, highly contagious, and deadly for the elderly and the obese. SARS1, its granddaddy, sickened 8000 and killed 774 in 2002. A cousin, MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), sickened 2500 and killed 885 in 2012. SARS2 has sickened over 182 million and killed almost four million, and it’s not over. Why was SARS2 so incredibly more contagious, powerful and deadly than its ancestors? Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, knew why, and so did his friend Peter Daszak at EcoHealth Alliance, which funded coronavirus...

The NFL is continuing its efforts to expands its woke agenda. The professional football league has committed to have the Black National Anthem performed before every big event in the upcoming season. Fans will also see social justice decals on team helmets and additional public service announcements. Black National Anthem “Lift Every Voice And Sing” While the national anthem will still be performed, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” will be included as well at tentpole events such as the Super Bowl, NFL Playoffs, NFL Draft, and NFL Kickoff game. It was played before the start of week 1 games in...

One of Pennsylvania’s two U.S. Senate seats is up for grabs in 2022 as two-term Republican incumbent Pat Toomey prepares to step aside and the state braces for a particularly high-stakes election year. The Senate opening has drawn plenty of interest from Democrats looking to shore up a narrow congressional majority, Republicans looking to limit key aspects of the Biden agenda, and observers believing the seat is likely to flip or too close to call. The race will be exceedingly expensive either way. Democrats With less than a year to go until the primary (unless the date is changed because...

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, confirmed today that the White House is flagging posts with supposed “COVID misinformation” and pushing social media firms like Facebook to remove them: "We are in regular touch with the social media platforms" about #COVID19-related misinformation, says @PressSec. "We're flagging problematic posts for Facebook." ... I’m sure the media and the left will collectively shrug at this discovery, but picture Kayleigh McEnany disclosing that the Trump administration was reporting posts for removal from social media platforms. This would be a major scandal, and social media corporations would be forced to come forward and...

President Joe Biden’s administration is using the United States Armed Forces to help fly illegal aliens into the interior of the U.S., Fox News’s Tucker Carlson reveals. On Wednesday evening, Carlson unveiled internal emails in which Lt. Col. Matthew Burrows informs military personnel that commercial planes at Laughlin Air Force Base, east of Del Rio, Texas, will board and fly illegal aliens into the U.S. interior.

Two Polish patients co-infected with C difficile saw improvementsFecal microbiota transplant (FMT) was safe in two hospitalized patients who were co-infected with cases of COVID-19 that quickly resolved, raising questions about the procedure's effect on the virus. FMT was effective for the two patients, who were receiving the treatment for Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infections and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19, reported Jaroslaw Bilinski, MD, PhD, of the Medical University of Warsaw in Poland, and colleagues. "A further more speculative question is whether FMT may impact the clinical course of COVID-19," the authors wrote in Gut, noting that both patients...

Cleveland State University says it will require students living on campus to be fully vaccinated before they arrive this fall despite Gov. Mike DeWine’s signing of a new bill preventing Ohio public schools from mandating coronavirus vaccinations. DeWine signed into law House Bill 244 Wednesday prohibiting Ohio public schools and colleges from requiring students to be vaccinated without full approval of the vaccinations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Lawmakers said the bill was initially intended to help military children transition to school when they move to and from the state. The new state law doesn’t go into effect...

On this date in 1907, Chinese poet, intellectual and activist Qiu Jin (Ch’iu Chin) was beheaded for plotting an anti-Qing rising. The daughter of a well-to-do gentry family, Qiu was shunted into the arranged marriage that would have been usual for her milieu. It did not suit her. Hers had been an active mind from youth, and after several years of domestic misery, resolved to make her own way in the world, separated herself from her husband, and headed for Japan. She prepared herself for this journey by an act taxing symbolism as heavily as physique: painfully un-binding her feet....

WH Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, says Biden Administration is actively flagging post for Facebook they believe is misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church of Marietta, Georgia. In April 2021, the church voted to begin a profess of disaffiliation from the UMC A regional body of the United Methodist Church has seized control of the assets of a Georgia megachurch trying to leave the mainline Protestant denomination. The leadership of the UMC North Georgia Conference unanimously voted to approve the seizure of assets belonging to Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church, a Marietta-based congregation with approximately 10,000 members. In April, Mt. Bethel voted to begin a process of discernment for leaving the UMC due to the conference’s decision to...

With one foot out the door, Mayor Bill de Blasio is setting up a nightmare budget crunch for Gotham’s next mayor — and trying to hide the damage in the process. De Blasio’s latest financial plan, which went into effect July 1, projects a $4.1 billion cash shortfall next year — a huge chunk of change (even by New York standards) the next mayor must grapple with the moment he takes office Jan. 1. Yet the gap is actually $700 million higher, totaling $4.8 billion. On Tuesday, Citizens Budget Commission head Andrew Rein pegged the deficit at $5.4 billion, including...