Free Republic

The votes — 36-0 in the Senate and 64-0 in the Assembly — showed bipartisan support for an idea

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska outraised a primary opponent who’s been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, taking in $1.1 million, according to her latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. Murkowski got support from some billionaire GOP donors and corporate political action committees. Hedge fund manager Paul Singer and retired Walmart chairman Rob Walton each gave $5,800, the maximum for both the primary and general elections. Senate Impeachment Trial Of President Trump © Bloomberg Senate Impeachment Trial Of President Trump Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, who in 2020 donated $3 million to a super PAC that supported Trump, contributed $2,900 to...

Just as store shelves are consistently stocked with toilet paper again, U.S. consumers could be facing another shortage this summer: suitcases. With pent-up travel demand manifesting in the form of surging bookings, vacationers in the market for new luggage could find themselves up against product scarcity and high prices as they prepare to pack for their next round of adventures. But it’s not just an increase in demand that has left shelves at many major retailers nearly bare. A combination of factors has led to a breakdown in the supply chain that keeps stores stocked with suitcases.

A report from Politico on Wednesday revealed that Republican pollster and communications specialist Frank Luntz had, in an unofficial capacity, been advising the Biden White House on how to convince people to take the COVID vaccine. Luntz may be best known by Republicans for focus groups he has done on the Fox News Channel for elections and presidential candidates. Luntz also sat in on several briefing calls between the White House and various TV networks where one of the main topics was which terms to use on air that would better convince conservatives to take the jab. This comes from...

....The protests are among the most dramatic proof ever offered of the failure of a tropical dictatorship that has driven 20 percent of its people into exile. Innumerable promises for a brighter future have been made during this time by the military junta that has ruled Cuba since the days when cars had tailfins and the top songs in the US charts were Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” and Domenico Modugno’s “Volare.” Well, surprise, surprise, the future is here, and the youngsters can clearly see that all of those promises have turned out to be lies. Now, those who were supposed...

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday the Biden administration is identifying “problematic” posts for Facebook to censor because they contain “misinformation” about COVID-19. Psaki disclosed the government role in policing social media during her daily press briefing after Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on companies to purge more pandemic posts. The demand for censorship — and Psaki’s admission of government involvement — follows a series of flip-flops from health officials who contradicted themselves throughout the pandemic on issues such as mask efficacy, as well as censorship of claims that later gained credibility, such as the theory that COVID-19...

As Discovery’s Shark Week swims on, Monday’s special called Expedition Unknown: Shark Trek, featured Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, trying to conquer his fear of sharks by boldly going and jumping into the water with them. “I am deathly afraid of sharks,” Shatner told the show’s host, Josh Gates. “I really am.” So to ease the Star Trek actor into things, Gates started by taking Shatner through a couple of relatively safe visits with hammerhead and reef sharks, neither of which are known to eat or attack humans. But those were just the appetizer courses, the main course was swimming...

As Texas Democrats live out the words of a Willie Nelson song, the country music legend is among those chipping in so that Democratic legislators who fled the state do not have to return to Texas, where a vote on election integrity awaits. Nelson’s “On the Road Again” could serve as the soundtrack for the flight of Democrats, with these lyrics: We’re the best of friends Insisting that the world keep turning our way And our way Is on the road again. Democrats who are determined to avoid having to sit in the legislative chamber while Republicans pass election reforms...

The largest new revenue source and the most dramatic change would be establishing a tax of 8.1 cents a mile for each mile a vehicle is driven. That move — which wouldn’t begin until the third phase and would require legislative approval and a pilot period to test a collection method — is projected to generate $8.9 billion a year. A fee of $1 for every package delivered by major companies like Amazon, FedEx and UPS, as well as local groceries and restaurants, could generate $785 million in the first phase and grow to $844.2 million by the third phase....

Thursday on Fox News Channel’s “The Faulkner Focus,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) slammed the Democrats’ recently introduced massive $3.5 trillion spending bill. McConnell called the bill “wildly inappropriate for the country,” describing it as “a left-wing dream of Bernie Sanders fulfilled.” “With regard to this deal they announced yesterday it is a wild spending, taxing spree completely inappropriate for the country, which is already suffering from dramatic inflation right in line with what it was 40 years ago based on what they’ve already done on a single party-line vote earlier this year,” McConnell advised. “This is wildly inappropriate for the...

A Rose by Any Other NameThe Democratic Socialists of America have thoroughly captured the Democrats.When a friend slipped me the latest draft of the Democratic Socialists of America’s 2021 platform, I couldn’t help but laugh. According to the document, the problems facing the American working class are deeply intertwined with the real issues of Samoan self-determination, queer-affirming healthcare, and reparations to Cambodia. But the laughter was short-lived. This is, after all, not a joke: the DSA is completely serious and its obsessions provide the ideological energy for today’s Democratic party. This is an organization that boasts sitting congresswomen, city aldermen...

Nearly five years after Californians voted to create a legal marijuana industry through Proposition 64, the illegal weed market is as big as or even bigger than it was before the ballot measure passed.The end of prohibition at the state level was supposed to be the beginning of a highly regulated marijuana market served by legitimate, taxpaying companies (even though marijuana remains illegal under federal law). Legalization was billed as a way to tame the Wild West-style marijuana industry, which often flouted environmental and health strictures and was a bastion for organized crime.It hasn’t worked out that way for a...

Vice President Kamala Harris hosted German Chancellor Angela Merkel for breakfast Thursday at her Naval Observatory home It marks the first time One Observatory Circle has been used by the VP to host a foreign leader since Harris was sworn-in The visit followed another report on the 'toxic culture' in Harris' offices during her political career One aide said staffers sought therapy to 'resolve trauma from the on-the-job abuse', according to the report Harris greeted Merkel by complimenting her 'extraordinary career' noting that she's part of the fourth U.S. administration to host the German chancellor 'I’m very proud that I...

Most important moment from Maricopa hearing so far Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett testified about the difficulties his team is facing finding serial numbers to ensure duplicate ballots were only counted once. “We found, I would have to say, thousands of duplicate ballots where those serial numbers are not on them. So it’s created great difficulty to try to match up a duplicated ballot to its duplicate.” Senate President Karen Fann then asked: “If the corresponding numbers aren’t on there, how would you know if it was duplicated once or ten times?” VIDEO AT LINK..................... Bennett replied: “You wouldn’t.”...

A new YouGov-BrightlineWatch poll that was released this month found that Americans are so divided among ideological lines that a solid majority of Republicans in the South want their states to secede from the Union. The survey laid out a bunch of hypothetical scenarios in which the United States is carved out into smaller regional powers consisting of a handful of states:(See groupings at link)In order to accomplish this, states would have to secede from the Union and form geographical alliances. And while this desire was substantially more prevalent than in states located south of the Mason-Dixon Line – also...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a forceful statement to his sock drawer this week, President Biden condemned Republican lawmakers' efforts to disenfranchise black voters by making them show ID to vote—since black people don't understand what IDs are or how to get them. "Voter ID is the greatest threat to Democracy since the Civil Depression of 1812!" he yelled to a lone mothball. "We need to save democracy by taking complete Federal control of the elections in every state!" Sources say that in addition to controlling elections at the federal level, Biden has other plans for protecting democracy—such as confiscating guns, checking private...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—President Joe Biden has taken a tough stance against Cuban refugees. While Biden usually welcomes anyone — especially illegal immigrants — to America, the Cubans are different, because when they come here they might commit malicious acts, such as voting Republican. Thus Biden is trying to dissuade Cubans from coming here by telling them that if they’re fleeing to America to seek freedom, America is actually getting rid of that. “I’m sorry, but we’re junking that right-wing, QAnon liberty malarkey,” Biden said in a statement aimed at Cuba. “If you want that, look elsewhere. We found that freedom got...

Tracy Stone-Manning's nomination to the Bureau of Land Management tells Americans the White House will reward left-wing extremism and violence. From early on, the Biden administration has urged the need to combat “domestic terrorism” and touted a high standard of “ethics.” Joe Biden shot gaping holes in the sincerity and credibility of both goals when he nominated an ethically compromised eco-terrorist, Tracy Stone-Manning, to lead the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which controls nearly 250 million acres of resource-rich federal lands. The confirmation process has brought to light Stone-Manning’s domestic terrorist past. Some argue it makes her unfit to command...

When X-rays are irradiated onto tumor tissue containing iodine-carrying nanoparticles, the iodine releases electrons that break DNA and kill the cancer cells. Credit: Mindy Takamiya/Kyoto University iCeMS Researchers have found a way to enhance radiation therapy using novel iodine nanoparticles. Cancer cell death is triggered within three days when X-rays are shone onto tumor tissue containing iodine-carrying nanoparticles. The iodine releases electrons that break the tumor’s DNA, leading to cell death. The findings, by scientists at Kyoto University’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) and colleagues in Japan and the US, were published in the journal Scientific Reports. “Exposing a...

Last month I wrote about Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management. Tracy Stone-Manning has a pretty extremist history. In 1992 she wrote a thesis arguing for population control to protect the environment. Her paper included a sample advertisement which described a toddler as “the environmental hazard in this photo.” But it’s another part of her past that has attracted the most attention. In 1989, Stone-Manning was a member of the extremist environmental group Earth First! Members of the group drove 10″ spikes in hundreds of trees as a way to prevent the from being cut down....