Free Republic

Despite the triumph of resident Joe Biden's inauguration, liberal celebrities didn't get much happier in 2021. It began with Donald Trump refusing to concede that he lost the presidential election. A year ago, one actor engaged in violent fantasies over this stubborn resistance to the facts. "Who arrests Trump if he refuses to concede? Who drags him out? Pepper spray? Cuffs?" This sounds like an action movie. But then it turned threatening: "A knee on his neck, cutting off his oxygen? Does he wheeze 'I can't breathe'(?) Just whale away on him like a pinata? Rodney King style? The thug...

Tax preparation company H&R Block is suing Block — formerly known as Square — for copyright infringement. Until the end of November, Jack Dorsey was the chief executive of both Twitter and Square. Upon Dorsey’s resignation from Twitter, Square — a financial services and digital payments company with many services that overlap those of H&R Block — changed its name to Block in recognition of its blockchain technology capabilities.

I’m posting this helpful outdoor Christmas decorating guide for anyone who STILL has not put their decorations up.Apologies to the blow-up Christmas decoration aficionados among us. I can’t help but think that’s cheating: putting up outdoor decorations should involve ladders, rappelling, superhuman contortions and great risk of bodily harm.Hitting the road bright and early today so perhaps that explains my hum-buggery. Or perhaps I’m just getting a jump on the Festivus celebration this year.Posted from: MOTUS A.D.

When it comes to media coverage, alarmism easily dominates the headlines. Due to a 24/7 news cycle, many important topics—especially as it relates to the environment—often get overlooked by the public. Here are three environmental news stories to be aware of this week. The Good: Virginia to Withdraw from RGGIGovernor-elect Glenn Youngkin recently announced he’ll pull the Commonwealth of Virginia out of the 11-member Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Youngkin conveyed to Hampton Roads business leaders he’ll accomplish this through executive action, declaring, “RGGI describes itself as a regional market for carbon, but it is really a carbon tax that...

HENDERSON, Nev. (KLAS) — A Henderson woman is facing charges for her alleged role in an incident where a CNN producer paid her to travel cross-country with a child for sex, police confirmed Tuesday. Henderson police arrested Heather Carriker, 48, in August 2020, a spokesperson for the department confirmed. Carriker was charged with two counts of child abuse, two counts of sexual assault against a child under 14 and one count of lewdness with a minor under 14. The FBI took John Griffin, 44, of Stamford, Connecticut, into custody last week for charges connected to enticing minor to engage in...

Americans face an uncertain and anxiety-filled holiday season for the second consecutive year, as the highly contagious Omicron variant threatens to intensify an already alarming surge of COVID-19 cases. Public health officials have voiced deepening concerns about the rising number of infections, warning that hospitals - still fighting the effects of the Delta variant - could find themselves stretched beyond their limits if the two variants combine to create a fresh wave. While states have not sought to impose broad shutdowns, the disease’s advances have prompted a new round of restrictions, as offices have postponed return-to-office dates, universities have moved...

STAMFORD, Conn. (TND) — CNN fired senior producer John Griffin shortly after he was arrested by the FBI and charged with federal child sex crimes. The 44-year-old man from Connecticut worked for CNN for about eight years, according to the cable news company. Griffin faces three counts of "using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity" according to the United States Department of Justice in a release. He was arrested on these charges Dec. 10. The allegations are deeply disturbing, and our office is committed to working with our partners at...

If you are not Greta Thunberg, but the president of the United States, what's the first thing you do when returning from a global climate conference — especially one where you pledged to reduce emissions by over 50% in eight years? How about releasing an additional 50 million barrels of oil from your strategic reserves while begging domestic and foreign oil producers to ramp up production? Sorry, that was trick question. The move by the Biden administration a few weeks ago to fight soaring gasoline prices by tapping U.S. strategic reserves is not only bad policy, but also destined to...

A former defense contractor was arrested after allegedly attempting to send classified U.S. Air Force information to Russia. John Murray Rowe Jr., a 63-year-old man from South Dakota, "attempted to provide classified national defense information to the Russian government," according to a Justice Department press release Thursday. Row, who is originally from Massachusetts, spent 40 years as a test engineer for multiple defense contractors, where he was able to obtain multiple security clearances.... ...Rowe then spent months exchanging over 300 emails with the undercover agent in which he said he was willing to work with the Russian government and share...

No thoughtful person believes that human beings can substantially change the Earth's climate. Even the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, composed of climate activists rather than objective observers, has admitted that there is no practical way for Americans to reduce global temperatures. At the same time, the IPCC recognizes that natural forces play an important role in climate change and that in the past, these forces have altered the climate more dramatically than anything happening today, and this entirely without the influence of fossil fuels. During the Medieval Warm Period (900 to 1200 A.D.), the Earth's temperatures were warmer...

The National Institute of Health's outgoing director says he ignored calls to ax Dr. Anthony Fauci and was confronted by Donald Trump for defying a request to endorse hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 remedy. In a preview of his CBS New interview, set to air Sunday, retiring NIH boss Dr. Francis Collins said he was pressured by the former president to endorse the malaria drug. 'And I got into a difficult place and got a bit of a talking-to by the president, but I stuck my ground,' he said. He said he would have resigned before acquiescing to such a request.

I need a favor. Since I no longer live in the Sodom and Gomorrah of journalism (i.e., New York), I cannot take the subway downtown to the newsroom of the New York Times. I need someone to deliver a note to the newspaper’s publisher. The note contains an address the Times needs to know. It’s apparent the Times does not know the address of Columbia University’s School of Journalism. Among its other jobs aside from destroying any conservative thoughts in its students’ minds, Columbia’s journalist factory serves as judge and jury for awarding Pulitzer Prizes. Every year, members of a...

BEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns quarterback Case Keenum has tested positive for COVID-19, potentially leaving the team without its top two quarterbacks for Saturday's game against the Las Vegas Raiders, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter and Kimberley Martin. Starting quarterback Baker Mayfield already tested positive for the virus earlier this week and remains on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Nick Mullens, who was just added to the active roster Thursday, is now in line to start at quarterback for the Browns. Mullens started 16 games for the San Francisco 49ers from 2018 to '20, but has yet to throw a pass for...

Three New York residents face life in prison for their roles in the kidnapping of a U.S. postal worker who they accused of stealing a package containing drugs, federal prosecutors say. Mark Rogers, 38; Joseph Way, 36; and Rogers’ girlfriend, Tashara Levans, 37, all of Rochester, pleaded guilty to kidnapping in the November 2019 incident, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York announced in a Dec. 15 news release. The postal worker, identified in court documents as “Victim A,” was delivering mail when Rogers and Way confronted her about a package of cocaine they were expecting...

Covid-19 is disrupting the NFL, NBA and NHL, sidelining dozens of players, including some of the leagues’ biggest stars. New cases this week have battered the leagues and prompted NBA and NHL postponements. The NFL is grappling with the virus’ wrath with the playoffs beginning next month. **SNIP** William Parham, a professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and a psychologist who works with elite athletes, said professional sports leagues are doing well to keep their seasons afloat. He said athletes have been resilient. Covid-19 and its variants are here for the indefinite future, Parham said. Upticks in infections...

Johnson & Johnson said that it was still "confident" about its COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that Americans get inoculated with rival vaccines instead.... ...The CDC confirmed 54 cases of Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients developing the rare blood-clotting disorder thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), including nine deaths. All of those who developed TTS were hospitalized, while most of the deaths were in people with underlying conditions.... ...Research indicates that infection with COVID-19 is much more likely to result in the development of rare blood clots than vaccination against the virus....

President Joe Biden fumbled over his words while presenting the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award for valor in combat, to three men Thursday. The three men receiving the Medal of Honor were Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Celiz, and Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, according to a report.... ...Celiz and Cashe received the country's highest decoration posthumously, but mistakes in Biden's presentation were evident when the narrator declared that Plumlee had also been killed.... ...A very much alive Plumlee stood stoic next to the president...

The Senate parliamentarian dealt a significant blow to Democrats seeking to pass a $1.85 trillion social welfare and green energy bill, ruling that the measure cannot include a provision that would legalize millions of workers now living illegally in the United States. Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough told Democrats the legalization language extended too many rights to conform with special rules governing what can be included in the legislation, Majority Whip Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said Thursday....

My latest song. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Linux Mint 20.3 BETA "Una" The .iso is available here: https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=292 I loaded the Cinnamon Edition on a 120 Gb SSD and it took about 10 minutes to install. I used Aptik to make an image of my base computer. Then used the Aptik to install all of my base computer's extra software. I tested it and could not find a single problem. With all of my extra software, it just works. The size with all of the extra software is about 19Gb. Good Hunting... from Varmint Al