Free Republic

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — State regulators who three years ago issued an air quality permit for a proposed copper-nickel mine in northwestern Minnesota stood by their decision in a report released Monday that said the mine did not provide misleading information on its plans. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency report...does not clear the way for construction. Other major permits remain up in the air because of ongoing court cases or administrative work. Even so, PolyMet CEO Jon Cherry said the action on the air permit “moves us one big step closer” to building the estimated $1 billion mine, which...

Places with highest daily reported cases per capita Seven-day average of daily new reported cases per 100,000 residents

In Israel today a pitch from Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to keep unvaccinated children out of school and have them study remotely... Trump Reveals Third Jab Before Biden Pitch For Jabs, Wants China To Pay COVID Reparations... Meanwhile money pundit Jim Cramer putting out word he got COVID after his third "booster" shot... Tonight in Germany widespread protest involving tens of thousands over vaccination mandates and the coercion to vaccinate at a dozen or more locations... A vaccine board in New Zealand ruling that a man's death was "probably due to vaccination"... She had COVID-19 earlier this year giving her...

Former California Rep. Katie Hill has tested positive for COVID-19 nearly 8 months into her pregnancy. Hill, who resigned from Congress in 2019 amid a highly publicized “throuple” sex scandal, announced the diagnosis in a Saturday tweet. “I’m boosted and got COVID and am now quarantined for Christmas while almost 8 months pregnant and though my symptoms are mild I really wish I’d cancelled my plans for the couple weeks before this,” the former lawmaker wrote.

[Catholic Caucus] FSSP tells ‘Successor to Peter’ to shove it!In response to the Congregation for Divine Worship’s December 18th offensive against the one true Roman Rite, the FSSP has issued a statement that perfectly illustrates the cognitive dissonance of those persons who claim that the “conciliar church” is the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and its leader, Jorge Bergoglio, is Holy Father. According to the statement – which in addition to being published online was read aloud in FSSP parishes this weekend – insists that the CDW directive “does not directly address” them.In other words, the FSSP just told the Congregation...

Excerpts from the opening mass for Synodality in the Diocese of San Bernardino. Presided by Bishop Alberto Rojas.

Proof of vaccination against coronavirus will be required to enter city bars, restaurants, gyms, theaters and sports venues under a new mandate announced by Mayor Michelle Wu during a raucous press conference. “Vaccination is the most powerful tool we have to fight this pandemic,” said Wu Monday, announcing the city’s new rules as protesters flowed inside shouting “USA, USA!” In addition, all city workers will be required to get the vaccine if they want to keep their jobs, Wu said. Workers must have at least one dose by Jan. 15 and two doses by Feb. 15. The new, stricter requirement...

Just days after the Sun blasted Earth with an M-Class solar flare which created an unexpected G1-Class Geomagnetic Storm, the sun erupted another M-class solar flare towards the Earth earlier today. Today’s flare blasted the Earth with X-rays and UV radiation, triggering a shortwave radio black out over portions of the globe. On Saturday, NOAA forecasters said there was a risk of additional solar flares through today and as predicted, it occured. While Saturday’s solar flare erupted from sunspot Active Region-2911; today’s flare came from Active Regions 2908. In a statement released by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center today, they...

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it received eight pages of email communications from the U.S. Department of State revealing concerns by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing that U.S. diplomatic personnel were being asked to submit to an anal swab COVID testing policy. The redacted documents show that at as many as two people were either asked or required to take an anal test for COVID by the Chinese government. Judicial Watch obtained the records in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the State Department for non-identifying records of U.S. diplomatic personnel being subjected...

Beijing has succeeded in recruiting spies from the island’s armed forces TAIPEI – For more than 20 years, Xie Xizhang presented himself as a Hong Kong businessman on visits to Taiwan. He now stands accused of having another mission: recruiting spies for China. On one trip in 2006, Xie met a senior retired Taiwanese navy officer, Chang Pei-ning, over a meal, according to official documents accusing the pair of espionage. Chang would become one of Xie’s agents, the documents allege, helping him penetrate Taiwan’s active military leadership as part of a long-running Chinese operation to build a spy ring among...

In a letter to both Yellen and President Biden, the group of lawmakers said that failure to relax international restrictions on Afghanistan’s banking system risks creating “economic pain and humanitarian collapse,” as fears mount that a crumbling economy will spur a new refugee and hunger crisis. The Biden administration in August froze the majority of the Afghan central government’s $9.4 billion in assets — most of which is held in U.S. bank accounts — after the Taliban took control of Kabul and the country. The Biden administration has said recognition, and release of funds, will not come until the Taliban...

Russia upped the ante Monday in its dangerous standoff with Ukraine, openly warning of military action if President Biden and America’s NATO allies ignore a list of demands Moscow announced late last week — a far-reaching list that some key U.S. lawmakers have dubbed a “pretext to war.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said his country is fully prepared to respond through “military-technical means” if Western powers fail to address those demands. He said NATO must not expand to include Ukraine or Georgia and the U.S. must not base additional military assets in former Soviet republics in Central Asia....

A person with direct knowledge of discussions said the NHL is beginning a leaguewide shutdown Wednesday amid an increase of positive COVID-19 test results among players across the league. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the pause on the season had yet to be announced. Beginning the annual holiday break two days early means five additional games will be postponed, bringing the total this season to 49.

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 holi-ness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2Religion Fo-rum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

NEW YORK (AP) — Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week. In much of the country, it’s even higher. Omicron is responsible for an estimated 90% or more of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. The national rate suggests that more than 650,000...

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Boston Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, in a Dec. 17 interview with a newspaper from Argentina, spoke about how some church factions in the U.S. drive views opposing Pope Francis via polarizing media messages. The cardinal, head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, also spoke of how the sex abuse crisis has impacted evangelization. In the interview with La Nación on the occasion of Pope Francis’ 85th birthday, Cardinal O’Malley said polarization and opposition to Pope Francis includes some conservative prelates in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, but he did not name anyone. “Yes,...

John Garvey, president of The Catholic University of America, has apologized for the school's display of an icon some say depicts George Floyd as Jesus, saying the twice-stolen image has created “needless controversy and confusion.” “Some critics thought that the identity of the male figure was at best ambiguous. Many saw the figure in the arms of Our Lady as a divinized George Floyd. This interpretation led to accusations that the work was blasphemous, something that is contrary to the respect due God and his holy name. Defenders of the work said it was meant to provoke thought about seeing...

Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said Monday that former President Trump will again run for office – advising him to do so in part based on a record of developing the COVID-19 vaccine during his administration. Appearing on Dan Abrams’s primetime show on NewsNation, O’Reilly said Trump called him after revealing he had gotten a booster shot, which elicited some boos from a crowd in Dallas during a speaking tour.

Rostock-In several cities, people protested against the federal government's corona policy on Monday evening. According to the police, up to 10,000 demonstrators gathered in Rostock to protest against corona measures and mandatory vaccination. At first there was no demonstration. Several hundred people came together on the market square and asked Mayor Claus Rueh Madsen (non-party) to show up. It was unclear whether he was in the town hall at all. Later, up to 10,000 demonstrators at the city harbor moved back into the city center. The police announced through loudspeaker announcements that this was an unauthorized event. There were minor...

WASHINGTON – More than 12,000 military service members refusing the COVID-19 vaccine are seeking religious exemptions, and so far they are having zero success. That total lack of approvals is creating new tensions within the military, even as the vast majority of the armed forces have gotten vaccinated. The services, urgently trying to keep the coronavirus pandemic in check by getting troops vaccinated, are now besieged with exemption requests they are unlikely to approve. Meanwhile, troops claiming religious reasons for avoiding the shots are perplexed because exemptions are theoretically available, yet seem impossible to obtain. Caught in the middle are...