Free Republic

New details have emerged about “Dallas Buyers Club” filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée’s unexpected passing. The 58-year-old director is believed to have died from a heart attack at his cabin outside Quebec City over Christmas, sources told Deadline. The “Big Little Lies” filmmaker was prepping to host guests over the weekend, sources said, adding that it is likely he died Dec. 25 and was found the following morning. Vallée was a health enthusiast, who abstained from drinking, worked out constantly and practiced Wim Hof’s extreme breathing methods, which involve holding one’s breath for long periods of time, often in frigid environments. Tributes...

NASCAR driver Brandon Brown says affiliation with the "Let's go Brandon" chant is costing him marketing opportunities. Brandon Brown, the NASCAR driver who unintentionally sparked the “Let’s go Brandon” phenomenon, says he is having sponsorship struggles as a result of the chant. In October, Brown was being interviewed by Kelli Stavast on NBC after he won a race at Talladega. The crowd was chanting “F–k Joe Biden,” and Stavast talked about how they were chanting “Let’s go Brandon!” The phrase quickly became a rallying cry among conservatives who believe President Biden gets treated with kid gloves by the media, and...

Chinese companies have long been toxic places to work. Tech companies have long practiced the presenteeism of ‘996’ – working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for 6 days a week without overtime pay. Famous founders Jack Ma and Richard Liu have lauded 996, mistakenly equating long hours with strong work ethic. What’s worse, this standard has now seeped into most other sectors in China. In January, a delivery worker of E.le.ma (餓了麼) set himself on fire after the company did not pay him 5000 yuan that they owed him for two weeks. Delivery workers across the country have staged...

WILSON, N.C. (WTVD) -- The man accused of murdering 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant in his front yard in 2020 has officially been indicted. Investigators said Darius Sessoms, 25, shot and killed Hinnant on August 9, 2020 in Wilson, North Carolina. The young boy was on his bike not far from his own front door when he was fatally shot. I just don't understand why he did it," a neighbor said at the time. "How can you walk up to a little boy, point blank, and put a gun to his head and just shoot him? How could anyone do that?" On...

Amy Schneider's phenomenal run on Jeopardy! continues to break records, as she has now become the highest-earning woman in the show's entire history. On Friday night, the engineering manager secured her 18th consecutive victory and increased her total earnings to $706,800, leaving her just one win away from equalling the 19-game streaks of Jason Zuffranieri and David Madden. The Ohio native's successful week also meant that she had leapfrogged Larissa Kelly to become the top-earning woman contestant in the show's history. In regular season earnings, Schneider now sits in fourth place, behind Ken Jennings ($2,520,700, 74 games), James Holzhauer ($2,462,216,...

Video from the deadly Los Angeles police shooting that killed an assault suspect and a 14-year-old bystander at a Burlington store on Thursday shows the suspect beating a woman with a bike lock before a group of officers finds him and one opens fire with a rifle. “She’s bleeding! She’s bleeding!” the officer screams of the victim as she crawls out of an aisle of home goods. “Hold up! Hold up!” screams another officer, just before the first fires three rounds at the suspect, who is standing at the opposite end of the aisle. Daniel Elena-Lopez, 24, crumples to the...

My video interview with Pastor Tom Hughes (412 Church/Hope for our Times)

~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Whiteman Air Force Base, MissouriThe 509th Bomb Wing is part of Air Force Global Strike Command and is the host wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. The Bomb Wing and its fleet of B-2 Spirit bombers serve as part of the Air Force's conventional and strategic combat force. The Bomb Wing can project U.S airpower anywhere around the world from home station and employ a wide range of precision-guided munitions.Thunderbolt IIs have Night Vision Imaging Systems, or NVIS, goggle compatible single-seat cockpits forward of their wings and a large bubble canopy which...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Greene County investigators say a doctor wanted for sex crimes while at Agape Boarding School in Cedar County is on the run. Investigators say a warrant was issued for the arrest of Dr. David Smock, 56. Smock faces charges of second-degree statutory sodomy, third-degree child molestation of a child less than 14 years of age, and enticement or attempted enticement of a child less than 15 years of age. The investigation dates back to 2020. Agape is a Christian-based boarding school near Stockton. Investigators say Smock became a ‘father figure’ for the juvenile while at Agape....

The new leader of the free world is...Vladimir Putin???The New York Times reported, "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said on Thursday that he had no plans to impose fines or criminally prosecute people hesitant to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, even though Russia has one of the lowest vaccination levels in Europe."About 56% of the country’s population is inoculated against the virus, and the government has not introduced vaccine mandates. Mr. Putin said at his year-end news conference that such mandates would be counterproductive."Russia is now freer than America.Everyone knows the vaccines and the boosters are not the answer.Zero...

African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo are struggling with an influx of hospitalizations as the omicron-driven 4th wave of the global pandemic environment hammers the country, which boasts one of the world's lowest vaccination rates. But Congo isn't alone; over the weekend, American media reported that, after nearly two years of seeing surprisingly low COVID levels, sub-Saharan Africa is finally seeing a big enough wave of infections to pose a serious threat to its health-care system.Experts in the US are projecting that the latest COVID wave will worsen before it gets better, according to the following chart from...

[Catholic Caucus] “Very Instructive Paradoxes”: Fr. Laurent-Marie Pocquet du Haut Jussé, SJM Paix Liturgique (Letter n°840 of December 24) opened its columns to Reverend Fr. Laurent-Marie Pocquet du Haut Jussé, former superior of the Servants of Jesus and Mary (SJM), who gives us an enlightening testimony. English translation for Rorate Caeli.The responses made by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as well as the liturgical crisis provoked by the motu proprio Traditionis custodes, bring to light a certain number of very instructive paradoxes for pastors, theologians, and canonists.Moral paradox: Since 1988 the Church has...

Opinion: Unvaccinated Carson Wentz would ruin Colts' incredible season if he contracts COVID (Can only be linked to by FR rules)

On October 22, 2020, then-candidate Joe Biden vowed to "shut down the virus, not the country."14 months later, now-President Biden just admitted that there's no 'federal solution' to the pandemic, and that it's up to individual states to do what he promised."Look, there is no federal solution," he said during a call with state governors. "This gets solved at state level … and that ultimately gets down to where the rubber meets the road, and that’s where the patient is in need of help — or preventing the need for help.""My message to the governors is simple: if you need...

A high-flying realtor who worked for Coldwell Banker and Berkshire Hathaway in California has been revealed as the 'Delta Karen' who was arrested by the FBI for attacking an 80-year-old passenger on a plane after he removed his face mask to eat - while she was herself maskless. Patricia Cornwall, a real estate agent previously based in Los Angeles, who in the 1990s was - according to TikLeak - a member of the Raiderettes cheerleaders for the then-LA-based NFL team, was identified as the unruly passenger on the Thursday flight from Tampa to Atlanta when the altercation took place. Cornwall...

In the late thirteenth century, the Mongol Empire under Kublai Khan made two unsuccessful attempts to invade Japan. Historian Kawai Atsushi gives the background to the invasion, examines different theories about reasons for its failure, and looks at the aftermath for both sides. In November 1274, a fleet carrying some 30,000 Mongol Empire troops approached Hakata Bay off the Japanese island of Kyūshū. Genghis Khan had established the empire in the early thirteenth century by unifying the nomadic peoples of the Mongolian Plateau. Successive leaders expanded the empire through central Asia, and made Goryeo (Korea) a vassal state in 1259....

As major companies roll out digital-health-passport technologies in response to COVID-19, one coalition of firms has already placed the medical data of American citizens at risk of access by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI) describes itself as a “coalition of public and private organizations committed to empowering individuals with access to verifiable clinical information” by creating “trustworthy and verifiable” vaccination records in both digital and paper formats. The aim of the coalition is to make all personal medical and health data compatible with digital wallets or a QR code. VCI is led by the Mitre...

President Biden's chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci on Monday said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) decision to cut its recommended isolation time for people infected with COVID-19 who are asymptomatic will allow people to get back to work more quickly. The decision comes amid a huge uptick in cases that is only expected to get larger because of the highly contagious omicron variant.

<p>MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — The Nicaraguan government has seized the former embassy and diplomatic offices of Taiwan, saying they belong to China.</p><p>President Daniel Ortega’s government broke off relations with Taiwan this month, saying it would recognize only the mainland government.</p>

A poll released Monday shows powerful Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell hemorrhaging GOP support, less than a year until the 2022 midterm elections. McConnell came in dead last in Gallup's new survey ranking 11 federal officials by their job approval ratings. His 34 percent public approval is lower than that of President Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. -snip- Just 46 percent of McConnell's fellow Republicans approve of his job in the Senate, while a decisive 52-point majority disapprove. The overwhelming dissatisfaction in the Senate's longest-serving GOP leader could leave him in a vulnerable position --...