Free Republic

While feeling it necessary to rebuke Moscow’s invasion, pro-Russian politicians haven’t ceased equivocating about the dangers of NATO and of aligning with the US. Fico — whose Direction-Slovak Social Democracy (SMER-SSD) party sits in second or third-place in the latest opinion polls — recently said that NATO troops on Slovakian soil would be akin to the “welcoming of the Wehrmacht,” a reference to the army of Nazi Germany. “We voice solidarity with Ukrainian civilians in the face of attack,” says Marian Duris, leader of International Relations at the right-wing Republika party, led by the controversial Milan Uhrík, an MEP. “The...

“I don’t give a single f--k about ever coming back to work here,” a self-described Apple employee posted on a message board called Blind. Once April 11 comes around and brings this new rule into effect, they added, they will be resigning from their job. This worker was not alone, the New York Post was first to report on the message board, citing anonymous messages from other employees. ‘I already know I won’t be able to deal with the commute’ Apple’s plan is to introduce a hybrid schedule, adding days in office after April 11, enforcing two in-office days weekly...

NASA's second attempt to fuel its Artemis 1 moon mission megarocket hit another snag on Monday (April 4) due to a valve issue on ground equipment. A stuck vent valve high up on the mobile launcher structure supporting the Artemis 1's Space Launch System rocket at Launch Pad 39B of NASA's Kennedy Space Center forced NASA to scrub the Artemis 1 test after fueling began on Monday, agency officials said. The valve is use to relieve pressure from the rocket's core stage during fueling. Monday's fueling attempt was NASA's second try to fill the core stage of Artemis 1's 322-foot-tall...

The Mustang and Camaro are the two of the biggest names in the muscle car world, and production of both vehicles is now temporarily suspended due to parts supply issues. Ford and General Motors both announced that they would be idling the factories that make the Mustang and the Camaro for one week, following issues with the parts supply chain. GM will be idling its Lansing Grand River Assembly facility which currently builds both the Camaro, Cadillac CT4, and CT5, which are all based on the same platform. GM did not specify what parts it was missing in order to...

“But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them” (Proverbs 5:4-6 KJV).

Considering Russia spent the last decade waging an online information war against the West, it came as a surprise to many that, days into the invasion of Ukraine, Russia was the one losing the information war. But they were just getting started, and weeks after the war began, Kremlin allies deployed a new kind of troll farm. “Attention fighters,” the administrator of the Cyber Front Z Telegram channel told their 65,000 followers on Thursday morning. The Ukrainian singer Jamala was, they said, worthy of an attack. She’d “arranged a photo shoot with the flag of Ukraine in Britain,” the message...

March 10, 2022 In what I did not even consider calling a “shocking development,” a federal judge has held that police officers may not be entitled to qualified immunity for an incident in which they lied about having probable cause to make a traffic stop, dragged the passenger out of the car, tased him repeatedly, including after he was handcuffed, and including at least once in the genitals after pulling his pants down for that purpose. The officers argued that it was not clear at the time whether this sort of thing was against the law. That is, they were...

Christians shouldn't attend same-sex wedding ceremonies, as attending would be to an inherent show of support, according to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler Jr.In an episode of Mohler’s “The Briefing” podcast that aired Friday, the Evangelical theologian was asked by a listener about what to do if one is invited to a same-sex wedding ceremony.Mohler responded by noting that the “whole context of the wedding as a public event is the public exchange of vows and the public declaration of the rightness of this relationship.”“Remember that the traditional word used of those who are attending a wedding is...

Thanks to Elon Musk, the Big Tech monopoly may be ending

More than four in ten U.S. high school students felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021, according to a CDC field survey released late last week. The number of high school students with persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness has grown steadily from 26.1 percent in 2009, to 36.7 percent in 2019, according to CDC data. The results of the new CDC survey (pdf) taken between January and June 2021 show the trend continuing, with 44 percent of the students reporting feeling persistently sad or hopeless. “We know from other research that youth with poor mental health are more likely...

Germany will temporarily take control of the German subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom, the government has announced in a move it said was necessary to secure energy supply and critical infrastructure amid growing distrust between Germany and Russia in the wake of the war in Ukraine. Energy Minister Robert Habeck said Germany's Bundesnetzagentur energy regulator would become the trustee of Gazprom Germania until September 30. The move comes after Russia's state-owned Gazprom said it was withdrawing from Gazprom Germania on April 1. Habeck justified the move by citing the current "unclear" legal structure behind Gazprom Germania and a breach...

Published in JAMA, research from the University of Minnesota assessed if there is a link between heart health and dementia. Using echocardiography—visual ultrasound of the heart—the research team was able to identify novel measures that are linked to a higher dementia risk. "Atrial myopathy, a condition characterized by abnormal left atrial function and size, is an independent risk factor for dementia," said Dr. Lin Yee Chen, and principal investigator. "In this community-based cohort study, lower left atrial function was associated with higher risk of dementia." The study observed a cohort of 4,096 participants with an average age of 35 years....

*** In a field of big names with tenuous connections to the Keystone State, Bartos calls himself “a lifelong Pennsylvanian” with pride. He’s fairly quick to criticize several of his higher profile opponents as “political tourists who have parachuted into Pennsylvania.” “While I’ve been fighting for Pennsylvania, they’ve been fighting each other.” His roots in the state gave the Bartos campaign an early leg-up in February when he won a series of regional straw polls by Republican committee members. A RealClear Politics poll released earlier this month showed Bartos fourth in the field of seven, with businessman and former George...

Per FOX News Radio Hannity heralds Sean Penn visit to Ukraine, and announces him as guest tomorrow night. Looks like Geraldo and Lindsey might be getting another Bar friend. Fox shifts to All Ukraine, All the time. Penn said Republicans are a Defecation on America.

Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asks Jen Psaki about swimming rules in the NCAA, charging Putin with war crimes and Florida’s so-called ‘Don’t say gay bill.’...

Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong said it was a "very big mistake" for "lunatic" Suh Wook--South Korea's defence chief--to have discussed a pre-emptive strike against a nuclear power Seoul: North Korea will use its nuclear weapons to "eliminate" South Korea's army in the event they launch a pre-emptive strike, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un said Tuesday. Kim Yo Jong's warning, carried in state media, was her second angry retort in three days to comments made by South Korea's defence chief Suh Wook last week...

The Big Apple mom who crashed Mayor Eric Adams’ press conference Monday to blast him over his tot mask mandate was fired shortly afterward from her job at the city Law Department ... Daniela Jampel, who served as an assistant corporation counsel, learned she was canned less than an hour after she confronted a caught-off-guard and apparently annoyed Adams over when he would “unmask our toddlers.” ... “Three weeks ago, you told parents to trust you that you would unmask our toddlers,” Jampel told the mayor. “You stood right here, and you said that the masks would come off April...

The Secret Service is often forced to rent properties near its protectees, but the high cost still left Republicans stunned Several Republican lawmakers blasted first son Hunter Biden’s Secret Service detail after it was revealed it was shelling out $30,000 per month in rent for a mansion.

Bloomberg link only.

Mr. Musk asked his 80 million Twitter followers in March 24-26 tweets about the platform’s commitment to transparency and free-speech principles, concluding with the questions, “What should be done?” and “Is a new platform needed?” “I wouldn’t suggest that The Babylon Bee is the sole reason Musk decided to take action,” said Mr. Dillon. “Censorship is pervasive on the platform, and he‘s been concerned about it for some time. But I do think the absurdity of his favorite satire site getting suspended factored into his decision. Perhaps it was the last straw.” It’s no secret that the world’s richest person...