Free Republic

Capitalist ruin, dynamite’s legacy and the beauty of the Bay are all on view at this parkOne of the most peaceful parks in the Bay Area turns out to be responsible for some of humanity’s loudest booms. Head to Point Pinole Regional Shoreline in Richmond for fantastic views of the water, a cliffside walk dotted with wildflowers and a history lesson in explosives manufacturing and urban ruin. The Giant Powder Company had an exclusive license from Alfred Nobel to make dynamite — and did so in San Francisco’s Glen Canyon, until the factory got vaporized in a huge explosion in...

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov spoke by telephone with Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniya. According to Haniya Lavrov, he praised Hamas' position "against American hegemony", condemned Israel's use of "excessive [sic] force" against civilians and expressed reservations about the normalization between Arab states and Israel. In the Russian version it did not appear...

Walt Disney World lifted the last remnants of its longstanding mask mandate on Wednesday, allowing park visitors to attend the Disney World parks in Florida unmasked if they choose for the first time in over two years. On Tuesday, Disney announced the new policy to allow unvaccinated patrons at the company’s famous Florida amusement parks to participate without wearing a mask, shedding the last vestiges of a mask policy that has been propped up by corporate inertia long after the state mandates receded. “Face coverings are optional for Guests in both outdoor and indoor locations, as well as Disney transportation,”...

Veteran actor and Mad Men star Robert Morse has died at the age of 90. Morse's son Charlie confirmed his father's death to ABC7 on Wednesday, and declined to reveal a cause of death. He died in Los Angeles, where he owned a $1.8 million three-bed, three-bath bungalow situated in the leafy Sherman Oaks neighborhood that Morse bought in 1992. The actor's talent agent, David Shaul, told Entertainment Weekly that the actor died 'peacefully at home yesterday after a short illness.' Rich Sommer, who played Harry Crane on Mad Men, was among the first to pay tribute. He tweeted: 'Just...

A Florida bride and a wedding caterer were apprehended after several wedding guests were served food laced with drugs, according to deputies. The victims began feeling sick and high after eating the drug-laced food.

This is the moment a Russian tank is blown to smithereens by a Ukrainian anti-tank guided missile fired from almost three miles away. Footage obtained today from the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade - a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces - shows how the tank is caught in the missile system's crosshairs before the projectile soars through the air and meets its target. The brigade titled the video (in Ukrainian): 'Stugna against T-72: attackers of the 128th brigade destroyed a Russian tank with a Ukrainian missile from a distance of 4.5 km'.

The Biden administration is making it easier for refugees fleeing Russia's war on Ukraine to come to the United States from Europe while trying to shut down an informal route through northern Mexico that has emerged in recent weeks. A program announced Thursday will streamline refugee applications for Ukrainians and others fleeing the fighting, but will no longer routinely grant entry to those who show up at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum, as thousands have done since the invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin began almost two months ago. The U.S. says it expects to admit up to 100,000...

Spider fossil under UV light. (Olcott et al., Communications Earth and Environment, 2022) =================================================================== 21 APRIL 2022 A fossilized spider that glows under ultraviolet light has given away the secret of its exceptional 23-million-year-long existence. When researchers placed the fossil and others like it under a fluorescent microscope on a whim, they were surprised to notice the subtle outline of the arachnids suddenly pop against their background. "To our surprise they glowed, and so we got very interested in what the chemistry of these fossils was that made them glow," explains geologist Alison Olcott from the University of Kansas. Analyses...

Sacramento jurors needed just hours Wednesday to convict Ronald Seay of first-degree murder and lying in wait in the December 2018 ambush murder of Natomas librarian Amber Clark. Those same jurors will return Thursday to Sacramento Superior Court to determine whether Seay, 59, was sane when he shot 41-year-old Clark in her car in the parking lot of the North Natomas library branch she supervised.

Regardless of what the mainstream media and Democrats might want you to think, no one can change their biological sex, regardless of the hormones or surgical procedures that they might undertake to attempt to do so. We are at a moment in time where up is down and down is up, and it's a dangerous precedent if we allow it to foment itself as a cultural norm and standard. If I were to die today and someone dug up my bones hundreds of years from now, they would know through well-defined science that my remains are those of a male....

CNN+ customers "will receive prorated refunds of subscription fees," the company said. The decision was made by new management after CNN's former parent company, WarnerMedia, merged with Discovery to form Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this month.

Elon Musk bought a huge chunk of Twitter. Instead of joining the board, he decided to make an offer to buy the whole thing. When the board rejected him, he decided to secure the funds to make his case stronger. Now, the funds are in hand and ready to go to shareholders should the woke board either give in or be forced to accept. According to Emel Akan at our premium news partners at The Epoch Times: Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk has secured the funding required financing to make a tender offer to buy Twitter and take the company...

THURSDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER LUKE 24:35–48 Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus appeared alive again to his followers. Upon seeing him, “they were startled and terrified.” They are terrified because the one they abandoned and betrayed and left for dead is back—undoubtedly for revenge! Luke’s risen Jesus does two things in the presence of his shocked followers. The first thing is that he shows them his wounds. This move is a reiteration of the judgment of the cross: don’t forget, he tells them, what the world did when the Author of life appeared. But he does something else; he...

The coronavirus pandemic solidified the idea people don’t have to show up at an office to get work done. That fresh reality has led to a growing number of people relocating to more affordable cities across the country. But while the development is beneficial to remote — or so-called Zoom — workers, it is leading to rent increases in areas where newcomers are settling in. And in some cases forcing low-income residents to leave the neighborhood.

Yesterday, interviewer and controversy junkie Piers Morgan released a deceptively edited clip on social media appearing to show a contentious end to an interview between himself and former President Donald Trump. The clip released by Morgan’s team appeared to show Trump getting angry and storming out mid-interview, likely a ploy to increase ratings for Morgan’s new show, Piers Morgan Uncensored.

A Washington Post article exposed the identity of an orthod woman who has been running a Twitter account that simply posts TikTok videos created by educators in which they brag about teaching children about critical race theory and age-inappropriate matters. Since the attempted hit piece was published on Tuesday, the woman – a frum Jew from Brooklyn – has gained more than 200,000 additional followers on her Twitter account, while the person responsible for the article has come under intense criticism for revealing the identity of a private person, including her home address and other personal information irrelevant to the...

Florida legislature has revoked Disney's self-governing status which means that some bold new changes are on the way. Disneyland in California will remain a popular site for human trafficking but the Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL is going to experience a dramatic overhaul. Take a look at these exciting changes on the way: 1) The Hall of Presidents will just have 46 animatronic Donald Trumps: They are the greatest robots, maybe ever. Everyone says so. 2) Chip and Dale will now reside in separate trees: We can't let our children be corrupted by cartoon characters having too close of...

Basic income is a government-funded policy that provides regular cash payments to citizens with no strings attached. If approved, Austin's local government will partner with the California non-profit UpTogether to administer the program and analyze the results once the year-long trial run is complete. "The evaluation will include analysis of survey and interview data, as well as additional case studies with participants seeking to make recommendations and measure impact in key areas such as economic mobility, social capital, and housing stability," the city council's agenda item says.

<p>Mike Tyson appeared to attack a fellow passenger on a Wednesday night flight, according to footage released Thursday by TMZ.</p><p>Tyson, who had boarded a Florida-bound plane from San Francisco, is said to have engaged with his fellow passenger prior to the incident, a witness told the gossip site, with the former heavyweight even posing for a selfie.</p>

… The World Professional Association for Transgender Health, a professional and educational organization, and the Endocrine Society, which represents specialists who treat hormone conditions, both have guidelines for such treatment. Here’s a look at what’s typically involved. PUBERTY BLOCKERS Children who persistently question the sex they were designated at birth are often referred to specialty clinics providing gender-confirming care. Such care typically begins with a psychological evaluation to determine whether the children have “gender dysphoria,″ or distress caused when gender identity doesn’t match a person’s assigned sex. HORMONES After puberty blockers, kids can either go through puberty while still identifying...