Free Republic

"This is a great victory for the principle of state preemption," said SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb. "This should send a signal to other municipal governments—especially the city of Seattle against which we have a nearly identical pending lawsuit—that they cannot enact their own gun restrictions in violation of state law or the state constitution." Edmonds officials had adopted a so-called "safe storage" mandate for firearms owners living within Edmonds city limits. The problem was that in 1985, the state legislature adopted the state statute, preempting "the entire field of firearms regulation within the boundaries of the state, including the...

Only 32 percent of the winter wheat crop in the United States received a “good” or “excellent” rating from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), new reports show. While this represents a slight increase of two points compared to a week ago, the figure is far behind 2021’s 53 percent rating, illustrating just how bad America’s wheat crop is due to persistent drought conditions in many areas. “Winter wheat rated as fair was 32 percent and winter wheat rated poor to very poor was 36 percent,” reported the Longview News-Journal. “Winter wheat headed was 5 percent, 1 point less than...

Nearly two months after Russia invaded Ukraine, a Russian general described Russia’s next phase of military operations as what may be an invasion of Moldova. In comments reported by the Russian state-run TASS news agency on Friday, Russian Maj. Gen. Rustam Minnekaev, Deputy Commander of the Central Military District, said the “second phase” of Russian military operations in Ukraine will focus on establishing a “land corridor” between Russia, the Russian-occupied territory of Crimea, and Transnistria, which is a pro-Russian breakaway region of neighboring Moldova. “Since the beginning of the second phase of the special operation, it has already begun, literally...

Earlier this week, Wikipedia removed the entry on Hunter Biden's investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners. This comes as Hunter Biden's investment firm has been at the centre of various inquiries about his offshore business operations. As per a report by New York Post, a Wikipedia editor named Alex stated that this organisation is only discussed in connection with its famous founders, Hunter Biden and Christopher Heinz adding that "keeping it around" risked the page becoming a magnet for Hunter Biden conspiracy theories. The deletion took place on Wednesday. US President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has been in the middle...

Some so-called right-wingers want these people to conquer all of Europe. Putin's Uruk-hai Kadyrovites pose in the rear against the backdrop of a destroyed civilian building in Mariupol. They say that Mariupol is completely captured. But the essence of this video is not in false statements, but in the general picture of "white russian soldiers", under the green banners of Islam and the crypto-soviet flags of Minas Morgul ("ДНР" - in black speech).

...some of the systemic issues that have allowed accused teachers to get favorable exit deals and move to new schools with their reputations intact, where they may continue to abuse students...Lackluster prevention training. Poor record-keeping. Inconsistent policies from school to school and district to district. Union protections, costly litigation and disbelief....For students willing to report harassment and abuse by school employees... Even if parents do believe the student, the school can pose additional obstacles. Principals or investigators interviewing the student may question their intentions, and even encourage them to think twice about making a report....In practice, not all schools escalate...

So far, only one case has been confirmed, the WHO said. The patient was a 31-year-old man, who began experiencing symptoms on April 5. He sought treatment at a local health facility after being sick for more than a week at home. The man was admitted to an Ebola treatment center on April 21 for intensive care but died later that day, the WHO said. The previous outbreaks in Equateur Province were in 2020 when 130 cases were reported, and in 2018, when 54 cases were recorded, the WHO said The DRC's equatorial forests have been a hotbed of the...

Paper ballots tucked in paper envelopes. No absentee voting, and no early voting either. French voters in Sunday’s presidential election are using and old-school system that has defied calls for more flexibility or modernization. As France’s 48.8 million voters are invited to choose between President Emmanuel Macron and his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen, here is a look at how the French election works: HOW DO THEY CAST BALLOTS? Voters make their choices in a booth, with the curtains closed, then place their ballot in an envelope that is then put into a transparent ballot box. They must show photo...

BEIJING (AP) — China is promoting coal-fired power as the ruling Communist Party tries to revive a sluggish economy, prompting warnings Beijing is setting back efforts to cut climate-changing carbon emissions from the biggest global source. Official plans call for boosting coal production capacity by 300 million tons this year, according to news reports. That is equal to 7% of last year’s output of 4.1 billion tons, which was an increase of 5.7% over 2020. China is one of the biggest investors in wind and solar, but jittery leaders called for more coal-fired power after economic growth plunged last year...

Does the thought of sharing a commercial airline flight with a fellow passenger who insists on not wearing a mask scare you? Fear not. Airlines say they have options — including refunds in some cases – for those disturbed by bare-faced fliers. Many air travellers in the next few weeks bought their tickets before a federal judge in Florida on Monday struck down the requirement to wear a mask in airports and during flights, as Breitbart News reported.

The Biden White House and Cuban officials kicked off talks to curb illegal migration coming from the Caribbean country. On Thursday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the US is hoping to continue almost 30-years of dialogue with Cuba.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Shanghai authorities battling an outbreak of COVID-19 have erected fences outside residential buildings, sparking fresh public outcry over a lockdown that has forced much of the city's 25 million people indoors. In Shanghai, images of workers in white hazmat suits sealing entrances of housing blocks and closing off entire streets with green fencing - roughly two metres tall - went viral on social media, prompting questions and complaints from residents. "This is so disrespectful of the rights of the people inside, using metal barriers to enclose them like domestic animals," said one user on social media platform...

Tina Descovich has been fighting for parental rights since she was elected to the Brevard County, Florida school board in 2016. But her mission is now shared by 85,000 other mothers in 34 states who joined Moms for Liberty and who now show up at school board meetings to hold officials accountable. They are also running for school board spots and other local offices — and winning. They’ve honed their skills by scouring websites and requesting public records to uncover the radical sexual and racial agenda being pushed in public schools across the land. “The sex ed curriculum their kids...

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President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order intended to help restore national forests devastated by wildfires, drought and blight, using an Earth Day visit to Seattle to press for more action on the environment. Although Biden has struggled to make progress on his most ambitious climate goals, he drew a sharp contrast with his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, who unraveled the country's fight against global warming. "We've reached the point where the crisis on the environment has become so obvious, with the notable exception of the former president, that we really have an opportunity to do things...

When anything sacred must be debauched, there are no limits to the charade of liberating oneself from taboos. In 2019, a performance by a dance troupe at the Tanglefoot Building in Grand Rapids attracted controversy after the site’s owner canceled the event. The reason was that the troupe was composed of drag queens and kings, and all were adults with Down Syndrome. The event space owner was Peter Meijer, then a Republican candidate for the House of Representatives. After brief outrage, the story was forgotten, but Drag Syndrome has continued to market their “craft” through—what else?—TikTok. When I learned there...

A knifeman shouted 'we have to kill Macron' as he stabbed a priest and a nun multiple times in an unprovoked attack in France this morning. Father Krzysztof Rudzinski, 59, was stabbed 20 times with a 7cm knife before Sister Marie-Claude, 72, was cut in the hand as she reportedly snatched the knife from the attacker. French police arrested a 31-year-old French man from Fréjus, southeastern France, after the attack at 10am in the Saint Pierre d'Arène church, Nice. France began voting on Sunday in a presidential run-off election in a race between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right politician Marine...

Paraguay is seeing a surge in German migrants, fleeing Islamic migrants in their own country and onerous coronavirus restrictions. “We have a problem in Germany with Muslims,” said one of the exiles, adding: “Islam and vaccinations are big, big problems in this world.” The German, named as Michael Schwartz and said to have arrived in Paraguay in November 2021, told the BBC that he had avoided taking coronavirus vaccinations — which the German health minister wants to make compulsory, although there is resistance to the policy in the federal legislature — because there are “many questions” around them, suggesting that...

There are around 175,000 white and orange U-Haul rental trucks in the United States and Canada for do-it-yourself movers. And they all have something strange in common: Arizona license plates with the word "apportioned" slapped on them. An esoteric agreement between the 48 continental US states, Washington DC and all 10 Canadian provinces determining how big-rigs and other commercial vehicles that travel across state lines divvy up billions of dollars of license plate registration fees.Such vehicles — known as "apportionable vehicles" — are registered and licensed under what's known as the International Registration Plan (IRP), an agreement created between states...

The Bible In Paintings 2 ENCOURAGEMENT FOR APPRECIATING AND APPLYING GOD'S MESSAGE J U D G E SCHAPTER 16 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. 1 REMBRANDT "The Blinding of Samson" 2 Detail Source 3 "Samson's Blinding" 4 "Blind Samson" 5 GIOACCHINO ASSERETO "Philistines Gouging Out Samson's Eyes" 6 FRANZ HEINRICH LOUIS CORINTH "The Blinded Samson" Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. 7 CARL BLOCH "Samson and the...