Free Republic

A project to increase access to central Ohio’s main rivers and creeks has a new leader, and it’s a name familiar to many. Dr. Amy Acton, who served as Ohio’s health director during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, was named Thursday the director of RAPID 5. RAPID 5 is a nonprofit group that looks to expand public access to undeveloped areas near Franklin County’s major waterways. RAPID stands for “River And Parks + Imagination + Design,” and the 5 refers to the Big Darby Creek, Scioto River, Olentangy River, Alum Creek and Big Walnut Creek. “This is a...

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. House passed a bill on Thursday that allows the U.S. president to issue an energy emergency declaration, making it unlawful for companies to excessively increase gasoline and home fuel prices. The bill must pass the Senate, which is unlikely, and be signed by President Joe Biden to become law. The legislation, sponsored by Democratic Representatives Katie Porter and Kim Schrier, passed the House 217 to 207, with no Republicans supporting it. In the Senate, evenly divided at 50 members in each party, 10 Republicans would need to support it for the bill to...

ACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Leaders of a Tennessee abortion clinic calculated driving distances and studied passenger rail routes as they scanned the map for another place to offer services if the U.S. Supreme Court lets states restrict or eliminate abortion rights. They chose Carbondale in Illinois - a state that has easy abortion access but is surrounded by more restrictive states in the Midwest and South. It will be the southernmost clinic in Illinois when it opens in August. "I think at this point, we all know the stark reality that we´re facing in Tennessee. We are going to lose...

May 20, 2022 ***BREAKING Hillary campaign manager testifies that she approved spread of Russiagate lie https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/ex-fbi-general-counsel-baker-continue-cross-examination?utm_source=breaking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter ***BREAKING Hillary Clinton approved dissemination of Trump-Russian bank allegations to media, campaign manager testifies https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hillary-clinton-approved-trump-russian-bank-allegations-sussmann-trial Defense team in Sussmann trial cross examines Durham witness, ex-FBI attorney Baker for second day https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/ex-fbi-general-counsel-baker-continue-cross-examination Marc Elias testifies about fusion GPS https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/marc-elias-testifies-about-fusion-gpss-trump-russia-dirt-digging-in-sussmann-case Reluctant Witness Devastates Defense Claims In Special Counsel Criminal Case https://thefederalist.com/2022/05/20/reluctant-witness-devastates-defense-claims-in-special-counsel-criminal-case/ Turley: Jury pool in Michael Sussmann trial a 'nightmare' for prosecutors https://www.foxnews.com/media/turley-jury-pool-michael-sussmann-trial-nightmare-prosecutors May 19th, 2022 FBI witness in Sussmann trial says Trump-Alfa Bank allegation was 'far-reaching,' not objective | Just The News https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/second-day-sussmann-trial-opening-statements-witness *Recommended by...

In recent weeks, the tumult in Washington has largely centered on the issue of student loans. Almost every Democrat and left-leaning pundit has come out in favor of some degree of relief for those who have amassed debts to pay for college. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) for example, penned a Washington Post opinion piece with the exhortative title, “President Biden, it’s time to cancel student debt.” What he wants the President to do is to forgive students of their payment obligations under their federal student loan contracts. It’s highly questionable whether the President has the legal authority to unilaterally forgive...

Amid the rampant hyperbole in reaction to the Supreme Court’s pending overturn of Roe v. Wade, nothing has been more misleading than the accusation from leftist activists, the media and Democrats — even President Biden himself — that gay rights could be next. “We’re outraged,” the Human Rights Campaign president declared, “because reproductive rights are LGBTQ+ rights.” A similar statement from GLAAD trumpeted, “None of us are safe from the extreme anti-women and anti-LGBTQ ideology that now dominates this Court.” As the president of the country’s largest organization representing LGBT Republicans and their allies, I see this false line of...

Facebook employees were told to stop discussing abortion at work after the subject has become 'the most divisive and reported topic' on the company's internal chat system. Executives at Meta, its parent company, allege abortion discussions on Workplace, an internal social media platform, have put the organization at 'an increased risk' of being seen as a 'hostile work environment,' The Verge reported. VP of HR Janelle Gale, during a town hall meeting Thursday, told staff the abortion discussions isolate certain employees and are harmful to the work environment. 'Even if people are respectful, and they're attempting to be respectful about...

SINGAPORE, May 20 (Reuters) - China is quietly ramping up purchases of oil from Russia at bargain prices, according to shipping data and oil traders who spoke to Reuters, filling the vacuum left by Western buyers backing away from business with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in February. The move by the world's biggest oil importer comes a month after it initially cut back on Russian supplies, for fear of appearing to openly support Moscow and potentially expose its state oil giants to sanctions. read more China's seaborne Russian oil imports will jump to a near-record 1.1 million barrels...

Ok so she finished 3rd. The Hannity hate worked. Her tweet's didn't help. Neither did the infighting amongst the freepers. We have to keep the seat. Lose it and it's gone for 6 years. Trump knows it. Taking a chance on Oz is a deal with the devil-we all know that too. She fought hard and didn't quit like too many republicans do before as well as after elections. She kept it up after losing by 20 points in the house election. In her defense the district appears deep blue and if she fought the good fight in an expected...

A furious female skateboarder has slammed Red Bull for sponsoring a contest where she placed second to her trans rival. Taylor Silverman claims she and other female competitors were disadvantaged by officials at the Red Bull Cornerstone Contest, where she placed second and received a $2,750 award. Trans skateboarder Lillian Gallagher was awarded $5,000 for placing first and winning two separate divisions - money that Silverman says should have been given to her. Silverman, who has been skateboarding for 11 years, said when she tried to reach out to officials to 'do the right thing even if it's not the...

A '90s actor who starred in the hit TV show "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" has been charged with perpetuating a scheme to defraud the U.S. government of CARES Act funds, according to the Department of Justice. Austin St. John, who played the red Power Ranger on the show, which aired from 1993 to 1995, was one of 18 charged with filing fraudulent applications for loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, and transferring them to the two ringleaders of the scheme. St. John, whose real name is Jason Geiger, allegedly obtained more than $400,000 in fraudulent PPP loans and transferred them...

In March 2021, the National Threat Initiative (NTI) partnered with the Munich Security Conference to conduct a tabletop exercise on reducing high-consequence biological threats. The report focused specifically on a Monkeypox outbreak. This tabletop exercise can be added to a long list of other pandemic table top exercises. In a previous thread that I wrote back in November 2021 (before my twitter account was banned) I wrote a thread entitled “Who Are The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security And Why Did They Publish A Document Called The SPARS Pandemic 2025-2028”. In that thread I spoke of 4 pandemic tabletop...

We want to open this evening with a story you may not have heard, but that you should definitely know about. It begins early last year when Joe Biden, in one of his very first acts as president, brought the United States back into the World Health Organization. We saw this, and we thought: Why would Biden be so anxious to do something like that? At the time, we assumed it was just part of his larger de-orangification effort. Trump had pulled the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, so Biden had to do the opposite. Childish, but that...

Fewer and fewer Americans are saying the United States is on the right track or that the economy is in good shape as inflation soars, according to a new poll. A recent survey done by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Research found that just 21% of adults believe the US is going in the right direction, down from 29% in April. Even Democrats are losing hope – with only 33% saying the US is headed in the right direction compared to 49% a month ago and 55% in March.

Former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is running for Congress, he announced Friday morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." De Blasio, a 61-year-old Democrat who served as New York City mayor from 2014 to 2021, will run in New York's newly drawn 10th Congressional District. "Joe, the polls show people are hurting. They need help," de Blasio told MSNBC's Joe Scarborough. "They need help fast. And they need leaders who can actually get them help now and know how to do it. I do know how to do it from years of serving the people of this city. And so...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on boosters for 5- to 11-year-olds following the independent vaccine advisers recommendation for an additional dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine following a primary series. The CDC's vaccine advisers voted 11-1, with 1 abstention Thursday to support recommending a booster dose, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized earlier this week. The recommendation they voted on was: "A single Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine booster dose is recommended for persons ages 5-11 years at least 5 months after the primary series, under the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization."

Anne Van Donsel said she didn't quite believe it when her hometown of Burlington, Vermont, last year sent her a new property tax assessment stating that the value of her home had doubled — raising her property taxes by 20%. Her property taxes jumped to about $12,000 a year, up from $10,000, a bump she said is adding to the financial strain as inflation pushes up the cost of food and other necessities. While Van Donsel appealed the assessment, she was given only a small reduction in the value of her home, which didn't make a dent in her new...

FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER JOHN 15:12-17 Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus calls us his friends. Psychologists tell us that a true friend is someone who has seen us at our worst and still loves us. If you have encountered me only on my best days, I have no guarantee that you are my friend. But when you have dealt with me when I am most obnoxious and you still love me, then I am sure that you are my friend. The old Gospel song says, “What a friend we have in Jesus!” This is not pious sentimentalism; it is the...

The leftist government of New Zealand will begin handing out millions of checks in an attempt to fight inflation, despite government spending typically being a key contributor to inflation. In order to supposedly combat inflation, which has risen to a 30-year-high in New Zealand, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced on Thursday that the Labour Party-controlled government would be issuing 350NZD ($225/£180) in checks to some 2.1 million Kiwis in weekly payments over the next three months.

Haines welcomed its first large cruise ship last week since September 2019. It marks the start of what could be a record-breaking cruise season for Upper Lynn Canal communities. But with little public data about COVID-19 cases on ships, some community members worry that the cruise ships could also bring a surge in coronavirus cases. Listen to this story: The town’s Deputy Mayor Cheryl Stickler welcomed passengers as they got off the Serenade of the Seas last Thursday. “You’re the first large cruise ship we’ve been able to host since September 18, 2019. That’s only 967 days,” she said laughing....