Free Republic

His love of architecture and fascination with space provided the perfect combination for Cantwell to make serious moves in Hollywood, working on several projects, his initial credited work being '2001: A Space Odyssey.'Colin Cantwell, the concept artist who designed iconic Star Wars spacecraft, including the X-wing Starfighter, TIE fighter and Death Star, died Saturday at his Colorado home, Sierra Dall, his long-time partner, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 90. Cantwell’s film credits include special photographic effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), technical dialogue for Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and computer graphics design consultant for...

German industry is reportedly preparing to institute gas rationing in Europe’s largest economy as Vladimir Putin’s Russia cut off shipments to Finland, which has launched an application to join the NATO military alliance. The Federal Network Agency of Germany, locally known as the Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), is reportedly drafting action plans to implement gas rationing in response to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s demands that unfriendly nations purchase natural gas from Moscow in rubles rather than Western currencies such as the dollar or euro. According to a report from the Reuters news agency, BNetzA — which regulates energy in Germany — said:...

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A deranged gunman shot and killed a 48-year-old straphanger aboard a Manhattan subway train Sunday morning in what cops are calling an unprovoked attack. The shooter, who was still on the loose Sunday afternoon, paced back and forth in the last car of the northbound Q train around 11:42 a.m. before he opened fire on the random victim seated inside, police and sources said. “Completely random,” one police source said. The victim, whose name wasn’t immediately released, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where he was later pronounced dead, police said. According to witnesses, the suspect was walking back and forth...

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska appeared alongside her husband, President Volodymyr Zelensky, for a rare television interview in which she spoke about the family’s experience during Moscow’s invasion of their country. “Our family was torn apart, as every other Ukrainian family,” Zelenska said in an interview on Ukrainian television network ICTV, according to The Washington Post. “He lives at his job. We didn’t see him at all for two and a half months,” she also said of Zelensky who has led the country as a wartime president. She added that she was “grateful” for the interview as time to spend...

I am a middle-aged African American father, reeling from the sheer horror of what happened to members of my community in Buffalo. Through my pain, I am praying for all the victims and their traumatized families, friends and neighbors -- and for all the minority Americans who are feeling even more afraid now than they did before. (snip) Because you are male, you were born a winner of the patriarchal jackpot. You are more likely to rise to the top of the career ladder and will be better paid on your way up. The state will not attempt to dictate...

<p>Cao is a refugee from Vietnam and an immigrant to the United States, according to his campaign website.</p><p>He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School before attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. Cao served in the Navy for 25 years.</p>

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Part One: The Road To War – For years, from Mali to Afghanistan, I have worked for peace and risked my life for it. It is therefore not a question of justifying war, but of understanding what led us to it. [….] Let’s try to examine the roots of the [Ukrainian] conflict. ---------------------- (Cathi: This is the best, most thorough, least biased explanation from an expert on the current Ukrainian, Russian conflict that I have read.)

As early as 9,500 years ago, people in Europe used slash-and-burn methods to make land usable for agriculture. This is shown by environmental data generated by scientists from the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment (S-HEP) at the University of Tübingen on the basis of two drill cores from the Ammer Valley. The data were then correlated with results from the Mesolithic scattered finds from Rottenburg-Siebenlinden excavated by the Baden-Wuerttemberg Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (State Office for Monument Preservation). In their study, published in the Journal of Quaternary Science, the scientists investigate to what extent climate or anthropogenic factors played...

Joe Biden on Sunday held a meeting with the press after arriving in Tokyo, Japan. Biden kicked off the second leg of his Asia tour in Tokyo after spending two days in South Korea. Biden said he’s not concerned about what North Korea is doing in relation to long-range missile testing while he’s visiting the region. “We are prepared for anything North Korea does because we’ve thought through how we’d respond to whatever they do and so I’m not concerned if that’s what you’re suggesting,” Biden said to reporters. When asked what message he had for Kim Jong Un, Biden...

While a hardline ally 'holds the Kremlin reins', opposition source claims Public appearances by Vladimir Putin were reportedly staged to mask absence Old footage was used in video appearances for several meetings, it was alleged Nikolai Patrushev - a former FSB chief - is now in virtual control of the Kremlin Public appearances by Vladimir Putin were 'staged' last week to mask an absence from duties, raising new speculation about his health, an opposition source claimed. Old footage was used in video appearances for several meetings, it was alleged. Trusted aide Nikolai Patrushev - a former FSB chief - is...

Newly released body camera footage reveals the sickening moment a deputy and a dirt bike rider were engulfed in flames after the officer fired a taser at a gas station. Deputy David Crawford was heard screaming in pain and begging his fellow officers to 'put out' the fire on his legs as he desperately rolled around. Meanwhile his victim, dirt bike rider Jean Barreto, 26, was 'cooked alive' in the fireball which left him with third-degree burns on approximately 75% of his body. Both remain in hospital after the February 27 incident at the Wawa gas station in Florida. But...

A member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' Quds Force involved in planning attacks on Jews and Israelis worldwide, Colonel Hassan Sayad Khodayari, was assassinated in Tehran on Sunday afternoon, the IRGC announced. Khodayari operated in Syria, according to the group’s statement. Photos reportedly from the scene showed Khodayari dead in a vehicle after he was shot.

Belgium has become the first country to introduce a compulsory 21-day monkeypox quarantine - as 14 countries now confirm outbreaks o f the viral disease and doctors warn of a 'significant rise' in UK cases Those who contract the virus will now have to self-isolate for three weeks, Belgian health authorities have said, after three cases were recorded in the country. The infections, the first of which was recorded on Friday, are all linked to a festival in the port city of Antwerp. It comes as doctors have warned that the UK faces a 'significant' rise in infections and the...

White House COVID-⁠19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that Americans should be wearing a mask in crowded indoor spaces to combat the current coronavirus surge. Anchor Martha Raddatz said, “We have the daily case number more than 100,000, I know you think the number is actually higher because of home testing, so what is your advice in these high transmission areas?”

It is speculated that China has a history of alcoholic beverage production dating back more than 5,000 years. The speculation is based on written records and even legends.However, an archaeological discovery in Xinghuacun town of Shanxi's Fenyang city has offered material evidence for the long history and extended it to 6,000 years.One of the remarkable findings at the site, which is located in the premises of today's white liquor producer Xinghuacun Fenjiu Group, was a waving spindle-shaped bottle with a distinctive feature of Yangshao Culture, an ancient civilization in the middle reaches of the Yellow River between 5,000 and 7,000...

Does science owe reparations to God? Consider: God gave science everything to investigate, to supposedly prove or disprove. God gave humans faith and belief and the chance at everlasting life. Yet many scientists have done all they can to supersede God, banish Him, and disprove His existence. And, in doing so, their clinical virtue signaling has robbed hope and meaning from the lives of countless millions, and, sadly, too often made a mockery of science itself. Someone once said, “They blinded me with science.” Those words ring especially true in this (almost?) post-pandemic time of hoaxes. God is the way,...

Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager, Robby Mook, made news when he told a court on Friday that Hillary personally signed off on sharing debunked allegations linking Donald Trump and the Kremlin-backed Alfa-Bank with the media in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. Mook was a witness at the trial of former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who has been indicted by Justice Department special counsel John Durham on charges that he lied to the bureau's general counsel to hide his connection to the Clinton campaign. Mook testified that he and others at the Clinton campaign "weren't totally confident" regarding...

Washington (CNN Business)Twitter will now apply warning labels to — and cease recommending — claims that outside experts have identified as misinformation during fast-moving times of crisis, the social media company said Thursday. The platform's new crisis misinformation policy is designed to slow the spread of viral falsehoods during natural disasters, armed conflict and public health emergencies, the company announced. For example, the policy bans "demonstrably false" or misleading claims of targeted war crimes; false reports of events unfolding on the ground in the midst of a conflict; and false claims about the use of weapons. Special attention will be...

Less than five months ago, on January 1, 2022, Eric Adams was sworn in as mayor of New York City. Before that he was a Brooklyn Borough President, a member of New York State’s Senate, and a police captain. It’s certainly a nice local résumé but the emphasis is on “local.” Moreover, his short tenure as New York City’s mayor has been undistinguished. Nevertheless, Adams has announced that he is considering a presidential run in 2024. Only someone living deep within the leftist bubble would be so disconnected and egotistical to think that’s a logical thing to say. One of...