Free Republic

Soil can be considered black gold, and we’re running out it. The United Nations declared soil finite and predicted catastrophic loss within 60 years. “There are places that have already lost all of their topsoil,” Jo Handelsman, author of “A World Without Soil,” and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told CNBC. The impact of soil degradation could total $23 trillion in losses of food, ecosystem services and income worldwide by 2050, according to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. “We have identified 10 soil threats in our global report … Soil erosion is number one because it’s...

A German state agency has said that it will likely soon be providing over 400,000 more Ukrainian migrants with unemployment benefits over the next few weeks. A total of around 410,000 migrants ostensibly from Ukraine will soon be on the German dole, with hundreds of thousands more on top of that expected to end up receiving unemployment benefit in the central European state before the end of the year. This is the assessment of Germany’s Federal Employment Agency, which is already reportedly giving handouts to millions of migrants under the so-called “Hartz IV” scheme. According to a report by Die...

The attitudes of many conservative Catholic bishops in the United States are not shared by most Catholics. A majority of lay Catholics support abortion rights, oppose denying Communion to politicians who support abortion rights, and favor greater inclusion of LGBT people.

But between European Union politics, the risk of extreme weather and increased demand due to the summer driving season, there’s likely no relief coming anytime soon. “I think in New Jersey, along with the nation, the average price for regular will surpass $5 a gallon,” Patrick De Haan, Gas Buddy petroleum expert, told NJ Advance Media. “It is not a great time to be a motorist and painful when you fill up and see 20 gallons hit $100.”

Doctors were able to miraculously deliver a pregnant mother’s baby after she was fatally shot in Philadelphia early Saturday morning, cops said. City police found the mother with a gunshot wound to the head on the street near Richmond Street and Wheatsheaf Lane in Port Richmond just after 1 a.m.

Russian oil and gas sales could hit $285 billion this year, outstripping last year's takings by 20%. Europe is a major buyer of Russian energy products, accounting for about 50% of its crude oil exports and 75% of its natural gas exports in 2021. Germany was the biggest buyer of Russian energy in the first two months of the war. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is entering its 100th day on Friday, with no clear end to the war in sight. Despite intensifying sanctions, Russia could still rake in $800 million a day from oil and gas revenues this year amid...

George Gascon is the Soros-backed twit who masquerades as the Los Angeles District Attorney, when in fact what he does is act as defense attorney for criminals, valuing the lives of those who commit crimes over the lives of the victims. Gascon has a history of leniency for all kinds of law breakers: December - Gascon tried to have the two previous 'strikes' in the case of a mother accused of murdering her daughter removed. Akira Keyshell Smith, 36, is facing charges for murder, assault on a child, and torture in the death of Eternity Smith, four, who died in...

@RepThomasMassie The criminal contempt resolution against Eric Holder passed by 255 to 67 with 17 democrats joining 238 republicans. Why was he never arrested?

I thought it would be fun. That’s what I told my friend Mack when I asked her to drive with me from New Orleans to Chicago and back in an electric car. I’d made long road trips before, surviving popped tires, blown headlights and shredded wheel-well liners in my 2008 Volkswagen Jetta. I figured driving the brand-new Kia EV6 I’d rented would be a piece of cake. If, that is, the public-charging infrastructure cooperated. We wouldn’t be the first to test it. Sales of pure and hybrid plug-ins doubled in the U.S. last year to 656,866—over 4% of the total...

The Election Integrity Act of 2021, originally known as Georgia Senate Bill 202 (SB202) is a law introduced in the Georgia Legislature which would change certain voting procedures currently in the state. Changes to Absentee Voting The earliest a voter can request a mail-in ballot will now be 11 weeks prior to election date as opposed to the initial 180 days. The deadline to complete the absentee ballot application will now be two Fridays before election day as opposed to one Friday before. Counties will now mail out absentee ballots four weeks before the election, approximately three weeks later than...

Dinesh D’Souza’s election fraud documentary, 2000 Mules, is bolstering concerns among millions of voters that the Trump-Biden election was rife with problems that could have led to a different turnout. In a new Rasmussen Reports survey on the film shared with Secrets, 77% said that the movie “strengthened their conviction that there was systematic and widespread election fraud in the 2020 election.” And that is significant because the poll also suggested that over 20 million voters have viewed the documentary that debuted last month at Florida’s Mar-a-Lago resort, former President Donald Trump’s winter residence. Through interviews and videos, D’Souza makes...

In an effort to make it easier for customers to pay bills they receive by mail, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is linking with a national network that will accept cash at hundreds of convenience stores, drug stores and other outlets. The turnpike is partnering with the KUBRA Cash Payment Network to allow motorists to pay tolls or other turnpike fees at places such as 7-Eleven, CVS, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Sheetz and Walgreens, among others. The program — which includes a $1.50 surcharge for each transaction — is an attempt to make it easier for customers to pay and reduce the...

What a wondrous and challenging feast we celebrate at Pentecost! A feast like this challenges us because it puts to the lie a lazy, sleepy, hidden, and tepid Christian life. The Lord Jesus said to the apostles, I have come to cast a fire on the earth (Luke 12:49). This is a feast about fire, a transformative, refining, purifying fire that the Lord wants to kindle in us. It is a necessary fire, for as the Lord first judged the world by fire, the present heavens and the earth are reserved for fire. Because it is going to be the...

June 5th 2022 7th Saturday of Easter Cathedral of the Holy Saviour, Luanda, Angola Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White These readings are for the extended-form Vigil Mass on the evening before the feast.These readings are for the simple-form Vigil Mass on the evening before the feast.These readings are for the day of the feast itselfThese readings are for the extended-form Vigil Mass on the evening before the feast.First readingGenesis 11:1-9 ©The tower of BabelThroughout the earth men spoke the same language, with the same vocabulary. Now as they moved eastwards they found a plain in the land of Shinar where...

A detailed list of the destroyed and captured vehicles and equipment of both sides can be seen below. This list is constantly updated as additional footage becomes available.

Black voters are bolting away from Joe Biden in herds, and it’s unlikely the president will win them back. In a new Washington Post-Ipsos poll, only 23 percent of voters “strongly agree” with Biden’s job in office. Although, black Americans typically vote overwhelmingly in favor of Democratic candidates, the poll indicates they are frustrated with the lack of progress the Biden administration has made, despite countless promises of “change.” The number of voters who think the Biden administration is “sympathetic” towards black Americans’ problems went from 74 percent to 66 percent. According to the Pew Research Center, black voters carried...

The scientists behind the invention say a mechanical hand fitted with the smart skin showed a remarkable ability to learn to react to external stimuli such as a jab in the palm. It uses a new type of processing system based on 'synaptic transistors, which mimics the brain's neural pathways in order to learn' to feel pain. Experts have been working for decades to build artificial skin with touch sensitivity, with one widely-explored method featuring an array of contact sensors across an electronic skin's surface to allow it detect when it comes into contact with an object. But these sensors...

COVID-19 cases have risen in the U.S. to around 100,000 per day, and the real number could be as much as five times that, given many go unreported. But the situation is far different from the early months of the pandemic. There are now vaccines and booster shots, and new treatments that dramatically cut the risk of the virus. So how much do cases alone still matter? That question has prompted debate among experts, even as much of America goes on with their lives, despite the recent surge in cases.

VIDEOImagine the once in a lifetime experience of a marriage proposal on bended knee only to have the moment completely ruined by an out of control Disney employee Karen who insisted on enforcing the rules to the letter. Such was the case at the Paris Disneyland when a Disney employee took it upon himself to ruin the marriage proposal moment by snatching the ring away. What made it even more infuriating was the absurd self-satisfied smirk on his face as if he accomplished something important by ruining the couple's very special moment. Of course, there was a lot of angry...

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday blamed America’s struggle with inflation on “Putin’s war in Ukraine.” Anchor Jake Tapper said, “You heard Secretary Yellen say this week she got it wrong about inflation. In July, you told Bloomberg that inflation would be temporary about a year ago. As recently as six months ago, you were calling inflation, quote, a short-term problem, not a long-term problem. so, you got it wrong, too.”