Free Republic

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Gov. Kristi Noem is one step closer to winning another term as governor of South Dakota. The first-term Republican governor defeated challenger Steve Haugaard in Tuesday’s primary election, winning her party’s nomination. Noem, a Castlewood native, rose from a state legislator to representing South Dakota in the U.S. House in 2010. She won the governorship in 2018 by defeating Democrat Billie Sutton with 51% of the vote. [more...]

Miami’s Radio Mambí, a mainstay of the right-wing Cuban community in Florida, is among 18 stations being sold to a group funded by George Soros. Florida conservatives are in an uproar about a proposed media deal that would result in one of the state’s most rabidly conservative talk radio stations being sold to a group headed by prominent Democratic activists and partially funded by businessman George Soros, seen by some as a progressive bogeyman. Under the proposed $60 million deal, the new Latino Media Network would take control of 18 radio stations in 10 of the cities with highest concentration...

Disney is going all-out in joining leftists’ June celebration of Pride Month, making same-sex themes central to a new “Toy Story” feature film spin-off and adding more than 100 hours of LGBTQ titles to family-targeted streamer Disney Plus. After advance screenings, critics say animated space adventure “Lightyear” — opening in theaters on June 17 — “takes queer representation to infinity and beyond,” to quote USA Today, highlighting that a lesbian couple “at one point [greets] each other with a kiss on the lips.” Following backlash over Disney creative executives discussing their ongoing efforts at “queering” children’s entertainment, it seems Disney...

1. Per CNN's own map, the Israeli forces were positioned in between Abu Akleh and the militants. If they were shooting at each other (green arrow for IDF, red arrow for gunmen), then the Palestinians were the only ones shooting in Abu Akleh's direction. 2. 2. CNN confirms that both the Israelis and the militants were using M16 and M4 rifles. It then cites an "expert" who claims that the Palestinians, about 300 meters away from Abu Akleh, were out of range. The M4's range is 500+ meters. The M16's range is 800+ meters. 3. The report relies heavily on...

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin is down more than 20 percentage points in his recall election.

China said on Tuesday that its military has identified Australian military aircraft and warned them to leave after Australia said fighter aircraft intercepted one of its military surveillance planes in the South China Sea. Tan Kefei, spokesman at the Chinese defence ministry, said Australian military aircraft seriously threatened China’s sovereignty and security and the countermeasures taken by the Chinese military were reasonable and lawful.

The World Bank warned Tuesday that the global economy faces the risk of dreaded "stagflation," with this combination of high inflation and low growth tipping some countries into recession. “The war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, supply-chain disruptions, and the risk of stagflation are hammering growth. For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid,” said World Bank President David Malpass. In its updated Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank slashed its forecast for global growth this year to 2.9%, down from the 4.1% forecast it published in January. The World Bank said most of the downgrade is attributed...

Hunter Biden’s favorite Las Vegas hooker got over $20,000 in federal stimulus right after President Joe Biden took office. She was granted an “Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers” loan for her “White female owned business” that “employed at least one person during the applicable loan period,” according to FederalPay. The federal loan was issued through Capital Plus Financial, LLC, in April 2021, shortly after Biden’s father became President.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday ordering the payment of 5 million rubles to the families of Russia’s National Guard who died in Ukraine and Syria.

TOKYO -- China and India have increased Russian oil purchases as prices decline due to Western import bans, the latest data shows, creating a loophole that allows Moscow to secure export revenue. China imported 800,000 barrels of Russian petroleum daily by sea last month, according to data from Refinitiv, a figure that does not include oil delivered via pipelines. The volume has soared by more than 40% from January. The number indicates that China is deliberately going after cheap Russian crude. India's marine imports of Russia's oil also spiked from zero in January to nearly 700,000 barrels a day in...

Countries around the world are facing recession as the Ukraine war hits economies already rocked by the Covid pandemic, the World Bank has warned. Less developed countries in Europe and east Asia face a "major recession", it said. The risk of high inflation and low growth - so-called "stagflation" - is also higher, World Bank President David Malpass said. Energy and food bills have been rising around the world. "The war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, supply-chain disruptions, and the risk of stagflation are hammering growth. For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid," Mr Malpass said. He also...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — US Senator John Thune has also secured the Republican Primary spot for US Senator on the November ballot in the general election. The Associated Press called the race just about an hour after results came in. Thune held off Bruce Whalen and Mark Mowry for the Republican spot.

TORONTO—An embarrassing crime wave has taken Toronto by storm as criminals, emboldened by Canada's ban on handguns, have begun holding up businesses armed with nothing but finger guns. Tim Hortons, a popular Canadian cafe, is reportedly among the hardest hit. Authorities confirm that the cashiers of Tim Hortons are routinely held at finger-point and forced to empty hundreds of dollars into cartoonish money bags. By the time police arrive on the scene the robbers are long gone. "It's absolutely terrible," said Constable Evans. "Since these thieves are using finger guns there's no chance of them leaving additional evidence at the...

The biggest reshuffle of oil trade flows since the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s is underway—and things may never return to normal. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions on Russian oil exports are changing global oil trade routes. Over the past nearly five decades, oil flowed more or less freely from any supplier to any customer in the world, except for sanctions on Iran and Venezuela in recent years. This free energy trade is now over, after the Russian aggression and the Western sanctions that followed, plus Europe’s irreversible decision to cut off its dependence on Russian...

I needed to make an appointment for a vision exam to get some new glasses. My ophthalmologist now refuses to see me because I have refused to take the clot shot. Another one similarly would not see me for the same reason. I told both of them that I reject THEM for insisting on a procedure which has been shown to have terrible side effects and which does not keep you from catching COVID. Witness the many "break-through" cases in the news. Finally found another one who will see me. Have any fellow FReepers experienced similar exclusions from doctors?

Taxpayer-funded transgender organizations want society to “decolonize the gender binary,” force white people to pay reparations to “gender-nonconforming people” and “affirm mustache[s] and big *ick[s]” as “authentic expression of womanhood,” in the latest round of woke lunacy to defy basic biology. “Last year, a group of Washington State gender-identity nonprofits—all of which work with children and receive public funding—hosted a presentation series called ‘Decolonizing Gender,’ claiming that “the process of creating men and women actually is the process of genocide,” Rufo tweeted. One of the participants was Ganesha Gold Buffalo, a “transgender sex worker,” who said that colonialism was the...

An unidentified object was picked up on camera during this weekend's celebrations of the platinum jubilee. As the UK united in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's 70 years on the throne, eagle-eyed viewers of the jubilee celebrations spotted something unusual in the TV coverage of the event. The anomalous sighting occurred following a flypast of several historic aircraft, just as the Red Arrows came into view leaving a trail of red, white and blue smoke behind them. Televised footage shows a white object, which first appears to the right of the jets, moving at considerable speed across the smoke towards...

Top lithium producer Albemarle Corp (ALB.N) may have to shut its Langelsheim plant in Germany if the metal used in electric vehicle batteries is declared a hazardous material by the European Union, its finance chief told Reuters. Lithium's pivotal role in electric vehicles makes it an important commodity in meeting global targets to cut carbon emissions, and it was added to the EU's list of critical raw materials in 2020.

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has introduced a plan to slash federal spending and balance the budget within five years; the Kentucky Senator’s bill includes trillions in budget cuts —he says we can’t ignore the problem any longer. “Five years ago, we could balance our budget with a freeze in spending. Not cut anything. Since then, our debt has skyrocketed to $30 trillion with $2 trillion just from this past year,” Paul said in a statement. “We cannot keep ignoring this problem at the expense of taxpayers, and my budget will put our nation on track to solve this crisis that...

There were seven major farm fires in the United States over a recent 10-day period. In the big picture, they were for the most part relatively small-scale events. But with reports of so many fires at food production facilities, you can’t help but notice. Coincidence? It could be. But it does get your attention. A barn in Hanover Township, Ohio, burned Monday. Officials initially were concerned that a person was in the burning structure but found no people or animals inside, according to the Butler County Journal-News. Saturday was a North Smithfield, Rhode Island, horse farm fire. Thankfully, none of...