Free Republic

A left-wing group is hosting a "shut down SCOTUS" protest on June 13, with plans to "blockade" the streets surrounding the Supreme Court in light of a potential decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade being released. The group, ShutDownDC, announced the protest on its website and states that it will begin at 7 a.m. on June 13 at Stanton Park in Washington, D.C. As part of the "shut down SCOTUS" protest, the group will "blockade" the streets around the Supreme court, according to the website.

A man who was open-carrying an AR-15-style rifle at a Missouri supermarket had his firearm stolen at gunpoint, according to police. Then, in a surprising twist, he retrieved another gun from his vehicle, and opened fire on the man accused of robbing him, North County Police Cooperative said on Facebook. Officers responded on May 27 after a call for "shots fired" at Wellston Food Market in St Louis, Missouri. Officers said that a man had been carrying his rifle around the supermarket in a non-threatening manner. When he stepped out of the store, a 31-year-old man held a pistol to...

Wickr Me, an encrypted messaging app owned by Amazon, has reportedly become a popular app for people sharing images of child sexual abuse. NBC News reports that Wickr Me, an encrypted messaging app owned by Amazon, has become popular amongst individuals sharing images and videos of child sexual abuse. Data gathered by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) shows that it is not the only online platform being used to share such imagery. However, Amazon appears to be doing little to address the issue according to experts and law enforcement officials. As a result, the app has...

Drivers at a gas station in Rancho Cordova, California, were ecstatic Thursday when something unexpected happened. A glitch on its pumps was selling fuel for $0.69 per gallon at the Shell station located on Sunrise Boulevard and White Rock Road, CBS Sacramento reported. According to the outlet, Darryl Surita posted about the error on his social media profile. “I looked at the numbers and it was 69 cents a gallon,” he recalled, adding, “So you know what I did, I hit that button and it started pumping and the dollar sign just stayed low.” --SNIP-- “I started looking around and...

COPY LINK BUSINESS Smithfield Foods, Citing High Costs of Operating in California, to Close Pork Plant The U.S.’s largest hog processor says it isn’t worth doing business in the state due to higher inflation, taxes Smithfield Foods said it would close its Vernon, Calif., plant in early 2023, citing higher costs than at other locations. PHOTO: DAVID MCNEW/GETTY IMAGES By Patrick ThomasFollow June 11, 2022 8:33 am ET PRINT TEXT Smithfield Foods Inc., the largest pork processor in the U.S. by volume, is closing an 1,800-person plant in California and shrinking the size of its hog herd in the region,...

The FBI deceived the House, Senate and the Justice Department about the substance and strength of evidence undergirding its counterintelligence investigation of President Trump, according to a recently declassified document and other material. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta A seven-page internal FBI memo dated March 8, 2017, shows that “talking points” prepared for then-FBI Director James Comey for his meeting the next day with the congressional leadership were riddled with half-truths, outright falsehoods, and critical omissions. Both the Senate and the House opened investigations and held hearings based in part on the misrepresentations made in those FBI briefings, one of which...

An official with the Social Security Administration said seniors and others who rely on the benefits program are likely to receive a cost-of-living adjustment "closer to 8%" at the end of 2022 due to the current rate of inflation, which is the highest in four decades. That increase would represent the biggest-cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, since 1981. The average monthly Social Security check is about $1,658, which means beneficiaries could see an increase of $132.64 per month in early 2023, bringing the average check to about $1,790. The agency's COLA takes effect in December, with the updated benefits paid out...

Joe Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ is not working as planned, or is it? .........snip......... As the Gateway Pundit previously reported, at least 18 major fires have erupted at food industry facilities and plants over the past six months. All of the fires have been officially listed as accidental or inconclusive. Now this… A Gateway Pundit reader sent us an updated list of US-based food manufacturing plants that were damaged from 2021 to 2022 under the Biden administration. These data were first published at Think Americana. Below is the list of America’s 95 plants that have been destroyed, damaged or impacted...

Drag Queen Story Hour executive director Jonathan Hamilt said that gun control is needed to protect kids. "You know, 19 students just got shot in Texas, and Texas legislation wants to ban minors from going to drag shows. It makes zero sense. It's a sad, sorry excuse... [for] the lack of gun control, and that's the real issue," Hamilt said, according to the Independent. A school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last month left 19 children and two teachers dead. "Drag queens aren't going into schools to shoot kids... when did we decide that it's appropriate to teach kids how to...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The stage is nearly set for incumbent DFL Gov. Tim Walz to take on Republican challenger Dr. Scott Jensen in the Minnesota governor's race this fall. Former Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek declined to force a GOP primary against Jensen. Stanek didn't come to the Secretary of State's office before the 5 p.m. Tuesday filing deadline, then released a statement that he would return to law enforcement consulting. Both Jensen and Walz now face only token opposition in their respective primaries. That's just how the two parties wanted it, said Larry Jacobs, a University...

Until recently, the Hindu caste system was not an issue in the United States. Now, as a result of mass immigration from South Asia, this cultural hierarchy has been imported into our country and we have to deal with it. In 1916, B.R. Ambedkar, the father of India’s constitution and himself a Dalit, wrote: “If Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would become a world problem.” Now, it's happening.

Smithfield Foods Inc., the largest pork processor in the U.S. by volume, is closing an 1,800-person plant in California and shrinking the size of its hog herd in the region, saying the cost of doing business in the state wasn’t worth it. Smithfield, owned by Hong Kong-based pork conglomerate WH Group Ltd., said Friday that it would close the plant in Vernon, Calif., just outside of Los Angeles, in early 2023, citing higher taxes, utility costs and labor costs in the state compared with other areas where it operates. The decision to close the plant comes as food suppliers are...

Alarm! The CPI news on Friday was so awful that it changed the bond market’s view of Fed trajectory, and the weakest sector broke. In bond jargon, MBS went “no-bid.” No buyers for MBS. Then a few posted prices beyond borrower demand, not wanting to buy except at penalty prices. (Courtesy of Cherry Creek Mortgage) Despite what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said, Friday’s inflation report demonstrated that inflation is no longer transitory. And with that realization, there was a dearth of bidders for Agency Mortgage-backed Securities (Agency MBS) on Friday. As a result, agency MBS 2.5% dropped to under...

Joe Biden’s repeated use of the phrase “Putin’s price hikes” is intended to shift responsibility for inflation away from his own policy and assign blame to Russia. Biden is essentially pretending that Vladimir Putin has control over White House energy policy, in order to protect his administration from the American people realizing all of the economic pain they feel is being done purposefully. Putin didn’t price hike anything. The cause of the current spike in global oil prices was created, in the largest part, by the western sanctions against Russia; not the action of Russia itself. Factually, massive global inflation...

The report cited "nearly 50 Democratic officials" and "disappointed voters" who are "alarmed about Republicans’ rising strength and extraordinarily pessimistic about an immediate path forward" under the Biden administration. There is "low enthusiasm" from Biden’s base and worry from party officials about the president’s "leadership, his age and his capability to take the fight to former President Donald J. Trump a second time," the Times wrote. It quoted Steve Simeonidis, a Democratic National Committee member from Florida, who said, "To say our country was on the right track would flagrantly depart from reality," and urged him to announce he wouldn't...

President Biden blamed the war in Ukraine for rapidly escalating the price of oil and gas, while speaking to reporters Saturday. A reporter in the press pool following Biden asked the president for his thoughts about the nationwide average price of gas exceeding $5 per gallon. Biden deferred blame to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. "It's outrageous what the war in Ukraine is causing," Biden began. The president then proceeded to emphasize the government's decision to tap into U.S. oil reserves.

Serhii Haidai, the head of the Luhansk Oblast Military Administration, has reported that the Russians have withdrawn the remaining Buryat troops from Sievierodonetsk because they are significantly weaker than the Ukrainian troops. Quote: "They’re dropping like flies. The Ruscists have withdrawn the remaining Buryats from Sievierodonetsk because they can’t withstand the fights with the Ukrainian defenders.

Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle Matthew 5:33-37 Friends, in today’s Gospel, the Lord teaches his way about oaths and vows. Although Jesus prohibited oath-taking, the tradition of the Church has allowed oaths “made for grave and right reasons,” for example, in court. But the Church has traditionally employed vows to sustain the commitments of priests and religious so that they may, as the Catechism puts it, “conform themselves more fully to the obedient Christ.” For example, vows have sustained the holiness of many women religious who have become saints, including St. Katharine Drexel, a philanthropist who shows us what justice...

SEOUL -- South Korean industrial giants like SK and Samsung are stepping up operations in nuclear power, zeroing in on small, easier-to-build reactors, as the country pivots back to nuclear energy under a new president. SK announced in May a wide-ranging partnership with Bill Gates-founded startup TerraPower with a focus on small reactors, spanning technology development and commercialization. With energy company SK Innovation taking on a central role, SK seeks to harness the group's expertise in each step, from development to installation to operation. TerraPower plans to build a midsize next-generation demonstration reactor, slated to come online around 2028, in...

The news hit the headlines when it happened in San Francisco, back in 2015. Kate Steinle, 32, was shot to death as she walked along the waterfront on July 4, with her father and a family friend. The cold-bloodedness of the senseless crime shook the city and the nation as well. The police quickly had a suspect and, in fact, the gun used in the crime. That man is Jose Inez Garcia Zarate. At that time, he was in this country illegally and had already been deported five times, but continued to return. At the time of the shooting, he...