Free Republic

Federal regulators made a key decision on SpaceX's plans to launch its gargantuan Mars rocket, called Starship, into orbit from Texas — saying Monday that, as long as the company complies with 75 "mitigating actions," the rocket launches should clear federal standards for environmental impact. The list of actions includes enlisting a "qualified biologist" to monitor the impact on local wildlife; warning the public ahead of launches about the loud sonic booms and possible dangers; and agreeing to clean up any shrapnel from the launches in "sensitive habitats." The company also has to agree to not launch on major holidays...

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Native Americans prosecuted in certain tribal courts can also be prosecuted based on the same incident in federal court, which can result in longer sentences. The 6-3 ruling is in keeping with an earlier ruling from the 1970s that said the same about a more widely used type of tribal court. The case before the justices involved a Navajo Nation member, Merle Denezpi, accused of rape. He served nearly five months in jail after being charged with assault and battery in what is called a Court of Indian Offenses, a court that deals exclusively...

It was announced earlier this week that the U.S. Department of Defense has officially updated its policy around military service persons and HIV. These updates come in light of “significant advances in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment” of HIV since the original policy was put into place. The official memo from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s office went on to state that “individuals who have been identified as HIV-positive, are asymptomatic, and who have a clinically confirmed undetectable viral load (hereinafter, ‘covered personnel’) will have no restrictions applied to their deployability or to their ability to commission while a service...

Outspokenness has always been former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s signature move. Despite having fallen from grace in Iranian political circles he’s still using it, but this time directed against the regime itself. His new status as a de-facto opposition figure has been a long time coming. He began falling out of favour with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei towards the end of his second term as President, over a series of disputes about his cabinet. In 2009, shortly after Ahmadinejad’s election, his Vice President of choice and close friend, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, was forced to resign on Khamenei’s order. Mashei is a curious...

Ukraine 7 (vanity) It’s been nearly two months in this series of pro-Putin/pro-Russia vanity Ukraine threads. Things are progressing favorably for Russia in this special operation to liberate the pro-Russian Eastern sections of Ukraine. Although Ukraine is currently estimating a 10-1 kill ratio in favor of Ukraine, my pro-Russian sources are more accurately describing the 10-1 kill ratio in favor of Russia. Russia is accomplishing this with drones and superior artillery. A favorite source is Intel Slava on Telegram social media which posts about the war from Russia’s perspective. The motivations for the United States having this proxy war in...

Thousands of Californians are fleeing to Mexico amid the soaring cost of living in the golden state. Americans taking advantage of work from home are reaping the benefits of US salaries, while living off Mexico's cheaper lifestyle. Others are living in Mexico, while commuting to work in the US. But critics have argued that the influx of Americans in cities south of the border has begun to price out local Mexicans. It comes amid a wider exodus of Californians to other states across the US, including Texas, Washington, and Arizona. Many feel forced out by rocketing inflation in the golden...

Many may consider an episode of binge drinking -- defined as five or more drinks on one occasion --- as just being harmless fun. But a new study suggests that even moderate drinkers who indulge in binge drinking can suffer lasting consequences. Researchers found that among people who typically drank at moderate levels, those who sometimes binged were at increased risk of alcohol-related problems, both in recent times and nine years later. Alcohol problems included having irresistible urges to drink; needing to drink more and more to get the same effect; emotional or psychological symptoms related to alcohol, and drinking...

DORAL, Fla. – A Tennessee woman claimed she struck and injured two pedestrians in Doral over the weekend because she was in “fear for her life.” According to police, Danlesha Nicole Hall, 30, of Nashville, was driving a rental car, a white Ford Fusion, when she fled the scene after hitting another car at Northwest 87th Avenue and 32nd Street. Police said a female passenger in the vehicle that Hall hit got out and confronted Hall. Investigators said that it was then the driver ran her over. In the process, the report states that the woman’s husband, after seeing...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned late Monday afternoon that a House bill to provide protection to Supreme Court justices and their staffs will not pass the Senate, ratcheting up a standoff with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). McConnell and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who drafted a Senate bill to implement new protections only for Supreme Court justices, accused House Democrats of trying to stall the measure. Cornyn’s bill, which he wrote with Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), passed the Senate unanimously. McConnell said he had informed House leaders Monday that if they pass a different version of the bill that...

Another day has passed, and another Muslim man has murdered another Coptic Christian in Egypt. On Sunday, June 5, 2022—the same day Muslims attacked a packed church in Nigeria, massacring more than 50 Christians—Abdullah Hosni, a Muslim man with a long history of harassing Christians, randomly attacked a Copt, Kirollos (Cyril) Megali, with a meat cleaver in a village in Sohag, Upper Egypt. Kirollos, who was rushed to a hospital “drenched in blood and with multiple stab wounds,” spent three days in an intensive care unit before succumbing to his injuries, including hack wounds to his skull. Kirollos after being...

From the album Nilsson Sings Newman, the fifth studio album by Harry Nilsson, released in February 1970 on RCA Victor. It features songs written by Randy Newman. Recorded over six weeks in late 1969, the album showcases Nilsson's voice multi-tracked in layers of tone and harmony. Its arrangements are otherwise sparse, with most of the instrumentation provided by Newman on piano. The record was not a great commercial success, but won a 1970 "Record of the Year" award from Stereo Review magazine. Harry Nilsson - "Love Story (You and Me)" (1970)

The epicenter of the next global supply chain snarl could be in South Korea as a nationwide trucker strike broadens and is hindering domestic economic activity, which may spill over to the rest of the world. Bloomberg reports that the Cargo Truckers Solidarity Union entered its seventh day of strikes on Monday, causing $1.6 billion in disruptions for auto, petrochemical, steel, and other top industries. South Korean steel-making company POSCO, the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker, has already limited production at some factories while the impacts are spreading across the economy. The strike has impacted companies in Seoul the hardest. Shares of...

A man was bitten by an alligator he thought was a dog Tuesday morning in Sarasota County, deputies told WTSP-TV. The incident occurred around 12:30 a.m. at Warm Mineral Springs Motel on South Tamiami Trail in North Port, according to a report from the Tampa station. Investigators said the man was walking outside the motel overnight when he spotted a dark figure that “appeared to look like a dog with a long leash,” a sheriff’s office spokesperson wrote in an email to WTSP-TV. Deputies said the alligator bit the man’s right leg as he tried to escape,

A recently retired cross-country truck driver arrested in Texas for a 1992 murder in that state has also been charged by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office with the cold case murder of a woman whose body was found off Interstate 10 in the Desert Center area nearly 30 years ago. On March 30, 1993, the body of Sherri Herrera, 30, a mother of four from Tulare, Calif., was found on the eastbound Hayfield Road onramp to I-10 in Desert Center. She was last seen alive just a few days before her body was found. In late May, Texas Rangers...

Myanmar's junta said Friday it would carry out its first executions since 1990 by hanging four people, including a former lawmaker from the party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a rights activist. Myanmar is one of several dozen countries, including the United States, China, Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia that continue to put prisoners to death, using methods including beheading, electrocution, hanging, lethal injection and shooting. In a recent report, Amnesty International noted an "alarming" increase in the recourse to the death penalty in Myanmar, which it attributed to cases of civilians being transferred to military or...

The White House defended President Joe Biden's economic record on Monday as the nation experienced historic inflation, gas prices over $5 a galloon and the stock market dropping. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre argued President Biden actually made historic economic gains, which would help the American people go through these economic 'challenges.' She blamed inflation - prices in May were 8.6% higher than a year earlier - the greatest increase since 1981 - on the covid pandemic and on Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in the Ukraine. 'You know, with this price, high inflation coming, coming out every once...

Spotify Technology SA (SPOT.N) on Monday announced it has formed a Safety Advisory Council to provide third-party input on issues such as hate speech, disinformation, extremism and online abuse. The group represents another step in Spotify’s efforts to deal with harmful content on its audio streaming service after backlash earlier this year over “The Joe Rogan Experience,” in which the podcaster was accused of spreading misinformation about COVID-19. The 18 experts, which include representatives from Washington, D.C. civil rights group the Center for Democracy & Technology, the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and the Institute for Technology and Society in...

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – If your skin crawls at the mention of bugs like spiders or roaches, you may want to pass on this news article. A Raleigh-based pest control company is offering money to homeowners willing to live with cockroaches. Typically, finding roaches in your home means breaking out the Raid and roach traps. For people with Katsaridaphobia, a fear of roaches, it could also mean just picking up and finding a new home all together. The Pest Informer announced they are willing to pay $2,000 if you let them release about 100 American cockroaches in your home. They...

U.S.—Education experts are warning about the detrimental effects of homeschooling, as it may cause children to miss out on their opportunity to be gay communists. "The two essential roles of public education are to turn kids into communists, and then make them gay," said AFL-CIO President Randi Weingarten. "If education fails to accomplish both of those things in the life of a child, it has failed miserably." Studies show that while homeschooled kids may excel in advanced mathematics, literature, history, Latin, debate, civics, religion, music, art, theoretical physics, and physical fitness, most kids educated by their parents fall woefully short...

The Rolling Stones have canceled a concert in Amsterdam after lead singer Mick Jagger contracted Covid-19. Jagger's positive status was announced in a statement on the band's verified Instagram account. "The Rolling Stones have been forced to call off tonight's concert in Amsterdam at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, following Mick Jagger testing positive after experiencing symptoms of COVID upon arrival at the stadium," the statement read. "The Rolling Stones are deeply sorry for tonight's postponement, but the safety of the audience, fellow musicians and the touring crew has to take priority."