Free Republic

New York’s highest court rejected former President Donald Trump’s last-ditch effort to avoid testifying in the state attorney general’s civil investigation into his business practices on Tuesday, clearing the way for his deposition next month. The state’s Court of Appeals said there was no “substantial constitutional question” that would warrant its intervention in the matter following an intermediate appellate court’s ruling last month enforcing a subpoena for Trump’s testimony. The court also dismissed a motion by Trump’s lawyers to stay the subpoenas, saying that doing so would be “academic,” since it wasn’t taking up the former president’s appeal in the...

Tom Hanks sparked concern among his fans earlier this month, as he appeared to be struggling to contain the shaking of his arm. The 65-year-old is in the midst of a promotional whirlwind for Baz Luhrmann's biopic of Elvis, in which Hanks stars as the singer's manager. Luhrmann, who was born in Sydney, arranged for an Australian premier to be held in the city of Gold Coast, 50 miles south of Brisbane, where the filming took place. Austin Butler, 30, who stars as The King, was at the June 4 event, along with Hanks. 'There is no better place in...

Floating solar had a moment in the spotlight over the weekend when the US Army unveiled a new solar plant sitting atop the Big Muddy Lake at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. It’s the first floating solar array deployed by the Department of Defense, and it’s part of a growing current of support in the US for “floatovoltaics.” The army says its goal is to boost clean energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and give the nearby training facility a source of backup energy during power outages. The panels will be able to generate about one megawatt of electricity, which can...

Tuesday, on FNC’s “Your Would,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), one of the Republican members selected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for a post on the House Select Committee on the January 6, 2021 riot, said he could not support former President Donald Trump, even if he were the eventual 2024 Republican presidential nominee. The Illinois lawmaker urged Republicans to look elsewhere in his interview with host Neil Cavuto.

The second public hearing of the House select committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot drew around 10 million total viewers Monday, less than half the audience that watched the committee’s primetime opening presentation last week.

Tanglewood says visitors to the famed Berkshire County concert grounds won’t be required to show proof of vaccination, a negative COVID test result, or wear masks this summer. Tanglewood is encouraging fans to hang on to their tickets until further information is available about a rescheduled performance after Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band cancelled their planned June 17th concert due to COVID-19. The cancellation comes as the famed Berkshire County venue says guests won't be required to show proof of vaccination, a negative COVID test result, or wear masks this summer. The Boston Symphony Orchestra says masks would only...

For those of you who haven't had time to watch the whole thing: unanimous vote to approve the Moderna vaccine EUA 6 to 11 and 12 - 17. Tomorrow is Moderna 6 month to 5 year; Pfizer 6 mo to 4 yrs.Steve Kirsch I used to watch the VRBPAC and ACIP meetings, but it was so depressing and I have more important things to do (you are going to really love the next poll coming up later today).The best link to watch the action is the annotated livestream where you can see Meryl Nass’s live commentary. It will be live...

One of Joe Biden’s senior advisors told a reporter this week that social media companies should be cracking down on and censoring anyone who speeds information critical of the administration’s so called ‘green energy transition’. National climate advisor Gina McCarthy made the comments in an interview with a reporter for Axios, stating “Now it’s not so much denying the problem. What the [fossil fuel] industry is now doing is seeding doubt about the costs associated with [green energy] and whether they work or not.” She continued, “We need the tech companies to really jump in,” on “disinformation,” noting that criticising...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis: There Are Many ‘Restorers’ in the US Who Do Not Accept Vatican IIPope Francis cited opposition to Vatican II when he issued the motu proprio Traditionis custodes in July 2021, limiting celebrations of the Traditional Latin Mass.VATICAN CITY — There are many “restorers” in the United States who do not accept the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis said in an interview published on Tuesday. pSpeaking to the editors of Jesuit Magazine journals, he criticized what he called “restorationism” in the Church, which he defined as the failure to accept Vatican II, the ecumenical council held from...

Clash comes as global demand surges to power batteries for electric cars.. A northern Nevada mine that is the largest-known source of lithium in the United States for electric car batteries is facing resistance from a radical environmental group and some of its American Indian supporters. The mine at Thacker Pass is on Bureau of Land Management property in rural Nevada between two mountain ranges about 25 miles south of the border with Oregon. The fight reflects other political battles between liberals and far-left factions within the Democratic Party, with larger ramifications for the party’s agenda. Lithium is the key...

ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME MATTHEW 5:43-48 Friends, today, in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord commands us to love our enemies. What is the test of love? Jesus couldn’t be clearer in the discourse he delivers the night before he died. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” If love is willing the good of the other as other, this has to be the fullest expression, the final word, of love. There is another way to test love: the love of enemies, those who cannot or will not pay you...

As the looming threat to abortion rights gets closer, Vice President Kamala Harris continues her efforts in the White House to prepare for a post-Roe v. Wade world. According to Reuters, the Vice President is meeting with constitutional, technology, and privacy law experts today to discuss what comes next if the Supreme Court goes through with overturning Roe. Harris and the legal experts are expected to discuss the “real-world” implications of the potential court decision, “including in areas such as privacy, contraception, and in vitro fertilization,” according to Reuters. In May, Politico published a leaked draft opinion from conservative Justice...

Analysts say China's leader Xi Jinping has set the legal basis for an expansion of the Chinese military's role in other countries, just weeks after Beijing signed a security pact with Solomon Islands. With little published detail, Mr Xi's government declared he had signed off on a set of new trial outlines that allowed for Chinese "armed forces operations" that were not war. Chairman Xi, as he is widely known in China in reference to his position as chairman of the Central Military Commission, signed off on 59 articles, according to state media, but they were not published. Instead, government...

45 minute video with a lot of new footage of the "insurrection". Includes info regarding the death of Rosanne Boyland. Well worth watching. Video at link

U.S. Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden is planning to introduce legislation setting a 21% surtax on oil company profits considered excessive, an aide for the senator told Reuters. The bill applies a 21% additional tax on the excess profits of oil and gas companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue, the aide said. The 21% tax would be in addition to any regular income tax due. Profits over 10% would be considered excessive under the bill, according to the aide. Unlike other proposed windfall profit taxes, the aide said, Wyden's bill would apply the tax based on...

I just read that President Biden has never been more optimistic about the US economy than he is now. Well, today’s closing bell is not optimistic and is downright bearish. The US Treasury 10-year yield rose … ANOTHER … 11.3 basis points as rumors circulate that The Fed might actually raise their target rate by 75 basis points. And the venerable Dow (DJIA) is down -152 points today. Markets are anticipating an increase of The Fed Funds target rate from 1% to 1.568%, less than the rumored 75 basis point increase being bandied about. If Biden is wildly optimistic about...

The House gave final approval Tuesday to legislation that would allow around-the-clock security protection for families of Supreme Court justices, one week after a man carrying a gun, knife and zip ties was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house after threatening to kill the justice. The Senate passed the bill unanimously last month, but it languished in the House as Democrats sought to broaden the measure to include protection for families of court employees. Republicans ramped up pressure to pass the bill after the arrest at Kavanaugh’s house, asserting that Democrats were essentially trying to intimidate the justices as the...

For many people, an author who is worth an estimated $800 million and has seen nearly a dozen of his original works made into big-budget films might be the definition of “success.” But James Patterson, the thriller novelist who checks all of the aforementioned boxes, seems to feel that his older white male peers don’t have the same chances in Hollywood as others these days because of ... racism? In a new interview with the U.K’s The Times, as reported by Entertainment Weekly, Patterson described “another form of racism” he thinks older white men in his line of work face—racism...

Last week in Los Angeles, Congresswoman Maxine Waters joined Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s Congressional delegation in attending the Ninth Summit of the Americas, the only meeting between national leaders of the North and South American continents and a critical forum to discuss and address the region’s shared challenges and opportunities. Our delegation was a total disgrace with Biden leading the pack! Maxine Waters however came in close second after she was caught on a video where she looks like James Brown dun got reassignment surgery! California Congresswoman Maxine Waters was getting ready to speak up about the House...

Federal Reserve officials have a “decent chance” of avoiding a recession in the United States with a “soft landing,” former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke said on Sunday. “The U.S. economy today is a mixed bag,” Bernanke said on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” while noting inflation levels that have reached 40-year highs. “A recession is possible. Economists are very bad at predicting recessions, but I think the Fed has a decent chance, a reasonable chance of achieving what [Fed Chair] Jay Powell calls a ‘soft-ish landing;’ either no recession or a very mild recession to bring inflation down,” he added....