Free Republic

South Carolina legislators losing their re-election bids include a Republican chairwoman and former budget chief pummeled by allegations the GOP-dominated House isn’t conservative enough. Education Chairwoman Rita Allison and Rep. Brian White — the chamber’s former Ways and Means chairman — were among seven House incumbents ousted by the June 14 primaries, a significant replacement of numbers. White, an Anderson Republican, said he fears ginned-up rancor over national politics is turning the General Assembly, where members have prided themselves on the ability to disagree agreeably, as polarized as Washington. “They’re just angry,” he said of voters. “They’re mad at government....

Abbott Laboratories said it has paused baby-formula production [again] at its plant in Sturgis, Mich., after recent thunderstorms flooded part of the facility, causing another setback for the company’s efforts to help alleviate a nationwide formula shortage. [Snip] The halt will delay distribution of new product by a few weeks, the company said. [Snip] The Sturgis factory had produced roughly one-fifth of the infant formula in the U.S., leaving many store shelves bare when its operations stopped and formulas made there such as Similac were recalled.

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) announced on Tuesday that it will officially rename the monkeypox to address concerns about the stigma and racism associated with the word. Monkeypox has thus far infected over 1,600 people in more than two dozen countries, first breaking out in the United States this past May in Massachusetts and possibly having originated in Canada. W.H.O. director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Tuesday that the organization will be “working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus, its clades, and the disease it causes.”

Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me. This well-known saying used to be taught to young children to help them better cope with bullying. I remember learning this phrase myself not too long ago. But most kids nowadays have never heard this. In fact they are frequently taught the opposite. Many kids are now told words are “literal violence.” Being subjected to ideas that are contrary to their own beliefs is now considered significantly harmful. Relying on your intuition and using a male pronoun to refer to an obvious man is even referred to...

Pensioner, 87, drilled holes through his neighbour's garden wall claiming it jutted onto his land by 'TWO INCHES' and put up signs warning, 'You and your cowboy builders are thieves' Ewen Taylor, of Cardiff, launched his campaign after neighbours built extension The 87-year-old claims the new wall encroaches onto his property by two inches After being fined by police, he began putting up accusatory signs in his garden Family, who deny it encroaches on his land, say his actions have been distressing A pensioner drilled holes in his neighbour's garden wall claiming it encroaches on his land by two inches...

A contracted mercenary has no legal recognition or protection as a prisoner of war. Two American mercenary soldiers have been captured by Russian forces and now present a rather unique issue for the Biden administration. The traditional end result for captured mercenaries is execution; however, Russian President Vladimir Putin may not want to hang these two State Dept. conscripts. (Via Telegraph) – Two former US servicemen have been captured during fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine, The Telegraph has been told. The pair were taken prisoner during a fierce battle outside the north-east city of Kharkiv last week, according to...

Only if we can bring the perpetrators of COVID to justice. Many Americans are hopeful that the instigators of the gain-of-function, human-engineered COVID-19 virus and experimental vaccines will be held accountable for their actions that have caused millions of deaths and widespread suffering worldwide. Punishing these people for their actions is essential to hopefully serving as a deterrent to prevent future human engineered viruses, such as an extremely lethal "weaponized" bird flu, from being inflicted upon the peoples of the world. Whereas the COVID-19 virus has a worldwide mortality rate of less than three percent, bird flu's mortality rate among...

U.S. stock index futures were under pressure Thursday, putting the major averages to give up the solid gains made in the previous session. Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.9%, or 575 points. S&P 500 futures were down 2.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures shed 2.8%. All three futures contracts had earlier been trading in positive territory. Those moves come after the Federal Reserve implemented its largest interest rate hike since 1994 on Wednesday. The Fed raised rates by 75 basis points, as was widely anticipated. “Clearly, today’s 75 basis point increase is an unusually large one,...

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The National Mediation Board (NMB) on June 14 set in motion a ticking time bomb toward an economy-jolting national railroad shutdown within 90 days, its two Democratic members agreeing with rail labor—and over the remonstrance of carriers and the NMB’s lone Republican—that a voluntary agreement to amend unionized rail worker wages, benefits and work rules is not within reach. Negotiations, dating to January 2020, involve 12 rail craft unions (bargaining in two coalitions collectively representing some 115,000 rail workers), most Class I freight railroads and many smaller ones. Management is represented by the National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC). CSX is...

The largest city in the state of Montana faced running out of fresh water within 36 hours after Billings' only local treatment plant was overwhelmed by the devastating flood waters that have closed Yellowstone National Park. Billings had a just a 24-to 36-hour supply of water and officials asked its 110,000 residents to conserve after water levels became too high for it to function. The water is shown clearly destroying a red gantry that allows treatment plant employees to access the main building. Officials insisted that the water is still safe to drink, but is in low supply. Heavy weekend...

Ukraine has made significant advances close to Kherson to the point of controlling the water supply in Crimea. Professor Michael Clarke, who specialises in defence studies, explained Ukraine is within striking distance of the supply. Speaking to Sky News, he said: "The Ukrainians are conducting quite a big offensive to take back Kherson. "They've opened up a 50-mile front to the northeast of Kherson and there are reports over the last 24 hours that the Ukrainians may have got as far as Kiselivka which is quite close to Kherson. "They may be within striking distance of Nova Kakhovk which is...

Elon Musk’s revelation that he voted Republican for the first time on Tuesday angered Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and other prominent liberals on Twitter Wednesday. Celebrating the news that Republican candidate Mayra Flores won the special election for Texas’s 34th Congressional District – a district that’s been under Democrat control for decades – Musk revealed to the Twitterverse that he voted for her. On Wednesday morning, Musk tweeted, "I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican." The world’s richest man also cheered for GOP victories in the midterm elections, adding, "Massive red wave in 2022." -----...

Major corporations that made a show out of cutting checks to the national Black Lives Matter group in the aftermath of George Floyd's police killing in May 2020 now have nothing to say about the charity's alleged self-dealing. Seventeen corporations that publicly committed at least $100,000 to Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in the days following Floyd's killing either declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries from the Washington Examiner asking if they approved of the charity's use of their donations to purchase a $6 million mansion in Los Angeles secretly and award lucrative contracts to the...

Less than 24 hours after the GOP flipped a congressional district in South Texas, several Latino Democrats cornered their campaign chief on the House floor with a fervent plea: It’s time for the party to make a crucial course correction. Republicans blew up more than a century of almost uninterrupted Democratic control in that region Tuesday night, earning a special election win in a heavily Latino border district they had rarely even contested since its creation in 2012 - but where the GOP has made rapid gains in the last few years. That trend has been on Democrats’ minds since...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called the recent actions of New York City Council speaker Adrienne Adams “movie-villain type of decisionmaking” in a social media post on Tuesday. Ocasio-Cortez posted an Instagram story to discuss “what it actually looks like when politics gets dirty,” accusing the speaker of taking funding away from children’s after-school programs. “The mayor and the city council speaker decided that they wanted their budget right now. The budget had absolutely unconscionable cuts to education, housing services and a lot more,” Ocasio-Cortez explained. “How do you actually get that? Well, you create a psychological environment and a political...

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Dozens of protesters shut down an intersection near Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's home Saturday, demanding she take action to stop residents from being displaced by the future Obama Presidential Center. Protesters say they are being priced out of their homes as developers snatch up property near Jackson Park. They say the mayor promised to set aside lots for affordable housing, but so far she has not made good on that bargain.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler took a swipe Wednesday at his Democratic primary opponent, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, accusing his fellow veteran New York lawmaker of being an “anti-vaxxer” and exaggerating her record as a progressive. “Carolyn and I both present ourselves as progressive, but I think as more people find out about our votes, she voted for the Iraq war. She voted against the Iran [nuclear] deal. She voted to repeal Glass Steagall and she was an anti-vaxxer for a long time,” Mr. Nadler told The Washington Times. “I think people will see the difference.” Four other Democratic opponents have entered...

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Physicists have solved a key problem of robotic locomotion by revising the usual rules of interaction between simple component parts. In cycling through a sequence of shapes, an odd wheel propels itself up steep and bumpy terrain. In a physics lab in Amsterdam, there’s a wheel that can spontaneously roll uphill by wiggling. This “odd wheel” looks simple: just six small motors linked together by plastic arms and rubber bands to form a ring about 6 inches in diameter. When the motors are powered on, it starts writhing, executing complicated squashing and stretching motions and occasionally flinging itself into the...