Free Republic

SANTA FE – The New Mexico Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Otero County commissioners to certify primary election results by the end of this week, raising the stakes of a dispute over election integrity issues that has generated national attention. The ruling by the state’s highest court came one day after Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver filed a petition, arguing the county commission’s refusal to approve the June 7 election results violates state election law and could nullify votes. The three-member Otero County Commission, in its role as a county canvassing board, voted unanimously Monday against certifying the primary...

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government on Thursday to come up with new measures to support the domestic car industry, which has seen sales crater since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine. Amid a crunch on demand from Russian buyers and severe logistics problems as a result of Western sanctions slapped on Moscow, car sales slumped a record 83.5% in May, according to figures from the Association of European Businesses (AEB). "I would like to ask the government to tell us in detail what swift measures it is taking to support the auto industry and stabilise the internal market,"...

A New York Times editorial board member lost his marbles over companies reportedly donating to GOP candidates who challenged the 2020 election results. Times editor Alex Kingsbury mourned how the “pause” that companies placed on donating to Republican lawmakers who were 2020 objectors was “short-lived.” His blog, “Who Is Financing Trump’s ‘Big Lie’ Caucus? Corporations You Know,” appeared to take issue with who Americans decide they want to support in any election cycle if, in his view, they have the wrong politics. “Giving equally to both parties sounds good. But what if a growing faction of one political party isn’t...

After Republican Mayra Flores won the special election for Texas' 34th Congressional District — flipping the D+5 district that covers a portion of the Rio Grande Valley — Democrats are apparently not doing well. After winning her election on Tuesday night, Flores tweeted that her campaign "started the red wave" that's been building ahead of November's general election — and Democrats are apparently realizing just how big that red wave may be. Fresh reporting in POLITICO on Wednesday showed how Democrats are in disarray in new ways and how the blame game has already started after just one special election...

The New York State Postconsumer Paint Collection Program began on May 1, 2022. For drop-off locations and the latest program information, please visit the PaintCare New York program page (leaves DEC website). As of May 1, 2022, a producer or retailer shall not sell, or offer for sale, architectural paint to any person in the state unless the producer and the producer's brands are participating in the program by having registered with PaintCare

Zachary Cohen was named the winner of a 2021 Lehigh County judge's race over David Ritter that had remained undecided after U.S. Supreme Court ruled undated ballots must be counted...

Cherlisa Starks-Richardson was disappointed when she learned that the beloved children’s museum in her community was selling a “watermelon salad” in celebration of Juneteenth. Starks-Richardson, who often took her daughter to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum growing up, said she expected the museum would be more focused on educating the public about Juneteenth – which celebrates the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans – instead of serving themed foods. To make matters worse, she said, watermelon has historically been used as a racist trope against Black Americans. “People were very offended by it,” said Starks-Richardson, an educator in the Indianapolis area. “Everybody...

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that negotiations on a massive social spending and climate package remain active despite the opposition from Senate centrists that stopped the legislation in its tracks last year. The Speaker emphasized that House Democrats, who passed a roughly $2 trillion reconciliation package in November, are essentially sidelined as Senate leaders seek to continue the delicate talks with the centrist hold-outs. But a day after meeting with President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) at the White House to discuss the economy, Pelosi said there’s still a chance of enacting some slimmed-down version of...

A new report from the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources shows the state’s oil production has dipped below 1 million barrels a day. North Dakota pumped about 900,600 barrels of oil each day in April, a decrease of 20% from the previous month. The state’s all-time high in oil production came in November 2019 when the state produced more than 1.5 million barrels a day. This week, 40 rigs are actively drilling in North Dakota, an increase from April when 38 rigs were drilling. The state had an all-time high of 218 rigs drilling on May 29, 2012. State...

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón is being blamed after two local police officers were murdered on Tuesday night by a convict who was free after a lenient plea bargain and violated his parole by carrying a gun. Local Fox affiliate KTTV-11 reported Tuesday that two officers from the town of El Monte, California, in Los Angeles County, were shot after responding to an emergency call at a motel: The El Monte Police Department responded to a call of a possible stabbing at a motel near Garvey and Central avenues Monday evening. Upon arrival, a gunman opened fire at...

... Reducing the number of police officers in schools is part of a complicated, emotional and messy effort to change the response to student behavior from punitive to restorative — to move from arrests and suspensions to conversations and peace circles. ...

A Florida family has come away from the disaster in Yellowstone with a deep appreciation for the people of Gardiner, Montana. Mandy Callahan, a teacher from Bonifay, Florida, was on a long-planned trip to Yellowstone National Park with 13 other members of her family, and had spent five days exploring the area when disaster struck. “We’ve had this trip booked for a year,” Callahan told Cowboy State Daily. “We took three of our children and their husbands, and five of our grandchildren, and my mother.” Callahan said the family rented a large VRBO property in Gardiner, as well as four...

British supporters of Israel reacted with outrage this week after Amnesty International’s general secretary said that anyone who criticizes its report accusing Israel of “apartheid” is “weaponizing antisemitism.” The UK government’s antisemitism adviser, Lord Mann, blasted Amnesty for “looking obsessional” and “undermining all its other work.” “Amnesty International is losing its influence by ruining its credibility,” Man told the Jewish Chronicle. At the meeting, Callamard allegedly said that critics of the report were attempting to manufacture claims of antisemitism in order to silence free speech. “They are calling names and refusing to engage,” she said. “[This is] a form of...

Cruise stocks were tumbling to their lowest point since 2020 on Thursday as fears intensified over rising inflation and a potential recession. Fueling the selloff were concerns that consumers will be curbing discretionary spending in response to rising prices and economic uncertainty. There’s also an uptick in Covid-19 cases that may be increasing consumer reluctance to hop on a cruise. The seven-day moving average for known Covid-19 cases has hovered around 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and likely is higher amid an increased reliance on at-home testing kits that don’t get reported to public officials....

For two decades scientists have been quietly developing self-spreading contagious vaccines. The NIH funded this research, in which either DNA from a deadly pathogen is packaged in a contagious but less harmful virus, or the deadly virus’s lethality is weakened by engineering it in a lab. The resultant “vaccines” spread from one person to the next just like a contagious respiratory virus. Only five percent of regional populations would need to be immunized; the other ninety-five percent would “catch” the vaccine as it spread person-to-person through community transmission. This technology bypasses the inconvenience of recalcitrant citizens who may refuse to...

Data out Thursday further indicated a dramatic slowdown in economic activity. Housing starts dropped 14% in May, topping the 2.6% decline expected by economists polled by Dow Jones. The Philadelphia Fed Business Index for June came in with a negative 3.3 reading, its first contraction since May 2020. Home Depot, Intel, Walgreens, JPMorgan, 3M, and American Express hit new 52-week lows amid growing recession fears while tech shares dropped after a bounce on Wednesday. Amazon, Apple and Netflix all slid more than 3%. Tesla and Nvidia dropped more than 6% and 5%, respectively. Continue reading… https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/15/stock-market-futures-open-to-close-news.html

The Atlantic ran a damning article on Thursday stating President Joe Biden should not seek reelection in 2024 because it would be “immediately liberating” for Biden if he were to bow out of 2024 consideration. Just days after the White House emphatically stated Biden would seek a second term, the Atlantic‘s Mark Leibovich announced opposition to the idea, citing poll numbers, Biden’s age, and political strategy.

Russia summons Israeli Ambassador following airstrike on Damascus airport attributed to Israel Israeli Ambassador to Russia Alex Ben-Zvi was summoned for a reprimand by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov following last week's attack on the Damascus airport Bogdanov protested to the ambassador and claimed that the attack caused damage at the civil and humanitarian level and that he also claimed that the justification for the attack provided Israel was not convincing and therefore Russia was awaiting clarifications.

Lucas has just turned 4 years old, and Buzz Lightyear is his favorite character. He has the action figure, Santa brought him the space man’s costume, and he doesn’t sleep the same if he’s not wearing the pajamas sporting Woody’s friend. When his father says, “To infinity and beyond!” Lucas always smiles. His favorite Friday plan is to sit with his father and siblings and watch one of the four Toy Story movies; he already knows them by heart, but he can’t get enough. Ever since he learned that Buzz’s solo movie was going to be released, he’s been waiting...

I couldn’t sleep at all last night … after The Fed cranked up their target rate 75 basis points. The odds of a recession grew to 71.7% as The Fed hikes rates. The NASDAQ index tanked -4% today on the fallout from yesterday’s Fed actions. Do I detect a trend in The Fed’s latest Dot Plot?? So, will The Fed continue to go head-over-heels on monetary tightening?