Free Republic

Five friends' celebrated photo taken every five years at the same California lake is out for the world to see despite one man's recent cancer scare. They took photo No. 9 on Wednesday, 40 years after they shot the first in 1982 at a prefabricated cabin at Copco Lake along the California-Oregon border. Their tradition went viral 10 years ago -- and again in 2017 -- when CNN.com published their story and photos. Some of the guys openly feared it could be a photo of four friends this year instead of the five first pictured as teenagers. "I was crushed,"...

A renowned virologist and vaccine creator has issued a warning that the experimental gene-based COVID-19 vaccine campaigns will cause an emergence of a new highly virulent and infectious COVID-19 variant within “the next two months” which will serve to “crash” the health care system.Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche, whose résumé includes roles as a former senior officer of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as a senior program manager for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), has been considered one of the most talented vaccine creators in the world.In a May 18 interview with Australian journalist Maria...

Ukraine's newest heroes: Brave Russian defectors have joined Kyiv's forces on frontlines against Putin's regime to liberate their beloved country from his rule Scores of Russians have defected to fight alongside Ukrainian armed forces They risk severe treatment and most likely the death penalty if they are captured But fighters say they see Putin and the Kremlin as a 'cancer' preventing peace Like all his Ukrainian army comrades, Volodymyr Grotskov is fuelled by deeply-held patriotism as he risks his life on the bloodstained frontline of the brutal war against Russia. The 48-year-old electrical engineer says he loves his country and...

The January 6 Committee hearings backfired on Thursday when a key witness against former President Donald Trump noted that Democrats, including Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), had attempted to block the certification of past election results. Retired U.S. Judge J. Michael Luttig, a former appellate judge on the Fourth Circuit, and a respected conservative voice, was one of several legal experts who testified on the third day of public hearings.

When he looks back on his memories of World War II, Harry Whisler always mentions the 2,000-year-old Roman Bridge in Trier, Germany, where he brushed shoulders with Gen. George S. Patton in 1945. Patton flagged down his tank, where Whisler was seated in the assistant driver's seat after having caught a ride upon losing his jeep. The general, after tossing a glance at the red cross on Whisler's helmet, proceeded to reprimand him for being in front of a machine gun as a medic. "He asked me what I was doing sitting in the driver's seat with my red helmet...

An open letter to SpaceX decrying CEO Elon Musk’s recent behavior has sparked open discussion among the company’s employees in an internal chat system. Employees are being encouraged to sign onto the letter’s suggestions, either publicly or anonymously, with a signed version of the letter to be delivered to the desk of SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell. The letter, reviewed by The Verge, describes how Musk’s actions and the recent allegations of sexual harassment against him are negatively affecting SpaceX’s reputation. The document claims that employees “across the spectra of gender, ethnicity, seniority, and technical roles have collaborated on” writing the...

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi travelled together on a special Ukrainian train originally created for holidaying oligarchs, just the latest world leaders to have made the pilgrimage to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky. European leaders of France, Germany, Italy, and Romania coalesced in Kyiv, Ukraine Thursday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky. The meeting may represent a thawing, in a sense, of relations between France and Ukraine, which has been strained over President Macron’s longstanding attempts to negotiate with Russia.

House Republican Conference chair talks party's bid to earn back Biden voters in NovemberNew York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik revealed the important role former President Trump will play in the midterm elections on "America Reports" Wednesday as Republicans look to take back control of Congress.REP. ELISE STEFANIK: He's going to play a really important role. We're working as one team to make sure that our voters turn out and I will tell you, voters across this country have buyer's remorse for those that voted for Joe Biden because they're seeing the devastating impacts of his policies and they were doing...

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. ...