Free Republic

Membership in ERIC will strengthen NJ voter file accuracy TRENTON, NJ New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way announced that she and the New Jersey Division of Elections have taken steps to ensure the integrity of the state voter files by joining the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). ERIC is a nonpartisan non-profit organization with the sole mission of assisting states in increasing access to voter registration for all eligible citizens and improving the accuracy of America’s voting rolls. ERIC is governed and managed by its member states. Participation in ERIC as a member state will help New Jersey election...

The idea of munching on mealworms may sound like a challenge from the latest series of 'I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here.' But it could soon become a reality, as scientists claim to have transformed the insects into a 'meat-like flavouring'. Researchers from Wonkwang University have cooked up mealworms with sugar, and claim they taste just like real meat.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested on Wednesday that people who believe President Joe Biden can forgive student debt on his own are misinformed. “The president can’t do it,” Pelosi said, at a press briefing. “That’s not even a discussion.” Pelosi said any student debt forgiveness would have to be carried out by Congress. ... Biden has asked the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education to review his legal authority to forgive student debt. Decisions from those agencies are not yet public. “They are likely to reach the same conclusion as the one reached by Speaker Pelosi,”...

Scottish mountain biker Rab Wardell has died in his sleep just two days after taking victory at the national championships. Wardell, 37, won the men’s elite race at the Scottish MTB XC Championships at Kirroughtree Forest in Dumfries and Galloway at the weekend.

WASHINGTON — California on Thursday is expected to put into effect its sweeping plan to prohibit the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035, a groundbreaking move that could have major effects on the effort to fight climate change and accelerate a global transition toward electric vehicles. “This is huge,” said Margo Oge, an electric vehicles expert who headed the Environmental Protection Agency’s transportation emissions program under Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. “California will now be the only government in the world that mandates zero-emission vehicles. It is unique.” The rule, issued by the California Air...

All throughout last week, some five or six Coptic churches in Egypt have “caught fire”— ... the Church of Abu Seifein (named after Saint Mercurius of Caesarea, who is revered by the Copts). At least 41 Christians — 18 of whom were children — were either burned alive, killed by asphyxiation, or ... Considering that Muslims have torched or bombed hundreds of Coptic churches over the decades in Egypt — and often when churches are packed — it is, of course, difficult to resist that explanation. Moreover, this last week was the “anniversary” of when Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers torched 62...

Theres something beautiful about a billboard with a message thats a sarcastic jab at liberal insanity. I think I like this one the most: "Protect Pregnant Men from Climate Discrimination"

BERLIN (AP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Cabinet approved legislation Wednesday that ensures basic protective measures against the coronavirus pandemic are continued during the fall and winter when more virus cases are expected. The presentation of the rules – which also include the new obligation to wear N95-type face masks during all long-distance travel by train and bus as well as on planes – coincided with the publication of photos showing the chancellor and German Economy Minister Robert Habeck flying to Canada earlier this week without wearing masks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced his long-awaited plan to deliver on a campaign promise to provide $10,000 in student debt cancellation for millions of Americans — and up to $10,000 more for those with the greatest financial need — along with new measures to lower the burden of repayment for their remaining federal student debt. If his plan survives legal challenges that are almost certain to come, it could offer a windfall to a swath of the nation in the run-up to this fall’s midterm elections. Proponents say cancellation will narrow the racial wealth gap —...

Is Joe Biden one of the most successful presidents in American history? White House chief of staff Ron Klain suggested as much while touting the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (Fact check: It won't reduce inflation) in an interview with Politico last week. "The president has delivered the largest economic recovery plan since Roosevelt, the largest infrastructure plan since Eisenhower, the most judges confirmed since Kennedy, the second largest health care bill since Johnson, and the largest climate change bill in history," Klain boasted. FDR, the general who led the D-Day invasion, JFK, LBJ, and … Sleepy Joe? Klain is hardly...

On July 21, members of the Ukrainian parliament decided to increase their salaries by 70 percent raise. After the bill for this decision had only been submitted on July 18, the parliamentarians were able to carry out the vote unusually quickly, reported the Overton magazine. According to the magazine, this decision, which was unanimously approved by all the remaining parties, would have been possible so quickly in the absence of a lack of opposition. Instead of 28,800 hryvnia as before, the “servants of the people”, as Vladimir Zelensky’s party is called, now earn 49,600 hryvnia per month. Since July 15,...

The northern section of a previously damaged set of grain silos in Beirut collapsed Tuesday after a fire slowly burned in the block for weeks when grains trapped inside ignited. The silos were first damaged in August 2020 when a nearby port warehouse storing ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded in a blast that killed over 200 people, wounded 7,000 and destroyed 77,000 apartments. The Tuesday collapse created a cloud of dust over the port city and took down eight other damaged silos in the site’s northern block. The silo’s norther section had been slowly tipping over since the first explosion two...

President Biden announced Wednesday that he will cancel $10,000 of federal student loan debt for certain borrowers making less than $125,000 per year, and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients, while extending the pause on federal student loan payments through the end of the year. "In keeping with my campaign promise, my Administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle class families breathing room as they prepare to resume federal student loan payments in January 2023," Biden tweeted. Biden is expected to give remarks on the plan Wednesday afternoon.

Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies found the woman on the ground when they arrived at the scene in Interlachen Lake Estates on Sunday afternoon, sheriff’s officials said in a Facebook post. They also found the dogs inside a fence at a nearby home. A nearby resident told deputies they heard the woman screaming for help and saw five dogs attacking her. Several neighbors tried pulling the dogs off the woman and one shot a gun into the air to scare the dogs away, the report said. The Putnam County Animal Control Unit has taken custody of the dogs. Authorities said that...

A Super PAC supporting Nevada Republican Gubernatorial candidate Sheriff Joe Lombardo is planning to spend at least $1 million on its effort to appeal to Hispanic and Asian voters, NBC News reported Monday. Better Nevada PAC is spending on print and radio advertisements, as well as bilingual door knockers and direct mailers, according to the outlet. The mailers will come in several languages, including Spanish, Tagalong, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Filipino, and print ads will be shown in Filipino, Chinese, and Hispanic papers across the Silver State.

The last time we had an energy crisis coupled with inflation (like we have right now) was the 1970s. Back then, President Lyndon Johnson had begun massive spending and took on huge budget deficits to pay for the Vietnam war and his “Great Society” benefits: Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, urban renewal, environmental issues, and new immigration policies, just to name a few. Sure sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it? Then…OPEC banned oil exports to the U.S. in October of 1973. Gas prices quickly shot up 37 percent. Gas was rationed. Many stations ran out. Others locked up their pumps...

A specially appointed prosecutor dropped charges Tuesday, including murder, against Atlanta, Georgia, police officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan, who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks in a June 2020 incident that led to Black Lives Matter riots. Brooks, 27, a black man, had fallen asleep in his vehicle in a Wendy’s drive-thru and was questioned by the officers, who had been called to the scene. After speaking with the officers, he resisted arrest and stole an officer’s Taser, firing it at them. Rolfe fired at Brooks, who was killed. A mob then arrived and burned the Wendy’s. Democrats, including failed...

Joe Biden capped off his lengthy vacation without stepping out of his beach house for three straight days, and the self-proclaimed “defenders of democracy” in legacy media do not seem to care that much as to what exactly he is doing behind closed doors. ... All week/weekend long, the White House reporters camped out in Rehoboth Beach, Del., waited for Biden to leave for a nice bike ride or walk on the beach. And waited. But after decamping from Wilmington for his beach house in Rehoboth on Saturday evening, the president didn’t do much of anything,” Politico’s writers observed. “As...

President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he will forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for most borrowers, fulfilling a campaign pledge and delivering financial relief to tens of millions of Americans. Biden will also cancel up to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants, he said in a tweet on Wednesday. The relief will be limited to Americans earning under $125,000 per year.

For several years there was German supremacy: Joseph Ratzinger, alias Pope Benedict XVI, had established an influential network in Rome. Now this system is collapsing - and the former Pope can hardly hope for support. The relationship with Pope Francis seems to have broken down. The downfall of the German supremacy in the Vatican is observed every morning by many. It is quiet at St Peter's this winter, unusually quiet. The pandemic has silenced St Peter's Square. The otherwise usual background noise of pilgrims streaming to St Peter's does not disturb the peace in the Vatican at the moment.