Free Republic

The US has received sufficient number of applications needed to reach the Congressionally mandated 65,000 H1-B visa cap for the fiscal year 2023, the country's federal agency for immigration services said on Tuesday. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. The H-1B visa programme is the most sought-after work visa among foreign professionals, including Indians. “We have received a sufficient number of petitions needed to...

The F-15EX Eagle II Soaring High After Weapons System Evaluation – Earlier this month, the United States Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center Detachment 6 team members participated in two of the first developmental and operational test missile shots from the Boeing F-15EX. For the exercise, Engineers and analysts from the AFOTEC Detachment 6 F-15 division traveled to Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) and Tyndall AFB, both in Florida, to draw results from the AIM-120D and AIM-120C3 missile shots performed as part of the Weapons System Evaluation Program (WSEP) conducted by Eglin’s 53rd Wing. These missile shots highlighted how...

The possibility of U.S. lockdowns—never attempted on this scale in the history of pandemics—was already in the air in early March 2020. The theory of lockdown had been floating around for 15 years but now China was first to try it, and claim enormous success, however fraudulently. Incredibly, the United States was set to try it out too but getting Trump on board was going to take some doing. The federal government had the quarantine power since 1944. That much we knew. But just how expansive could its exercise be? Would they dare quarantine the well with the sick? How...

Two people pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in New York in connection with the theft and sale of the diary and other items belonging to Ashley Biden, the daughter of President Joe Biden, court records show. The defendants, Aimee Harris, 40, and Robert Kurlander, 58, conspired to steal items from Florida and transport them over state lines in 2020, when Ashley’s father was the Democratic nominee for the White House, according to a charging document. The duo shopped the diary to the campaign of then-President Donald Trump, which told them to take it to the FBI, court records show.

In a recent example of Trudeau’s historic effort to deny Canadians the equivalence of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the @TPSGunsSeized Twitter account, which is described as the “official Toronto Police account for all guns seized,” tweeted an image of a recent seizure, along with #offthestreets this week: As you might imagine, this one pretty much writes itself from this point forward.In responses I assume came mostly from gun rights advocates, the Twittersphere thoroughly mocked the efforts of Toronto’s finest. In fairness, perhaps a diligent Canadian came across the encrusted handgun and rather than ignore...

Investments in new liquified natural gas (LNG) infrastructure are set to surge, reaching $42 billion annually in 2024, Rystad Energy research shows. These greenfield investments are 20 times the amount in 2020 when just $2 billion was invested... Russian volumes are primarily dependent on the successful completion of the Novatek-operated Arctic LNG 2 project, which is potentially in jeopardy as sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine conflict have led to delays in the commissioning of Train 2 and Train 3. Project partners TotalEnergies and JOGMEC have halted all financing related to the scheme in the Russia-Ukraine war, followed by the...

Let me first tell you this is my opinion. I get really upset when leaders coddle criminals or other folks who cause trouble in our community. It happens from time to time in cities all over the nation. It's happened in Louisiana. But I think what happened in New Orleans this month is so outrageous, I can't really believe it actually took place. Mayor LaToya Cantrell showed up in court to support a 14-year-old carjacking suspect and his mother. This happened right in front of the victims. This teenager used a fake gun to physically overtake the victims and steal...

SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly said, “*** you, Dr. Fauci,” on Wednesday’s broadcast of “The Megyn Kelly Show,” during her opening monologue heavily criticizing outgoing National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci. Kelly was reacting to Fauci telling CNN’s “New Day” that he considered cooperating with congressional oversight. When asked if he would be willing to testify before Republicans after his retirement, Fauci said, “Sure, I certainly would consider that.” He added, “But you’ve got to remember — I believe oversight is a very important part of government structure, and I welcome it, and it can be...

China will discourage abortions and take steps to make fertility treatment more accessible as part of efforts to boost one of the world’s lowest birth rates, its National Health Authority said on Tuesday. Support measures from taxation and insurance to education and housing would be improved and implemented, with local governments encouraged to boost infant care services and family friendly workplaces, according to guidelines published on the authority’s website. The authority said it would carry out reproductive health promotion to enhance public awareness while "preventing unintended pregnancy and reducing abortions that are not medically necessary".

Oklahoma executed a man on death throw on Thursday for a 1997 killing, despite a recommendation from the state's Pardon and Parole Board that his life be spared. James Coddington, 50, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and was pronounced dead at 10.16 a.m. Governor Kevin Stitt declined to commute Coddington's sentence to life in prison without parole and rejected his petition for clemency. Coddington was the fifth Oklahoma inmate to have been put to death since the state resumed executions last year. He was originally convicted and sentenced to die for beating his friend...

On a small, unassuming cul-de-sac in Alaska, the mother of two young daughters came face-to-face with the growing phenomenon of adolescent girls identifying as the opposite sex due to a social desire to appear transgender. Critics call the social contagion theory “unfounded” and “absurd.” But for Susie, whose name I’ve changed to protect her family’s privacy, she watched it unfold in her own neighborhood, inside her own home. After returning to the United States in 2020 from a four-year assignment abroad, Susie’s family settled into a house on a street where two out of the eight girls identified as boys....

TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME MATTHEW 24:42–51 Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus praises the faithful servant who served his master in a theo-drama. We are called to serve our Master in the same way. A theo-drama is written and directed by God. On the great stage that is the created universe and according to the prototype that is Christ, we are invited to “act,” to find and play our role in God’s theater. The problem is that the vast majority of us think that we are the directors, writers, and above all, stars of our own “ego-dramas,” with other people...

Dugong swims with its nose touching a shoal of yellow fish IMAGE SOURCE,PATRICK LOUISY Researchers have declared a mammal related to the manatee - said to have inspired ancient tales of mermaids and sirens - extinct in China. Only three people surveyed from coastal communities in China reported seeing the dugong in the past five years. Known as the ocean's most gentle giant, the dugong's slow, relaxed behaviour is likely to have made it vulnerable to overfishing and shipping accidents. It still exists elsewhere in the world but is facing similar threats. Prof Samuel Turvey, from the Zoological Society of...

We now have two separate polls showing Pennsylvania’s closely-watched U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races are too close to call. After a series of polls showed Democrat U.S. Senate candidate and former Mayor John Fetterman with what looked like an insurmountable lead over GOP candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, that lead is not looking so insurmountable now. An Emerson poll shows it’s just a four-point Senate race, with Fetterman up 48 to 44 percent. Trafalgar, which has proven over three election cycles to be a remarkably accurate pollster, also shows a four-point race, with Fetterman up 48 to 44 percent. Oz’s hurdle...

Dozens of citizens in Baltimore have just received their mail-in ballots for the 2020 election — some two years too late. USPS confirmed this week that it “discovered” a tray of the mail-in ballots earlier this month and that the 26 blank ballots were finally delivered on August 6. “We deeply regret the late delivery of these mailpieces,” USPS spokesperson Tom Ouellette told WMAR-2 News. “The Postal Service takes these issues very seriously and is working to help avoid issues like this by going over our processes and procedures with all employees ahead of the general elections.” The statement explicitly...

Steven Hoffenberg, one of Jeffrey Epstein's associates and the one-time owner of The New York Post, has died at the age of 77, DailyMail.com can reveal. Police were called to his Hoffenberg's home in Derby, Connecticut, yesterday by a concerned friend. They found Hoffenberg him lying on the floor of his bedroom. The cause of his death remains unconfirmed, but there were no visible signs of trauma to his body, a police source says. His body was so decomposed that police believe he had been there for at least a week. A medical examiner is now using his dental records...

Townhall senior writer Julio Rosas spent more than a month preparing for a trip to Minneapolis, where he planned to report on the breakdown of law and order and observe police officers on the front lines. He received approval July 25 to participate in ride-alongs with Minneapolis police. But when he arrived this week, he was told he could no longer do a ride-along because it “had not been approved by City Hall,” according to a Townhall report. “One of Julio’s MPD sources familiar with the situation told him that the denial for Julio to do a ride-along with the...

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene reported that she was swatted for a second time in as many days on Wednesday night. This after having been swatted on Tuesday night, as well. (snip) "The suicide chat line that was used could not get a location due to the person(s) using a VPN."

Electric Hummer A test has found that it costs over $100 to fully charge the battery of an electric pickup truck, far more than it would cost to fill up the gas tank of a large gas-powered truck of similar quality. In 2010, General Motors stopped manufacturing Hummers, a brand of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) that were massively criticized for being massive gas-guzzlers. In late 2020, GMC, a division of General Motors, came out with the new GMC Hummer EV, a line of electric battery-powered pickup trucks and SUVs. (Related: Range test finds gas pickup can tow...

Since winning the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate back in May, John Fetterman has been hidden away from public view. Just days before voting began he suffered a stroke and nearly died. He was in the hospital when the votes were tallied on Election Day. Now, when he does show up at rare campaign events, it's for just a few minutes. Usually wearing an oversized sweatshirt and basketball shorts, his appearance is sloppy. His words are even more incoherent and usually Democrat friendly media outlets are starting to take notice. CNN: "Legitimate questions do remain about Fetterman's health” after...