Free Republic

You gotta see this... Making an art form out of messing people's minds... Roughly, 'This winter's going to be really serious, see ya in the spring.....' А зима будет большая, Вот, гляди-ка, за рекой Осень тихо умирает, Машет желтою рукой. Плачут мокрые осины, Плачет дедушка Aрбат, Плачет синяя Россия, Превратившись в листопад. И, сугробы сокрушая, Солнце брызнет по весне, А зима будет большая - Только сумерки да снег.

California’s power grid operator declared a stage 3 energy emergency alert Tuesday evening, warning that rotating power outages were "very possible" as a brutal heat wave walloping the state pushed electricity demand to its limits. "Energy Emergency Alert 3 with rotating #power outages very possible. Please reduce your energy use," The California Independent System Operator (ISO) tweeted. California ISO warned residents earlier Tuesday to be prepared for the possibility of rotating power outages and issued an Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) 2 for 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Some 67,000 Californians were without power Monday evening, according to powerotage.us, while ongoing...

One Part of Donald Trump's Excellence As A President Was That He Was Willing To Talk With Enemies. If we can stay at peace with China and be friends, that will be great. But The Quad is necessary and in my opinion, it should be a Quin, with Indonesia the vital currently missing link. https://freedom-demokrasi-and-civilised-humanity.com/2021/11/09/the-quad-should-be-a-quin/

A ray of light has burst forth from the chambers of U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon making a Trump indictment very unlikely. At last, we find a jurist with a real world understanding of the stakes involved and the meaning for the country of a possible criminal proceeding against the former president. Until Judge Cannon’s ruling granting Trump’s lawyers’ request for the appointment of a special master to review the documents seized in the Mar-a-Lago raid, I felt that the case was in the grip of bureaucrats who had no understanding, or even any interest, in bringing any...

Joe Biden's top COVID advisor has said the White House now wants people to have an annual jab to protect against the virus, saying it should be as routine as the flu shot. Dr Ashish Jha, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, on Tuesday confirmed a long-hinted policy of annual vaccinations. 'As the annual flu vaccination campaign kicks into high gear later this month and into early October, we expect millions will choose to get their COVID-19 shot at the same time, or over the course of the fall when people go in for routine checkups,' he said. 'The good news...

China has reopened roads leading to the epicentre of Monday's (Sep 5) 6.8-magnitude earthquake in the southwestern province of Sichuan and traffic has resumed, state media reported on Wednesday, while the death toll has risen to 74. In addition, a total of 259 people were injured in the disaster and 26 remained missing as of Tuesday night, the People's Daily reported. The strongest earthquake to hit the province since 2017 destroyed numerous buildings and caused severe damage to power and water infrastructure as well as telecommunications.

What is the scale of the energy challenge?We got a very shocking sense of the staggering numbers involved in the existential, crippling European crisis earlier today when Norwegian energy giant Equinor echoed what Zoltan Pozsar said in March, warning that “European energy trading risks grinding to a halt unless governments extend liquidity to cover margin calls of at least $1.5 trillion." As Bloomberg put it, in its best non-Zoltan imitation, "aside from inflating bills and fanning inflation, the biggest energy crisis in decades is sucking up capital to guarantee trades amid wild price swings. That’s putting pressure on European Union...

A research team conducted the world's first systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies with over 2 million individuals and estimated a moderate association between antipsychotic use and breast cancer by over 30%. Antipsychotics are commonly prescribed for patients with a range of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and dementia. Elevated breast cancer incidence has been consistently reported in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and antipsychotic use are speculated to potentially explain at least part of the increased risk. Possible mechanisms include antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia, antipsychotic-mediated weight gain and poorer lifestyle among antipsychotic users. With...

Last night Politico Europe published an interesting story about where Russia is starting to feel the pinch as it tries to keep its war machine going. Despite sanctions, Russia has managed to keep selling lots of oil and that has kept its economy from collapsing. But while it has lots of cash on hand it’s not so easy to import supplies of high tech chips that are needed for its weapons of war. In order to find those parts, Russia has put together a shopping list.Having fired off (or lost in combat) way more of their missile firepower than they...

Nothing says confidence like a party leader already plotting a golden parachute to deploy after the midterms. Nancy Pelosi apparently doesn’t put much stock into reports of sudden Democratic competitiveness, and maybe she shouldn’t.We’ll get back to that in a moment, but Fox Business channel reports this morning that Pelosi is already angling to get an appointment from Joe Biden as ambassador to Italy as her exit as Speaker seems all but assured:House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning her next move after an expected Republican victory in November.Sources tell FOX Business that Pelosi wants President Biden to nominate her to...

I first wrote about the exodus of workers from San Francisco back in January of 2021. That trend was driven partly by the high cost of living in the Bay Area, partly by the rise of crime and homelessness and partly by the fact that the pandemic made working from home the new normal for a lot of white collar workers.It’s not just individual workers who are leaving the city, entire companies have decided to downsize their footprint downtown. Again, there are multiple reasons why this is happening now but the bottom line is that San Francisco office space isn’t...

A hermit known as River Dave - whose cabin in the New Hampshire woods burned down after he had spent nearly three decades on the property and was ordered to leave - has found a new home in Maine. David Lidstone, 82, has put in windows and is working on installing a chimney on his rustic three-room cabin, which he said is on land he bought. “The foundation needs repair work," Lidstone, who received more than $200,000 in donations following the fire, said in a phone interview on Monday. “It's just an old camp, but I enjoy working (on it)."...

It’s not hyperbolic to suggest that the vicious political war Joe Biden is currently waging against who he calls “MAGA Republicans” (aka “deplorables”) is one of the most un-American tactics ever put on display by a President against his own people in the history of American politics.At the core of Biden’s complaints about “MAGA Republicans” is the belief among many of them that the 2020 presidential election wasn’t decided fairly, that deception and underhanded tactics were involved. Further, Biden says he is concerned that some so-called “election deniers” might go and get themselves elected, and then our democracy will really...

In Herzliya in Israel, people have begun a petition to try to save a modern-day hermit from being thrown out of his unusual dwelling, built in a cave on the coast. Nisim spent months living by the sea without a home, but then defied the humidity, salt and waves to build a Gaudi-like structure, which has been a local attraction for nearly 50 years. But now the authorities want him to leave, saying he built without permission and is harming the environment. Nisim insists he will not leave his life’s work until he dies.

The DOJ/FBI appears to be at it with the questionable leaks again.The left is flipping out for what seems like the millionth time at the latest “the walls are closing in on Trump” story.Now, The Washington Post claims that the FBI seized documents during the raid on President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.A document describing a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities, was found by FBI agents who searched former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and private club last month, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about classified material stashed in the...

A Catholic bishop has become a hermit, quitting his position to fulfill his long-cherished desire, the first such case in the Catholic Church in India. Auxiliary Bishop Jacob Muricken of Palai diocese of the eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church based in the southern state of Kerala left the bishop’s house on Aug. 15 and moved to a hermitage he built in Nallathanni in Kanjirappally diocese. Bishop Muricken, 59, "took this decision following approval from the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church,” Father Joseph Maleparampil told UCA News on Aug 22, a week after the prelate left the bishop’s house. “The prelate will...

According to Decision Desk HQ, the field for the midterms for the gubernatorial race for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to replace Republican Charlie Baker has been decided Tuesday night.The Associated Press:BOSTON (AP) — Geoff Diehl, a former state representative endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has won the Republican nomination for Massachusetts governor over businessman Chris Doughty, who was considered the more moderate candidate in the race.The victory for Diehl sets up a general election contest against Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey, who would be the first openly gay person and the first woman elected governor if she wins in...

BA.5 just wiped me out for 12 days. Why did doctors let me get sick instead of giving me Paxlovid?I knew right away that it was going to be bad. It was a hot, humid night — almost 90 degrees — but my body was freezing. Putting on a sweatshirt and diving under a blanket couldn’t warm me up. My head, on the other hand, was on fire. I had a temperature over 100 degrees and needed ice packs piled on my forehead to cool down. The coughing wouldn’t stop. I didn’t need a test to tell me that I...

Some seized documents were so closely held, only the president, a Cabinet-level or near-Cabinet level official could authorize others to know A document describing a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities, was found by FBI agents who searched former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and private club last month, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about classified material stashed in the Florida property. Some of the seized documents detail top-secret U.S. operations so closely guarded that many senior national security officials are kept in the dark about them. Only the president,...

In China, pet ownership has risen sharply in recent years with more than 68 million people owning a cat or dog in 2021. Many of these animals are considered another member of the family. The pet trend has led to the birth of a new ‘pet detective’ industry aimed at