Free Republic

FAMILIES struggling financially can look forward to some much-needed help. Hawaii taxpayers have already started seeing tax rebates show up via direct deposit. Residents will get a minimum payment of $300 Payments began going out in the first week of September to Hawaii taxpayers who included direct deposit information on their tax returns, according to the state's Department of Taxation. Most direct deposits should be sent by the end of September, but when and how you filed your taxes ultimately decides when you'll get your rebate. The direct deposits will be made on three days, September 9, 12, and 13,...

In addressing how governors such as Florida’s Ron DeSantis are handling state teacher shortages, Cardona said that it is as important to treat current educators with “respect” as filling vacancies. At a breakfast roundtable hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, Cardona suggested that school systems first address why teachers are leaving and why it is hard to recruit new teachers. A former teacher himself, he said the focus should be on improving pay and working conditions. He recalled that while working in Connecticut, the state had a program called “Troops to Teachers,” and it was great to get their “skill...

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday that President Joe Biden has approved additional military aid to Ukraine worth up to $675 million, an announcement that came as he rallied allies to renew their commitment to Ukrainian military support “for the long haul.”

Mike Flannery of Fox 32 said when he posed questions to the Chicago Teachers Union about empty schools described in a recent Wirepoints article, a union official cursed at the group. Flannery recently interviewed Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski and mentioned that somebody from the union verbally expressed disdain for the organization. "When I mentioned your group Mr. Dabrowski, Wirepoints.Org, a person who speaks for the union said, on the record, I could say their response was f*** Wirepoints…and they didn’t use ‘f’, they used the full word and we do look forward to hearing from defenders of the system,” Flannery...

The state of Virginia has over a third of America's hyperscale datacenter capacity, and this amounts to more than the entire capacity of China or the whole of Europe, highlighting just how much infrastructure is concentrated along the so-called Datacenter Alley.These figures come from Synergy Research Group, which said that the US accounts for 53 percent of global hyperscale datacenter capacity, as measured by critical IT load, at the end of the second quarter of 2022. The remainder is relatively evenly split between China, Europe, and the rest of the world.While few would be surprised at the US accounting for...

Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-reigning monarch who served as the beloved face of her country and source of strength for seven decades, died Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. She was 96. Elizabeth's doctors said earlier Thursday that they were "concerned for Her Majesty’s health" and that she was "resting comfortably" at Balmoral under medical supervision. Developing story.........It just happened.

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The Queen has died aged 96, Buckingham Palace has announced. The Queen's death ends the longest reign in British history. She was also the world's oldest head of state. Rhiannon Mills Royal correspondent @SkyRhiannon Thursday 8 September 2022 18:30, UK

She passed.

BOISE — A massive tax cut and education spending bill made possible by the state’s projected $2 billion budget surplus is moving at lightning speed through the Legislature and headed to the full House on Thursday.The House Revenue and Taxation Committee unanimously approved the bill that has a $410 million annual increase through sales taxes for education as well as a $500 million income tax rebate this year and an ongoing $150 million income and corporate tax cut by creating a 5.8% flat tax.“This is really a step in the right direction,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra told lawmakers,...

Shocked that people who never went to college don't want to be forced to pay down her college loan debt, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) ranted against "the selfishness of the few who oppose the social justice of President Biden's generosity. College graduates are our nation's most precious resource. Making them pay their own way is so unfair." The Congresswoman has it backwards. Less than half of the adults in the US have college degrees. Of these only 41 million owe money for college loans. Graduates that already paid off their student loans, graduates that never took out a student...

San Francisco officials on Tuesday unveiled what they said was a deliberately 'soft touch' scheme to deal with the city's relentless drug crisis - insisting that under their plan 'nobody's going to jail,' but remaining vague on how to end the problem. With nearly 1,700 fatal overdoses since the start of 2020, San Francisco's drug crisis has resulted in almost double the death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June, the city's mayor, London Breed, announced that their notorious taxpayer-funded open-air drugs market will close at the end of the year.

In a general head-to-head matchup between President Joe Biden, 79, and his predecessor Donald Trump, 76, the incumbent Democrat would emerge victorious, a new poll shows. This is the first time a Yahoo News/YouGov poll has shown Biden besting Trump by 6 percent or more in six months – as the spring and summer saw months-long economic decline with record high gas prices, record high inflation and the country dipping into a recession with two straight quarters of negative GDP growth. Of the 1,634 respondents, 1,247 are registered voters and would be eligible to vote in a presidential election if...

Belarus has started military exercises by the city of Brest near the Polish border, its capital Minsk and the northeast region of Vitebsk, the defence ministry said on Thursday. Belarus, a close ally of Russia, said the exercises, located just 20 miles from Ukraine's border and six miles from Poland, will practice 'liberating territory temporarily seized by the enemy' and regaining control over border regions. Russian President Vladimir Putin used similar rhetoric to justify his invasion of Ukraine earlier this year and had staged wargames near the border before sending his troops into battle.

A Los Angeles Times columnist wrote Wednesday that Melania Trump deserved to feel 'violated' by the FBI's raid of Mar-a-Lago and ridiculed the former first lady's sex life. 'This is simply the price you pay when you are married to a sticky-handed former president who is unable to grasp the difference between things that belong to him and things that do not,' wrote columnist Robin Abcarian. The columnist mocked how anonymous Melania pals told Radar Online that the former first lady bought new underwear after hers was rummaged through, snarking at the quote: 'This is her home ... it's her...

<p>Earlier this week, Trump opened a new line of criticism against Germany, complaining about a new natural gas pipeline that will directly link Germany and Russia. The United States and several European countries have long opposed the Nord Stream pipeline system, saying it increases Europe’s dependence on Russia and fills Moscow’s coffers despite its destabilizing activity in recent years.</p>

Conventional wisdom has it that the “angry woman” theory is the reason some polls are showing Democrats surging. The thinking goes that millions of women are enraged about the Dobbs decision leaving abortion up to the states and will take their anger out on Republicans at the polls. The “angry women” are going to march to the polls in lockstep on Election Day and robotically pull the lever for Democrats. Or so we’re told. But conventional wisdom is not always the wisest — especially when it comes to Democrats who engage in wishful thinking rather than penetrating analysis. In fact,...

Advisers to Health Canada recommend Canadians take a “booster” of the still experimental COVID injections, which are now known to do next to nothing to stop the spread of the virus, every three months.According to Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) officials, as reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, a “shorter interval of at least three months may be warranted in the context of heightened epidemiological risk as well as operational considerations for the efficient deployment of the Covid-19 vaccination program.”This recommendation was stated in a September 1 Summary Of National Advisory Committee On Immunization Statement. “Informed consent should include discussion...

On Thursday, BBC News presenters wore black suits and ties as they announced the latest information on the health of the Queen – though much of what is still being reported remains vague, as no additional information has been provided by the Palace at this time. The BBC’s online graphics also switched from red to black, suggesting the possibility that Britain’s public service broadcaster has already been informed of the Queen’s passing.

When you patronize your local fresh fish place, it’s usually wise to heed the almost parabolic but time-honored rule that you should not name any of the lobsters in the tank. Once you name it, you can’t eat it. Once you name it, you just can’t bring yourself to let it go. The same is true it seems of wars. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the United States “plans to name its military mission supporting Ukraine and appoint a general to lead the training and assistance effort,” while another $3 billion in military aid has been committed...