Free Republic

. . . At a time when Americans are already at odds with one another over what we might call core values — the cultural beliefs that glue our country together — it’s reasonable to worry about whether adding newcomers to the mix will complicate the task of forging a common future. . . .

Workers from Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are paying $75,000 to be taller, a surgeon told GQ. The Las Vegas surgeon can lengthen patients' legs via a painful months-long process. He breaks the thigh bones and inserts nails that are extended every day for three months. A Las Vegas cosmetic surgeon who specializes in leg-lengthening procedures that can extend people's height by 3 to 6 inches told GQ magazine that many of his patients are tech workers. Kevin Debiparshad founded LimbplastX Institute in 2016, and the clinic's business has boomed during the pandemic, he told GQ. Here's how it works:...

Noble Schools is defending its hiring of Lauren “Big Boobs” Fagel. Fagel’s sister, Director of Executive Operations Brooke Sternfield Semel, is an administrator at Noble Schools. While the Chicago Public Schools code of ethics disallows siblings from serving under one another, the charter network doesn’t appear to have posted its code regarding nepotism. The school tells Chicago City Wire it has taken the issue into consideration as well as the allegations against Fagel regarding repeated instances of sexual harassment. "Noble is firmly committed to providing a safe learning and working environment for all of its students and staff,” Claudia Rodriguez,...

How many times have I said it? One of my favorite axioms is Liberals have ZERO long term memory.I've been tweeting Republican Governors for months- please send them to Malibu, Aspen and Martha's Vineyard. Ron DeSantis finally listened and good on him. Massachusetts is a sanctuary state. How Massachusetts Became a Sanctuary StateFlorida is not. The day of reckoning has arrived. Joe Biden has been dumping illegals all over the country without the approval of his victim states. He just dumps them, unaccompanied minors and all. Not one effing democrat liberal had a problem with that. Biden was literally engaged...

The Russians continue to threaten us with nuclear annihilation. Why are so few people in the western world alarmed by this? I think it is because our leaders are assuring everyone that the Russians are all talk and that the odds of a nuclear war actually happening are extremely low. Meanwhile, both sides just continue to take steps to escalate the war in Ukraine. We are engaged in an extremely bizarre game of “nuclear chicken”, and both sides truly believe that the other side will blink first. And so we continue to creep closer and closer to a cataclysmic nuclear...

Argentina’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate Thursday in a bid to prop up its currency and curb inflation nearing 100%. The central bank boosted its benchmark Leliq rate by 5.5 percentage points to 75%, according to an emailed statement. The move comes a day after data showed consumer prices jumped nearly 79% a year in August, the fastest pace in 30 years. It was the bank’s ninth rate hike this year. The bank’s board of directors also added in the statement that it intends to reduce the level of short-term debt held by the central bank next year,...

The Temple Institute and Boneh Israel made a huge step towards reinstating the Temple service on Thursday when five red heifers landed at Ben Gurion International Airport. The red heifer was the main component in the Biblically mandated process of ritual purification for impurity that results from proximity or contact with a dead body. Because the elements needed for this ceremony have been lacking since the destruction of the Second Temple, all Jews today are considered ritually impure, thereby preventing the return of the Temple service. The Temple Institute launched its Red Heifer program about a decade ago, led by...

A new report from the Department of the Interior shows the Biden Administration has leased fewer acres of land for oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters since former President Harry Truman in the 1940s. The Department of the Interior has given out leases for 126,228 acres through August 20, 2022, according to analysis from the Wall Street Journal. The last president to lease out less than 4.4 million acres at this point in the first term of his presidency was Richard Nixon in 1969-1970. “Joe Biden has been, I won’t say a closet radical, but simply a...

FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday that he believes a recession is impending for the global economy. “I think so. But you know, these numbers, they don’t portend very well,” Subramaniam said in response to Cramer’s question of whether the economy is “going into a worldwide recession.” The CEO’s pessimism came after FedEx missed estimates on revenue and earnings in its first quarter. The company also withdrew its full-year guidance. Shares of FedEx fell 15% in extended trading on Thursday. “I’m very disappointed in the results that we just announced here, and you know, the headline...

Amazon has announced Blade Runner 2099, a live-action TV sequel to the sci-fi classic, Blade Runner. Per its title, the upcoming Blade Runner show will take place 50 years after the recent sequel, Blade Runner 2049, with showrunner Silka Luisa (Shining Girls) at the helm. Blade Runner director Ridley Scott and Blade Runner 2049 writer Michael Green will serve as executive producers. Tom Spezialy (The Leftovers) is the first to join the writer's room and will also executive produce. “We are honored to be able to present this continuation of the Blade Runner franchise, and are confident that by teaming...

Bishops, priests and scholars correct Pope Francis’ statement on Holy CommunionA recent papal statement seems to open the door to Holy Communion for pro-abortion politicians such as Nancy Pelosi(LifeSiteNews) — Four bishops, several priests, and numerous Catholic scholars have signed a statement rebuking Pope Francis for a recent statement about the reception of Holy Communion, according to which “everyone is invited to the supper of the wedding of the Lamb (Re 19:9). To be admitted to the feast all that is required is the wedding garment of faith which comes from the hearing of his Word.” The Pope wrote these...

Oregon is hoping to attract more drivers to purchase electric vehicles with its plan to add hundreds of charging stations across the state. The $100 million program, which aims to provide electric vehicle chargers every 50 miles along Oregon’s highways, was approved by the federal government Wednesday. “We’re trying to address a little bit of this chicken and the egg. What comes first? Do people have the cars or is the charging available? We know that charging is key to people gaining confidence that an electric vehicle is something that can work for them,” Amanda Pietz, an administrator at ODOT,...

George Soros takes credit for Ukraine war, saying that all the Ukrainian leaders that wanted to join the EU and NATO were in contact with his “civil societies” foundation. ...

Under the Joe Biden administration, many changes are being made simply by redefining words. For example, being a conservative who supports the conservative plans of a President Trump isn't being conservative. Now, according to Biden, it's being "semi-fascist." Now the Democrat in the Oval Office is proposing a massive set of rules changes and new definitions that would make abortion actually a part of the "pregnancy" process. A report at PJMedia explains one of the other targets Biden's agenda to "redefine" words is that he wants "sex" under the 1964 Title IX law to be vastly expanded to include gender...

Guilt is dangerous because it destroys faith. The enemy of our soul is not at all interested in making Christians into adulterers, addicts or prostitutes. He is interested in one thing only: turning Christians into unbelievers. He uses the lusts of the body to bind the mind. Satan wants you to be so crushed with guilt so you let go of your faith. He wants you to doubt God’s faithfulness and think that nobody really cares, that you will live in misery and heartbreak, that you will always be a slave to your lust, that God’s holiness is unreachable, that...

“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding” (John 2:1–2). A wedding was a major social event in first-century Palestine, and the ensuing celebration could last as long as a week. It marked the culmination of the betrothal period, which often lasted for several months. The couple was considered legally man and wife during their betrothal period. They did not, however, live together or consummate the marriage during that time (cf. Matt. 1:18). On the night of the...

A fire engulfed a skyscraper in the central Chinese city of Changsha, with authorities saying that no casualties had yet been found. The blaze broke out in a 42-floor building housing an office of the state-owned telecommunications company China Telecom, according to the state broadcaster CCTV. “Thick smoke billowed from the site, and dozens of floors burned ferociously,” CCTV reported. The provincial fire department said later in a social media post that “at present, the fire has been extinguished, and we have not yet discovered any casualties”.

Research shows that dairy products, especially low-fat products and yogurt, are associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). Red and processed meat were linked to a higher risk of T2D but moderate amounts of fish and eggs could be eaten in their place, say the Italian researchers. Dr. Annalisa Giosuè and colleagues carried out a review of existing meta-analyses into links between different animal-based foods and diabetes. This type of "review of reviews" provides one of the highest levels of evidence available in medicine. There was a substantial increase in T2D risk with the consumption of...

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the Oregon gubernatorial race toward Republicans on Friday, moving it from “lean Democrat” to “toss up.” Three candidates are vying for the seat of Gov. Kate Brown (D), who is term-limited: former state House Speaker Tina Kotek (D), former state House Minority Leader Christine Drazan (R) and former state Sen. Betsy Johnson (I). Cook Political Report attributed its ratings change to the fact that Johnson could act as a disruptor in the race given her fundraising advantage and her TV ad spending, leading to tied polling between Kotek and Drazan. “There’s a clear trend...

[F]our organizations took on roles often played by governments — but without the accountability of governments. [T]hey used their clout with the World Health Organization to help create an ambitious worldwide distribution plan for the dissemination of those Covid tools to needy nations... The four organizations had worked together in the past, and three of them shared a common history. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation... Then there was Gavi, the global vaccine organization that Gates helped to found... Wellcome Trust...worked with the Gates Foundation in previous years...Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPIthat Gates and Wellcome both helped to create...