Free Republic

As soon as 2023, the United States military could have a new spacecraft to transport troops to space and low Earth orbit locations anywhere in the world within three hours. Colorado-based aerospace company Sierra Space announced Sept. 8, 2022 that it signed a research and development contract with the U.S. Transportation Command to develop options to transport military crews and cargo around the world using the “Dream Chaser” space plane. The Dream Chaser space plane is a 7-passenger winged shuttle-like plane that launches to space on a rocket and flies back to Earth, landing on a runway. It’s designed to...

Explanation: The Tarantula Nebula, also known as 30 Doradus, is more than a thousand light-years in diameter, a giant star forming region within nearby satellite galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. About 180 thousand light-years away, it's the largest, most violent star forming region known in the whole Local Group of galaxies. The cosmic arachnid sprawls across this magnificent view, an assembly of image data from large space- and ground-based telescopes. Within the Tarantula (NGC 2070), intense radiation, stellar winds, and supernova shocks from the central young cluster of massive stars cataloged as R136 energize the nebular glow and shape the...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, who is running for governor in Arkansas, underwent surgery Friday for thyroid cancer. Sanders announced she underwent the surgery after a biopsy earlier this month revealed that she had thyroid cancer. “Today, I underwent a successful surgery to remove my thyroid and surrounding lymph nodes and by the grace of God I am now cancer-free,” Sanders said in a statement released by her campaign. “I want to thank the Arkansas doctors and nurses for their world-class care, as well as my family and friends for their love, prayers,...

LIVESTREAM AUDIO WILL BEGIN WHEN PRESIDENT TRUMP ARRIVES. President Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America, Delivers Remarks in Youngstown, Ohio on Saturday, September 17, 2022, at 7:00PM EDT.

In a bid to prevent a global food crisis, the United Nations has resorted to begging Russia for mercy concerning its export of fertilizer to Western countries that need it for crops. Right now, a pipeline that once transported ammonia from Russia to Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Yuzhny (renamed “Pivdennyi”) is offline due to Western sanctions against Russia. Consequently, much-needed fertilizer has stopped flowing. Before the war, Russia accounted for about 20 percent of all global exports of ammonia, a key ingredient in fertilizer production. The ammonia pipeline in question has been closed since the February invasion began. (Related:...

She has only been on the job for a few days, but new British Prime Minister Liz Truss has maybe a few weeks left to roll out a solid, confidence-inspiring plan to turn around Great Britain’s economy – or else face widespread unrest this fall and winter. Police chiefs across the United Kingdom say that “economic turmoil and financial instability” has the “potential to drive increases in particular crime types,” including shoplifting, burglary, vehicle theft, online fraud and blackmail. “Prolonged and painful economic pressure” could soon spark “greater civil unrest” similar to the 2011 London riots, reported one popular British...

The Biden administration has just announced yet another new weapons package for Ukraine worth $600 million, which now brings to total US military aid pledged since the start of the conflict to $15.1 billion. Crucially, in this case the arms are being sent under the presidential drawdown authority, which allows the White House to take arms directly from US military stockpiles for use by foreign allied forces. The administration confirmed it was the 21st time it drew from Pentagon stockpiles. The Guardian details, “Joe Biden authorized the latest assistance using his Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the president to authorize...

Russian-backed separatists in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson said Ukrainian forces had bombarded government buildings on Friday, killing at least one person and wounding others. Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy head of the Kherson region, told Russian state TV that one wing of the administration's building in Kherson had been practically destroyed in the strike, which he said involved U.S.-made HIMARS rockets. Separately, the prosecutor general of the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine and his deputy were killed by a bomb blast at their offices, Russian news agencies reported, citing Russian-backed officials and emergency services....

Valencia Prime was performing at Tabu Lounge and Sports Bar in Philadelphia's Gayborhood when she collapsed Monday night. By Alexander Kacala A Philadelphia drag performer beloved by the local LGBTQ community died Monday night during a performance at a popular gay bar. Valencia Prime, 25, was performing at Tabu Lounge and Sports bar, in the heart of Philadelphia's Gayborhood, when she collapsed on stage, bar owner Jeffrey Sotland said. "Today we mourn the loss of a very bright and rising star in the performance community and a person who was always full of love and positivity," the venue said in...

Distant spiral galaxies SDSS J115331 and LEDA 2073461, in a new image from Hubble. (ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Keel) A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope beautifully illustrates why astronomers need to be so careful about distance in space. Over 1 billion light-years away, two galaxies float in the darkness, beautiful golden snail-like spirals seemingly caught in the act of colliding. They're named SDSS J115331 and LEDA 2073461, and in spite of appearances, they're not interacting at all. Instead, they're separated by quite some distance. Their alignment is an absolutely beautiful line-of-sight coincidence. Galaxies do collide in space, quite...

Dozens of storeys of the more than 656-foot China Telecom (0728.HK) building “burned with great intensity,” sending thick smoke into the sky, state broadcaster CCTV said. The fire has been put out, but casualty numbers are not known yet, it reported.

COVID lockdowns and remote learning was severely detrimental to kids, with one expert saying it hurt everything from reading and writing to basic social skills. The National Center for Education Statistics conducted a study on 9-year-old students over the two years since the pandemic began. They found test scores in reading fell five points, while in math they fell seven points. The US Department of Education called this the largest drop in reading test scores since 1990, while in math, it was the first time they'd ever recorded a lower average.

Of all the key Senate races to watch, and there certainly are some battleground, the Pennsylvania race to replace retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) may truly be the one to watch. For how likely it supposedly has been that Democrat John Fetterman would win, it turns out a shift in polls shows the momentum may not be on his side, but rather that of his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz. It's already been nearly a month since the Trafalgar Group poll was released showing Fetterman's lead against Dr. Oz at just under 5 percentage points. His lead has now shrunk...

During a guest appearance on 'The View' on Wednesday, Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams - once a pro-lifer raised in a religious home - said she supports abortion 'until the time of birth' in some cases. When asked by the show's new conservative host, Alyssa Farah Griffin, if she believed there should be any limitation on abortion, Abrams said: 'Viability is the metric and that if a woman's health or life is endanger then viability extends until the time of birth.' Abrams added that abortion is a 'medical decision not a political one' and called various state-imposed limitations on...

The “Great Resignation” is causing waves across the workforce, but not in places you might expect. While plenty of attention has been devoted to Gen Z employees switching jobs in record numbers, new data shows the C-suite is struggling too. Deloitte reports around 70% of high-level executives are seriously considering quitting their jobs, largely to improve their emotional well-being. In fact, these departures are already underway. According to a recent report conducted by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, over 650 CEOs left their jobs in 2022. What’s behind this exodus of leaders? Workers across all industries have been deeply impacted by...

“After a lunch during which Greenwald gushed about how wonderful Trump was, Yellen concluded she couldn’t continue their fifty-year-long friendship,” according to Ullmann. “They stopped talking to one another.”

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Carey Wooten spent nearly seven weeks hunting for safe drinking water for herself, her two children and three dogs after clocking out each day as a Taco Bell manager, so Gov. Tate Reeves’ announcement that the water is clean again in Mississippi’s capital came as welcome news. Wooten said Friday that the liquid flowing into her kitchen sink still smells like sewage, but not as bad as before, and she’s glad she won’t have to run to distribution sites before their bottled water supplies run out each day. Jackson had already been under a state health...

The world’s largest package delivery company and the union representing tens of thousands of its employees are entering a critical countdown towards the expiration of the current union contract in 2023. Workers at UPS are demanding better wages and workplace protections, following a summer of demands for better equipment against heat-related death and illness inside the ubiquitous brown trucks. But union organisers and labour leaders are also preparing for the possibility of a strike, which could be the largest ever against a single company in the US. Roughly 350,000 members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union work as drivers...

Rumors circulated this week that the White House was considering giving Ukraine the long-range missile systems it has asked for since the early days of the Russian invasion, but it became clear on Thursday that President Joe Biden ultimately decided against the idea. Sources close to the White House reportedly told CNN this week that the Biden Administration is unlikely to “significantly change” its approach to helping Ukraine, even as Russia retreats and the war looks to be winnable for Ukraine. Those rumors, however, appear to have scared the Kremlin, prompting a response this week that the supply of longer-range...

Two of the greatest insights from the philosopher Plato are that societies are structured around symbols of justice and unity. and that societies need stories to function in an orderly way without the chaos of tyranny. For most of American history, those symbols of justice and unity were the Declaration, Constitution, flag, and churches. These symbols combined for a powerful unifying story: the story of American liberty and equality that was also inspiring the advance of liberty and equality around the world. In the maelstrom of the chaos of 24/7 news, societal decay and violence, and media and political platitudes,...