Free Republic

While international experts try to figure out what caused the ruptures in the Nord Stream pipeline, engineers have multiple options to try and fix it… … Pipelines must resist many threats. The massive anchors of large container ships or tankers in particular can damage the pipes—as happened in 2008 with the Kvitebjørn pipeline in the North Sea off the Norwegian coast.… … Nord Stream’s more than 1,000 kilometers of pipelines. The structures lie directly on the seabed or, where it is not stable or level enough, on a bed of gravel. They are only laid under the ground where they...

Looking into some of the Japanese Twitter accounts that were crucial in spreading misinformation about the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it was learned in August that some of the same accounts actively spread other conspiracy theories in the past. Is it a coincidence that the accounts that spread rumors saying the Abe assassination was a “fake” were previously linked to Russian propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine and COVID-19 theories against vaccines? Never Tweeted About Abe Before A Sendai-based internet security company, Sola.com, analyzed tweets posted in Japan regarding the Abe assassination from July 8, when Mr....

No state income tax in Florida When NFL star wide receiver Tyreek Hill weighed offers from the New York Jets (who play in New Jersey) and the Miami Dolphins, no doubt there was a lot on his mind. But one consideration towered over the rest, at least according to Hill himself: signing with the Jets “was very close to happening,” but “those state taxes man. I had to make a grown-up decision.” He’s not wrong. Playing for Miami will save him an estimated $2.7 million in state and local taxes this season alone. Had he played for the Jets this...

1.Trump & Conservatives remain off Twitter 2.Twitter staff remains the same Musk said..... NO DEAL.

Donald Trump is predicting that the recent court filings from Special Counsel John Durham are “just the beginning” of what’s to come. Trump reacted to reports that Durham said in a court filing that lawyers for the Clinton campaign paid a tech company to “infiltrate” servers belonging to Trump Tower and the Trump White House in an effort to establish a “narrative” linking Trump to Russia. Advertisement “It looks like this is just the beginning, because, if you read the filing and have any understanding of what took place, and I called this a long time ago, you’re going to...

President Joe Biden will order more oil released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as gas prices are on the rise and OPEC announced it was making its biggest cuts in production in more than two years. Biden will release another 10 million barrels this month and he will 'continue to direct SPR releases as appropriate to protect American consumers and promote energy security,' White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and economic adviser Brian Deese said in a joint statement. In the statement, the administration also called on oil companies to 'keep bringing pump prices down by closing the historically...

Lock them all up! Devin Nunes has said pretty directly that he expects the Durham report to send several senior-level Obama staffers to prison… That assertion was somewhat upset by recent reports that the entire investigation may be over, with no convictions or lengthy prison sentences for anyone. What isn’t widely reported was what the investigation uncovered and the implications of those discoveries. The revelation that Igor Danchenko was on the F.B.I. payroll for over a year is one, and the role of Hillary Clinton is another, but the overt corruption of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the real...

Failed gubernatorial candidate (and current gubernatorial candidate) Stacey Abrams has claimed since 2018 that she really won her initial race. She claimed that the only reason she didn’t actually win was voter “suppression” laws in the state of Georgia. She was so adamantly invested in this narrative that she started a group called Fair Fight Action in order to champion her cause and continue to gripe about her lost election. It was much to her chagrin that her complaints were smartly swatted down by a federal court judge last Friday. Through her group, she attempted to prove that Georgia’s “Jim...

Former CA agent helped a man tied to organized crime learn if his associates were under investigation ... A former FBI agent in Northern California who handled national security issues was convicted Tuesday of accepting at least $150,000 in gifts and cash bribes to provide confidential information to a man with organized crime ties, prosecutors said. Babak Broumand, 56, of Lafayette, was found guilty in Los Angeles of conspiracy, bribery of a public official and monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. He could face 15 to 45 years in...

If Europe was a school student, last week it sat its first exam in Energy Savings 101. It failed. And that doesn’t bode well for much tougher tests to come in January. Despite strong imports of liquefied natural gas to replace Russian shipments, Europe needs to reduce gas consumption — by a lot — if it’s going to make it through the winter. Extra supply won’t be enough. Conservation is absolutely paramount. The exact amount varies from country to country, but on average, the European Commission has suggested a 10%-15% demand reduction. Germany and a few other nations, which in...

Eating cold-water fish and other sources of omega-3 fatty acids may preserve brain health and enhance cognition in middle age, new evidence indicates. Having at least some omega-3s in red blood cells was associated with better brain structure and cognitive function among healthy study volunteers in their 40s and 50s. "The new contribution here is that, even at younger ages, if you have a diet that includes some omega-3 fatty acids, you are already protecting your brain for most of the indicators of brain aging that we see at middle age," said Claudia Satizabal, Ph.D. The study of 2,183 participants...

Louisiana Treasurer John Schroder penned a letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, explaining the state would liquidate all BlackRock investments within three months and, over a period of time, divest nearly $800 million from the bank's money market funds, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds. The state treasurer blasted Fink's pursuit of so-called environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards that promote green energy over traditional fossil fuels. "Your blatantly anti-fossil fuel policies would destroy Louisiana’s economy," Schroder wrote to Fink in the letter first obtained by FOX Business. "This divestment is necessary to protect Louisiana from actions and policies that would...

A wedding venue in Michigan was found to have violated one of Grand Rapids's human rights ordinances after the owners refused to host LGBT ceremonies because of their religious beliefs. "We believe in Jesus and are so blessed by his calling in our lives to start The Broadway Avenue!" Nick and Hannah Natale say on Broadway Avenue LLC's website. According to a local report, complaints began after the owner made an Instagram post about the decision against hosting LGBT weddings in July. An investigation into the business was subsequently launched. The investigation found that "Broadway Avenue LLC adopted, enforced, or...

Brookings scholar Richard Reeves and his just-released book, Of Boys and Men, proceeds from the proposition that “men at the top are still flourishing, but men in general are not.” Men are struggling in school, in the job market, and in family life; they are the gender most likely to end up in prison and most vulnerable to “deaths of despair.” “In the U.S … the 2020 decline in college enrollment was seven times greater for male than for female students.”“Among men with only a high-school education, one in three is out of the labor force. For those who have...

A Swedish cohort study shows 13% (95% CI, 2-22%) lower risk of kidney function decline or kidney failure and 12% (95% CI, 3-20%) lower risk of acute kidney injury with use of direct oral anticoagulants vs. vitamin K antagonists for non-valvular atrial fibrillation. The relative safety of anticoagulation with direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) or vitamin K antagonists (VKA) remains inconclusive, particularly with regards to kidney outcomes. In a cohort of patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation from Sweden, researchers observed that compared with VKA, DOAC initiation was associated with a lower risk of the composite of kidney failure and sustained 30%...

"[W]e have seen leveraging athletics and extracurriculars as a way to boost you vaccination as an effective tactic across the county.” The federal government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic may already be one of the most infamous chapters in U.S. history. But new evidence keeps coming to light that reveals the "Experts" were every bit as cynical and dishonest as most citizens had figured out years ago. An August 2021 email by the U.S. Department of Education's Anne Hartge, of the Office of Communications and Outreach, following up on a conversation between Eric Hagarty, who is now Pennsylvania’s current Secretary...

Special counsel John Durham and his team cannot tell jurors about how the primary source for the anti-Donald Trump dossier has had links to Russian intelligence, a U.S. judge ruled on Oct. 4. The FBI opened an investigation into Igor Danchenko, the dossier source, after a colleague of Danchenko’s tipped off authorities, saying Danchenko had said he could get the person money in exchange for classified information. The FBI investigation advanced after agents learned that Danchenko had been in touch with the Russian embassy and known Russian intelligence officers and had in the past been interested in becoming a Russian...

Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney told Arizona voters on Wednesday that they will play a critical role in “ensuring the future functioning of our constitutional republic” — warning that election deniers like GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and Secretary of State nominee Mark Finchem could put the republic at risk. The three-term GOP congresswoman, who lost to a Donald Trump-backed primary challenger earlier this year, cast the stakes of Arizona’s elections in national terms. “So what happens here in Arizona is not just important for Arizona, but it’s important for the nation and for the future functioning of our constitutional republic,”...

Rep. Kevin McCarthy reacts to Just the News report, said DHS collaboration with private censors during 2020 election involves "fundamental violations of the First Amendment." House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a relentless critic of creeping censorship and cancel culture in America, is vowing an aggressive investigation into federal agencies' collusion with private entities to silence Americans' opinions on Big Tech platforms if Republicans capture control of Congress. McCarthy's comments Wednesday came after Just the News reported how the departments of State and Homeland Security essentially outsourced censorship activities to a private consortium that facilitated federal officials' requests to censor content...

OPEC+ declared on Wednesday that it would cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day. The White House on Wednesday denounced the organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) for "aligning with Russia" after the bloc announced it would cut oil production, contrary to President Joe Biden's urging. "The President is disappointed by the shortsighted decision by OPEC+ to cut production quotas while the global economy is dealing with the continued negative impact of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said in a joint statement, per the Epoch Times....