Free Republic

Some employees are understandably excited at talk of a four-day work week - but will it ever materialise, and at what cost?Working long hours in the finance industry, Ms Jas Chua fell sick periodically due to the constant stress she was under. She pushed herself for up to 12 hours, five days a week, and would check her emails even on weekends as “work never finishes”. This led to burnout every so often, and she would “When you reach that burnt-out stage, it's very hard to recover … You're really far from your usual 100 per cent,” she said. She...

President Xi Jinping declared in November last year: “China resolutely opposes hegemonism and power politics.” “(It) wishes to maintain friendly relations with its neighbours and jointly nurture lasting peace in the region and absolutely will not seek hegemony or even less, bully the small,” the Chinese leader added. He was speaking during a special summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of dialogue relations between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China.

There was a mass shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina yesterday in which a 15-year-old killed 5 people with a shotgun. Illegitimate president Joe Biden thinks this is more proof that we need an assault weapons ban. Joe’s dementia has now spread to his unconstitutional agenda to strip Americans of their rights.WRAL reports that 15-year-old Austin Thompson went a shooting spree in Raleigh’s Hedingham neighborhood Thursday at around 5pm. First, he shot and killed his older brother James and then he went on an almost two-mile rampage through the streets, killing 4 more and wounding 2 others.Police eventually caught up with...

The explosion occurred 6:45 p.m. at the state-owned TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin. Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said a preliminary assessment indicated the explosion was likely caused by firedamp — a reference to flammable gases found in coal mines. There were 110 people in the mine at the time of the explosion, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who traveled to Amasra to coordinate the rescue operation, told reporters. Most of the workers were able to evacuate following the blast, but 49 were trapped in a higher risk area...

Eight dollars for a gallon of gas. Once, it seemed like an impossibility; now, it seems to happen in California every time there is a price spike. Last week, a Chevron station in Los Angeles recorded prices of $8.35 and above; similar prices were reported at multiple stations around Southern California

Pope’s Order of Malta reforms ‘illegal’ under UK charity law, says senior knight The Pope’s reforms of the Order of Malta are illegal under UK law and has placed the organisation on a collision course with the Charity Commission, a senior British knight has said.Richard Fitzalan-Howard, a recently-retired President of the British Association of the Sovereign Order or Malta (BASMOM) and a Bailiff Grand Cross, also broke his silence to tell members that the Order’s sovereignty has been “severely damaged” by papal reforms unveiled early last month.In a letter to all members of the BASMOM, Mr Fitzalan-Howard said that...

Gov. Kathy Hochul treated herself to nearly $1 billion worth of pork-barrel spending in this year’s state budget — allowing her to freely hand out cash as she runs for election against Republican challenger Lee Zeldin. Hochul and her Democratic allies in the Legislature added the $920 million worth of outlays to the $220.5 billion fiscal plan in an 11th-hour move in April that government watchdogs warn is wide open to abuse. “These slush funds are totally unaccountable. It’s not how public dollars should be doled out,” senior policy adviser Rachael Fauss of Reinvent Albany said Friday.

The suspect in the Connecticut ambush that resulted in the deaths of two Bristol Police officers was friends on Facebook with one of the victims. Nicholas Brutcher's list of friends on the social media platform includes fallen officer Alex Hamzy, who appeared to go by Alex Yzmah on Facebook. Hamzy, 34, was killed in the line of duty Wednesday night. Bristol Police Chief Brian Gould said in a news conference that Hamzy, who was raised in the city, graduated from Bristol Eastern High School in 2006. According to police, a preliminary investigation said Hamzy, Sgt. Dustin Demonte and Officer Alex...

President Biden brushed off $7-a-gallon gas in California — saying “that’s always been the case” and confusingly linking it to housing — after paying $60 for takeout Thursday at a Los Angeles taco shop. Biden said without elaboration that “housing” was “the most important thing” for gas prices, which in California actually surged 39% over the past 12 months for an average of $6.20 per gallon, according to AAA. “The inflation report is out. Have you seen gas prices around here in LA? It’s 7 bucks a gallon almost,” a reporter said after Biden handed a cashier three $20 bills...

The United States agreed Wednesday with Mexico to accept the entry of up to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants by plane, through a legal pathway similar to that applied to Ukrainians, and to expel those who enter illegally through its southern border. The plan “to reduce irregular migration of Venezuelans” includes “a new process to legally and safely bring in up to 24,000” of them, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement. But those who “attempt to enter the United States illegally will be returned,” it noted.

Not seeing any 'real news' on this yet: Jordan Schneider @jordanschnyc Every American executive and engineer working in China’s semiconductor manufacturing industry resigned yesterday, paralyzing Chinese manufacturing overnight. One round of sanctions from Biden did more damage than all four years of performative sanctioning under Trump. Although American semiconductor exporters had to apply for licenses during the Trump years, licenses were approved within a month. With the new Biden sanctions, all American suppliers of IP blocks, components, and services departed overnight —— thus cutting off all service [to China]. Jordan Schneider @jordanschnyc · 13h THREAD: The US government's new export...

U.S. refineries are preparing themselves for the possibility that President Biden could impose a ban on fuel exports after the White House dangled the threat of the ban in front of refiners. No action has been taken to date, but with the mid-terms coming up and fuel prices continuing to rise, this could soon change. Earlier this month, the White House requested that the DOE assess the potential impact of banning fuel exports – including gasoline, diesel, and other refined petroleum products. The move suggested that President Biden may be preparing for a ban. This comes ahead of the mid-term...

***** Tunes For Our Troops ~ The Freeper Canteen Music Dedication Presents: Male Music Review! ~ *****~ Support The Artists You Hear Throughout The Canteen ! ~ ***** Warning: Not all music may be appropriate for children! Please click with caution. Thank you! Tunes For The Troops This music is provided for the entertainment of our Troops, Veterans, Allies & their families! Enjoy the variety of musical selections that the Canteen DJs provide throughout the thread. Please ping any DJ with your requests for the Troops! All music is removed on Monday.Thanks to all the DJs for their time...

[Catholic Caucus] Schneider: "If We Formally Disobey Francis, We Obey The Church Of All Times"Bishop Athanasius Schneider told RemnantNewspaper.com (12 October, video below) that he opposes Francis because the Church is "not a dictatorship"."In a dictatorship, everyone is afraid to speak out because the dictator will suddenly punish you. But that should [sic!] not be the atmosphere in the Church," he said.The bishop stressed that the current crisis over Catholic doctrine and the papacy was unique in the entire history of the Church. Not even the immoral Renaissance popes caused scandals by confusing doctrine.Schneider sees "poor Francis" in a pitiable...

A tourist identified as Dustan Jackson revealed that last February he was the victim of an abduction by a group of men after arriving at a store to buy tobacco in Cancun. Through social networks, the native of Utah, United States, detailed that during his vacation in the tourist destination, everything was going great, the real nightmare was the last day. (Novedades Q.Roo).- The man stated that he was at the Cancun International Airport with his wife waiting for his flight back to his home country, but during the wait he had a craving for chewing tobacco. Realizing that he...

It’s time for a few words on what we might learn from a Black volleyball player’s claims about what happened at a match she participated in at Brigham Young University this past August. I have refrained from commenting on this for a spell, in case there were further revelations. As there have been none yet, I shall proceed. Rachel Richardson, a Black member of Duke’s volleyball team playing in a match at Brigham Young University, claimed that she and other Black teammates were “targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match,” such that they had to face a...

A career criminal with 40 prior arrests who allegedly pickpocketed a dead man in Manhattan was freed without bail at her arraignment Friday — as sources said she tried to use the victim’s stolen cash but couldn’t because it was covered in blood. Repeat offender Geniece Draper, 40, stayed mum as she faced charges of both grand and petit larceny for allegedly snatching the wallet of a man who was crushed by a truck last week. “This defendant appeared on video taking money out of a dead man’s pocket,” a prosecutor said at the arraignment hearing.

The 15-year-old boy who police say carried out the rampage in Raleigh, North Carolina, that left five dead and two others injured was identified as the younger brother of one of the casualties, according to a report. Austin Thompson was behind the deadly shooting spree in east Raleigh that began around 5 p.m. Thursday, local station WRAL reported, citing anonymous sources. The 15-year-old’s brother, James Roger Thompson, a junior at Knightdale High School, was identified earlier as the youngest of the five deceased victims.

President Biden brushed off $7-a-gallon gas in California — saying “that’s always been the case” and confusingly linking it to housing — after paying $60 for takeout Thursday at a Los Angeles taco shop. Biden said without elaboration that “housing” was “the most important thing” for gas prices, which in California actually surged 39% over the past 12 months for an average of $6.20 per gallon, according to AAA. “The inflation report is out. Have you seen gas prices around here in LA? It’s 7 bucks a gallon almost,” a reporter said after Biden handed a cashier three $20 bills...

On Thursday night, 600 Jewish men from the tribe of Levi held a rehearsal on the steps leading up to the Temple Mount to prepare to play their role in providing the musical accompaniment for the Third Temple service. Israel365 News correspondent Joshua Wander spoke with Yitzchak Weiss, who arranged the music and is one of the organizers of the event or, in his own words, “the father of this idea.” “The idea is to bring back the singing of the Levites and to renew it,” Weis said.