Free Republic

After revisiting its policy on which medical conditions bar applicants from joining services, the US military for the first time has permitted 700 recruits with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to enlist, according to a Wall Street Journal report. In June, the military, which has been facing major recruiting challenges, said that those who had suffered from 38 different medical conditions could serve as long as they hadn’t demonstrated symptoms nor required medication for treatment for three, five and seven years, depending on the condition. These conditions – which include congenital heart defects and tuberculosis – were previously automatic disqualifiers....

$6.5 Billion Natural Gas Tax Which Will Increase Household Energy Bills Think your household energy bills are high now? Just wait until the three major energy taxes in the Inflation Reduction Act hit your wallet. The first is a regressive tax on American oil and gas development. The tax will drive up the cost of household energy bills. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the natural gas tax will increase taxes by $6.5 billion. $12 Billion Crude Oil Tax Which Will Increase Household Costs Democrats are imposing a 16.4 cents-per-barrel tax on crude oil and imported petroleum products that will be...

The space rock looks to have been captured by our planet's gravity over 60 years ago. Artist's rendering of an asteroid approaching Earth An asteroid just spotted for the first time seems to have been circling Earth for decades. NASA Our planet has a pretty permanent relationship with the moon, but occasionally Earth's gravity can also capture small asteroids that then spend a period of time orbiting us as a sort of temporary satellite. This has happened at least twice this century, with the "mini moons" hanging around for just a few years or less, but newly discovered asteroid 2022...

Russia's war against Ukraine should "culminate" by the summer of 2023 Retired Major John Spencer told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Georgian service that he doesn't share the opinion that the war will last for years, due to Ukraine's strength on the battlefield and support from Western allies. Russian President Vladimir Putin's initial strategy of overtaking Kyiv in April was a failure, Spencer said, followed by another unsuccessful attempt to alienate Ukrainian allies. Russia's continued attacks on critical Ukrainian infrastructure to literally "freeze" Ukraine and its people are "futile," he said. "I think it's clear that Putin is not going to...

Victims of Palestinian terror attacks are suing the Biden administration for awarding nearly half a billion dollars in U.S. taxpayer funds to the Palestinian government, which allegedly uses these funds to pay convicted terrorists and their families. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Tuesday by American victims of Palestinian terror attacks and Rep. Ronny Jackson (R., Texas), alleges the Biden administration is in violation of federal law for resuming U.S. aid to the Palestinian government, according to a copy of the lawsuit exclusively obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The Trump administration froze these funds due to the Palestinian...

President Biden on Thursday marked the swearing-in of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by saying that his administration will continue to support the two-state solution in the Middle East, warning that he will oppose policies that endanger it. Netanyahu, the former prime minister, was sworn in on Thursday after he teamed up with far-right parties to form a conservative coalition and win the election in November. “As we have throughout my Administration, the United States will continue to support the two state solution and to oppose policies that endanger its viability or contradict our mutual interests and values,” Biden said...

Goldman Sachs is preparing for more job cuts in the near future, according to CEO David Solomon. “We are conducting a careful review and while discussions are still ongoing, we anticipate our headcount reduction will take place in the first half of January,” Solomon explained in a year-end note to employees, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. “There are a variety of factors impacting the business landscape, including tightening monetary conditions that are slowing down economic activity. For our leadership team, the focus is on preparing the firm to weather these headwinds,” he added

GAINESVILLE, Ga. - A Gainesville man's attempt to rob the employees of a local business became than he bargained after it turned into what police described "like a scene from Home Alone." The Gainesville police say that 30-year-old Luis Sajbocho-Ordonez had hid himself behind a business on the 400 block of Atlanta Highway in the early morning hours of Christmas Day. When an employee exited the store, police say Sajbocho-Ordonez pulled a gun on them and demanded cash, leading to a struggle. Investigators say Sajbocho-Ordonez became startled when another employee left the building and fired a shot, which didn't hit...

The US, Japan, Taiwan and India also recently announced mandatory testing, as China deals with a Covid surge. But the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said the surge was "not expected to impact" the EU. In a statement, the ECDC said: High levels of Covid in China are anticipated given the country's low immunity and recent relaxation of its rules But higher immunity in the EU means a Covid surge in China is not expected to impact the bloc The Covid-19 variants circulating in China are already circulating in the EU Potential imported infections from China are "rather...

2022 Census Data Anomalies Puerto Rico had the lowest birth rate* at 6.06%, Vermont was next at 8.25%, followed by Maine at 8.71%. The rest of the states were between 9 and Utah at 14%. All six New England states were in the top 11 (inc. PR) of the lowest birth rates. * 2021 Pop + 2022 Pop = X, divide X by 2 = Y. Divide # Births by Y = Birth Rate 25 states (inc. PR) had a net decrease in natural change (births over deaths). West Virginia 6.8%, PR 4.45% and Maine 4.3% were the outliers. The...

Egg prices jumped 49% in the past year, more than any other grocery category, according to the consumer price index. ird flu is the primary culprit, economists said. Millions of egg-laying hens died in 2022 as a result of the deadliest outbreak of avian flu in U.S. history. Perhaps counterintuitively, chicken prices have been declining. Chickens raised for meat consumption aren’t as affected by bird flu, economists said. The surge in egg prices has stood out in a year when Americans saw their bills balloon across the grocery store. Average egg prices jumped 49.1% in November compared with those a...

Hey, remember the pandemic of 2020? China knew of the SAR-Cov-2 viral epidemic that was brewing in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. What did they do? They sealed off Hubei province from the rest of China but opened Hubei to the outside world, knowing the virus was going to be carried into some of the most populated areas possible. The virus was sent to Milan, New York and the West Coast of the US. It then exploded across the US. They're doing it again. China finally ended its idiotic zero-COVID policy, which was an absolute disaster. People were sealed...

Northern India is experiencing a cold wave, with a surfeit of glib press claims about global warming. At 39 degrees Fahrenheit, India’s ordinarily sweltering capital of Delhi experienced one of the coldest winter nights this year on Dec. 27. Its region is home to 32 million people, with millions of them having no access to heating in their homes. Neighboring states recorded below-freezing temperatures. In contrast, nearly all of metro New York’s population of 18 million has home heating. Delhi’s situation would be considered a humanitarian crisis in the U.S. The Indian media’s attitude generally is to shrug off such...

The 37th government of the State of Israel, the sixth led by Benjamin Netanyahu, was officially sworn-in in the Knesset plenum on Thursday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first to take the oath of office. Most of the heads of the opposition parties were present out of respect for the ceremony, but opposition leader Yair Lapid left the plenary hall even before Netanyahu was sworn-in without shaking his hand as is customary. When National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was sworn-in, Labor MK Gilad Kariv shouted: "Shame: an idol is in the temple!" The government will have 30 ministers and...

In Polk County Florida, a 30-year-old man is facing multiple charges after his attempt to start a house fire. The man was identified as Luke Neely from Lakeland, Florida. Here is all the craziness that went down: It started Sunday morning when Polk County Deputies received a 911 call at 8:11 AM about a man in a Northlake Neighborhood throwing a "Molotov Cocktail" incendiary weapon at a residence. When police arrived on the scene they witnessed Neely getting into a Chevrolet pickup truck and driving away. The deputies followed him and tried to conduct a traffic stop, but Neely was...

510,197 views Dec 28, 2022 The #WuhanVirus nightmare has engulfed China. Reports say 4 variants are now spreading in the country. What's worse, China has opened its airports for International travel. Molly Gambhir reports.

Extreme Pressure Diamond Anvil Structures and properties of materials at extremely high pressures and temperatures are still largely “terra incognita”. Prof. Leonid Dubrovinsky and his research partners use a laser-heated two-stage diamond anvil cell they constructed for the synthesis of materials in the terapascal range (1000 gigapascals). In situ single crystal X-ray diffraction is used for the simultaneous structural characterization of the materials. Credit: Timofey Fedotenko ****************************************************************** New method enables materials synthesis research and study in the terapascal range for the first time. Jules Verne could not have dreamed of this: A research team from the University of Bayreuth, together...

Pelé, the Brazilian soccer icon who brought the World Cup trophy to his home country three times, becoming an international superstar and the highest-paid team athlete in the world at the time, has died. He was 82. Pelé's health had been deteriorating as he aged. Doctors at Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo said in late December that he was receiving "elevated care" related to "kidney and cardiac dysfunctions" stemming from the cancer he had been fighting for more than a year. He also had a respiratory infection, and his family said he would be staying in the hospital over...

He was told 'the border is open' Bradley reported, "AZ: 400+ migrants crossed into Yuma this morning – The ones I talked to say they are from Moldova, Russia & Cuba. One Moldovan man told us he took an Uber from Tijuana to this drop off point. He says he was told that 'the border is open."

Secular scientists are now predicting an “end times” that resembles that of the Bible. The only problem is they aren’t offering any hope. Can it be that the hostility toward Christian, Jewish and Muslim belief in some kind of catastrophic end to the world as we know it is nothing more than an expression of prejudice? While it is true that almost all religious end-times predictions are mere speculation, the latest being the September 23 “prophecy,” that doesn’t mean belief in a doomsday is false. The very same is true of science’s repeated predictions of a “natural” doomsday. Though leading...