Free Republic

Miiko Taka, who made her film debut with a starring turn opposite Marlon Brando in Sayonara, the 1957 Korean War-set drama about “defiant desire,” has died. She was 97. News of her death was posted Jan. 4 on social media by a grandson. Details of her death were not available, with her son informing The Hollywood Reporter through a spokesperson that his family did not want to participate in an obituary. Directed by Joshua Logan and adapted by Paul Osborn from a 1954 novel by James Michener, Sayonara featured Brando as U.S. Air Force fighter pilot Lloyd “Ace” Gruver and...

[Catholic Caucus] Brazil, Pray the Rosary“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” ~George SantayanaBrazilians are convulsing over the fraudulent election of Luis Inacio Lula da Silva “Lula”, the radical Communist convicted felon, who narrowly defeated the moderate, President Jair Bolsonaro. Cries of election fraud dominate the massive street protests.This isn’t the first time when Brazil faced the scourge of a tyrannical Communist takeover. In 1966, Brazilians faced a similar Marxist government that posed a radical political and social transformation of South America’s largest country. With nowhere to turn, the largely Catholic country turned to the Blessed...

The Vatican's mandate comes despite neither of the two countries on Pope Francis' upcoming trip requiring the injection to enter the country.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) – The Vatican is still mandating the abortion-tainted COVID-19 injections for reporters wishing to accompany Pope Francis on his upcoming trip to the Congo and South Sudan. Pope Francis is due to make a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo from January 31 through February 3. From there he will travel to South Sudan, where he will join the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland...

QUITO, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Ecuador reported its first case of human transmission of bird flu in a 9-year-old girl, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday, marking a rare case of human infection a month after the country declared an animal health emergency. Human illness from bird flu infections have ranged from no symptoms to mild illness to severe disease resulting in death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which advised that spread between humans is very rare.

The seventh dead whale in a little over a month washed up on the Jersey Shore this week, sparking a debate about the impact of off-shore activities on marine life. The 20-foot-long humpback whale was found on the beach on Thursday afternoon in Brigantine, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC) confirmed Friday. “Due to the incoming tide and low light last night, staff returned at daybreak this morning to take photos,” the update read. “Plans are underway for a necropsy to be performed on the animal.” Thursday’s discovery occurred just miles from where another dead whale was found in Atlantic...

Last year, Russia's invasion of Ukraine dominated the discourse in Davos. This time the fallouts from the war take centerstage as the global economy grappling with an energy crunch edges toward a recession.The Davos crowd is returning to a familiar setting. Only the lush green meadows that formed the backdrop of the first-ever "spring Davos" last May have been replaced by snow-covered slopes, where snow boots and fur coats have made a comeback. While the weather may have changed from last year, the main talking points remain the same, with the war in Ukraine and its massive economic fallouts expected...

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) approval rating has surged as he finishes his first full week as Speaker of the House, according to the latest Economist/YouGov survey. Before November’s midterm elections, McCarthy’s approval rating sat at 27 percent among all Americans. Now, 36 percent of Americans approve of McCarthy’s job performance, which matches former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) approval rating in the days leading up to the midterms.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) blasted Rep Eric Swalwell (D-CA) at a press conference Thursday, telling reporters they would never give the Democrat a committee position if they received the same briefing from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he did. “Let me phrase something very direct to you: if you got the briefing I got from the FBI, you wouldn’t have Swalwell on any committee,” McCarthy told reporters. Breitbart News published an explosive exclusive report in August 2021 regarding a classified report indicating Swalwell was in an intimate sexual relationship with a Chinese spy named Fang...

***** Tunes For Our Troops ~ The Freeper Canteen Music Dedication Presents: Elvis! *****~ 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 & effort providing...

Who needs a guard dog to scare away home invaders, when you have a pet parrot as overprotective as Versace? Animals are extremely intelligent than we give them credit for. A pet parrot is being hailed as a hero in Australia after scaring off potential thieves with frightening shrieks on New Year’s Eve.

Top officers in the U.S. Navy warned that the Ukraine war is putting a strain on an already stretched industrial base Tuesday, complaining defense contractors continue to fall behind in keeping up with the Navy’s needs, according to media reports.Defense companies have struggled for years to keep pace with the Navy’s demands, citing pandemic-induced supply chain setbacks and a shortage of available labor, Navy Times reported. As the U.S. continues sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine, heightening the burden on weapons manufacturers, top Navy brass expressed worry that the fleet could fall dangerously low on needed assets if the war...

President Joe Biden’s stash of classified documents at the Biden Penn Center included materials reportedly marked top secret. About ten documents were unearthed at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, DC, on Tuesday by Biden’s personal attorneys. Among those, some were marked top secret, according to CBS News. Between the classified documents retrieved from the Biden Penn Center and the documents retrieved from Biden’s residence in Delaware on Thursday, the total number of classified Biden stashed is about 20. No top secret documents were reported to be at Biden’s residence.

A fascinating video of a thinking gorilla uploaded on Twitter shows an uncanny behavior similar to humans.

Fool's Ball Wildcard Weekend! Your home for all things Fool's Ball! In Memoriam Danny Lee (BENDER2)

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

FBI agents raided a Manhattan building in the fall of 2022 that was allegedly being used as a secret Chinese police station and was staffed with 'illegal cops' who solved crimes. The raid occurred at the headquarters of the American Changle Association, a non-profit that helps Chinese nationals who live in New York. The group's former chairman was Lu Jianshun, who in 2021 donated $4,000 to Eric Adams' mayoral campaign, reports The New York Times. The police station was located on the third floor of the organization's building. The police unit is linked to a unit code named 110 Overseas,...

According to the poster of the video on Twitter: "I automatically assumed this was overseas, but it's right here in America."

WASHINGTON — A conservative group alleges in a new IRS whistleblower complaint that the University of Pennsylvania’s Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement flouted non-profit rules — in part by giving the future president and his allies “no show” jobs, The Post has learned. The center burst into the national spotlight Monday with the revelation that classified documents dating from President Biden’s vice presidency were found at its Washington office, ultimately leading to the appointment of special counsel Robert Hur to determine whether Biden or others in his orbit illegally mishandled records. The America First Legal Foundation, led by...

Swedish mining company LKAB discovered one million metric tons of rare earth oxides, which are used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. CEO Jan Moström said it was good news for Europe, which imports 99% of its rare earth elements from China. State-owned Swedish mining company LKAB said it has found what it believes to be Europe’s largest known deposit of rare earth elements. However, the company said the road to mining would be “long,” with an exploration license still to be submitted and several more years of exploration needed to discover the full extent of the deposit. “If we...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday announced that the data it had collected merited an investigation into potential stroke risks for recipients for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. "Following the availability and use of the updated (bivalent) COVID-19 vaccines, CDC’s Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), a near real-time surveillance system, met the statistical criteria to prompt additional investigation into whether there was a safety concern for ischemic stroke in people ages 65 and older who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent," the agency wrote in a press release. It further noted that the "preliminary signal" that prompted the investigation...