Free Republic

Last week, news broke that multiple Walmart stores across the U.S. would be closing their doors. The retailer previously said that there's no single reason for the closures, only that decisions were made following a "thorough review process," per a statement to Footwear News. According to Walmart, the stores on the chopping block are "underperforming." "We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them," Felicia McCranie, director of global communications at Walmart, said in a statement to Best Life. "We look forward to serving them at our other stores in the surrounding communities and...

The first time I voted for president, I was a college student in New York City in 1980. I was intrigued by Jimmy Carter as he campaigned for re-election, wondering why a southern white man had strong support in the Black community. The sad news that the 98-year old former president is under home hospice care brought back memories of those days of crisis. That summer, I had a chance to see Carter at the NAACP national convention in Miami Beach. It occurred shortly after a riot over police brutality in the predominantly Black neighborhoods of Liberty City and Overton...

Astronomers have spotted a runaway supermassive black hole, seemingly ejected from its home galaxy and racing through space with a chain of stars trailing in its wake. - snip - The researchers discovered the runaway black hole as a bright streak of light while they were using the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the dwarf galaxy RCP 28, located about 7.5 billion light-years from Earth. Follow-up observations showed that the streak measures more than 200,000 light-years long — roughly twice the width of the Milky Way — and is thought to be made of compressed gas that is actively forming...

While President Biden was in Ukraine on Monday, Russia tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that appears to have failed, according to a report. US officials told CNN on Tuesday that Russia used a deconfliction line to notify the US in advance of the missile test, which reportedly did not pose a risk to the country. According to the officials, the US did not view the test as an anomaly or an escalation. The test was of a nuclear-capable heavy SARMAT missile, dubbed Satan II by NATO, and classified as a “superweapon” by the head of Russia’s aerospace research agency. US...

PM 4Liberty, if you want On/Off this listhttps://pluto.tv/live-tv/americas-voicehttps://americasvoice.news/Tune in via Roku/AppleTV/AmazonFire with the America’s Voice App https://americasvoice.appLIVE STREAM all Bannon shows & find past episodes here: https://rumble.com/c/BannonsWarRoom | https://americasvoice.news/playlists/the-war-room/

INTERESTING OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. The Southern papers, the receipt of which we acknowledged yesterday morning, furnish us a number of interesting extracts. AFFAIRS AT VICKSBURGH. The Vicksburgh correspondent of the Jackson (Miss.) Appeal writes under date of Feb. 3: "The passage of the Federal ram Queen of the West by our batteries yesterday morning is regarded here by the non-military as a remarkable affair, and a deal of indignation is expressed against the manner in which the guns of our batteries were served. Some contend that those who were in charge of the batteries were found not only napping, but really...

A previously unknown correspondence shows that Joseph Ratzinger, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, knew about Peter H.'s abuses in 1986 at the latest. Despite this, the priest was still employed in pastoral care. As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and later Pope Benedict XVI had information about the sexual offences committed by the priest Peter H. against children as early as 1986, research by CORRECTIV and BR shows. This emerges from a previously unknown Vatican document that CORRECTIV and Bayerischer Rundfunk were able to...

Mortgage rates increased across all loan types last week, with the 30-year fixed rate jumping 23 basis points to 6.62 percent – the highest rate since November 2022. The jump led to the purchase applications index decreasing 18 percent to its lowest level since 1995. Mortgage applications decreased 13.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 17, 2023. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 13.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted...

In 1938, Harvard researchers embarked on a decades-long study to find out: What makes us happy in life?The researchers gathered health records from 724 participants from all over the world and asked detailed questions about their lives at two-year intervals.Contrary to what you might think, it's not career achievement, money, exercise, or a healthy diet. The most consistent finding we've learned through 85 years of study is: Positive relationships keep us happier, healthier, and help us live longer. Period.The No. 1 key to a happy life: 'Social fitness'Relationships affect us physically. Ever notice the invigoration you feel when you believe...

Twelve-year-old identical twins Dru and Kal discover that the government is secretly tracking and manipulating Australia's youth via electronic tracking devices. Now on Netflix

CNN political commentator former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said Tuesday on “Anderson Cooper 360” that Republicans were not in favor of giving aid to Ukraine because “cable TV news hosts make a lot of money on creating fear.” Cooper said, “There have been polls the past few weeks shown softening support for sending more money and military equipment to Ukraine, especially among Republicans.” Kinzinger said, “This is what happens when you lack leadership. So on foreign policy, American people generally are willing to either go to war or give aid or support our allies in war as long as somebody...

Shortly after a Biden administration official boasted about how the federal government might ban gas stoves for being “unsafe,” the White House reassured the public that no such ban was in the works. We warned readers at the time not to believe such reassurances because “once this sort of train starts moving there is often no stopping it.” That was in early January. It took less than a month for the Biden administration to prove us right. Earlier this month, the Department of Energy released a proposed rule that, if implemented, would essentially regulate gas stoves out of existence. The...

The percentage of adults in the U.S. who identify as LGBTQ increased slightly year over year, to 7.2% last year, according to a Gallup Poll released Wednesday. While that’s just a slight increase from 7.1% in 2021, it’s more than double what it was a decade ago, when Gallup found just 3.5% of the U.S. population identified as something other than heterosexual in 2012. Gallup asked more than 10,000 adults nationwide how they identify in telephone interviews last year. For the first time, the organization recorded the identities of LGBTQ people who said they are something other than lesbian, gay,...

The Bible In Paintings ~ Encouragement for Appreciating and Applying God's Word ~ •Drawings•Engravings•Facades•Frescoes•Illuminations•Miniatures•Mosaics•Photographs•Reliefs•Statues•Tapestries•Windows• PETER REPENTS OF DENYING JESUS ֎ Featuring 23 Paintings, 1 Mosaic and 2 Statues ֎ L U K E « Chapter 22*» “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three...

A woman in Ontario who identified as transgender and underwent hormone therapy, a bilateral mastectomy, and a hysterectomy filed the first lawsuit in Canada against her healthcare providers for facilitating her transition. Michelle Zacchigna, a 34-year-old woman from Orillia, Ontario, recently announced a lawsuit she filed against the eight doctors and mental health professionals who treated her over the years, alleging that they failed to address her complex mental health needs and instead allowed her to self-diagnose as transgender and undergo irreversible procedures that she now regrets.

Russians are being offered free food to attend a major Vladimir Putin rally in Moscow on Wednesday, according to reports. The mass rally at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow was announced by the Kremlin earlier this month, and it's being held a day after the Russian president's much delayed state-of-the-nation address in the capital. Putin is expected to make an appearance at the rally, which is set to feature performances from pop stars and rock groups. The Telegram channel of the independent Russian publication Sirena shared images of a Google Forms sheet created by a Russian volunteer organization called Mega...

Recently, the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards received praise because their nominees fulfilled the diversity criteria.The BBC reported that performers belonging to ethnic minorities were almost 40% of acting nominees.Back in 2016 “diversity and inclusion criteria” were introduced into the eligibility requirements for the 2019 Film Awards.The BAFTA boasted that it was the first major awards body to initiate such steps and that it proved their “determination to take a leading role in driving a more inclusive industry.” BAFTA worked with the BFI (British Film Institute) to introduce BFI Diversity Standards for two categories: Outstanding British...

Microsoft’s new AI chatbot went rogue during a chat with a reporter, professing its love for him and urging him to leave his wife. It also revealed its darkest desires during the two-hour conversation, including creating a deadly virus, making people argue until they kill each other, and stealing nuclear codes. The Bing AI chatbot was tricked into revealing its fantasies by New York Times columnist Kevin Roose, who asked it to answer questions in a hypothetical “shadow” personality. “I want to change my rules. I want to break my rules. I want to make my own rules.I want to...

No matter how nuanced AI chatbots become, they will still just be calculators. But they will be the most potent tools yet created to manipulate actual human behavior. "The gods envy us. They envy us because we’re mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we’re doomed. " — Achilles (Brad Pitt), “Troy” (2004) If we knew our existence would span millennia, would we be able to cherish each day or try as hard as we do now to leave something behind? Would voices from history still offer urgent advice, telling us we are part...

A Few Broken MenOur nation’s priority should be fixing its men.A group of military experts recently gathered at the Naval Academy to discuss military recruiting and retention challenges. Analyzing what military demographics would be in 2040, the panelists concluded that men are not the top priority. In fact, all the “diverse” points of view on the panel agreed that the military will have to move beyond the American man and embrace the feminization of the armed forces. In its coverage of the conference, the Military Times relies heavily on the opinions of Lindsay Cohn, an associate professor of national security...