Free Republic

NPR employees accused the network’s CEO of racism during a virtual all-staff presentation last week detailing financial metrics and diversity level updates following the organization slashing approximately 10% of its workforce. NPR officials laid off 84 employees last week and halted production on four seasonal podcasts, including Invisibilia, Louder Than a Riot, and Rough Translation. The Wall Street Journal reported network officials would cut another 13 employees from the digital team. Following the exodus from ex-staffers, Lansing and other executives reportedly tuned into a Zoom meeting to address the news department and the programming team, taking questions from employees that...

A new law changing voting ID requirements makes it more challenging for out-of-state college students to vote. House Bill 458 requires a photo ID to vote — meaning an unexpired Ohio driver’s license, a state ID card, U.S. passport or military card — so out-of-state college students must get an Ohio issued ID card if they want to vote in Ohio. But getting an Ohio issued ID card would invalidate their driver’s license in another state.

Venezuela Readies for War While Joe Biden Sleeps – The United States is a zombie empire abroad and a banana republic at home. On the world stage, Washington went from being the first among equals following the end of the Cold War; the sine qua non of the world system that it had helped to foster, to today being a cancerous growth to an international order trending toward multipolarity—specifically, a tripolar system in which China and Russia triangulate against the United States. snip The kleptocratic socialist dictatorship under Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela has failed to thrive economically, politically, or socially....

Ramzan Kadyrov has expressed his outrage at the unfolding events in Moscow, where hundreds of people have come to a popular rally against the possible construction of a mosque. According to him, the Russian land must be defended on a daily basis, and Muslims are also involved in this difficult task. “If all these participants of the rally wholeheartedly have the idea of ​​​​defending Russian land, then go into the trenches with a machine gun,” Ramzan Kadyrov wrote in his Telegram channel.

CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been sentenced to four years for illegal gun possession and another four years for trying to flush a second gun that cops didn’t know about down the toilet of his Chicago Police Department holding cell. Tavarus Walker, 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in a vehicle with a previous conviction in exchange for the sentences from Judge William Hooks, according to court records. But it could have been a lot worse. Prosecutors dropped the two most serious charges Walker faced: Class X possession of a firearm inside...

VIDEO AT LINK............... April 5 (UPI) -- Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque on Tuesday night, arresting hundreds of people they said had barricaded themselves in the building, prompting retaliatory rockets to be launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel and for Israel to respond with airstrikes. The escalating series of violence comes as Muslims celebrate Ramadan and Jews prepare for their Passover holiday and which began with police storming Al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem, arresting more than 350 people. Israel Police said the suspects, "including masked individuals, stone and firework hurlers/throwers and individuals suspected of desecrating the mosque" were...

WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK Matthew 26:14–25 Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus asks his disciples to go into Jerusalem and prepare a Passover supper.At the heart of the Passover meal was the eating of a lamb, which had been sacrificed, in remembrance of the lambs of the original Passover, whose blood had been smeared on the doorposts of the Israelites’ homes in Egypt. Making his Last Supper a Passover meal, Jesus was signaling the fulfillment of John the Baptist’s prophecy that he, Jesus, would be the Lamb of God and the definitive sacrifice.This sacrifice is made sacramentally present at every Mass—not...

“We encourage it, we advance it. But I would say we provide the platform … for those involved in Bitcoin to make sure they have a place to come to.” The above words spoken by Texas Governor Greg Abbott are a clear reminder of the sheer power hidden within the varying components of Bitcoin that allow the system to organically steer a state or nation into a realm of independence and ethical, fiduciary responsibilities for its citizenry. Combining the American spirit of the "shot heard round the world" in 1775 and "Remember The Alamo" in 1836, Texas has an opportunity...

“I’ve got documents from the NIH – from 2002 – talking about integrating vaccines into foods,” announced attorney Tom Renz. “They’ve been working on integrating these [gene therapies] into our food supply. They’ve been working on it for at least two decades,” he stated in an eye-opening interview with Dr. Naomi Wolf. “Gates, the WHO, a ton of these universities: they’re all talking about including mRNA vaccinations as part of the food. They’re gonna modify the genes of these foods to make them mRNA vaccines,” he warned. Missouri HB 1169 seeks to counter such an effort. It’s been described as...

But while the state’s coffers suffer, Pritzker will be doing just fine. He is a scion of a billionaire family, whose members include former secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker, who was an Obama campaign donor. Another Pritzker sibling, meanwhile, exemplifies how the family has used its vast wealth to promote liberal causes: specifically, the cultural normalization of transgenderism. Earlier this month, Jennifer Bilek explained this in great detail for Tablet. (Bilek prefers to use the term “synthetic sex identities,” or SSI, because she thinks the word “transgenderism” lacks “clear boundaries” and is thus “useless for communication.”): A sample: Ever since,...

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said on Tuesday that the U.S. central bank likely has more interest rate rises ahead amid signs the recent banking sector troubles have been contained. To keep inflation on a sustained downward path to 2% and keep inflation expectations anchored, Mester said she sees monetary policy moving “somewhat further into restrictive territory this year, with the fed funds rate moving above 5% and the real fed funds rate staying in positive territory for some time.” “Precisely how much higher the federal funds rate will need to go from here and for how...

This is an "ELVE"--short for Emissions of Light and Very Low Frequency Perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources. It's a rare species of sprite discovered in 1990 by cameras onboard the space shuttle. Binotto may have just taken the best ever picture of one from the ground. "The ELVE was generated by intense lightning in a storm near Ancona about 285 km south of me," says Binotto. One bolt was so strong, it generated an intense electromagnetic pulse (EMP). The red ring marks the spot where the EMP hit Earth's ionosphere. Normal lightning bolts carry 10 to 30 kilo-ampères of...

The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, on the 4th April 1968, lead to many very violent criminal reactions on April 5th and the following few days. In the King assassination riots, there were 43 deaths, over 3,000 injuries and over 20,000 people arrested. President Lindon Johnson said of that extreme reaction: “What did you expect? ....... When you put your foot on a man’s neck and hold him down for three hundred years, and then you let him up, what’s he going to do? He’s going to knock your block off.” King had said “……. in spite of temporary...

The Russian ruble tumbled to its weakest against the dollar in almost a year on Tuesday, edging closer to the 80 mark, hampered by a seasonal drop in foreign currency supply from exporters, in spite of this week’s jump in oil prices. -snip- Although higher oil prices usually boost the ruble, reduced FX supply is hurting the Russian currency. Month-end tax payments that usually see exporters convert foreign exchange revenues into rubles were due last week. The ruble has been on a steadily weakening trend all year, under external pressure since a Western price cap on Russia’s oil sales came...

Three Tennessee Democrats face expulsion from the General Assembly for their role in a protest that state House Republicans described as an "insurrection." What is the background? Last Thursday, protesters demanding stricter gun control laws overwhelmed the state Capitol. At one point, three Democratic state lawmakers — Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson — broke decorum rules when they approached the House chamber lectern without being recognized to speak, whipped out a bullhorn, and participated with protesters who shouted from the chamber galleries. Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) later described the protest as an "insurrection." What is...

Tech executive Bob Lee, who created the mobile payment service Cash App, was stabbed to death in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday morning, according to reports. He was 43 years old. The tech mogul, who formerly served as the chief technology officer of Square, was attacked in the city’s downtown Rincon Hill neighborhood at 2:35 a.m., according to San Francisco police. Officers arrived to find the victim, later confirmed to be Lee by CBS News, with multiple stab wounds. Lee was taken to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, police told the outlet. No arrests have been...

Trump War Room RetweetedMark Levin backs Trump:"We the American people need to stand behind this guy. There's not another Republican that I can think of who can fight back and fight back this way...I like others, I really do...But at this time, at this moment...He's the guy." - @marklevinshow pic.twitter.com/CEDEx4J8fw— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) April 5, 2023

In a prelude to its 2024 strategy, Donald Trump's team unleashed its most intense verbal barrage to date against Joe Biden as it derided the current president as a "sick, craven old man" who has demolished America's standing in the world. From its national spokeswoman to the 45th president himself, Team Trump let loose Tuesday night on the current occupant of the White House. "If you take the worst five presidents in American history and added them up, they wouldn't have done the damage Biden and his administration have done to America," Trump told supporters in a fiery speech hours...

VIDEO A gigantic OOOPS moment on MSNBC for the guest, law professor Harry Litman, on Nicole Wallace's show when he accidentally blurted out that Alvin Bragg's case against President Donald Trump is... TRIVIAL. Unfortunately for Litman, Wallace called him out on his characterization of the case which caused poor Litman, after his initial shock, to hilariously try claw his way out of his embarrassing situation. OOOOOPS!!!

South Side Chicago residents recently revealed to the Washington Post that the construction of the Obama Presidential Center has led to a significant increase in the neighborhood’s rent, causing the displacement of long-term residents, including many black families. In September 2021, former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama broke ground on the Obama Presidential Center in the South Side of Chicago. The center, located on a 19-acre lot, will include a public library, playground, community centers, and a museum. The $500 million project has been largely financed by private donors. The construction, which is still ongoing, is...