Free Republic

Globalization is evolving, but it doesn’t actually seem that, as one sometimes reads, that globalization is in reverse. For an overview of some key facts, Steven A. Altman and Caroline R. Bastian have produced the DHL Global Connectedness Index 2022, subtitled “An in-depth report on globalization.” It’s a just-the-facts report. Here are some takeaways: 1) The world economy is at or near a record high in exports, foreign direct investment and migration. Travel was way down in 2021, but we’ll see in the next few year if the pandemic made a permanent or temporary change. 2) The upper-right panel of...

China’s burgeoning space program plans to place astronauts on the moon before 2030 and expand the country’s orbiting space station, officials said Monday. Monday’s announcement comes amid against the background of a rivalry with the U.S. for reaching new milestones in outer space, reflecting their competition for influence on global events. That has conjured up memories of the space race between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s, although American spending, supply chains and capabilities are believed to give it a significant edge over China, at least for the present. The U.S. aims to put...

The people who promoted the Russia conspiracy fiction are the subject of additional investigations, now that Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation has been made public. One of the primary advocates of the untrue assertion that former President Trump worked with the Russian government to sway the results of the presidential election of 2016 was Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA). There is currently a motion in Congress to censure him for the lies he uttered right after the election. A measure designed to punish Schiff with a $16 million fee for his allegations that Trump conspired with Russia in the 2016 election...

Colorado’s legislative session is 120 consecutive days long and during the 2023 session lawmakers introduced 617 bills. Of those, 218 passed and have been signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis. More are waiting to be signed. Democrats have a historic majority in the Colorado House, a supermajority in the Senate, and control the governorship. As such, all bills passed with Democrat support—and more often than not, over Republican’s vehement objections. It’s a marked change from 2002 when the GOP dominated politics in Colorado. Colorado Republican Rep. Stephanie Luck is one of a handful of Colorado Representatives fighting back...

Safe Boating Tips No matter how much experience you have, it’s always a good idea for everyone to review boating safety rules before departures. Below you will find 10 basic boating safety tips to help you stay safe: 1.Be Weather-Wise Always check local weather conditions before departure; TV and radio forecasts can be a good source of information. If you notice darkening clouds, volatile and rough changing winds or sudden drops in temperature, play it safe by getting off the water. 2.Follow a Pre-Departure Checklist Proper boating safety includes being prepared for any possibility on the water. Following a pre-departure...

There’s plenty of things we can say we would have done differently at the onset of COVID-19. I was originally supportive of Mike Pence’s taskforce, and the 14 days to slow the spread. I regret that. Though I don’t regret calling it out as a lab-leaked virus from day one.Donald Trump surely has his own regrets, expressed through his repeated disowning of Antony Fauci, Deborah Birx, and many of the bureaucrats who we now know colluded to provide him with incorrect information. Perhaps you don’t recall the anger from the corporate media when Trump called out the falsification of data,...

The woke ‘Little Mermaid’ reboot completely bombed in reviews this weekend. Disney’s live-action take on The Little Mermaid reportedly brought in $95.5 million globally in its three-day opening, according to Deadline. However, the woke movie completely bombed in reviews – the bulk of the negative reviews were from overseas movie goers. Critics blamed murky lighting and woke lyrics. IMBD, Rotten Tomatoes and other online review-aggregation websites claimed online trolls are driving the bad reviews. The bad reviews were actually tossed out in order to raise the final audience scores! For example, IMBD said it published the “weighted vote averages” because...

Lizzo refused to let the bigots win during her headlining performance on Saturday night at BottleRock Napa Valley The first Black woman to headline BottleRock, Lizzo described an unsettling scene as she approached the festival. “I saw signs talking about how they want to cancel people like me. Silence people like me. Choke people like me. And they right across the street,” said Lizzo in a song break during her rendition of “Special.”

In a Facebook Live on Thursday afternoon, State Rep. Steve Toth (R–The Woodlands) quoted from the code: “It’s really clear. You can’t remove a statewide officeholder under an alleged accusation that occurred before the person was elected, and that’s exactly what they are doing right now,” said Toth. “This is an illegal act.” Texas Government Code 665.081 states, “An officer in this state may not be removed from office for an act the officer may have committed before the officer’s election to office.” On Friday night Attorney General Paxton was interviewed by Matt Gaetz on Newsmax TV. Paxton explained to...

A Christian math teacher was banned from the classroom in the United Kingdom for “unprofessional conduct” after misgendering a transgender student, according to a Tuesday press release from Christian Legal Centre (CLC). CLC is representing Joshua Sutcliffe, a former teacher at The Cherwell School in Oxford, after he came under investigation by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) over allegations that he misgendered a biologically female student, referred to as Pupil A, who identifies as a male, according to The Telegraph. The TRA ruled this week that Sutcliffe had engaged in “unprofessional conduct” and accused him of “bringing the profession...

The discovery has revealed the Roman city of Neapolis, with its networks of submerged streets and monuments, was a crucial trading hub in ancient north Africa.The fourth century tsunami that partly destroyed Neapolis was well recorded at the time. It struck in Alexandria, one of the great seats of learning in the ancient world as well as the Greek Island of Crete...The further recovery of Roman food products, including roughly 100 tanks of fermented fish that was used as a condiment known as garum in the Roman empire, has told the archaeological team more about Neapolis's history...The Tunisian and Italian...

Everything I have outlined about Twitter is going to surface as accurate over time. There are two major elements: (1) DHS govt influence, now evidenced in the Twitter Files; and (2) the Twitter financial issues, which explain the recent hiring of Linda Yaccarino, which are soon to surface. Yesterday, Elon Musk responded to criticism of Twitter censorship, vis-a-vis government demands, with this Tweet: “Please point out where we had an actual choice and we will reverse it.” The Musk supporters are saying Musk has to comply with government demands if their national laws require it. However, that angle doesn’t take...

"Climate activists from the Restore Wetlands protest group ran onto the stage with powder paint and a banner, interrupting a performance during the Friday night final of Let's Dance on TV4." "But one cameraman wasn't having any of it, and used an overhead rig as a battering ram to charge at the man and knock him to the ground."

Explanation: What glows there? The answer depends: sea or sky? In the sea, the unusual blue glow is bioluminescence. Specifically, the glimmer arises from Noctiluca scintillans, single-celled plankton stimulated by the lapping waves. The plankton use their glow to startle and illuminate predators. This mid-February display on an island in the Maldives was so intense that the astrophotographer described it as a turquoise wonderland. In the sky, by contrast, are the more familiar glows of stars and nebulas. The white band rising from the artificially-illuminated green plants is created by billions of stars in the central disk of our Milky...

In a two-way match up, Trump received 59 percent support against DeSantis' 34 percent Former President Donald Trump continues to lead in the polls over other Republican contenders for president in 2024, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.According to a new Echelon Insights poll, in a contest against seven other GOP rivals, Trump garnered 49 percent support with DeSantis following with 19 percent support. In a two-way match-up, Trump received 59 percent support against DeSantis' 34 percent. DeSantis announced his entry into the GOP primary on Wednesday via a Twitter space.Days before his declaration, a new CNN and SSRS poll...

In a hypothetical head-to-head with Joe Biden, the former president leads 49 percent to 38 percent among Iowa voters. Former President Donald Trump is surging ahead in Iowa per a recent Emerson College poll, garnering 62 percent support, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis lagging behind at 20 percent."Trump’s lead in the caucus reflects his numbers in Emerson’s March New Hampshire primary poll, where he held a 41-point lead over DeSantis," said Spencer Kimball, the Executive Director of Emerson College Polling.In a hypothetical head-to-head between Trump and Biden, Trump leads with 49 percent to 38 percent among Iowa voters. DeSantis...

In the 1970s, two Roman inscriptions — dated from 245 to 253 AD — were discovered in Écija (known in ancient Roman times as Astigi), a city in Spain's southern province of Seville. The writings on the tablets suggest that the emperor at the time had exempted the Roman province of Baetica (roughly the equivalent of modern-day Andalusia, a region of southern Spain) from taxes...A gigantic tsunami that began in the Bay of Cadiz crashed into land, causing numerous coastal settlements to be abandoned and engulfing everything its path, including the city of Seville, located 45 miles inland from the...

Former President Donald Trump has taken a double-digit lead among California Republicans in the 2024 GOP primary race, a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey found.The most recent survey finds Trump taking a double-digit lead, besting his closest potential challenger — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — by 18 points in the Golden State. Trump garners 44 percent support, while just over a quarter, 26 percent, support DeSantis.Other declared candidates are considered in the survey as well, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, but no one in the poll — including those two...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved into a virtual dead heat with former President Donald Trump in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination in Florida, according to a new Victory Insights survey. DeSantis earned 38.2% support and Trump earned 38%, with a 3.9% margin of error, in the Victory Insights poll. No other GOP candidate received more than 3.1%. A total of 12% likely GOP voters said they were undecided, and 3.5% said they chose someone other than the candidates presented. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., (3.1%), former Vice President Mike Pence (2.5%), former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (2.5%), and...

Most Republicans believe former President Donald Trump has a better chance of winning the 2024 general election than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a recent survey from The Economist/YouGov found.The survey, taken May 20-23, 2023, prior to DeSantis formally announcing his 2024 presidential bid, asked respondents, “Which of these two Republicans do you think has the best chance of winning the 2024 general election for president?” The choices were either Trump or DeSantis.Overall, a plurality, 40 percent, said Trump has the best chance of the two to win the general election in 2024.Twenty-eight percent said the same for DeSantis, and...