Free Republic

WASHINGTON — An intensive drive by right-wing Republicans in Congress to vilify the FBI with charges of political bias has imperiled a program allowing spy agencies to conduct warrantless surveillance on foreign targets, sapping support for a premier intelligence tool and amplifying demands for stricter limits. The once-secret program — created after the 9/11 attacks and described by intelligence officials as crucial to stopping overseas hackers, spy services and terrorists — has long faced resistance by Democrats concerned that it could trample on Americans’ civil liberties. But the law authorizing it is set to expire in December, and opposition among...

My gawd. I don't know how much longer I can take this. Every customer service representative has a heavy, barely discernable foreign accent. Equally irritating is their inability to vary from their script(s). They, theoretically: "I am going to send you a text message where you can change your appointment time." They, actually: I am going to send you a text message where you can change your appointment time, However, if you change your appointment time after the appointment, then you cannot change your appointment time, and if you need to change your appointment time, make sure you do so...

"Sopranos" and "White Lotus" actor Michael Imperioli says he's not allowing "bigots and homophobes" from watching any of the work he's been in after the Supreme Court sided with a Colorado designer opposed to making same-sex wedding websites. Imperioli, 57, wrote an Instagram post condemning the high court's decision over the weekend. "i've decided to forbid bigots and homophobes from watching The Sopranos, The White Lotus, Goodfellas or any movie or tv show I've been in," he said. "Thank you Supreme Court for allowing me to discriminate and exclude those who I don't agree with and am opposed to. USA...

Humans pumped so much groundwater out of the Earth that the planet has begun to wobble detectably on its axis, a new study has found. On its own terms, the magnitude of the new wobble is slight — a matter of millimeters, which puts it in the same approximate speed category as Earth’s slowly drifting continents. But the findings published earlier this month in Geophysical Research Letters show the extent to which human action — in the form of dam construction, groundwater drilling and the burning of fossil fuels — are impacting the very position of the Earth. They also...

Seven of the top 10 lawmakers who used earmarks recently are Senate Republicans, according to a report from Open the Books. In March 2021, a split House Republican conference voted to overturn its years-long ban on earmarks. The renewed practice requires Republican lawmakers to write a justification for any earmark they want to sponsor and verify they have no financial stake in the earmark. Those in favor of bringing back earmarks believe it would bring more power to Congress and can serve as a tool to rein in the Biden administration. Some House Republicans who support using earmarks also believe...

NEW YORK — An advocacy group for young religious LGBTQ Jews has launched a project to provide mental health guidance tailored to the community on social media, in the first initiative of its kind, as surveys show that such youth in the US are at a higher risk for emotional issues and harassment. The “TikTok therapy” video series will offer advice on topics such as how to discuss dating someone from the same gender with Orthodox parents, or navigating LGBTQ issues that come up in conversation at Shabbat dinners, said Jewish Queer Youth (JQY), a New York-based group that focuses...

The U.S. State Department has issued a fresh travel warning advising Americans against heading to China over selective enforcement of local laws and the "risk of wrongful detentions." The warning comes nearly two months after China sentenced a 78-year-old U.S. citizen to life in prison over spying charges. "The People’s Republic of China (PRC) government arbitrarily enforces local laws, including issuing exit bans on U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries, without fair and transparent process under the law," the State Department says.

A critically acclaimed film that won a total of eight Academy Awards® (Including Best Picture), Patton is a riveting portrait of one of the 20th century's greatest military geniuses. George Patton was the only allied general truly feared by the Nazis.

French police union warns: “We are at war” Police sources have confirmed that the shocking viral video of a man laying unconscious on the ground after being beaten by Arab rioters was an off-duty French police officer. He was one of two off-duty officers severely wounded by the mob. The targeted beating took place on Thursday night, which marked the third night of rioting that has rocked France since the police shooting of 17-year-old French-Algerian Nahel M., who was well known to the police for his lengthy criminal history. In the video, one man is heard saying to the unconscious...

Bud Light has been branded 'desperate' after releasing a new advert with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce in a bid to win back customers. The embattled beer giant released a new 15-second spot on Sunday showing Kelce cracking open Bud Light cans and aggressively grunting with several other men.

"I mean this with all my heart; please go f--- yourselves SCOTUS," tweeted Josh Gad, while Andy Cohen wrote, "Legalizing discrimination. Incredible." The U.S. Supreme Court made not one, but two controversial, conservative-led rulings regarding LBGTQ rights and student loans on Friday -- and it's safe to say many in Hollywood and beyond are angry with the decisions.

In a new large, comprehensive analysis that looked at data from more than 5 million patients, the Martin/Hopkins method developed by Johns Hopkins researchers to calculate low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol—so-called bad cholesterol—produces higher accuracy rates than the nearly two dozen other available equations. The findings reveal that overall, the Martin/Hopkins algorithm correctly classified 89.6% of patients' LDL cholesterol values, followed by the Sampson method, which correctly classified 86.3%. The previous gold standard of testing LDL cholesterol levels, the Friedewald method, correctly classified 83.2% of patients. An even larger advantage of the Martin/Hopkins algorithm was seen over other methods for patients...

Vietnam has banned Warner Bros.’ highly anticipated film “Barbie” from domestic distribution over a scene featuring a map that shows China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, state media reported on Monday. (Warner Bros’, like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery.) The U-shaped “nine-dash line” is used on Chinese maps to illustrate its claims over vast areas of the South China Sea, including swathes of what Vietnam considers its continental shelf, where it has awarded oil concessions. “Barbie” is the latest movie to be banned in Vietnam for depicting China’s controversial nine-dash line, which was repudiated...

A federal circuit court will determine if pro-life states like South Carolina, where the court case originally took place, can be forced to spend taxpayer dollars funding abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will consider Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, the case in question after it was remanded by the Supreme Court back to the appellate earlier this month. “Practically speaking, this case will decide if taxpayers in pro-life states are going to be forced to see their taxpayer dollars being spent to fund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood,” Chris Schandevel, Senior Counsel...

Pope Francis Condemns Quran Burning in Interview With UAE NewspaperPope Francis has spoken to Al-Ittihad in his first interview granted to an Arabic news outlet, according to the United Arab Emirates newspaper.In the July 3 interview the Pope praised UAE authorities and spoke about interfaith cooperation, peace-building, and his 2019 Document on Human Fraternity.Francis also commented on a protester’s burning of a Quran in Sweden on June 28. The Muslim holy book was burned by an Iraqi-born refugee outside a mosque in Stockholm. The incident has sparked outrage among Muslims around the world and led to a raid on the...

Republicans who want their party to support the transgender and homosexual agenda are upset that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign has criticized 2024 opponent President Donald Trump for boosting it.“To wrap up ‘Pride Month,’ let’s hear from the politician who did more than any other Republican to celebrate it,” DeSantis War Room, the digital messaging arm of the governor’s presidential campaign, tweeted, along with a video produced by another user named “Proud Conservative.”The video notes that President Trump’s presidential campaign sold “LGBTQ for Trump” shirt, and also that he held up a rainbow flag to show his support for...

Cities in France are burning following the death of a Muslim teen who was charged with multiple traffic violations. Islamists amidst chants of ‘Alla-Hu-Akbar’ set ablaze vehicles and created a ruckus in Nanterre. Also, the protestors have burnt the biggest public library in the city of Marseille. Following the rising tension in the region video of a cleric Sheikh Abu Taqi Al-Din Al-Dari is going viral where he can be seen saying, “France will become an Islamic country through Jihad; The entire world will be subject to Islamic Rule” He added the French will: “Convert to Islam, be Forced to...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court's decision striking down President Joe Biden's program to forgive student loan debt for about 43 million people could hurt not just individual borrowers, but also the U.S. economy, as billions of dollars of consumers' disposable income are taken out of circulation. The ruling could spark a "modest headwind" against economic growth, Bernard Yaros, an economist at Moody's, a financial risk assessment firm, told ABC News. "None of this is enough to tip the economy into a recession," Yaros said. "But this is no doubt a hit." Thomas Simons, an economist with the equity research firm...

Affirmative action was the only reason MSNBC’s Joy Reid attended Harvard, the anchor insisted on Thursday. Reid made the point while appearing on “All In with Chris Hayes” to comment on the US Supreme Court ruling that affirmative action in college admissions violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. While opposing the decision, Reid admitted that she benefited from affirmative action herself. “I got into Harvard only because of affirmative action,” Reid said. “I went to a school no one had ever heard of in Denver, Colorado, in a small suburb. I didn’t go to Exeter or Andover. I didn’t...

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet later this week with her Chinese counterparts to talk about major financial issues, making her the second top White House official to travel to the US’ great rival in a matter of weeks. Yellen’s Thursday-Sunday visit is meant to address “areas of concern” in the relationship between the world’s two largest economies as part of President Biden’s government-wide effort to re-engage with China and its president, Xi Jinping, the Treasury Department announced over the weekend. The visit of Yellen, 76, will hopefully “deepen and increase the frequency of communication between our countries moving forward...