Free Republic

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The White House quickly acknowledged last week that the president had started using a CPAP machine to treat sleep apnea when marks were seen on his face from the device's mask. The White House was also asked why he's started using the shorter Air Force One stairs more frequently, in the weeks following him stumbling over a sandbag on stage at the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre didn't have an answer for that. While Newsom was in Idaho to sell Biden, some Idaho Democrats saw the California governor as the future of the party. 'He looks...

Ice cream company Ben & Jerry's sparked outrage with a July 4th tweet calling for the United States to return 'stolen indigenous land' starting with giving Mount Rushmore back to the Lakota Sioux tribe. The company, which was founded by longtime Bernie Sanders allies Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenwood but has since been sold to British multinational Unilever, tweeted the message to its 494,000 followers. 'This 4th of July, it's high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it,' the company's official account wrote. Outrage was swift on social media following the...

The possibility that an artificial intelligence system might launch a nuclear attack on its own has prompted House lawmakers to propose legislative language that would ensure America’s nuclear arsenal remains under human control. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., has proposed a bipartisan amendment to the 2024 defense policy bill that requires the Pentagon to put in place a system that ensures "meaningful human control is required to launch any nuclear weapon." It defines human control by saying people must have the final say in selecting and engaging targets, including when, where and how they are hit with a nuclear weapon. It...

People who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth are three to six times as likely to be autistic as cisgender people are, according to the largest study yet to examine the connection1. Gender-diverse people are also more likely to report autism traits and to suspect they have undiagnosed autism. Researchers often use ‘gender diverse’ as an umbrella term to describe people whose gender identities — such as transgender, nonbinary or gender-queer — differ from the sex they were assigned at birth. Cisgender, or cis, refers to people whose gender identity and assigned sex match. The...

ALAMEDA, Calif. - Patriotic colors and American flags filled the streets of Alameda Tuesday, but for some parade attendees, the signs of freedom carry special meaning on this Independence Day, including many veterans. The city of Alameda says its annual July 4th parade is the longest in the nation, with a route spanning 3.3 miles and drawing more than 60,000 people. "I used to come here as a kid, so I wanted to bring my kids," Melissa Poli of South San Francisco said. "This is the best parade." People packed Park Street to get a glimpse of the floats, horses,...

Conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has surpassed former Vice President Mike Pence in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, according to an Echelon Insights poll.He is also catching up to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.On top of the survey, taken from June 26 to June 29, is former President Donald Trump with a commanding lead at 49%. DeSantis, meanwhile, is 33 percentage points behind with 16% of the vote.DeSantis is just 6 points ahead of Ramaswamy, who are at 16% and 10% respectively. Next up was Pence and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley — both tied at 5%.In a head-to-head match-up between...

Last week the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision that Lorie Smith, a Colorado-based Christian graphic artist and web designer, did not have to create content that violated her beliefs. In response, Clara Jeffery, editor-in-chief of Mother Jones, tweeted, “perhaps gay stylists, designers, caterers, and planners should start withholding services from Christian conservatives and see where that goes.” After all, Jeffery reasoned, if a Christian can create content for a gay couple, surely gay professionals can decline services to Christian conservatives.More extreme was the reaction of actor Michael Imperioli who posted on Instagram, “I’ve decided to forbid bigots and homophobes...

The riots in Paris appear to be easing following six days of heightened tensions, sparked by the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk by police last Tuesday morning.With the issue of police brutality once again under the spotlight, the following chart by Statista's Anna Fleck looks at where confidence in police is highest and lowest around the world, based on indicators such as poor response times, heavy-handed arrests and the use of force in questionable circumstances.You will find more infographics at StatistaBut how does confidence in law enforcement in France compare to the rest of the world? Gallup recently released...

The summer’s biggest disappointment – and sleeper – are hitting theaters within days of each other.“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” earned a measly $60 million at the U.S. box office over the weekend, combined with a lackluster global bow. Those numbers, paired with the film’s reported $295 million budget, mean Dr. Indiana Jones rides off into retirement in the red.Meanwhile, a fledgling film studio’s second major release looks to score an impressive debut with a story unlike anything in the summer film marketplace.“Sound of Freedom,” starring Jim Caviezel in a fact-based tale of child trafficking, already locked in...

Garland Nixon interviews a Ukraine survivor

Republican 2024 presidential candidate and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said Tuesday that citizens should celebrate instead of cancel the nation's founding fathers for their wisdom in creating the system of government we have."We are blessed to live in the greatest nation on God's green earth," Scott said Tuesday in a video on his campaign site celebrating Independence Day. "Our founding fathers were geniuses who should be celebrated, not canceled."The National Review reported in August 2022 that the University of Virginia's student newspaper called for the likeness and name of founder, and former President Thomas Jefferson, to be stripped from...

When we first heard the story of a hazmat situation and the White House being evacuated on Sunday, we were told by the media that they’d found cocaine hydrochloride “near the White House.” Then it was described as being on the White House complex. That could be anywhere, including on the grounds. It was also described as “cocaine hydrochloride,” with suggestions it could be an anesthetic.Then came the report that it was in the White House library, which is on the ground floor of the executive mansion, according to the Washington Post.But now the Secret Service is contradicting that report...

Every time there’s a mass shooting, there always seems to be this political crush to immediately politicize it to make it serve whatever the narrative is that people want to push.It seems like there’s always a combing through of the shooter’s social media interactions to try to pin the shooting on a side. And whatever the background, the anti-gun folks on the left make it a staple to attack the guns, not the shooters who just opened fire on people.The mass shooter who shot and killed five people in Philadelphia on Monday — Independence Day eve — has been identified...

The National Education Association (NEA) on Monday recommended that teachers include the controversial book "Gender Queer" on their summer reading lists. The book was featured in the NEA's "Great Summer Reads for Educators!" list that showcased 11 books. Among those books are "White Fragility," a book that insists that White Americans use anger, shame and guilt to avoid taking responsibility for racial inequality. Other sections included "books to help you forget about work" and "books to celebrate or help you understand Junetheenth." Under the "banned books" section, Gender Queer is recommended as a reading. "Gender Queer" has as courted major...

China’s problems are many and varied, but now we can add a possible famine to them.Like Mao during the Cultural Revolution, Xi is pushing a new program of “agricultural management.” In practice, this means hundreds of thousands of party bureaucrats or simply average job seekers turned into state-sanctioned “agriculture managers” (effectively rural “enforcers” for the CCP) descending on villages and small towns – a nightmare scenario for farmers.These enforcers have already sowed resentment and chaos in rural communities. In one instance from earlier this year that went viral on Chinese social media, agricultural managers threatened to uproot backyard fruit and...

One birth of the bikini on Frenchwoman Micheline Bernardini‘s body in a photo shoot on July 5th, 1946, owes its then new name to the island where, four days earlier, America tested one of the first of the atomic weapons which still both terrify and (hopefully) stabilise the modern world. Robbie Robertson, one of my favourite guitarists, who was born on July 5, but in 1943, said: “You don’t stumble upon your heritage. It’s there, just waiting to be explored.” God Bless Beauty And The Fearsome Freedom To Enjoy It

Happy Fourth of July. In honor of the occasion and to pay tribute to those who came before us, I’d like to start this essay with a land acknowledgment statement. My home sets on land first explored by English and Scots-Irish freemen who had migrated from their homeland in search of freedom and opportunity or sometimes on the run from the law. The land was settled primarily by Germans from the Palatinate , who, through their industry, created farms, pastures, and orchards where only unproductive, fallow wilderness had existed. These men and women held savage tribes at bay and together...

Vladimir Putin sought to project an image of strength in front of a virtual gathering of Moscow-friendly leaders on Tuesday, in what was the Russian leader’s first appearance on the world stage since he faced an armed insurrection late last month. The comments, made during an address to leaders attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) hosted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, came days after Putin diffused the rebellion launched by the Wagner mercenary group. The events were widely seen as the most significant threat to power the autocrat had faced, and left Putin’s partners and rivals alike wondering how...

A leading Russian investigative journalist has been brutally attacked on a working trip to Chechnya - a republic of Russia governed by close Vladimir Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov who had previously described the reporter as a 'terrorist'. Elena Milashina, 45, and lawyer Alexander Nemov - who was also savagely beaten - were stopped by armed and masked men as they arrived in the regional capital Grozny to attend a court case linked to human right abuses. The pair received death threats and had guns pointed at their heads, according to reports, while Milashina's head was shaved and her fingers broken...