Free Republic

Popular food delivery apps are charging customers sneak fees of up to 24 percent of the cost of their order - almost doubling the price in some cases when tips are added. DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats routinely add extra fees and taxes to food orders, but customers are left in the dark about what exactly the add-ons are for. Inflated delivery app fees are another example of the US 'junk fee' economy - which makes it difficult for consumers to know exactly how much they will end up paying for a service. In February, the government pledged to crack...

Several Italian producers have been perfecting cricket pasta, pizza and snacks. At a restaurant near Turin, chef Simone Loddo has adapted his fresh pasta recipe, which dates back nearly 1,000 years - the dough is now 15% cricket powder. It emanates a strong, nutty smell. While insect farming is increasing in Europe, so too is hostility towards the idea. Amid concerns that insects might be associated with Italian cuisine, three government ministers announced four decrees aimed at a crackdown. "It's fundamental that these flours are not confused with food made in Italy," Until now, the possibilities for producing and commercialising...

Megan Rapinoe has announced she’ll retire at the end of the National Women’s Soccer League seasonDays before heading to her fourth World Cup, Megan Rapinoe announced Saturday she’ll retire at the end of the National Women's Soccer League season. Rapinoe, 38, made the announcement on Twitter, saying she “never could have imagined the ways in which soccer would shape & change my life forever.” “It is with a deep sense of peace & gratitude that I have decided this will be my final season playing this beautiful game,” the Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup champion said.

The New York Times has printed a blistering op-ed by one of its star columnists slamming Joe Biden for disowning a granddaughter born to a stripper who his son Hunter had a fling with. Maureen Dowd shared a letter written to Biden by her sister Peggy, a Republican voter who was previously so-charmed by the current-president that she voted for him. But Dowd said Peggy had been appalled by Biden's refusal to acknowledge four year-old Navy Joan Roberts, whose mom Lunden got pregnant after a fling with Hunter. The president infamously said earlier this year that he has 'six grandchildren'...

A massive Sahara Desert dust cloud is drifting 5,000 miles over the Atlantic towards the US - and experts have warned it could bring extreme heat while impacting air quality in five southeastern states.Skies over Florida, along with southern swathes of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, will look 'a little hazy' and could turn brown from the sandy plume as it lingers over the weekend. Along with haze, the desert dust will catalyze scorching temperatures of around 105 degrees in the Sunshine State and an uptick in allergies - but it will also bring brighter sunsets and suppress tropical thunderstorms,...

Joe Biden has never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Or a campaign speech. Or the State of the Union Address. As a result, Biden has received more Pinocchios than a gift shop at Disney, especially when he talks about guns.Biden has lied at least 304 times at more than 65 public events since taking office, according to an analysis of official White House transcripts by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. In fact, Biden lies nearly every single time he mentions firearms, gun rights or the Second Amendment.To be clear, this analysis does...

. Where’s the Nashville Shooter’s Manifesto? The one the FBi didn’t want to be released?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his allies are trying to change the narrative about a campaign that is widely seen as having underperformed so far. DeSantis is drawing the support of about 1-in-4 Republican voters; he was backed by around 1-in-3 in mid-March. As they seek to shift perceptions onto a more favorable footing, they stress a number of points, including that the campaign is at a very early stage; DeSantis is showing strength in fundraising; he has withstood a barrage of attacks from Team Trump with his favorability intact; and his record in Florida, both electorally and policy-wise,...

We are currently in Cycle A of the Lectionary, reading through the Gospel of Matthew. This Sunday we find Jesus more or less in the middle of his earthly ministry (Matthew 11), and the Readings are marked by a strong theme of the restoration of the world-wide Kingdom of David. 1. Our First Reading is Zechariah 9:9-10: Thus says the LORD: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass. He shall...

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan hinted Friday that the cocaine could have come from construction workers, as the area of the White House where it was found is being renovated. Sullivan was asked at Friday's press briefing if he had any national security concerns after a bag of the drug was found Sunday near the Situation Room. revealed that the coke's proximity to the Situation Room wasn't a problem, because the space hasn't been in use. 'I would make a point about the Situation Room because I think there's been a lot questionable reporting on this. The Situation Room is...

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko on Thursday said Yevgeny Prigozhin is in Russia, despite the fact the Wagner Group leader is supposed to be exiled in Belarus due to his failed mutiny against Moscow. When asked about Prigozhin's whereabouts by reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov brushed off the question. "We don't follow his movements. We have neither the ability nor the desire to do so," Peskov said.

VIDEOOne of the big problems with vote fraud in the USA is that the courts hand out light or no sentences for that crime. As a result vote fraud continues in a big way (looking at YOU Maricopa County) since there are almost no consequences involved. Contrast that to what happened to this guy in the West Bengal section of India where villagers caught him casting multiple fake proxy votes and ended up tying him to a pole and giving him the third degree treatment. Do you think that guy will be committing vote fraud again anytime soon?

Ben Cohen was protesting in support of Julian Assange ... Ben and Jerry's founder Ben Cohen was arrested Thursday by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) police for blocking the entrance to the Department of Justice (DOJ) building in Washington, D.C., where he was protesting the detainment of Julian Assange. Assange is currently imprisoned at Belmarsh Prison in London and may soon be extradited to the U.S. Images from the scene showed Cohen sitting next to a woman holding a "free Assange" sign as police and security personnel stood nearby. Later images .. showed Cohen being lead away in handcuffs by...

[Catholic Caucus] Fernandez: new custodian of faith contradicts Humanae VitaeIn 2006 Msgr Victor M. Fernández published a criticism of Msgr Livio Melina: his position on contraception was too inflexible and uncharitable. However, this was the position of the Magisterium of the Church.The new Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has already repeatedly complained that he has received specious accusations against his person; i.e., he alleges that his book about kissing has been used to debase his theological preparation, in support of which he talks about his books and articles of high standing.Objection accepted. But perhaps it...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, sending a strong sign of Democratic unity from one of the party’s most liberal members. “I think he’s done quite well, given the limitations that we have,” Ocasio-Cortez said on the “Pod Save America” podcast Thursday. “I do think that there are ebbs and flows.” Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described democratic socialist from New York, has sometimes bucked Biden and the party’s leaders, including voting against the deal the president negotiated with Republicans in May to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and casting the lone Democratic vote against a spending bill...

Outbursts of gun violence in Baltimore and Chicago over the July fourth holiday inspired President Biden to renew his call for more gun control regulations. In Baltimore, 30 people were shot at a block party. In Chicago, 32 people were shot in a series of incidents around the city. Biden made a pitch for more federal regulations, saying "it is within our power to once again ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to require safe storage of guns, to end gun manufacturers' immunity from liability, and to enact universal background checks." Ironically, both Baltimore and Chicago already have these regulations....

TOMBALL, Texas – Talk about bold! And ... not so smart ... because a former Houston area car dealership employee was arrested after allegedly deciding to take a police patrol vehicle out for a joyride, without permission. Not only that, according to law enforcement, the suspect said it was not his first time.

US records show Starmer met with Attorney General Eric Holder and a host of American and British national security officials in Washington in 2011, when he was in charge of Julian Assange’s proposed extradition to Sweden. Starmer was in Washington three times while in charge of Assange’s proposed extradition to Sweden. Starmer led five-person British delegation that met with Holder for 45 minutes in Washington in November 2011. Delegation included the UK liaison prosecutor to the US, who dealt with extradition. Meeting was also attended by head of US Department of Justice’s national security division. CPS refuses to clarify to...

Another huge one-day bag Fightinig to the last ukrainian...This is criminal conduct on the part of neocon wankers, nato fops, and hohonazis. Mr. Putin will hang the hohonazis, here's hoping Mr. Trump hangs the fops and wankers when he comes back to power.

Following the lead of the province of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick became the second jurisdiction in Canada to adopt a policy of “presumed consent” for organ and tissue donation. Instead of willingly opting in to be an organ donor, residents 19 years and older, with limited exceptions, will be opted in by default. While many see this as a solution to the perpetual demand for transplant organs, laws like these treat the ethics of organ donation as a settled matter while treating humans and their bodies as means to other ends. Even more, considering Canada’s policy of Medical Assistance in...