Free Republic

Photographer Johnny Chien captured the glorious blue glow in the water caused by bioluminescent plankton at a Santa Cruz County beach in mid-July. "The bioluminescent plankton is back at Seacliff. I took this picture this morning at 2:54 a.m.. I don't think this shot of the ship from this angle would be possible if the pier was still there, as it would probably be in the way," wrote Chien on Instagram. Advertisement The blue glow is caused by a common species of plankton called Lingulodinium polyhedra. Members of Lingulodinium polyhedra, a species of single-celled dinoflagellates, appear to be reddish-brown during...

A significant moral threshold has been crossed, critics argue, following the confirmation that the U.S. has provided cluster munitions to Ukraine for deployment against Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine. Both Ukrainian and White House officials have validated this development. John Kirby, national security spokesman, revealed last Thursday, “U.S.-supplied cluster munitions are in Ukrainian hands and being deployed in the field as part of Kyiv’s battle against Russia,” according to Reuters.

A long-time Pittsburgh punk rock outfit has disbanded after a woman alleged that its lead singer raped her years ago. A July 19 statement on Anti-Flag's Patreon page announced that the band had disbanded, adding that the page would be removed after all patrons received refunds. The band's website and social media accounts have also disappeared. This all happened after a recent podcast episode featured a woman who indirectly accused frontman Justin Sane of violently attacking and raping her in a hotel room. On July 19, the podcast Enough, which covers abuse in the music industry, spoke with Kristina Sarhadi,...

Academic researchers condemned students’ irreverent and offensive responses to an LGBTQ survey, claiming the pushback indicates "fascist ideologues" are "living ‘inside the house’ of engineering and computer science." In an article for the Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies, academics from Oregon State University wrote about their shock at receiving sarcasm and mockery in response to their research into undergraduate LGBTQ students studying in STEM fields. The team claimed 50 of 349 responses to their questionnaire on the topic contained "slurs, hate speech, or direct targeting of the research team." Labeling them "malicious respondents," they adapted their project to examine how...

The 1975 frontman Matty Healy had some choice words for the Malaysian government pertaining to its extreme anti-LGBTQ laws while performing in the country’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur, on July 21. “I made a mistake. When we were booking shows, I wasn’t looking into it. I don’t see the xxxx point… of inviting the 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with,” Healy said before cutting the concert, a headlining slot at Good Vibes Festival, short. “I’m sorry if that offends you, and you’re religious… but your government are a bunch of xxxx r——....

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Strickland speaks out on apostolic visitation: ‘I’ve got nothing to hide’'I think that I went through this because I’ve been bold enough and love the Lord enough and His Church to simply keep preaching the truth,' the bishop said.TYLER, Texas (LifeSiteNews) — “America’s Bishop” Joseph Strickland has spoken out about his apostolic visitation from the Vatican, declaring he has “nothing to hide.”During a Thursday episode of The Bishop Strickland Hour, hosted by Terry Barber of Virgin Most Powerful Radio, Bishop Strickland affirmed his resolve to endure “anything” to continue to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ.“I’m no...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $1.5 million fine against the Temecula Valley Unified School District less than a day after conservative board members voted to reject a state-endorsed curriculum that includes a short biography of gay rights leader Harvey Milk. On top of the fine, the district east of Los Angeles will have to pay the $1.6 million shipping costs associated with sending the materials to the district, which he previously vowed to do if the board did not approve the material. “After we deliver the textbooks into the hands of students and their parents, the state will deliver...

The former US president’s absorbing new playlist also features Ice Spice, Nicki Minaj and Michael Kiwanuka.Former President Barack Obama has shared his playlist of his current favorite songs for Summer 2023. His latest picks include selections by The Rolling Stones (“Soul Survivor,”) Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj (“Princess Diana”) Aretha Franklin (“Dr.Feelgood (Love Is A Serious Buisness”) and Jorja Smith (“Try Me”) in addition to cuts from SZA, Boygenius, Pearl Jam, John Coltrane, Janelle Monae, Marvin Gaye and many more. “Like I do every year, here are some songs I’ve been listening to this summer—a mix of old and new,”...

I want to preface this with the understanding that this is not a discussion of party politics, it’s an assessment of our chances of survival against an evil foe. The conclusions I come to are political, but only in the sense of what is possible in a chaotic and dangerous time. You understand that under communism, any threat of exposing the corruption of the government or individual officials is considered a threat to the state, right? This is how the exposure of Biden’s criminal activity is being presented by the Democrats, who are simply communists and who only know how...

On Thursday, former University of Kentucky swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler joined OutKicks Dan Dakich to discuss her younger sister Abigail being kicked off her YMCA swim team after protesting a male being in the female locker room. During the interview posted on Twitter, Wheeler explained that her 16-year-old sister went into the locker room after practice one day in April "and she witnessed a man changing in her locker room, and obviously, the shock and settlement of that was scary to her. She felt unsafe, so she immediately went and told her head coach. She told him that there was a...

The tragedy of sexual-reassignment surgery has a terrifying history.The popularization of medically sanctioned sexual mutilation began with well-known sexual perversion advocate, Alfred Kinsey.Kinsey contended that people are “sexual from birth” and experimented on babies in the 1940s and 50s. His legacy stands largely unchallenged today by the American Medical Association, despite his advocacy of bestiality, pedophilia, sadomasochism, and incest. His experiments largely led to the so-called Sexual Revolution.

“Sound of Freedom,” the movie of the moment, has a message first, and a story second. Its message is to get us to care more about the horrors of child sex trafficking. It does that by showing queasy sequences of kids in danger, being carted around by slimy adults, and making us remember everyone’s faces. Then it gives us a weary hero, Tim Ballard, an American man whose superpower is that he cares. This father and husband cares so much that he leaves his job at Homeland Security ten months before earning a pension. Instead of only catching pedophiles, as...

FBI officials improperly searched a foreign intelligence database for information on a U.S. Senator, a state senator and a state judge, according to an unsealed court opinion released Friday. The improper queries of the surveillance collection tool, which allegedly occurred last year -- could further roil an ongoing push by the Biden Administration to have the Section 702 program reauthorized before it is set to expire by the end of this year. The disclosures come even as the FBI said it has reported significant improvements in oversight to help curb further abuse of what intelligence officials argue is an essential...

A soldier, 42, who fought for Putin in Ukraine raped two schoolgirls the day after he returned home from his military service, say police. The suspected paedophile threatened girls aged ten and 12 that he would blow them up with a grenade unless they submitted to him. Wearing the uniform of 'convicts' army Wagner, he approached them near their school in Novosibirsk and forced them behind garages where he sexually attacked them.

(NEXSTAR) – Residents of the northeastern U.S. saw firsthand this summer the devastation flooding can cause in a community. Unfortunately, scientists predict flooding will only become more common as the years go on. A map created by Climate Central, an organization of scientists and journalists focused on studying the impacts of climate change, shows what the future may hold for coastal communities as sea level rises.

Washington — Seven companies at the forefront of developing rapid advancements in artificial intelligence have agreed to voluntary safeguards for users, the White House announced Friday. On Friday, Mr. Biden announced several steps that the companies have agreed to take voluntarily. First, the companies have agreed to "testing the capabilities of their systems, assessing their potential risks, and making the results of these assessments public." They will also safeguard their models against cyberthreats, and manage the risk to national security, Mr. Biden said. Third, the companies "have a duty to earn the people's trust and empower users to make informed...

"And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God." "The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Mark, Chapter 15 1 And straightway in the morning the chief priests...

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will host a screening of “Sound of Freedom,” a film about a human trafficking rescue operation, on Capitol Hill for members of Congress. Scheduled for July 25, the screening will also be attended by Jim Caviezel, the movie’s starring actor, and Operation Underground Railroad’s Tim Ballard, who inspired the film. An invitation for the event circulating on Twitter revealed that the screening will be prefaced by a reception with the film’s cast and crew and a conversation between Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Caviezel, and Mr. Ballard. For instance, while acknowledging that “Sound of Freedom” is “not...

A young male, who formerly identified as a transwoman, who was castrated and became a "patient for life" as part of "gender-affirming care," wants to warn others not to follow in his footsteps. He discussed his story of resilience and learning to accept himself for who he is for the first time with Fox News Digital. Kobe, whose name is being withheld for privacy reasons, had "checked every box for what they call a trans adolescent." He was always "effeminate" and loved pink and playing with Barbies. If he was never exposed to gender ideology, he says he'd probably "would...

How one cop with a handgun stopped a heavily armed terrorist’s massacre. Mohamad Barakat packed three long guns, four handguns and a vest with magazines in every pocket, as he drove through Fargo, North Dakota. The Downtown Street fair, which claims over 150,000 visitors, was on its second day and 5 minutes away. The Red River Fair, which recorded nearly as many people, was two days away from ending and 15 minutes away. It’s unknown which of those locations Mohamad might have been headed to use up his 1,800 rounds of ammo and hand grenade, but he never got there....