Free Republic

NEXSTAR) – It’s been almost 20 years since we’ve seen a geomagnetic storm as strong as the one heading our way this weekend. Power operators and other groups that maintain critical infrastructure are preparing for what might happen when the coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, hit Earth. But is there anything you should be doing? A G4-level solar storm, such as the one expected to hit as soon as Friday evening, can cause issues with the power grid, radio communications and the accuracy of GPS.

The truth is that insects are greatly underappreciated. Insects are… Important Pollinators: Many plants wouldn’t be able to pollinate and we wouldn’t have many of the produce we rely on. Decomposers: Many insects help break down of wastes such as dead animals or plants. Without decomposer insects, it would be a very messy world! A Major Part of the Food Chain: Without insects, what would birds, amphibians, and reptiles eat? And, without those animals, what would larger predators eat? snip Pandorus Sphinx Moth Caterpillar

The Kansas City Star ran a shameful profile praising ‘Ayana Satyagrahi’ – who targeted and sex trafficked single mothers of young children and violently trapped them in the sex trade – as an ‘advocate’ for transgender ‘rights’ in prison. (LifeSiteNews) — In what may be one of the most bizarre – and most disturbing – mainstream media articles of the week, the Kansas City Star published a glowing profile of convicted sex trafficker “Ayana Satyagrahi“ (Marcus C. Williams) by Katie Moore on May 2 with the title “‘Live my truth’: Transgender woman [sic] fights for rights inside Leavenworth men’s prison.”...

At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) questioned Acting Labor Sec. Julie Su about about reports on the Department of Labor personnel.

***** Tunes For Our Troops ~Canteen Music Dedication Presents~~ Happy Mother’s Day Music ~ *****~ Support The Artists You Hear Throughout The Canteen ! ~ ***** Warning: Not all music may be appropriate for children! Please click with caution. Thank you! Tunes For The Troops This music is provided for the entertainment of our Troops, Veterans, Allies & their families! Enjoy the variety of musical selections that the Canteen DJs provide throughout the thread. Please ping any DJ with your requests for the Troops! All music is removed on Monday.Thanks to all the DJs for their time & effort...

Five shot in Northeast Side home At around 7:40 p.m. Wednesday evening, May 8, Bexar County deputies were called to home on the Northeast Side of San Antonio after reports of shots fired. Investigators would arrive to a grisly scene where some 30 rounds of ammunition were fired into the home of a family, including two adults and five children under the age of 10. All five of the family members were transported to a local hospital in critical condition, and Bexar County Sheriff Salazar said the shooters – two men donning balaclavas spotted from security cameras on neighboring homes...

From 10 to 20 thousand men of conscript age, who are currently convicted and in prison, as well as men with criminal records, could be mobilized to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), Minister of Justice Denys Maliuska said in an interview with BBC Ukraine. Commenting on the law which allows mobilization of convicts, Maliuska said, “I think ten thousand possibly would be involved [and sent into the armed forces – ed.], maybe a little bit more.” Maliuska said that if current prisoners were counted together with men who had prior criminal records, the number would rise to 20,000. “Yes,...

Former Trump administration communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Friday on CNN’s “The Lead” that former President Donald Trump was a “very dangerous guy” who shouldn’t be anywhere near the White House. Anchor Jake Tapper said, “You recently called Trump the most un-American presidential nominee in U.S. history. Obviously, you want Biden to win president Biden to be reelected. What are you hearing from your fellow Republicans who also have a distaste for Trump but are having difficulties pulling the lever for Biden?”

Police have now ID'd a suspect in the horrific attack that put a woman in the hospital after she was strangled with a belt out in public ... and they've released pictures to help find him. NYPD shared photos taken from security cameras of the man they believe is responsible for this crime ... who seems to be wearing a similar outfit from the OG vid -- with a durag on his head looking very close to the white cloth the attacker used to cover his face.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s domestic support is on the rise as Israel’s war against Hamas advances, according to poll numbers released on Thursday. Israel’s Channel 14 published the results of a survey conducted by Direct Polls on Thursday evening, showing that if elections were held now, Netanyahu’s Likud Party would receive 25 mandates, one of its best numbers since the October 7 massacre — the most brutal attack on Jews since the Nazi Holocaust.

A powerful solar storm will make the northern lights visible to most of America — including the New York City area — Friday night, but you’ll need to get out of the city if you want a chance at seeing the auroras. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has upgraded the looming geomagnetic solar storm to a level 4, which is capable of disrupting America’s electrical grid and making the northern lights visible as far south as Alabama. The key to witnessing the natural phenomena will depend on the amount of cloud coverage and light population, making upstate New...

[Excerpts of excerpt of over 2700 word article] in the first days of the Yom Kippur War, when Golda Meir descended into her darkest hour,...the problem of resupply weighed on her mind, she called her ambassador to the U.S. at three in the morning and told him to wake up Kissinger and Nixon to get things flowing. In her memoirs she explained her behavior. “I knew that President Nixon had promised to help us, and I knew from my past experience with him that he would not let us down,” she writes. “Let me, at this point, repeat something that...

A coalition of Arab nations, led by Egypt and Syria, had surprised the Israeli military with a coordinated, all-out assault on the Jewish nation as it observed the holiest day of its year, Yom Kippur. Armed with the latest in Soviet weaponry, Arab forces quickly destroyed Israeli warplanes and tanks in numbers so shockingly large that a complete conquest of Israel — previously unthinkable — suddenly seemed all too possible. In desperate need of rearmament, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir sent multiple appeals to the United States for military aid. Some of President Richard Nixon’s military advisors counseled against such...

Millions of middle-class California households are poised to pay an extra $24 per month for electricity, regardless of how much electricity they use. Regulators are hoping this utility billing policy will rescue their agenda to move everyone to electric cars and appliances by redistributing the massive costs of the state’s electric grid so utilities can lower their usage rates. But critics say the income-based premium will likely further hike utility costs for millions of Californians—nearly one-fifth of whom are already behind in paying their bills after household electricity rates almost doubled in the last decade—and likely won’t do much to...

The US government says Israel may have breached humanitarian law in Gaza using American weapons. In a delayed report, the state department says it is "reasonable to assess" that US-supplied arms have been used in ways "inconsistent" with Israel's obligations. But it says Israel has had to confront an "extraordinary military challenge" fighting Hamas in Gaza. The report, ordered by the White House, was submitted to Congress on Friday. While the report was a clear rebuke of some Israeli operations in Gaza, it stopped short of definitively saying that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) campaign had breached international law. And...

Florida voters could narrowly pass an amendment enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution in November. A survey by the Florida Chamber of Commerce found that 61 percent of likely Florida voters say they support the abortion amendment, above the 60 percent support needed to pass the measure. However, the results are within the survey’s ±4 percent margin of error. The poll found that 29 percent of respondents oppose the amendment, and 10 percent are undecided.

Barron Trump, former President Donald Trump's youngest son and his only scion with former first lady Melania Trump, will not be a Florida delegate at the 2024 Republican National Convention, according to his mother's office. "While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments," a spokeswoman for Melania Trump told the Washington Examiner.

McLean [VA] Police District – Detectives from our Tysons Urban Team (TUT) arrested a retail theft crew who stole merchandise, mostly underwear, from stores in nearby jurisdictions. Wednesday around 3:30 p.m., TUT detectives were alerted to a retail theft crew in the 1900 block of Chain Bridge Road in Tysons. The crew was involved in larcenies that occurred in nearby jurisdictions earlier in the day. Detectives located the crew and took three suspects into custody. A search of the suspect’s vehicle revealed over $24,000 worth of merchandise, mostly underwear from Victoria’s Secret. The merchandise was connected to recent thefts that...

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by Democrats that challenged Wisconsin’s witness requirements for absentee voting, a ruling that keeps the law in place with the presidential election six months away. The rules for voting in Wisconsin are of heightened interest given its place as one of a handful of battleground presidential states. Four of the past six presidential elections in Wisconsin have been decided by less than a percentage point, including the past two. U.S. District Court Judge James Peterson tossed the lawsuit Thursday, saying the fact that the law has stood unchallenged in one form...

Is anyone surprised that Joe Biden is caving? It’s what he does. In a disgracefully craven move, President Biden has paused weapons shipments to Israel to try to prevent the Jewish state from launching a full-scale offensive against the remaining Hamas military stronghold in Rafah. It’s a policy shift sheathed in high-minded concern about the safety of civilians in Gaza but happens to be a change in direction that is welcome to a political left that has whipped itself into an anti-Israel frenzy in the months since the Oct. 7 attack. Not too long ago, Biden was averring that Hamas...