Free Republic

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg now admits in writing that he was manipulated by the Biden administration into suppressing free speech on Meta platforms. His actions obstructed vital information on effective Covid protocols and bolstered the lie that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. This did enormous damage to our health and polity.

By Denise Chow Four private citizens orbiting Earth in a SpaceX capsule are making history by completing the world’s first all-civilian spacewalk. Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon are the crew of the Polaris Dawn mission, which launched into space Tuesday to begin a five-day flight. Their spacewalk began at 6:12 a.m. ET, having been delayed a few hours. During the outing, Isaacman and Gillis exited the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on a tether. Although they are the only ones to venture outside the spacecraft, all...

As many readers likely know, New York is the center of the legal profession in this country. New York City has a large community of major law firms that advise the business community both across the country and also internationally. This is the industry in which I had my own career prior to retiring from it in 2016. There are large numbers of distinguished practitioners who are highly sought out for every sort of legal problem. We have multiple well-known bar associations — notably the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (known as the City Bar)...

12 September 2024 Thursday of week 23 in Ordinary Time Saint Ailbe's Church. Emly, Co Tipperary, Ireland Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II).First reading1 Corinthians 8:1-7,11-13Your brethren may be weaker than you: do not lead them astrayNow about food sacrificed to idols. ‘We all have knowledge’; yes, that is so, but knowledge gives self-importance – it is love that makes the building grow. A man may imagine he understands something, but still not understand anything in the way that he ought to. But any man who loves God is known by him. Well then, about eating food sacrificed...

Without a functioning independent media, we’re headed to totalitarianism, but it’s not Trump’s creation. In February, 2017, the Washington Post adopted its now infamous mission statement: “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” Was it a coincidence that one of the nation’s most influential newspapers — the paper that broke the Watergate scandal and brought down Richard Nixon’s presidency — decided that its role was to save democracy just one month after President Trump was inaugurated? According to then-editor of the WaPo, Martin Barron, writing in his book Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and the Washington Post, this was not an attack on...

Social Security is among the rare topics that can make Republicans and Democrats see eye to eye, according to a new survey. In Pennsylvania, people on both sides of the aisle agree that it’s time to raise payroll taxes on high-income earners, cut benefits for the wealthiest retirees, and even push the full retirement age from 67 to 68 if that’s what it takes to keep Social Security from running out of cash. A new poll conducted by the University of Maryland’s Program For Public Consultation found majorities from both political parties want to see lawmakers tackle Social Security’s looming...

Donald Trump on Fox News this morning: “I don't know that I want to do another debate." She crushed him.

Researchers have finally decoded a Babylonian tablet thought to be the oldest map of the world. Created between 2,600 and 2,900 years ago, the Imago Mundi provided researchers with a unique glimpse into the beliefs and practices of the ancient civilization. The Babylonian tablet has a circular map with pieces of text written in cuneiform - an ancient writing system that used wedge-shaped symbols - which describes the early creation of the world.

Large businesses are declaring bankruptcy at a staggering rate, and yet we are being told over and over again that the economy is just fine. Needless to say, most of the country isn’t buying it. Survey after survey has shown that most Americans believe that the economy is on the wrong track. But those that are running things continue to push their “booming economy” narrative anyway, and I suppose that will continue all the way through the election in November. Of course anyone with half a brain should be able to see the truth, because day after day we just...

The Independent reports that a trench containing human and animal remains has been excavated at the site of a British field hospital at Mont-Saint-Jean farm in Belgium by members of Waterloo Uncovered, an organization that offers veterans an opportunity to participate in archaeology and receive wellbeing support. The Battle of Waterloo was fought on June 18, 1815, and resulted in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte and the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The human and animal remains in the recently discovered trench were separated by a barrier made of soldiers’ ammunition boxes. "The layout of the trench, with all animal...

Discovered in 2015 at the entrance to the Grotte Mandrin rock shelter in the Rhône River valley of southern France, Thorin — nicknamed after a dwarf in J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" — has sometimes been called the "last Neanderthal" because he may have lived as recently as 42,000 years ago, close to when our closest human relatives disappeared. Although only his teeth and portions of the skull have been recovered so far, Thorin's genome was analyzed to better understand when and how Neanderthals disappeared.In a study published Wednesday (Sept. 11) in the journal Cell Genomics, a team of...

For the third year in a row, the Miami-Dade County school board voted against a proposal to recognize October as LGBTQ+ History Month. The 5-3 vote on Wednesday came hours after the school board heard a mix of passionate opinions

.. Paris is a city whose police steal blankets from people they force to live on the streets while suppressing protests and criminalizing people who defend the rights of migrants and asylum seekers. ... The walls of Fortress Europe are constantly raised higher, the isolation increasingly brutal. People fleeing face almost insurmountable bureaucratic and physical hurdles. The European border protection agency Frontex is the central instrument of this isolationist policy, which stigmatizes people seeking protection as a threat to European security and treats them accordingly. Human rights violations along the EU’s external borders are committed ondaily basis. Safe andlegal ways...

South Korea is set to buy up to 200 Polish Warmate drones from the WB Group. The sale had been rumoured for some time, but at Polish defence conference MSPO 2024, last week, WB Group chief operating officer Marcin Kubica confirmed the company’s intention to complete the sale and to begin supplying the drones by the end of 2024. “You expressed your wish to have Warmate systems this year,” Kubica said. “On behalf of the WB Group, I would like to express a commitment: you will have Warmate systems in [South] Korea this year.” Warmate drones are lightweight enough to...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business; End to Sex Slavery; Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14)Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

Jim Sasser has died. The former U.S. senator, lawyer and military man who served as U.S. ambassador to China during the Bill Clinton administration was respected for his pleasant demeanor and quick intellect. He was 87. A former Tennessee Democratic Party chairman, Sasser served Tennessee in the U.S. Senate from 1977 to 1995, partly with Republican Howard Baker and partly with fellow Democrats Al Gore and Harlan Mathews. The state has seen no Democrat hold the position since Sasser left. Clinton appointed Sasser in 1996 to serve as the sixth U.S. ambassador to China.

Haitian woman in Haiti says she hides her cat so no one will steal it and eat it. Hmmm 🤔

The 2025 Counting and Certification of Electoral Votes in DC has been designated a National Special Security Event by the Secretary of Homeland Security. This marks the first time a National Special Security Event designation has been granted for a Certification of Electoral Votes and follows a request made by the DC Mayor to designate this event a National Special Security Event. Various reports including from the House Select January 6 Committee and the Government Accountability Office also called for the DHS Secretary to consider a National Special Security Event designation for future Certification of Electoral Votes. “National Special Security...

Nikki Haley, a former Republican presidential contender, criticised Donald Trump's vice president candidate JD Vance by terming his controversial remarks about .childless women as “not helpful.” Speaking to CBS anchor Margaret Brennan on the Face the Nation, Haley recalled the Ohio Senator's statement that he is “disoriented and disturbed that the head of the most powerful teachers' union in the country doesn't have a single child.” Brennan asked Haley to elaborate her stand on Vance's comments as he “continues to say things that certainly are highlighted as being offensive to women.” “It’s not helpful,” Haley remarked, adding that “You can...

Sir Keir Starmer is under major fire this afternoon after he refused to rule out clobbering pensioners even more in the forthcoming Budget. At Prime Minister’s Questions, Tory MP Louie French rose to demand answers around rumours the government may be planning to withdraw two further crucial support measures from older people. Mr French specified pensioners’ free bus passes, and the single person council tax discount. Sir Keir ducked the simple question, replying: “As he knows very well, I am not going to preempt the Budget. It will all be set out in due course.” With a casual wave of...