Free Republic

There's a new safe haven for those who identify as transgender in the Bay State, after Worcester officially became a sanctuary city for that community during a lengthy city council meeting on Tuesday night. This meeting lasted about five hours and there were about 200 people who showed up to voice their support. It was standing room only inside council chambers – as dozens of residents spoke before the city council in favor of making Worcester a sanctuary city for those who identify as transgender or of other diverse genders.

Last night, in a self-righteous fit, the Penfield school board stormed out. The room was packed, parents were pissed, and the board was having none of it. And so, after snottily informing the audience that this was the board’s meeting and that the public’s presence was disruptive, the president called for a motion to adjourn and after a few mumbled words of parliamentary procedure the board en masse stood up and walked out. That’s how democracy works on the woke eastside. The commissars decide how things are going to be and anybody who doesn’t like it can pound salt. Take...

Florida’s 2020 Census undercount is costing the state at least $2.3 billion annually in federal Medicaid funding, according to a new report published on Tuesday by Florida TaxWatch. The result is a projected loss of $2.3 billion in federal Medicaid contributions for fiscal year 2024-25 alone. “In 2020, Florida’s census undercount cost the state one, potentially two, congressional seats and resulted in a loss of federal funding that will range from $11 billion to $21 billion by the end of the decade,” said Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic M. Calabro. Beyond Medicaid, the census undercount affects other federally funded...

At the end of 2024, astronomers detected an asteroid...the estimated orbit put it at a 1% chance of striking Earth. As of this writing, it now has a 2.3% chance of striking Earth on December 22, 2032. While you might think this resembles the plot of Don't Look Up, none of this is too unusual. You can see this in the image above, which indicates potential trajectory points. The 2.3% odds aren't simply the chances of a die roll. What it means is that when astronomers run 1,000 orbital simulations based on the data we have, 23 of them impact...

History is a subject taught in most every classroom in the world. It is a good thing to know the history of your country (And the world). What has your nation done in the past, how and when was your country founded? What does your nation (People) believe in as a whole? There is another aspect of history as well, some things in history need to be known so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past in the present. On the flip side of the coin, there are things in our history that should be celebrated, that we...

New research turns polyethylene and polypropylene plastics into chemicals like alcohols and surfactants using controlled heating techniques. The findings offer a promising step toward reducing plastic waste and promoting sustainability. Scientists have found methods to convert plastic waste into valuable chemicals. One approach breaks plastics into olefins for producing alcohols, while another transforms them into fatty acids for detergents. These processes reduce reliance on fossil fuels and support a more sustainable plastic economy. Turning Plastic Waste into High-Value Chemicals Researchers have developed new methods to transform common plastic waste — polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) — into valuable chemical products...

Every day we learn something new from Elon Musk’s DOGE team…. Today we learned the absolutely INSANE process our Government uses for Federal Employee Retirements. You wouldn’t think that would be anything special or weird, but it is! For some reason, back in the 1950s, our Government decided that Federal Employee Retirements would be processed in an abandoned limestone mine in Pennsylvania, 230 feet underground. Because….why not? Is that the most insane and stupid thing you’ve ever heard? INSANE! pic.twitter.com/rR1cH8XpsS— Noah Christopher (@DailyNoahNews) February 11, 2025Here is Elon in the Oval Office explaining it in more detail…. Public employee unions...

There is a tingle of fear in any corporation whenever the words “restructuring,” “merger,” “acquisition,” or “hostile takeover” spread through the office. Employees work on their resumes, whisper about projected layoffs, and assess their options. We’re seeing the same phenomenon unfold right now in our nation’s capital. Since taking over last month, President Trump has promised to blitz through federal departments to roll back waste, cut ideological programs, and return fiscal sanity to American governance. While Republican presidents have long promised to “reduce the size of government,” they have usually failed to do so—the bureaucracy always wins. This time might...

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (King James Version) The only thing more corrupt than the US gummit is American science. These are the people who have used every trick in the book to promote every Communist weapon they could to destroy America in the name of science. They have abused and destroyed the name of science to promote the darkest form of slavery against the people they hate in...

Windows 7, I know, that "risky-obsolete-not-up-to-date OS from MS" of 18 years ago. In any case guys, a simple question for you: does any one on FR know which VPN will work with Win 7? I know, I know...I don't want to get into a debate regarding "You really should consider updating to the latest system." At this stage in our lives our choices are: 1) staying with Win 7 or 2) getting completely off the grid. What would be a VPN for Win 7? Many thanks in advance!

The businessman has previously repeatedly criticized the US’ trans-Atlantic policies as he called for slashing defense spending in Europe amid a substantial budget deficit and growing public expenditure in WashingtonWASHINGTON, February 12. /TASS/. US billionaire businessman Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the US government, has called for reforming the North Atlantic Alliance. "NATO needs an overhaul," he wrote on his X social media, replying to a post by Mike Lee, a Republican senator from Utah, who claimed that the military bloc had outlived its usefulness, and that the Cold War was over. Musk has...

The delays to their appointments are willful and unfortunately bipartisan. Ball cannot be dropped. Please feel free to share a prayer that Trump will have his complete team on hand in Washington to see the MAGA vision through in every layer of government. - Tulsi Gabbard: Director of National Intelligence - Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Secretary of Health & Human Services - Kash Patel: Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Scientific journals emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries as the principal way in which scientists and the public shared scientific ideas and discoveries. Journals met the need for dissemination of research results so that the scientific community could challenge, debate, test, replicate, and refine scientific claims. Timely publication of studies in so-called peer-reviewed journals became an essential step in obtaining scientific knowledge. Journal papers are foundational building blocks in the political and legal realm. Scientific studies, peer reviewed and published in journals, are necessarily relied upon by expert witnesses in their opinions in judicial proceedings, as well as in...

Inflation in the United States surged higher in January. The Department of Labor said Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.5 percent in January from the prior month, much more than expected. Compared with a year ago, consumer prices are up three percent. Economists had expected the monthly pace of inflation to decline to 0.3 percent after prices rose 0.4 percent in December. The median forecast called for a 2.9 percent gain over the past 12-months, matching the prior month’s year-over-year gain. Core inflation, a metric that excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose by 0.4 percent for...

Elon Musk said there would be investigations into how members of the federal bureaucracy have become rich on relatively modest salaries, during an Oval Office event with President Trump on Tuesday: DONALD TRUMP: And also, could you mention some of the things that your team has found? Some of the crazy numbers, including the woman who walked away with about $30 million? ELON MUSK: Well, we do find it sort of rather odd that, you know, there are quite a few people in the bureaucracy who have ostensibly a salary of a few hundred thousand dollars but somehow managed to...

12 February 2025 Wednesday of week 5 in Ordinary TimeSt. Eulalia - Winchester, MAReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First readingGenesis 2:4-9,15-17The Lord God fashioned man out of dustAt the time when the Lord God made earth and heaven there was as yet no wild bush on the earth nor had any wild plant yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth, nor was there any man to till the soil. However, a flood was rising from the earth and watering all the surface of the soil. The Lord God fashioned man of...

Some described the trio of earthquakes in San Bernardino on Monday as quick jolts that rattled nerves and frightened pets in the Victor Valley. A magnitude 3.5 earthquake occurred at about 9:44 a.m. and about 3 miles north-northeast of San Bernardino, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. About 4 minutes later, a magnitude 3.0 quake stuck in the same location near the San Andreas Fault. The quakes were east of California State University, San Bernardino, and were felt in Riverside, Fontana, Running Springs and portions of the Victor Valley, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Hesperia resident Samantha Martin told...

A 12-year-old Indiana girl who is related to Vice President JD Vance has been barred from a spot on a heart transplant list because she’s not been vaccinated against COVID-19 and the flu, according to her parents. Adaline Deal, a distant relative of the VP by marriage through his half-siblings, was born with two rare heart conditions that her family knew would one day require a transplant, her mother Janeen Deal told The Cincinnati Enquirer. Adaline — who was adopted from China when she was 4 — was treated at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for nearly 10 years, and her parents...

The Democrats’ reaction to the Department of Government Efficiency’s necessary mission might seem a bit excessive. But it is understandable. Their taxpayer-funded slush fund has been exposed. Rather than joining with Elon Musk, who is leading DOGE to root out federal waste and fraud, and improve the transparency of the murky federal leviathan, the Democrats are attacking him. At a rally a week ago outside the Capitol, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley, chanted “Elon Musk must go” along with a rabble that seems eager to do harm to the South African billionaire....

President Trump’s White House fired the inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Tuesday, a day after the watchdog office issued a report that was critical of the foreign assistance freeze, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill. USAID’s Inspector General Paul Martin was reportedly fired around 6 p.m. local time. No reason was given for his termination, the source added. Martin’s office published a 6-page report on Monday outlining how the recent State Department’s pause on foreign assistance programs and cutting down the USAID’s staff created “risks and challenges to the safeguarding...