Free Republic

Explanation: Would the Rosette Nebula by any other name look as sweet? The bland New General Catalog designation of NGC 2237 doesn't appear to diminish the appearance of this flowery emission nebula, as captured by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at the NSF's Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Inside the nebula lies an open cluster of bright young stars designated NGC 2244. These stars formed about four million years ago from the nebular material and their stellar winds are clearing a hole in the nebula's center, insulated by a layer of dust and hot...

Former first son Hunter Biden faulted Democrats’ disloyalty to his father for the electoral drubbing they suffered last year and President Trump’s return to power. The younger Biden argued that Democrats squandered their advantages of incumbency and “an incredibly successful administration” — despite its record-low approval numbers — when they turned against his father in dramatic fashion last summer. “We lost the last election because we did not remain loyal to the leader of the party,” Hunter Biden said on former Democratic National Committee boss Jaime Harrison’s new podcast, according to excerpts. “That’s my position. We had the advantage of...

The Republican party is heralding its new tax legislation as a win for middle income Americans. But the most substantial tax savings in the bill is reserved for wealthy individuals across the country—and particularly in high-tax states like California and New York. That’s because the legislation increases the deduction level for state and local taxes, also known as SALT. This allows federal taxpayers who itemize their deductions to fully deduct state and local income taxes as well as property taxes, and is most beneficial to wealthy taxpayers in states with a high cost of living and high tax rates—the ones...

-The government's immunisation target still "possible", a public health official says. -'Declines' sometimes just need more time. -Trust in government is lower, so supporting local health providers is key to boosting coverage. The high-profile public health doctor stepping down as head of the country's immunisation programmes believes the government's target is achievable - but only if health providers can gain the trust of vaccine-sceptical parents. A decade ago, New Zealand's childhood immunisation rates were the envy of the world, with 93 percent of all children fully-vaccinated by the age of two. Rates among Pacific children were 97 percent, and Māori...

Inflation picked up in June to 2.7 percent, according to the Consumer Price Index report released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is an increase over May’s annualized inflation rate of 2.4 percent, but still below the inflation rate of 3 percent in January of this year when Donald Trump took office as president. Core inflation, excluding food and energy, increased to 2.9 percent. Fears that tariffs would significantly raise inflation rates have not yet materialized, although some of June’s increase may be attributable to them. Higher inflation also makes it less likely that the Federal Reserve will...

The New York Times leadership actually attempted to sell readers on the dimwitted notion that stripping tax dollars from leftist public media is just as nutty as defunding police departments. This is the same newspaper that largely rationalized nixing police funding across a number of stories over the past few years. The Times editorial board went to bat for lefty outlets NPR and PBS, which are on the verge of possibly getting $1.1 billion cut from their mothership Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The newspaper had the utter audacity to argue in a June 16 editorial that continuing literal government-funded...

An upstart party is gaining support ahead of elections in Japan by railing against a 'silent invasion' of immigrants, pushing the government to tackle fears about foreigners as it drags into the mainstream rhetoric once confined to the political fringe. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the party, Sanseito, is widening its appeal with a 'Japanese First' campaign ahead of Sunday's upper house vote. And while polls show it may only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, it is further eroding the support...

A mouse study has found the sugar 2-deoxy-D-ribose stimulates hair regrowth. Put down the rosemary oil and pause the red light therapy, research suggests the secret to curing male pattern baldness could lie in a sugar that occurs naturally in our bodies. In a mouse model of testosterone-driven hair loss, the sugar, called 2-deoxy-D-ribose, stimulated hair regrowth just as effectively as existing treatment minoxidil – the active ingredient in Rogaine. Though commonly referred to as male pattern baldness, the condition, also known as hereditary-patterned baldness or androgenetic alopecia, affects women too. In fact, up to 40 percent of people experience...

Russia's catastrophic labour shortage has forced businesses to hire teenagers and retirees to fill jobs as the population crisis worsens. This issue has been brewing for years as the war with Ukraine continues, which has sent many working age people to the frontlines. Job adverts asking for "young applicants" as young as 14 skyrocketed by 119% in the first quarter of last year, Russian outlet Nakanune reported. Demand for workers between 16 and 18 also doubled. Openings for workers 55 and above increased by 65% in the culture and education sectors, and 12% in the service industry. Vladimir Putin has...

Welcome to the neighborhood, Ammonite. The object during observations. Image credit: NAOJ/ASIAA The Subaru telescope located at the Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawai'i has found a new world within our Solar System, dubbed "Ammonite" by the team who found it. In 2003, NASA-funded researchers spotted what was then the most distant object discovered in our Solar System. The dwarf planet, named Sedna after the Inuit goddess of the sea, was found over 12.9 billion kilometers (8 billion miles) from Earth, potentially making it an inner object of the hypothetical "Oort cloud" surrounding our Solar System. "Sedna is distinguished among other...

President James Monroe: “The American continents … are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.” Monroe outlined two separate spheres of influence: the Americas and Europe. The independent lands of the Western Hemisphere would be solely the United States’ domain. In exchange, the United States pledged to avoid involvement in the political affairs of Europe (Including Ukraine and Russia)

The largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth was sold for just over $5 million at an auction of rare geological and archaeological objects in New York on Wednesday, while a juvenile dinosaur skeleton went for more than $30 million. Source NBCThe 54-pound (25-kilogram) rock named NWA 16788 was discovered in the Sahara Desert in Niger by a meteorite hunter in November 2023, after having been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike and traveling 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) to Earth, according to Sotheby’s. The estimated sale price before the auction was $2...

His administration, which is avowedly committed to protecting Second Amendment rights, nevertheless is defending that restriction against the FPC's challenge, saying it "serves legitimate objectives" and "only modestly burdens the right to keep and bear arms." That argument sounds suspiciously like the sort of "interest balancing" that the Supreme Court emphatically rejected in Bruen. When a gun restriction affects conduct covered by "the Second Amendment's plain text," the Court said in that case, the government has the burden of demonstrating that it is "consistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation." That test typically requires identifying historical analogs that...

@RepThomasMassie Americans deserve transparency and the victims of Epstein (and his associates) deserve justice. Thank you @RepEricBurlison for cosponsoring this legislation to release the Epstein files.

The U.S. Coast Guard has seized more than 240,000 pounds of cocaine since the start of the Trump administration on Jan. 20, enough to kill the combined population of California, Texas, and New York, according to the Department of Homeland Security. President Donald Trump “is keeping his promise to Make America Safe Again. The Coast Guard’s tremendous work has guaranteed that these illicit drugs will never infiltrate America’s communities and take innocent lives,” Abigail Jackson, White House spokeswoman, told The Daily Signal. “The Trump administration will never stop fighting to protect Americans from the scourge of dangerous drugs,” Jackson said....

More than a third of Arizona’s roughly 370-mile-long border with Mexico will soon be a (new) military zone. It’s the Trump administration’s latest of four so-called National Defense Areas, known as NDAs, along the Southern Border... ...The Trump administration says Arizona’s upcoming military zone will run along a 140-mile stretch of border near the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma. About 500 Marines and Sailors will operate there, according to a spokesperson with the military’s border task force, who said specific tasks and assignment details are still under development... ...will include the Barry M. Goldwater Range, land surrounding it and...

Antifa strikes again. This time the suspect is someone who is a U.S. Marine Corps Reserves veteran. Benjamin Hanil Song is wanted for trying to kill federal agents and shooting up an ICE detention location. During my digging I discovered that he would show up at drag shows for kids and stand outside with a gun to “protect” the groomers. He’s a real piece of work. Well, he’s been caught. Here he is without a mask on: ANTIFA Terrorist Benjamin Hanil Song, wanted for the coordinated attack on a Texas ICE Detention Facility was ARRESTED at a North Dallas Apartment...

According to a statement released by The Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece, renewed investigation into the Antikythera shipwreck has provided several new details about the ship and its cargo. The ship sank around 65 b.c. and was first discovered in 1900. On repeated dives over the past 120 years, underwater archaeologists have retrieved hundreds of artifacts, dozens of statues, and most famously the Antikythera Mechanism, sometimes referred to as the world's first analog computer. Recent recovery of fragments of the hull yielded new information about the vessel's design and ancient shipbuilding. Archaeologists found three outer planks still joined to...

NBC News found itself in hot water after broadcasting a story which appeared to divert scrutiny away from former President Joe Biden and his use of the autopen. However, the effort did the opposite and backfired — highlighting the network’s perceived hypocrisy. NBC attempted to “expose” Rep. James Comer (R-KY) for allegedly digitally signing letters and subpoenas, although this is a common practice in most offices. Anchors Ryan Nobles and Melanie Zanona, who delivered the segment, attempted to create a “both sides” narrative concerning the use of the autopen. Despite the effort, they made themselves targets for backlash from conservatives...

Arsonist in Runyon Canyon gets detained by several presumptive fitness influencers before being arrested by law enforcement. A man was arrested Sunday after witnesses claimed he deliberately started a fire at Runyon Canyon, the popular hiking destination in the Hollywood Hills.