Free Republic

Whether it’s anti-vaccine messaging or falsehoods about the 2020 election, it’s easy to blame conservatives or Republicans as a group for spreading misinformation, as many in the media and academia have done. But this message is oversimplified, and anyone who wants to fight back against the very real scourge of fake news in American politics should look more closely. In newly published research, we found that it’s not conservatives in general who tend to promote false information, but rather a smaller subset of them who also share two psychological traits: low levels of conscientiousness and an appetite for chaos. Importantly,...

The Doomsday clock has kept track of the likelihood of humanity's annihilation since it 1947 and on Thursday, a panel of scientists will again unveil it for the 75th time to determine our fate. The clock's hand has remained at 100 seconds to midnight for the past two year, but with war looming between Russia and Ukraine, climate disasters worldwide, conflict in space and coronavirus cases spike around the globe it is hard to imagine the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists turning back time. The closet the clock has come to hitting midnight was two minutes before at the height of...

McLean, Va.-based ID.me was originally launched in 2010 with the goal of helping e-commerce sites validate the identities of customers who might be eligible for discounts at various retail establishments, such as veterans, teachers, students, nurses and first responders. These days, ID.me is perhaps better known as the online identity verification service that many states now use to help stanch the loss of billions of dollars in unemployment insurance and pandemic assistance stolen each year by identity thieves. The privately-held company says it has approximately 64 million users, and gains roughly 145,000 new users each day. Some 27 states already...

The Transportation Security Administration revealed that unlawful immigrants who are unable to obtain proper identification are being allowed to pass through security using an arrest warrant to prove their identity. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, had sent a letter to TSA after a whistleblower claimed the agency was allowing 'unknown migrants' to board commercial airlines in the U.S. TSA Administrator David Pekoske responded explaining that certain Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents may be considered acceptable alternate forms of identification, including a 'Warrant for Arrest of Alien' and a 'Warrant of Removal/Deportation.' Other acceptable forms include an Order of Release on...

Rwanda has been recognized by the World Health Organization as being among the countries to fully vaccinate at least 40% of their populations against COVID-19 by the end of 2021. Currently, more than 49% of almost 13 million Rwandans have been double-jabbed, and more than 61% have had at least one vaccine administered. But some Rwandans say this number is only possible because of force by local leaders and police. DW spoke to some people who said they had been forced to received vaccinations. For fear of possible consequences, they either chose to remain anonymous or DW decided to leave...

Australia's 29 million pets could soon be vaccinated against Covid-19 thanks to the efforts of a determined vet. Dr Sam Kovac is doggedly pursued Australian regulatory approval for the world's only Covid vaccine for pets, developed in Russia, and is optimistic recent developments mean it will soon be on the market here. His practice, Southern Cross Vets in Sydney, has been inundated with calls about vaccines from owners worried about their pets catching the virus. However, Covid vaccines for furry friends require sign-off from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, and as yet that has not been granted. However...

An Italian couple has won a two-decade-long court battle that invoked an international treaty signed after World War II in order to prove the acceptable volume of a toilet flush. The ordeal started as a typical neighborhood quarrel, yet spanned nearly two decades and eventually made its way up to Italy's Highest Court this week, Rome daily La Repubblica reports. It all began in 2003, when four brothers built a new toilet in their apartment located in the La Spezia province of northwest Italy. The husband and wife living next door soon complained that the toilet was used frequently during...

A police sergeant in Florida has been demoted to desk work after he was seen on video grabbing a fellow officer by her throat. Authorities in Sunrise, Florida shared body camera footage of an incident that took place November 19. Everyone in the video had their face blurred except for Sergeant Christopher Pullease, 46, a 21-year veteran of the force. Sunrise police were detaining a suspect who was 'verbally and physically resistive' when Pullease came on the scene and got aggressive, Chief Anthony Rosa said in a statement. Pullease then got into a verbal altercation with the suspect, who was...

Atlanta public transit CEO Jeffrey Parker committed suicide on Friday night after stepping in front of a train in the outskirts of the city. Parker, 56, was struck at the East Lake station in Atlanta at 10.30pm, a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority official told DailyMail.com. No motive for his suicide has been announced. He is survived by his wife Erin and his daughters. MARTA Board of Directors Chairwoman Rita Scott described him as 'an outstanding leader and steward of MARTA whose passing leaves us all heartbroken. 'We are devastated at this loss as we valued Jeff's leadership and looked...

A new study suggests we are living in the post-truth era where 'feelings trump facts,' as language has become less rational and more emotional over the past 40 years. A team of scientists found words like 'determine' and 'conclusion' that were popular from 1850 through 1980 have been since been replaced with human experience such as 'feel' and 'believe.' The team also identified another major shift around 2007 with the birth of social media, when the use of emotion-laden language surged and fact-related words dropped. Although the drivers behind the shift cannot be determined, the researchers suggest it could be...

Film producers are planning a woke version of the Harry Potter movies in which the magical characters will be played by transgender and non-binary actors. In what will be seen by many as a challenge to J.K. Rowling, who was attacked for questioning the claim that trans women are identical to biological women, the filmmakers are seeking a more diverse line-up for the starring roles. They are insisting that some of the characters for the new versions – to be aired as a ‘web series’ – cannot be played by white actors, including the starring role of James Potter, father...

With the right military equipment, a single person can target a plane from three miles away using a heat-seeking missile. While such a nightmare is a rare occurrence, FedEx has applied to the FAA seeking approval to install a laser-based, anti-missile defense system on its cargo planes as an added safety measure. Military planes carry flares that can be remotely ignited and ejected by a pilot to throw off a heat-seeking missile’s targeting system with an alternate heat source, while the plane itself performs evasive maneuvers in an attempt to fool the incoming projectile. Those countermeasures are less effective for...

Three PayPal users who've allegedly had their accounts frozen and funds taken by the company without explanation have filed a federal lawsuit against the online payment service. The plaintiffs — two users from California and one from Chicago — are accusing the company of unlawfully seizing their personal property and violating racketeering laws. They're now proposing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all other users who've had their accounts frozen before and are seeking restitution, as well as punitive and exemplary damages. Lena Evans, one of the plaintiffs who'd been a PayPal user for 22 years, said the website seized...

Earlier this week, TikTok star and podcast host Sofia Franklyn went viral when she shared her first date ritual. In a viral video that’s racked up 2.1 million views, Sofia admitted that she always sends herself a drink from a fake secret admirer so her date knows she’s in demand. She wrote: “When I ‘got to the bathroom’ and pay the bartender to send me an ‘anonymous’ shot so my date remembers I have options.” Sofia then captioned the clip: “Men love some healthy competition!”

MultiCare Health Systems is ordering symptomatic, COVID-positive staff to work at its area hospitals, the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH has learned. Officials with the organization are refusing to comment. According to an internal memo dated January 6, MultiCare hospitals have moved into “crisis levels of staffing.” The impetus for the move was the rise in hospital visits, though not all due to COVID. Consequently, the hospitals modified their return-to-work process, ordering staff “to work even if they are experiencing mild symptoms but are improving.” But a MultiCare staffer claimed unless a staffer has a fever, “they want us coming...

In December, while the world’s attention was on the emergence of the omicron coronavirus variant, the German Institute for Economic Research revived a centuries-old idea to help tackle wealth inequality. Universal Basic Inheritance, or Grunderbe in German, would assign €20,000 ($22,720) to each resident upon reaching 18 years of age. The sum would be earmarked to pay for education or training, a property downpayment or for starting a business — not to be squandered. The idea is in a similar vein to the Universal Basic Income, a welfare replacement scheme being trialed by governments around the world, which awards people...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (LifeSiteNews) — The Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver is set to evict families who do not provide proof of vaccination with one of the available abortion-tainted and experimental COVID jabs. Ronald McDonald Houses accommodate families with hospitalized children under 21 years of age. Austin Furgason, a father of a 4-year-old child with leukemia who has been receiving treatment since October, shared a video on his Facebook account that showed a letter from Ronald McDonald House Charities British Columbia and Yukon announcing the vaccine-related eviction. In his recorded exchange with the manager of the House, Furgason made it...

Ocean heating driven by human-caused climate crisis, scientists say, in sixth consecutive year record has been broken The world’s oceans have been set to simmer, and the heat is being cranked up. Last year saw the hottest ocean temperatures in recorded history, the sixth consecutive year that this record has been broken, according to new research. The heating up of our oceans is being primarily driven by the human-caused climate crisis, scientists say, and represents a starkly simple indicator of global heating. While the atmosphere’s temperature is also trending sharply upwards, individual years are less likely to be record-breakers compared...

President Joe Biden declared on Tuesday he was 'tired of being quiet' on voting rights and demanded the Senate kill the filibuster in order to pass federal legislation. In a fiery speech in Atlanta, given in the courtyard of four historically black colleges, Biden defended his past action on voting rights amid a boycott from local civil rights leaders who are frustrated with the lack of action from his administration. He attacked Donald Trump by name and called out Republicans for passing 'anti-voting' laws in states around the country. And he denounced the January 6th insurrection in the Capitol as...

Two LAPD cops who ignored calls to attend a robbery at a nearby Macy's to play Pokemon have failed in their bid to have their firing reversed. California's court of appeals ruled Tuesday that Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell were rightfully terminated in 2017 after refusing to go to the scene of a robbery at the Crenshaw mall, with Lozano responding: 'Aw, screw it.' Instead, the cops decided to hunt down a 'Snorlax' character that had appeared nearby on Pokemon Go, which lets players 'capture' virtual reality characters who pop up on a phone map of nearby locations. Players must...