Free Republic

“Fat Beach Day” events are appearing across the United States, aiming to create spaces for the plus-size community to gather — including one Saturday in Far Rockaway. “We’re going through something culturally that is impacting us every day on an individual level and a systemic level,” Jordan Underwood, the event organizer told the Guardian. “We’re really trying to open up a space for people to be themselves.” “I’m so self-conscious at the beach, and I’m never around people that look like me,” Emma Zack, who started Berriez in 2018, told the outlet. “I’m excited we’ve created this space for folks...

Google pulled out of a $15 billion investment in Santa Clara County after demolition had already begun. The company… By Maxwell Zeff On Friday, Google and real estate group Lendlease called off plans to build 15,000 homes in the San Francisco Bay Area, as housing developers continue to exit the troubled region. Google and Lendlease mutually ended a $15 billion agreement that was made in 2019 to build residential and retail space in Sunnyvale, San Jose, and Mountain View, where the search engine is headquartered. The plans for San Jose’s ‘Downtown West’ included 4,000 affordable homes, office space for 20,000...

Good morning, Bay Area. the East Bay Times reports that the Richmond City Council this evening is expected to place a tax on oil refining businesses on the November ballot, an initiative that would target the Chevron refinery. If placed on the ballot by council and approved by voters, the refining business license tax would charge Chevron $1 per barrel of raw materials refined in Richmond, bringing an estimated $60 million to $90 million a year in revenue to the city. Final thought …Billionaire Michael Shvo went on a trophy property buying spree from 2018 to 2020 that culminated in...

Imagine San Francisco 18 years from now. That’s more than four mayoral terms, at least one fashion cycle and nearly one Van Ness rapid bus lane project away. Generation Alpha—who will be adults—will likely be calling Gen Z “out of touch” by then. And—according to new long-term projections from real estate firm Avison Young—San Francisco won’t be left with a glut of empty office buildings anymore. On that front, the situation midway through 2024 is pretty grim. The city has the highest vacancy rate of any major market in the country—at more than 30%. Using previous recovery periods as a...

In a new development in Trump’s Manhattan “hush money” case, Justice Merchan has communicated to the involved parties about an incident involving a comment left on the court system’s Facebook page. The comment, left on May 29, one day prior to Trump’s conviction, reads: “My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted 🎉 Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!! ❤️” Theoretically, if the comment is found to be true and a juror was discussing the verdict of the case with their cousin, Justice Merchan could rule a mistrial. Given his record of rulings against Trump...

democracy itself on the line, the 2024 election will almost certainly be the nation’s most consequential since 1860. It will also be the weirdest. two facts about this campaign that do not appear to be making much of an impact on what seems to be close to a majority of the electorate. The first more obvious one is few people in history have ever been less qualified to hold a position of any responsibility, ...than Donald Trump. If elected, he will certainly deploy that power to destroy virtually everything Americans have historically held dear about the nation’s democratic traditions. The...

After more than three billion doses, the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is being withdrawn. However, its reputation was dented as unusual blood clots emerged as a rare side effect of the vaccine, and the UK turned to alternatives.

(Screenshot: Channel 12) US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew insisted Sunday evening that “fundamentally, nothing has changed in the basic relationship” between Israel and the US — despite the decision last week by US President Joe Biden’s administration to delay a shipment of high-payload bombs to Israel, and Biden’s declaration that he would not supply offensive weapons to Israel for a major IDF offensive affecting population centers in southern Gaza’s Rafah. Noting that military aid from Washington to Jerusalem has increased since war erupted in Gaza after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, Lew stressed in a Channel 12 interview that only...

Popular Victorian-looking rum pub Hobson's Choice, on the corner of Clayton and Haight, will shutter after 26 years in business, owner Chris Dickerson told SFGATE columnist Stuart Schuffman this weekend. Dickerson cited the lack of pedestrian traffic on the famous street for the decision, and said the neighborhood hasn't yet bounced back from the pandemic.“A lot of service industry people lived in the neighborhood. So, they’d get off work at a restaurant at 10-ish, 11-ish, and come back to the neighborhood and hang out until close," Dickerson said. "They’re no longer here."

1. Stuck At Home:How many of us have heard the terrible stories about what happened to children from abused homes who were forced to stay there during the pandemic? 2. The Homeschool revolution and parents more involved in learning.Before the pandemic, I helped my kids with their homework, but I honestly had no idea what lesson plans were being taught in my children's classroom. I am not alone. 3. Reassessing Priorities:During the pandemic, people had more time to think…about everything. And many of them realized they didn't want to be a slave to an office job, driving back and forth...

In October 2021, a woman in the US state of Arkansas allegedly typed out a simple Facebook message: "Just out of curiosity, would you know anyone in the market for a fully intact, embalmed brain?"The woman was a staffer at Arkansas Central Mortuary Services, and according to prosecutors, the message was sent to an antique dealer in Pennsylvania.A search of his home would later uncover multiple buckets containing human remains, including pieces of brain, heart, livers, skin and lungs.Investigators say the pair were part of an underground community spanning multiple states across the US, made up of both morgue staff...

I said over and over again, Bidenomics will be a drag.Larger cracks are appearing in the US commercial real estate market at a time when uncertainty around the regional bank industry flashes red. The latest report from real estate data provider ATTOM shows CRE foreclosures topped 625 in March, up 6% from February and 117% from the same period last year.Last month, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified on Capitol Hill, “We have identified the banks that have high commercial real estate concentrations, particularly office and retail and other ones that have been affected a lot,” adding, “This is a...

Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin is tarnished as a result of Russia’s unprovoked invasion and occupation of Ukraine. Xi has been distancing China from Putin’s predations gradually — out of deference to his two biggest customers, the United States and European Union. But on Sept. 15 his displeasure about the war became public. Putin himself admitted at a press conference following a meeting with Xi that China had “concerns” about his war in Ukraine. So did India. But there is one more elephant in the room: Siberia, a region bigger and richer than any place...

Protesters are causing major traffic issues across the Bay Area, including in Oakland and on the Golden Gate Bridge, as part of a worldwide economic blockade in solidarity with Palestine.Northbound I-880 in OaklandThe first protest Monday morning happened on northbound I-880 in Oakland at 5th Ave., where protesters brought barrels filled with concrete onto the highway and chained themselves to the barrels. Law enforcement had to cut through the barrels before they could arrest the protesters. Two lanes have been reopened.

BEIJING—The extent of China's soil pollution, long guarded as a state secret, was laid out in an official report that confirmed deep-seated fears about contaminated farmland and the viability of the country's food supply. Nearly one-fifth of the country's arable land is polluted, officials said in the report, shedding unexpected light on the scale of the problem—a legacy of China's three decades of breakneck economic growth and industrial expansion.

Water insecurity. China is home to about 20 percent of the world’s population but only 7 percent of its freshwater sources. Overuse has led to severe shortages, and industry along China’s major water sources has polluted supplies. Construction of hydropower dams along major rivers has also damaged ecosystems. The government released a plan in 2015 for preventing water pollution that included placing controls on polluting industries. The quality of surface waters—bodies such as lakes, rivers, and streams—has since improved. However, groundwater continues to fall short of targets, with more than 80 percent categorized as “bad to very bad.” Desertification. More...

China has increased its reliance on food imports over the past two decades, prompting concerns among officials who worry that disruptions to food supply chains could trigger domestic unrest. In particular, this reliance has heightened China’s sensitivity to food supply disruptions caused by geopolitical tensions, such as Russia’s war in Ukraine. What is China’s current food security situation? With less than 10 percent of the planet’s arable land, China produces one-fourth of the world’s grain and feeds one-fifth of the world’s population. Data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics showed that in 2022, China’s grain output reached a record...

Unemployment may be low, jobs plentiful, and consumer spending holding up. However, consumers are still struggling with the rising cost of credit card debt, housing, and automobiles—expenses that defy easy solutions. However, managing the cost of groceries and other essentials, the leading expense for half the respondents in a recent TD Bank survey, is just a click or short drive away. As consumers pull back on discretionary spending, major retailers in the grocery business are doubling down on the power of private-label brands to build traffic and loyalty. The boom is on. Amazon, which owns Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh,...

Psychopathy signs in women tend to be more related to sex than in men Dr Clive Boddy, an expert at Anglia Ruskin University, says female psychopaths are 'more common than we think' because studies have long failed to identify them. According to Dr Boddy, female psychopaths use deceit and sexually seductive behaviour to gain social and financial advantage more than male psychopaths do. 'Psychopaths are driven by a need to have power over and control other people via whatever resources they have available to them,' he told MailOnline. 'For female psychopaths this may veer towards manipulation through seduction, relational aggression,...

The nation’s top public health agency did not send an alert on COVID-19 vaccines and heart inflammation because officials were concerned they would cause panic, according to an email obtained by The Epoch Times. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2021 drafted an alert for heart inflammation, or myocarditis, and the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. Officials prepared to release it to the public, taking steps including having the agency’s director review the language, internal documents show. “The pros and cons of an official HAN are what the main discussion are right now,” Dr. Sara Oliver,...