Free Republic

Apocalypse now? The end of the world is going down in just two weeks — at least if a certain dystopian study is to be believed. In a 1960 study in the journal Science, University of Illinois physicist Heinz von Foerster forecast that Doomsday would occur on November 13, 2026 (fittingly, Friday the 13th!) The Austrian-American scientist specifically believed that our population would increase exponentially to infinity. But rather than dying of starvation — the prevailing fear at the time — von Foerster believed the boom would culminate in a massive crowd crush of sorts. “At this date human population...

Hayward looks to be about two-thirds of the way up the I-880 if you were heading north to Oakland from San Jose. So, yeah - this had some sincere traffic impacts. All lanes of Interstate 880 in Hayward are open Wednesday morning after an electric Tesla semitruck caught fire on the freeway during the Tuesday evening commute. According to the California Highway Patrol, the fire was first reported in the southbound direction of the freeway between Winton Avenue and the Highway 92 interchange around 5:35 p.m. Officials closed the freeway in both directions due to the potential risk of hazardous...

An overnight fire engulfed Eagle's Nest, a historic Nazi-era site once used by Adolf Hitler in Germany's Bavarian Alps. Firefighters faced difficult conditions battling the flames at the mountaintop location, while one suspect has been taken into temporary custody.

California funneled nearly $369 million in federal aid intended for victims of its deadliest wildfire year to low-income housing developers — without requiring them to house a single wildfire survivor, a California Post investigation found. The staggering sum was awarded to developers while thousands of Californians struggled to rebuild their lives after the devastating 2018 fires, which killed 103 people and damaged or destroyed more than 24,000 structures. Among them is motivational speaker and comedian, Mickey Schechter, 62, who lost his Cornell home and $60,000 in plumbing tools when the Woolsey Fire tore through the Santa Monica Mountains, destroying 37...

A “serious incident” at a military base in Alberta on Saturday caused a major fire and left people dead and injured, Canadian officials said. “I’m saddened to share that there have been both fatalities and injuries as a result of an incident on the base,” Defense Minister David McGuinty said at a news conference. Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada said in an earlier statement that a “serious incident creating a major fire” had occurred. In a post on social media, Danielle Smith, the premier of Alberta, described it as a “significant and tragic fire” that was “affecting many of...

A fire early on Monday has destroyed the French capital's oldest covered food market, a popular street food venue named after red-clad orphans, authorities said. The Marché Couvert des Enfants Rouges (Red Children's Market) in the Marais district of Paris, which has existed since 1615, draws its name from the red outfits that orphans wore at a hospital originally located near the site of the market. The market was given its name at the end of the 18th century after the hospital closed in 1772. The US magazine Food & Wine had ranked it fifth worldwide for street food this...

Venezuela’s Cardón refinery — the country’s second-largest plant — was fully halted on Tuesday after a gas-line fire and explosions at its diesel hydrotreater. The blaze was brought under control in under an hour with no reported injuries, but PDVSA has not issued a damage assessment or restart timeline. The outage hits an already fragile domestic fuel system far more than U.S. supply. Cardón (sometimes rendered Cardon; the query’s “Ardon” matches this plant, not neighboring Amuay) sits at Punto Fijo in Falcón state and is half of the Paraguaná Refining Center. A social-media video posted by OSINTtechnical showed a large...

The School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCiLL). At UNC, students hear this name in one of a few ways. One is “eww, that uber-conservative program that’s a waste of money and is trying to indoctrinate everyone.” A rare few respond with, “I haven’t heard of that.” But the vast majority just say, “oh…nice,” and immediately assume you’re a complete nerd. In all fairness, the last one might not be completely off. Yet none of these opinions completely describe the SCiLL program. SCiLL itself is intended to help students learn how to critically engage in civil discourse with people on...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. "Finally, brothers, rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God...

MESA, Ariz. - A U.S. Marine Corps military aircraft caught fire at Mesa Gateway Airport on Sunday, prompting an emergency response from local firefighting crews. What we know: Mesa Fire & Medical Department units rushed to the airfield around 6 p.m. on July 19 after reports of a fire originating in one of the aircraft's engines. Specialized Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting equipment was quickly deployed to the scene, where crews used advanced foam agents to smother the flames and bring the hazard under control. Officials confirmed that there were no injuries reported among the aircraft's crew or the responding firefighters....

A huge fire tore through a bar in Thailand's capital Bangkok late on Sunday, killing at least 28 people and leaving 25 critically injured. The blaze started near the stage of the bar in the popular Chatuchak district, then spread rapidly, cutting power and engulfing the room with smoke, eyewitnesses say. Footage posted online shows panicked customers screaming as they fled – some with their clothes on fire – through the flame-enveloped front door of Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao. Firefighters, who arrived at the scene just after midnight, quickly extinguished the fire. They found the bodies of most of...

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A Bay Area goat landscaping company says it could be forced out of business if changes are not made to a new state law that would significantly increase compensation costs for goat herders. Green Goat Landscapers in Gilroy, which uses about 1,000 goats to clear vegetation that can fuel wildfires, said the law could threaten the future of grazing operations that play a role in wildfire prevention across the state. "We really provide a needed service, and it benefits all of California. Goats go where people and machines can't go, and that really reduces that...

A fast-moving vegetation fire sparked near Camp Pendleton on Monday afternoon, prompting evacuations and smoke advisories. The fire, which has been dubbed the Pipeline Fire, was reported around 4:13 p.m. at Stuart Mesa Road and Hammond Drive, near Range 501 and Edson Range at Camp Pendleton, and has since spread to 180 acres, according to Cal Fire. Evacuation orders have been issued in nearby areas. Mandatory evacuations have been issued for areas 33 and 32. The area is also closed to public access. Crews also say that wind gusts are pushing the fire southeast, as they actively use aircraft to...

CUSTER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) has ordered mandatory evacuations due to the "Aspen Acres" fire, which is approximately 23,000 acres with 0% containment as of 5:24 p.m. PCSO says that due to 100-mph winds, air support is currently unavailable. Law enforcement says multiple homes have been affected, but an exact number is unavailable at this time. Officials report that 2,732 households have been asked to evacuate. According to PCSO, around 4,200 people are in the evacuation zone. Smoke from the fire covers most of Pueblo County and likely will spread across nearby counties east...

Dramatic footage shows the electric double-decker ablaze at the bus depot in west London at around 6pm on Wednesday evening. Dark grey smoke can be seen billowing from the depot as the flames ripped through the number 23 bus, which serves routes from Westbourne Park to Aldwych. Four fire engines and 25 firefighters were dispatched to tackle the inferno and were able to bring the fire under control by around 7pm. No injuries were reported. The bus and two charging points were destroyed in the fire. Nearby Tube station Westbourne Park was closed after the fire broke out, reopening just...

ATLANTA — A fiery crash between a CSX train and a semi-truck shut down MARTA and part of a busy area of Atlanta’s westside. The truck scattered what looked to be Amazon packages up and down the street. Emergency crews said it appears no one was injured in the crash, but the driver of the semi-truck is nowhere to be found. Why it took hours to track down the driver LIVE on Channel 2 at 4:00 p.m.

The jury in the trial about the origin of the devastating January 2025 fires in Los Angeles has reached a verdict. Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, faced three federal charges of destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire for the January 2025 Palisades Fire. The former Uber driver pleaded not guilty in October and faces up to 45 years in prison. Prosecutors argued that Rinderknecht intentionally and maliciously started a previous fire on a popular hiking trail known as Skull Rock on Jan. 1, called the Lachman Fire, that smoldered for...

Anger and anxiety filled a packed town hall Tuesday as hundreds of Altadena residents pushed back against proposals that could transform single-family neighborhoods devastated by the Eaton Fire. Nearly 450 people attended the meeting, where residents learned that 49% of properties sold in the burn zone since the wildfire have been purchased by developers, a revelation that drew an audible gasp from the crowd. The debate centers on California housing laws, including SB 9 and SB 1123, which can allow developers to build up to 10 housing units, as high as three stories, on a single residential lot. Residents warned...

Firefighters responded to a fire Wednesday afternoon at a commercial building in Boyle Heights that sent a large smoke plume over the area near downtown Los Angeles. The fire was reported at about 2:30 p.m. in the 1400 block of South Los Palos Street on the roof of the single-story Lineage cold food storage facility. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Smoke rising from the building's roof, which is covered in solar panels, could be seen for miles around. At one point, firefighters were called off the roof, but video from NewsChopper4 showed LAFD personnel on top of the...

Beacon Hill homes burned as a fast-moving blaze raced through trees and into the Northwood neighborhood near Spokane Valley on Tuesday. The wildfire torched over 250 acres with no containment as strong winds continued to push it east during the afternoon. Spokane County Fire District 9 Chief Matthew Vinci said 12,000 residents were under evacuation orders and 2,300 structures were threatened. He did not have an estimate for how many buildings were lost. No injuries were reported. Malek Chreiki stood in the grass at the Pasadena Park Church of the Nazarene, watching the smoke plume from above the trees. “I...