Free Republic

If it seems you’re getting more and more messages from co-workers, friends or attendees at that family barbecue about a positive COVID-19 test, it’s not in your head. While COVID-19 hospitalizations are still far lower than previous years, they’re steadily trending up this summer — both statewide and in the Capital Region. “We have seen a jump this month, but the good thing is we’re nowhere where we were two years ago,” Albany County Department of Health Interim Commissioner Maribeth Miller told the Times Union. With at-home testing prevalent, officials now rely on hospitalization rates to track the disease. Last...

(NEXSTAR) – New predictions for the summer season, released by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center this week, show weather is likely to heat up in almost every corner of the United States. The forecast, which covers June, July and August, indicates nearly every U.S. state with leaning toward a hotter-than-normal summer season. The highest chances are found out West, where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Colorado have a 60% to 70% chance of above-average temperatures over the next three months. Several other Western states plus the Northeast are also strongly favored to see above-average heat. The only exception to...

Economic data across multiple metrics is coming in hot, showing the strength of the U.S. economy and the persistence of inflation in the last mile of its descent down to the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2 percent. A March uptick in the consumer price index (CPI) to an annual 3.5-percent increase could push interest rate cuts back from their predicted start date in June. The CME FedWatch forecasting algorithm put the probability of a June cut at just 21 percent Wednesday morning. The algorithm has higher odds for a cut than a pause at the rate’s current range of...

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), who has endorsed Nikki Haley in the GOP primary, said on Monday ahead of the Iowa caucuses that he would “probably not” be her running mate. “Look, I’d do anything for Nikki Haley but not — but probably not that. That’s not my gig. I don’t think Washington — I don’t think Washington could handle me, Neil,” Sununu told Fox News’s Neil Cavuto when pressed on whether he was interested in being Haley’s running mate.

Anyone that’s ever enjoyed a cold slice of pizza for breakfast knows that food doesn’t need to be hot or fresh to be really, really good. In fact, a lot of dinners that are intended to be eaten warm actually taste better the next day as a cold meal straight from the fridge. Anything with lots of sauce and cheese and spices is a sure bet for leftover success—no reheating necessary. This isn’t just an opinion, though. There’s actual science to back it up! According to the Institute of Food Technologists, your leftovers continue to have chemical reactions that create...

More than a dozen volcanos are erupting at the same time worldwide, and three new eruptions joined the list this week. The Smithsonian Institute’s Global Volcanism Program tracks new eruptions and updates its list of currently erupting volcanos on Wednesdays. The most recent update shows three new eruptions, bringing the list’s total to 19 eruptions at once. The list doesn’t include all erupting volcanos. The new volcanic eruptions have some people voicing their concerns on social media. “Volcanoes erupt simultaneously in Italy, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Philippines, etc. Below is a volcanic activity map of 2013 vs 2023.Totally normal, right?”...

COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. remained relatively steady week over week following five weeks of larger declines, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. tallied about 16,200 new hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 over the seven days ending Oct. 21, according to provisional data – only 40 hospitalizations less than the total for the previous week and effectively pausing a downward trend that began after hospitalizations totaled close to 21,000 during the week ending Sept. 9. Hospitalizations dipped to a low point of approximately 6,300 in late June before starting to trend back up.

With tensions growing around the Israeli-Hamas war, police arrested a man who fired a “splatter ball gun” into a crowd marching in support of Palestinians in Eugene, Oregon, on Oct. 21. Protesters drew weapons in response and the Eugene Police Department (EPD) stepped in to disarm and de-escalate the tense situation. According to EPD, approximately 200 protesters gathered near the Federal Courthouse on Oct. 21 for a “Free Palestine Rally.” Participants carried signs with messages that called for a “ceasefire now” and urged President Joe Biden to stop “funding genocide.” At about 3:15 p.m., the group began to march. The...

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) fired back at Donald Trump on Wednesday, calling him “a hot mess” after the former president took a jab at Christie’s weight. “I mean, look at him. He’s — I mean he’s such a hot mess. And he’s like, talking to me about what I look like — take a look at him,” Christie said, responding to a question from NewsNation while in New Hampshire. NewsNation’s parent company is Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill. “What I know because I’ve known him for 22 years, is I am so in his...

The woman behind the shocking 'that motherf***er back there is not real' airplane meltdown has been unmasked as a 38-year-old Dallas marketing executive. Tiffany Gomas became erratic over an argument with the relatives she was traveling with The Dallas resident had accused her relatives of stealing her Airpods, per a police report. The July 2 viral incident happened on Flight 1009 from Fort Worth to Orlando, Florida. After she claimed her relatives had stolen her AirPods, Gomas began to say the airplane was not safe and would not make it to its destination. Official documents say she was not willing...

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took to Twitter on Tuesday to blast "MAGA Republicans" for the recent summer heat wave hitting communities nationwide. Clinton's social media post came in response to a tweet from left-wing think tank Center for American Progress which stated "MAGA Republicans are pouring fuel on the climate crisis fire." The post included an image of recent media stories highlighting the recent spate of high temperatures in the U.S. and noted Republicans voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats' $739 billion climate package — which President Biden signed into law in 2022. "Hot enough for you?...

A jury found that a McDonald's in Florida and its franchise owner are liable after a hot Chicken McNugget led to second-degree burns on a girl after it fell from a Happy Meal and landed on her leg. A split jury determined last Thursday that the franchise owner of the McDonald's in Tamarac was negligent and that McDonald's USA failed to warn customers about the heat risk of its food, according to the Sun Sentinel. McDonald's USA was not found to be negligent, and the jury dismissed the argument that the Chicken McNuggets were defective. Holmes said her daughter began...

A Pennsylvania javelin coach was charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy she coached and told authorities she was romantically involved with, according to prosecutors.

Former Rep. of Hawaii Tulsi Gabbard, once considered a presidential hopeful in the Democratic party, has served in the House from 2013 to 2021 and as the vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013-2016. She is a combat veteran with deployments to the middle east and Africa and is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve. Gabbard has been changing her outlook on the Democratic Party, appearing frequently on Fox News as a political commentator and pointing out the policies that she sees flawed. Her views recently soared to the right as she made a big change in her...

President Joe Biden on Wednesday was caught on a hot mic while visiting Fort Myers Beach, Florida, telling a local mayor that “no one ***** with a Biden.” “Keep the faith,” Biden said as he approached the mayor after speaking to reporters. “And by the way, you’re raised the same way I was. No one ***** with a Biden.”

A Tesla Megapack battery caught fire this morning at the local utility company PG&E’s Elkhorn Battery Storage facility in Monterey County, California, as reported by local news stations KSBW Action News 8 and KRON4.Now there’s an alert from Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, North County Fire Protection District, and Pacific Gas & Electric issuing a shelter-in-place advisory for nearby areas, complete with an interactive map showing which areas are affected and road closures.The fire started at around 1:30AM this morning, according to PG&E’s operations comm manager, Jeff Smith. Smith tells The Verge that PG&E is working with fire and emergency services...

Beautiful weather lasts through the weekend, warm and sunny with low humidity. There's a chance of storms by Monday evening but the next ten days are trending dry. The story for the middle of next week and beyond is the return of the heat and humidity. Highs in the mid-90s look likely next Wednesday and Thursday. Tonight: Mostly clear. Low 57. Saturday: Sunny. High 83. Sunday: Mostly sunny. High 84. Monday: PM T-storms. High 86.

Today I am risking being too glib, but my excuse is aspiring to meet the Einstein standard, “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” It’s not hard to see that as rough as economic conditions are now, they are set to get worse. And it’s not hard to see that despite the considerable blowback from the sanctions against Russia, the West is not going to relent. Here’s a simple baseline forecast. Russia wins in Ukraine. The West may try to define it somehow as not a victory, but it’s hard to see how Russia does not take the...

Some landlords in Germany are rationing hot water and will turn down the heating as Europe's largest economy battles soaring energy costs due to reduced supplies of Russian natural gas. German real estate company, Vonovia, said it would lower tenants' heating during the night to cut costs. In a statement sent to Insider, the company said the move was designed to "save as much gas as possible," adding that reducing temperatures between 11pm and 6am would reduce heating costs by about 8%. Some tenants in Dippoldiswalde, Saxony, will only be able to take a hot shower between 4am and 8am,...

An investigation by Wisconsin citizens uncovers information about a former Facebook developer secretly working to develop an app to track voters and ballots in Wisconsin. A group of patriots who call themselves ‘Wisconsin HOT’ uncovered another major scandal in Wisconsin. A Racine Clerk worked with a former Facebook employee to create an app to track votes in real-time before the 2020 election. The former Facebook employee was Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein. Rubenstein asked to get into ‘WisVote’ per an email obtained by Wisconsin HOT. H.O.T. tells us that in September of 2021 HOT received part of a records request from the City...