Free Republic

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a wrong-way driver caused a crash on Interstate 95 Friday night before she carjacked a FedEx truck, crashed it downtown and jumped into the St. Johns River.

Caitlyn Jenner is a conservative. We know this. We’ve heard it on a few different occasions and it doesn’t look like she’s backing down on it, even though it alienated her from some Democrats and many Republicans still don’t like her. Jenner really doesn’t care. She sticks by her convictions, which is generally admirable, but is a little confusing for people who have heard her idols speak about the trans* community. Ben Carson isn’t overly kind to them. Neither is Mike Huckabee. Among the most flippant is Ted Cruz, who has expressed a negative opinion of the LGBTQ+ community on...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti apparently doesn’t think Bruce Jenner has won enough laurels in his heroic struggle against biology, so the mayor is recommending that Jenner headline an event with a wee bit more visibility than his foundering E! Channel reality series. According to TMZ: If L.A. gets the Olympics in 2024, the Mayor says he already has one person in mind for the all-important lighting of the Olympic Cauldron ... Olympic legend Caitlyn Jenner!!! The lighting of the cauldron is a HUGE honor – with the host country usually selecting someone it feels can proudly embody what the...

Tank Biathlon World Championship kicks off outside Moscow. Teams from Angola, Armenia, Belarus, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mongolia, Russia, Serbia and Venezuela are participating in the competition.

SOCHI, Russia — Ukraine's victory in the women's biathlon relay was the standout moment of the Sochi Olympics, a powerful symbol of unity during the country's bloody political crisis, IOC President Thomas Bach said Saturday. In an interview with The Associated Press, Bach praised Ukraine's athletes for staying in Sochi to compete for their country despite the violence and turmoil that has left scores dead back home. "In this moment, mourning on the one hand, but knowing what really is going on in your country, seeing your capital burning, and feeling this responsibility, and then winning the gold medal, this...

AN ONLINE gay dating service CRASHED seconds after the first Olympic athletes touched down last week due to massive increase in demand. The mobile phone app - Grindr - lets gay men zero in on potential partners nearby using GPRS in their phones. Experts on the site believe the arrival of the Olympic teams on Monday sparked a flood of new customers - and crashed the service in East London. One frustrated Londoner said: "It happened almost as soon as the teams got here. Either loads of athletes were logging on to meet fellow Olympians or were looking to...

Sweden's Helena Ekholm won the gold in the women's 15km at the biathlon world championships in Khanty Mansiysk in Russia on Wednesday. Ekholm claimed her third world title with a flawless round ahead of two outsiders - Germany's Tina Bachmann at 2min 15.8sec and Ukrainian Vita Semerenko third at 2:52.1sec. "Today I knew that the shoot would be decisive. It was an incredible relief when the the last target fell," the 26-year-old said after her win. Conditions were tough for the biathlon athletes; as a storm raging in the Russian town it was unclear in the morning if the event...

The Russian team saw their chances in the women's relay at the Biathlon World Championships melt into the snow when one athlete's rifle refused to fire. Now the disappointed Russians are dumping their German-made rifles in favor of trusty Russian weapons.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2006 -- On Jan. 17, 2005, Army Cpl. Derrick Harden’s world seemed to come to a screeching halt in Ramadi, Iraq. “I was blown up by a car bomb, and then shot in the left arm and left leg,” Harden said. Just four months later, he was paddling a kayak for the first time as he recovered at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here. “It’s fun,” he said. “It’s good therapy. It’s pretty easy to learn.” Then, just six months after he checked into Walter Reed, Harden was involved in a horrible traffic accident. “I shattered...

Ishmouratova wins gold, favorites fizzles Posted: Feb.13, 2006, 7:07 am CST; Updated: Feb.13, 2006, 11:34 am CST CESANA, Italy (AP) -- One by one, the German favorites fizzled on the windy course. The Russians took advantage and nearly swept the medals at the 15k individual biathlon. Eric Feferberg/Getty ImagesSvetlana Ishmouratova of Russia was the suprise winner of the women's 15km. Svetlana Ishmouratova capitalized on missed shots by the bigger names Monday, winning in a time of 49 minutes, 24.1 seconds, and her Russian teammate Olga Pyleva was second. Their partner on the bronze medal-winning relay team in Salt Lake City,...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ – In a significant retreat from U.S. efforts to seize weapons held by Iraqi citizens, U.S. and British officials said Saturday that Iraqis would be allowed to keep AK-47 assault rifles in their homes and businesses.