Free Republic

Trump supporters are pushing for a 'MAGA moat' around Mar-a-Lago to prevent the former president from being arrested as they demand that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defy New York authorities and refuse to extradite Trump. The ex-president had claimed on his Truth Social platform that he will likely be arrested on Tuesday on criminal charges related to payments he made to porn star Stormy Daniels. He even urged his supporters to 'protest, protest, protest' as he raged online about the legal case, causing many to show up at his Florida estate with signs, banners and even their own boats. Now,...

Sara was fed up. The New York City social worker, who declined to give her last name, had had countless dates cancel on her at the last minute. So, when a man she met on an app recently pulled out of their date an hour beforehand, she agreed to reschedule with one caveat: He would Venmo her a $50 deposit. “I’m just done with my time and energy being wasted,” Sara told The Post. “In almost every other scenario, when someone books a time of their day dedicated to you, they have a no-show policy or security deposit.” The man...

Well, it may be time to deploy the military to Seattle after all because what local lawmakers are doing is nothing short of allowing the city to be engulfed in violence and anarchy. They’re moving to abolish the police. It’s not defunding. It’s a total dissolution. Non-profit programs and “community-led activities” will replace policing. Why? Well, according to the resolution, the Seattle Police Department perpetuates racism and violence. Oh, yes, and it’s a vehicle of white supremacy. It's typical 'woke' nonsense

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — KCBS has learned that Saint Mary’s Cathedral, the principal church of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, has installed a watering system to keep the homeless from sleeping in the cathedral’s doorways. The cathedral, at Geary and Gough, is the home church of the Archbishop. There are four tall side doors, with sheltered alcoves, that attract homeless people at night. “They actually have signs in there that say, ‘No Trespassing,’” said a homeless man named Robert. But there are no signs warning the homeless about what happens in these doorways, at various times, all through the night....

Viruses preserved in ancient samples provide valuable information about viral diversity from long ago; they help us trace how today's species evolved and study their biology. However, it is not easy to recreate ancient viruses. Even when they are preserved in ancient specimens, they are somewhat degraded and their concentrations are low. Now, a new study led by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), shows how it is possible, using modern techniques in the field of molecular genetics, to recreate ancient viruses from cryogenically preserved materials

LANSING (WWJ) - Could this mean the end of welfare as we know it? A bill has passed in the Michigan Senate that would require those receiving public assistance to do some “volunteer” work. Another bill, which passed the House Commerce Committee, requires drug testing, revoking benefits for welfare recipients who refuse the test or who test positive. “What [the legislation] does, it says, in order for your to receive your cash assistance, your welfare check, you must provide some kind of community service to the community,” said the volunteer work bill’s sponsor, State Senator Joe Hune, who represents Livingston...

CAIRO (AP) - Egyptian authorities are considering disbanding the Muslim Brotherhood group, a government spokesman said Saturday, once again outlawing a group that held the pinnacle of government power just more than a month earlier. The announcement comes after security forces broke up two sit-in protests this week by those calling for the reinstatement of President Mohammed Morsi, a Brotherhood leader deposed in a July 3 coup. The clashes killed more than 600 people that day and sparked protests and violence that killed 173 people Friday alone. Cabinet spokesman Sherif Shawki said that Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi, who leads the...

Paul "Skip" Stam, a Republican state lawmaker from North Carolina, is taking some heat for his proposal to ban people on welfare from buying lottery tickets. His bill also proposes to drop "Education" from "N.C. Education Lottery" ads because profits fund many government expenses unrelated to education. Moreover, the state shouldn't use "education" to promote "something that is essentially a scam," he said. It's good to know Connecticut wasn't the only state duped into creating a lottery "for the children" only to see the proceeds diverted for a plethora of political, non-educational purposes. Enforcing Rep. Stam's ban would be problematic,...

An elaborate modeling of housing prices and traffic congestion in cities across the US concludes that financing roads with comprehensive congestion priced tolls rather than taxes rather would provide major benefits in reducing housing prices and sub-optimal densities - 'sprawl' - as well as reducing the familiar delays and uncertain travel times. Moving to tolls or other direct road use charges will significantly improve overall welfare, economic efficiency and standards of living, the study says. Authors are Ashley Langer University of California Berkeley and Clifford Winston, Brookings Institution. The study is reported in Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs 2008. ......

I have been very good about this lately too. When you go to post a story use the "Search" button and put one of the key words from the stories title in the textobx and select "Titles" in the dropdown and then do the "Search". Odds are it's been posted cause' folks are quick around here. Lately, the same story is posted 4 to 6 times right out of the box with conversations going on in most of them. I'm just saying ....

QUICK VOTE Would you take your family to an Army-themed park? Yes No

MEXICO CITY - Born, educated, and married in Mexico City, this young, upper-middle class couple turned to one another one day and said, "Let's leave." "I could not picture the future or having kids in Mexico," says Maria Carral, a graphic designer. "We were both really tired of the insecurity, the traffic, the economic ups and downs.... We were ready to move on to a better life."Like so many Mexicans, Maria and her husband chose to move north - but in their case, that meant Canada, not the United States.For a small but growing number of Mexicans the promised land...

How do prevent the stop-n-go jihad that is currently going on in London from happening here? Should we have an El Al if-you're-a-Muslim-you-don't-ride standard for our planes and trains? At the very least will those traveling on subways in this country have to carry their things in mesh, see-through carry bags like they do in many public high schools-- in reaction to Columbine-- in this Country? Clearly, their are many terror cells, native and foreign born , in this country. Monitoring mosques, forbidding muslims entry into certain engineering programs at our universities, massive deportations of problem muslims and ,gasp, a...

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said today that it is working with leaders of the Colorado Muslim community to set up a meeting with Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) over his recent remarks....'snip'CAIR said local and national Republican leaders should repudiate the congressman's remarks and Tancredo himself should apologize immediately to the people of Colorado and the American Muslim community. The Washington-based council asked Muslims and other people of conscience to contact the Republican Party to ask for an apology and repudiation of the offensive statements.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Islamic leaders and peace groups are criticizing the California National Guard (search) for a flier posted in its headquarters suggesting the United States execute Islamic terrorists with bullets dipped in pig's blood to deny them entry to heaven.

Employers have recently tried every carrot they can think of — including cash incentives and iPods — to persuade employees to quit smoking. Now some are trying the stick. Pointing to rising health costs and the oversized proportion of insurance claims attributed to smokers, some employers in California and around the country are refusing to hire applicants who smoke and, sometimes, firing employees who refuse to quit. "Employers are realizing the majority of health costs are spent on a small minority of workers," says Bill Whitmer, chief executive of the Health Enhancement Research Organization, an employer and healthcare coalition in...

The Supreme Court gave police broader search powers Monday during traffic stops, ruling that drug-sniffing dogs can be used to check out motorists even if officers have no reason to suspect they may be carrying narcotics. In a 6-2 decision, the court sided with Illinois police who stopped Roy Caballes in 1998 along Interstate 80 for driving 6 miles over the speed limit. Although Caballes lawfully produced his driver's license, troopers brought over a drug dog after Caballes seemed nervous. Caballes argued the Fourth Amendment protects motorists from searches such as dog sniffing, but Justice John Paul Stevens disagreed, reasoning...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) intends to provide new coverage allowing certain Medicare beneficiaries who smoke to receive counseling services that will help them quit the habit. "We're building on our efforts to help America's seniors help themselves to quit smoking and live longer," Secretary Thompson said. "This new benefit, focused on treating seniors' smoking related diseases, will go a long way toward reducing their risk of dying prematurely. The combination of lives lost, unnecessarily, and the cost of treating smoking-related diseases makes our...

Australian smokers will soon have to look at the picture of a cancer-ridden lung or a gangrenous foot missing toes each time they light up. Following a trend pioneered by Canada, the government said it wants cigarette companies to put graphic pictures and warnings on 30 percent of the front of each pack and 90 percent of the back. One gruesome photo shows a color cross-section of a diseased lung. Another shows a blackened foot missing a toe and the rest twisted. "Smoking causes peripheral vascular disease," it reads. A third shows a dissected, bloodied brain with the caption, "Smoking...

I got this in an email today, so it's a vanity post. I don't know if this was posted in another form already or not, but I thought it was worth another read even if it has been posted before. THE "ROBIN WILLIAMS" PEACE PLAN I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's one plan. 1. The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Noriega, Milosovich and the rest of those good ol' boys:...