Free Republic

A first-term member of the Squad and a rising star within the progressive coalition, Lee will go on to compete in the blue district in the general election, having withstood Edgewood Councilmember Bhavini Patel’s primary challenge. Lee was a top target this cycle of Democrats and Republicans alike looking to oust the left-wing congresswoman from her western Pennsylvania seat.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said his sons almost drowned after he had dinner with former President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida last fall, according to a new profile on Johnson by The Atlantic. The Speaker visited Palm Beach, Fla., the week of Thanksgiving for a fundraiser, and he and his sons had dinner with the former president while on the trip, according to The Atlantic. The following day, Johnson’s security detail came into a conference room when he was meeting with donors at a hotel near the beach and told him “Mr. Speaker, we need you right...

President Joe Biden suffered another gaffe during a speaking event as he tried to paint his opponent, former President Donald Trump, as untrustworthy. Biden, at 81 years old, the oldest president in American history, appeared before supporters at a community college in Tampa, one week before Florida bans abortions past six weeks. He called out Trump, his 2024 general election opponent, as the sole person responsible for the 'cruelty and chaos' that's occurred after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. However, when he did so, he accidentally asked: 'How many times does he have to prove we can't be trusted?'...

Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a new rule on Monday cracking down on prosecutors’ ability to obtain abortion records. The rule strengthens a 1996 privacy law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), by providing protections for those seeking an abortion, as well as those who perform the procedure, according to a HHS press release. The new provision takes aim at the various red states that have imposed abortion restrictions since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. “Many Americans are scared their private medical information will be being shared, misused, and disclosed...

The U.S. State Department is warning travelers about strict new laws in Turks and Caicos Islands that carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 years for bringing guns or ammunition to the island. An Oklahoma woman was reunited Tuesday with her young children after being detained for almost two weeks in Turks and Caicos Islands for allegedly violating their strict guns and ammunition law. Her husband is being held in the British Overseas Territory near the Bahamas. Ryan and Valerie Watson, who live in Oklahoma, left for Turks and Caicos Islands on April 7 to celebrate the 40th birthdays of...

State police arrest teen suspect after crash on expressway, victim saysAn elderly pizza delivery man said he was robbed and carjacked earlier this week on the city's Northwest Side. The 81-year-old victim, Ernie Aimone, said he was crossing the street Wednesday in the Jefferson Park neighborhood after delivering a pizza when he says a man walked up from behind, and the next thing he knew he was on the ground. He spoke exclusively with ABC7 on Friday about the attack. "They said, 'gimme the keys, gimme the keys,'" Aimone said. "And they sucker punched me from behind, hit me in...

A former shoemaker pleaded guilty Tuesday to allegations that he ran an illegal gambling operation for the Mafia out of his shop in Brooklyn. Salvatore Rubino, also known as “Sal the Shoemaker,” admitted in federal court in Brooklyn to running card games and operating illegal gambling machines inside his former shoe repair business and to kicking profits to the Genovese crime family. He pleaded guilty to gambling charges. Four co-defendants — Carmelo "Carmine" Polito, Joseph "Joe Fish" Macario, Joseph "Joe Box" Rutigliano and Mark Feuer — pleaded guilty earlier this month to charges including racketeering, attempted extortion and illegal gambling...

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon is concerned the US economy could be in for a repeat of the problems that hampered the country during the 1970s. "Yes, I think there’s a chance that can happen again," he said during an appearance Tuesday at the Economic Club of New York. The economy in that troubled decade was constrained by stagflation, a combination of low growth and high inflation, and Dimon said such a risk exists again.

In an effort to address a barrage of noise complaints, Milan is preparing to ban late-night snacks. This war on ice cream isn’t new, and does not sit well with many... The Italian city of Milan is proposing a new law to ban ice cream after midnight, in an effort to protect the "peace and health" of residents. A legislative starting paper has been filed by the city's local government. If passed, the new law could come into effect next month and last until November – something which local vendors will not be best pleased about, considering they are accustomed...

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) blasted conservative commentator Tucker Carlson on Tuesday for playing a leading role in demonizing the idea of sending military aid to Ukraine, saying the former Fox News host wound up “where he should have been all along” when he gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a megaphone during a fawning interview earlier this year. “I think the demonization of Ukraine began by Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, which was interviewing Vladimir Putin,” McConnell said, referring to Carlson’s two-hour interview with Putin in February, which drew...

Scientific American has published a piece claiming that “misinformation,” such as the notion that there are only two sexes, is “being used against transgender people” and in order to target “gender-affirming medical care.”The article states that there are three types of “misinformation,” and they are “oversimplifying scientific knowledge, fabricating and misinterpreting research, and promoting false equivalences.”Three types of misinformation are being used against transgender people: oversimplifying scientific knowledge, fabricating and misinterpreting research, and promoting false equivalences. https://t.co/1AOp6Bk6A2 — Scientific American (@sciam) April 20, 2024The piece asserts that “Many of the arguments against trans rights center on the idea that transness...

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said Monday that he was offended by President Biden's recent comments suggesting his uncle was eaten by cannibals in the Oceanic nation during World War II.

The first witness in Donald Trump's trial for alleged "criminal" bookkeeping errors came with National Enquirer-worthy titillations about what a hot commodity the former president was back in the day. Prosecutors thought they'd burst out of the gate with a little razzle-dazzle and T&A, hoping that jurors would believe the witness had anything to do with the actual charges in the case. This is because — spoiler alert — the prosecutors' actual case is a "confusing" distraction. It's the "Seinfeld" of legal cases. But since a Manhattan jury will likely convict the former president because Orange Man Bad, here's what...

“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.”—George Orwell, "Nineteen Eighty-Four"It is hard to find something good to say about America under the present administration. One thing you can say is that at least we are not Australia — at least not yet. Give Biden and his people four more years, and we should be right up there with the Land Down Under. I give it until November. Australia was roundly criticized for how it enforced its COVID-19 regulations on its people. Now, the Australian government has taken it upon...

My apologies if this comes off sounding a bit on the crude side, but has someone in the administration at Harvard finally started to "grow a pair?" Following months of protests and disruptions, Harvard finally suspended the student group Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC). The same group had already been placed on probation for their ongoing antics, but it never seemed to slow them down. In a letter to the group, the administration further warned them that if they continued to operate or inappropriately use campus spaces, the members would face expulsion and be banished from Harvard Yard. PSC...

S&P Global Ratings announced yesterday that it was changing its outlook on San Francisco's debt from stable to negative.The outlook on the city-county’s outstanding general obligation and appropriation debt was cut to negative from stable this week by the ratings company. The weakness in the city’s commercial real estate market and tourism activity were factors that drove the move, S&P said. Adding to the city’s burdens, San Francisco’s budget expenditures outpaced revenue growth in fiscal 2023.To be clear, the ratings agency hasn't downgraded the city's credit rating, which is still at "AAA," the highest possible. A downgrade in the credit...

A former winner of the Miss Israel beauty pageant was hit in the face with a sign during a pro-Palestinian protest in Times Square in March, according to police, and now the suspect is on the run. The incident occurred just after 5 p.m. near Broadway and West 46th Street on March 30, police said Tuesday. The woman, identified by police sources as 25-year-old Noa Cochva, was walking at the popular tourist destination when an unknown man started arguing with her. Cochva, who was crowned Miss Israel in 2021, was then hit in the face with a cardboard sign, law...

South Korea's shrinking pool of conscripts is causing concerns amid the growing threat from North Korea, prompting the military to mull options to effectively maintain combat readiness with limited resources. In South Korea, all able-bodied men must serve mandatory military service for at least 18 months, while women can volunteer for military duty as officers or non-commissioned officers. The number of military personnel has been on a steady decline over the past decades due to the country's persistently low birth rate, falling below 500,000 for the first time last year. South Korea's total fertility rate-- the number of children that...

ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden will be the commencement speaker at Morehouse College in Georgia, giving the Democrat a key spotlight on one of the nation’s preeminent historically Black campuses but potentially exposing him to uncomfortable protests as he seeks reelection against former President Donald Trump. The White House confirmed Tuesday that Biden would speak May 19 at the alma mater of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., and then address the graduating class at the United States Military Academy at West Point on May 25. The Morehouse announcement has drawn some backlash among the school’s faculty and...

Pagan ‘prayer’ to Zeus, Apollo offered at 2024 Olympics torch lighting ceremonyA ‘high priestess’ prayed to Zeus and Apollo at a Greek pagan temple during the Paris Olympics’ torch lighting ceremony earlier this month, prompting backlash from Christians online.OLYMPIA, Greece (LifeSiteNews) — In less than 100 days, the summer Olympics will kick off in Paris, which, like every leading global city, a growing number of non-Christian foreigners now call home. God forbid there should be a terrorist attack or a Catholic church that goes up in flames. Earlier this month, the games’ first ceremony, the torch lighting ritual, was held...