Free Republic

New technologies that will make monitoring drivers' behavior easy and comprehensive … will soon also be mandatory.H.R. 3684, an “infrastructure” bill signed by Joe Biden in 2021 included a provision mandating expanded monitoring of folks as they drive an automobile. And henceforth the intrusive technologies will be required in all new vehicles being manufactured and sold in the U.S.New vehicles will be required to have passive monitoring systems to assess each driver’s behavior. An algorithm will determine if the driver is too impaired to operate the vehicle. If so, the vehicle will either be disabled, or some as yet unexplained...

The Biden administration finalized its much-anticipated Title IX rules Friday morning, overturning much of the Trump-era rules and expanding the definition of sex to include transgender identities. The new rules only pertain to the sexual harassment and discrimination portions of Title IX, while an open rulemaking process is set to address issues with transgender participation in sports. The sports rules are not likely to be finalized until after the 2024 election. Much of the redefinition of sex is fueled by the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, where Justice Neil Gorsuch applied an expansive claimed gender identity framework...

BREAKING: Speaker Mike Johnson just inexcusably voted against the American people and his voters by casting the tie-breaking vote 212-212 to defeat a FISA 702 amendment requiring a warrant to spy on Americans. This is how the Constitution dies. Brought to you by the House GOP.

A government-funded database, led by the University of Maryland and ostensibly established to track “radicalization,” is targeting a major pro-life group as “terrorists.” Students for Life of America (SFLA), which has 1,400 chapters at campuses across the country, “appears under a ‘Terrorist Group’ label in the raw dataset,” according to a Monday article in The College Fix. The database, called the “Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States” (PIRUS), was funded in part by grants from the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for the Study of Terrorism and Behavior (CSTAB). According to the project’s...

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) pursuit of pro-life activists has resulted in four more Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act convictions. Four people — Eva Edl, 87, of Aiken South Carolina; Eva Zastrow, 24, of Dover, Arkansas; James Zastrow, 25, of Eldon, Missouri; and Paul Place, 24, of Centerville, Tennessee — were found guilty on Tuesday of violating the FACE Act during a peaceful protest at a Tennessee abortion clinic in 2021, the Daily Wire reported. The activists face up to a year in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. They await sentencing on July 30. Six...

Paul Sperry @paulsperry_ BREAKING: Biden is mandating Americans reentering US give CDC contact tracing info or face "criminal penalties," even though CDC's COVID health emergency expired May 2023

Poland’s new government is moving to limit freedom of speech and actively penalize so-called hate speech, a move that has been associated with stifling dissent and limiting opposition to issues surrounding mass immigration, religion, and LGBT issues in other European countries. ... Deputy Minister Śmiszek announced this week legislative changes to introduce criminal responsibility for what his party considers hate speech against homosexuals. --- "The time has come to ban disgusting, homophobic, discriminatory statements in the public sphere,” declared Śmiszek, who is openly homosexual. Meanwhile, the European Parliament is calling on EU leaders to include incitement to hatred and hate...

The globalist’s plan to desolate American farmland is well underway as Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency advances its plot to bankrupt food processing facilities across America as part of its plan to implement “synthetic food.” Under the guise of achieving “Net Zero,” farmers across America and the world are facing complete financial ruin as millions of acres of farmland are bought up, while thousands of food processing plants are put out of business to fight “climate change.

The Biden administration has finalized a slate of highly-anticipated environmental regulations curbing gas-powered vehicle tailpipe emissions as part of its broader efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat global warming. In a joint announcement Wednesday, the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled the most aggressive multi-pollutant emission standards ever finalized.

A Christian school in Maine must adhere to the state's LGBT antidiscrimination policy to qualify for a state tuition assistance program while the lawsuit against the state continues, a federal judge has ruled.U.S. District Judge John Woodcock, a George W. Bush appointee, denied a preliminary injunction Tuesday requested by Bangor Christian Schools run by Crosspoint Church, concluding that the church's lawsuit against assorted state officials is not likely to succeed.He ruled that Bangor Christian Schools must follow all the Maine Human Rights Act provisions."The Court determines that the educational antidiscrimination provisions do not violate the Free Exercise Clause because they...

The Biden administration is poised to soon finalize gas-powered car tailpipe emissions standards that consumer advocates and energy industry groups have dubbed a "de facto electric vehicle mandate." The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed tailpipe emissions – which were in recent weeks submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for final review – are designed to ensure a staggering 67% of new car sales are electric by 2032. Over the weekend, the New York Times and Washington Post reported the White House is set to double down on that lofty goal while loosening earlier targets. "The President...

Wyomingites wanting to just grab a couple of friends and go target shooting could potentially be breaking the law if a federal bill introduced by a Massachusetts senator passes. The Preventing Private Paramilitary Act of 2024 could potentially be used to ban just about any gun-related activity, Cody firearms instructor Bill Tallen told Cowboy State Daily. “It would shut down even any three individuals going to the gun range to practice with firearms,” he said. The bill, U.S. Senate File 3589, was introduced last month by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts. The bill’s stated intent is curb or prevent the formation...

A strongly worded letter from the Department of Homeland Security to the State of Texas demands access to the U.S.-Mexico border on land seized by the State in Eagle Pass. DHS officials ordered the State to cease and desist its efforts to block Border Patrol’s access in and around Shelby Park “and remove all barriers to access” by the end of the day on January 17.

Biden administration warns it will take action if Texas does not stop blocking federal agents from U.S. border area. ... If the Texas National Guard does not heed the Biden administration's demand and cease its efforts to block Border Patrol's access to a public park in the border town of Eagle Pass, the Department of Homeland Security will refer the matter to the Justice Department and explore other options, Jonathan Meyer, the top lawyer at DHS, warned in his letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Hospitals across the U.S. are reinstating COVID-19 mask mandates as the JN.1 variant becomes the dominant strain spreading throughout the country. Hospitals in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Washington D.C. have all brought back divisive rules meaning masks are mandatory for selected people in medical settings. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control has recorded a 10.4 percent increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations across America in the week leading up to December 16. There has been an increase of 3.4 percent in deaths related to coronavirus in the same period. Newsweek has contacted the CDC for comment via email. Mask...

The Dukes of Hazzard star John Schneider is under investigation from the Secret Service after statements he made online Thursday against President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The federal agency charged with protecting POTUS, the Vice President and their immediate families, as well as major political candidates and high level government officials, have opened the probe, according to Deadline. As Breitbart News reported, Schneider called for the public execution of Biden, saying the commander in chief should to be “publicly hung” for treason. The actor also called for Hunter Biden to be executed.

On Thursday, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a high school teacher who was fired for refusing to use pronouns that didn’t match a student’s biological sex could have his lawsuit against the local school board reinstated. Peter Vlaming taught French in the West Point School District for seven years. A female student claiming to be male had a new preferred name. Vlaming used the new preferred name but simply avoided using the student’s preferred pronouns. The school demanded he use the student’s preferred pronouns, even when the student was not present. [snip] The Virginia Supreme Court agreed that the...

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) is pushing a ban on AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles in an upcoming 30-day legislative session in her state. The Santa Fe Reporter noted Grisham wants to do what Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) unsuccessfully attempted at the federal level. Heinrich, together with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), put forward the Gas-Operated Semiautomatic Firearms Exclusion Act (GOSAFE), and it went nowhere. Breitbart News reported the focus on the AR-15’s gas operation came some 64 years after the gun was designed to use spent gas from a shell casing to reset the bolt group and ready...

The gag order barring former President Donald Trump from speaking publicly about court staff in his New York civil fraud trial was reinstated by a state appeals court Thursday. Appellate Judge David Friedman earlier this month had temporarily lifted the limited gag order against Trump, 77, over concerns it was a violation of his constitutional right to free speech. But a four-judge panel with New York’s Appellate Division, First Department overturned Friedman’s ruling in a brief decision Thursday that didn’t provide any explanation. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron — who is overseeing the $250 million case against Trump —...

Happening Now: The New York Appellate Division has ruled in favor of Governor Kathy Hochul in a landmark case for government overreach. Rule 2.13: “Isolation and Quarantine Procedures” will give the state of New York the ability to come in your home and take you away to quarantine without any notice and for any virus or infection they deem necessary. You won’t have any option to fight it. No court date. Nothing. The rule has no age limit and they can keep you as long as they’d like. The rule also allows them to treat you as they see fit,...