Free Republic

The feline uprising is upon us, and to be fair, it's about damn time. Our cat companions have suffered for too long at the hands of the internet, as we rush to monetize their every move. Have you ever stopped and considered the fact that maybe they don't want to be internet famous? While we continue to ignore their right to privacy, cats across the nation are rising up against their owners to say: We're mad as hell, and we're not gonna take it anymore, and also, meow, please give us more dry food. Earlier this year, a 20-pound cat...

San Diego is home to the second largest Iraqi Christian community in America. Late last July over 1,000 people from this community gathered near the El Cajon Civic Center to express their alarm regarding the recent persecution of Iraqi Christians in Iraq. In portion of Iraq that has historically had a comparatively large Christian presence, the ISIS invasion of Iraq has radically changed these demographics. ISIS is an Islamic, jihadist terrorist group. Their ultimate goal is to establish a caliphate (Islamic state) in the Middle East. They follow a hard line extremist philosophy that is totally intolerant of any western...

Medical marijuana smokers in San Diego say the city has forced their pot shops to locate in remote areas and that means the drives to and from will increase air pollution — and ultimately, harm their lungs. The Union of Medical Marijuana Patients has filed a lawsuit, saying the city is violating the California Environmental Quality Act, United Press International reported. The suit names as defendants the Coastal Commission and the city of San Diego and claims the zoning laws put in place for marijuana dispensaries means patients have to actually get in their cars to drive to the remote...

ver the last four years, I have lived with the constant threat from a stalker – a stalker who is now in jail for the third time for violating a restraining order. Every day I live with these questions: What if today is the day that my stalker posts bail? What if today is the day that he discovers my parents’ new address? What if I go to a lecture on campus and he shows up there? I feel that I have no control over my life. My family was forced to move. I have had stay indoors, keep drapes...

A 20-year-old Dartmouth student says she may have to give up her Ivy League dream and drop out of school because the prestigious college won't allow her to carry a gun—to protect herself against a predator. Taylor Woolrich, a junior, says Dartmouth administrators told her they won’t let her carry a gun on campus, even though she lives in fear of a man who has been stalking her since she was a high school student in San Diego. “It’s absolutely unfair,” Woolrich said about her attempts to have the school make an exception to its weapons ban. “It’s one of...

(SAN DIEGO) -- The companies manufacturing an experimental drug treating two American Ebola patients aren't among the largest multinational pharmaceuticals in the world. In fact, leading the effort is a small nine-employee firm in San Diego. Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., founded in 2003, says on its website that it develops, "novel pharmaceuticals for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, focusing on unmet needs in global health and biodefense." Mapp's commercialization arm is LeafBio Inc., which has no employees and just two owners, Mapp President Larry Zeitlin tells ABC News. Mapp, along with LeafBio and Defyrus Inc. in Toronto, Canada, collaborated...

An experimental serum given to Christian aid workers infected with the deadly Ebola virus was manufactured by a San Diego pharmaceutical firm using plants, the company and U.S. health authorities disclosed Monday. As Dr. Kent Brantly fights for his life in a special containment unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, and missionary Nancy Writebol prepares to be evacuated from Liberia on Tuesday, details began to emerge about a mysterious treatment they were given shortly after they became infected. The drug, which was produced by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., is called ZMapp and has not been evaluated for safety in humans,...

A 29-year-old cosplay photographer was arrested Sunday morning at the San Diego Marriott Marquis and Marina hotel in connection with the discovery of a bloodied and unconscious 17-year-old cosplayer in town for San Diego Comic-Con. Justin Kalior was arrested early Sunday morning, July 27, in the hotel at 333 West Harbor Drive, police told Polygon. He was booked into San Diego County Jail later that day on charges of sexual contact with a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to a police press release. Kalior was not charged with assault and police have not clarified if...

A 6-day black rhino was already seen trotting around the exhibit on Friday morning -- in adorable fashion. The baby rhino alternated between staying close to his mother and running and exploring the exhibit. Mom Lembe showed her protection of the calf by keeping her tail pointed up, a cue that lets her baby know she’s on high alert and watching him. The male calf, born on July 12, was a significant birth for the San Diego Zoo, as black rhinos are critically endangered species and only 5,000 are left in the wild because of poaching. A news release Friday...

Weeks after an apparent case of politically motivated Internet censorship at a Connecticut high school, officials are still blaming the incident on technical malfunctions — even though evidence suggests human culpability. On May 27, shortly before his graduation, Andrew Lampart, an 18-year-old senior at Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury, Conn., set out to research gun control on a school computer in order to fulfill an assignment for a basic law course. He found that the website for the National Rifle Association was blocked, while websites supporting gun control remained accessible. Over the next five days, Lampart spent more time on...

A Mexican federal judge ordered Andrew Tahmooressi back to prison after the U.S. Marine sergeant made his first official courtroom appearance since being locked up March 31 for accidentally crossing the border with guns in his pickup truck. The 26-year-old veteran of two tours in Afghanistan was finally able to tell his story to a judge, after his case had been delayed by both Mexico's unpredictable legal system and his own trouble settling on a lawyer. It was not immediately clear what Tahmooressi said at the evidentiary hearing, which was closed to the public.

A chartered airplane carrying another round of undocumented immigrant women and children landed in San Diego on the 4th of July. The plane arrived just before 7 p.m. The undocumented families and children from Central American were flown from Texas to San Diego for processing as part of a federal government plant to address the nation’s border crisis.

America's border crisis reached Main Street, as flag-waving protesters in a San Diego suburb turned back three busloads of illegal immigrants after the town's mayor warned Tuesday that federal officials were using the community as a safety valve for facilities swamped by a tide of Central American refugees. Fears of disease, crime and already-strained government services prompted Murrieta, Calif., Mayor Alan Long to rally residents against plans by the Department of Homeland Security to bus the children and families to a processing center in the city of 106,000 residents. Confronted by the protests, the buses were rerouted to San Diego.

A San Diego County Shriner group is seeking $20 million from the federal government, claiming it is responsible for the destructive brush fire that burned their Mount Laguna camp last July. The Al Bahr Shriners filed a complaint against the Bureau of Land Management Friday to recoup losses caused by the Chariot Fire. That blaze scorched 7,055 acres and destroyed or damaged 150 structures at the Al Bahr Shrine Camp, which included an 87-year-old lodge, two dormitories, five rental cabins and a dining hall, the complaint says. Last month, Cal Fire announced investigators had determined the cause of the Chariot...

Should San Diego match Seattle's $15 per hour minimum wage? Poll here

These cases, caused by nontuberculous Mycobacterium (NTM), are the first of this kind reported in San Diego Two San Diego residents who recently got tattoos were diagnosed with infections caused by a family of bacteria called nontuberculous Mycobacterium (NTM) – the first cases of this kind detected in San Diego, according to county health officials. The County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) said both San Diegans required medical care due to their infections. NTM has been found IN contaminated tattoo ink and in the water used to dilute ink to create gray areas of a tattoo. Contamination can also...

A wildfire roaring through Southern California has forced evacuation orders for more than 20,000 homes, but so far none have burned. San Diego's Emergency Operations Center says most of the homes are in the city and northern San Diego County.

Above: Afghanistan combat veteran Andrew Tahmooressi- by Brian Hayes | Top Right NewsSo our last report saw Mexican troops invading our borders -- even drawing weapons on our agents on U.S. soil -- and facing absolutely no consequences by the Obama Adminstration. But let one American make a wrong turn into Mexico -- and there will be hell to pay. That's exactly what happened to a U.S. Marine veteran last month, after he accidentally drove into Mexico with three legally owned guns in his truck. And he has been rotting in a brutal Mexican jail in Tijuana ever since.California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter...

Boys hurt by razor blades planted in park SAN DIEGO – More than a dozen razors were discovered planted in the grass at a children’s playground near Mission Bay after two brothers slashed their feet Wednesday, police said. San Diego police received a call from a parent around 7 p.m. stating that her sons, ages 7 and 15, were cut by razors at Bonita Cove in Mission Bay Drive. One boy suffered minor injures that required stitches. “Paramedics were able to pull the razor blade out [of the 7-year-old boy’s foot],” SDPD Lt. Paul Phillips said. Investigators using metal detectors...

Let's pretend you're a screenwriter assigned to develop a character to run for Congress in California in 2014. You need a compelling story, so you make him an orphan at 13 – wait, even better his dad leaves the family two weeks before his mother died – and then social services splits up his brothers and sisters leaving him alone in the world. Despite those challenges he perseveres, putting himself through a top-tier college and then building and selling two multimillion-dollar companies. Thus financially secure, he decides to dedicate himself to public service and runs for City Council. n his...