Free Republic

In the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that curtailed states’ ability to prohibit so-called “conversion therapy” outright, Colorado lawmakers are advancing a bill to deter the practice through civil liability rather than direct bans. The proposal, House Bill 26-1322, would allow people who say they were subjected to conversion therapy to sue licensed mental health providers, as well as those who employ or supervise them, with no statute of limitations, according to the bill’s text. Lawmakers say that change reflects the reality that many survivors do not come forward until years, sometimes decades, after the harm. The...

President Trump hailed Charles as 'the greatest King' today as he left with Queen Camilla following a triumphant four-day State Visit. Their Majesties were welcomed back to the White House and bid a formal farewell to the US leader and First Lady Melania in the Diplomatic Reception Room after they spent the day in New York yesterday. Royal aides were said to be grinning like Cheshire Cats at the perceived 'triumph' of the visit. Especially after little more than an hour after Their Majesties left the White House, The President posted a remarkable message on his Truth Social media site,...

Police say one man has been taken into custodyPolice are investigating after two children were found deceased in a vehicle in northwest Calgary. At approximately 10 a.m. on Thursday, officers were called to the 4300 block of 14th Street N.W. Upon arrival, police located and searched a stopped vehicle. A man nearby was taken into custody. Staff Sgt. Darren Smith said the children are believed to be under the age of 10. The deaths are considered suspicious and the homicide unit is investigating, Smith said. "It was very shocking," Smith said. "This is very hard on our officers. Our officers...

The family of Freddy Ray Baca told authorities they "long feared what had happened to him,” although they never reported him missing. On Wednesday, those fears were confirmed. Remains found in 2023 “between two walls” in a building in Ruidoso Downs have been identified as Baca, who was 41 or 42 when he was last seen in 2018, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office announced in a news release. The sheriff’s office said the case is being investigated by the 12th Judicial District Major Crimes Unit. The release did not give a cause of death for Baca, and a call to...

U.S. President Donald Trump was reportedly to be briefed Thursday on plans for new military strikesIran said on Thursday it would respond with "long and painful strikes" on U.S. positions if Washington renewed attacks, and reasserted its control over the Strait of Hormuz, complicating U.S. plans for a coalition to reopen the waterway. Two months into the war that started with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, the vital sea channel of Hormuz remains closed, choking off 20 per cent of the world's supplies of oil and gas, an estimated one-third of world fertilizer supply and other resources that normally transit the...

Carr said at an FCC meeting that the investigation is connected to Disney's DEI practices, though commissioner Gomez told reporters Thursday that she believes it is a pretext.Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said Thursday that the commission’s move to call in Disney‘s broadcast licenses for an early renewal was not related to President Trump’s call for ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired. Instead, Carr said that the decision was sparked by an investigation launched over a year ago into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices, and that perceived lack of document production from Disney led to...

Attorney General Ken Paxton is touting a major win for gun owners after the Trump Department of Justice backed off defending a Biden-era rule that targeted private firearm sales. The move leaves in place a court injunction that blocks enforcement of the regulation in Texas and other plaintiff states while litigation continues. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ “engaged in the business” rule—pushed under the Biden administration—sought to dramatically expand who counts as a “dealer” under federal law. By redefining the term, the rule would have forced many ordinary gun owners who occasionally sell firearms to obtain a...

TACOMA, Wash. - At least five people were injured after a stabbing incident at Foss High School in Tacoma, Washington on Thursday afternoon. Officers responded to a call of a possible stabbing stemming from a fight, and found four students and a security guard injured. Police said it remains unclear whether all the victims were stabbed or hurt by other means, such as falling, and the extent of their injuries is not yet known, though they are believed to be non-life-threatening. All five victims were taken to a local hospital, where officers are working to gather updates. Authorities said it...

WASHINGTON — The lawyer for White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect Cole Allen gave an absurd reason why the CalTech grad should be allowed to walk free pending trial, claiming he was “not a danger to anybody” — despite charges that he attempted to assassinate President Trump. Defense attorneys claimed that Allen, 31, was not prepared to carry out a mass shooting in the room where Trump, first lady Melania, and most of the top members of the administration were in attendance, because he had a pump-action shotgun, his team wrote in papers Wednesday. “Mr. Allen has no criminal history...

California health officials are scrambling after tuberculosis exposures were confirmed at multiple schools as cases of the world’s deadliest infectious disease continue climbing across the state. Fresno County officials confirmed a cluster at Justin Garza High School, where one active infection was found, though authorities did not specify whether the case involved a student or staff, according to ABC30. Officials emphasized no one on campus is currently contagious, but 22 out of 169 people exposed have tested positive for the infection, though they show no symptoms yet. Health officials are teaming up with the school for contact tracing and testing,...

LABOUR is on course to lose almost 2,000 councillors in next week’s local elections — as Andy Burnham warns a post-poll “change of course” is needed. A devastating new forecast predicts the worst mid-term result for a governing party in three decades. Pollster Lord Robert Hayward says PM Sir Sir Keir Starmer will concede 1,850 seats in a nationwide thrashing. The party is also expected to lose power in Wales to Plaid Cymru for the first time in history, and fail to unseat the scandal-prone SNP from Holyrood. Reform is projected to be the biggest winner on May 7 by...

We were taught to think, (about the Dresden Firestorm on February 13 and February 15, 1945 with 10,000s deaths), "if they didn't want us to bomb them, they shouldn't have voted for Hitler." (But many of the victims were refugees, escaping from the Russians who were invading German-speaking eastern territories, innocent civilians who never could have voted for Hitler.) Only within the past decade did I change my mind and consider that our involvement in the Viet Nam war might have been unjustified. But now we're friendly with them. (I live in Sacramento, where a section of the City is...

Social media giant Meta is threatening to shut down access to Facebook, Instagram, and even WhatsApp in New Mexico if a judge orders the company to implement sweeping child-safety mandates sought by Attorney General Raúl Torrez. The warning comes ahead of a bench trial beginning Monday in Santa Fe, where the New Mexico Department of Justice will seek court-ordered reforms to Meta’s platforms after previously securing a $375 million jury verdict against the company for violating the state’s consumer protection laws. According to newly unsealed court filings first reported by Source New Mexico and expanded upon by The Verge, Meta...

Iran’s severely injured supreme leader remained defiant Thursday as he vowed to protect the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and missile capabilities — warning that America’s only place in the Gulf was “at the bottom of its waters.” Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to be seen since becoming the supreme leader following his father’s death, issued another statement via state media rejecting President Trump’s peace terms and the American naval blockade on Iran’s ports. “Ninety million proud and honorable Iranians inside and outside the country regard all of Iran’s identity-based, spiritual, human, scientific, industrial and technological capacities — from nanotechnology and...

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Thursday that other states should redraw their congressional maps in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that Louisiana’s addition of a second majority-Black congressional district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. “The Supreme Court said that in Louisiana’s case, it was blatantly unconstitutional,” Johnson told CNN’s Manu Raju in the Capitol. “And I think that principle applies, probably, in other states as well. And I assume that those governors and legislatures are looking at that closely. We want constitutional maps.”

President Trump has reportedly told his aides to prepare for a prolonged US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical waterway for global energy flows. On Wednesday, the president told Axios he is maintaining the blockade until Iran agrees to a deal over its nuclear program. The pressure campaign carries mounting costs beyond Iran. While the near-total cessation of flows through the key waterway is cutting off hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for Tehran, it’s also choking key corners of the global market. By extending the blockade, Trump is wagering that Iran’s export-dependent economy will...

McDonnell told the council the LAPD is facing a massive funding problem for the 2028 Olympic Games. He warns that without specific city funding, the department will be stretched past its limits to protect both visitors and locals. “The $1 billion budget is for all agencies involved in the Olympics, not just the LAPD, and will be restricted primarily to police officer overtime,” McDonnell said. “LA28 confirmed that they have zero police or public safety budget. And while they do have a security budget, it doesn’t cover law enforcement.” LA28 told KTLA it’s grateful for the $1 billion from Congress,...

The quartet were missing the warmth of Los Angeles, but turned that into a gold-certified classic.By the spring of 1966, the Mamas and the Papas were big news in the United States. They’d gone Top 5 with “California Dreamin’’’, released the previous December 8, and were climbing fast with the follow-up, ‘Monday, Monday.’ That was on its way to a three-week stint at No.1 in the US when, on the chart for April 28, the vocal quartet appeared on a British chart for the first time. If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears LP If You Can Believe...

May 5th - Indiana, Ohio May 12th - Nebraska, West Virginia May 16th - Louisiana - Postponed to discuss redistricting May 19th - Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania

Democrat congressman claimed Wednesday that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has committed the “exact same” kind of war crimes that led to the Nuremburg trials and executions of Nazi submarine captains following World War II. During an appearance on CNN, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) attempted to revive the Democrats’ “double tap” hoax that fizzled out last December, telling host Erin Burnett that Hegseth is “absolutely” guilty of war crimes. “I mean, he’s clearly behind the operation to shoot all these boats in the Caribbean when it’s very unclear that we actually have any confirmation that these so-called narco terrorists, a...