Free Republic

The first black woman to be elected mayor of Rochester, New York, on Monday completed her journey from groundbreaker to lawbreaker in a plea deal that requires her to resign by Dec. 1. Lovely Warren cut a plea deal that resolves election law charges against her as well as pending weapons and child endangerment charges that were not related to her job as mayor, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. The deal allowed Warren to escape with a misdemeanor conviction for knowingly violating campaign contribution limits in 2017. She could have faced a felony conviction if her election law...

Sen. Mitt Romney said Tuesday he planned to join the rest of his Republican colleagues in the Senate to filibuster a planned vote on raising the debt ceiling. “We’re not voting in any way to help raise the debt ceiling. As a group we are all together,” Romney told reporters.

As the deadline nears for Ochsner Health employees to get vaccinated or lose their jobs, the health system is also increasing pressure for employees' family members to get a shot. Ochsner, the state's largest health system, will now add a health insurance surcharge of $100 per pay period for employees with unvaccinated domestic partners or spouses who are covered under the system's benefits plan, according to a letter Ochsner leaders sent to employees. The “spousal COVID vaccine fee,” will begin in 2022 and could deduct up to $2,400 yearly from an employee’s bi-weekly paycheck. According to the letter, the fee...

Former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Tuesday on CNN’s “The Lead” that former President Donald Trump attempted a “coup” and she will cooperate with the January 6 congressional select committee. Grisham said, “There are citizens out there who don’t realize what a 2024 Donald Trump presidency can look like. And I’m just hoping against hope that I, by being completely honest, can help people just understand what the consequences could truly be.”

Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) political future may hinge on his “continued defense of the filibuster,” according to a poll released by Honest Election Project on Tuesday. A majority of Manchin’s supporters are against ending the filibuster, something far-left Democrats are keen on and have been pressuring both Manchin and fellow moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) to support. According to the poll, 56 percent of West Virginians (including 59 percent of Manchin supporters) would be less likely to support him for reelection if he votes to eliminate or weaken the filibuster.

Whispered first, then shouted from the dust and wreckage of that September morning in 2001 came the words that have become a mantra: Never forget. And in the two decades since the attacks of 9/11, there is much we never did forget: the deaths, the despair, the fire, the fear, the photographs of the missing. But this 20-year anniversary has revealed that there is, too, much we tragically, dangerously, lost track of along the way: our commitment to democracy; our dedication to the American ideal; our defense of the Enlightenment values of the West; and our devotion to their survival....

Jessica Berg Wilson’s obituary described the Seattle woman as “an exceptionally healthy and vibrant 37-year-old young mother with no underlying health conditions” who “died unexpectedly on Sep. 7 from COVID-19 Vaccine-Induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia (VITT).” The obituary on Legacy.com continued: “Jessica fully embraced motherhood, sharing her passion for life with her daughters. Jessica’s motherly commitment was intense, with unwavering determination to nurture her children to be confident, humble, responsible, and to have concern and compassion for others with high morals built on Faith.” “Jessica’s greatest passion was to be the best mother possible for Bridget and Clara. Nothing would stand...

Defenders of capitalism argue that it's conducive to creating wealth, encouraging innovation and promoting individual freedoms. Advocates for socialism counter that it reduces inequality and improves access to basic rights such as health and education. But what about the effects of these systems on sex? In her book, "Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism”, Prof. Kristen Ghodsee says socialist policies improve women’s economic independence... and their sex lives. Video at link.

Joe Oltmann: Now they want to murder people for not getting the vaccine. I think you need to share this and let them know what you think ... respectfully. 222 comments

The Premier has served up an ultimatum to tennis superstar Novak Djokovic to get vaccinated or miss out on January’s Australian Open. pic.twitter.com/Z3yAIOfLIe — Wittgenstein (@Kukicat7) October 5, 2021 20-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic will miss the Aussie Open if he doesn’t get Vaccinated. Djokovic has been vocal in his stance against mandatory Vaccination. Dan Andrews issues ultimatum: VIDEO AT LINK

Brian Laundrie used Gabby Petito’s bank card in Wyoming just three days after the slain 22-year-old Long Island native was last seen alive, her family’s lawyer said Tuesday. Petito was last spotted at a Wyoming restaurant on Aug 27, while Laundrie, 23, returned home alone in her van on Sept. 1 — and the boyfriend has since gone on the run from the feds. “You can look at his state of mind by his actions,” Petito family attorney Richard Stafford said on the “Dr. Phil” show on CBS-TV. “He ran, he stole her credit card, he used her credit card...

A Colorado-based health system says it is denying organ transplants to patients not vaccinated against the coronavirus in “almost all situations,” citing studies that show these patients are much more likely to die if they get covid-19. The policy illustrates the growing costs of being unvaccinated and wades into deeply controversial territory — the use of immunization status to decide who gets limited medical care. The mere idea of prioritizing the vaccinated for rationed health resources has drawn intense backlash, as overwhelmingly unvaccinated covid-19 patients push some hospitals to adopt “crisis standards of care,” in which health systems can prioritize...

Former Vice President Mike Pence said after January 6th, "the president and I sat down a few days later and talked through all of it." Former Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that he has a “strong relationship” with former President Donald Trump and added that the two had sat down and “talked through” their differences in the days after the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol. “Look, you can’t spend almost five years in a political foxhole with somebody without developing a strong relationship,” Pence told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “And, you know, January 6 was a...

"You're an Irish Catholic kid from Syracuse, from St. Ann's school, right?" asked Hugh Hewitt. "Yes," said Terry McAuliffe in that Jan. 29, 2007, radio interview. At that time, McAuliffe had just recently become chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. He would later go on to serve as governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018, and is now seeking that office again. Back in January 2007, McAuliffe had also published an autobiography, "What a Party! My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators and Other Wild Animals," in which he discussed, among other things, his education in...

Scientists believe they can explain why some people who catch Covid develop chilblain-like lesions on their toes and even fingers. Covid toe appears to be a side effect of the body switching into attack mode to fight off the virus. The researchers say they have pinpointed the parts of the immune system that appear to be involved. The findings, in the British Journal of Dermatology, may help with treatments to ease the symptoms. The affected skin - usually the toes, but sometimes the fingers - can look red or purple. Some people develop painful raised bumps or areas of rough...

While voters across Texas submitted voter registration applications on Monday, Oct. 4, ahead of the Nov. 2 statewide election, 82-year-old Elmira Hicks worried she would not be able to have her vote counted. The Oakwood, Texas, native said she hasn't been able to renew her driver’s license for more than a year because she has been unable to present the required birth certificate needed to verify her identity. In the Lone Star State, election laws require voters to present a driver's license, passport, military identification card, citizenship certificate, state election identification certificate or a personal identification card to cast a...

Going back to the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, the party of first-term presidents gained seats in House midterm congressional elections only twice. Karl Rove reminded readers a few months ago in his Wall Street Journal column that, since World War II, the average loss of House seats of the party of each first-term president in congressional midterms is 28. The largest loss was 63 in the first midterm elections in Barack 0bama's first term. This was after Democrats rammed through the Affordable Care Act without a single Republican vote. Given that Republicans need to pick...

The ABC, CBS and NBC evening news shows ignored climate activist James Murdoch using his company to invest millions of dollars in leftist media this year that promote grotesque content. Murdoch invested in at least two media companies through his Lupa Systems company that have a reputation for spewing crazy left-wing talking points. The Hollywood Reporter released a story June 29 that the estranged son of News Corporation Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch was part of a whopping $75 million fundraising haul by the leftist digital media firm Brut. The French company, which reportedly makes “‘socially conscious’ news,” posts leftist extremist...

Europe’s power crunch is roiling energy markets Wednesday as Dutch and U.K. natural gas futures jumped 60% in just two days, hitting record highs along with soaring power prices. Front-month Dutch natgas futures rose an astonishing 40% today to a record 162.125 euros per megawatt-hour after a 20% move higher on Tuesday. U.K. natgas futures surged 39% today, hitting 40 dollars. “This is just ridiculous,” Tom Marzec-Manser, an analyst at ICIS, told Bloomberg. “Almost impossible to even justify or qualify how and why it’s moving so fast and so high.” E.U. politicians are in panic mode to protect consumers and...

In the last few years, Facebook has become Public Enemy No. 1 in the media's imagination, and Mark Zuckerberg is suddenly the creepy James Bond villain. Celebrated PBS filmmaker Ken Burns even ranted on a podcast that Zuckerberg was an "enemy of the state" who should be in jail. After Facebook went down for six hours on Oct. 4, CBS late-night "comedian" Stephen Colbert joked, "Facebook did not say what might be causing the outage. Now, I'm no computer expert, but my theory is: A just God?" It does not matter one iota that Facebook employees donated 90% of their...