Free Republic

Directors of America's biolabs have admitted to hundreds of dangerous accidents in the past two decades, but even incidents involving exposure to deadly viruses have been kept from public view, an investigation by The Intercept has revealed. "People have it in their minds that lab accidents are very, very rare, and if they happen, they happen only in the least well-run overseas labs," Rutgers University molecular biologist Richard Ebright told the media outlet. "That simply isn't true."

NBCUniversal’s CNBC has canceled “The News with Shepard Smith,” its primetime general news show, to refocus on business and market coverage. The network announced the news Thursday in an e-mail to CNBC employees. Smith will be leaving the network later this month, according to a person familiar with the matter. CNBC will replace Smith’s primetime show with markets coverage until a new live show focusing on business news launches in 2023. “After spending time with many of you and closely reviewing the various aspects of our business, I believe we must prioritize and focus on our core strengths of business...

The last known Pearl Harbor survivor in Nevada died in his sleep this week at the age of 99, but not before joking around with his nurses once last time. Edward 'Ed' Hall died around 2:45 a.m. on Wednesday at the North Las Vegas VA Medical Center, according to his friend Greg Mannarino. Mannarino told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he visited his longtime friend the night before he passed away, and that he was 'full of life' as he joked with the nurses. Hall was in the U.S. Army Air Corps and only 18 years old when Japan launched...

The Anti-Defamation League expresses concern 'over likely inclusion of extremists" in the next Israeli government. The ADL offers congratulations to Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu but notes that the coalition "will likely include represenatatives from the Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionist parties, including their leaders Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich," bot of which "have a long history of engaging in racist, anti-Arab, homophobic and other hateful behavior." "We believe that including these far-right individuals and parties in an Israeli government would run counter to Israel's founding principles, and impact its standing, even among its strongest supporters."...

The Russian flag hanging in front of the regional administration in Ukraine’s occupied Kherson region has been taken down, pro-Russian Telegram channels said Thursday. “I drove up to the building of the former government of the Kherson region; I confirm that there is no [Russian] flag over it,” pro-Kremlin war correspondent Alexander Kots said on his Telegram channel. The Russian flag is still hanging at nearby buildings, he added. Kherson’s Russian-installed administration has been evacuating tens of thousands of civilians to the left bank of the Dnipro River in the regional capital of the same name amid an advancing Ukrainian...

MSNBC presidential historian Michael Beschloss said Wednesday on “All In” said that if Republicans take the majorities in Congress, American democracy will end, and “our children” will be jailed and killed by a “brutal authoritarian system.” Beschloss said, “Six nights from now, we could all be discussing violence all over this country. There’s signs that may happen, may God forbid. That losers will be declared winners by a fraudulent election officers, or a secretary of state candidates, or governors, or state legislatures. We could be six days away from losing our rule of law and losing a situation where we...

AOC is getting rather defensive, isn't she?by Becca London | RNNAs we reported earlier, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tried -- and failed -- to "diss" the new Twitter owner, billionaire Elon Musk, by "weath-shaming" him over his planned $8/month subscription for "blue check" Twitter users, who are often celebrities (who can easily afford it). And Musk clapped right back... Then Musk humiliated AOC for her hypocrisy by pointing out the high prices she charges for merch at her campaign website:So now -- on the big-time defensive --AOC hurriedly composed a response to Musk trying to explain it...

A 43-year-old woman said she was raped while jogging along Manhattan's West Side Highway Thursday morning, according to police. The woman told authorities she was jogging near Pier 45 when, at about 5:30 a.m., a man grabbed her from behind, choked her and knocked her to the ground, the New York Police Department said. She said he raped her, stole her wallet and phone and then fled on foot, according to police. The victim flagged down another jogger who dialed 911, police said. She was taken to a hospital in stable condition, police said. Police announced the arrest of 29-year-old...

The more we find out about the collusion that has been going on among the Biden administration, the security agencies and Big Tech, the more alarming it is — and the more unrepentant they are. The latest bombshell from the Intercept, based on communications unveiled in the federal lawsuit Missouri v. Biden, shows that the Department of Homeland Security has been having monthly meetings with Facebook and Twitter to pressure them to censor social media posts about topics such as the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, the origins of COVID-19, the efficacy of COVID vaccines, racial justice and US support for...

“Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, ‘Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?’” (Matthew 11:2–3). It has often been difficult for Christians to understand why the Lord allows them to wait for Him to fulfill certain promises. It was even harder for John the Baptist, given his expectations. John had a strong devotion to righteousness as a prophetic voice divinely called to preach repentance and judgment. God had also called him to herald the coming Messiah, who would render judgment....

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says her husband, Paul Pelosi, was released from the hospital Thursday after his treatment for injuries from a violent assault last week. [cut] Pelosi said, “Paul remains under doctors’ care as he continues to progress on a long recovery process and convalescence. He is now home.”

Apopka - Investigators said a family of seven was inside their Florida home when the driver of a Ford Explorer purposely crashed through a porch, then the front door, and into the kitchen. A woman who lives at the residence said three adults and four children were inside at the time. According to an arrest report, 46-year-old Nisan Ortega was intoxicated when he crashed into the home on Lambing Lane in Apopka. Detectives said it happened as everyone was sleeping. "I was scared!" said 9-year-old Caitlin Uriea. "My cousin was crying!" The home is that of Ortega's ex-wife, Ingrid Alas....

Why Have Penitentiaries Anyway? Most people realize that the court and penal systems in North America are seriously broken and must be fixed, yet contemplating doing away with penitentiaries sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Barely 200 years ago, an experiment began which has cost us untold billions of dollars. Just last year, this experiment resulted in 1.4 million adults incarcerated in federal and state penitentiaries (a figure which has quadrupled since 1980) at a cost of nearly $40,000 each. As Alan Elsner pointed out in a recent Washington Post article, 2.2 million people are engaged in catching criminals and putting and...

Republican Christine Drazan, who is running to be the next governor of Oregon, slightly leads against Democrat opponent Tina Kotek, according to the latest poll. The poll from Oregon-based Nelson Research showed that Drazan slightly led Kotek by a little over two points, 43.5 percent to 41.1 percent. The poll also showed that 5.4 percent would vote for Betsy Johnson, an unaffiliated candidate, while 9.4 percent were still undecided.

On this date in 1591, Brian na Múrtha Ó Ruairc — Brian O’Rourke to the English who killed him — was drawn and quartered as a rebel at Tyburn. O’Rourke was a chieftain in a disappearing world, the Gaelic Ireland that the English had been engaged in reducing ever since King Henry VIII realized that he was King of Ireland back in 1542. O’Rourke’s patrimony in this Tudor conquest was the kingdom of West Breifne, with a lineage going right back to its 12th century founder. As far as the Tudors were concerned he was just one more truculent local...

A Catholic priest has been branded hateful over a sermon about 'rampant' sin, and denounced same sex marriage, abortion and the 'lunacy' of transgenderism. Retired priest Fr Sean Sheehy told worshippers at St Mary's Church in Listowel, County Kerry, that gay couples were committing a 'mortal sin', and criticised the availability of free contraception for 'promoting promiscuity'. A video of Fr Sheehy's comments, where he also criticised abortion and the trans community, has been shared widely online and has prompted condemnation of his views. A reported 30 members of the the congregation walked out of the church, including Edel O'Connor...

The activists who alleged that Donald Trump’s security guards roughed them up outside during a September 2015 protest outside his eponymous Manhattan skyscraper settled their lawsuit just before a trial for this case was to begin in earnest. Efrain Galicia and several other protesters filed a civil suit in the Bronx about seven years ago over the alleged incident. Jury selection started earlier this week, but parties in the case revealed on Wednesday at court that they had settled. The news was first reported by journalist Marta Dhanis. An attorney for the protesters confirmed to the Guardian that “the matter...

VANCOUVER, BC — This week, the Society For Prevention Of Cruelty To Celebrities (SPCC) launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about public figures buckling under a new expense that seems targeted specifically at them. The commercial advocates for compassionate viewers to donate $8 per month to sponsor a celebrity's verified blue checkmark on Twitter.

House Republicans from South Carolina are demanding that their state’s school system end its relationship with an association of psychologists that opposes their effort to end drag shows and other sexually explicit programs for kids. Reps. Jeff Duncan, Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman, William Timmons and Joe Wilson on Thursday urged South Carolina’s superintendent of education to sever all relationships with the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) and its state-level affiliate, after that group came out in opposition to legislation that would ban the use of federal funds for drag shows, drag queen story hours and other events they say...

As Joe Biden continues to bumble on one hand and spew preposterous lies about “ultra mega MAGA Republicans” on the other, Hollywood — like everyone else on the rabid left — continues its meltdown with the midterm elections next Tuesday and all signs pointing to a total disaster for the Democrat Party. So how histrionic have Hollywooders become? Netflix’s Ozark star Jason Bateman pushed Biden to activate the nation’s Emergency Alert System (EAS) to urge voters to vote Democrat in the midterms, parroting Biden’s nonsensical claim that democracy is under threat from Republicans — that histrionic. In the most recent...