Free Republic

A Georgia woman has been charged with murder for allegedly killing an elderly married couple at a Florida senior living community on New Year’s Eve. Vickie Williams, 50, appeared in court remotely Saturday and was ordered held in the Lake County Jail without bond for the killings of Darryl Getman, 83, and his 80-year-old wife, Shannon Getman in the Watertown Village retirement community in Mount Dora, reported the station KBTX. Williams — who had already been charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle for allegedly stealing the victims’ car — faces two counts of first-degree murder. More than a...

Obviously, the message has not resonated with the federal government that parents are fed up with government dictating what their children are being taught and being told they have no rights as parents. On December 27, the CDC republished a "self-assessment tool" that encourages teachers, administrators, and school health staff to promote LGBT-inclusive "school environments, policies, programs, and practices." The CDC website has an entire section under "For Schools" devoted to "Supporting LGBTQ Youth" that includes professional development for staff. There, under "Tools for Supporting LGBT Youth," is the self-assessment document, "LGBTQ Inclusivity in Schools: A Self-Assessment Tool."The CDC claims...

A cease-fire proposal seemingly aimed at splintering Western unity has instead been met with Western escalation, underscoring Moscow’s diplomatic struggles. ...Analysts typically share this view, saying that such proposals tend to come when a pause would most benefit Russia’s battlefield position, not when they might further peace talks or aid civilians. Sure enough, even as President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia promised a unilateral pause in some areas, there was little indication of such on the ground, where fighting continued as normal. This offer was also probably intended as an act of propaganda, aimed at the Russian public and particularly...

The Russian military claimed Sunday to have carried out deadly missile strikes on barracks used by Ukrainian troops in retaliation for the deaths of dozens of Russian soldiers in a rocket attack a week ago. Ukrainian officials denied there were any casualties. The Russian Defense Ministry said its missiles hit two temporary bases housing 1,300 Ukrainian troops in Kramatorsk, in the eastern Donetsk region, killing 600 of them. Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the strikes were retaliation for Ukraine’s attack in Makiivka, in which at least 89 Russian soldiers died. Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s forces in the east,...

U.S. Capitol police recently arrested Micki Witthoeft, the mother of Ashli Babbitt, the woman who was fatally shot two years ago by Capitol police officer Michael Byrd during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. On Jan. 6, 2023, the anniversary of Ashli’s death. Yet Byrd, the Capitol police officer who murdered Ashli-- a diminutive, unarmed veteran posing no danger to anyone-- was never charged, his actions never investigated. Despite the fact that he has a documented history of mishandling firearms. (For example, accidentally leaving a loaded handgun in a Capitol bathroom.)Witthoeft was part of a small group peacefully protesting Ashli’s...

As China battles an unprecedented COVID surge, nearly 90% of Henan — the third most populous province — has now been infected with the virus, a top health official said Monday. Kan Quancheng, the director of the health commission for central Henan province, said that as of Jan. 6, the infection rate was 89%. With Henan’s population being about 99.4 million, the data would suggest that 88.5 million residents have now been positive for COVID. Visits to fever clinics hit their peak on Dec. 19 — mere weeks after China began easing its brutal “zero-COVID” policies. After that surge late...

There is a change in the air. You can smell it. It's the smell of fear and the rank odor of hypocrisy. Yesterday the Washington Post, as they are wont, treated the country as though all its citizens were stupid. Immigration pivot shows Biden facing hard reality of border politicsNo. That's not even close. In fact, it's a lie that the Post is helping Biden sell. For two years this country has been gaslighted by the most galactically dishonest regime in history. For two years Joe Biden has said that there was no border crisis. For two years that maggot...

A federal judge upheld a West Virginia law requiring student athletes to compete with other members of their biological sex, dealing a blow to both the transgender movement and the Biden administration, which had supported the lawsuit challenging the statute. Southern District of West Virginia Judge Joseph Goodwin ruled Thursday that the Mountain State’s “Save Women’s Sports Act” (H.B. 3293), which requires athletic teams “sponsored by any public secondary school or a state institution of higher education” that are designated as female-only to deny entry to biological males, does not violate either the 14th Amendment or Title IX of the...

Bernard Kalb, a veteran correspondent for CBS, NBC and The New York Times who also made a brief and unhappy foray into government as a State Department spokesman, died on Sunday at his home in North Bethesda, Md. He was 100. His death was confirmed by his daughter Claudia Kalb, who said his health had declined after a fall on Jan. 2. In his many years on television, Mr. Kalb’s sonorous voice, thick eyebrows and command of detail became familiar to millions of viewers. He covered wars, revolutions and the diplomatic breakthroughs that presaged the end of the Cold War.

Kevin McCarthy reportedly agreed to spending caps that would limit future aid to Ukraine as part of the deal with ultraconservatives that enabled him to finally be elected as House speaker on Saturday.Mr McCarthy, a Republican, secured the position in the early hours, following a historic five-day 15-vote fight that brought Washington to a standstill.His Right-wing opponents from the chamber’s Freedom Caucus, dubbed the “Taliban 20”, wielded their opposition to US aid for Kiev as part of their justification for voting against him in the first 14 votes.Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, one of the most hardline aid sceptics, led...

Steve Kirsch @stkirsch Commotio cordis is IMPOSSIBLE for Damar Hamlin. I’m happy to bet anyone $1M on this. Any takers news media????

President Biden on Monday declared an emergency in California in response to the severe winter storms, flooding and mudslides the state has experienced since last week. The emergency declaration allows for federal assistance to supplement the local response efforts and it authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Sunday evening said that he’s “in close contact with the White House to ensure we have the aid we need as we prepare on the ground.” The storm, which has caused hundreds of thousands of homes...

Tractor maker John Deere has agreed to give its US customers the right to fix their own equipment.Previously, farmers were only allowed to use authorised parts and service facilities rather than cheaper independent repair options.Deere and Co. is one of the world's largest makers farming equipment.

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

he surge in Covid-19 cases in China is impacting the completion of manufacturing orders, according to CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map data. Logistics managers are warning clients that because of the spike in infections, factories are unable to complete orders — even with U.S. manufacturing orders from China already down 40% due to an unrelenting demand collapse. Orders for ocean bookings continue to be softer according to SONAR Data. “With 1/2 or even 3/4 [of the] labor force being infected and not able to work, many China manufacturers can not operate properly but produce less than their optimal outputs,” Hong...

A 17-year-old Wyoming basketball player died suddenly after a medical event, according to local reports. Max Sorenson died unexpectedly at his home in Gillette on Dec. 26. He was pronounced dead at Campbell County Memorial Hospital. Campbell County Coroner Paul Wallem told the Cowboy State Daily that the teen's sudden death would not be investigated as a suicide, homicide, or caused by the use of illegal drugs. An autopsy of the junior high school student was being conducted in Rapid City, South Dakota. Wallem said preliminary findings show that Sorenson suddenly died from peritonitis. The Mayo Clinic explains that peritonitis...

For years, the world’s wealthiest nations have dragged their feet on sending climate aid to developing countries. One obstacle — perhaps the biggest obstacle — is convincing politicians in the United States, United Kingdom and elsewhere that climate investments abroad can make a difference back home. As former President Donald Trump quipped in 2017 about one U.N. climate initiative: It’s “yet another scheme to redistribute wealth out of the United States.” But experts say that viewpoint is shortsighted. They argue that climate investments in developing countries offer some of the cheapest and best opportunities to avoid runaway warming and preserve...

Patients, mostly older people, lay on stretchers in hallways or took oxygen while sitting in wheelchairs as a COVID-19 outbreak stretched public health facilities’ resources in China’s capital Beijing, even after its reported peak. The Chuiyangliu hospital in the city’s east was packed Thursday with newly arrived patients. Beds ran out by midmorning, even as ambulances continued to bring more people in. Hard-pressed nurses and doctors rushed to take information and triage the most urgent cases. The crush of people seeking hospital care follows China abandonment of its most severe pandemic restrictions last month after nearly three years of lockdowns,...

With the red trickle behind us and the 2024 general election less than two years away, Republican voters will be faced with three options, like it, or not. The option a majority of GOP voters choose will be pivotal in both congressional elections and the election of the next president of the United States, as well. Those options are: Continue to focus on election day only, which historically determined the outcome of all elections. Continue to whine about “massive fraud” and “stolen” elections as the reason your candidate(s) lost. Realize that election day has given way to election season, and...

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan on Thursday slammed the emergency UN Security Council meeting on an Israeli minister’s visit to the Temple Mount as “pathetic” and based on a “fabrication.” “To hold a Security Council session on a non-event is truly absurd,” Erdan said at a press stakeout before the meeting. “Israel’s Minister of National Security’s visit to the Temple Mount lasted 13 minutes in a peaceful and orderly fashion, without causing any destruction. This visit was not an incursion into Al-Aqsa or any other fabrication that the Palestinians branded his visit. Minister Ben-Gvir’s visit was in...