Free Republic

Mark Robinson became a viral hit in 2018 when he defended law-abiding gun owners at a city council meeting. Two years later, he made history by becoming the first African-American Lt. Governor of North Carolina. Conservative Rising Star Mark Robinson to Announce Run for Governor of North Carolina “Should he run and win, Robinson will become the first black governor in the state’s history.” Mark Robinson became a viral hit in 2018 when he defended law-abiding gun owners at a city council meeting. Two years later, he made history by becoming the first African-American Lt. Governor of North Carolina. Now...

(NEXSTAR) – As people continue to shift back to pre-pandemic social and recreational activities — even if they are still working remotely — a new study has broken down the best U.S. cities in which to work, learn, hang out and generally enjoy oneself in 2023. Niche, a data analysis company, used Census data, surveys and other info sources to break down the best cities in the U.S., taking into account the cost of living, safety, school quality, nightlife, walkability, outdoor activities and more.

Svoye TV premiered its new program, ‘Future Forecast,’ on Tuesday, showcasing the capabilities of its AI weather girl, Snezhana Tumanova. The channel revealed that the program operates using neural networks, with one responsible for the virtual presenter, another for preparing the text, and a third for generating graphic content. The program is set to air five times a day, providing viewers with regular weather updates. Snezhana Tumanova, whose name is a play on the Russian words for ‘snow’ and ‘fog,’ is an ambitious AI presenter seeking to outperform her human counterparts. Despite her potential to revolutionize weather forecasting, the management...

The Supreme Court will issue at least one opinion this week while it weighs a packed docket of cases, including a request by the IRS to allow its agents to secretly obtain financial records without the need to notify account holders. Wednesday will mark the day when the nine justices consider Polselli v. IRS, which is expected to have sweeping implications for Fourth Amendment right protections against unreasonable searches and seizures as it pertains to the federal tax collecting agency. This case comes just months after the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress last year injected $45 billion to ramp...

Even the bestselling novelist in the world isn’t being spared woke rewrite treatments to spare the delicate sensitivities of modern readers, with Agatha Christie’s works getting the full treatment from her publisher. Christie is famous for creating such timeless sleuths as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, and the Daily Telegraph reports new editions based on both these investigators have had original passages amended or excised by publisher Harper Collins.

Rep. Jedediah Hinkle (R-Belgrade}sponsored House Bill 450 and it passed by a 69-27 vote. It now moves on to the State Senate. The bill would allow students assaulted by bullies to fight back. Hinkle said "the schools' 'zero tolerance' approach to violence enables bullying because it punishes both the aggressor and victim equally. Good students who don't want to get suspended dare not defend themselves. It is unjust." Rob Watson, spokesman for the School Administrators in Montana opposes HB450, contending that "it only intensifies the violence. Instead of just one person getting hurt it can double or triple the harm,...

A growing wave of public pension administrators, business groups and labor unions are sending a message to Republicans looking to curb so-called “woke” investing: our money, our choice. Regulatory efforts to stop money from going to funds that consider environmental, social and governance issues, commonly known as ESG investing, have typically targeted big Wall Street asset managers. Now, public pensions are increasingly caught in the crosshairs and with them the retirement funds of teachers, librarians, firefighters and other public service employees. But while opponents of the anti-ESG restrictions are getting louder, their dissent hasn’t yet stopped the tide. ESG investing...

A new study suggests that E. coli from meat products may be responsible for hundreds of thousands of urinary tract infections in the U.S. each year. A team of scientists developed a new genomic approach for tracking the origins of E. coli infections. Using this method, the team estimated that between 480,000 and 640,000 urinary tract infections in the United States each year may be caused by foodborne E. coli strains. "We're used to the idea that foodborne E. coli can cause outbreaks of diarrhea, but the concept of foodborne E. coli causing urinary tract infections seems strange—that is, until...

After a year of combat, many of these homespun groups of volunteers are fighting with themselves and undermining the war effort. Some have wasted money or stolen valor. Others have cloaked themselves in charity while also trying to profit off the war, records show. One of the best-known Americans on the battlefield is James Vasquez. Days after the invasion, Mr. Vasquez, a Connecticut home-improvement contractor. ... he has posted battlefield videos online, at least once broadcasting his unit’s precise location to everyone, including the enemy. He used his story to solicit donations..... “I was in Kuwait during Desert Storm, and...

Run Time 3 min 51 sec

U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is withdrawing his nomination after Republican criticism that he was not qualified to serve as the top aviation regulator. Last year, Biden nominated Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington to serve as FAA administrator. A spokesperson for Washington at the airport did not immediately comment. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg late Saturday confirmed Washington's withdrawal first reported by Reuters. "The partisan attacks and procedural obstruction he has faced are undeserved, but I respect his decision to withdraw and am grateful for his service," Buttigieg said on Twitter.

Eight new confirmed cases of Marburg disease have been reported in Equatorial Guinea, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. This brings the total of laboratory-confirmed cases to nine and probable cases to 20 since the outbreak of the deadly disease similar to Ebola was declared in February. Twenty deaths have been reported. Of the eight new cases, two were reported from the Central African country's Kie-Ntem province, four from the Litoral province and two from Centre-Sur province, the WHO said in a statement.

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that it was “remarkably naive” to not understand it is in the U.S. national interests to aid Ukraine in its war against Russia. Anchor Jake Tapper asked, “We learned yesterday, shifting topics to overseas, that Russia is planning to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. It’s yet another escalation of tensions with the west and tensions with Ukraine. Russia says it’s just doing what the US already does with countries in Europe. What’s your response to the Russian move?”

For all the death, misery and havoc that COVID-19 inflicted during its first three years, the pandemic did bring one short-lived benefit to the criminal justice system, at least in Los Angeles County. It led judges to eliminate money bail for many people accused of low-level crimes. L.A.’s brief period of more perfect justice ended last year when the Los Angeles Superior Court rescinded its emergency zero-dollar bail policy. Last November, several people who were stuck in jail because they couldn’t pay bail, along with some L.A. County taxpayers who foot the bill for the costly and wasteful practice of...

“We only have 12 years to save the planet,” we may hear. “Man may only have 10 years left if we don’t ________” (fill in the doomsayer prescription). The truth, though, is that we don’t know if humanity has still one year or six months — or less. And this reality was brought home by something that occurred March 12. It was on that day, not two weeks ago, that there was a huge solar eruption. It was perhaps 100 times more powerful than the Carrington Event in 1859, which rendered inoperable a good part of the “Victorian Internet”: telegraph...

Vladimir Putin's commanders are forcing his conscript soldiers at gunpoint to remain at the frontline. They are using a brutal Stalin tactic to prevent Russian reservist troops leaving their positions, say men who have seen the horror of the cannon-fodder killing fields. 'People are abandoned in the trenches as if homeless and littered with corpses,' complained Russian reservist draftees in a new video appealing directly to Vladimir Putin. 'Retreat-blocking detachments were set up against us and they did not let us out of positions.' They are forced at gunpoint to remain in position, a tactic used by Stalin's cruel SMERSH...

A bakery will permanently close its doors after experiencing months of vicious harassment for hosting a drag show. Uprising bakery & café is located in a Chicago suburb called Lake in the Hills and owned by Corinna Sac, who opened the bakery in 2021 as an inclusive space for all. A press release announcing the closing details Sac’s desire for the bakery to be a space where LGBTQ+ couples could come for wedding cakes. “Her dream of an inclusive bakery has since become a nightmare no businessperson could have anticipated,” the release states. “Closing our doors is the direct result...

Medical sleep treatment may reduce self-harm in young people with anxiety and depression, an observational study suggests. The risk of self-harm increased in the months preceding melatonin prescription and decreased thereafter, especially in girls. Melatonin is a hormone that controls the sleep-wake cycle and is the most commonly prescribed drug for sleep disturbances in children and adolescents in Sweden. Melatonin use has dramatically increased in recent years. The study identified over 25,500 children and teenagers between the ages of 6 and 18 who were prescribed melatonin in Sweden. Over 87 percent had at least one psychiatric disorder, mainly attention-deficit hyperactivity...

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will be permitted to work from home next week upon being discharged from an inpatient physical therapy facility Saturday after suffering a concussion and rib fracture on March 8. “I want to sincerely thank everyone for all the kind wishes. I’m happy to say I finished inpatient physical therapy earlier today and I’m glad to be home,” McConnell issued a statement Saturday afternoon.

Revelations of the sheer number of FBI informants involved in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot have shaken a trial of members of the Proud Boys in Washington, DC, as one FBI informant had infiltrated the defense team. As Julie Kelly, who has covered the January 6 trials extensively, reports, there are at least ten informants now known to have been involved in the Proud Boys — more than twice the five defendants who are on trial. One shocking revelation last week was that one FBI informant, Jen Loh, a member of Latinos for Trump, had been in close contact...