Free Republic

ustin police announced the recovery of a second body from Lady Bird Lake in six weeks amid growing concerns about safety in the popular Rainey Street Entertainment District.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio told a Washington jury on Monday (Apr 3) that Malaysian financier Jho Low revealed his plans to donate up to US$30 million to help US President Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign in what prosecutors allege was part of an illegal foreign influence operation. "It was a casual conversation about what party he was in support of," DiCaprio said, telling jurors that Low said he planned on giving "a significant donation" to the Democratic Party that was "somewhere to the tune of US$20-30 million." SNIP The Titanic star took the witness stand in the trial of Prakazrel "Pras"...

The Nashville school shooter had planned the massacre for months in advanced and studied other mass murderers before killing six people, police have said. Audrey Hale, 28, had detailed writings plotting her sick attack months before she butchered three kids and three adults at The Covenant School last week. Cops also revealed on Monday that she fired 152 rounds from two assault rifles and a handgun during the vile shooting that rocked the US. Officials haven't released a motive for the slaying of victims Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Evelyn Dieckhaus, all 9, and headmistress Dr Katherine Koonce, 60, substitute teacher...

Donald Trump's legal team is preparing for a New York judge to slap a gag order on the former president on Monday, DailyMail.com can reveal, a day before he is due to be arrested in Manhattan. The extraordinary move to potentially silence a candidate for president will likely enflame Trump's supporters as he prepares to fly out of his Florida home. 'The Trump legal team now thinks that the Manhattan judge will take the unprecedented step of silencing the presidential frontrunner with an unconstitutional gag order tomorrow,' said a source. 'The Trump legal team is considering adding a First Amendment...

With little fanfare, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Monday allowing residents to carry a concealed loaded weapon without a permit. DeSantis signed the bill in a nonpublic event in his office with only bill sponsors, legislative leaders and gun rights advocates, including the National Rifle Association, in attendance. It was a notable departure for a governor who regularly holds splashy news conferences and bill-signing ceremonies. Florida is now the 26th state to pass some form of permitless carry legislation. The signing comes one week after six people, including three children, were gunned down at The Covenant School in Nashville,...

Audrey Hale, the 28-year-old transgender artist turned school shooter who killed three children and three adults at the Covenant School in Nashville last week, plotted the attack for months, police revealed Monday. Hale fired 152 shots during the attack, police said, 126 from 5.56 rifles and 26 from a 9mm handgun. Police had recovered two rifles and a pistol from the scene and several more at the suspect's home, including a sawed-off shotgun. "In the collective writings by Hale found in her vehicle in the school parking lot, and others later found in the bedroom of her home, she documented,...

Dogecoin (DOGE) surged more than 35% after Elon Musk's Twitter replaced the social-media platform's familiar blue bird atop its homepage with the cryptocurrency's iconic Shiba Inu dog logo. DOGE got as high as $0.1046 versus around $0.077 right before the logo change. Before Monday, its price last exceeded 10 cents in December, according to CoinDesk data. Musk has frequently touted DOGE, suggesting the meme coin may offer better payments functionality than bitcoin (BTC). In January the Financial Times reported that Twitter was designing a system to permit payments through the social-media platform. While Musk, who is the CEO, wanted Twitter...

Walking into Ÿnsect’s flagship manufacturing site in Dole, eastern France, the first thing that visitors are met with is a hot, earthy, composting smell. With it comes the realization that this is not a typical factory. At 17 metres high, this is the world’s largest vertical insect farm — home to at least 3 trillion mealworm beetles (Tenebrio molitor). The company’s chief executive and co-founder, Antoine Hubert, says that the beetles have a good life, as far as being an insect goes. Each of their stacked plastic trays is kept at an optimal 60% humidity and a balmy 25–27 °C....

WASHINGTON — A top Chinese official emailed a late-night diatribe to an aide to Rep. Chris Smith last week, slamming Smith’s “absurd” House-passed bill against state-sponsored organ harvesting and ridiculing Congress for “lies” and “baseless hype” about both the gruesome practice and the related ongoing Uyghur genocide. The email arrived at 9:49 p.m. on March 28 from a Gmail account registered to Zhou Zheng, the Chinese embassy in Washington’s chief of section for congressional affairs, and was written in a post-happy hour tone. “We did call [the embassy] to make sure it was real,” Smith (R-NJ) told The Post. Zhou...

Interviewed by Lesley Stahl, Taylor Greene defended her past comment that the Democrats are a party of "pedophiles." She said: "Democrats support -- even Joe Biden, the president himself, supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children." On today's Morning Joe, loyal Democrat Mike Barnicle rose to Ol' Joe's defense, calling Biden:"One of the most normal, honorable human beings you will ever meet.""Normal?" Really? The guy with the well-earned reputation for inappropriately hugging, nuzzling, and sniffing women, including young ones. Readers will remember the iconic image of Biden, seen above, with the...

In mid-March, a far-right Dutch member of parliament named Thierry Baudet tweeted "WE WILL NOT EAT THE BUGS" accompanied by a photo of himself holding a microphone in one hand and pouring golden mealworms out of a bag in the other. Earlier in the month, Poland's ruling nationalist party Law and Justice falsely alleged that the opposition Civic Platform was trying to push citizens into eating worms, prompting the opposition to hit back with a similar accusation. Those are just some of several instances of European right-wing politicians lobbing a conspiracy theory that elites want people to eat bugs. The...

Los Angeles County Supervisors Hilda Solis and Lindsey Horvath have proposed a plan to “depopulate and decarcerate” county jails, releasing criminals to address what they call a “systemic racism” in criminal justice. Solis, a former Democratic congresswoman and Secretary of Labor under President Barack Obama, and Horvath, a former mayor of West Hollywood who tried to bar President Donald Trump from the city, have proposed the plan, which will be voted on at the next Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday. The plan states: “To depopulate and decarcerate is a monumental task, and the Board is committed to redress historical...

Bill Version Short Title SEX/REPRODUCTION EDUCATION; SCHOOLS Sponsor(S) HOUSE RULES BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR Title: "An Act relating to parental rights in a child's education;

In a stark warning to U.S. gun owners, Australian weapons manufacturer Lance French says firearm control laws—once introduced—never stop expanding. The owner of SGS Industries made the comments during the Western Australian Firearms Community Alliance meeting on April 1. The meeting of gun owners and industry experts was held in reaction to impending state laws that will expand the gun control regime to ban high-powered firearms. “Gun control doesn’t stop at a particular gun. It just keeps going. It’s relentless. It doesn’t stop,” French told The Epoch Times. “They’re making these false claims that certain items are dangerous when what’s...

The congregation that gathered at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City last January to attend the funeral of murdered New York police officer Jason Rivera gave his widow a standing ovation when she criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in the eulogy she delivered for her husband. Rivera, a 22-year-old police officer, was shot and killed on duty in Manhattan while responding to a 911 call on Jan. 21, 2022. That was just three weeks after Bragg had taken office as district attorney. […] “The system continues to fail us,” Luzuriaga said in the eulogy for her slain husband....

President Biden on Monday said he has faith in New York City’s police ahead of potential unrest in the city surrounding former President Trump’s Tuesday court date. “No, I have faith in the New York Police Department,” Biden said to questions about whether he’s concerned about unrest. The president added on Monday that he also has faith in the legal system. His comments came as he toured a Cummins facility while in Minnesota for remarks about his economic agenda. The New York Police Department has ramped up security to prepare for Trump’s arraignment and has already taken precautionary measures, like...

Mark Levin on Sunday night discussed the assault on Trump and the dehumanization of his supporters.Mark Levin explained why it’s Trump.Mark Levin: Why Donald Trump? Because Donald Trump is not Chris Christie. Because Donald Trump is not ASA Hutchinson. Because Donald Trump is not Larry Hogan. Because Donald Trump is not your typical Washington Republican. Donald Trump is a really unique, historic figure who has been standing up to all of these elements in the Democrat Party and increasingly in the Republican Party and in the media. He’s a man who uses common sense. He’s conservative, but not by ideology,...

The Gender and Sexuality Development Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) offers drastic medical interventions as part of the gender transition process to children as young as eight, according to statements and documents reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.CHOP’s youth gender clinic, one of the first in the U.S., is a major trans medical provider in Pennsylvania and has strong ties to Rachel Levine, a former trans activist who currently serves as the U.S. assistant secretary for health. The clinic recently came under fire for holding seminars where teachers were instructed to hide students’ trans identities from...

Tokyo: Japan has ditched the United States to purchase Russian crude oil above the $60-a-barrel cap, saying it needed it to ensure access to energy from Moscow. The oil purchases by Japan represent a break in the US-led efforts to impose a global $60 per barrel cap on purchases of Russian oil. However, a report by The Wall Street Journal said Tokyo, which is Washington’s closest allies in Asia, got the US agree to the exception. Most European nations stopped purchasing Russian oil in response to the invasion of Ukraine in February last year. The G7 nations which include Japan...