Free Republic

Steve Dettelbach, the man President Biden chose to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), followed in the footsteps of other Biden administration officials who have been stumped by seemingly straightforward questions from lawmakers, questions that deal with subjects within what is supposed to be their purview. On Tuesday, Director Dettelbach was asked by Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-TX) to give a brief, 15-second definition of the term "assault weapon," the thing President Biden and Democrats have demanded must be banned within the United States in order to reduce the frequency of crimes committed by individuals with guns....

While the theme park has allowed the unofficial "Gay Days" event to proceed for 25 years, this marks the first official company-sanctioned Pride event.

Tinder’s self-proclaimed “most swiped right man” is now sharing the wealth — by using artificial intelligence technology to help “genetically un-blessed people” land a soulmate. For Stefan-Pierre Tomlin, 32, it’s the romantic equivalent of fishing with dynamite. “My AI prompts and training can turn any guy from zero to hero,” the online ladykiller told South West News Service of his methods of helping those who are unlucky in love. The pilot, who also splits his time modeling, claims that dating “has never been a hard task” because meeting women “comes easily to him.”

Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems said Tuesday that they have reached a settlement agreement just moments before opening arguments were set to begin. The deal ends a monthslong legal battle over whether the media company had defamed the voting machine maker when they broadcast election conspiracy theories in 2020. The terms of the settlement were not immediately available. Dominion sued Fox News in 2021, demanding $1.6 billion in damages. They said the network defamed it when it broadcast baseless claims that it was tied to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, that it paid kickbacks to politicians and that...

KIEV — “I was on the streets for the Orange Revolution when I was in my last year at university in 2004, and I was on the streets again in 2014. So, the 10-year mark of when we tend to mount revolutions is approaching,” said Inna Sovsun, an opposition lawmaker for Ukraine’s liberal pro-European Holos party.And she suspects there’s another political upheaval on its way.And while navigating the tempestuous postwar political waters would be difficult for any leader, according to the former minister, it will be especially so for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as he’s become part of the problem...

A woman thought the single father and wealthy businessman she met online was her perfect match - but it turns out he was using her for a romance scam. Speaking on This Morning, Claire Spencer revealed that back in 2021 she met 'Jack' on the dating app Plenty of Fish and was within three weeks being asked for £1,000. The fraudster had pretended to be stranded in Cambodia - with his wallet stolen - and had become 'aggressive' when his victim was hesitant to offer any cash up. Jack had even suggested she sell her car or take a loan...

Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) met with dozens “of his former staffers and advisors” on Monday night, telling them he is continuing to mull a 2024 run. Christie and “more than three dozen of his former staffers and advisors” convened at Mission in Dupont Circle in Washington, DC, Politico reported. “If we go forward, we want all of you to be with us,” Christie told them. “Thank you to all of you for everything you’ve already done for us. It’s been really, really an amazing ride. And you know what? It might not just be over yet.”

Laughable: For the Synod, Homosexuals and Roman Rite Catholics Are "Marginalised"The seven continental meetings convened to prepare for the Synod on Synodality presented their final documents by 15 April. Homosexualism plays a key role in them.The North American meeting speaks of the need for "greater inclusivity", citing homosexual sinners and Roman Rite Catholics as examples.It wants to welcome "marginalised people" into the Church, "especially when it comes to our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters". This is pure sarcasm, since the "marginalised" are not the homosexuals backed by the oligarchs, but those who are critical of the vice.The document exaggerates a "...

Mauser also told CNN he had been told by Monahan there were mulitple vehicles which pulled into his driveway, including a motorcycle, and that they were “revving engines [and] coming up the driveway at a high rate of speed.” He claimed this “created an atmosphere and a fear that there was menace going on,” for Monahan. Mauser said he was informed of Gillis’ death and the charge his client was facing after he made contact with authorities. It was then he made arrangements for Monahan to surrender, the attorney said. Monahan is accused of firing from his porch after the...

WOOD RIVER, Neb. (KSNB/Gray News) - One employee is dead, while another employee, along with three contractors, were sent to the hospital on Monday after an explosion at the Green Plains Ethanol Plant in Wood River. The employee was fatally injured at the facility “during routine maintenance and repairs on a whole stillage tank,” said a Green Plains spokesperson. The spokesperson said the plant was not operational at the time of the explosion. Hall County Emergency Manager Jon Rosenlund told KSNB that just before 2:45 p.m., a 911 came into the dispatch center about the explosion Rosenlund said Wood River...

The number of housing starts tumbled in March, an indication that the housing market is taking a hit and may be falling into a recession. Housing starts measure the change in the number of new residential buildings that began construction. Starts fell 17.2% from March 2022 to this past month, according to a Tuesday report from the Census Bureau. They are now at 1.42 million. From February to March, they fell 0.8%. Additionally, permits to build, which are seen as a proxy for future construction, decreased by 8.8% in March. “We expect choppiness for single-family construction in the months ahead,...

Colorado’s election chief was shot down by her own party leaders after demanding the Democrat-controlled legislature adopt a measure to chill future recount efforts. Adding insult to injury, the Democrats added what we like to call the “shut up and sit down” provision telling Secretary of State Jena Griswold to stop using taxpayer dollars to promote her own vain self for reelection. We’re giving Colorado Senate President Steve Fenberg a rare standing ovation on this one. PeakNation will recall that Griswold blew more than $1 million in taxpayer dollars to fund a blatantly political reelection TV commercial last year featuring...

The Rev. Charles F. Stanley, a past president of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination and a noted evangelical TV and radio broadcaster, died Tuesday at age 90, In Touch Ministries announced. No cause of death was given, but the group said Mr. Stanley passed away at 7:30 a.m. He served 50 years as senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta starting in 1971, having joined as associate pastor two years earlier. He was elected to successive one-year terms as Southern Baptist Convention president, in 1984 and 1985. Mr. Stanley’s broadcast ministry began with a 30-minute TV program called...

Okay, I have to warn you that this is really disturbing. I don't care what anyone says, it is both morally and legally wrong to assault someone based on what they say. But Allie Beth Stuckey commented on this video, noting how people are laughing at the women getting beaten, and I wanted to share it with you: ******************************** Allie Beth Stuckey @conservmillen · Follow Here’s a woman getting horrifically beaten and everyone commenting on it is laughing. This is not at all uncommon. Make of that what you will ******************************** VIDEO AT LINK...................... Yeah, that's bad. Criminal assault, actually....

officials The final suspect wanted in a string of nearly 20 roofie robbings at nightclubs across the city — which led to two deaths — has been arrested, police sources said Tuesday. Jayqwan Hamilton, the alleged ringleader of the crew, is expected to face felony murder charges as well as multiple counts of grand larceny, robbery and conspiracy in connection to 17 drugging incidents in the Big Apple between September 2021 and August 2022. The alleged nefarious scheme to drug and rob their victims caused the deaths of two Hells Kitchen clubgoers, John Umberger, 33, and Julio Ramirez, 25, last...

Disgraced fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried — the notorious SBF — just may be a digital hoarder. According to a recent Business Insider report, the laptop of the former FTX CEO is flooded with so much data that FBI officials are working overtime to analyze the content. But SBF is far from alone in his apparent reluctance to depart with copious amounts of data. In fact, digital hoarding — a subtype of hoarding disorder that involves the collection of, and difficulty parting with, excessive amounts of digital material — is a growing problem in the US and beyond. The Diagnostic and Statistical...

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee spent Monday’s Manhattan field hearing blaming guns, not people, for crime. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee spent Monday’s Manhattan field hearing blaming guns, not the criminals behind them, for the nation’s crime epidemic. The committee held a field hearing in Manhattan as New York City deteriorates from an American centerpiece of capital ingenuity into a treacherous urban jungle where far-left prosecutors allow criminals to control the streets. “Today’s hearing is about the administration of justice, and keeping communities safe, something that has always been a central focus of the House Judiciary Committee,” opened...

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has been medically cleared to play football again after experiencing cardiac arrest during a game last season, the NFL team announced. Brandon Beane, the team’s general manager, made the announcement on Tuesday, saying the second-year player met with three specialists during the offseason, and they came to an agreement he cleared the necessary protocols. “They’re all in lockstep of what this was and that he has cleared to resume full activities, just like anyone else who was coming back from an injury or whatever,” Beane said during a press conference. “So he’s … he’s fully...

Explanation: Would you like to see a total eclipse of the Sun? If so, do any friends or relatives live near the path of next April's eclipse? If yes again, then you might want to arrange a well-timed visit. Next April 8, the path of a total solar eclipse will cross North America from western Mexico to eastern Canada, entering the USA in southern Texas and exiting in northern Maine. All of North America will experience the least a partial solar eclipse. Featured here is a map of the path of totality. Many people who have seen a total solar...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis On German Schism, "Dialogue Is Very Important"Bishop Michael Gerber of Fulda, Germany, wrote on Diocese-Fulda.de after a April 17 meeting with Francis that the conversation, which lasted more than thirty minutes, was marked by "understanding, dialogue and trusting exchange" and "without time pressure".Given the tensions with the bishops of the German Synod Church, "dialogue" was very important to Francis, he said. The topics discussed were Fulda diocese, the German Synod Church and the universal Church.The audience was granted at short notice. Gerber is in Rome for talks on priestly formation. Francis only engages in "dialogue" with enemies...