Free Republic

California hospitals in financial trouble will soon be able to apply for interest-free state loans, although key questions about the selection process aren’t yet resolved. The Legislature on Thursday approved a bill that will allocate a one-time sum of $150 million from the general fund to aid hospitals that are facing severe financial distress and are at risk of closure, or that have closed but have a plan to reopen. The loans would have to be paid back within six years, although loans may be forgiven for hospitals that meet certain requirements. Gov. Gavin Newsom needs to sign the bill...

For years, Italians have been notoriously prickly about preserving their culinary traditions. Pineapple on pizza? Non si fa. Spaghetti bolognese? Che orrore. But now, some Italians seem to be wising up to the fact that other countries can make good Italian food, too. Enter 50 Top Pizza, an international guide run by Italians that produces a series of annual rankings rewarding some of the best pizzerias on the planet. The 2023 European list has just been published – and, according to 1,000 anonymous “inspectors” across the continent, the best pizza in Europe is in… Spain. Sartoria Panatieri, in Barcelona, was...

It’s called The Elvis, and we still can’t decide if it’s bolt of culinary genius or a terrible mistake. Served at Roscoe’s Pizza in Corwin, Ohio, which is roughly an hour away from Downtown Columbus, the pizza features a peanut butter base, traditional pizza cheese, bacon and bananas. Honey is added after baking. An allusion to American music icon Elvis Presley, the pie has garnered more than 7,000 likes and more than 3,000 comments on a Facebook post the restaurant made about the pie on April 5. The majority of comments were positive, with some leaving rave reviews after eating...

The GOP’s two biggest leading rivals are in for a surprise after polling found that their union on a presidential ticket could result in them carrying the popular vote by the largest margin since Bill Clinton in 1996.If President Trump were to select Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as his vice presidential running mate, the ticket would carry the popular vote by nearly double digits over Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, according to polling.A Rasmussen Reports poll found that the hypothetical duo led the incumbent Democrats in the presidential race by eight points (51 percent to 43 percent).Adding @RonDeSantisFL to the...

Heard the one about the $29 hot dog? Big eaters in the Big Apple have become accustomed to paying more for almost everything, but the wildly priced wiener at Alex Stupak’s lively new Mischa at the Citicorp Center is on another level. Mischa’s mighty mongrel is easily the city’s top-priced, restaurant menu tube steak, aside from occasional $2,000 stunts with truffles and foie gras. This dog howls for media attention, particularly at a time when the cost of going out — or eating, in general — is through the roof.

A popular Big Sur hiking trail has reopened after damage from severe storms forced it to close. The Pine Ridge Trail is located at the Big Sur Station just south of the main entrance to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Par. The more than 20-mile trail goes from Pfeiffer Big Sur to China Camp, deep into U.S. Forest Service land. The trail was closed following storm damage, which saw washouts and toppled trees along the Central Coast. This trail is extremely popular on weekends and holidays when backpackers are drawn to Sykes Hot Springs.

With its vision of autonomous young people in touch with their innermost desires, gender identity negates all we know about growing up. Kay S. Hymowitz The Transgender Children’s Crusade With its vision of autonomous young people in touch with their innermost desires, gender identity negates all we know about growing up. / From the Magazine / The Social Order Spring 2023 / Share If you’re unfamiliar with Jazz Jennings, you’re missing one of the paradigmatic characters of early-twenty-first-century America. Jazz—this isn’t her birth name, for reasons that will become clear—was a boy born to a southern Florida couple in 2000....

The Dragons' striker has been hitting the back pages all season but his explicit take on politics saw him hit the news headlines as wellWrexham AFC talisman Paul Mullin has spoken about the backlash following his custom-made boots being made public earlier in the season. The Dragons star posted a picture of his new footwear emblazoned with an anti-Conservative Party slogan back in October and the news hit the headlines across the UK. Mullin has been one of manager Phil Parkinson's top performers this season as Wrexham secured their place back in the Football League by clinching the National...

But maybe don't drink it.In the mid-1930s, British beermaker Greene King brewed and bottled a special ale to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VIII. The only problem? That king was never crowned. In 1936, Edward surrendered his chance to wear the crown, abdicating the throne only 325 days into his unofficial reign so that he could marry American socialite Wallis Simpson. His coronation — which had been scheduled for May 1937 — was called off, his younger brother George VI became king, and all 2,000 bottles of that Coronation Ale were put into storage. Remarkably, that beer stash wasn’t...

A TikToker user is sparking debate after they posted an “unethical life hack” about what to do when someone is reclining their seat in front of you on a plane. SNIP “When you are on a flight and the person in front of you reclines their seat all the way and leaves you no room,” they advised. “Turn on the air-con above you on full blast and point it at the top of their head.”

P.K. Subban appears to be in hot water after including Lizzo in his commentary Tuesday during the NHL playoffs, with some accusing the former defenseman of taking a shot at the singer’s weight. When discussing Game 1 of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers’ second-round series, Subban — who retired from professional hockey in September — spoke about what Toronto can do to bounce back following their 4-2 loss to Florida. “Maybe they need to pack a Lizzo-sized lunch,” Subban said during the ESPN broadcast. “They weren’t prepared in my opinion.”

Let's get 'er done! Thank you all very much! God bless.

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy announced Wednesday that popular host Ben Mintz was fired from the company after saying a racial slur while reading rap lyrics on a live stream earlier this week. Portnoy said the decision was made by Barstool’s parent company, Penn Entertainment, despite protestations from himself, Barstool CEO Erika Nardini, and longtime talent Dan Katz that Mintz — rapping the song “1st of Tha Month” by Bone Thugz-N-Harmony — had made an honest mistake. “This morning, I made an unforgivable mistake slipping on air while reading a song lyric,” Mintz tweeted Monday morning after reading the slur...

Top medical schools in the state are now transitioning toddlers and training future primary care doctors on how to engage in the experimental treatment. Duke Medicine opened its Gender Clinic in 2015 to offer a wide variety of services under one roof. The clinic treats children as young as two for gender dysphoria. Dr. Deanna Adkins, a transgender activist who runs the clinic, said this about her toddler trans patients in an interview with the Charlotte Observer in 2016: “They are not old enough to consciously just choose to do that. … It is not a choice in any of...

Being a civil rights activist, advocate, and leader/founder of pro-freedom groups brings with it a certain amount of baggage. Trying to promote liberty in general – never mind the Second Amendment – on a national level, while being based in Washington state, can’t be easy. Our good friend Alan Gottlieb over at the Second Amendment Foundation knows this all too well, and has recently been left with no other recourse but to sue over alleged harassment. A recent announcement on the lawsuit against Washington’s Attorney General talks about two plus years worth of discriminatory practices, costing Gottlieb et.al. a pile...

Hate to burst your bubble SF, but the winter weather might be here to stay. After two weeks of glorious sunshine and balmy temperatures, the city recorded 0.91 inches of rain over a 24-hour period, Monday into Tuesday. And our neighbors up in Tahoe saw spring snow Tuesday afternoon, heavy enough that the National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory. Spring has sprung, no? A man looks out over floodwaters in Watsonville on March 11, 2023. | Nic Coury/AP Photo To put these figures in perspective, the average rainfall for the entire month of May is only 0.54 inches....

Pro-trans activist delivers blood curdling scream at San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting 'I just want you to feel our pain,' the activist told the board members A San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting descended into chaos after a pro-trans activist began screaming in an effort to protest the death of Banko Brown, a Black member of the transgender community who was shot and killed after allegedly trying to steal from a local Walgreens

He was supposed to perform religious rites for the deceased but instead was caught on video arguing with the grieving family. A video clip posted by Facebook user Chu Pi Ka on April 29 showed the monk, dressed in a grey robe, yelling at another person in dialect: "What's the problem? It's your wife, right? Why can't she help?" As the monk got more aggressive, a man tried to hold him back. Another person in the video also urged them not to fight. "Gangster monk, fight and throw fist and chair at the deceased family before ritual [sic]. Woman also...

According to those who relish the Cloward-Piven strategy, things are proceeding swimmingly.…”As long as the decisionmakers continue doing the things that are creating the crisis, the crisis will continue.”

JUST IN: Ukraine confirms shot down drone over Kyiv was not a Russian drone but their own Ukrainian TB2 drone. “On May 4, around 20:00 in the Kyiv region, during a scheduled flight, the Bayraktar TB2 UAV lost control.” “Since the uncontrolled presence of UAVs in the sky of the capital could lead to undesirable consequences, it was decided to use mobile calculations...”