Free Republic

Montana has become the first state to specifically ban people dressed in drag from reading books to children at public schools and libraries. Republican governor Greg Gianforte signed the bill on Monday because he 'believes it's wildly inappropriate for little kids, especially preschoolers and kids in elementary school, to be exposed to sexualized content,' spokesperson Kaitlin Price said. But the law is unique among efforts by states to block drag performances as it does not require a sexual element to a performance for it to be banned. Bills in Florida and Tennessee also appear to try to ban drag reading...

Many people view baseball as a family-friendly sport. That’s why it made sense for the Los Angeles Dodgers to agree with a letter from Sen. Marco Rubio asking them to refrain from giving an award to the blasphemous drag group known as the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (“SPI”). However, a week of agitation from the LGBTQ++ crowd caused the team to change its mind. Once again, the squeakier wheel, which is supported 100% by its political leadership, got the grease. The SPI is a drag group that began in 1979 when some gay men decided to dress as campy nuns...

A downtown Orlando bar filed a federal lawsuit against Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida over a law that restricts sexual performances in front of children. Gary Israel, an attorney representing Hamburger Mary's Bar and Grille, said that DeSantis has overstepped his bounds and claimed that the drag shows were a simple matter of free speech rights. "Plaintiff offers 'family friendly' drag performances announced on Sundays where children are invited to attend. There is no lewd activity, sexually explicit shows, disorderly conduct, public exposure, obscene exhibition, or anything inappropriate for a child to see," read the...

A CRISPR-alternative has been used to create eggs that are unlikely to trigger allergic reactions. That’s a potentially big deal for millions of children who are allergic to eggs — not just for their diets but also for their immune systems. The challenge: Allergic reactions are caused by the immune system mistaking something usually benign, like peanuts or pollen, for a harmful invader. Depending on the severity of the allergy, this can lead to anything from a mild rash to life-threatening anaphylaxis. Eggs are a pretty common allergy, with up to 2% of children experiencing a reaction to them. Most...

The “Defund” movement became so unpopular that the Democrats tried to claim that it was actually the Republicans that had called to defund the police, but this was too comical even for the Left and the ruse had to be abandoned. After the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd, a Black man, in the custody of Minneapolis Police, many Democrats, including Joe Biden, have said the police are systematically racist. San Francisco Democrat Mayor London Breed, Democrat “squad” member Rep. Cori Bush and others have called to defund them. Their reasoning, so to speak, is that since some police...

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that Russia is a world leader in hypersonic missiles, cutting-edge weapons capable of carrying payloads at up to 10 times the speed of sound to punch through air-defence systems. Asked about the accusations facing the ITAM experts as well as about previous treason cases linked to China, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said security services were watchful for possible cases related to "betrayal of the motherland".

Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) has not been handling well the priorities of the Republican-controlled legislature. Last week, the legislature overrode his veto on a 12-week abortion ban, to which he reacted with a slew of angry tweets and media appearances. He's taken even more of an extreme stance in response to the legislature on school choice, though, and on Monday afternoon declared a state of emergency for public schools during a special address. The governor got right to it, as he proclaimed "it’s time to declare a State of Emergency for public education in North Carolina." He even warned "it's...

WASHINGTON, Saturday, May 23. The National Republican announces, by permission of the President, the following dispatch. It was received by the latter at half-past twelve: MEMPHIS, Tenn., Saturday, May 23. Col. Anson Stager, Washington, D.C.: Official information from below, to Wednesday, states that Gen. Grant has capturad Haines' Bluff and the outer works of Vicksburgh, a large number of prisoners, and fifty-seven pieces of artillery. The battle is still raging, with every prospect of capturing the entire force in Vicksburgh. We hold Jackson, Black River Bridge and Haines' Bluff. A report is making up for Washington. (Signed,) W.G. FULLER, Ass't...

The twelve apostles included "James the son of Alphaeus" (Matt. 10:3). God often uses ordinary people to accomplish great things. Like most Christians, James the son of Alphaeus is an unknown and unsung soldier of the cross. His distinguishing characteristic is obscurity. Nothing he did or said is recorded in Scripture—only his name. In Mark 15:40 he is called "James the Less," which literally means "Little James." That could refer to his stature (he might have been short), his age (he might have been younger than James the son of Zebedee), or his influence (he might have had relatively little...

On May 10th, 2023, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Judge Robert S. Payne published an opinion in the federal statutes and regulations which ban 18-20-Year-old citizens from purchasing handguns from federally licensed dealers is facially unconstitutional.The decision was rendered in the case Fraser v ATF. The case is a lawsuit brought by four young citizens between the ages of 18 and 20. The case was initially filed on June 22, 2022, just as the famous Supreme Court opinion in Bruen was published. Motions to dismiss the case and for summary judgment...

24 May 2023 Wednesday of the 7th week of Eastertide altar in honour of Blessed Hermann Joseph in the Roman Premonstratensian College, Kall, Germany Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(I).First readingActs 20:28-38 ©I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, and its powerPaul addressed these words to the elders of the church of Ephesus: ‘Be on your guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you the overseers, to feed the Church of God which he bought with his own blood. I know quite well that when I...

The new USS Canberra will be the first American navy warship to be commissioned in an allied country, with the combat vessel set to join the US fleet. Australian navy chief Vice Admiral Mark Hammond said July's historic event would show the deep ties between the United States and Australia, and provide an opportunity to reflect on their shared history. "This is a unique demonstration of respect by the US for the officers and sailors of the Royal Australian Navy," the vice admiral said. Members of the US Navy and USS Canberra crew will be hosted in Sydney to mark...

... A year ago, the US Department of Energy's Frontier supercomputer was the first exaflop system to grace the Top500, unseating Japan's 442 petaflop Fugaku in the process. It was heralded as a major step forward and a return to form for the US, which has long held a leadership position on the international ranking. However, the "first" was purely a paper one. We've known since 2021 that China's Sunway Oceanlite and Tianhe-3 systems had exceeded the exaflop barrier in the Linpack benchmark. Needless to say neither of these systems has ever appeared on the Top500 ranking. There are a...

Between Biden’s push to tax those borrowers with good credit and reward those with bad credit and Rocket Mortgage annoucing 1% down payments in a declining home price economy, Biden’s housing market is looking more like a house of cards. Here is another bit of bad news for the housing market. Mortgage applications decreased 4.6 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 19, 2023. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 4.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from...

From time to time I like to check in on the latest from the New York City Housing Authority. NYCHA (along with many other municipal housing authorities) is one of the purest examples in the U.S. today of socialist-model economic organization. The state owns the buildings; the residents pay deeply subsidized rents based on income; and the state takes full responsibility for maintenance and upkeep. Is there any reason why this might not work for the long pull? When we last looked back in 2018, NYCHA had just been sued by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New...

Cases of Omicron variant XBB are mounting in China, forming a new wave expected to crest around 65 million cases a week by the end of June.XBB, the “first major highly immune-evasive” group of COVID variants, “will sweep through China,” but the wave will be “largely invisible” due to low rates of testing and reporting, Raj Rajnarayanan, assistant dean of research and associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology campus in Jonesboro, Ark., and a top COVID-variant tracker, tells Fortune.When it comes to XBB variants, “the rest of the world has seen them all.” But up until recently,...

A man identified as Jordan Neely’s uncle was reportedly arrested Monday while allegedly having stolen credit cards in his possession. According to the Daily Mail, the news comes one day after he said there should be no plea deal for the veteran accused of putting his nephew, a mentally ill homeless man, in a deadly chokehold. The Mail report continued: Christopher Neely was arrested late Monday night after running away from a police pickpocket team that confronted him at the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan, police sources said. He was wanted for a string of larcenies in Manhattan when...

A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of a new admissions policy at an elite public high school in Virginia that critics say discriminates against highly qualified Asian Americans. The 2-1 ruling from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond overturns a ruling last year from a federal judge who found that the Fairfax County School Board engaged in impermissible “racial balancing” when it overhauled the admissions policy at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. The school frequently is cited among the best in the nation, and parents jockey and prepare for...

The press said that there was (supposedly) "racism", violence, and hate at the flag march. Lies can kill, but lies do not have legs to stand on. Op-ed. ...Today as well, the haters of Israel allow themselves to brazenly lie and falsely accuse the Jewish people. Newspapers discuss the flag march on Jerusalem Day and say there was racism, hate, and violence. The Haaretz newspaper wrote that the Jews (supposedly) rioted in the Arab streets, damaged, broke, and yelled: "Death to (sic) Arabs." This is a lie like no other. I was there, I walked along the entire route in...

German police on Wednesday carried out raids across seven states targeting climate activists of the "Letzte Generation" (Last Generation) group, which has sparked controversy with protesters glueing themselves to roads to block traffic. The raids were ordered in an investigation targeting seven people aged 22 to 38 over suspicions of "forming or supporting a criminal organisation", said a joint statement by Bavaria's police and prosecutors. Fifteen properties were searched, two accounts seized and an asset freeze ordered. The suspects are accused of "organising a donations campaign to finance further criminal acts" for the group via its website. The authorities did...