Free Republic

Senator Jim Tedisco (R,C-44th Senate District) today announced that the New York State Senate has passed his bipartisan Veterans Internship Program (V.I.P.) legislation to enable honorably discharged veterans to participate in the legislature’s annual paid legislative internship program that could help lead them to future employment. Tedisco’s V.I.P. legislation (S.291/A.1347) sets aside 10 percent of the current legislative internship program positions in the Senate and Assembly for veterans to see the inner workings of the representative democracy they put their lives on the line to defend. Veteran participants in the Veterans Internship Program would receive a stipend that’s equivalent to...

A profile published last month in the New York Times on disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who started her 11-year prison sentence Tuesday after defrauding investors with an ineffective blood-testing product, reportedly ignited an internal debate that paralleled one that occurred in the Twitter court of public opinion. According to a Vanity Fair report Wednesday, writers at the paper of record were questioned about the profile and how it came to be during a fraught all-hands meeting held the day that Holmes’ stint in federal prison started. In the profile, Times writer-at-large Amy Chozick seems sympathetic toward her subject to...

There will always be people who believe the NASA Moon landings were faked. Many feel that the conspiracy theory was fueled by recent events, including the Vietnam War and notably the Watergate scandal, which took place in a culture where people were beginning to loudly question the motives of their leaders. The greatest achievement of the conspiracy movement has been to raise the question: Regardless of whether they did or didn’t fake something, did they try? Such thoughts were on writer and director Peter Hyams’ mind as he watched TV coverage of Apollo 11’s historic lunar landing in 1969, just...

Philadelphia has banned masks on its Center City SEPTA public transportation system in the hope of curtailing gun violence incidents. CBS News reported an individual in a mask shot and killed a high school student on a SEPTA bus last week and on Memorial Day, another gunman in a mask shot a 19-year-old on a bus. The 19-year-old survived his injuries. SEPTA police chief Charles Lawson announced masks will no longer be allowed, saying, “Those face masks are prohibited on SEPTA property. You come on SEPTA property wearing your shiesty, you will be engaged by police. … You got two...

Governor DeSantis's wife took the stage to deliver a speech, presumably on a topic close to her heart — their three-year-old child. Admittedly, it was dull and she should fire her speechwriter. But hubby Ron should have at least pretended to care about what she was saying. Instead, the mean-spirited Presidential candidate failed to exhibit even a hint of interest. Rather than lending a supportive presence at the side of his wife, DeSantis looked as if he'd rather be anywhere else. Standing on the extreme side of the stage, his body language revealed boredom, annoyance, and a general disconnection from...

Rep. Andrew Clyde dropped a bombshell bit of information on the behind-the-scenes arm twisting from House Republican leadership on the debt ceiling fight, telling War Room host Steve Bannon that he was told by at least one unnamed member that his bill to stop the ATF’s new pistol brace rule from being enforced would be held in limbo unless he cast an assenting vote to the debt ceiling package crafted by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the Biden administration. Citizens for Renewing America BREAKING: @Rep_Clyde says Republican leadership threatened to BLOCK his repeal of the ATF’s unconstitutional "pistol brace" ban...

Texas’ 88th regular legislative session, sine die as of Memorial Day, will be remembered as the one that got Texas closer to looking like California and less like the leading pro-market and limited government Lone Star State. Instead of the desired “largest property tax cut in Texas history,” school choice, and spending restraint that would best let people prosper, legislators passed the largest increases in spending, corporate welfare, and safety nets in state history. Texas taxpayers can only hope that Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) just-called special session will help with property tax relief but there will need to be more...

US Embassy to the Holy See again flies LGBT flag for JuneThe move has caused a storm on social media, with users blasting the Biden administration for 'anti-bigotry' and 'blasphemy.'U.S. Embassy to the Holy See flying an LGBT flag, June 2023ROME (LifeSiteNews) — The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has once again prominently displayed the LGBT “pride” flag on the exterior of the large building it occupies in central Rome, in direct defiance of Catholic teaching on LGBT issues.In a message issued on its social media platforms, the U.S. Embassy announced June 1 that for the month the nation...

Bryan Johnson's Project Blueprint is an initiative aimed at 'maximally slowing your pace of aging and reversing the aging that occurs'A tech mogul who’s spending millions in the pursuit of perpetual youth has received blood from his 17-year-old son in what the eccentric multimillionaire is describing as the world’s first multi-generational plasma swap. Bryan Johnson’s young-blood exchange took place in early April, as Bloomberg first reported, when the 45-year-old California entrepreneur, described as the most measured human on earth, arrived at a medical spa and wellness centre in Texas with his son, Talmage, and his own 70-year-old father, Richard. More...

Sometimes a story comes across the wire that’s so unbelievable, that I have to double-check the link to make sure it’s not a parody site. That happened on Thursday morning when a new report dropped detailing how Hunter Biden will defend himself against a possible gun charge brought by the DOJ. Hunter Biden is facing multiple charges related to alleged tax fraud and lying on a gun purchase form. A charging decision is expected to occur soon, though, the DOJ has continued to slow-walk the final decision for reasons that some suspect are political. The president’s troubled son swore under...

The Biden administration on Friday ordered a 20-year ban on new oil and gas drilling leases within 10 miles of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, according to multiple reports. The moratorium — which the Department of Interior initially began considering in November 2021 — is a long-sought goal of several local politicians, conservation groups and Native American tribes that want to preserve the centuries-old Pueblo ruins located there, although some tribes have opposed the ban for limiting future economic opportunities, according to E&E News. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, herself New Mexican and the nation’s first Native...

Two people have been charged after four churches in Laurens County, South Carolina were broken into and vandalized over the weekend. Sierra Lynn Smith and Jesse James Hawkins are charged with three counts of second-degree burglary, four counts of malicious injury to place of worship, larceny and arson. The Laurens County Sheriff's Office said the two vandalized and destroyed property, broke windows, stole items and/or damaged doors at the following churches the following churches: Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, New Prospect Baptist Church, Reedy Grove Pentecostal Holiness Church, and Ceder Grove Baptist Church. Smith and Hawkins appeared in court Monday. There...

Returning to the roots: Orthodox church to celebrate Latin Mass (Cannot be posted, per FR rules)

In the San Francisco area last week, a district attorney downgraded the charges against five people who desecrated the statue of a saint on Catholic church grounds from felonies to misdemeanors. In Washington state, the Justice Department last month recommended no jail time for a transgender person who defaced church property and assaulted a church employee. In Washington, D.C., a man who destroyed the statues of three saints at a Catholic school appears to have pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor that allowed him to avoid serving his prison sentence. With high-profile attacks on Catholic churches and organizations on the rise...

ASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's administration accused the National Rifle Association of wanting to use involuntary commitment laws “to round up mentally ill people and deprive them of other liberties,” according to documents drafted by the Republican's staffers as part of their initial attempt to pass a gun control proposal earlier this year. The memos, provided by Lee's office as part of a public records request, reveal a rare criticism of the powerful gun lobby made by the Republican governor. Lee has previously praised the NRA's efforts to protect the Second Amendment but has since faced opposition...

Five hundred cots have been set up and ready for use at a cavernous warehouse at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens as Mayor Eric Adams’ administration awaits federal approval to convert the space into a migrant shelter. New York City is bursting at the seams to house 45,800 asylum seekers in the 170 emergency sites that have been set up across the five boroughs. An additional 4,800 asylum seekers arrived at city shelters over the last two weeks alone, said mayoral spokesperson Kate Smart this week. The beds at JFK’s Building 197 and multiple trailers outfitted with showers...

Fans haven’t lost that lovin’ feeling for her. Legendary songwriter Cynthia Weil, the muse behind “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” and countless other hits, passed away Thursday evening at 82. Weil’s daughter Dr. Jenn Mann confirmed the icon’s death in a statement to TMZ. “My mother, Cynthia Weil, was the greatest mother, grandmother and wife our family could ever ask for,” she wrote. “She was my best friend, confidant and my partner in crime and an idol and trailblazer for women in music.” As of yet, the cause of death has yet to be revealed. Born in 1940 in New...

Don’t look now, but Hillary Clinton is still lurking in the weeds, waiting for Joe Biden to stumble. Literally. The former Secretary of State insists she’s not running for president again, but has offered only a tepid endorsement of Biden while raising questions about his age. “I obviously hope he stays very focused and is able to compete in the election,” Clinton said condescendingly of the 80-year-old President. “Because I think he can be re-elected and that’s what we should all hope for.” But Clinton even agreed that falling is a potential health risk for Biden, and did not dismiss...

Crucial science topics will no longer be taught to a large swath of Indian students, according to new government guidance. Most young learners in India will no longer be exposed to key science topics in school textbooks — unless they voluntarily major in science in higher classes. On June 1, India cut a slew of foundational topics from tenth grade textbooks, including the periodic table of elements, Darwin's theory of evolution, the Pythagorean theorem, sources of energy, sustainable management of natural resources and contribution of agriculture to the national economy, among others. A small section explaining Michael Faraday’s contributions to...

Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul vowed Thursday on Fox Business not to let any of President Joe Biden’s nominees through unless documents pertaining COVID-19 are released first. Paul said on “Mornings with Maria” he’s been trying for three years to obtain records relating to COVID-19 and grants given to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Paul said the U.S. is still sending taxpayer money to the Chinese “Academy of Military Medical Research,” whose scientists are members of the Chinese military. “That’s inexcusable,” Paul said, adding that it wasn’t just China covering up the lab leak but also the U.S. government. “I...