Free Republic

Around the country, vaccine policy is on hold while lawmakers recover from a pandemic-policy hangover.The HPV vaccine has been around for almost two decades and could spare thousands of people from developing cervical and oral cancer — so mandating it for schoolchildren once seemed an easy call for Democrats in deep-blue California. But a bill to do just that has been watered down beyond recognition in one of the most liberal states in the U.S., a victim of a homegrown anti-vaccine movement that has become more organized and more successful since the pandemic. Anti-vaccine activists didn’t do it on their...

Dozens of people reported hearing a huge 'bang' or 'explosion' in DC - that shook the ground and was compared to an earthquake. This is a developing story...

Tam Wai Jia, 35, had always known that humanitarian work would be her life. She had even spent a year serving in Uganda with her husband. But when the doctor was given a chance to go to Africa on a medical mission for seven weeks, her first instinct was to say no - because it took her away from her daughters aged two and four at the time. She talks about making that decision and the lessons she learn

ABC7 previously reported how State Farm Insurance stopped selling new homeowner policies in California last Saturday -- now a second major carrier, Allstate Insurance, confirmed today it ended new home policies in the state last year. On top of that, sources tell ABC7 a third carrier, Farmers Insurance, is limiting policies for new customers. The exodus comes as wildfire season looms ahead. It's hard not to worry. But all three companies say they are still serving existing customers, and there are more than 100 other insurance companies still issuing new homeowner policies. However, after relentless wildfires of the past...

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns made a secret trip to China last month hoping to shore up lines of communication with Beijing amid a deep chill in bilateral relations, a United States official said on Friday (Jun 2). "Last month, Director Burns travelled to Beijing where he met with Chinese counterparts and emphasised the importance of maintaining open lines of communication in intelligence channels," the official said on grounds of anonymity. The official provided no other specifics on the timing of the visit or who Burns met. The CIA as a policy does not discuss the director's travels.

Please get your donations in and let's get 'er done! Way to go FReepers! Thank you all very much! God bless.

As a proud American who happens to be gay, I say it's time to end gay pride month.Last week the Los Angeles Dodgers came under intense criticism, including from a number of the team's players, for inviting a group of "queer and trans nuns" with a long history of anti-Catholic activities to its "10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night" on June 16th.This is just the latest controversial virtue signal on gay alphabet-soup identity politics, following close on the (high) heels of Bud Light's decision to promote a flamboyant transgender influencer on its cans and Target and Kohl's stores marketing transgender children's...

Brianna Armijo, accused of luring a man on a dating app and then beating him, is back in custody. The District Attorney’s office said that in February 2022, Armijo met a man on Tinder and invited him to her apartment. Man linked to shootings at lawmakers’ homes makes first federal court appearance When the man went inside, investigators said three armed men beat the victim then forced him to drive to his parent’s home. There, police said the suspects then beat the victim and another person in the home. The DA said Armijo was originally arrested last June then released...

The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers - 2023 Cost StudyKey HighlightsAt the start of 2023, the net cost of illegal immigration for the United States – at the federal, state, and local levels – was at least $150.7 billion. FAIR arrived at this number by subtracting the tax revenue paid by illegal aliens – just under $32 billion – from the gross negative economic impact of illegal immigration, $182 billion. In 2017, the estimated net cost of illegal migration was approximately $116 billion. In just 5 years, the cost to Americans has increased by nearly $35...

A once-wealthy publishing CEO claims his much younger ex-wife is a “Grinch” who siphoned off his riches and left him destitute. The former head of Simon & Schuster, Richard E. Snyder was once worth $43.5 million and was known for snapping up the publishing rights to the book “All the President’s Men” — but now he’s in debt after former wife Terresa Liu, 30 years his junior, allegedly wiped out his accounts and even stole his frequent-flyer miles, he charges in a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit. Snyder was 72 and Liu 44, with about $25,000 to her name, when they...

Horse racing at Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, is suspended following the death of 12 horses at the track. Spring and summer races will be rescheduled to take place at Ellis Park. However, practice at Churchill Downs is still permitted for now. A report on Horse Racing Nation stated the following about the tragic situation: “Even though the investigations and expert reports have indicated no surface issues, in an abundance of caution, and in alignment with a recommendation from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, Churchill Downs Inc. has elected to relocate the meet in order to conduct...

KEY POINTS • Four sources familiar with OPEC+ discussions told Reuters that additional production cuts were being discussed among options for Sunday’s session. • Three out of four sources said cuts could amount to 1 million bpd on top of existing cuts of 2 million bpd and voluntary cuts of 1.6 million bpd, announced in a surprise move in April and which took effect in May. • OPEC+ pumps around 40% of the world’s crude, meaning its policy decisions can have a major impact on oil prices.

Dual revelations about Jack Smith’s probe into the mishandling of records at Mar-a-Lago suggest the special counsel’s probe into former President Trump is advancing on several fronts, bolstering the case against him. Reporting from CNN this week indicates authorities have a recording of Trump discussing his inability to share the contents of a classified document he retained — undercutting his long-standing claim he declassified the records in his possession... The week was capped with a report from lawyers and former prosecutors who concluded, based on public reporting, that the DOJ has enough evidence in the case to merit charging Trump...

First, big box stores like Wal-Mart introduced self-service checkout stands. You know — the ones where we shoppers begrudgingly do the jobs of the stores for free while under intense electronic and in-person surveillance and all without so much as a discount or meaningful human interaction? Well, now — thanks to the Biden economy — the newest trend at restaurants and stores with self-service checkouts is to coerce and guilt consumers into adding unearned tips to their total.I don’t know about you, Dear Reader, but I grew up in an era when tipping was in direct proportion to the quality...

At least 11 cancer drugs are currently in short supply, FDA data shows.Just six weeks ago, Greg DeStefano began a new chemotherapy combination. The 50-year-old, from Northbrook, Illinois, had recently been diagnosed with his fourth round of cancer and doctors were hopeful the medication would treat the tumors growing in his neck. DeStefano was responding well, but then, in late May, he got a call from his doctor and was told one of the three drugs he was receiving -- carboplatin -- was under a global shortage and because of the way the hospital had to prioritize treatments, he wouldn't...

The “climate change” ideology increasingly takes on pseudo-religious aspects, demanding sacrifices from its adherents at its altar. God is dead in the West, after all, but He must be replaced with something as humans are inherently inclined to seek transcendence and meaning.Via The Telegraph:The collateral damage of net zero is now getting uncomfortably close to home. First Dutch farmers were threatened with compulsory purchases to satisfy EU emissions targets, fomenting a new revolt in the process. Now it’s Ireland’s turn, where the government is reportedly looking at plans to cull around 200,000 cows to meet its climate targets. The scheme...

A far-left international group that encourages groups of people to deflate tires on parked sports utility vehicles (SUV) in an effort to combat global warming has expanded its operations to 18 countries. The group, named the Tyre Extinguishers and based in the U.K., has claimed credit for tire-deflating operations in American cities including New York City, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, and cities in England, Canada, France, Spain, Germany and Italy among others. And most recently, on Thursday, members affiliated with the Tyre Extinguishers conducted an action in Lisbon, Portugal.

Ooooh, this is turning out to be such a good show. Before I get into the latest, let’s recap quickly, shall we? The Missouri v Biden lawsuit sprang from underhanded censorship dealings the Biden administration began with the social media companies almost the second they ascended to the throne. Literally 3 days after Biden took office, the government’s censorship operation was flying. The White House immediately launched a pressure campaign on social media platforms to suppress supposed “COVID misinformation.” The Surgeon General launched his signature “disinformation” initiative at a Virality Project event at the Stanford Internet Observatory. And, Biden himself...

A senior Ukrainian government official expressed "disbelief" on Sunday after learning that nearly half of Kyiv bomb shelters inspected during an initial audit were closed or unfit for use. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ordered an inspection of all Ukrainian shelters on Friday, a day after three people were killed in Kyiv when they were unable to access one during a Russian air strike. Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine's minister of strategic industries, said that out of 1,078 shelters examined on the first day, 359 were unprepared and another 122 locked, while 597 were found to be usable.

Praise the Lord. The Republic is saved. We have a debt ceiling deal. The high-paid help in Washington finally exercised their 1st Amendment right and talked to each other. They hammered out a deal at the last minute. By the grace of God (or perhaps some other celestial from a warmer climate), the extinction-level event became a "near miss" rather than a Deep Impact.Our fearless secretary of the Treasury has been taking "extraordinary measures" to extend the debt ceiling deadline since January of this year. But her ability to sell "the check's in the mail" to the debt collectors was...