Free Republic

We've all been this guy (well, minus the explosion). Whether it was a cockroach, a centipede, some bees, or even just innocent ants, we've all gone a bit overboard trying to play exterminator in our own home. But let's give it up for this guy for making us all not look so bad in comparison to what he did. The epic pest control fail was reported early Sunday in the city of Kumamoto [Japan] on the island of Kyushu, about 230 miles southwest of Hiroshima. Sometime before midnight, a 54-year-old man spotted a solitary cockroach inside his apartment in the...

Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy said Thursday that the State of Israel would welcome a visit by singer Taylor Swift and any other celebrities who wished to educate themselves about what Hamas terrorists did to Israelis in the October 7 terror attack. “We welcome visits by all leaders and influential figures” who want to see the extent of the atrocities, said Levy, when asked about whether Israel would welcome a visit by Swift. Swift, who won Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” award for 2023, and who turned 34 on Wednesday, attended a fundraiser for a charity aiding Gaza this...

The Turkish lawmaker who suffered a heart attack on the floor of parliament after declaring that Israel “will suffer the wrath of Allah” died Thursday, just two days after condemning Istanbul’s policy toward Jerusalem. Hasan Bitmez, 54, a member of parliament from the opposition Saadet Party, died in Ankara City Hospital, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told reporters in televised remarks. He is survived by a wife and child. Shocking video showed Bitmez collapsing at the podium before the general assembly Tuesday, moments after delivering a fiery speech panning President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party over Turkey’s ongoing trade with Israel...

Hunter Biden has told friends that he might have to flee the country if Donald Trump is reelected, after already enduring months of deeply personal political attacks and mounting legal woes. Republicans have put him front and center of their efforts to say his father acted corruptly when he was vice president. And he could face almost 20 years in prison if convicted of three felony and six misdemeanor charges brought last week. The result is an 81-year-old father desperately worried about the welfare of a son who has battled drink and drugs, and a son who fears more attacks...

First lady Jill Biden was blasted Wednesday night after posting a video to X showing dancers tapping around the holiday-decorated White House, whose theme this year is "Magic, Wonder and Joy."In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the first lady shared the video from the official @FLOTUS account, along with the caption. "A bit of magic, wonder, and joy brought to you by the talented tappers of Dorrance Dance, performing their playful interpretation of The Nutcracker Suite. Enjoy!" the first lady's post read.

Whether you’re a morning person has long been tied to personality, but new research suggests DNA inherited from our extinct Neanderthal cousins ups the chance we’re early risers. Our circadian rhythms—the biological clocks inside our cells that time when we sleep and wake—are linked to countless genes. Now researchers say they have found that bits of genetic code passed down to some of us from Neanderthals relate to our sleeping habits in the present day. The study was published Thursday in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution. “We’ve found many Neanderthal variants that consistently associate with a propensity for being...

In 2020, Democrats invented a fake water leak, and used it as an excuse to send Republican poll watchers and news reporters home. Then the Democrats went back inside, and continued counting the votes.

EDGERTON, Wis. - Last week, Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill that would expand the Safe Haven Law, allowing parents to anonymously and safely surrender their newborns to hospitals, fire stations, police stations. The update came months after southern Wisconsin was shaken by the news of an abandoned newborn child found dead in a cornfield just outside of Whitewater. "They (residents) felt like this baby's life really mattered and they wanted to do something to make sure that if somebody else found themselves in this situation that they had an option," Rep. Ellen Schutt (R-Clinton) said. Now that the bill...

A group of Republican lawmakers are attempting to stop the Pentagon from taking out a Confederate monument belonging to Arlington National Cemetery.Led by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), the group of lawmakers penned a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday that demands he leaves the Reconciliation Monument, also known as the Confederate Memorial untouched until at least the conclusion of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process.The monument was set to be taken out by the Pentagon’s Naming Commission, a group formed to rename and remove military installations named after the Confederacy. This came in the wake of the 2020...

NATIONAL BOUILLABAISSE DAY National Bouillabaisse Day on December 14th gives seafood lovers everywhere a reason to celebrate. This flavorful fish stew hits the spot on cold winter’s day, too. #NationalBouillabaisseDay The French are known for many great recipes. Their food inspires travel to France for a taste of authentic dishes. Bouillabaisse tops the list of must-have cuisine while visiting France. The tasty stew originates in the port city of Marseille. It is traditionally made using bony rockfish, saffron, fennel seed, and orange zest. However, in the culinary world, strong opinions bounce around about the proper ingredients for an authentic bouillabaisse....

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The mother of a transgender girl sobbed in federal court Wednesday as she contemplated having to move away from her Navy officer husband to get health care for her 12-year-old if Florida's ban on gender dysphoria treatments for minors is allowed to take affect The woman, who testified as Jane Doe to protect the identity of her child, said her daughter went from being anxious and upset to a thriving, happy straight-A student after being allowed to live as a girl about eight years ago, a decision she made with her husband after multiple visits to...

Trump argued that he was immune from E. Jean Carroll’s defamation suit because of presidential immunity. This was always a questionable argument: While Carroll sued Trump over statements Trump made while he was president, immunity would require Trump to act in his official capacity as president in claiming that Carroll was making up her story of being sexually assaulted by Trump in the 1990s. The controversy, like Paula Jones’s lawsuit against Bill Clinton, involved an alleged sexual assault that happened before Trump was president, so the argument would have to be that the president’s defense of his personal reputation is...

Ms Furlow-Smiles hired suppliers operated by her friends who charged fraudulently inflated prices to Facebook and paid her cash kickbacks - Robin L Marshall A former Facebook diversity and inclusion tsar has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $4m (£3.1m) from the tech giant to fund her lavish lifestyle. Barbara Furlow-Smiles, a global diversity executive at Facebook between 2017 and 2021, syphoned off cash through an “elaborate scheme” involving fake suppliers and cash kickbacks, US prosecutors said. The Atlanta resident was “motivated by greed”, US Attorney Ryan Buchanan said, “ignoring the insidious consequences of undermining the importance of her DEI...

On January 1, 2024, the new requirement to file a beneficial ownership information (BOI) report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) goes into effect. More than 32 million entities – mostly small businesses – will have to file this report, which is required by a federal law called the Corporate Transparency Act. Violations of this law can result in a civil penalty of $500 per day the violation continues and criminal penalties of up to $10,000 and two years in prison. January 1 is fast approaching. Now is the time for all small business owners to start preparing. Below...

They were anything but in and out. Burger lovers were so desperate to try Idaho’s first In-N-Out they waited up to eight hours in line — with some even camping out overnight. The excitement for the California-based chain’s celebrated patties, fries, and shakes was so intense that hundreds were already waiting for the drive-thru when it opened in Meridian on Tuesday at 9 a.m., much earlier than typical hours, the Idaho Statesman reported. The demand meant it was anything but fast food — with signs soon warning those joining the massive line to expect seven- to eight-hour waits, the outlet...

Propelled by the exciting notion that words that mean nothing can often mean anything, favorite words of the left took on new meanings in 2023. Meanings that had less to do with the word itself, than with associating a particular word with a vast array of feelings, designed to mangle the original meaning and grant it a new, improved definition....

Not surprisingly, yesterday Hunter Biden stiffed the Oversight Committee's request for him to appear for a deposition under oath behind closed doors. Instead, he chose to come to the venue and make a bunch of whiny statements while trying to set the rules: “Let me state as clearly as I can: My father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma. Not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman. Not my investments at home nor abroad and certainly not as an artist." As he has done for his...

A menorah set up for Hanukkah at Oakland’s Lake Merritt, in the heart of the city, was vandalized early Wednesday, leading to condemnation by local officials — and a motor rally around the lake Wednesday night by Jews with menorahs on their cars. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who had participated in a menorah-lighting ceremony at the site just days before, issued a statement blasting the “desecration and act of vandalism,” which appeared to be a blatant act of antisemitism. Oakland’s Jewish community is an essential part of Oakland’s diversity and strength and the City of Oakland takes incidents like the...

Company must stop false claims, turn over money to FTC, and notify consumers The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against Florida-based EXOTOUSA LLC. (d/b/a Old Southern Brass) for falsely claiming that certain company products were manufactured in the U.S, and that the company was veteran-operated and donated 10 percent of its sales to military service charities. The FTC’s proposed order would stop the company and its owner, Austin Oliver, from making these deceptive claims and require them to pay a monetary judgment. “This company and its owner’s brazen deception cheated consumers who wanted to support U.S. manufacturing, veteran-operated businesses,...

For at least two and a half thousand years, virtually all educated people believed that knowledge was the savior of humanity. Even Maimonides wrote in his “Guide for the Perplexed” that once all of humankind had knowledge, the world would be at peace. Then came the 20th century. The most educated nation in world history—a land to which all other nations looked for science, psychology, culture, philosophy, reason, and ethics—applied its knowledge to commit crimes against humanity that no barbarian could have imagined. “Does calling for the genocide of the Jews violate your institution’s code of conduct concerning bullying and...