Free Republic

The former president of a Fort St. John Pride society is facing several sex crimes charges, including two related to child pornography offenses. Sean Edward Leonard Gravells is charged with sexual interference, sexual exploitation, possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography, B.C. Prosecution Service’s Dan McLaughlin confirmed to Black Press Media on Tuesday (Jan. 9). The charges of sexual interference and sexual exploitation are alleged to have happened on Dec. 29, 2023, while the child pornography offenses are alleged to have happened on Dec. 31. All alleged incidents happened at or near Fort St. John.

The Republican hopeful was fielding the final questions from Fox News hosts Brett Baier and Martha MacCallum when the protesters sparked chaos by jumping up, waving banners and shouting. Security removed the hecklers after one managed to get on stage as DeSantis said: 'You live and you learn with these people.' 'We had a great time tonight,' the governor said. 'I mean, we had some guests that came to the show, tried to make it on the stage but you know, that's just the way this stuff rolls.' 'It's the first time that's happened,' he dismissed.

Natalia Grace has insisted that she is doing 'okay' after her latest adoptive family said they were 'done' with her in the shock finale of her documentary. The Ukrainian orphan, who is estimated to be 22 years old, recently appeared in The Confessions Of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks, and details how she was legally adopted by Antwon and Cynthia Mans. The couple had fiercely defended Natalia throughout the show until six months later producers received a call from the Mans family who revealed they were washing their hands of her once and for all. Natalia, who was born with a...

SENATE. WASHINGTON, Friday, Jan. 8. THE RECIPROCITY TREATY. Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont, (Union,) offered the following joint resolution, which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations: Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives that the President be and is hereby requested to issue to the Government of Great Britain the notice required by the 5th article of the Reciprocity Treaty for the termination of the same. THANKS TO GENERAL OFFICERS AND THEIR ARMIES. Mr. WILSON, of Massachusetts, (Union,) from the Committee on Military Affairs, reported joint resolutions expressive of thanks to Gens. HOOKER, MEADE and BANKS, and the...

A zoologist whose organisation funded controversial experiments in Wuhan which some fear started the pandemic has presented the discovery of a never-before-seen virus with 'almost' as much potential to infect humans as Covid. Dr Peter Daszak, head of the New York based non-profit EcoHealth Alliance, detailed his finding in bats at an event held by the World Health Organization (WHO) on future pandemic research preparedness. EcoHealth had its funding pulled and projects to find viruses in China cancelled due to concerns about its ties to the Covid lab leak theory — but it has continued to operate in Thailand and...

The new year is kicking off with a spike in respiratory illnesses across the U.S., including COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus. Considering all the circulating illnesses right now, it might be time for masking to make a comeback, experts say. "We're certainly in the winter peak of respiratory viruses," Dr. Albert Ko, professor of epidemiology and medicine at the Yale School of Public Health, tells TODAY.com. A post-holiday COVID spike alongside upticks of the usual winter illnesses, like flu and RSV, make this surge "very much expected," he adds. Amid this rise in the spread of illnesses, mask mandates...

The US House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing with the full committee today after the House voted in November to refer articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. House Republicans last week started new impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas for his handling of the ongoing southern border crisis. As The Gateway Pundit reported, Senator David Marshall introduced a vote of no confidence resolution against Mayorkas in the Senate on Tuesday as the House ramps up proceedings to impeach the criminal Homeland Security Secretary for violating his oath and fostering a historic border crisis. Video link below.

Legislation moving in Sacramento to establish a wealth tax on high earners and a bounty-hunter scheme for plaintiff attorneys to target alleged tax dodgers. Democrats introduced the bill last winter, will get a hearing Wednesday as lawmakers scrounge for revenue to fill a projected $68 billion budget hole. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday will unveil his budget for the coming year. Democratic legislators are proposing a wealth tax as an alternative to spending restraint. The bill would impose annual excise tax of 1.5% on the worldwide net worth of every full- and part-year California resident that exceeds $1 billion, starting...

More than three years into the pandemic, hundreds of Americans are still dying from COVID-19 every week. For the week ending Dec. 9, the last week of complete data, there were 1,614 deaths from COVID, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The last four weeks of complete data show an average of 1,488 weekly deaths. By comparison, there were 163 weekly deaths from the flu for the week ending Dec. 9, according to CDC data.

Abortion remained the world’s leading cause of death for the fifth consecutive year in 2023, despite the 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade putting a dent in the United States’ contribution to those totals.More than 44.6 million abortions were committed across the planet last year, according to Worldometer, a nonpartisan resource that tracks and estimates statistics in real time on a wide variety of subjects, based on data from sources such as the United Nations, World Health Organization (WHO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and more.That total is greater than the number of deaths attributed to the next seven causes of...

A Brooklyn man was arrested on hate crime charges nearly two months after he allegedly hurled a rock at a Jewish man and snarled, “Free Palestine,” cops said. Mohamed Habachi, 23, was cuffed Tuesday morning in connection to the unprovoked Nov. 22 attack on a 47-year-old dad of six — and slapped with multiple charges including assault and menacing, both as hate crimes, authorities said Wednesday. The victim — who asked The Post to only identify him by his first name, Shloimy — was leaving his real estate job around 6:30 p.m. and heading to his car when cops said...

Foreign nationals who illegally enter the United States and want their genitals surgically mutilated can now have the procedure done at California taxpayers’ expense.According to a 2022 state-issued memo obtained by The Daily Caller, California’s taxpayer-funded Medi-Cal health system now “covers hormone therapy and surgical procedures ‘that bring primary and secondary gender characteristics into conformity with the individual’s identified gender, including ancillary services, such as hair removal, incident to those services.'”In June 2015, then-Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation expanding Medi-Cal to foreign lawbreakers younger than 18. Then the state’s current Democrat governor, Gavin Newsom, further expanded the program in...

Anti-aging fanatic Bryan Johnson — who spends $2 million a year on a controversial regimen to beat back Father Time — debuted his much-touted Project Blueprint for those willing to pay $333-a-month to mimic his extreme routine. The millionaire tech mogul-turned-biohacker shared to X on Monday that applications were open to try out the 90-day “self-experimentation study” — for a minimum entry fee of $999. The strict diet provides participants with “67 interventions” in products that include a 6-ounce Longevity drink mix, eight supplements, Johnson’s signature Nutty Pudding Mix and extra virgin olive oil. In all, the “stack” of products...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and President Biden discussed immigration in a phone call Wednesday, a rare conversation between the two leaders as Congress works through negotiations on border policy. Raj Shah, a spokesperson for Johnson, said the Speaker “strongly encouraged the President to use his executive authority to secure the southern border and reiterated the contents of his letter to the President dated December 21, 2023.”

Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews said Wednesday on “Morning Joe” that people have to get out and vote to beat “rural people out there voting their craziness about the cult.” Anchor Mika Brzezinski said, “Iowa is days away, New Hampshire is coming up, and Donald Trump, given this conversation, even, is the clear front-runner. ” Matthews said, “You know, I think President Biden gave a good speech on Friday. I think he began the conversation about the Constitution and democracy. but i think he has to turn the corner and go to the next step. the reason we love our...

Republicans had significant leverage to demand spending concessions from Democrats but let them increase spending in the latest deal anyway.With “friends” like Mike Johnson, do conservatives really need enemies?That question, harsh as it sounds, should echo in the minds of individuals and groups who want to restrain Washington’s inflation-causing spending. The agreement House Speaker Johnson cut with Democrats over the weekend would actually raise spending compared to what would happen under the status quo. That additional spending binge might constitute the kind of change Democrats believe in, but it shouldn’t persuade fellow Republicans to sign off on this ill-conceived plan.Debt...

[Catholic Caucus] Byzantine Catholic bishop: The Church ‘can never’ bless same-sex relationships'Important to note is that, in our society, the word ‘couple’ has come to be understood as two people who have entered a relationship that is either one of dating, engagement, or marriage,' Byzantine Catholic Bishop Robert Pipta stated. The new bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma, which covers part of the American Midwest, has said that the Church cannot bless same-sex “couples.” In a recent online communique, Bishop Robert Pipta discussed Pope Francis’ new declaration Fiducia Supplicans and stated that the Church cannot bless romantic relationships...

Car rental service Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:HTZ) has started selling its used Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) cars on the company website, months after it announced its intentions to scale back on the EV giant’s vehicles in its fleet. What Happened: Hertz Inventory now shows about 518 Tesla vehicles for sale with about 455 Model 3 vehicles. The remaining are the EV maker’s best-selling Model Y. The lowest price for a Tesla vehicle from Hertz’s inventory is $20,700 for a 2021 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range with solid black exteriors. The vehicle has traveled 86,929 miles and is located in Florida....

Don Lemon is back. The former CNN host who was fired from the network in April 2023 announced on Tuesday the launch of his new program on X. “I’ve heard you … and today I am back bigger, bolder, freer!” Lemon said in a post on the social media site. “My new media company’s first project is The Don Lemon Show. It will be available to everyone, easily, whenever you want it, streaming on the platforms where the conversations are happening.” His statement continued, “[Y]ou’ll find it first on X, the biggest space for free speech in the world. I...

In a major breakthrough, scientists have identified a rather elusive protein involved in the production of ‘good’ fat, brown fat, and found it can even boost the formation of these cells in white fat. Understanding how to ‘switch on’ the creation of this type of energy-burning cell opens the door to novel weight-loss treatments that have eluded researchers to date. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is essential for producing heat from blood sugar and fat molecules, through a process called thermogenesis. It also requires a lot of energy (or calories) to fuel this. Unfortunately, by the time we reach adulthood, most...