Free Republic

A Houma, Louisiana, homeowner heard strange noises shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday and went downstairs to find an alleged intruder, whom he shot in the forehead. 4WWL reported the alleged intruder, 34-year-old Dex Herbert, fled after being shot. Police used a K9 to find Herbert a few blocks away holed up in another house. WGNO noted a second suspect, a female named Tye Corbitt, was discovered in the same house as Herbert. She was allegedly holding a handgun when police located her and she was also arrested.

Attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany last weekend, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) explained why he believes the United States should resist new aid provisions to Ukraine. Vance was nuanced and well spoken, something that seemed to shock the Munich audience. He unequivocally condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for the killing of Alexei Navalny (the refusal to hand over the body to Navalny’s family points strongly to poisoning). And when it came to Ukraine, Vance’s argument was not that Ukraine doesn’t deserve support but rather that the U.S. must pivot to Asia because its military resources exist in a “world...

A very significant political event occurred in Ukraine earlier this month, and almost nobody noticed. President Volodymyr Zelensky, the leader of the war-torn country, just received approval from his parliament to extend Martial Law another 90 days. There have been many parliamentary extensions of the wartime mandate, but this one carried special significance because the 2024 presidential elections in Ukraine were scheduled for March 31, 2024, coinciding with the end of Zelensky’s five year term. Now that Martial Law is in place to cover that time period, Ukraine’s presidential elections have been canceled indefinitely. There is currently no set date...

Andrey Morozov, a prominent pro-war Russian blogger, has reportedly died by suicide following outrage over a post in which he claimed that the Russian army lost 16,000 soldiers during the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka. Morozov, who went by the pseudonym Murz on Telegram, was an ultra-nationalist commentator who fought alongside Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and participated in Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. On Sunday, Morozov wrote to his 120,000 followers on Telegram that Russia lost 16,000 personnel and 300 pieces of armour during its months-long capture of Avdiivka. The post drew heavy criticism...

Former President Donald Trump acknowledged Tuesday that at least five high-profile Republicans and one former Democrat are on his shortlist for potential running mates in the general election — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and onetime Democratic presidential primary candidate Tulsi Gabbard.

It’s been 10 years since California decided to let low-income undocumented immigrants qualify for state subsidies of phone and internet services. Today the California LifeLine program — which helps 1.2 million low income households get free or discounted services — still excludes hundreds of thousands of undocumented residents because they don’t have Social Security numbers. Advocates say a decade is far too long for immigrants without legal status to be denied a crucial service. Cell phones have become vital for people to access social programs and health care, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Biden administration forgave a further $1.2 billion in student debts for more than 150,000 borrowers on Wednesday as part of the White House's aggressive push to help Americans paying back their loans. The move means Biden has cancelled nearly $138 billion for nearly 3.9 million borrowers since he took office, despite the Supreme Court killing his plan to wipe the debts seven months ago.

German priest: Pope Francis’ fight against the Latin Mass is ‘a fight against the Church’‘Francis is concerned with the rejection of Church tradition as a whole’ with his rejection of the Latin Mass and his approach to the liturgy, Fr. Joachim Heimerl said.Cardinal Burke offering a Latin Mass at the Guadalupe shrine December 11, 2021, La Crosse Wisconsin, 2021.This essay by Fr. Joachim Heimerl was originally published in German on the blog of Italian journalist Marco Tosatti. It has been translated and reprinted by LifeSiteNews with the permission of Marco Tosatti.(LifeSiteNews) — Anyone who has wondered why Francis not only...

Subway crime skyrocketed in the first two months of 2024, rising by nearly 20% compared to this time last year — and driven by big increases in grand larcenies, felony assaults and robberies, according to newly-released NYPD statistics. Mayor Eric Adams said the NYPD would quickly move to 12-hour tours to try to halt the burgeoning crime wave, which he blamed on the city’s rollback of its so-called subway safety plan that flooded the underground with cops in 2022. “We saw amazing results,” Adams said during Tuesday comments at City Hall. “Increasing the number of police officers in a subway...

On Tuesday afternoon, coming after a New York judge ruled that $354 million must be paid in a civil case against him, Donald Trump posted a screenshot of the 8th Amendment to Truth Social that forbids "excessive fines" for the punishment of crimes. Text of the amendment in the Constitution's Bill of Rights reads, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." It was posted after Trump was fined over $350 million in the New York City case ruled against him. The ruling came down against Trump from New York Judge Arthur...

Climate change alarmists are urging Big Tech to censor accounts of those who question the real danger that global warming poses to humanity. Social media companies such as X, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok “should flag accounts that spread falsehoods about climate change and collaborate on targeted educational campaigns,” states a study published last week in Scientific Reports. Without ever defining the term, the article states that climate change “denialism” persists in the United States, with estimates ranging from 12 to 26 percent of the U.S. population. The researchers separated the population into the binary categories of “believers” and “deniers,” with...

Texas is under threat of a George Soros-backed takeover. Soros-funded RINO judges have been elected in some of the highest courts in Texas. These judges implemented restrictions that have blocked nearly a thousand cases of voter fraud from being investigated or prosecuted from across the state. These new restrictions are similar to ones in place in states like George, Arizona, and Wisconsin, leaving Texas more susceptible to election corruption than ever. If Texas falls to corruption, America will lose its largest bastion of conservative electoral power in the nation. Without Texas, Republicans WILL NOT be able to win national elections...

Two German tourists became lost in their four-wheel-drive vehicle in a remote part of Cape York after trusting Google Maps. They ended up having to camp for about a week before walking out to safety. What's next?: The pair are safe, but local rangers say it could have been so much worse and are warning people to take care. Two young men are lucky to be alive after walking for several days in the Cape York wilderness when their car became bogged after they followed Google Maps directions. German tourists Philipp Maier and Marcel Schoene left Cairns on February 4...

SCOTUS issued opinions at 10:00 this morning on the following cases: We have two opinions, apparently. The first is from Justice Jackson, in McElrath v. Georgia. It is unanimous. McElrath v. Georgia, No. 22-721 [Arg: 11.28.2023] Issue(s): Whether the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment prohibits a second prosecution for a crime of which a defendant was previously acquitted. The court holds that the jury's verdict that McElrath was not guilty of "malice murder" by reason of insanity constituted an acquittal for double jeopardy purposes despite any inconsistency with the jury's other verdicts. The state court's decision is reversed...

Rapid adoption of electric vehicles and low-carbon energy would dramatically improve children’s respiratory health in the United States, according to a new report released Wednesday by the American Lung Association. If the U.S. meets three targets — 100 percent zero-emission passenger vehicle sales by 2035, emission-free truck sales by 2040 and a fossil-fuel-free electric grid by 2035 — it could prevent 2.79 million total asthma attacks among children, 147,000 pediatric bronchitis cases and over 500 infant deaths by midcentury, the organization found. “Curbing pollution from transportation and energy production is key to cleaning our air and protecting our nation’s children,”...

COVID vaccines from companies like Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca have been linked to rare occurrences of heart, brain and blood disorders, according to the largest vaccine study to date. Researchers from the Global Vaccine Data Network analyzed 99 million people who received jabs in eight countries and monitored for increases in 13 medical conditions, Bloomberg News reported. The study, which was published in the journal Vaccine last week, found the vaccines were linked to a slight spike in neurological, blood and heart-related medical conditions. COVID vaccines have been linked to rare occurrences of heart, brain and blood disorders, the new...

How I switch from a Democrat to a full on Republican

Former President George H.W. Bush's speedboat has a new owner. The 38-foot "Fidelity V" was auctioned for $435,000 during the George and Barbara Bush Foundation’s 2024 Presidential Salute benefiting the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, and The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, a spokesperson said. The event last week in Houston featured a number of the late president's friends ranging from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Peyton Manning. The boat’s buyer was anonymous and it’s unclear what will become of the vessel, the spokesperson said. The...

Rally supporting ceasefire resolution held prior to council meeting.A rally supporting a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict was held prior and during the Athens City Council meeting Monday in front of Athens City Hall. The council voted 4-2 in favor of the resolution. During the previous council meeting, the City Law Director’s Office advised the council against supporting such a resolution, with at least three council members agreeing. For more on council’s change of heart at Monday’s meeting, see an associated article, which is linked to the online version of this story. A video of the...

The city of Chicago on Tuesday sued six major oil companies and the primary fossil fuel lobbying group, alleging they funded and planned a campaign of climate change denial that directly affects the city’s residents. In the lawsuit, the city accused BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute (API) of misleading the public about the impact of their products and of contributing to the effects of climate change on Chicago. These impacts include unsafe summer temperatures, an increase in extreme weather, shoreline erosion and susceptibility to disasters such as flash flooding in basements on...