Free Republic

A number of Republican and MAGA figures have reacted angrily after The Houston Chronicle, one of the biggest newspapers in Texas, endorsed President Joe Biden. The Houston Chronicle's editorial board said they would be backing Biden in the Democratic primary and for re-election so he can "make life better" for the American people as well as prevent the "chaos, corruption and danger to the nation" that would accompany his presumed 2024 Republican challenger Donald Trump returning to the White House. The Houston Chronicle's praise for Biden will be a boost for the Democrat as he seeks re-election in November. It...

Between 2013 and 2023, Americans’ spending on home appliances jumped 53 percent. Adjusted for inflation, that’s an annual increase of $390 to $558. But the cost of appliances decreased by 12 percent during that same time. How is that possible? Well, as the Wall Street Journal explains, one “reason for the discrepancy between [higher] spending and [lower] prices is a higher rate of replacement[.]” Over a mere two years, “Yelp users … requested 58% more quotes from thousands of appliance repair businesses last month than they did in January 2022.” “We’re making things more complicated, they’re harder to fix and...

Which is more important for a movie: a compelling story or ideology?If you found yourself among those with an internal monologue, you likely answered “compelling story.” If so, I’m sorry to inform you that this means you are a mouth-breathing troglodyte — at least according to the folks over at Disney. Responding to recent criticisms of Disney and its CEO Bob Iger, an executive at the House of Mouse suggested to Puck writer Matthew Belloni that moviegoers’ latent bigotry is to blame for the studio’s many flops in recent years.“Everyone says, ‘It’s the movies, stupid,’” the unnamed executive said, “which...

The hue and cry about the recent death of Putin critic Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison overlooks that Biden and the Deep State are trying to imprison Trump until he dies, too. Anti-Trumpers in our country have been misusing the legal system with a vengeance ever since Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016. Trump compared Navalny’s death, while under a three-decade prison sentence, to the relentless lawfare to imprison and bankrupt himself. Some scoffed at that comparison, but Biden and his minions are trying to treat Trump as Putin reportedly mistreated Navalny.Trump posted on Truth Social, “The sudden death...

In a first-of-its-kind decision, the Alabama state supreme court ruled on Friday that embryos are “extrauterine children” – a term that could have widespread implications for anybody who is seeking or provides in vitro fertilization (IVF). The ruling has plunged IVF doctors and patients in Alabama into chaos and uncertainty, as they scramble to untangle the practical implications of the sweeping ruling. ... Since each created embryo is now a person in the eyes of the law, the Alabama ruling casts multiple parts of the IVF process into legal jeopardy. Providers may no longer be able to freeze, thaw, transfer...

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito raised concerns on Tuesday about potential jurors who hold “traditional religious beliefs” on homosexuality being labeled as “bigots,” according to a statement attached to an orders list. The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to weigh a case about whether potential jurors can be excluded based on their sincere religious beliefs. The case surrounded a lawsuit by Jean Finney, who is lesbian, against her former employer, the Missouri Department of Corrections, for workplace discrimination due to her sexuality. Alito, one of the high court’s six Republican-appointed justices, issued a statement toward the bottom of Tuesday’s orders...

An Indiana Catholic couple whose child was removed from their home following disagreements over their son expressing a desire to identify as the opposite sex are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case. Parents Mary and Jeremy Cox follow the Bible’s teachings on human sexuality, ascribing to the belief that God designs humans as male and female. Because of their religious beliefs and adherence to biological reality, they could not abide using feminine pronouns to identify their son, who demanded to be called by a female name after he told his parents in 2019 that he identified as...

The end of the “reentry window” is about 12:05 pm today.

This is pretty nuts — researchers at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University have grown “laboratory testicles” they hope could eventually ease male infertility, which affects 10% to 15% of American men. The tiny, artificial organs, produced from cells extracted from mouse testes, are said to resemble the structure and function of natural mouse testicles. The researchers, led by Dr. Nitzan Gonen, are aiming to develop human-like testicles from human stem cells to help treat developmental sex disorders and infertility. “Fertility clinics are able to identify some of the problems that cause male infertility — a low sperm count or an abnormal structure...

The dangers inherent in targeting criminals-to-be have yet to be addressed. Should data scientists be in the business of fingering Americans for crimes they could commit, someday? Last month, a group of federal lawmakers asked the Department of Justice to stop funding such programs—at least until safeguards can be built in. It's just the latest battle over a controversial field of law enforcement that seeks to peer into the future to fight crime. "We write to urge you to halt all Department of Justice (DOJ) grants for predictive policing systems until the DOJ can ensure that grant recipients will not...

While many on the left are cheering the recent civil fraud ruling ordering Trump to pay $355 million, famed entrepreneur and Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary has been teaching a MasterClass on why it is unjust and could destroy New York. One person who defended the verdict is CNN’s Laura Coates, who clearly doesn't understand the implications or perhaps even the details of the case. "Wouldn't there be many companies who would not want to do business or loan money to people like yourself for investors if they know that they can get away with fraud and there's no recourse...

A new ranking of presidents by a group of self-styled experts determined that Abraham Lincoln is America's greatest president, while Donald Trump ranks last. Lincoln topped the list of presidents in the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project expert survey for the third time, following his top spot in the rankings in the 2015 and 2018 versions of the survey. According to a release from the Presidential Greatness Project, which touts itself as the "foremost organization of social science experts in presidential politics," the 154 respondents to the survey included "current and recent members of the Presidents & Executive Politics Section of...

The Biden administration’s Department of Agriculture awarded a $131,500 grant last year to a firm that makes cricket protein powder made for human consumption, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported. In July 2023, the grant was awarded to Mighty Cricket to fund a St. Louis-based cricket farm, where the insects would be fed landfill “food waste.” According to the grant’s summary, the research would address “the need for more cost-efficient production of crickets as a sustainable protein source.” It notes that the cost of cricket protein is more than twice the amount of other protein alternatives, citing a “lack of...

The mother of one of the accused Kansas City Super Bowl parade shooters set up a GoFundMe for him, saying he needed help through a “tragic time.” Teneal Burnside created the online fundraiser for her son Lyndell Mays, 23, showing him lying in a hospital bed recovering from nine bullet wounds from the shootout he allegedly confessed to starting. “He is in the ICU fighting for a recovery from several surgeries from going to the Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration with his older sister,” the now-deleted fundraiser said. “Getting shot multiple times at a time that was [meant] to bring so...

Nikki Haley knows her campaign is over. It was over a month ago, but she refuses to publicly admit it. With each devastating loss, she speaks triumphantly, as if she's won, pretending that Republican primary voters are sending her the message that she must soldier on. In a campaign memo received by PJ Media, Trump advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles declared that "the end is near" for Nikki Haley and that her campaign will be finished on Saturday in her home state, which they say is "fitting" because those voters "know her the best." The brutal memo continues: Of...

Proposed Florida defamation legislation would make it easier for leftwing lawyers to sue conservative media into oblivion. It could also prevent vital anonymous sources from coming forward with information. If passed, HB 757, reports the Tallahassee Democrat, will “creat[e] a presumption that anyone publishing a false statement that relied on an anonymous source, acted with ‘actual malice,’ a key legal hurdle for public figures to win defamation lawsuits.” At the time of publication, the House bill’s sponsor, Pensacola Republican Rep. Alex Andrade, had not returned The Federalist’s request for comment. Actual malice is a legal hurdle public figures must over...

Try as they might, throughout the years, liberals have not been able to succeed with their version of “liberal talk radio.” Currently, 91 percent of talk radio is conservative. In 2004, Air America premiered as the liberal alternative, but it only lasted until 2010. But that might be changing. Leftist (and some say communist) billionaire George Soros has filed the paperwork to purchase a large chunk of Audacy Radio’s $415 million senior debt, which will make Soros Fund Management the largest stakeholder. Audacy is the nation’s second-largest radio company, with 220 stations nationwide. The number one U.S. radio broadcaster is...

William Beecher, who as a reporter for The New York Times revealed President Richard M. Nixon’s secret bombing campaign over Cambodia during the Vietnam War, and who later won a Pulitzer Prize at The Boston Globe, died on Feb. 9 at his home in Wilmington, N.C. He was 90. His daughter, Lori Beecher, and son-in-law, Marc Burstein, confirmed the death. President Nixon ordered the bombings, code-named Operation Menu, in March 1969 in response to stepped-up attacks by the North Vietnamese Army and South Vietnamese guerrillas based in Cambodia, a neutral country. The campaign was so secret that even William P....

The following has nothing to do with whether I support or oppose Donald Trump. It is simply one approach to problem-solving. In a recent civil fraud case in New York, Trump was found liable for deceiving banks about his net worth. Justice Arthur F. Engoron’s ruling imposes a penalty of nearly $355 million plus interest, potentially depleting Trump’s available cash. The judge’s decision also bars Trump from serving in top roles at any New York company for three years, including portions of his own Trump Organization. The judgment also imposed a two-year ban on the former president’s adult sons, along...

The Russian government has arrested a dual U.S. citizen on treason charges for donating a small amount of money to a Ukrainian charity. The Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement that it arrested 33-year-old Ksenia Karelina for donating $51.80 to Razom, a New York-based charity that sends assistance to Ukraine. “Since February 2022, she has been proactively collecting funds in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations, which were subsequently used to purchase tactical medicine items, equipment, weapons and ammunition by the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the FSB said. She was arrested in Yekaterinburg, a city in...