Free Republic

Reps. Quang Nguyen and Selina Bliss say the proposal is a direct attack on Second Amendment rights.An Arizona state legislative report on child deaths that advocates for the removal of all firearms from homes with children has drawn criticism from two lawmakers for violating the Second Amendment.Republican Reps. Quang Nguyen and Selina Bliss expressed disapproval of the 2023 annual report to the Legislature from the Arizona Child Fatality Review Team in a letter to Jennie Cunico, the cabinet executive officer of the Arizona Department of Health Services.According to the report, 853 children died in Arizona in 2023, and local CFRP...

The Pennsylvania Democrat is the first senator in his party to announce a meeting with President-elect Donald J. Trump, a sign of the political times as the Republican trifecta is about to begin.Senator John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania Democrat who used to court progressives and now routinely takes aim at the left, said Thursday that he had accepted an invitation to meet with President-elect Donald J. Trump ahead of his swearing-in, becoming the first Democratic senator to do so.“President Trump invited me to meet, and I accepted,” Mr. Fetterman said in a statement. “I’m the senator for all Pennsylvanians — not...

Collin Rugg @CollinRugg BREAKING: The Victory Trailhead in Los Angeles is now a crime scene with one person in custody as the Kenneth Fire spirals out of control, according to NewsNation. The suspect is believed to have started the fire that has swelled to nearly 1000 acres. "[LAPD] believes that someone did intentionally start it. This is now officially an arson investigation. He said this whole area behind me, the canyon behind me, they're calling now a crime scene." Horrible.

The LA Fire Department has responded after Henry Winkler made a shock claim about the cause of the California blazes. Amid the destruction sparked by the Pacific Palisades fire, the Happy Days icon, 79, took to X with an an incendiary message blaming foul play. He wrote: 'THERE IS an ARSONIST here in LA . May you be beaten you unrecognizable !!! The pain you have caused !!!' His claims swiftly went viral with some fans pledging their support to him and others lambasting him for spreading panic. An LA Fire Department official has responded to the claim via TMZ,...

An emergency alert issuing an evacuation warning for all of Los Angeles County was sent out by accident, according to officials. City officials from Santa Monica, Long Beach and other areas took to social media to reiterate that the message was sent in error.

Climate change has played a major role in the unprecedented wildfires that are raging through Southern California. Five wildfires -- the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Woodley and Lidia fires -- were burning through Ventura and Los Angeles counties on Wednesday. At least five people have been killed and several others injured by the disaster, according to officials.

Vice President-elect JD Vance on Thursday announced he will be resigning from the Senate at midnight, in order to be sworn in on Jan. 20. Vance was elected vice president in November as part of President-elect Donald Trump's Republican ticket. Ohio GOP Gov. Mike DeWine will select a replacement for Vance, who has only been on the national stage for three years, in the coming weeks.The vice president-elect thanked Ohio voters who elected him to the Senate in 2022, and promised to work with Trump as vice president to enact the "undeniable mandate to put America first, both at home...

Joe Biden claimed that Los Angeles fire hydrants hadn't run dry because of a water shortage, but due to power being cut to water pumps because of the killer wildfires. As of Thursday, seven people have died in one of the most destructive blazes in the county's history, over 10,000 structures are destroyed, roughly 400,000 customers statewide were without power and over 180,000 have been evacuated. The systemic failures in the deep blue city have led many to wonder how things could've gotten this out of hand - and led many to call for the resignation of Mayor Karen Bass...

Watching the fires raze Los Angeles, a city I called home for years, has been devastating. Santa Ana winds, blowing through the mountains at speeds exceeding 80 mph, have caused catastrophic damage. The west side of the city is barely recognizable. The Pacific Coast Highway, one of the most iconic stretches of the American landscape, lies in ruins. The surrounding area, home to the equally renowned Sunset Boulevard — celebrated in countless dreams and a witness to innumerable Californian sunsets — has been reduced to ashes.The full scale of the devastation will be hard to tally for some time. What...

This is insane. Adam Carolla applied to be a firefighter in LA and had to wait SEVEN YEARS to get called back for an exam because he wasn't black, hispanic, or a woman.

“No matther whether th’ constitution follows h’ flag or not, th’ Supreme Coort follows th’ election returns” wrote Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936) in 1901, through his comic character Mr. Dooley. The language has often been cleaned up to say “the Supreme Court follows the election returns” or “judges follow the election returns” or “the Supreme Court reads the elections returns.” The statement means that judges often tailor their decisions to currently popular social and political trends, sometimes without proper regard for the Constitution. Finley Peter Dunne’s saying gained quick popularity and is still quoted by politicians and the judiciary.

…The argument, in short, was that California’s progressive values, particularly its embrace of LGBTQ+ rights and the protection of women’s rights, had angered God, and in response, He was punishing the state with fire. The comparison immediately struck me as absurd, not only because of its unsubstantiated religious implications but because it ignored the complex reality of wildfires, especially in a state like California. But more importantly, it made me wonder: If California’s progressive stances really had invited divine wrath, what about the conservative states that were also suffering from natural disasters? After all, hurricanes like Helene and Milton had...

Australian firefighters are waiting for a call from their struggling US counterparts, as wildfires rip through Los Angeles and leave tens of thousands forced to evacuate. US firefighters battling multiple massive blazes are stretched and at least five people have died as strong winds hamper efforts to control the inferno. Australian fire authorities - including the National Council for fire and emergency services (AFAC) - confirmed on Thursday no official request for help has been made by the US so far. A spokeswoman for the council - whose National Resource Sharing Centre facilitates international deployments - stressed it didn't want...

The U.S. Supreme Court late Thursday refused to delay Donald Trump’s sentencing in his New York City hush money case on the eve of his scheduled sentencing, marking a significant defeat for the president-elect that means his historic conviction will be finalized before he retakes office. In a 5-4 decision, the nation’s high court denied Trump’s request for an emergency stay, or pause, of the criminal proceedings in his Manhattan case as he fights a set of rulings by state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, meaning the proceeding will go forward Friday. The judges were not moved by Trump’s claim...

Former first lady Michelle Obama did not attend the state funeral Thursday for former President Jimmy Carter. Except for Michelle Obama, all of the living former presidents and their spouses were at the funeral, including Barack Obama, sitting in the front pews of Washington National Cathedral behind only President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses. Michelle Obama’s office confirmed she did not attend the funeral but did not say where she was or why she was absent. “Former First Lady Michelle Obama is not in attendance at President Carter’s National Funeral Service,” according to the statement...

During an interview with CBS News aired on Thursday’s “CBS Evening News,” LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley stated that the cuts to the department’s budget resulted in the department taking from “nonessential duties and responsibilities” but due to the cuts, “we were limited to a certain factor,” in their ability to respond to large-scale events, but with the wind with the recent fires being the way it was, “I honestly don’t think a thousand engines at that very moment could have tapped this fire down.” Host Norah O’Donnell asked, [relevant exchange begins around 11:05] “[A] lot of people are talking about...

US President-elect Donald Trump said that a meeting was being set up between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. "He wants to meet, and we are setting it up," Trump said in remarks before a meeting with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

A Salisbury man infamously known for a shooting at a Washington, D.C. pizza restaurant was identified as the man who was shot and killed by officers during a traffic stop earlier this month in Kannapolis. A Kannapolis Police officer patrolled North Cannon Boulevard around 10 p.m. on Jan. 4 when he recognized a GMC Yukon normally driven by someone he knew had an outstanding warrant for their arrest. The officer pulled over the Yukon and while talking to the driver, recognized the passenger in the front seat as Edgar Maddison Welch, 36, who had an outstanding warrant for felony probation...

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the federal government would cover 100% of costs for the initial disaster response to the Los Angeles wildfires. Meeting with federal officials at the White House, Biden said the funds would go toward debris removal, temporary shelters, salaries for first responders and more for 180 days. Biden said he emphasized to California officials they should "spare no expense to do what they need to do." "The cost of the debris cleanup is gigantic, gigantic. The cost of replacing the housing is almost exponential," he continued. "Anybody can give you a number now, they have...

Students cite privacy concerns, ‘risk of collecting biometric information’ New biometric palm recognition scanners in a Dartmouth College dining hall have prompted privacy concerns among some students. The “biometric recognition technology” recently was installed in all but one entrance gate to the Ivy League school’s Class of 1953 Commons dining hall ahead of the winter term, The Dartmouth reports. Instead of scanning or swiping an ID, students can use the new technology to scan the unique palm of their hand to record their entry into the dining hall and purchase a meal. One remaining gate allows students “to swipe in...