Free Republic

It's said that Emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burned, but Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did no such thing — she just took a taxpayer-funded trip to the Paris Olympics while cutting $17 million from the fire department's budget and ignoring the cries of her fire chief. Three, actually. Three taxpayer-funded trips to the Paris Olympics that lasted two weeks. But just think of the miles she earned. Sure, Bass was in Ghana on a White House junket when the fires broke out last week, but that was sheer dumb luck. A New York Times report today indicates that Bass...

When did COVID start for you? Personally, I trace the beginning to Feb. 13, 2020. My wife and I were waiting for a plane at O’Hare when a group of Japan Airlines flight attendants walked past, wearing those masks I’d read about. I snapped a photo and sent it into the city desk. Look: news. Emotionally, it really began in March. The stripped Target shelves. A few hours before Gov. JB Pritzker shut down the restaurants, I popped into Kamehachi for a last sushi fix and was surprised to find myself the lone diner at 12:30 p.m. Watching the chef...

Switzerland has often served as a venue for diplomatic meetings and peace talks due to its reputation for neutrality.Switzerland and Serbia have both offered to host a potential meeting between incoming President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, following recent discussions about the possibility of such talks.The Swiss Foreign Ministry said on Jan. 12 that it is willing to host talks between Trump and Putin, while Serbian President Aleksander Vucic said on the same day that his country would be an “extremely suitable” venue for such a meeting given that both men are highly popular in the Balkan country.Switzerland,...

ESG investments tend to underperform traditional funds by approximately 10 percent, the judge observed.A district court has ruled that American Airlines failed to prioritize the financial interests of its employees’ retirement funds by enabling fund managers to pursue environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments.The judgment came as part of a 2023 lawsuit filed against American Airlines and the company’s Employee Benefits Committee. The class action alleges that the defendants violated their duty of loyalty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which states that fiduciaries managing retirement investments must act in the best financial interest of the participants.The defendants are...

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has taken criticism for being in Africa at the beginning of the destructive wildfires – something she had previously pledged to avoid. As Breitbart News reported last week, Bass had been visiting Ghana in Africa at the time of the wildfires, despite having over 24 hours’ notice ahead of what experts predicted would be the worst windstorm to hit Los Angeles since 2011. According to the New York Times, her travel to Africa may already have been in violation of something promised when campaigning. When serving in Congress and on the House Foreign Affairs Committee,...

Carrie Underwood — the mega country music star and American Idol alum — is set to sing “America the Beautiful” at the second inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on January 20. Her participation was revealed by political reporter Matthew Foldi who posted a picture on X of the program for the inauguration. The Trump transition team also confirmed the news to Axios Monday. Carrie Underwood will perform “America the Beautiful” with The Armed Forces Chorus and the United States Naval Academy Glee Club prior to Trump’s swearing in, according to the screenshot of the program. Other musical participants will include...

Imagine you’ve had some trouble with the state police during a traffic stop search, but after years of legal fees and time in court rooms, you’ve finally plead the charges down to one year in prison and nine years of probation. But the day you get out your lawyer tells you the feds hit you with a charge—for the exact same crime. Suddenly, you’re facing years in prison all over again. That’s double jeopardy, and the Supreme Court says it’s here to stay. Terrence Gamble’s double jeopardy nightmare Take the case of Terrence Gamble. Police in Alabama pulled him over...

Professor Anne Bayefsky of Touro University and Human Rights Voices speaks with Arutz Sheva about the appeal by UN officials against the US bill imposing sanctions on the ICC.

California’s leaders are “charlatans and empty suits” for neglecting infrastructure and embracing performative politics, according to world-renowned historian and political commentator Dr. Victor Davis Hanson, who exposed policy failures he says have turned Los Angeles into a burning wasteland, comparing the city’s devastation to the World War II firebombing of Dresden. In a recent post, titled “Dresden in Los Angeles and Our Confederacy of Dunces,” which has amassed more than 1.2 million views as of Monday, Hanson delivered a fiery critique, calling out California’s leadership for its role in the disaster. In the viral post, he drew parallels between L.A.’s...

A former Dallas Cowboys quarterback should be considered a real candidate for the team to pursue at head coach. The Dallas Cowboys have officially decided to part ways with Mike McCarthy, who has arguably been the team's best head coach in the last two decades. Dallas faces the challenge of finding a new leader to guide the franchise to glory. Given McCarthy’s track record, there’s hope that the Cowboys already have a few viable candidates in mind One name that stands out is Kellen Moore, a former Cowboys quarterback and offensive coordinator. Moore has familiarity with the organization, which could...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court dealt a major setback to the oil industry on Monday, refusing to block lawsuits from California and other blue states that seek billions of dollars in damages for the impact of climate change. Without a comment or dissent, the justices turned down closely watched appeals from Sunoco, Shell and other energy producers. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said he took no part in the decision, presumably because he owns stock in companies affected by the dispute. In Sunoco vs. Honolulu, the energy producers urged the justices to intervene in these state cases and rule that...

The development comes after President-elect Donald Trump said he would not rule out military or economic pressure to take control of the nordic island. VIDEO AT LINK................. Denmark is reportedly open to the idea of meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to discuss the future of Greenland. According to two sources who spoke to Axios, Danish officials have sent "private messages" to the Trump transition team in recent days expressing a willingness to meet to discuss the national security of the territory and U.S. military presence on the island. However, Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede maintains that "Greenland is for...

The CEO of disgruntled leftist fact-checker Snopes — yeah, the same website that got raked over the coals for "fact-checking" the satire site The Babylon Bee — had the chutzpah to excuse away the truth-gatekeeping industry’s notorious, censorial treatment of the Hunter Biden laptop story. “Let's look at the most famous example of Facebook censoring content, and that was the Hunter Biden laptop story,” said Snopes CEO Chris Richmond during the Jan. 11 segment of MSNBC’s two-hour, weekend lefty spitballing puppet show Velshi. After host Ali Velshi bemoaned the media being the “scapegoats for a lot of things,” Richmond was...

PAGEDALE, Missouri — After two men brutally assaulted a security guard on a desolate train platform on the outskirts of St. Louis, county transit police detective Matthew Shute struggled to identify the culprits. He studied grainy surveillance videos, canvassed homeless shelters and repeatedly called the victim of the attack, who said he remembered almost nothing because of a brain injury from the beating. Months later, they tried one more option. Shute uploaded a still image from the blurry video of the incident to a facial recognition program, which uses artificial intelligence to scour the mug shots of hundreds of thousands...

With fires still burning in Los Angeles after several days, some have been accusing politicians of mismanaging resources and making the fires worse. President-elect Donald Trump has pointed a finger squarely at California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, who he said is responsible for LA's struggling water supply. A lack of water for firefighter's hoses has been cited as one of the reasons the fires have burned so long. Meanwhile, others have blamed LA Mayor Karen Bass for cutting the city's fire department budget. BBC Verify looked into the facts behind the political fallout

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order temporarily suspending landmark environmental laws to allow victims of wildfires to rebuild their destroyed homes and businesses faster. Newsweek has contacted Newsom's office for comment via email. Wildfires have devastated communities across the Los Angeles area, burning through an area larger than San Francisco and destroying more than 12,000 structures since January 7. At least 24 people have died, and at least 100,000 remain under evacuation orders. Early estimates indicate the fires may be the costliest in U.S. history. AccuWeather, a private forecaster, has put the damage and economic loss between...

Explanation: Comet ATLAS is really bright now, but also really close to the Sun. Outside the glow of the Sun, Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) would be one of the more remarkable comet sights of recent years, reflecting about as much sunlight to Earth as Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS did in October, and now rivaling even planet Venus. But the giant snowball is now so close to the Sun that it can only be seen through the light of the early morning dawn or the early evening dusk. Today, Comet ATLAS is at perihelion -- its closest ever to the Sun. Although the...

DOLTON, Ill. — Faced with a revolt that’s paralyzed one local government, Tiffany Henyard is asking a judge to intervene and force two Thornton Township trustees to attend meetings. Trustees Chis Gonzalez and Carmen Carlisle have previously said they were refusing to attend board meetings due to security concerns and fear that Henyard would use meeting to fill a vacancy on the board and shift control back into her hands.... WGN Investigates has spent more than a year documenting questionable spending and leadership under Henyard in both Thornton Township and the Village of Dolton, where she’s the mayor.... She’s also...

Waives CEQA and Coastal Act requirements for reconstruction, extends law against price gouging What you need to know: Governor Gavin Newsom today issued an executive order to streamline the rebuilding of homes and businesses destroyed in the recent Southern California firestorms. LOS ANGELES — Governor Gavin Newsom today signed an executive order to suspend permitting and review requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California Coastal Act to allow victims of the recent fires to restore their homes and businesses faster. “When the fires are extinguished, victims who have lost their homes and businesses must be able...

Police and residents of Azusa, California, a small city in Los Angeles County, teamed up Friday to stop a suspected arsonist in his tracks as at least three large wildfires threaten the region and winds are expected to pick up again. With increased officers on patrol amid the wildfire emergency, Azusa Police Department Capt. Robert Landeros said the first responding officer arrived quickly to the scene at Pioneer Park around 11:30 p.m. after neighbors confronted the homeless suspect, who was still there when the first officer arrived. "This was intentional," Landeros told Fox News Digital Monday. "Some of the neighbors...