Free Republic

In the days following missing camper Tiffany Slaton’s rescue from the Sierra National Forest, what began as a heartwarming tale of a woman surviving against all odds has been tinged by a chorus of online skeptics questioning the hiker and her family.While many have praised the tenacity of the 28-year-old Georgia woman, others have expressed doubts about the veracity of her shocking survival story and have criticized her family’s fundraising motives.Slaton had set out for a three-day camping trip in the Huntington Lake area on April 20 but wound up surviving three weeks in the wilderness — eating wild leeks...

May 22 (UPI) -- A New York park is celebrating one of the city's most iconic animals next month with Pigeon Fest, a day-long event featuring art exhibitions, science demonstrations and the city's first Pigeon Impersonation Pageant. The High Line, an elevated park on the West Side of Manhattan, announced Pigeon Fest will be held from noon to 8 p.m. June 14, coinciding with National Pigeon Appreciation Day.

Thursday’s Senate vote to block California’s ban on sales of gas cars is the latest GOP effort to stop state climate policies.The Senate voted Thursday to block California from enforcing a rule that would ban sales of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2035, a move that could have far-reaching implications for auto sales in a dozen states.The vote marks Republicans’ latest effort to curtail state-level efforts to tackle climate change, even as President Donald Trump and congressional leaders have empowered states to set their own education policies and abortion laws.This month, the Justice Department sued New York and...

Question to ChatGPT: During World War II, when American Military Chaplains who were Catholic Priests would conduct services for Protestant servicemen, when Protestant chaplains were unavailable and only the Catholic chaplain could preside, were the services broken out separately for the five largest mainline Protestant denominations, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist, or were there single, unified Protestant services, corresponding with the Protestant section of the Army Navy Hymnal of 1942? Reply from ChatGPT: During World War II, when Catholic chaplains (who were ordained priests) conducted services for Protestant servicemen in the absence of Protestant chaplains, they generally conducted unified...

The move was a major escalation in the administration’s efforts to pressure the college to fall in line with President Trump’s demands.The Trump administration on Thursday halted Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, a major escalation in the administration’s efforts to pressure the college to fall in line with the president’s agenda.The administration notified Harvard about the decision after a back-and-forth in recent days over the legality of a sprawling records request as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s investigation, according to three people with knowledge of the negotiations.“I am writing to inform you that effective immediately, Harvard...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Education Department and ordered the agency to reinstate employees who were fired in mass layoffs. The administration said it would challenge the ruling.U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Trump administration from carrying out plans announced in March that sought to work toward Trump’s goal to shut down the department. It marks a setback to one of the Republican president’s campaign promises.The ruling came in two consolidated lawsuits that said Trump’s plan amounted to an illegal closure...

Now this is a heartwarming story and a side of Trump the mainstream media will never talk about. Scott Adams has recently announced that he has prostate cancer -- the same diagnosis that Joe Biden has. We covered that here and here. Today Adams told us about a very special call he received after his diagnosis. [Warning: Language] VIDEO AT LINK................ President Trump got sent to voicemail and then called Adams back later that day! What a guy. I mean, it's not like he's the busiest and most important man in the world or anything. This is your favorite president....

Senate Majority Leader John Thune warned President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that if he does not "make a serious proposal for an immediate ceasefire" with Ukraine, the Senate will pass new sanctions against the Russian government. -snip- "If Russia is not willing to engage in serious diplomacy, the Senate will work with the Trump administration to consider additional sanctions to force Putin to start negotiating," Thune said Thursday. This comes the same week Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned senators in a hearing that if "you start threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop talking." -snip- The bill also would set...

SummaryPasses in a knife-edge 215-214 vote, two Republicans vote no, one falls asleep Would add $3.8 trillion to the US debt, stirring investor concern Would cut green-energy incentives, fund Trump deportation push WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a sweeping tax and spending bill by a single vote which would enact much of President Donald Trump's policy agenda and saddle the country with trillions of dollars more in debt. The bill would fulfill many of Trump's populist campaign pledges, delivering new tax breaks on tips and car loans and boosting spending on...

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“Every single Democrat” voted against the “big, beautiful bill,” the Republican National Committee (RNC) said in a statement celebrating its passage by the U.S. House of Representatives. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was able to get the sweeping tax and spending bill across the finish line in the lower chamber Thursday morning in a narrow 215-214-1 vote. The RNC credited President Donald Trump for his leadership in ushering along the bill, highlighting some of the main victories in it for the American people, including tax relief. “Today, under President Trump’s leadership, House Republicans delivered a huge win for the American people...

Cardinal Goh: Leo XIV will put clarity back into Doctrine -- and enough with persecution of those who prefer the Traditional Mass From an interview granted by Cardinal Goh, Archbishop of Singapore, to Bussola Quotidiana:Your Eminence, do you think you cardinals elected the right man? Yes, I think Leo XIV is exactly the pope the world needs at this time. Francis strengthened the missionary dimension of the Church, trying to bring the Gospel to all of humanity, including sinners, the marginalized, the vulnerable. But I think the least pleasant aspect of his pontificate has been that, in his attempt to...

This summer, solar power generation globally could exceed electricity from nuclear power plants for the first time ever, as solar capacity soars and sunlight and daylight hours are long in the northern hemisphere. Global solar power generation jumped by 34% in the first quarter of 2025 from the same period in 2024, according to data from Ember cited by Reuters columnist Gavin Maguire. If the pace of growth is sustained though June, July, and August, solar output is set to top 260 terawatt hours (TWh) in the summer months. This would beat the average 223 TWh of global nuclear power...

LEO XIV: The Upcoming Challenges for the New Pope by Serre Verweijfor Rorate CæliWe have a new Pope elected during a Jubilee year. He instantly faces many crucial tasks and dilemmas. This might seem obvious for any new Pope, but in 2013 Pope Francis primarily had to deal with curial reform, he did not have to deal with countless open questions, and even open wounds, left by his predecessors. Pope Leo XIV will have to deal with foreign policy debacles, a multiyear synod, and national churches that are in open rebellion against the faith.Firstly, Cardinal Grech announced that Pope Francis...

Circuit de Monaco First Grand Prix1950 Number of Laps78 Circuit Length3.337 kmRace Distance260.286 kmLap Record1:12.909Lewis Hamilton (2021)Track

President Donald Trump signed The TAKE IT DOWN Act into law. “Signing the TAKE IT DOWN Act into law is an historic moment for survivors of image-based sexual abuse: There’s finally a path for this abuse to be quickly removed from digital platforms,” Dr. Marcel van der Watt, President of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said in a press release. He remarked that the legislation “passed unusually fast,” thanks to “bipartisan support in Congress and First Lady Melania Trump’s championship.” “Image-based sexual abuse is a horrific assault on a person, and that abuse becomes magnified on digital platforms,” van...

Students from universities including Yale, Stanford and UCLA have been refusing to eat in solidarity with Palestinians at risk of starvation in GazaWhen I speak to Iman Deriche, she hasn’t eaten in five days. “There are some moments of fatigue,” she says. “But I’m doing well.” The 21-year-old Stanford University student is one of 24 students and three faculty members who are taking part in a hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. They aren’t alone: students and faculty at universities across the US are going on hunger strike with activist organisation Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), from...

Charlotte City Council member Tiawana Brown told reporters Thursday morning she won't resign after being federally indicted with her daughters. "Why would I resign," Brown said. "I haven't been convicted of anything." Why it matters: Brown, who represents District 3 in west Charlotte, plans to run again later this year. Catch up quick: Federal prosecutors indicted Brown on wire fraud charges, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. In a release Thursday morning, prosecutors described Brown and her daughters' alleged scheme to fraudulently obtain federal money during the pandemic. The intrigue: In the indictment, prosecutors...

The New Zealand singer says coming off birth control after 15 years felt like the ‘best drug’ she’s ever had. Her critics claim she’s fuelling anti-contraception rhetoric – but is that really the case?In an interview with Rolling Stone to promote her upcoming fourth album, Virgin, New Zealand pop star Lorde revealed that she’s off birth control for the first time in 15 years. “I’ve now come to see [my decision] as maybe some quasi right-wing programming,” she admits, referring to the rise of right-wing fear-mongering and misinformation spreading around hormonal contraception. “But I hadn’t ovulated in 10 years. And...

I hope everyone is paying close attention to what DOGE's Antonio Gracias just said here.. Not only did they find illegals with social security numbers that voted. But THEY VOTED IN THE 2020 ELECTION TOO How long have Democrats been rigging elections with illegals?? “They registered to vote, and they actually voted in 2020 and 2024” ... 2020 was stolen ... This has been going on for decades. ... 2000 Mules told everyone. Documented, verifiable, data. Just look at California.