Free Republic

Louisiana is one of 30 states with criminal penalties related to exposing or transmitting HIV. Most of the laws were passed in the 1980s during the emergence of the AIDS epidemic. Since then, several states have amended their laws to make them less punitive or repealed them outright, including Maryland and North Dakota this year. But Louisiana’s law remains among the harshest. The state is one of five that may require people such as Smith to register as a sex offender if convicted, a label that can follow them for over a decade. And state lawmakers considered a bill to...

A Seattle woman has accused the US Navy's Blue Angels of 'terrorizing' her elderly cat before its death, then violating her rights after they blocked her on social media for complaining, according to a new lawsuit. Lauren Ann Lombardi's 14-year-old cat Layla died on August 11 after suffering from congestive heart disease, which the cat mom claims was worsened by noise from the Blue Angels. 'Layla's final days on Earth were marred by sadistic suffering - cowering in terror beneath furniture while her ailing heart struggled against the Blue Angels' relentless noise pollution,' her federal lawsuit said.

Sofia Baig was shocked when she visited San Francisco open houses last month that were so crowded, she was physically bumping into people. There wasn't enough space for the dozens vying for one rental unit. Baig, her husband and newborn have to move to the city by mid-August as their Stanford student housing expired. Their search felt like a flashback to the 2010s, with bidding wars, an inventory desert and applicants writing "love letters" to landlords on their merits with attached resumes. Dark Sky Weather Live Accurate Weather Forecast Ad Dark Sky Weather Live Accurate Weather Forecast appnado.com call to...

Russia's navy has been forced to cancel its annual flagship event in St Petersburg, in a humiliating blow for Vladimir Putin. Navy Day is a major national holiday and is held on the last Sunday of July, celebrated by the public and military alike. The event is used by the Kremlin to show off its latests ships and technology, as it attempts to project its naval power to the watching world. As the maritime capital of Russia, St Petersburg holds a Main Naval Parade along the River Neva, which is normally attended by the Russian president. Usually ships from the...

Apple has rolled out its first public betas for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26, inviting users to experience the forthcoming features ahead of the official release. With a notable shift in branding, Apple has opted for a year-based numbering system to align its software versions with the calendar year, trading in the previous chronological format. As a result, the latest updates will be labeled accordingly, reflecting their primary visibility in 2026. One of the standout features across Apple’s platforms is a significant cosmetic overhaul dubbed Liquid Glass. This redesign aims to create a cohesive...

[Catholic Caucus] Italian Daily Il Foglio: Where Have All the Bergoglians Gone?Michelangelo Pistoletto and Fr. Spadaro SJBERGOGLIANISM IS OVERCarlo LangoneIl FoglioJuly 24, 2025 Where have all the Bergoglians gone? Since Pope Francis died, it seems as if they never existed. As if the friends of the enemies of Jesus, the Jesuits, had been suppressed once again, to Pascal's delight... Father Spadaro goes to kiss the slipper of guru Michelangelo Pistoletto* and has his picture taken in secular dress: has he left the priesthood? Heaven forbid! In short, for us Christians, it should be a good time, but for a few...

"The White House is trying to make gas cans fill great again. In a July 24 letter, the EPA has asked gas can manufacturers to redesign their much-maligned products to fix a long-standing problem: "People hate 'em," said Florida-based eBay gas can reseller Steven Watt, 63. "It's all about the spout."

[Catholic Caucus] Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s Holy Wisdom on the Crisis in the Catholic ChurchUnderstanding this holy wisdom from Archbishop Lefebvre does not make the crisis go away, but it does help us serve God without feeling “lost and confused” because of what we see from Rome. Perhaps this is why those who seek to perpetuate the crisis in the Church never stop trying to disparage the man who did more than anyone else to oppose the Vatican II revolution and preserve the Traditional Latin Mass.One of the many interesting aspects of Diane Montagna’s report on the document which purportedly served...

The age of smartphones is coming to an end. A bold prediction from Bill Gates reveals a revolutionary new tech set to replace your phone forever. In a bold prediction that’s making waves across the tech world, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has suggested that smartphones could soon be obsolete, replaced by an entirely new kind of technology. Forget everything you know about handheld devices—Gates envisions a future where electronic tattoos become the new norm. The Decline of Smartphones Smartphones have been an indispensable part of our lives for over a decade. From checking emails to scrolling through social media and...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” Matthew 20:22–23Saint James was the brother of the beloved disciple John and the son of Zebedee and Salome. Jesus called both James and John while they were working with their father, mending their fishing...

Are eggs healthy or unhealthy? The debate goes on. (© alain louis - stock.adobe.com) In A Nutshell A new study found that eating two eggs per day may lower LDL cholesterol, but only when part of a low-saturated fat diet. Saturated fat intake, not dietary cholesterol, was directly linked to higher LDL and ApoB levels, which are markers of heart disease risk. The egg diet increased smaller, more harmful LDL particles and reduced a beneficial HDL subtype, raising questions about long-term cardiovascular impact. Researchers conclude that eggs are not cholesterol villains, but their effects are complex and depend on the...

Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh 🚨 WHOA - PRESIDENT TRUMP ON EPSTEIN: "You ought to be talking about BILL CLINTON!" "Who went to the island 28 times. I NEVER went to the island."

Senior intelligence officials strenuously fought the demands of former FBI Director James Comey and other Obama intelligence chiefs to include the false and unverified Steele dossier in an official assessment of Russian activities ordered by President Barack Obama in the closing weeks of his presidency, records reviewed exclusively by The Federalist show. The records, which are related to ongoing criminal investigations into Comey and other top intelligence officials for their roles in launching the Russia collusion hoax, provide damning evidence of Obama intelligence chiefs’ malfeasance beyond the explosive information released Wednesday by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Previous government...

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in an interview that aired Thursday that files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are “not a hoax.” “It’s not a hoax, of course not,” Johnson said in an interview with CBS News’s Major Garrett on “The Takeout,” which Mediaite highlighted. “I mean, they are real victims here, but that’s part of a delicate — the balance that’s being done here is, I tried to explain in my press conference this week, man, we want full disclosure. If I had — if I had these things in my possession, I would have put...

International accusations against Israel regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza have dominated headlines and legal proceedings throughout the ongoing conflict. These claims, centered on allegations of deliberate starvation and weaponized famine, have formed the basis for some of the most serious international legal challenges Israel has faced, including proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court (ICC). However, mounting evidence suggests these accusations rest on fundamentally flawed data and biased reporting methodologies. The Current Legal and Diplomatic Landscape The allegations against Israel are severe and far-reaching. At the ICJ, where South Africa filed a case under...

Following the release of the DNI report on Friday and the House report on Wednesday, legacy outlets unsurprisingly rushed to downplay the bombshells... Yhe corporate media have insisted for years that Russia hacked the 2016 election or colluded with Trump to steal it. The hoax was already thoroughly debunked, but documents released by Tulsi Gabbard on Friday revealed that the Obama administration “manufactured” the evidence behind the narrative. A House report Gabbard declassified on Wednesday further revealed how the Obama administration manipulated the contents of an intelligence report to push the claim that Putin “aspired” to help Trump. The “only...

The artist said that she made the decision after she said she learned that her painting of a transgender Statue of Liberty might be removed to avoid provoking President Trump.... ...Ms. Sherald said that Mr. Bunch on Monday had proposed replacing the painting with a video of people reacting to the painting and discussing transgender issues, an idea she rejected because she said it would have included anti-trans views. “When I understood a video would replace the painting, I decided to cancel,” she said. “The video would have opened up for debate the value of trans visibility and I was...

Residents of Tuvalu, one of the world’s lowest-lying island nations, are preparing for a historic migration as the impacts of climate change push the country closer to becoming uninhabitable. Thousands of Tuvaluans have applied for a new visa program that allows them to relocate to Australia in response to rising sea levels threatening their homeland. The Pacific Engagement Visa, part of a treaty between Australia and Tuvalu, is the world’s first climate migration agreement. It offers Tuvaluan citizens the opportunity to permanently move to Australia to escape the imminent threat of flooding back home. Only 280 people will be accepted...

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ transition advisory team enlisted two Chinese intelligence-tied bankers who have fundraised for her and a nonprofit she helps lead, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered. Bass appointed Dominic Ng, CEO of East West Bank, and Simon Pang, co-founder of Royal Business Bank, to her mayoral transition advisory team in December 2022, according to the City of Los Angeles. In total, Ng, East West Bank and Pang have donated upwards of $1 million to Bass’ mayoral campaign and the Mayor’s Fund For Los Angeles, where Bass serves as an advisor to the board of directors,...

The Hills star Spencer Pratt unleashed on California Governor Gavin Newsom. “The second round of $50 million funding, guess who took a FireAid grant? Let me tell you… Gavin Newsom and his Cal Vols office took a FireAid grant,” Pratt fired off in an Instagram video. “So that’s cool; we’d like to know how much you took and exactly what you did with the money. And I mean, dollar for dollar, what you did with it. Thank you!” After the three-week wildfires ceased, two concerts were held to raise money for victims. According to the official website for FireAid, contributors...