Free Republic

A Southern California man was sentenced to prison for defrauding the government of over $6.9 million through a scheme that targeted small business loans during the COVID-19 pandemic. His scheme defrauded the Small Business Administration (SBA) out of millions of dollars in loans through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program, officials said. According to court documents, the crimes occurred from March 2020 through October 2022. Park was the owner of a financial services company that helped clients repair credit scores and obtain financing, including loans. A Southern California man was sentenced to prison for defrauding the government of over...

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday offered a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.“Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like [Tren de Aragua], Sinaloa and Cartel of the Suns to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a video posted on X.The Drug Enforcement Administration has thus far seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, Bondi said, and “nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself, which represents a primary source of income for the deadly cartels based in Venezuela and Mexico.”***The...

Cabinet approves Gaza Strip occupation after over 10-hour debate

Even with public trust at an all-time low, Wikipedia continues to maintain people's confidence. How do they do it? Former CEO of Wikimedia Foundation Katherine Maher delves into the transparent, adaptable and community-building ways the online encyclopedia brings free and reliable information to the public -- while also accounting for bias and difference of opinion. "The seeds of our disagreement can actually become the roots of our common purpose," she says.

"This thread is about how to nominate the purged 1946 film Walt Disney's Song of the South to the National Film Registry. The deadline is Aug 15. The form is in the next comment. You need reasons why it should be on the Registry & this thread will give you several." https://x.com/Real_Ed_McCray/status/1953469233179885602

A Trump-Putin meeting has been floated by both sides for some time. So why might either side want it to happen now? US President Donald Trump wants to bring the force of his personality to bear on forging a deal, believing that six months of intransigence from Moscow might be overcome by meeting the Kremlin head face to face. He seems still to cling to the idea the Kremlin can be cajoled into stopping the war, despite his Russian counterpart recently suggesting the maximalist position that the Russian and Ukrainian people are one, and wherever a Russian soldier steps is...

A woman was arrested for allegedly stealing over $1,000 worth of merchandise from an Orange County grocery store. On July 27, the woman was seen entering a Whole Foods market on Irvine Center Drive in Irvine and began clearing the shelves of supplements and probiotics and loading the items into her shopping cart. She is accused of heading to the self-checkout lane and scanning only several items. She then left the store with over $1,000 worth of unpaid merchandise, police said. On Aug. 7, she was located and arrested for grand theft.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Yvette M. Bryant gave zero prison time to a violent criminal named Patrick Brice, even though there is video proof that he brutally assaulted two people, ages 84 and 72. One of the victims has permanent damage to one of his eyes from the assault.

U.S. prosecutors said Tuesday they won't seek the death penalty in their cases against Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Rafael Caro Quintero, the drug lord charged with orchestrating the 1985 killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent. Caro Quintero, 72, and Zambada, 75, have pleaded not guilty to an array of drug trafficking charges. The prosecutions are separate, but they similarly target two of Mexico’s most notorious narcos. It is unclear whether taking the death penalty off the table signals any possibility of a plea deal with either or both men. Zambada's lawyer, Frank Perez, said...

According to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, he has had no contact with President Donald Trump since just after last summer’s assassination attempt, when he recalls leaving Trump a message. “I can’t remember the last time I spoke to President Trump,” he told reporters Thursday. That would contradict a report in The New York Times on Wednesday that said the two had spoken in recent weeks about the mayor’s race. Cuomo called the report “false.” What You Need To Know Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday denied a New York Times report that he recently spoke with President Donald Trump about...

Data from Ammoland News indicates Colorado witnessed an exponential increase in firearm homicides after embracing a state-level gun control agenda in 2013. On February 10, 2013, less than two months after the heinous attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Breitbart News noted that Colorado Democrats were declaring war on the Second Amendment. That war included bans on “high capacity” magazines, requirements for universal background checks, fees for existing background checks, and allowing victims of gun violence to sue firearm manufacturers for the misuse of weapons. Since then, Colorado Democrats’ push for gun control has continued unabated. Most...

A woke school superintendent earning more than $424,000 per year is now using taxpayer funds to hire a personal bodyguard, it has emerged. Michelle Reid took over as head of the Fairfax County, Virginia school district in July 2022 and has faced a slew of controversies in her three years of leadership. She has come under fire for allegedly covering up a football recruitment scandal, withholding National Merit awards from students, and defying Title IX protections in girls sports, Fox News reports. The school board opted to renew her four-year contract last November and raised her salary $380,000 by nearly...

Keir Starmer was accused of 'gaslighting the British public' after he made 'grossly exaggerated' claims over the Government's new migrant deal yesterday. Labour announced it had detained the first small boat migrants under its 'one in, one out' returns treaty with France. But despite the narrow scope of the pilot scheme and the likelihood of long-running legal challenges, the Prime Minister took to social media to claim: 'If you break the law to enter this country, you will face being sent back.' Writing on X, he added: 'No gimmicks, just results.' Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also appeared to overstate the...

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the sharpest image yet of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, which is currently passing through our Solar System. Observations by Hubble have enabled astronomers to better estimate the size of the comet's nucleus, which is made of dust and ice. Hubble managed to capture a dust plume being ejected by the comet, as well as a glimpse of a dust tail streaming away from its nucleus. SNIP

New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani took aim at President Donald Trump in a Thursday press conference amid a report that the president is weighing getting involved in the race. "Donald Trump has not called me," Mamdani told reporters on Thursday in New York City. "I've said that my approach to Washington will not be a reflexive one, it is one that will be in opposition to Donald Trump's administration when it comes for New Yorkers, when it comes at the expense of the welfare of the people that I'm seeking to serve," Mamdani continued. "If the president...

Pakistani child rapist gang kidnapped and r*ped 8 girls aged 11 and 15. The gang gave the girls heroin and crack and made them addicted. The girls were forced into prostitution and sold for £600. One of the girls who was severely tortured committed suicide. This happened in Oxford UK.

[Catholic Caucus] French scout leader steps down amid backlash over abortion support, same-sex relationshipMarine Rosset, the newly appointed president of France’s largest Catholic-inspired scouting organization, resigned less than two months after her election amid intense criticism over her support for abortion rights and her homosexual relationship.After announcing her resignation on Aug. 6, the 39-year-old Socialist Party member explained her decision in an interview with the Catholic daily La Croix, saying the “situation had become untenable” and expressing her desire to “protect the movement.”Rosset was elected president of the Scouts et Guides de France (SGDF) on June 14 by a decisive...

I've crafted two versions of the same Flash Fiction story. I'm going to present them both here, and YOU GUYS (and gals) will decide which one I use.Story OneTHE ARGUMENT“See, I told you, you should believe in climate change.” “Sure, I believe in that. But manmade climate change? No way.” “Look at all the evidence.” Sal showed a computer screen with articles, facts, and figures dancing across the glass surface. “You’ve shown me this a million times, and I’m still not convinced. When are you going to show me something new?” replied Pat dismissively. “Why should I have to? Everything...

The fight over the Lone Star State’s congressional map heats up, but we have all been here before.From the moment Democratic state legislators fled Texas to prevent the redrawing of congressional districts, the word of the day – on every day that it’s not Russiagate or Epstein – has been gerrymandering. What is it? Why is it called that? How can you tell if your congressional district was gerrymandered? And why, apparently, is it only Republicans who do it? Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Aug. 6 petitioned the Lone Star State’s supreme court to remove Gene Wu, who chairs...

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee announced a plan to expand aid distribution operations in the Gaza Strip early on Thursday morning. The US plans to finance the new aid distribution centers, which will expand from the current four to a total of 16 new points where Gazans will be able to pick up aid. The news comes as Israel announced plans to ramp up aid distribution in the Strip by either funding the Gaza Humanitarian Fundation (GHF) or allowing foreign countries to send supplies. The first of these aid drops, done last Friday, was executed in coordination with France, Germany, and...