Free Republic

The case against Kristin Smart's killer went back before a judge Thursday, nearly three years since his first-degree murder conviction was handed down. An appeal in his case was heard in Ventura County. It argues Paul Flores did not receive a fair trial in Monterey County. Court documents show he's asking that his first-degree murder conviction be overturned or reduced to second-degree murder. The documents cite alleged errors during trial and "reversible misconduct." After submitting 75 pages to the Court of Appeals, Flores’ court-appointed attorney, Solomon Wollack, appeared via Zoom Thursday, presenting three arguments as to why he believes the...

Democratic nominee and mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani’s lead over Andrew Cuomo in the race for City Hall has narrowed after incumbent Mayor Eric Adams exited the race, according to a new poll released Thursday. Mamdani leads the race with 46% of likely voters backing him, followed by independent candidate Cuomo with 33% support and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa with 15%, the Quinnipiac University survey finds. In a Quinnipiac survey that gauged a 4-way race last month, Mamdani received 45% support to 23% for Cuomo, 15% for Sliwa and 12% support for Adams. Other polls showed Mamdani with a hefty lead...

My latest song. Sleep well.

The University of Aberdeen announced that an incredibly rare carving depicting a human face was recently unearthed at the ancient hillfort site of East Lomond in Fife. The five-inch-long object was originally dismissed as insignificant, but closer examination by University of Aberdeen archaeologist Gordon Noble identified faint details, including two eyes, a nose, and even a small bit of hair, that resembled characters from medieval manuscripts. Noble believes that it may not be a depiction of just any ordinary figure but the portrait of an ancient Pict. The Picts were a somewhat mysterious people that inhabited parts of Scotland between...

Today, the adzuki bean (Vigna angularis) is cultivated throughout much of East Asia and appears prominently in a variety of dishes across many cultures. It is treasured not only for its nutritional value but for its ability to enrich soils. However, according to a statement released by Washington University in St. Louis (WashU), its cultural importance dates back much further than previously thought. WashU researchers and colleagues from Shandong University identified charred adzuki bean remains from the Xiaogao archaeological site in Shandong, China, that date to 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. These examples are at least 4,000 years older than...

Please excuse this rant.

Synergy is facing new revelations it has overcharged West Australians for power. (ABC News: Cason Ho) More than 170,000 customers have been overcharged a total of $40 million by WA's state-owned energy retailer Synergy since 2009, it has been revealed. The overpayments range from amounts under a dollar, to thousands of dollars, according to Synergy CEO Kurt Baker, who said most of those affected were residential customers. "We've accepted payments to approximately 170,000 closed accounts, resulting in overpayments," he told ABC Radio Perth. "In many cases this has happened because Synergy's allowed customers to continue to pay to their closed...

While defending his decision to perform at the controversial, state-sponsored Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, Aziz Ansari said he planned to donate “part of the fee” to “causes that support free press and human rights,” listing Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch, which has long been critical of the comedy festival and the Saudi regime. But in a statement to Variety, a spokesperson for Human Rights Watch said the organization “cannot accept” donations from Ansari and other comedians who have “generously offered to donate part of their performance fees.” (Jessica Kirson said “I deeply regret” performing at Riyadh...

A United States federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit brought on by Drake against Universal Music Group. The rapper accused his own record company of defamation over its distribution and promotion of Kendrick Lamar’s infamous “Not Like Us” diss track. District Judge Jeannette Vargas dismissed the suit on Thursday citing Lamar’s track as a “nonactionable opinion” that is not considered defamatory. Robert De Niro Is Trump's New FCC Chair in Kimmel's Return: 'I'm the F---ing FCC, I Can F---ing Say Whatever the F--- I Want' “The fact that the Recording was made in the midst of a rap battle is...

Stopping a driver for talking on their cellphone resulted in the seizure of nearly 220 pounds of weed in Berkeley on Monday, according to the California Highway Patrol. The driver was headed west on Interstate 80 at about 5:30 p.m. when officers stopped the Chrysler SUV. During the traffic stop, officers allegedly smelled a strong marijuana odor coming from the SUV. ‘Epstein bomb’ about to drop, 100 GOP members to ‘jail break’ from Trump, Swalwell says “Multiple large black trash bags were observed in plain view in the rear cargo area,” CHP said. “A probable cause search was conducted, leading...

Messaging app Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov warns that a “dark, dystopian world” is approaching, as governments worldwide are rolling back privacy protections. “I’m turning 41, but I don’t feel like celebrating. Our generation is running out of time to save the free internet built for us by our fathers,” said Durov in an X post on Thursday. “Once-free countries are introducing dystopian measures,” said Durov, referencing the European Union’s Chat Control proposal, digital IDs in the UK and new rules requiring online age checks to access social media in Australia. “What was once the promise of the free...

Piper Sandler Companies released the results of its 50th semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens survey on Thursday. "This fall, teens self-reported annual spending dropped to $2,213, which is a 6% decline year-over year and a 1% decline on average in the past 10 years. On a positive note, looking at wallet share for the upper-income teen, clothing grew 1% year-over-year, driven by females, while footwear share held steady after a decline last spring," highlighted Piper Sandler analyst Anna Andreeva. Nike (NYSE:NKE) once again was the top clothing brand for teens, with Hollister (ANF) ranking number two and Brandy Melville a...

The event has drawn criticism due to human rights abuses by the Saudi governmentJimmy Kimmel grilled comedian Aziz Ansari over his involvement in the controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia. The state-sponsored festival, which also featured fellow standups Dave Chappelle and Bill Burr, has drawn criticism due to the Saudi Arabian government’s alleged human rights abuses, as well as accusations around its involvement in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Appearing on the October 7 edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Ansari was faced with questions from the host about performing. “This is something that’s become a big...

The Anaheim Police Department have said “there is no indication of any operating issue with the attraction"The Anaheim Police Department have said “there is no indication of any operating issue with the attraction" A woman in her 60s has died after riding the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland. No cause of death has been given. The Anaheim Police Department reported that the woman was found unresponsive immediately upon exiting the ride-through attraction (as per Variety). Disneyland’s website describes the ride as “dark” and containing “mildly frightening scenes”, but “slow-moving”, having “no gore” and being “creepy fun for little ones”. The...

President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that Spain be expelled from NATO over its failure to match the higher defense spending requirement he has engineered. "We had one laggard, it was Spain," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "They have no excuse not to do this, but that's all right. Maybe you should throw them out of NATO frankly." In June, the 32-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed to massively boost defense spending over the next decade under pressure from Trump, who at the time threatened to punish Madrid on trade for resisting the new target of five percent of...

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law Thursday that will make it illegal to declaw a cat in California, a practice that lawmakers and animal advocates argued is outdated and inhumane. Assembly Bill 867 by Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San José) bars veterinarians from performing the procedure, which involves amputating the first bone in each of a cat's toes or severing its tendons so that it can't extend its claws. California law previously required the procedure to be performed by veterinarians, but will now limit it to cases of medical necessity. "Many countries have already outlawed this inhumane practice," said...

A third of Republicans support deporting citizens who disagree with Donald TrumpMost presidential hopefuls make hokey promises to fix the economy, heal divisions or restore America’s promise. Donald Trump offered something different. “For those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution,” he promised the crowd at the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference. Since his inauguration in January that vengeance has come relentlessly. The administration has ordered investigations into former Biden aides, bullied some of the country’s most powerful law firms and cut federal funding for universities. Two weeks ago James Comey, the onetime FBI director who was...

Donald Trump is on a roll. He not only wrangled Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu into submission, but also the terrorist organization Hamas, which has apparently agreed to release all remaining hostages. The war in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of at least 67,000 Palestinians, looks to be coming to an end. On Thursday evening, Trump took a victory lap as Israel and Hamas, who have been negotiating in Egypt, assented to the first phase of his 20-point peace plan. “I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of...

On a season eight episode of The Simpsons, newscaster Kent Brockman interviews a man who’s woken up from a 23-year-long coma, and lets him know that Sonny Bono is now a Congressman and Cher has won an Oscar. The man dies soon after. If someone were to wake up from a coma today to find out that Donald Trump, who 23 years ago was hosting The Apprentice, is now the leading candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, it would have a similar result. But who else deserves the award? If you can give Peace Prizes to Al Gore and Barack...

In a stunning rebuke of the rising anti-Semitism spreading across Europe and the West, the CEO of one of the most liberal media companies in the U.S. is coming out in defense of the Jewish State. Mathias Döpfner — CEO of Politico and Business Insider's parent company Axel Springer SE — penned an October 7 op-ed dissecting his discussions with Nova Music Festival co-founder Ofir Amir, a survivor of the wanton slaughter terrorist organization Hamas unleashed upon the Jewish people two years earlier. Döpfner speculated on how survivors like Amir are able to deal with European leaders and others grotesquely...