Free Republic

As Southern California deals with a powerful tropical storm sweeping through the area, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck just north of Los Angeles, prompting many to readdress an age old debate over whether or not earthquake weather is a real thing.

A number of high-profile Democrats, including former President Obama, are racing to shore up support for New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill amid signs the race is tightening even more than expected. Sherrill has been single digits ahead of Republican Jack Ciattarelli in public polling, with one recent survey from Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill showing the two essentially tied.Democrats are cautiously optimistic that she will pull off a win on Tuesday despite no political party successfully winning three consecutive terms in the governor’s mansion since 1961. But in a sign they’re not leaving anything to chance, Obama and Sen. Ruben...

America’s universities have rebuilt their “Ivory Tower” into a self-ruling fortress of wealth, ideology, and arrogance, towering even above the law.For the longest time, people have casually denigrated academia as “the Ivory Tower.” This was intended to express popular disdain for the arrogance of campus academics and bureaucrats who believed they were born and bred to be cosseted by tuition, endowment, and taxpayer funds to exist in luxurious splendor above the gritty diurnal existence of us peasants—peasants they habitually loathe and critique, and for a steep fee deign to reeducate and indoctrinate when they are not devising new leftist idiocies...

He did it again. In 2019, President Trump hilariously placed a piece of candy on the head of a trick-or-treater who was in an inflatable Minion costume. It was an iconic moment, and many were waiting for a repeat or something new this Halloween. The president donned a red USA hat and handed out candy to the kiddos when he spotted the perfect costume to recreate that hilarious moment six years ago. I think the kid also knew what he was doing here, and I can’t blame him (via Fox News):President Donald Trump and the first lady handed out candy...

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When Bill Gates announced his “pivot” from climate catastrophe to humanitarian hope, the press dutifully nodded along. A messiah-complex monopolist shedding his alarmist mantle for a brighter, kinder cause. Take a closer look, though, and you’ll see the same stage, the same spotlight, the same script — just new marketing.For decades, Gates has backed policies that punished farmers, penalized energy independence, and empowered unelected technocrats who operate far beyond democratic reach.For decades, Gates has backed policies that punished farmers, penalized energy independence, and empowered unelected technocrats who operate far beyond democratic reach. He invested in synthetic meat and lab-grown crops...

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts was pilloried – by his fellow conservatives – for defending podcast host Tucker Carlson after his friendly interview with Nick Fuentes, a far-right influencer known for his anti-Israel and antisemitic commentary. Mr. Roberts posted a video Thursday in response to what he described as “speculation” that the foundation is “distancing itself” from Mr. Carlson over his Monday podcast with Mr. Fuentes, who has said the Holocaust was “exaggerated,” declared “I love Hitler,” and suggested that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel was “staged.”“We will always defend truth. We will always defend America, and...

Friday on MSNBC’s “Deadline,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) claimed lawmakers had seen “no evidence” the Trump administration’s military strikes were on drug boats. Host Nicolle Wallace asked, “What briefings have you received on the success of striking drug traffickers? Have you seen evidence or images of drugs being found on the boats that have been struck?” Blumenthal said, “What briefings? Zero. And as you may know, I think it’s public by now, there was a briefing for Republican senators only, which is unprecedented. So we’ve seen no evidence, none whatsoever, as to who is in these boats, more than ten...

Six years ago, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld highly partisan state election maps in North Carolina and Maryland — ruling that federal courts cannot block states from drawing up maps that favor one party over the other — one of the court’s liberal justices issued a warning.“If left unchecked, gerrymanders like the ones here may irreparably damage our system of government,” Associate Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissent.Kagan argued that Republicans in North Carolina and Democrats in Maryland — the two examples before the court — had rigged elections in a way that “deprived citizens of the most...

During a campaign rally last year, President Donald Trump told voters he’d let Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now his health and human services secretary, “go wild” regulating food and medicine. Yet he warned the former Democrat that he’d have to stay away from “liquid gold” — that is, oil and gas. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that Kennedy recently ordered HHS staff to go on a fishing expedition for health threats from offshore wind farms.What exactly the administration is looking to study remains unclear, though Bloomberg reports that Kennedy’s team is reviewing the health impacts that electromagnetic frequencies generated by...

This thread is intended to track the Food Riots that were predicted due to the government shutdown and the cessation of food-stamp/SNAP money. Any articles about mass shoplifting, looting, or rioting are welcome here.

Former President Barack Obama told Zohran Mamdani “your campaign has been impressive to watch,” and suggested that he was invested in Mr. Mamdani’s success beyond the election.Former President Barack Obama called Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic front-runner to become the next mayor of New York City, on Saturday, praising his campaign and offering to be a “sounding board” into the future. The private, roughly 30-minute phone call, which has not previously been reported, was described by two people who participated or were briefed immediately on what had been said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private conversation....

The U.S. Department of the Treasury outed and sanctioned a human smuggling organization based in Cancun that focused on moving the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and South America. The organization used yachts to move thousands of migrants into Mexico, from where it would work with other groups to get them to California. In a recent action, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it was targeting Vikrant Bhardwaj, a dual Mexican-Indian national, and the Cancun-based organization bearing his name. Treasury officials claim that Bhardwaj worked with various criminal organizations to move thousands of migrants through Mexico into the United States, as...

A team of Ukrainian special forces that were rushed to the embattled eastern city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to prevent Russian forces from advancing further into the city were defeated, the Russian defense ministry said. Russia wants to take the whole of the Donbas region, which comprises Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. Ukraine still controls about 10% of Donbas -- an area of about 1,930 square miles in western Donetsk. Capturing Pokrovsk, dubbed "the gateway to Donetsk" by Russian media, and Kostiantynivka to its northeast, which Russian forces are also trying to envelop, would give Moscow a platform to drive...

This is a real catch. Yogi Berra’s game-worn, signed 1947 New York Yankees rookie jersey is on the auction block — and could fetch up to $1 million. The sale of the one-of-a-kind pinstriped piece of baseball history — which was rescued from the Boys & Girls Club in East Harlem — ain’t over until Nov. 16 at Grey Flannel Auctions’ Holiday Auction. “The interest in this piece has been extraordinary. Based on the level of enthusiasm we’ve seen from collectors, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it break records and sell somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 million,” Michael...

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Former President Barack Obama will headline rallies Saturday for Democrats running for governor in Virginia and New Jersey, corralling voters ahead of elections that may signal the national mood 10 months into Donald Trump’s second presidency and a year ahead of midterm elections that could reshape it.Republicans in those states are stumping as well on the final weekend of campaigning before Tuesday’s elections, but without the national star power. And on the west coast, California advocates are making a final push ahead of a statewide referendum over whether to redraw the state’s congressional map in Democrats’...

An explosion rocked a Harvard Medical School building early Saturday morning, authorities said. The unknown device exploded on the fourth floor of the Goldenson building on the Harvard Longwood Campus’s main quad shortly before 3 a.m., The Harvard Crimson reported citing authorities. Two individuals were witnessed running out of the building at the time of the detonation, the outlet said, citing the Harvard University Police Department.

More than 40 million people receive SNAP benefits, which could go unfunded due to the government shutdown. Gopuff is the latest company stepping in to help people who could lose access to food assistance if Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding runs out due to the government shutdown.The delivery service announced it will provide up to $10 million in free groceries to SNAP customers through a new relief program launching Nov. 1. Eligible recipients can receive $50 in discounts spread over two weeks in November.To participate, customers must have a SNAP EBT card linked to their Gopuff account. Those who...

A Pennsylvania diocese has apologized for a shocking grade school Halloween parade float that displayed a replica of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp gate. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg formally apologized Friday for the offensive float’s appearance during Thursday evening’s Halloween parade. Bishop Timothy Senior said he was “shocked and appalled to learn” the float entered by the St. Joseph Catholic School in Hanover, which resembled the Auschwitz Concentration Camp gate, included the words “Arbeit Macht Frei.” The German phrase — translating to “Work Makes You Free” — was prominently displayed at World War II-era concentration camps across Europe, including...

WASHINGTON — In a press conference on Thursday, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled an aggressive new initiative targeting so-called “CDL mills” — commercial driver’s license schools accused of certifying unqualified drivers, many of whom lack English proficiency, basic operating skills, and proper citizenship documentation. The move comes as part of a broader effort to enhance road safety in the trucking industry, where accidents involving big rigs have raised alarms about driver qualifications. This crackdown addresses a longstanding issue exacerbated by a 2022 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulatory change that allowed self-certification for CDL trainers,...