Free Republic

The brute who beat a Manhattan pizzeria manager unconscious in a senseless attack nearly derailed his own plea deal Thursday — when he brazenly started blaming the victim, infuriating the judge. Tyshaun Watson, who had pleaded guilty in exchange for a promised 17-year prison sentence, launched into a wild rant during the Manhattan Supreme Court hearing, claiming he’d been “provoked” before he pummeled pizza-maker Zakaira El Sherief. “I was being provoked… if you watch the video,” he railed — until Judge Laura Ward interrupted and shot back at him that “Maybe we should go to trial on this and let...

"California’s wealth tax is only on billionaires!" That’s how the income tax started too. Only for the ~1%… until it wasn’t. When you allow the government to introduce new taxes, they never shrink, only expand.

House Republicans are asking Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to explain reports about the Biden administration having purchased a device allegedly linked to "Havana Syndrome." House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino led six subcommittee chairmen in sending a letter on Wednesday to Noem and her agency in which they ask for a detailed explanation of how the device was acquired, its cost, the results of the year-long testing period of the device and what specific analytical or operational purpose the department had for obtaining the device. [snip] More recently, there has been at least one news report in which...

US forces on standby, Arab states of Gulf don't want USAF using their air space, therefore USS Abraham Lincoln has to reach striking distance. Israel did ask Trump to delay the attack, so that they can get ready for preemptive strikes from Iran and proxies. All options on the table for Trump "to stop the slaughter," not regime change. Demonstrations still ongoing. Transcript linked below video.

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Federal agents were seen pulling a woman out of her car after she allegedly impended on an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota. Footage on Tuesday shows a woman allegedly blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicles from driving through an ongoing protest in Minneapolis. Agents tried to clear the streets of protesters. The woman looked like she was wedging agents between her car and another car blocking the road, according to the New York Post. Agents then smashed through the passenger window. "As she was hauled out of the car, protesters could be heard yelling, “Nasis”...

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Wednesday charged a Minneapolis man with more than $3 million in Medicaid fraud tied to a state-licensed home health agency. Mohamed Abdirashid Omarxeyd was charged with eight counts of felony theft by false representation after prosecutors said he used his company, Guardian Home Health Services, to bill Minnesota’s Medicaid program for services that were never provided or were ineligible for reimbursement from 2020 through 2024. According to the criminal complaint, Guardian submitted fraudulent claims for personal care aide services, companion care, homemaking, respite care, individualized home support and other community support services. State officials...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman was arrested Tuesday after she punched a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) trooper in the face during an encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Beach Boulevard, according to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. The woman, identified as 40-year-old Jennifer Cruz, is facing multiple charges, according to jail records, including resisting an officer with violence, battery on law enforcement, driving with a suspended driver’s license, and more. Uthmeier announced the arrest via X, formerly known as Twitter, and also shared a picture showing two agents arresting Cruz outside a Mi Pueblo Mexican grocery store....

Rich Eisen reacts to reports that the New York Giants are close to announcing former Baltimore Ravens HC John Harbaugh as their new head coach. Rich Eisen Weighs In on What the Giants are Getting in John Harbaugh as Their Next Head Coach | 8:09 The Rich Eisen Show | 1.05M subscribers | 67,811 views | January 15, 2026

Yes, this is real (see clip)

President Trump threatened on Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act for the first time in more than three decades and deploy the U.S. military to Minneapolis to “quickly put an end” to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement that have grown since an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good last week.“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an...

Oh, Look! Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz welcomed high school students to the State Capitol building for a "walk out" in protest of ICE operations in the state - quickly devolves into an all-out brawl!

New details about the massive gas explosion that injured six people and set off a major fire in a Hayward neighborhood were released on Thursday as part of a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB report states that PG&E "detected gas at the ground level near the accident home" after the original leak was supposedly capped, but despite that, crews began digging operations and less than an hour later the explosion occurred. The report also revealed that PG&E crews knocked on the doors of the accident home and neighboring homes to make contact with the residents,...

The San Francisco 49ers are hoping to advance, so they can get some of their key players back from injuries in the coming weeks. It has been another season plagued by the injury bug, and there's a wild theory circulating on social media that attempts to explain why. The 49ers have called their current practice facility and stadium in Santa Clara home since 2014. Since then, they've been among the league's worst in missed games due to injury. This week, a self-proclaimed researcher on social media named Peter Cowan claimed it's the substation next door that's to blame -- particularly...

Grokipedia traffic is exploding right now In November, traffic was ~35,000 per day Right now, traffic has grown to ~3.5 million every day That’s roughly a 9,900% increase in just 2 months At this pace, Grokipedia is about to take over Wikipedia and become the biggest Encyclopedia Galactica

CLINTON — An East Feliciana judge denied an early release for a man who killed seven people in a 2012 drunk driving crash. Brett Gerald pleaded guilty to seven counts of vehicular homicide after he drunkenly drove on La. 67 in Slaughter, causing a head-on collision that killed a family of six and their friend. His blood-alcohol concentration at the time was nearly twice the legal limit, and he has a history of DUI arrests. Gerald was originally sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for each count, a total of 70 years. However, his sentence was cut in half...

A chart for 2026 showing the average IQ of the nations.

SUPPORTING AMERICA’S SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Proclamation invoking Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (Act) to address national security concerns with respect to imports of semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and their derivative products.The President directed the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to jointly negotiate agreements, or continue any current negotiations of agreements, to address the threatened impairment of the national security with respect to imports of semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and their derivative products from any country.The President also imposed a 25% tariff on certain advanced computing chips, such...

Spain has signed off on a contract to produce and supply Ukraine with a Lanza LTR-25 long-range tactical radar, along with logistics support, the Spanish government press service said Wednesday, January 14. The agreement covers manufacturing and delivery of the Lanza LTR-25. The move is aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses and will remain in effect through the end of 2026.... Spain previously announced €615 million in aid to Ukraine for weapons procurement and air-defense systems financing. Spain will also provide Ukraine with 40 IRIS-T air-defense missiles.

Forrester principal analyst JP Gownder says jobs eaten by bots don't come backInterview Analyst firm Forrester’s vice president and principal analyst J. P. Gownder remains unconvinced that AI will revolutionize productivity. “Where we are today, we're not seeing it,” he told The Register in an interview this week. During our conversation, Gownder cited US Bureau of Labour Statistics that suggest the advent of the personal computer also did not improve productivity, which improved by 2.7 per cent annually from 1947 to 1973, but just 2.1 percent between 1990 and 2001. “So despite all those PCs, it [productivity growth] was a...

SUPPORTING AMERICAN INDUSTRY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Proclamation pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (Act) ordering the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to jointly negotiate agreements with trading partners to address the threatened impairment of national security with respect to imports of processed critical minerals and their derivative products (PCMDPs) from any country.In negotiating, the Administration will, working with our allies, promote the adoption of price floors for trade in PCMDPs.The Secretary of Commerce will inform the President of any circumstances that might indicate the need for further action...