Free Republic

Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) died Wednesday at the age of 80, his office said. Scott, who was seeking a 13th House term this November, is the fifth member of the 119th Congress to die since lawmakers convened in January 2025. A cause of death was not immediately available. Scott, a former advertising executive who was first elected to Congress in 2002, was facing six challengers in the May 19 primary amid criticism that he was too old to perform his duties effectively.

The Vigilant Fox 🦊@VigilantFoxWYDEN: “Will you commit to releasing your written agreements with the pharmaceutical companies?”RFK JR: “No… When you passed the Inflation Reduction Act and ordered me to negotiate w/ pharma, you put in a provision that required NDAs.”WYDEN: “YOU’RE IN BED WITH BIG PHARMA!”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Video excerpts:

The Baptist General Convention of Texas (Texas Baptists) is launching a formal review of its 140-year relationship with Baylor University following concerns over a student-organized event featuring LGBT advocates, including the president of the Human Rights Campaign.On Friday, Texas Baptists Executive Director Julio Guarneri sent an email to the convention’s constituency stating that hosting speakers who are Christian, identify as gay and practice LGBT advocacy at a university-approved event is inconsistent with the convention’s views.“While we value the deep, historic bond Baylor University and Texas Baptists have shared for 140 years, and the present ministry taking place on campus through...

Liv Perrotto, a teenager whose story was shared widely online, had been given the opportunity to speak with Musk shortly before her death. According to conservative commentator Glenn Beck, Perrotto was too weak to take the call at the time and asked if it could be rescheduled. She died before the conversation could take place. Before her death, Perrotto wrote down a list of eight questions for Musk on a notepad that remained by her bedside. Her mother, Rebecca, later shared the handwritten list with Beck in the hope that Musk might still see and respond to it.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted the war in Iran has taken the focus away from Russia’s aggression against his country, telling CNN it was a “big risk” to think that efforts to end the fighting in Ukraine can’t restart until the conflict in Iran ends. Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour from the presidential office in Kyiv, Zelensky said Wednesday that while technical talks with the United States are still happening, he doesn’t “see the opportunity to meet … until the question, the case of Iran will be closed.” Zelensky pointed out that it was a “challenge” that the same team...

A first-of-its-kind AI-driven application developed at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) is now available to provide immediate... intervention for shock and anxiety victims in the field. Developed at the university’s AI for Resilience and Social Welfare Lab, the AI-psychological first aid (AI-PFA) app provides a digital “bridge” between the moment of trauma – such as a missile attack, an accident, or a natural disaster – and professional medical care. “The best time to use the app is immediately after the event, but the intervention remains highly effective within the first 48 hours,” said Dr. Talia Meital Schwartz Tayri. The...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An American YouTuber who sparked national outrage in South Korea for provocative stunts, including dancing on a statue honoring victims of wartime sexual slavery, was sentenced to six months in prison Wednesday. The Seoul Western District Court found Ramsey Khalid Ismael, a self-proclaimed internet “troll” known online as Johnny Somali, guilty of multiple charges, including obstruction of business and distributing fabricated sexually explicit content. Prosecutors had sought a three-year term for Ismael, who also faced accusations of harassing staff and visitors at an amusement park, disrupting a convenience store by blasting music and upending noodles...

WASHINGTON — Far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar blew up at a reporter this week for asking questions about accounting “discrepancies” the Democrat blamed for overstating her net worth by millions of dollars on financial disclosure forms. In May last year, Omar (D-Minn.) claimed she and her husband, Tim Mynett, held assets worth between $6 million and $30 million. However, an amended filing reported by the Wall Street Journal last week put the couple’s wealth at between $18,004 and $95,000. The lawmaker claimed the initial filing was riddled with accounting errors. “Congresswoman Omar, the last time I spoke to you, you said...

The lawsuit was filed by two plaintiffs, one from California and one from Seattle, on behalf of a proposed nationwide class of people who bought Nintendo products from February 2025 through February 2026, when the company is accused of passing tariff costs along to customers.

A comely MAGA influencer who racked up millions of followers with patriotic content of her posing in a bikini while ice fishing, drinking Coors Light and shooting guns has been unmasked — as an Indian man who put himself through med school on the proceeds of his trickery. “Sam,” a 22-year-old orthopedic surgeon in training, told Wired that he got the idea to sell AI-generated images of a young woman in a bikini while scrounging for money in school — and trying to save up enough to emigrate to the US after graduation. He turned to Google’s Gemini AI for...

The Trump administration is in advanced talks for a financing package for Spirit Airlines as the carrier is facing the risk of a liquidation, according to a person familiar with the matter. The iconic discounter Spirit has been challenged for years by rising costs, changing consumer tastes, an engine recall and a court-blocked plan to be acquired by JetBlue Airways two years ago. “Spirit Airlines would be on a much firmer financial footing had the Biden administration not recklessly blocked the airline’s merger with JetBlue,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement to CNBC. “The Trump administration continues...

Russia is set to suspend oil transit from Kazakhstan to Germany through the Druzhba pipeline on May 1, 2026, amid escalating geopolitical tensions over the Ukraine conflict. Summary Industry sources report that Russia will block Kazakh oil exports destined for German refineries, specifically targeting the northern leg of the Druzhba network. This move disrupts a critical alternative supply route Germany established to reduce dependence on Russian crude. The decision follows a period of frayed political relations and represents a significant escalation in the use of energy infrastructure as a geopolitical lever. Market participants are now bracing for supply tightening at...

@Geiger_Capital This is insane… The Virginia redistricting amendment on the ballot today is framed as a vote to "restore fairness in the upcoming elections." In reality, it turns a state that Kamala barely won by 5 pts from 6D-5R to 10D-1R

119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8007 To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to reduce systemic risk while increasing geographical diversity and competition with respect to depositories for the storage of precious metals, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 19, 2026 Mr. Fulcher (for himself and Mr. Harris of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to reduce systemic risk while increasing geographical diversity and competition with respect to depositories for the storage of precious metals, and for other purposes. Be...

Concern about the status of U.S. munitions inventories has intensified as reports emerge about high expenditures of Tomahawks, Patriots, and other missiles in the Iran war. As Operation Epic Fury remains paused in a shaky ceasefire, there is an opportunity to assess whether the U.S. military nears the point of going “Winchester”—or running out of ammunition. Analysis of seven key munitions shows that the United States has enough missiles to continue fighting this war under any plausible scenario. The risk—which will persist for many years—lies in future wars. In the 39 days of the air and missile campaign before the...

Türkiye Today reports that a 1,500-year-old set of four iron knives of varying sizes and a whetstone were discovered at the site of Hadrianopolis in Turkey's Black Sea region. Ersin Çelikbaş of Karabük University said that the knives and the sharpener were uncovered in the kitchen section of an area of the city known as the Bath Structure Complex. Although the knives were recovered in pieces, they have been restored and reassembled. The knives were likely used to process locally raised animals, Çelikbaş explained. Analysis of the whetstone revealed that it was sourced from a nearby quarry and shows that...

Virginia used to be a model of fair redistricting. That reputation is now gone. On Tuesday, Virginia Democrats passed a redistricting plan that transforms one of the most fairly apportioned states in the country into one of the most blatantly gerrymandered. Keep in mind that Virginia only narrowly backed Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in 2024 by roughly five points. Virginia is, in every way, a battleground state. Yet under the new map, nearly half the state’s voters effectively lose their voice. The new lines snake from densely packed, heavily Democratic suburbs deep into rural territory. There is nothing democratic...

Analysis of charcoal found at the site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov in northern Israel shows that early hominins used readily available tree species for firewood, according to a statement released by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For tens of thousands of years, hunter-gatherers repeatedly returned to Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, which was situated near a lake. Ethel Allué of the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, Naama Goren-Inbar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an international team of scientists examined more than 250 pieces of charcoal from an occupation layer at the site dated to some 780,000 years...

Between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC secretly funneled more than $3 million in donated funds to individuals who were associated with various violent extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and National Socialist Party of America A Grand Jury in Montgomery, Alabama, today returned an indictment charging the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) with 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama Northern Division filed two forfeiture actions to recover alleged proceeds of the organization’s...

A little girl had her fourth birthday party ruined after two balaclava-clad teenagers destroyed a wooden stall she uses to sell eggs from outside her home. Maisie Willis would regularly sell eggs from her chickens to passersby on her street in Holbury, near Southampton. The stand was found smashed into pieces on a nearby road, with the eggs thrown all over the street. Maisie's mother, Chelsea Willis, revealed that she tracked down the teenagers who have since apologised. 'She works really hard and doesn't even keep the money for herself - it goes into looking after the chickens. 'I can't...