Free Republic

A former influential scientist who did work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is back in the grasp of U.S. law enforcement, facing financial fraud charges -- after more than a decade out of federal authorities’ reach, according to officials.

MCDONOUGH, Ga. — A woman in Georgia is questioning her son’s three-day suspension after school officials said the 8-year-old brought a small LEGO creation resembling a gun to class, sparking debate over zero-tolerance discipline policies for young students. “This is the weapon they say my child had,” the boy’s mother said while holding the LEGO creation. “This is clarified as a weapon to the school district.” The mother said her son, who has autism and ADHD, did not threaten anyone or behave aggressively. “My child did not go to school and say anything harmful or bad,” she said. “They could...

A Florida doctor has been indicted in connection with the death of a 70-year-old man who had the wrong organ removed during surgery. Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the August 2024 death of the man of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the Office of the State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit said. He was taken into custody in Miramar Beach, Florida, on Monday morning and transported to the Walton County Jail ahead of his court appearance Tuesday.

Like many, I consider symphonies to be the highest expression of the western canon of classical music. Partisans of opera, chamber music, and solo piano music may disagree, of course. I've put together a list of the symphonies which I believe to be the most important and/or interesting from the Classical and Romantic periods, as well as a few early Moderns. I was tempted to include piano and violin concertos as "honorary" three movement symphonies with extended solos, but decided against it. I've also excluded symphonic poems, e.g. those of Franz Liszt (even those he called symphonies), Richard Strauss, Claude...

Canada's close ties to the United States were once a strength but have become a weakness, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday, ​in a video message to his country in which he also ‌praised the heroism of military leaders who fought against U.S. invasion more than two centuries ago. Holding up a small toy soldier depiction of General Isaac Brock, the British military leader who died ​defending what is now Canada from a U.S. invasion in the War ​of 1812, Carney said Canada can't control the disruption coming from its ⁠U.S. neighbors, and can't bet its future on the...

A New York woman who refused to cooperate with prosecutors after a mental patient attacked her on the subway weeks before he pushed a retired NYC teacher to his death appears to have some serious regrets. “Maybe a part of me was just like, I don’t want to put another black man in jail,” the unidentified 23-year-old told the New York Post over the weekend. Now, however, she is saying, “I regret it 100 percent and feel really bad that a man lost his life.” The woman recounted to the tabloid the terrifying subway attack she suffered at the hands...

A Wisconsin stepmother accused of starving and imprisoning her 14-year-old autistic stepdaughter until she weighed just 35 pounds entered a no contest plea to multiple felony charges in the shocking child abuse case. Melissa Goodman, 52, appeared by video from jail in a wheelchair and pleaded no contest to chronic neglect causing great bodily harm, chronic neglect causing emotional damage and false imprisonment. She faces up to 46 years in prison when she is sentenced on July 1. According to a criminal complaint, the teenager was found in critical condition on August 21, 2025, after her father, Walter Goodman, called...

Summary: Scientists at the University of Rochester pulled off a remarkable experiment: they transferred a longevity-related gene from the famously long-lived naked mole rat into mice, and the mice ended up healthier and lived longer. The special gene boosts production of a substance called high molecular weight hyaluronic acid, which appears to protect against cancer, reduce inflammation, and support healthier aging. The modified mice showed stronger resistance to tumors, healthier guts, and lower levels of age-related inflammation.

On Sunday May 10, WHFR Presents will feature three hours of the music of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention for your listening and dancing pleasure. Frank Zappa (1940-1993) was known to many as an eclectic rock musician but his work spanned across rock, jazz, modern classical and synth music. Going beyond his provocative lyrics and social commentary, Zappa's music incorporated the work of modern composers, jazz and the avant-garde... WHFR Presents will feature the works of Frank Zappa concentrating on his many instrumental works. Featured will be his instrumental work with the original Mothers of Invention, later incarnations...

LAREDO, Texas - Multiple people have been found dead inside a Union Pacific cargo train at a railyard in Laredo. According to the Laredo Police Department, the train was found just after 2:30 p.m. near mile marker 13, near 12100 Jim Young Way. The exact number of people deceased is not yet known. Temperatures in Laredo were in the upper 90's on Sunday when the discovery was made.

Great Britain saved my family from Nazism. On the eve of World War II, many countries, including the United States, still limited Jewish immigration. But in July 1939, my grandparents were able to flee Germany for England. They settled in London, and two years later, my mother was born. Eight years after that, they emigrated to the United States. The family they left behind died in Hitler’s death camps. Most European Jews were unable to escape — in part, it must be pointed out, because of British policy. Many of them would have gladly taken refuge in Palestine, then a...

Iran has rejected the US proposal to end the war, the IRIB news agency reported on Sunday night. According to the report, officials in Tehran claimed that "the American proposal is equivalent to a surrender by Tehran to Trump’s excessive demands." An Iranian official earlier downplayed US President Donald Trump’s rejection of the Iranian response to the US proposal to end the war, saying that Trump’s rejection “does not matter at all". Speaking to the Tasnim news agency, the senior Iranian official stated, "No one in Iran drafts plans to please Trump. The negotiating team draft is solely for the...

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Service (CAL OES) is working with local agencies after an earthquake swarm struck near Brawley in Imperial County over the weekend, with the strongest earthquake reported as a magnitude 4.7. As of 12 p.m. Sunday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) had recorded 354 earthquakes that struck in Imperial County, which started at 5:40 p.m. on Friday with several microearthquakes. Hundreds of earthquakes cause light to no damage Saturday night into Sunday morning in Imperial County in Southern California (USGS)Residents near Brawley reported feeling strong shaking from the 4.7 magnitude earthquake that struck at...

Spencer Pratt is officially not shying away from comparisons to Donald Trump, as the reality TV star-turned-mayoral-candidate on Sunday reposted a CNN segment in which one of the president’s former communications aides likened his campaign to Trump 2016. “I think Spencer Pratt could be the next mayor of Los Angeles, and I’ll tell you why,” said Caroline Sunshine, who worked on Trump’s 2024 run. “The last time a reality television star who was politically incorrect ran for office, he ended up all the way at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And Spencer Pratt is reminding me of the saying, ‘First they ignore...

The founder of an organic baby formula company has branded Gavin Newsom’s plan to offer free diapers to all new babies born in the state as “grifting nonsense.” Newsom announced the Golden State Start initiative on Friday, a partnership with nonprofit Baby2Baby that will give every newborn delivered in participating hospitals 400 diapers for free.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said Democrats alienated young male voters by increasingly portraying men as "part of the problem" during a wide-ranging discussion with Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, and Donna Brazile about masculinity, parenting and the Democratic Party's struggles with working-class men. "Well, without a doubt, though you know there's part of the Democratic Party became more and more anti-men or describing that they were part of the problem, or they have toxic traits," Fetterman said during the discussion on "Real Time with Bill Maher." "And that's why there's been such a big, big migration away from the Democratic Party...

Sen. John Cornyn reposted content from the X account “Republicans against Trump” on Friday, sharing a post featuring his criticism of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as the two Republicans are in a Senate primary battle. Cornyn's repost included a message from the anti-Trump account quoting his remarks about Paxton. “I will be direct with Texas voters: Ken Paxton is unfit for this office,” the post stated. The message criticized Paxton, saying, “By every standard that matters, Crooked Ken has failed the character test. The corruption. The legal baggage. The years of self-serving distractions while Texas needed serious leadership.” The...

The body of one of two US soldiers who went missing last week during a training exercise in Morocco has been recovered, the US Army announced on Sunday. The army has identified the soldier as 27-year-old First Lieutenant Kendrick Lamont Key Jr, a platoon leader and air defence artillery officer from Richmond, Virginia. A Moroccan military search team found Key's body in the water along the shoreline within about a mile of the cliffs where both soldiers went missing on 2 May. US and Moroccan forces are using ground, air and maritime assets to continue their search for the other...

A Chicago man who told investigators he works as a security guard for prostitutes chained a customer to a metal pole in a basement apartment for a week, forced him to liquidate his stock portfolio and withdraw more than $32,000 in cash from two banks, then beat him so severely he suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung, according to prosecutors. While the victim was confined in the apartment, one of the assailant’s sex workers, who was also allegedly beaten with a two-by-four while locked in the basement, assured the victim he would get used to the attacks, prosecutors said....

North Korea’s constitution now calls for an immediate retaliatory nuclear missile strike if leader Kim Jong Un is killed by a foreign power. The change, believed to have been adopted earlier this year, was made soon after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was wiped out in the US-Israeli strikes, the Telegraph reported. “If the command-and-control system over the state’s nuclear forces is placed in danger by hostile forces’ attacks … a nuclear strike shall be launched automatically and immediately,” the revised Article 3 of North Korea’s nuclear-policy law now reads. The revision, likely agreed on by the Supreme People’s...