Free Republic

Critics of the WNBA calling out its transgender policies – or lack therefore – were slammed Wednesday for their hurtful “bad faith” in criticizing men claiming to be women so they can play in the league. A league spokesperson said in a statement everything is fine at the WNBA and there is nothing for anyone to worry about, going public with a call for calm hours after an anti-hate task force met virtually and canvassed a variety of topics including social media vitriol and transgender athletes. Discussions, meetings, “hard conversations” and committees are working at the WNBA to determine what...

Democrat U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico now says he does not support gender mutilation surgery for minors—but when Texas lawmakers voted to prohibit the procedures, Talarico voted no.Talarico voted against Senate Bill 14, legislation prohibiting physicians from performing gender-mutilation surgeries on minors as well as prescribing sterilizing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the purpose of changing a child’s biological sex. The measure was ultimately approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.Talarico’s legislative record also includes another vote involving insurance coverage for gender-mutilation procedures and the consequences of those treatments. In 2025, Talarico voted against...

Those who fail to complete the Australian Census will be fined if they do not complete it.

[Catholic Caucus] Leo invokes 1970s talking points to defend Vatican II’s liturgical revolution'The liturgical assembly is in fact fulfilled through the active participation of brothers and sisters,' he said during an audience.A quick glance at Leo XIV’s August 12 audience on the liturgical year suggests it was a run-of-the-mill catechetical lesson.But a closer look reveals that his address on the Second Vatican Council’s document Sacrosanctum Concilium is cloaked in decades-old modernist talking points.Looking at the meat of Leo’s address, it becomes clear that his emphasis on the Eucharist, the Resurrection, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints, along with his...

History continues to resurface as unprecedented heatwaves and droughts in Europe push the Danube River to its lowest levels on record. In addition to the dozens of World War II Nazi naval vessels near the Serbian town of Prahavo, archaeologists in Hungary have located an extremely rare Wehrmacht military motorcycle, along with the bodies of its two potential crewmembers. Due to the area’s unique conditions, both the vehicle and the soldiers’ remains are remarkably well-preserved even after over 80 years underwater. The vehicle and possible remains were found in an exposed section of the Danube riverbed near the Hungarian Parliament...

PCU John F. Kennedy departs Newport News for acceptance trials. (Image credit: HII) The John F. Kennedy, the second Gerald R. Ford class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, left Newport News on Aug. 12 to commence acceptance trials before its handover to the U.S. Navy. Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) John F. Kennedy, soon to be the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) will now have its systems and equipment evaluated in these final manufacturer trials to prove it is up to specification before delivery. Previously scheduled for delivery in 2025, the 100,000 ton aircraft carrier was delayed by issues with the new Advanced...

Australian Golfer Jessica Bang died at the age of 18 after suffering a brain hemorrhage ahead of a qualifying event in Thailand, according to the WPGA Tour of Australasia. “The thoughts and prayers of everyone at the WPGA Tour of Australasia and the broader Australian golf community are with Jessica’s family, friends and all those who knew and loved her at this incredibly difficult time,” the organization said in a statement published by multiple outlets. Bang collapsed on Aug. 1 while preparing for the KLPGA Tour’s International Qualifying Tournament and underwent emergency brain surgery at Synphat Ramintra Hospital in Bangkok...She...

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department has pinpointed nearly $5 billion in bank or other transactions linked to suspected human smuggling between 2023 and 2025 — a staggering figure that the Trump administration is vowing to reduce, The Post can reveal. The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) found $4.9 billion in suspicious exchanges by combing through Bank Secrecy Act data between Jan. 1, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2025, according to a forthcoming Financial Trend Analysis report. Much of that amount included “excessive cash activity conducted along the southwest border of the United States,” as well as transfers along other “common...

CAUGHT INSIDE MINNEAPOLIS POLLING BOOTHS: Minnesota Poll Workers Tell O’Keefe, Dressed in Muslim Garb, & Cam Higby, in a Burka, That They Can Vouch for Eight Unregistered Voters Without ID, Allowing Them to Vote in Minnesota Primary Election. Election worker says, “You’re the ID,” referring to the registered voter serving as identification for the people they are vouching for. Election worker confirms O’Keefe’s question about unregistered voters being vouched for: “I can vouch for them. They are not registered… That’s okay. That’s fine. Yeah!” Election worker explains that a registered voter in the same precinct can vouch for up to...

Luigi Mangione is expected to plead guilty Friday in his federal case tied to his alleged execution of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson — in an apparent bid to dodge a life sentence, sources confirmed to the Post. The 28-year-old accused killer — who is set to appear at a morning hearing in Manhattan federal court — is charged in the federal case with two counts of stalking resulting in death stemming from his alleged December 2024 cold-blooded murder of the powerful executive on a Manhattan sidewalk. Mangione would still likely face a potential life sentence if he were to plead...

Five people have been arrested following a two-day search for a train car burglary suspect who allegedly fired at an officer from a moving freight train in San Bernardino County, authorities announced Thursday. Officers with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway were attempting to stop several suspects allegedly burglarizing railcars Monday evening when one of the suspects, identified as 21-year-old Angel Castro, allegedly fired a handgun in the direction of an officer, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. The officer was not struck, and no law enforcement personnel were injured. The manhunt for the suspects intensified after they were...

I like posting things like this on FR as there is a lot of wisdom from members. I have a fairly new 1/3 hp Zoeller sump pump but considering a backup in case of power outage: 1. Whole house generator connected to natural gas. Depending on model, kW, this can cost $10-25,000. 2. Traditional generator that plugs into utility meter socket or a smaller standalone just for the pump. $500 - $3,000 solution. 3. UPS with two batteries but fairly expensive. $3,000 by my estimation. Allows for software monitoring of system. 4. Two battery system with inverter, charger, inline fuse...

FIRST ON FOX: Harvard allegedly failed to adequately safeguard research collaborations with Chinese institutions, including universities tied to Beijing’s military and defense-industrial base, according to a report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. 600K more PRC STEM students will definitely fix this ! Trump suspend PRC visas for at least one year NOW!

Link onlyCMP approved to sell more than 100,000 surplus M14 rifles

The federal government's ban on carrying firearms in U.S. post offices may soon be over, now that the Dept. of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel has issued an advisory opinion stating the ban does not comply with federal law. … The OLC opinion argues that in order to legally carry, both the entry into the federal facility and the carrying of the firearm must be for a lawful purpose. … Carrying arms for self-defense when entering a building held open to the public is a paradigmatic lawful purpose. The Supreme Court recognized as much in District of Columbia v. Heller,...

On today's CNN This Morning, host Audie Cornish decided former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer was fair game for a cheap shot. She soon learned otherwise. Discussing the search for a successor to departing press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Cornish contrasted Leavitt’s tenure with Spicer’s. “She didn’t become a national joke like a Sean Spicer,” Cornish declared.CNN's Sara Fischer later undercut Cornish's “joke” crack. “Sean Spicer has his own show,” she noted. “He’s been able to create a media career out of it.” By the end of the segment, a somewhat chastened Cornish circled back. “And Sean Spicer, I...

... The paper “Niceness as Whiteness in School Police Officers’ Perceptions of Student Arrest” addresses the “perceptions of arrest” by school resource officers, or SROs) in two school districts. The officers appear to be precisely what you are looking for in an SRO: empathetic and reluctant to make arrests. The researchers admit that they try to avoid arrests. However, according to the authors, hidden behind those sympathetic approaches was, of course, a boiling caldron of racism in terms of the racial disparity of those arrested. Indeed, the researchers realized that it was the niceness itself that was the evidence of...

Kazakhstan's president might be inviting Putin to shove him off an open window

Democrat Chris Jones, who is running for Iowa secretary of agriculture, was rebuked by Iowa Republicans after saying farmers are “wealthy,” grain farming is “not that hard,” and farmers are “only working a few weeks out of the year.” The remarks were highlighted Tuesday by Iowa Field Report, which posted video from a 2021 interview Jones gave at the Iowa Ideas Conference, hosted by the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “And a lot of this grain farming now, it’s not that hard. They’re only working a few weeks out of the year,” Jones said.

For 157 years, the number of justices on the nation’s highest court has remained at nine following the Judiciary Act of 1869. Although the number is not enshrined in the Constitution, it’s become the norm despite President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s unsuccessful attempt to pack the court in 1937. But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8) would change all that if American voters give him that power and hand both houses of Congress back to the Democrats in November. In fact, there’s no telling what he and his Dem fellow extremists would do, because, according to him, all options would be...