Free Republic

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is razing the in-house Pentagon think tank that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) accused last month of "egregious waste, fraud and abuse." Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Thursday, "As part of the Department's ongoing commitment to strengthening our national defense, the Secretary of Defense has directed the disestablishment of the Office of Net Assessment (ONA) and the development of a plan to rebuild it in alignment with the Department's strategic priorities." "This decision ensures that our resources are focused on the most pressing national security challenges while maintaining accountability...

Laura Loomer, a staunch ally of President-elect Trump and far-right activist, suggested that some Republicans in Trump’s circle don’t want to cross billionaire Elon Musk. “It sounds like people are scared of crossing the king, the king of the world, Elon Musk, the monarch,” Loomer told longtime conservative broadcaster and pundit Eric Bolling on Monday. “Nobody wants to cross this guy,” she added in the interview, as highlighted by Mediaite. Loomer also suggested during the interview that Musk’s multimillion-dollar campaign that helped propel Trump back into the Oval Office may have intimidated some within the president-elect’s base. “This is the...

The internal rift inside the MAGA movement over the H-1B visa continues to play out on X with Elon Musk attacking a critic of the program on Friday using a profane quote from Tom Cruise's character in the movie "Tropic Thunder." Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who have been tapped by President-elect Trump to lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), argued earlier this week that American culture has not prioritized education enough and therefore foreign workers are needed for tech companies like Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla. Many tech companies have embraced the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. companies to...

Daniel Alman from Squirrel Hill @DanielAlmanPGH If #ElonMusk is correct about the U.S. having a #LaborShortage, then how does he explain this? "Most studies indicate that 75-85% of adults with #AspergerSyndrome do not hold a full-time job." https://autismspectrumnews.org/tackling-the-unemployment-crisis-for-adults-with-asperger-syndrome/ #Aspergers #Autism #ASD #H1B #H1Bvisas #STEM #Math 9:39 AM · Dec 28, 2024

Florida is taking a strong stand against retail theft and “porch piracy.” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed into law a bill that would crack down on criminals participating in shoplifting rings and engaging in other types of property crime. While doing so, he took some shots at California and New York for going easy on those committing these offenses. Amid widespread retail theft occurring across the nation, state and local governments are grappling with putting a stop to these operations while others are simply responding with a shrug. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, DeSantis announced...

In his first interview since dropping out of the presidential race, DeSantis told Blaze TV’s Steve Deace that the blame is on Iowa caucusgoers who rallied behind front-runner Donald Trump even though many didn’t like him. “They did not want to see Trump nominated again, but they had basically been told that it was inevitable, that it was over,” DeSantis told Deace on Tuesday. DeSantis, who lost to Trump in the Iowa caucuses earlier this month, added that those voters were “checked out” and had “just totally dropped out of the process.” The Florida governor told Deace he’d consider running...

“People seem to think of me as an angry teenager,” she told the publication. “They obviously haven't met me. At least two or three times a day I get laughing attacks where I can't breathe. It can be anything. If I’m in a room with people, they suddenly realise I’m not breathing and ask me if I’m OK and it’s because I can’t stop! The teen reckons her Asperger’s Syndrome helps her quickly get to the truth of the matter and cut through the soundbites often given by politicians when it comes to climate change.

When John Purnell’s 10-year-old son was diagnosed as autistic, he knew exactly how to respond. “I’ve always been fascinated by research, by detail, by finding out everything there is to find out about something,” he says. “So I did a really deep dive.” As he pored over academic papers and delved into medical science – including how many autistic people have a propensity and appetite for copious research – an unexpected realisation crept into his mind. “I was reading about the traits of an autistic person, the difficulties they often have in social situations, the need for order and planning:...

LONDON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Charles says he shares the concerns of Greta Thunberg and other environmental activists that world leaders "just talk" about climate change and were not doing enough to prevent its catastrophic impact. Speaking ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference COP26, the heir-to-the British throne, 72, who has spent most of his life speaking out on green issues, said he understood why campaigners took direct action when faced with the inactivity of politicians. "They just talk," Charles told BBC TV in an interview broadcast on Monday. "And the problem is to get action on...

There is so much in the news right now about hiring – people looking for jobs, employers who can’t fill jobs, etc. I want to shine a light that is relevant to all these contexts: Professionals with autism. I’ve noticed that many businesses (including Schnucks and Trader Joe’s) are transparent and show pride in hiring autistic employees. The fact that more companies are striving to have an increasingly diverse and inclusive workforce makes me smile. Hiring individuals with autism is just another indicator of how we are progressing as a society, recognizing that all individuals have a place to contribute...

She's known worldwide for her climate-change activism, but now Sweden's Greta Thunberg is targeting the way your food is produced. "Our relationship with nature is broken. But relationships can change," Thunberg said in a video she posted Saturday to mark the International Day of Biological Diversity. "Millions have died from COVID-19, Zika, Ebola, West Nile Fever, SARS, MERS. Up to 75% of all new diseases come from other animals. Because of the way we farm and treat nature, cutting down forests and destroying habitats, we are creating the perfect conditions for diseases to spill over from one animal to another...

Teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg has endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. “I never engage in party politics. But the upcoming US elections is above and beyond all that,” Thunberg tweeted. “From a climate perspective it’s very far from enough and many of you of course supported other candidates. But, I mean…you know…damn! Just get organized and get everyone to vote #Biden”

Who better than a finger-wagging teen bereft of accomplishment, or any comprehension of basic economics or history, to be Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2019? Greta Thunberg’s canonization is a perfect expression of media activism in a deeply unserious time. Has there ever been a less consequential person picked to be Person of the Year? I doubt it. I mean, Wallis Simpson, 1936’s Person of the Year, got King Edward VIII to abdicate the throne. Thunberg can’t even get you to abdicate your air-conditioning. These days we celebrate vacuous fire and brimstone. “Greta Thunberg”—the idea, not the girl—is...

A self-described progressive activist, who helped found an advocacy group in Pittsburgh that supports autistic people, is mounting a challenge against longtime incumbent state Rep. Harry Readshaw. Jessica Benham, 28, of the South Side Slopes, is bidding for the Democratic nomination in the 36th legislative district, shaping her candidacy after the campaigns of a number of progressive women who have toppled longtime Democratic incumbents in the past two years. Her campaign is framing the race that way, too, and in a recent email, used the secondary headline to proclaim “Progressive Benham to challenge conservative incumbent Harry Readshaw.” “In some ways,...

The Baldwin family was feeling the Christmas spirit at the Epcot’s Candlelight Processional as the choir sang and celebrity guest soap star Susan Lucci read the nativity story. “I turned to my husband [Claude] and I said, 'Aren’t you glad you came? And he said, ‘I just had a really great time,’" said Emma Jean Baldwin, according to court transcripts. “And that is when ... all hell just broke loose.” Claude Baldwin, then 74, said he was attacked by a teenage boy and injured at the end of the show on Dec. 22, 2011. However, the boy’s family argued it...

Former Secretary of State John Kerry has declared “World War Zero” on those who oppose liberals’ climate change agenda. “We're going to create a movement here in America, I believe, that will - and across the world, actually - a global movement called WORLD WAR ZERO,” the former Obama Administration State Department head said in an interview announcing his net-zero-carbon-economy-by-2050 initiative on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday: “And you can go to WorldWarZero.com now, and there's an introductory page. In October, we'll be filling out the full web site, but we will be announcing this in full with big...

I am perennially asked whether I do or do not “believe” in autism. I suspect that on most occasions, it’s a test. Nonetheless, it’s a fair question that usually takes this form: “I know you don’t believe in ADHD; but do you believe in autism?” To be clear, it would be absurd of me to deny that there are children – plenty of them, relatively speaking – who frequently exhibit behaviors associated with the bogus diagnosis of ADHD (attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder). Those kids are problematic, for sure. But no one has ever proven that they “have” something. Childhood behavior disorders...

My son slides under the daybed, flattening his sprawling limbs in all directions across the dusty floor, then retracting them with a jerk. “I’m making myself invisible!” he declares. He knows our news is unwelcome. Don’t let him think it’s because of him, his doctor had coached. Crouching, I reach my hand to stroke his arm — a gesture I realize is not enough to comfort a boy whose body short circuits with uncertainty. My husband and I tell him: You can’t start second grade tomorrow. We’re leaving Singapore. We’re moving to America. We don’t know when. It will be...

Well the left wing media is at it again my friends! This time they not only no longer bother to hide their liberal bias and un-objective reporting, the now have decided to attack Donald Trumps son Barron. During the election celebration, Barron Trump was looking dozy and tired, he is no doubt up past his bedtime as the announcement comes in that his father is now the president and no doubt feeling emotional and doing his best to hide it with the whole world watching him. For a ten year old boy, this must be a hard moment. He's up...

Rosie O’Donnell has taken to her website to defend herself after being slammed for suggesting on Nov. 21 that Donald Trump’s son Barron is autistic. Here’s why she chose to publicly speculate about Barron. Rosie O’Donnell, 54, has been defending herself on Twitter ever since sharing an anti-bullying video that featured president-elect Donald Trump‘s son Barron on Nov. 21, which questioned whether he was autistic based on certain behaviors he displayed during his father’s campaign. But on Nov. 26 Rosie decided to address the matter head on by writing an emotional message on her website where she defends speculating about...