Free Republic

The automotive industry has lost one of the great saviors of speed. Michael Valentine, president of Valentine Research and one of the leading pioneers in the radar detection business, has passed away unexpectedly at the age of 74, according to an obituary posted by Cincinatti.com. If you’ve been around fast cars long enough, you’ve surely encountered a radar detector or two — and no brand of detector is as well-respected as Valentine Research. Michael Valentine’s interest in radar began during his stretch at the University of Cincinnati School of Applied Sciences, where he started his studies in 1967. Police departments...

Controversy over a 15-foot tall Viking statue in Canada has heated up in the town of Gimli - specifically over the horns on its helmet, which some say aren't realistic. With a battle axe in one hand, a horn in the other and a cape hanging down its back, the Viking statue is almost entirely realistic aside from one recognizable detail - the horns that poke out on the side of the battle warrior's helmet. 'There's never been a Viking helmet found with horns,' The historical accuracy of the horns was put into question and prompted a debate on social...

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign finally added an 'issues' page to her presidential campaign website - 50 days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and just in time for her pivotal debate with Donald Trump. The 59-year-old Democratic presidential nominee had been unveiling components of her agenda in some policy speeches and campaign announcements, but has faced criticism for not providing an in-depth platform and for only giving one major interview. The new page titled 'A New Way Forward' includes four sections 'Build an Opportunity Economy and Lower Costs for Families,' 'Safeguard our Fundamental Freedoms,' 'Ensure Safety...

Donald Trump appeared at a federal appeals court in New York as he seeks to overturn the verdict in the $83.3million lawsuit that found him liable for defaming journalist E. Jean Carroll. The former president's motorcade was seen pulling up to the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan Friday morning where attorneys presented oral arguments before a panel of three judges - all of whom were appointed to the bench by Democratic presidents. All phones and other electronics were banned from the courtroom. The Republican nominee is contesting the May 2023 verdict stemming from his alleged mid-1990s encounter...

Mobile phones are not linked to brain and head cancers, a comprehensive reviewof the highest quality evidence available commissioned by the World Health Organization has found. Led by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (Arpansa), the systematic review examined more than 5,000 studies from which the most scientifically rigorous were identified and weak studies excluded. The final analysis included 63 observational studies in humans published between 1994 and 2022, making it “the most comprehensive review to date”, the review lead author, associate prof Ken Karipidis, said. “We concluded the evidence does not show a link between mobile phones...

Nationally recognized conservative commentator Michael Medved says he will likely vote for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in November. Appearing KIRO Newsradio, Medved said, when asked if he would vote for Harris, “I’m sort of reluctant to say it, but it’s obvious that that unless something comes out in the campaign that is very different from what was presented last night, I think that’s the right decision.” Medved said that although the Democratic National Convention (DNC) wasn’t perfect, it was a home run. “I think this was an epically well-arranged, well-presented convention because part of what they’re doing is trying...

For many Americans, the Covid pandemic and draconian lockdowns it ushered in feel like a thing of the past. Biden declared the pandemic over last May, and it's not been viewed as a major voter issue since. But for some Americans, the masking and social distancing never ended. Sara Anne Willette, from New Jersey, has spent more than 1,600 days in isolation, rarely leaving home and planning to further isolate to the countryside. Her hope is to get back to gardening, running, and drinking coffee on the porch. She even plans to buy enough land so other immunocompromised people who...

An 'inhuman' pedophile who was sentenced to 350 years in jail for abducting and molesting a five-year-old girl in 2003 could now be freed under a controversial California law. Charles William Mix was 47 when he kidnapped his friend's daughter and smuggled her over state lines to Utah before subjecting her to his sordid fantasies in June of that year. Her family believed he would spend the rest of his life behind bars, but 20 years later, Mix, 69, could be freed under California's relatively new Elderly Parole Program due to his age after serving just six percent of his...

A Texas city has been flooded with mountains of plastic waste that hasn't been touched in a year and a half as the facility continues to fail fire inspections. Wright Waste Management, located 20 miles outside of downtown Houston, has hundreds of pounds of plastic trash just sitting behind a locked gate. The garbage hasn't been touched in more than a year and a half, according to CBS News. To tackle the ongoing plastic pollution problem, the Houston Recycling Collaboration - made up of the City of Houston, ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, Cyclyx International and FCC Environmental Services - was born. It...

A federal judge has thrown out major felony charges against two former Louisville officers accused of falsifying a warrant that led police to Breonna Taylor's door before they fatally shot her. U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson's ruling declared that the actions of Taylor's boyfriend, who fired a shot at police the night of the raid, were the legal cause of her death, not a bad warrant. Federal charges against former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany were announced by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 during a high-profile visit to Louisville. Garland accused Jaynes and...

A new study has added fuel to concerns that America could face a surge in dementias in coming years and decades due to COVID. The research found that nearly two-thirds of people over 65 who were hospitalized with the virus went on to suffer cognitive decline, which can be a precursor for dementia, weeks and months after the infection cleared. Independent experts told DailyMail.com this is a trend they're watching closely, since if there is a link, it could affect the millions of older adults who were infected with the virus. CDC data shows that over-65s accounted for nearly half...

https://x.com/i/status/1824540173188862362 >TDS

The presidential campaign for Kamala Harris is now including special pronoun options for job applicants, as part of their commitment to diversity and inclusion. The job application for the Harris campaign includes nine different options for pronouns, including 'xe/xem,' 'ze/hir,' 'ey/em,' 'fae/faer' and 'hu/hu.' 'Fae/faer,' indicates a gender-fluid person but non-masculine, sometimes of Celtic origin. 'Hu/hu,' pronouns are third person gender-neutral pronouns referring to both a man and a woman. The other pronouns are considered gender neutral. 'Let the employer know what pronouns you use so that they can address you correctly,' the application reads. A tenth option exists allowing...

American rapper and Olympic sideline reporter Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. has been accused of using a Class B drug in London, which is to say that Snoop Dogg smoked some weed. While that's hardly news in America, where marijuana is legalized depending on your location, it is an issue in the United Kingdom, where cannabis use carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and an undisclosed fine. Snoop and his guests allegedly stunk up the Mandarin Hotel south of Hyde Park in London, where several Muslim guests 'went ballistic' over the powerful aroma wafting through the century-old...

Hundreds of girls aged 12 and under have had 'top surgery' to remove their breasts in the US since 2017, data suggests. And more than 6,000 girls aged 13 to 18 had the 'gender-affirming' surgeries in that time, according to an analysis seen by DailyMail.com. High profile Democrats, including Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, had previously claimed sex change surgeries 'don't happen' on children. Researchers at the conservative Manhattan Institute think-tank carried out what they call the biggest ever analysis of transgender care for minors, reviewing more than 4 billion insurance claims from 155 million people between 2017 and 2023. Overall,...

A respected think tank study has underscored America's massive demographic shift since the start of the pandemic, with millions more Spanish-speaking residents as the white population tumbled. The Hispanic population grew by 3.2 million from April 2020 to July 2023, as the number of white people fell by 2.1 million — the result of immigration and birth and death rates, says a Brookings Institution study. That means Hispanics accounted for 91 percent of US population growth in those three years. At the same time, the black, Asian, and mixed-race populations grew by hundreds of thousands of people each, while the...

Republicans are ripping the Olympics for allowing a 'biological male' to pummel an Italian female athlete, calling the competition 'dangerous' and 'immoral.' The outrage stems from a 46-second Olympic boxing match between Italian female boxer Angela Carini and her Algerian opponent Imane Khelif, who's considered to be 'biologically male.' Khelif, who had been banned from a major boxing contest before the Olympics due to issues regarding her gender, savagely rocked Carini with two haymakers early in the fight. These devastating blows prompted Carini to yell 'This is unjust' before she fell to the canvas and wept over her Olympic dreams...

It's one of the wealthiest states in America, with residents of its fanciest zip code luxuriating in $3 million red-brick apartments. But the writing is on the wall for Massachusetts, says an alarming new study. The 50,000 non-legal migrants who've entered the state since Joe Biden became president are putting a costly strain on schools, healthcare, and other services. Jessica Vaughan, author of the report for the Center for Immigration Studies, says the state is destined for bankruptcy. That's because migrants will drain state coffers of a staggering $1.8 trillion over the next two years. Even though some non-legal migrants...

Once upon a time, the vulture was an abundant and ubiquitous bird in India. The scavenging birds hovered over sprawling landfills, looking for cattle carcasses. Sometimes they would alarm pilots by getting sucked into jet engines during airport take-offs. But more than two decades ago, India’s vultures began dying because of a drug used to treat sick cows. By the mid-1990s, the 50 million-strong vulture population had plummeted to near zero because of diclofenac, a cheap non-steroidal painkiller for cattle that is fatal to vultures. Birds that fed on carcasses of livestock treated with the drug suffered from kidney failure...

President Joe Biden is reportedly planning to unveil a dramatic Supreme Court reform next week in an attempt to overhaul the high court. Two people familiar with the matter told Politico that the president is likely to endorse establishing term limits for justices, and bring in a code of ethics. The 81-year-old is expected to push for an amendment that would limit immunity for presidents and other officeholders. His amendment would come directly after the court ruled that presidents are shielded from prosecution for officials acts, in a case brought by Donald Trump. It is said that Biden will call...