Free Republic

Brenda Lee dances merrily to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with her holiday classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” The song rewrites multiple records as it tops the chart for the first time – 65 years after its release. Lee, meanwhile, adds her third No. 1 – and her first since 1960.

President Joe Biden 'crashed' a birthday party at the swanky New York restaurant Il Cantinori Sunday night while celebrating his granddaughter Finnegan's birthday. Budding TV and podcast producer Julie Balefsky shared pictures on her Instagram that showed the president coming over and wishing her a Happy Birthday, as she sported a birthday hat and 'it's my birthday' sash. The president and first lady Jill Biden also posed for a group picture with Balefsky and her friends at the restaurant, which serves $42 ravioli and $69 lamb. 'The President crashed my birthday dinner but it's still my day,' Balefsky captioned the...

Tafari Campbell, the "beloved" chef of former President Barack Obama and his family, died of accidental drowning in a Martha's Vineyard lake, officials confirmed Tuesday. Campbell, 45, was paddleboarding at Edgartown Great Pond on the night of July 23 when he was seen struggling in the water, CBS Boston reported at the time. His cause of death was determined to be accidental drowning due to submersion in a body of water, according to Timothy McGuirk, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. Campbell, who was from Dumfries, Virginia, worked in the White House, and the...

In a shocking turn of events, the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir was interrupted and stopped while singing the National Anthem in Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol. The children, part of the esteemed Rushingbrook Children’s Choir, had traveled to Washington, D.C., for a scheduled Capitol tour and had received prior approval to sing a short set of patriotic songs inside the historic Statuary Hall. However, as their angelic voices filled the grand hall while singing The Star-Spangled Banner with pride, Capitol Police rudely intervened, insisting that the children stop singing immediately. The abrupt interruption stunned the young performers, the choir...

Microplastics – tiny pieces of plastic less than 0.2 of an inch (5mm) in diameter – have been found in human blood for the first time. Scientists in the Netherlands took blood samples from 22 anonymous healthy adult donors and analysed them for particles as small as 0.00002 of an inch. The researchers found that 17 out of the 22 volunteers (77.2 per cent) had microplastics in their blood – a finding described as 'extremely concerning'.

US President Joe Biden is facing criticism after another gaffe that referenced his Irish heritage. Speaking on St Patrick's Day, the President, whose great-great-grandfather was born in Co Mayo, was captured on video making a rather unfortunate remark given the day that was in it. As he addressed attendees of a St Patrick's Day reception in the White House, Mr Biden is heard saying: "I may be Irish, but I'm not stupid."

If Afghanistan was the worst disaster in American military history, not in terms of lives lost but of profound incompetence in planning and executing a vital military operation, last week must stand as the single greatest one-week showcase of political miscalculation in modern American history. The administration had run on and propelled itself through its first year in office on the slogan “Build Back Better” and particularly on the multitrillion-dollar cornucopia of expanded money supply scattered among the favored causes of the Sanders Democrats. The Democrats’ most important legislative measures are the Freedom to Vote and John R. Lewis Voting...

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada surpassed 1,000 deaths on Thursday as the state reported 34 new deaths in daily reporting. That puts the state at a total of 1,030 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began.

Baseball is getting ready to start a shortened, really an exhibition, season. Imagine the effect on sports, and indeed the whole country, if Baseball issued one clear statement: "We Don't Do Politics. We Play Baseball." Could be a game-changer, in the best way.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago police have charged a 19-year-old man they say fatally shot two teens in the South Shore neighborhood after they asked how tall he was. Police say Laroy Battle, 19, opened fire on two teens in an alley in the 7900-block of South Luella Avenue around 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 20. According to Deputy Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan, the shooting took place after the two teens and a friend had a brief encounter with Battle, whom they did not know, in a corner store. "The victims commented, because, since Battle is quite tall, and they...

SEATTLE — After a man was shot and killed near Seattle’s protest zone, and another injured, critics are accusing the Seattle Fire Department of failing to help. The shooting happened early Saturday morning just outside, the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone (CHOP). Seattle police said the scene was so dangerous they couldn’t immediately enter. Content Continues Below Seattle Fire said its protocol is to wait for a police escort in volatile situations. That has been their policy for many months now. A vigil was held late Sunday afternoon for the teenager who was killed Saturday morning. By all accounts, he...

SEATTLE — Seattle police are investigating a shooting that left one person dead and another critically injured inside Seattle's so-called "CHOP" or Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone. Seattle police responded to a report of shots fired in Cal Anderson Park, near the intersection of 10th Ave. and E. Pine Street, at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Police tried to find the shooting victims but were met by a "violent crowd" that prevented the officers from safely accessing the victims, according to a release from Seattle police Saturday morning.

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Today, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak announced he will cancel his in-person press conference planned for Tuesday, May 26 at 5:30 p.m. The Governor still plans to provide an update to Nevadans on Tuesday evening, which will be delivered in a prerecorded video filmed from the Governor’s Mansion.

One day after The West Wind All Digital Drive-In Movie Theater in North Las Vegas re-opened, following the COVID 19 shutdown Thursday night, Gov. Sisolak ordered them to cease and desist operations. After obtaining permission to re-open from local authorities, West Wind required movie goers to park 10 feet apart, stay in their cars except to use the restroom, where only one person at a time was allowed in. Concession stands remained closed. Facebook page issued the following statement: “We had received formal approval to reopen the Las Vegas Drive-In with certain operating restrictions and we complied. Unfortunately we have...

Anyone craving sports will find the replay of today's first round of The Players Championship on Golf Channel. There were actual spectators on the course today, but the plan is no spectators tomorrow, Saturday, or Sunday. So if one of the guys hits a hole-in-one, he will hear not the roar of the crowd but his caddy, his playing partner, and his playing partner's caddy saying, "Good shot, dude." Still, props to the PGA for going on with the show. I can see postponing events at indoor arenas where people are in close quarters, but suspending outdoor events in the...

I'm seeing Facebook groups from cooking to movie fandom to sports being spammed by live coverage of the impeachment hearings. This is obviously an organized ploy by the idiot Democrats who KNOW nobody's watching this circus, so feel they have to take drastic measures. Luckily, these intrusions are being met by a chorus of "Get that #$%& out of here!"

A person claiming to be a 14-year-old boy who went missing from Aurora at the age of 6 was actually a 23-year-old man from Ohio, police said Thursday. Investigators ran a DNA test on the person who appeared in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area on Wednesday, claiming to be the child who disappeared from the Illinois town more than seven years ago. Authorities confirmed Thursday that results indicated "the person in question is not Timmothy Pitzen."

Police are investigating "several" bodies found in Mandan. Mandan Police responded to a medical call at RJR Maintenance and Management, owned by Robert and Jackie Fakler, in southeast Mandan. When officers arrived, they found several people who were deceased inside, according to a statement released by the Mandan Police Department. Mandan Police are investigating with the assistance of North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Morton County Sheriff's Office is also on scene. Officers allowed several people behind the police perimeter who appeared distraught and hugged others on scene who were gathered with apparent employees of RJR. RJR Maintenance and Management,...