Free Republic

HOUSTON – Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo [aka County Supervisor] fired back Friday after the Texas Rangers [police force, not baseball team] opened a new public corruption investigation tied to “concealed” records subpoenaed during a grand jury’s review of the federal indictments of three of her high-level staff members.The records subpoenaed are related to the investigation launched last year into how the county’s nearly $11 million COVID-19 outreach contract was awarded to a local woman’s LLC.In a news conference streamed live on Click2Houston.com, Hidalgo said she wanted to call out the truth, as well as “what’s false.” She accused Harris...

I've been posting a series of J6 videos over the past few years that show abnormal incursions into the Capitol that were atypical of MAGA followers of President Trump. One of them was of a group of long-haired youths wearing gas masks who entered a room through a broken window, and were being given orders through the window by a woman with a bullhorn.See that video here at this link.While searching through my posting history to locate this video, I came across prior posts where the HTML appears to have been altered, removing the actual link to the video and...

Kaleb Boateng, a Gators offensive lineman who transferred from Clemson following the 2020 season, died late Thursday night, according to statements from both teams released Friday.Boateng spent time with Clemson from 2019-20 before coming to Florida as a preferred walk-on. He didn’t make an appearance in 2021 and isn’t listed on the Gators’ 2022 roster. Florida head coach Billy Napier called Boateng “a beloved friend, son and teammate” despite having a short amount of time together in a Twitter post Friday.

In this era of severe worker shortages and unprecedented mobility, employees are demanding great quality of life in the state where they work.Half of business executives surveyed agree it is important to do business in states with inclusive laws.CNBC’s annual America’s Top State for Business study considers multiple measures of the quality of life, health and inclusion.[snip]Our Life, Health and Inclusion category considers factors such as crime rates, environmental quality, and health care. For the first time in 2022, we also consider the availability of childcare, which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found is a major obstacle for parents seeking...

New Mexico's main transparency group is urging U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and his staff to release more information about his health following a stroke two weeks ago.Why it matters: Luján is notoriously private, but a lack of health updates is making some New Mexico Democrats nervous about the future of his seat in a 50-50 Senate. Driving the news: The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government said in a statement Tuesday that state residents have been "left confused and concerned" about the lack of information from the senator’s office."While all of us respect the family’s wishes for privacy...

WASHINGTON — A federal court has rejected a plan to lease millions of acres in the Gulf of Mexico for offshore oil drilling, saying the Biden administration did not adequately take into account the lease sale's effect on planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, violating a bedrock environmental law.The decision Thursday by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras in Washington sends the proposed lease sale back to the Interior Department to decide next steps. The judge said it was up to Interior to decide whether to go forward with the sale after a revised review, scrap it or take other steps.Environmental groups hailed...

Think about it.First, they pushed for voting restoration for felons.Then they pushed for voting in prisons.Now they are decriminalizing most felonies.I'm accusing them of ignoring crime because they are protecting the voting rights of the criminals. They are turning felonies into misdemeanors so the criminals won't lose their votes.Then they can harvest those votes.

Medcram COVID-19 Cram - A Video Guide to COVID-19 and How It Appears to Work at the Biomolecular LevelBelow is a sequence of videos that explains how the COVID-19 virus appears to work, and how vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant supplements might aid in reducing oxidative stress and inhibit the effects of the virus.Please watch the approximately 10 minute videos in the order listed below, as each one builds upon the concepts presented in previous videos. Note that time markers are included in the links to start at the relevant points in the videos.Summary Index of Videos:1-14 - Focus on the...

Nine U.S. House Democrats have asked the Justice Department to release American environmental lawyer Steven Donziger, who spent decades battling Chevron Corp over pollution in the Ecuadorian rainforest. The disbarred lawyer was handed a six-month imprisonment sentence in October for criminal contempt arising from a lawsuit brought by the oil company. The Democrats including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib on Monday said in a letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland that the lawyer was jailed for "petty contempt of court". "As the United States is a party to the District Court case against Mr. Donziger, we request that you...

Reading native Michael Constantine, an actor best known for his Emmy-winning role as high school principal Seymour Kaufman in the TV series “Room 222” from 1969 to 1974 and his portrayal of Kostas “Gus” Portokalos, the Windex bottle-toting father of the bride in the 2002 film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” died Aug. 31 at age 94, his family disclosed Wednesday.Constantine’s brother-in-law Michael Gordon said Constantine died peacefully of natural causes in his Reading home, surrounded by family, including his sisters, Patricia Gordon and Chris Dobbs. Constantine had been ill for several years, but the nature of his illness was...

From the floor of the Senate. Transcript from The Congressional Record:Quote: "Biden takes the easy way out of Afghanistan. The likely result is disaster." This is the morning's lead editorial from one of the Nation's most liberal newspapers.The administration has decided to abandon U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, which have helped keep radical Islamic terrorism in check, and bizarrely, they decided to do so by September 11. Apparently, we are to help our adversaries ring in the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by giftwrapping the country and handing it right back to them. Here is what this administration's own national intelligence...

<p>The vice president confirmed she was the last person in the room before Biden made the decision to move forward with withdrawing U.S. troops.</p><p>In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union,” Harris was asked about being the last person in the room regarding major decisions, something that Biden has said is important to him in his working relationship with the vice president. Harris confirmed that was the case regarding the move to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11.</p>

This is the interview that got Fox26 reporter Ivory Hecker fired. In the interview, she alleges: The station editor makes racist decisions on story content. Fox Corporate agenda blocked stories on hydroxychloroquine, especially regarding the story about local doctor Stella Immanuel. Advertisers (including the Ad Council) influence story decisions re: advertising conflicts of interest. -PJ

The Oldest Established[CHUCK] The Cuomos want a grand[NANCY] But we ain't got a grand on hand[KAMALA] And they now got a lock on the door Of the Governor of Californeeaaah[CHUCK] There's the stock room behind the Conway bar[NANCY] But Mrs. Fitzpatrick ain't a good scout[KAMALA] And things being how they are The back of the GOP HQ is out[NANCY/CHUCK] So the Cuomo machine is the spot[KAMALA] But the one thousand bucks we ain't got[CONGRESS] Why it's good old reliable Biden! Biden, Biden, Biden the Prez! If you're looking for insults, he'll furnish the quote Even when the heat is on,...

President Biden may cast his arrival in the White House as a return to business as usual at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but there’s at least one way he’s breaking from prevailing presidential tradition: he wears a Rolex.At his inauguration, Mr. Biden laid his hand on the family Bible wearing a stainless steel Rolex Datejust watch with a blue dial, a model that retails for more than $7,000 and is a far cry from the Everyman timepieces that every president not named Trump has worn conspicuously in recent decades.To many, a president wearing a luxury watch might not seem unusual. Shouldn’t...

I was struck by Dennis Prager's comparison of "Good Germans" with "Good Americans," but I now think it misses the mark.The true comparison is West Berliners to East Berliners.In the United States, we have families split between open Red States and closed Blue States. In open Red states, one can go out to dinner at local restaurants and bars, get haircuts and manicures, go to parks and theaters. In closed Blue states, there are curfews and fines, travel restrictions and quarantines, "essential" workers and everyone else.The Democrat party erected a wall between Red and Blue states, literally overnight. If you...

Parler must study the case of United States v. Microsoft Corp, brought in 1998 by Bill Clinton's Department of Justice and 20 states.When reading the following, think this:1998 Windows PC = 2021 Cloud 1998 Browser = 2021 App Netscape sued Microsoft claiming that Microsoft engaged in anti-competitive practices by integrating the Internet Explorer browser directly in to the Windows operating system, and purposely degrading performance of competitor browsers.Previously, Netscape was the dominant PC browser of the internet, until Microsoft crippled non-Microsoft browser support on Microsoft computers. After Microsoft released Windows 98 with an integrated browser, Netscape's market share collapsed. Netscape...

I've been watching some Netflix Original movies over the Christmas break, and I see a new disturbing trend creeping into their movies.I know it's been the mission of Netflix to break down taboos in order to make Americans feel uncomfortable, and therefore more compliant, to the Left who keep pushing more and more boorish behavior into the public square.The latest taboo barrier to desensitize seems to be repeated use of the female "c word" in their movies. It's becoming the new "f word" to express frustration, exasperation, or just plain contempt, in their plot lines. This used to be off-limits...

I believe that it's time to reform the role of Chief Justice of the United States.The Constitution only mentions "Chief Justice" in one place: Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 as presiding over impeachment trials in the Senate. Otherwise, the Chief Justice has no constitutional distinction over the other Justices of the Supreme Court. In fact, it was the Judiciary Act of 1789 the formally created the titles of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.Going further, there is no provision in the Constitution that specifically requires the President to nominate a Chief Justice;...

Where are all the Democrat convention polls? The convention ended on Thursday (8/20). It's now Tuesday. In 2016, the DNC convention ran from July 25 to July 28. After the convention, we had these national polls released: On July 29 (Fri), Reuters, covered July 25-29, Clinton +5 On July 30 (Sat), PPP, covered July 29-30, Clinton +5 On August 1 (Mon), YouGov, covered 7/30-8/1, Clinton +3 On August 2 (Tue), NBC News, covered July 25-31, Clinton +8 On August 2 (Tue), CNN, covered 7/29-31, Clinton +9 On August 2 (Tue), Fox News, covered 7/31-8/2, Clinton +10 It is now the...