Free Republic

Paul Pierce claims he is "tapped out" financially while trying to keep up with his court-ordered support payments ... due to him no longer receiving income from Fox Sports ... TMZ has learned. According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, Paul claims his last check from Fox Sports came in August. He said his average monthly income was $119K, but now it is zero. He said he earned around $23K last month from his partnership interests in other business ventures. Paul said he pays around $28K in child support and another $20K in spousal support per month … but claims...

The company, which owns globally recognised brands including Oreo, Cadbury and Toblerone, has emerged as one of the most prominent corporate backers of cellular agriculture in the cocoa sector through its partnership with Israeli biotechnology firm Celleste Bio. The collaboration is focused on producing cocoa ingredients in controlled bioreactor facilities rather than relying entirely on traditional farming. A major milestone was achieved in April 2026 when Mondelez successfully manufactured what has been described as the world’s first milk chocolate bars made with cell-cultured cocoa butter. The prototype products reportedly met internal standards for taste, texture and overall product performance, demonstrating...

President Donald Trump proposed making Venezuela a “prosperous 51st state” Tuesday while speaking to supporters in Texas. Trump said: "I want to thank Venezuela, where our relationship has become very, very good, a great one, and billions and billions of dollars are being invested now by the biggest oil companies, many of which come from Texas from all of the world. And jobs are happening in Venezuela that no one thought would have thought possible just one year ago, and we’re bringing out a lot of oil for ourselves. A lot. It will become a prosperous country and who knows,...

CDC Deputy Director Dr. Jennifer Shuford on Tuesday announced that she will be departing her role on November 12. President Trump in April announced new leadership for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In April, the President nominated Dr. Erica Schwartz as the new CDC Director, Sean Slovenski as the CDC Deputy Director and Dr. Jennifer Shuford as the CDC Deputy Director. Dr. Schwartz was confirmed by the Senate over the summer. The Hill reported: Dr. Jennifer Shuford, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) deputy director and chief medical officer, is leaving the agency after just...

A grand jury declined to indict January 6 star witness Cassidy Hutchinson, the Washington Post reported. Breaking news: A grand jury rejected the DOJ’s attempt to indict former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson for the account she gave lawmakers of President Trump’s actions during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to people familiar with the matter. https://t.co/kwOJ22r1gG — The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 27, 2026 The Justice Department sought to indict January 6 ‘star witness’ Cassidy Hutchinson for lying to Congress. Earlier this year it was reported that the DOJ launched an investigation into Hutchinson. The DOJ’s...

A Florida court threw out the case against former Dominion employee Eric Coomer on Tuesday. Eric Coomer filed this defamation action on June 24, 2022, in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. The case was transferred to a Florida Court in January 2024. From today's decision: Byrne and Coomer have each filed motions for summary judgment, and their papers cite both Colorado and Florida law. As it relates to Court’s determination of the cross-motions for summary judgment, the only relevant difference between the law of the two states is that under Colorado law, where the alleged...

Nearly 200 House Democrats are moving to shield Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from further investigation after federal investigators raided her Washington, D.C., home earlier this month. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., led 175 members of the House Democratic Caucus in a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Attorney General Todd Blanche, criticizing the probe into Omar's immigration history as a partisan attack and accusing them of trying to sway her bid for another term in Congress. "Congresswoman Omar is seeking reelection in Minnesota’s 5th congressional district in just one week. News of the search warrant, whether...

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar's account of fleeing Somalia's civil war as a child offers a timeline of her early life, family history and eventual resettlement in the United States, including a recollection of how officials recorded relatives' birth dates during the refugee screening process. The Minnesota Democrat's 2020 memoir, This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey From Refugee to Congresswoman, describes a childhood disrupted by fighting in Mogadishu and a journey that took the family through Somalia and Kenya before they were eventually resettled in the United States. Omar has faced a wave of scrutiny from MAGA hard-liners and...

FWIW, based on a few years worth of studying voter registration and other data---which led me to be dead on in 2024 six months out with "Trump 312 EVs with 1.5% of the pop vote) and in 2016, before the election, with "Trump will win with between 300 and 320 EVs" (final 304), and yes, I missed in 2018 on the House---here goes: *Rs hold the senate at 52. Possible ceiling of 54. Paxton, Collins, AK seat, OH all holds. I think Rodgers wins in MI, Whatley loses NC. My long-shots are Sununu with NH and Tafoya in MN. Either...

Former President Barack Obama took to the campaign trail over the weekend to rejuvenate Democratic voters and take aim at President Donald Trump. He offered a snarky remark about Trump’s renovations to the White House that, like many of the criticisms Obama makes, didn’t really make any sense. The 44th president blasted Trump for installing gilded architectural modifications and decorations, making a senseless comment connecting Saddam Hussein and the Cheesecake Factory. As humorless as it actually was, it does present the president with a wonderful opportunity: Trump should work a shift at Cheesecake Factory. “What’s with the gold?” said Obama....

The head of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has issued a further warning on how Artificial Intelligence will likely lead to mass unemployment, revealing just the four occupations he believes will survive the imminent AI expansion. In a recent interview, Gates revealed that while AI will create “true abundance”, the next two decades will be “as tumultuous a period as there’s been in human history.” Gates's bold new claim comes with '20-year warning' Discussing the prospect of AI superseding the workforce in the years to come, Gates offered his 20-year warning on the Decoder podcast, having already disclosed which sectors were most...

A group of 13 killer whales gave passengers aboard a Southern California whale watching boat an unforgettable experience over the weekend, swimming directly up to the vessel in a rare close encounter. The orcas were spotted Saturday, Oct. 24, by a crew with Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari, based in Dana Point... ...... The whales exhibited a behavior known as “mugging,” which occurs when whales or dolphins voluntarily approach a boat and linger nearby, sometimes circling the vessel or appearing to investigate it. Despite the name, the behavior is not considered aggressive. ...... The whales belong to the...

Mass demonstrations, when IRGC came out to play, they encountered armed resistance. Pahlavi circulating contact info to civil servants and military, urging next steps to be taken towards revolution. Some technical difficulty. Targeted drone attack in Tehran building, result and intended victim not yet known. Ayatoilets trying to gaslight and demonizing Pahlavi. He has plans that he's made known for reconstructing Iran after revolution. He's pro-western, pro-democracy and pro-free markets. Li'l Lulu stole election in Brazil, very similar to the Brandonistas' theft, and Bolsonaro Jr. has skedaddled and asked for asylum in America to avoid arrest like they did his...

Explanation: Sometimes it's night on the ground but day in the air. As the Earth rotates to eclipse the Sun, sunset rises up from the ground. Therefore, at sunset on the ground, sunlight still shines on clouds above. Under usual circumstances, a pretty sunset might be visible, but unusual noctilucent clouds float so high up they can be seen well after dark. Normally too dim to be seen, they may become visible just after sunset during the summer when illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon. Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds and are known more technically as polar mesospheric...

Fool's Ball, Week Ate, Pigskin Pickem ThreadYour home for all things Fool's Ball! In Memoriam Danny Lee (BENDER2)

The U.S. Consumer Confidence Index rose to 91.7 in October 2026, up from a revised 84.2 in September 2026, according to The Conference Board. October 2026 Index Breakdown Headline Index: 91.7 (an increase of 7.5 points from September). Present Situation Index: Increased to 120.4, reflecting stronger consumer assessments of current business and labor-market conditions. Expectations Index: Increased by 6.9 points to 72.6, driven by reduced pessimism regarding short-term business, income, and job outlooks. Key Drivers: Easing retail gasoline prices helped lift consumer sentiment after three consecutive monthly declines. 

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the US, but its target population is changing. While rates have steadily decreased for more than a decade in adults over 65, cases among another population are suddenly exploding. Now, scientists are racing to understand why this shift is happening — and why these new cases are so aggressive. You may have seen that colorectal cancer is rising among people younger than 50. However, new research reveals that this increase is most dramatic among a younger population within that group: kids aged 10 to young adults in their early...

We have a week to go before the pivotal midterm election that will determine control of Congress and the fate of President Trump's agenda for the remainder of his term. Speaker Mike Johnson has announced another campaign blitz, where he will visit 13 states and 21 districts between now and November 3. This blitz comes on the heels of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson overseeing historic fundraising for House races, raising more than $30 million in the third quarter and more than $156 million for the cycle. Coupled with what the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), a Johnson-endorsed PAC, has...

Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba, is one of the most lethal infections in the world. Scientists at UC San Diego have isolated a molecule that could help us fight back. Credit iStock/Gilnature. =================================================================== Key Takeaways Brain-eating amoeba (primary amoebic meningoencephalitis) is nearly always fatal and progresses so rapidly that current treatments are often too slow or too toxic to be effective. UC San Diego researchers discovered a marine-derived molecule that kills the parasite faster and more selectively than current treatments. Findings could lay the foundation for future treatments that fundamentally improve survival rates, especially when combined with existing therapies. =======================================================================...

A history refresh and if-then logic to counter the demoralization campaigns on the upcoming midterm elections. The struggle sessions will continue until morale improves. After a year of infighting within the right in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, we cannot allow history to repeat with the CCCP and the CCP. The Bolsheviks under Lenin destroyed the White Russians under Pyotr Wrangel because they were unified and their opposition was not. The Communists under Mao destroyed the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-Shek because they were unified and their opposition was not. Will America share the same fate? Demoralization campaigns have intensified...