Free Republic

A California NGO called Community Forward SF is running San Francisco’s Managed Alcohol Program The NGO is supposed to provide free alcohol shots for homeless alcoholics They’ve got $16 million per year for 5 years and have ONLY SERVED 55 CLIENTS $80 MILLION DOLLARS “One of these organizations in San Francisco which is supposed to be providing free shots of alcohol to homeless alcoholics. And in five years, at $16 million dollars a year, they've served 55 clients — This is tax money and it buys free shots of booze to street drunks.”

As a sweeping fraud scandal grips Minnesota, a conservative energy watchdog is encouraging lawmakers to scrutinize billions of dollars in Department of Energy grants they say were rushed out the door in the final weeks of the Biden administration, warning that internal red flags were ignored and taxpayer money may have been exposed to waste and political favoritism. Power the Future founder and director Daniel Turner sent a letter to Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Monday, calling on lawmakers...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was told over the weekend that a new Nick Shirley video being released soon - maybe even as early as Monday — is "ten times worse" than the "Quality Learing Center" daycare scam. In Shirley's previous video, he and his source, David Hoch, who has been investigating this billion-dollar-plus scam for years, discovered multiple daycare centers in one building without children in them for years. And this is where Hoch says is the heart of the ongoing continuing criminal enterprise. Hoch says the new video will show that most of these companies are Somali-owned, and...

Kids on the autism spectrum are facing challenges as Minnesota implements measures to prevent fraud in social service programs. State's new preapproval processWhat we know: The state is now conducting preapproval reviews on Medicaid claims in 14 high-risk areas, including autism centers. This means businesses like Holland Autism Centers have had their claims held, with no payments expected for up to 90 days. Jennifer Larson, founder of Holland Autism Centers, expressed concern over the financial strain this delay is causing. "They can hold funds according to the federal government up to 90 days. Well, 90 days is a whole quarter....

We often think about human-induced climate change as something that will happen in the future, but it is happening now. Ecosystems and people in the United States and around the world are affected by the ongoing process of climate change today. Climate change affects the environment in many different ways, including rising temperatures, sea level rise, drought, flooding, and more. These events affect things that we depend upon and value, like water, energy, transportation, wildlife, agriculture, ecosystems, and human health.

California’s Democrat government has finally dropped its lawsuit against the Trump administration for more funding of its high-speed rail project. Unfortunately, at least $14 billion — if not $18 billion — of taxpayer money is down the tubes with nothing to show for it, and the Democrats are still hoping to put the project on life support. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) posted in mixed triumph and exasperation on X Friday, “Newsom just conceded defeat over High-Speed Rail [HSR]. He's withdrawn the lawsuit he filed after we cut off federal funding earlier this year. Now the $4 billion can go to...

For as deep as the insanity and corruption in Democrats run, it’s a rare occurrence that we actually see them paint themselves into a corner—somehow, no matter how vile they are, they’re almost always able to squeak on out of whatever trouble they’ve gotten themselves into…but I’m thinking that lucky streak has just come to a glorious end. According to a report from the New York Post, the New York City council, a 51-member governing board with 46 of those members being Democrats, attempted to quietly and speedily pass a fat personal pay raise earlier this month, just after the...

A misconduct probe into the boss of Silicon Valley’s largest water supplier has dragged on for a year – with no answers as to what the agency has discovered — while he continues to collect paychecks. A Santa Clara Valley Water spokesperson has confirmed CEO Rick Callender is still on leave. But the agency won’t say whether the investigation has concluded, or how much public money the agency has spent thus far to both investigate and pay its leader.

3.6 million in tax dollars on lavish vacations at 5-star hotels and overseas trips. Much of it was without approval. Hotel rooms costing $945 per night. Anniversary trips to Las Vegas. South African safaris. Nearly $5,000 for trips to Hawaii. Grand total: $23.6 million in six years. All at taxpayer expense. All by Chicago Public Schools employees and students. Much of it was never approved. Because of “lax, vague, inadequate and unenforced CPS travel rules, training and procedures,” CPS employees excessively spent taxpayer money, in many instances without approval. Luxurious vacations were veiled as professional development conferences, according to the...

Is America about to be hit with a Mamdani-style socialist tidal wave? That’s what more than a few Americans are thinking as the dust settles on the unnerving election of socialist Democrat Zohran Mamdani in New York City. Make no mistake, his faction of the Democratic Party absolutely has momentum after the win. So right now, much of the national political discourse is focused on the “meaning of Mamdani.” I grew up in California, the Bay Area, and got used to “fringy” leftists in local government. But to see an American city as massive and iconic as New York fall...

Less than 24 hours after declaring victory, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani asked his supporters to begin contributing to his transition team in a social media post. “Thank you, New York City. Together we made history. Now, let’s get to work,” Mamdani wrote Wednesday, introducing a snappy campaign-style video that listed the many people he plans to employ to rework the Big Apple before concluding with a call for financial support.

He’s shown up for my Jewish community in profoundly meaningful ways On Kol Nidrei, the evening service that begins Yom Kippur, I found myself at synagogue with Zohran Mamdani. Lab/Shul in Manhattan isn’t your typical synagogue; it’s a laboratory for belonging, where ancient liturgy meets radical inclusion. The service was led by my rabbi, Amichai Lau-Lavie — an Israeli who knows how to fill the room with both grief and hope. Mamdani sat in the front row, with Rep. Jerry Nadler and Comptroller Brad Lander. As Lau-Lavie welcomed them to the space, Nadler and Lander were greeted with respectful applause....

An elderly Chinese immigrant who swam for eight hours to flee the country's communist regime said she is appalled that her children are casting votes for Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral election. Song Ying, 72, believes her two grown sons do not see the perils of the democratic socialist candidate's far-left policies, which she described as alarmingly reminiscent of the circumstances she risked her life to escape more than 50 years ago. 'Socialism has been a disaster,' Song told the New York Times. 'Everything I've seen and experienced points to that. It breeds laziness and kills the...

Back in the late 1970s there was a popular wine commercial with the film director Orson Welles reminding us that “some things can’t be rushed,” and concluding with what became a famous catchphrase: “We will sell no wine before its time.” One of the biggest yet least discussed problems with the race to establish the solar industry before the subsidies run out is that the product has arguably been rushed to market before it is perfected. The construction is getting ahead of the expertise – meaning that billions of dollars could be invested in solar devices that are soon to...

Later this week the United Nations will hold a vote on a multibillion-dollar climate change tax targeted squarely at American industry. Without quick and decisive action by the White House, this U.N. tax on fossil fuels will become international law. This resolution before the International Maritime Organization will impose a carbon tax on cargo and cruise ships that carry $20 trillion of merchandise over international waters. Roughly 80% of the bulkage of world trade is transported by ship. The resolution is intended to advance the very “net zero” carbon emissions standard that has knee-capped European economies for years and that...

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin on Friday encouraged New Yorkers to vote for Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee in the New York City mayoral race, just weeks ahead of Election Day. "He’s running to make NYC more affordable for everyone and has captured the nation’s attention with his incredible campaign," Martin, who was elected by fellow Democrats to his position earlier this year, wrote in a post on X in a thread highlighting downballot Democratic candidates with election coming up soon. "Go vote for Zohran this November!" Asked Saturday if Friday’s tweet was an endorsement of Mamdani from Martin,...

The Trump administration has put on hold $2.1 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought. Vought’s announcement comes on the heels of two other moves by the Trump administration during the federal government shutdown targeting funding in cities and states led by Democrats. The Department of Transportation has frozen $18 billion in federal funding for two major infrastructure projects in New York City. The Energy Department cancelled nearly $8 billion in funding for projects in states won by Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Vought on Wednesday first revealed that the Department of...

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Wednesday to restore about $2.2 billion in federal funding for Harvard University, despite finding the Ivy League school was “plagued by antisemitism.” Regardless of antisemitism concerns, Boston-based District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled the federal grants awarded to Harvard were unlawfully terminated by President Trump. Burroughs, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, determined there was “more than sufficient” evidence indicating the Trump administration “impermissibly retaliated against Harvard for refusing to capitulate to the government’s demands.” The Trump administration “specifically and repeatedly linked the coordinated funding cuts to Harvard’s decision to ‘fight,’” Burroughs...

A groundbreaking study reveals that human activities have pushed Earth's biosphere to a critical tipping point, threatening the planet's ability to sustain life and prompting urgent calls for immediate global action. The integrity of Earth’s biosphere is under unprecedented threat, according to a recent study that sheds light on the planet’s declining ability to maintain ecological balance. Conducted by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and BOKU University in Vienna, the research highlights critical challenges facing the plant kingdom’s capacity to regulate essential ecosystem functions. The study, published in the journal One Earth, examines the energy flows derived...

One international student after another told the University of Central Missouri this summer that they couldn’t get a visa, and many struggled to even land an interview for one. Even though demand was just as high as ever, half as many new international graduate students showed up for fall classes compared to last year. The decline represents a hit to the bottom line for Central Missouri, a small public university that operates close to its margins with an endowment of only $65 million. International students typically account for nearly a quarter of its tuition revenue. “We aren’t able to subsidize...