Free Republic

As disaster response efforts ramped up following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, North Carolina announced it had agreed to purchase several Hunter Biden paintings in return for U.S. aid. While President Biden had already approved North Carolina's request to have the crisis declared a "major disaster" and authorized federal assistance, the state's leaders reportedly believed they would receive far more federal funding if they agreed to buy some of Hunter's paintings. "We know how things work with this administration," said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. "While we're certainly grateful for the president's willingness to provide us with the assistance we...

Why is Jimmy Carter such a long liver? He uses Carter's Liver Pills! LOL

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California has changed since 2008 when it comes to attitudes about same-sex marriage, and that’s all to the good. Despite voting overwhelmingly for Barack Obama for president that year, the state’s electorate also passed Proposition 8, a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.Of course, those were different times. Even Obama said at the time that marriage was between a man and a woman. It didn’t take long for him and the California electorate to acknowledge that marriage is a right that is fundamental to all people. A district judge ruled in 2010 that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional and in 2013, the...

Before he was known to the nation as an affable Midwestern dad and a vice-presidential nominee, Tim Walz was a fast-talking political long shot in an ill-fitting suit, spoiling, in his Minnesotan way, for a debate-stage fight. As he stood next to his opponent — a crisply dressed six-term Republican congressman — Mr. Walz, a teacher by training, offered viewers a stark contrast at that 2006 debate, hosted by KSMQ-TV. Mr. Walz cast their choice as one between a political insider focused on “moving up in elected office” and the alternative he said he represented: “I live in the world...

Some politicians enjoy mixing it up with crowds on the campaign trail, while others revel in fund-raising.JD Vance loves debates.Mr. Vance, the first-term Republican senator from Ohio, will get his moment on the most prominent stage of his fledgling political career on Tuesday, when he represents Donald J. Trump’s presidential ticket in a matchup against his Democratic rival, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.It’s a moment he has been anticipating for months.Mr. Vance spoke eagerly about the vice-presidential debate shortly after being named to Mr. Trump’s ticket in July. When President Biden dropped out of the race, Mr. Vance reacted with...

A new law banning legacy and donor admissions at private California universities, including USC and Stanford — among the handful of schools that admit a significant number of children of alumni or donors — was signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said the action will promote equal educational opportunities.“In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work,” Newsom said in a statement. “The California Dream shouldn’t be accessible to just a lucky few, which is why we’re opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly.”The law affects a small number...

BERUIT — Following the death of their leader Hassan Nasrallah, members of the militant group Hezbollah asked the U.S. for advice on how to govern with a dead leader. "Following the demise of our great ruler Nasrallah at the hands of those Israeli pigs, we here at Hezbollah need to know how to run our organization with a dead leader," Omar Ibadi told the press. "We have reached out to leaders in the United States to ask how they can govern their own people with a dead president still in office." U.S. officials say Ibadi has been sending texts to...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An emotional Representative Rashida Tlaib publicly grieved the death of Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah, demanding to know who she was supposed to send her daily Wordle score to now that the terrorist was gone. "Who's going to send me little clapping emojis when I get Wordle in two tries? Who?!?" cried Tlaib, breaking into tears. "I've got no one left! No one!!" According to Tlaib, she and Nasrallah have exchanged Wordle scores for almost two straight years, never missing a day. "Even when it stopped being cool, Hassan never stopped," sniffled Tlaib. "There are just so few...

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It was a mistake to visit Los Alamos in the middle of a presidential campaign that Donald Trump might win. I get that now, after wandering around the New Mexico town that is synonymous with clichés like “cautionary tale” and “Pandora’s box” and “be careful what you wish for.”The shadow over the Manhattan Project — the undeniable feat of scientific brainpower that gave us the nuclear bomb — is apparent nine miles from this haunting town, in a roadside protest sign that quotes Pope Francis speaking five years ago in Hiroshima: “The possessing of nuclear weapons is immoral.” It is...

Las Vegas is home to a lot that might raise a pair of eyebrows, but a new art installation depicting Donald Trump as a naked, 43-foot-tall marionette might raise them right off your face. Made of foam over rebar and weighing approximately 6,000 pounds, the gigantic naked Trump will travel the United States as part of the “Crooked and Obscene Tour” but first, you can see it in person and in the wild at 13460 Apex Harbor Ln in Las Vegas right now. Per the tour’s organizers, portraying Trump in the nude “is intentional, serving as a bold statement on...

Military defeats matter. Israel’s inexcusable complacency on Oct. 7, 2023, allowed Hamas, a terrorist force with a small fraction of the military strength of the Israel Defense Forces, to kill more Israeli civilians than the vast armies of Egypt and Syria and their allies did at the height of the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973.But as demonstrated by Israel’s stunning airstrike on Friday on Hezbollah’s underground headquarters near Beirut, which killed the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, the fortunes of war have shifted since Oct. 7 against Israel’s enemies. Hamas is losing. Hezbollah is losing. And most important: By extension,...

It is absolutely, completely, totally ridiculous that this election is even close. But here we are.The choice between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump should not be a tough call. Harris is a former prosecutor; Trump, a felon. Harris gives campaign speeches about her civic values; Trump rants endlessly about his personal grievances, interrupting himself with asides about sharks and Hannibal Lecter. Harris has outlined a detailed set of policy proposals for the economy; Trump nonsensically offers tariffs as a panacea, describing this fantasy in terms that make it clear he doesn’t understand how tariffs work.Also, Harris...

My response to Gavin Newsom's new speech censorship laws.

Barry Williams is getting real about the past relationships and hook-ups shared between his “Brady Bunch” co-stars. “We all hooked up with each other at some point,” the 69-year-old actor told Us Weekly. “Not necessarily while we were filming.” “I dated Maureen [McCormick], and Chris [Knight] dated Eve [Plum] and Michael [Lookinland] and Susan [Olsen] had a little mock wedding at one point. So, yes, we all hooked up,” he added. While Williams said the “hook-ups” were solely among the younger stars, he did have a “teenage crush” on his TV mom, the late Florence Henderson.

It’s a literal s–t storm. Stomach-churning video shows the moment human sewage erupted on a busy Chinese motorway, drenching cars, pedestrians, and bikers in what has been dubbed a “poo-cano.” The explosion of waste came around 11 a.m. Wednesday as newly installed sewage pipes in Nanning, in the southern Guangxi region of China, suddenly ruptured, according to the Sun. Shocking video shows a huge brown cloud of waste shooting up nearly 33 feet in the air and splattering cars and pedestrians across the motorway. “I’m drenched in poo, my car is splattered yellow. It’s ruined,” one driver reportedly claimed.

Las Vegas radio stations have banned Green Day after frontman Billie Joe Armstrong called the city “the worst shit hole in America” during a recent performance. While Armstrong’s comments were connected to his opinion on the A’s leaving Oakland and planning to move to Las Vegas, the Green Day frontman nevertheless chose to trash the entire city in an expletive-laden rant.

A Jew dies and, having been a sinner in life, is sent to Jewish Hell. "Just take the last elevator on the left and press the bottom button," says the Angel of Death. So the Jew gets on the elevator and presses the bottom button, which is marked JEWISH HELL. As the elevator descends, he can hear screams of agony from each floor and the odor of brimstone seeps in the door. Finally, the elevator reaches its destination and the doors open. He finds himself in a green field under irrigation beneath a cloudless blue sky. In the distance, he...

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