Free Republic

A man was rushed to the hospital with severe burn wounds after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Boston. Matt Nelson said in a video he uploaded to YouTube before arriving at the location that he was about to engage in an “extreme act of protest” due to “the ongoing genocide in Gaza.” Nelson’s identity and motive were not immediately apparent following the incident, which took place Wednesday evening. The video surfaced on Friday. The incident marks at least the third instance of self-immolation in the United States outside of an Israeli consulate or embassy in protest...

Tim Walz is “grateful” that Taylor Swift, the pop star phenomenon, has endorsed his and Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign ahead of the 2024 election. Just moments after Harris wrapped her first debate with Donald Trump in Philadelphia on Tuesday, the 14-time Grammy winner revealed she will be circling Harris’ name on the ballot later this year. “I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” Swift, 34, said on Instagram. The endorsement was welcome news to Walz, who praised the singer’s “courage” to speak out.

The Force was not with “The Acolyte.”The “Star Wars” series — deemed “woke” by many online fans — was recently canceled after only one season, which came as a surprise to some of the cast members.Lee Jung-Jae, who played Master Sol in the Disney+ show, reacted to the cancellation in an interview with Entertainment Weekly on Friday.(Snip) The 8-episode series has faced intense online backlash for its progressive themes, with many fans calling out the alleged overt LGBTQ propaganda that was part of the show. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an 18% rating from the audience.

The Middle East Children's Alliance announced Tuesday the third annual Ride for Palestine, held in Madison on July 21. Beginning at 10:30 a.m., MECA said riders will assemble at the Tenney Park Pavilion on Madison's east side. Riders will then depart on an eight-mile, casually-paced ride at 11:00 a.m., using Madison bike paths. There will be a refreshment break at Olin Park. Riders will return to Tenney at around 12:15 p.m. MECA said there will be activities for guests of all ages at Tenney Park during and after the ride, including live music, poetry, bike decorating, kite making, and temporary...

Kamala Harris is qualified to be president. So why is Joe Biden holding her back? Despite our nation's progress in social equality, the systemic power held by older white men in America continues to obstruct the paths to success for younger Black women. The most current example? President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Members of Congress and other Democratic leaders have called on Biden to step aside as their party's presidential nominee − with some suggesting that Harris should take his place − after a devastating debate performance two weeks ago. But the president isn't backing down. On...

Today in Warsaw, Poland’s Prime Minister @donaldtusk and I signed the Agreement on Security Cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Poland. This unprecedented document includes a provision for shooting down Russian missiles and drones in Ukraine’s airspace that are fired in the direction of Poland. We are committed to implementing it. We will also cooperate on combat aircraft—both those already transferred by Poland and the possibility of transferring more in the future. In our security agreement, we have formalized the formation and training of the Ukrainian Legion, a new volunteer military unit, on Polish territory. This unit will be...

AOC doubles down on bizarre, cringeworthy antics at pro-Bowman rally: ‘It’s called organizing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended her manic cameo at a weekend Bronx rally in support of fellow far-left Rep. Jamaal Bowman, saying the R-rated event had been “fun as hell.” “Fox News is big mad that we’re for the many, not the money,” the “Squad” member wrote on X along with a clip of her on-stage gyrations at St. Mary’s Park in Mott Haven. “We rallied 1,200 people in the Bronx to take on dark money, get fired up, and send busloads of volunteers to canvass and phone...

Environmental protesters sprayed paint on Britain’s Stonehenge on Wednesday, with orange marks covering some of the stones of the prehistoric megalithic structure on the eve of the summer solstice celebrations. Two people have been arrested on suspicion of damaging the ancient monument, police said in a statement. “This is extremely upsetting and our curators are investigating the extent of the damage,” English Heritage, the charity that manages Stonehenge, said on X. Stonehenge remains open, it added. The monument, one of Britain’s most visited tourist spots, also holds spiritual significance and attracts thousands of revellers, spiritualists and tourists during the summer...

The Biden administration on Thursday submitted a proposal seeking to begin the formal process of reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug.

British lawmakers have called on the government to open up a bespoke visa programme that could potentially allow hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to come into the UK in a similar manner to the scheme for Ukrainian refugees. Following a petition demanding the government “create a Palestinian Family Visa Scheme for Palestinian people affected by war,” the House of Commons debated the motion, with left-wing and even some Tory MPs backing the notion of opening up a specific scheme for Palestinians to come to Britain amid the military conflict between Israel and Islamist Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

‘Violent’ Columbia protester is heir to ad empire, has mansion, model babymama — and long rap sheet One of the most violent leaders of the Columbia University riots is allegedly a professional agitator and limousine liberal — the scion of millionaire ad execs who lives in a $3.4 million Brooklyn brownstone, has a model babymama and a stepmom dating John Cougar Mellencamp. James Carlson, aka Cody Carlson, aka Cody Tarlow, is “a longtime anarchist,” a high-ranking police source said. He bought his 2,893-square-foot, three-story brownstone with four wood-burning fireplaces and a carriage house in Park Slope in 2019 for $2.3...

Neighbors of a gay couple in Maryland were shocked to find out they were arrested for possession of child pornography after getting flagged by IKEA. 41-year-old Robert Sherer and 54-year-old Robert Books were arrested Wednesday after police were tipped off about Sherer allegedly downloading child pornography on his work computer. He worked as a senior resolutions generalist at IKEA in White Marsh. The company, which is based in Sweden, notified Swedish police about the alarming discovery after confirming the accusation. Police notified their counterparts in Maryland, who began investigating the couple in March.

She then decided to cite the Ten Commandments, and the lack of a specific reference to abortion, to defend it “It’s not mentioned in the Big Ten, I’m just gonna say. In the Big Ten, it is not mentioned… Cause I figure, God was pretty clear. Here’s the stuff that will make your life better on earth. Don’t lie, cause you don’t want people lying to you. Don’t mess with somebody’s wife, cause you’re going to be made if they’re messing with yours. Just, you know, common sense stuff

The final coal-fired power plants in New England are slated to shutter in the coming years, making it the second region to phase out the energy source that powered the U.S. economy for decades.

Trump arrives in court for hush money case, slams it as a ‘witch hunt’ and a ‘hoax’ — on same day $454M fraud bond is due Former President Donald Trump arrived at a Manhattan court Monday for a hearing in his delayed “hush money” case — on the same day he faces a $454 million fraud bond deadline. “This is a witch hunt, this is a hoax,” Trump, 77, said before entering the Manhattan Supreme Court room. It marks his third appearance in Manhattan Supreme Court after Justice Juan Manuel Merchan delayed the estimated six-week criminal trial.

....Debbie Wasserman Schultz held a press conference on school safety measures Tuesday and called for the replacement of Florida's surgeon general -- as the measles outbreak in South Florida continues to expand. She called for the termination of Dr. Joseph Ladapo and for Governor DeSantis to replace him...

A leading scientific journal faces humiliation after it published a completely fake paper, purportedly written by Chinese researchers, which contained AI generated images of a rat with a penis bigger than its own body...The Telegraph reports that the journal Frontiers in Cell and Development Biology published a paper that claimed to show the signalling pathway of sperm stem cells, but depicted a rat sitting upright with a massive #### and four giant testicles.

Students tabling at a Catholic university in Washington, D.C., drew butts on their foreheads and invited people to join them in celebrating “A** Wednesday,” an allusion to the first day of Lent, which is known as “Ash Wednesday.”Georgetown University is considered one of the oldest Catholic and Jesuit schools in the nation. According to its webpage, the university provides “students with a world-class learning experience focused on educating the whole person through exposure to different faiths, cultures and beliefs.” On Wednesday, America First Policy Institute’s Chief Engagement Officer Ashley Hayek shared a photo on X of multiple Georgetown students standing...

Climate Protesters Arrested after Throwing Pink Powder on U.S. Constitution in Museum Two climate activists were arrested on Wednesday after they poured a pink powder on a case holding the U.S. Constitution. The two protesters were caught on camera in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, claiming their act was to raise awareness for climate change. In a video posted on X, one of the activists can be heard saying: “This country is founded on the conditions that all men are created equally.” “We are calling for all people to have all these rights, not just wealthy white men.”...

Porterville Unified school buses are getting quieter. That's because they're slowly shifting away from diesel and moving to electric. Assistant superintendent Brad Rohrbach says that transition is now accelerating thanks to a $13.8 million award from the Environmental Protection Agency's 'Clean School Bus Program'. "It's really the next step in our endeavor to sustain and move forward on our sustainability and energy efforts at the district," Rohrbach said. Director of Transportation and Sustainability Richard Tree says the 35 electric buses they will purchase with the money will help reduce the district's carbon footprint and create a model for others in...