Free Republic

Outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is putting out feelers about a late run for the White House and may sway voters from both major parties if he decides to get into the race, veteran campaign watchers told The Post Friday. The 76-year-old moderate Democrat announced Thursday he would not be seeking re-election to the Senate, and would instead embark on a tour of the US “to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.” The vague rhetoric and Manchin’s previous refusal to rule out running for higher office has set...

CNN — Former President Barack Obama painted a grim picture of the GOP at two California fundraisers this week, according to excerpts provided to CNN, warning Democrats that Republicans could oversee “a lot of mischief” if they win the House in the November midterm elections. The speeches, one at a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Wednesday in San Diego and another for the Democratic National Committee on Thursday in San Francisco, are the latest in a string of fundraisers Obama has headlined for top Democratic groups as the former President gets more engaged with the midterms.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's trial run for tyranny inspired Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) to call for its replication in the United States. "Confiscating the trucks and seizing the bank accounts of the unruly opponents of the government's covid vaccine mandates was glorious," he declared. "The efficiency of simply declaring an emergency opened up an opportunity to rule by decree, designate the offenders as outlaws and mete out punishment." "When you have no access to your money and the government takes the property you depend on to earn a living it has gone a long way toward neutralizing you and...

OTTAWA -- Tamara Lich, one of the leading organizers behind protests against COVID-19 restrictions and the Liberal government on Parliament Hill, has been denied bail. An Ontario court judge issued the decision in Ottawa this morning, saying she believed there was a substantial likelihood Lich would reoffend if released. A separate bail hearing is scheduled this morning for fellow protest organizer Patrick King. Related Stories MP’s approve use of Emergencies Act in House of Commons vote Lich was arrested last Thursday and charged with counselling to commit mischief and promised during a bail hearing on Saturday to give up her...

Pawlowski was scheduled to appear at the trucker blockage in Alberta before being arrested for ‘mischief’ by undercover police. CALGARY, Alberta – Canadian pastor Artur Pawlowski was arrested yet again at his home in Calgary this morning before he was scheduled to appear at a peaceful Freedom Trucker protest. Rebel News reported that an undercover SWAT team arrested the Christian preacher after staking out his home in a van, according to Pawlowski’s son, Nathaniel. ... Pawlowski was planning to perform a church service at the trucker blockage in Milk River, Alberta. In a live video of the preacher’s arrest, a...

A 35-year-old Seattle man was booked into the King County Jail on Monday morning on investigation of assault and malicious mischief, accused of throwing chunks of concrete onto Interstate 5 in Kent, injuring one man and causing damage to four vehicles, according to the Washington State Patrol. Just before 12:30 a.m. Monday, a motorist called 911 and reported a pedestrian had thrown a rock onto the freeway near South 272nd Street, damaging the victim’s windshield, Trooper Rick Johnson wrote in a news release. The first trooper to arrive notified dispatchers that two motorists with damage to their vehicles were waiting...

Adam McVicker, 25, of Coatesville, is accused of throwing the brick and is charged with criminal mischief and related counts, as are Dustin Callahan, 24, of Farmingdale, New Jersey; Allison Donohue, 23, of Wallingford; and Josey Augustine, 31, of Royersford. Additionally, Jacob Robotin, 25, of Willow Grove; Sydney Miller, 22, of Philadelphia; and Meredith Tooker, 26, are charged with attempted arson and risking a catastrophe, along with other counts including conspiracy. Robotin was carrying a glass jar with a fuse that had “a strong flammable odor,” as well as a plastic container with white powder labeled “Fire Starter,” police said....

A 43-year-old Bettendorf man is facing felony charges after police say he stole a boat and floated down river into the Interstate 74 construction area while naked and untied several ropes that held together the barges Sunday. Tobias Tyrone Hartsfield, last known address in the 2200 block of Grant Street, was booked into the Scott County Jail around 9:30 p.m. on charges of first-degree theft, first-degree criminal mischief and second-degree mischief. At 8 p.m. Sunday, Bettendorf police responded to the I-74 Mississippi River Bridge project barges near the Isle of Capri Casino, 1777 Isle Parkway, for a report of a...

Toilet paper and rainbows of silly string dangling from trees, soap smeared on car windows and overflowing foam fountains. Eggshell shards scattered across yards and driveways with with gooey yolks sliding down window panes. Each Halloween in New Jersey, some residents awake to find such sights on their manicured lawns and once-sparkling windows. It's the sign that someone (probably your local teens) had a good time the night before on Mischief Night — which is, apparently, a very Jersey thing. The night of Oct. 30 has long-proved a prankster's paradise. But in recent years, more and more police departments have...

A U.S.-based traveller is facing a mischief charge after trying to board a flight with a "mock improvised explosive device" at Toronto's Pearson airport this morning, in an incident that caused an hours-long delay for passengers. United Airlines Flight 547 was set to depart at 7 a.m. ET for O'Hare International Airport, but during security clearance, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found a device in a passenger's suitcase that caused them concern. According to a statement, CBP notified Canadian Air Transport Security Authority officials who "swabbed the mock IED for explosives with a negative result."

Athletes in Minnesota’s public schools who say they identify as the sex opposite their biological sex have won the right to shower with athletes of the opposite sex, as well as share locker rooms and hotel rooms. On Thursday, the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) approved criteria that will create eligibility standards for schools to let transgendered students on single-sex sports teams. Students would be allowed to be on a team of the opposite gender if parents or guardians, as well as a health care professional, sign written statements affirming a student's “consistent or sincerely held gender-related identity.” A...

The Obama administration offered to work on Sochi Olympics security issues with Russia after a pair of bombings in Volgograd killed at least 31 people. President Vladimir Putin gave instructions to the National Anti-Terrorism Committee “to step up security measures across all of Russia and specifically in Volgograd region,” the Kremlin said Monday. “The president will receive daily reports from the NAC on the measures being taken along with regular situation reports.” Putin had not emerged to make a personal statement on the bombings, which occurred at a train station and on a bus. The train station bomber was reportedly...

Did God enlist some creep to steal a religious relic? It wouldn’t be the first time the Almighty used an infidel to do his bidding. Pagan Cyrus of Persia released long-enslaved Jews, enabling them to return to Jerusalem in 537 BC. The preserved 834 year-old heart of St. Laurence O’Toole (AD 1128-1180) disappeared Saturday from Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland and one has to wonder if God’s sovereignty was at work behind the scenes of that seemingly dastardly act. The Almighty is known for His slash-and-burn attitude toward icons and idols, knowing that such lifeless items steal the affections,...

If John McCain rolls on Super Tuesday then it is time for all Freepers living in remaining primary states to cross-over in your respective primaries and vote for Obama on the dem ballot. It's our best opportunity to stop her because she will crush McCain in November.

The heated debate over immigration has spurred Bernard Ortiz - and a handful of presidential candidates - to help mobilize Iowa's Latinos in an effort to shape the outcome of the state's upcoming caucuses and the 2008 presidential election. Ortiz, as a union worker, has helped hundreds of Latinos register to vote, while some presidential candidates have reached out beyond traditional mailings and phone calls to seek their support. For example, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, both Democrats, have introduced Latino outreach programs. Some Republicans have also made efforts to draw Latino voters, at least...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - It was the sort of commonplace misbehavior that raises blood pressure across the nation's roads: kids, out after midnight, egging cars along a busy thoroughfare. This time, though, the mischief turned deadly. The driver of a targeted gray Jeep barreled after the boys and someone inside pulled a gun, firing multiple shots that killed 14-year-old Danny Crawford. Police are still seeking the gunman more than two weeks after Crawford's death. They have interviewed the Jeep's owner but aren't saying if that person is a suspect.

We have previously documented on these pages the horrifying explosion of race-based violence in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. As ghastly as those developments are, though, something even more sinister is underway in Russia these days, something that makes it seem that Russia would better be referred to as the Neo-Soviet Union: It’s an attack on democracy itself. Just as it was Britain, by means of Winston Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech, which warned the West about the rise of the original USSR, it is today British journalism that sounds the clarion call that warns of USSR redux. Three major pieces of...

It may not be on a scale of Franklin D. Roosevelt's attempt to pack the Supreme Court, but Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez's bid to pack the Coastal Commission with his cronies is very troubling all the same. As speaker, Núñez, D-Los Angeles, gets to make four appointments to the 12-member panel. Under state law, if an appointee is unable to attend a Coastal Commission meeting, he may send a designated alternate in his place. Núñez, however, is attempting to dictate who the four alternates will be – a clear usurpation of each commissioner's legal authority. What's more, the timing of...

A push to require all convicted criminals in New York to submit their DNA to a central database is gaining crucial support in Albany, where officials say it could create the most comprehensive DNA collection system in the nation. If the proposal becomes law, it would make New York the only state to require collecting DNA from everyone convicted of felonies and misdemeanors, including youthful offenders convicted in criminal court, officials said. Currently, 43 states require that people convicted of all felonies submit DNA, but none require samples from those convicted of all misdemeanors, and New York has required those...

Last Tuesday, 32-year-old Jennifer Wilbanks, a resident of Duluth Georgia, went out jogging and disappeared. Her disappearance was out of character for the young woman who was to be married the following Saturday. Almost immediately, the police began an investigation and a massive search was underway that involved over 100 police officers and several hundred volunteers. All that was found was a clump of hair that might have been Jennifer’s. Early Saturday morning, Wilbanks went to a payphone located at a 7-11 store in Albuquerque New Mexico and phoned her family and 911. She told both her family and the...