Free Republic

Thanks to the relentless political targeting of President Trump, there’s been a spotlight on the use of “hush money” and secret funds to sweep indiscretions under the rug in politics. This shouldn’t come as a shock to many, given the nature of fame and power, but where do we draw the line? When is it acceptable for politicians to dip into taxpayer-funded slush funds to settle their sexual indiscretions privately, and without fanfare, and when is it deemed unacceptable for a private political candidate to do the same with personal funds? Here’s the thing that’s got everyone scratching their heads:...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) administration lost track of the $24 billion in taxpayer funds it spent over the past five years in an attempt to curb the state’s homelessness crisis, an audit has found. The California State Auditor’s report, released on April 9, detailed multiple “gaps” in accountability in regards to how the money was allocated during the 2018-2023 fiscal years. Lead auditor Grant Parks said the state “has not collected sufficient data” to prove that the billions of dollars improved the situation.

PINECREST, Fla. (WFOR) – A suburban Florida town overrun with peacocks has come up with a solution to its overpopulation. The male birds in Pinecrest, Florida, will be getting vasectomies. Residents have complained the fowl are scratching their roofs and cars, making messes on their driveways, and their squawks are a nuisance. The procedure on one bird can stop between six to 12 females from reproducing. The Miami-Dade County commissioners approved the plan and are launching the pilot program in a few weeks. A county commissioner says if the plan works in Pinecrest, they may use it in other communities,...

The city of Buffalo, New York, has filed suit against Beretta, Glock, Remington, Smith & Wesson, and other gun and gun parts manufacturers seven months after an attacker with a Bushmaster AR-15 shot and killed ten innocents in a grocery store. The city is also suing Bushmaster, as well gun parts makers Arm or Ally and Polymer80. The suit was filed in the Erie County branch of New York’s Supreme Court, CNN reports.

The hashtag #EmptyShelvesJoe was one of the hottest trends across Twitter Thursday as people en masse are waking up to the fact that international supply chains are clogged, and shortages have resulted in empty store shelves at their local retailer. The hashtag, number one in the US on Thursday, comes one day after President Biden issued a port directive to operate 24/7 to alleviate snarled supply chains. But the move to have Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, a point of entry for 40% of all US containerized goods, work in hyperdrive to alleviate congestion is “too little, too...

State Supreme Court: Victims of Homeless Criminals May Sue Those Who Enable Homelessness By Court House News @ 5:49 PM :: 214 Views :: Homelessness Public Nuisance Court House News, May 6, 2020 HONOLULU — In the case of a bar owner who was assaulted by a homeless man illegally living in a nearby storage unit, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled, May 5, 2020, that plaintiffs can recover damages in public nuisance suits if they have suffered individualized harm. PDF: Hawaii State Supreme Court Ruling (Editor's Note: This may change the financial dynamic of the homelessness industry. Now, instead of...

WACONIA, Minn. (WCCO) — What some might consider a home covered in an extreme amount of Christmas decorations is more like a lit-up landmark for neighbor Kari Cedersund. “Every time I try and describe to someone where I live, they would go, ‘Oh, you live across from the Christmas House,'” Kari said. It is a name that has lost its luster this season. “Seeing these lights dark for the first time since we’ve moved here is really hard,” said Bob Zajac, owner of the now dim Christmas House. “My kids are disappointed and our community is disappointed and I struggle...

The Wisconsin Elections Commission announced Friday that it would hold a statewide recount of the presidential vote. The move was in response to petitions from two candidates, the Green Party's Jill Stein and independent Rocky Roque De La Fuente. Federal law requires that all recounts be finished 35 days after the election, which is Dec. 13. One or both of the candidates will be required to pay for the recount. "We have assembled an internal team to direct the recount, we have been in close consultation with our county clerk partners, and have arranged for legal representation by the Wisconsin...

Drama at the Chick-fil-A same sex "Kiss-In" event in Hollywood ... TMZ has learned the chicken joint called police today claiming the MEDIA was harassing its employees. Law enforcement sources tell us ... the Chick-fil-A staff wasn't bothered by the pro-gay marriage event taking place inside the restaurant, but felt the media was being too aggressive in trying to get commentary from Chick-fil-A employees. Cops responded to the scene, but by the time officers arrived ... both sides had already reached some sort of truce. In other words, they kissed and made up.

Late Friday, the federal district court in Nevada issued a declaratory judgment that makes is harder for copyright holders to file lawsuits over excerpts of material and burden online forums and their users with nuisance lawsuits. The judgment – part of the nuisance lawsuit avalanche started by copyright troll Righthaven – found that Democratic Underground did not infringe the copyright in a Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper article when a user of the online political forum posted a five-sentence excerpt, with a link back to the newspaper's website. Judge Roger Hunt’s judgment confirms that an online forum is not liable for...

Gov. Jerry Brown has a new "senior jobs adviser." Michael Rossi, a retired Bank of America executive from Pebble Beach, will be "the point of contact between California's business and workforce leaders and the administration," Brown's office announced Wednesday. Operating out of the governor's office, Rossi will be asked to "streamline the state's economic development infrastructure" and advise Brown on regulatory, legislative and executive actions needed to improve the job market, according to the announcement. OK, but wait. Wasn't that what Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom's "growth and competitiveness agenda," introduced three weeks ago, was supposed to do? "Blindsided," said a...

Los Angeles County, in response to rural non-compliance of environmental ordinances, has formed what they call the “Nuisance Abatement Team”. The enraged locals call it the NAT squad. The name sounds innocuous enough but its name camouflages what it is and does. The County has given the “Team” broad authority to come on your land and force compliance with draconian environmental law, literally at the point of a gun.

It may be finally be a death sentence for an elusive alligator that's been terrorizing a St. Pete neighborhood for close to two years now. "It's pretty scary, I got three little ones," says Dion Del Rio. She and her three sons have only been living in St. Pete for a few weeks now, but already they've heard the warnings about a 10-foot alligator lurking in the canals near their 11th St. home. Photo Gallery: Death sentence for St. Pete gator "There's been times I'll take them to the edge of the water just to see the hermit crabs," says...

To some, he's known as "Big Al." Others call him"Norm." He's a 10-foot-long alligator who has earned such nicknames because of his intimidating size. It's his size that now has some worried he could be a danger, while others work to save his life. "Big Al" or "Norm", depending on whom you ask, a large alligator in a Hilton Head lagoon that has some residents worried, and others determined to save. For years, the reptile lived in a lagoon near Port Royal Plantation on Hilton Head Island. That's where he became known as "Big Al." Last week, though, he went...

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A tiny free-enterprise fund wants Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Charles Schwab & Co. (SCH) shareholders to consider banning advisory proposals favored by activist stockholders it views as a nuisance. Advisory or "precatory" proposals aren't binding on companies, but they are a popular vehicle for shareholders to express their views on issues from climate change to executive compensation. The Free Enterprise Action Fund (FEAOX), based in Bethesda, Md., is seeking to close off that option and has filed proposals with Exxon Mobil and Schwab targeting what it calls "nuisance shareholders." Specifically, the fund wants shareholders at both...

Report: Lawmakers call for end to monkey menace in Indian capital By AP Wednesday May 16, 06:08 PM Several lawmakers criticized the Indian government in Parliament on Wednesday for failing to control the growing number of marauding monkeys in the country's capital, a news report said. Battalions of simians have been damaging trees, uprooting plants, snatching food from children and terrifying passers-by, the Press Trust of India news agency quoted K. Malaisamy of the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam as saying. "In the name of protection of monkeys, we cannot afford to be silent spectators to this perennial...

Four members of the anti-war group Code Pink were arrested outside the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Thursday afternoon, following an announcement that they would seek to take over the office. The group’s members had planned to hold a symbolic “Pin the war on the Donkey” demonstration at Pelosi’s office to show their frustration with the Democratic leadership’s inaction on ending the war in Iraq. However, Capitol Police prevented the taping of a drawn donkey to the wall. Code Pink members were crying outside Pelosi’s office. When asked why, Rae Abileah, 24, said she was crying out of...

Two anti-whaling activists, one an Australian, were feared missing in Antarctic waters after a clash with a Japanese whaling fleet. A search for the two men was under way after the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd confronted Japanese whaling vessels in the Ross Sea. International director of Sea Shepherd, Jonny Vasic, said anti-whaling activists from two ships had used high speed inflatables to try to disrupt the operations of the whaling fleet. But a mayday message was issued after radio contact was lost with two activists in an inflatable. One of the men was an Australian from Perth and the other...

On Jan. 14, 3-year-old Elly Kulesza and her parents, Julie and Gerald, were kicked off an AirTran Airways flight from Florida to their Worcester, Mass., home because Elly would not stop crying. Elly, who had been a model passenger on the flight to Florida four days earlier, began to cry uncontrollably once she got on the plane, throwing a temper tantrum on the floor. AirTran employees demanded that the Kuleszas calm down their child. When Elly didn't stop crying, the crew banned the Kuleszas from flying for 24 hours. Later, AirTran offered an apology to the family along with a...

HOUSTON -- At least one person has been hospitalized after Houston police responded with violence to a non-violent protest by striking janitors from Houston and around the country. It is the fourth week of a strike by Houston janitors. The janitors are paid $20 a day with no health insurance, among the lowest wages of any workers in America. Photos and video shot by people in the crowd during the incident are available on www.houstonjanitors.org As the janitors began to sit down peacefully in the intersection, Houston Police Department mounted police charged violently into the intersection to break up the...