Free Republic

The House of Representatives burst into chaos as Speaker Mike Johnson attempted to lead a prayer for Charlie Kirk after he was assassinated in Utah on Wednesday. Father-of-two Kirk, 31, the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative youth organization that regularly holds events on college campuses nationwide, was shot in the neck at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem and died about two and half hours later. His assassination not only devastated many members of Congress who knew the activist personally, but unleashed sadness, confusion and anger among lawmakers in the Capitol on both sides of the...

University of Minnesota researchers developed a 3D-printed scaffold that directs stem cells to grow into functioning nerve cells, successfully restoring movement in rats with severed spinal cords. This promising technique could transform future treatment for spinal cord injuries.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted two separate shipments of bushmeat at Detroit Metropolitan Airport last month, including one haul of primate meat, in seizures officials say highlight the dangers of disease entering the United States. Bushmeat—defined by U.S. health agencies as meat from wild animals such as bats, monkeys, and cane rats—is illegal to import into the country. CBPOps and DFODetroit announced the discoveries Saturday in a joint post on Instagram, writing, “Scary!!! @DFODetroit CBP agriculture specialists intercepted back-to-back bushmeat at @DTWShots. Bushmeat poses serious risks to public health and violates federal regulations. CBP remains vigilant in protecting...

Has anyone noticed the incredible scrutiny that left-wing propaganda bureaus (formerly known as “news media”) give to every little disease outbreak?Let’s take measles, for example. It’s a virtually harmless childhood disease. You get measles once, and you’re immune for life.When I was a child, whenever any of our friends got the measles, it was time for a slumber party. All the kids who weren’t immune from previous outbreaks got the measles, and stayed home from school for a few days.Our parents planned it that way. Development of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine in the 1970s put an end to this “abusive”...

Illinois Gov. JB . ...Pritzker slammed President Donald Trump as a "cheater" and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as a "joke" days after welcoming Texas Democrats who fled their state in protest of GOP-led redistricting efforts.... .

In the immortal words of J.D. Vance, do they even hear themselves? The biggest names in Democrat gerrymandering are out taking to the Sunday talk show circuit, to complain about Texas's maneuvers to redistrict their state in what would likely bring in more Republican seats in Congress, in what they say is a bid to correct underrepresentation. "Threat to democracy," intoned Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzger, without irony. Questioned about his own state's famous gerrymandering, he insisted that his state is nothing like Texas, which its own way was true enough, because nothing is as badly gerrymandered as Illinois. New York's...

Chicago, long infested with crime and poverty, keeps crawling ahead of its rivals to remain the champion of one more side effect of its decline. Pest control company Orkin said that the deep-blue Democrat-dominated city is top in the nation in bed bugs for the fifth consecutive year. Orkin bases its list on data from metro areas where the company has been called in to provide bed bug treatments between May 15, 2024, and May 14, 2025. Both residential and commercial calls are counted. ... Although Chicago remains on top, Orkin noted that Hartford, Connecticut, crawled onto its list of...

Four people were caught on video awkwardly bird-napping a massive swan in Queens — as activists fear the missing bird may have met its end as an animal sacrifice or because of a a senior prank. The four — including one minor — were busted after snatching the mute female swan Saturday at Frank M. Charles Memorial Park in Howard Beach, according to US Park Police. Authorities didn’t immediately release the names of the alleged bird-brained bandits, but local officials and activists speculate the bird could have met an unsavory fate as some of the birds have ended up on...

A young California man died from the same rare rodent-linked virus that killed Gene Hackman’s wife in February — with health officials discovering rat droppings at his workplace following his untimely death, according to a report. Rodrigo Becerra, 26, had fallen seriously ill and was prescribed antibiotics the night before he was found convulsing in his Mammoth Lakes home, where he perished from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare infectious disease linked to rodents, on March 6, his family told SFGATE. Becerra, who was just three days shy of his birthday when he died, worked as a bell hop at Mammoth...

Judge Paula Xinis postponed discovery in Kilmar Abrego Garcia for one week in response to the Trump Administration’s request for a delay. The judge did not give a reason for her decision to postpone the discovery. “The Court has reviewed Defendants’ Motion to Stay and Plaintiffs’ Response. With the agreement of parties, the Court hereby ORDERS that discovery shall be stayed until April 30, 2025, at 5:00 PM,” the judge wrote.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in 2026, ending his decadeslong career in Congress. The decision from Durbin, who is the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate and the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, will open up a leadership position in the chamber and is expected to set off a competitive primary for his seat in solidly blue Illinois.

Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) claimed Wednesday on CNN’s “News Central” ” that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg was a “great judicial hero” for finding probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for disobeying his order to halt deportations. Raskin said, “Judge Boasberg goes to great pains to restate the precedent going back to 1967, Walker vs. Birmingham, holding that you’ve got to comply with a court order, even if you know, they were in the wrong court, even if for some reason there’s a change. Look, Judge Boasberg, who was a President Bush appointee when he originally...

The Democrats’ once-vociferous endorsement of high tariffs on foreign countries has evaporated. Fizzled. Gone kaput. The reason: President Donald Trump’s recent imposition of tariffs, and particularly high tariffs on China, something Trump has advocated for years. Yet if Trump is for it, Democrats must oppose it, even if opposing it makes no sense. Thus did White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt read back Representative Nancy Pelosi’s pro-tariff tirade of 1996, while others pulled up quotes from Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and socialist Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Tariff TussleTrump is taking heat for imposing tariffs on Mexico,...

Top aides to former President Joe Biden warned donors that replacing him atop the ticket with his handpicked vice president would be a big “mistake,” according to excerpts of a forthcoming book previewed Thursday by The Guardian. Excerpts published from the book, “Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House,” show Biden aides and allies “aggressively” advised top Democrat donors to not jettison the then-president in favor of then-Vice President Kamala Harris as Biden fought for his political survival in the summer of 2024. The book, written by NBC News’ Jonathan Allen and The Hill’s Amie Parnes, catalogues behind-the-scenes...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) claimed Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that in 2026, congressional Republicans “will feel like rats on a sinking ship.” Host Kristen Welker said, “Some Democrats are saying they want leadership to show more fight in this moment. They think that’s what’s required and you were instrumental in urging President Biden out of the 2024 race when he wasn’t convinced. I’ve had conversations with Democrats who says this moment feels similar. Are you making the same mistake that President Biden did?”

You know you should develop a regular exercise routine, but you lack motivation. Promises to yourself are quickly broken, and you never establish enough of the workout habit to experience any rewards. Exercising as you age is important. It’s not only good for physical health to help prevent falls or enable you to do basic tasks — exercise is also superb for the mind. “If you want to be cognitively active, it is so important to be physically active,” explained Dr. Amy Eyler, a professor of public health at Washington University in St. Louis. “There is a such a strong...

Millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on transgender surgeries and treatments on animals, House Oversight Committee Chairman Eli Crane (R-AZ) confirmed yet again this week. According to reports, the committee revealed that $241 million in taxpayer dollars were used to study transgender surgeries and treatments on animals. What is perhaps more, former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief Anthony Fauci gave the green light to the bulk of these cruel and unusual experiments. “Insane, right?” Crane said of the report on Tuesday. The confirmation is welcomed but the news is not new, as taxpayer watchdog White Coat Waste...

Unwelcome guests have been helping themselves to meals meant for the feathered inhabitants of Bird Paradise at Mandai. Rats have made the various aviaries at Singapore's only bird park their home and have been running amok in the bird enclosures. The pests were observed feeding on food left out for birds and lurking in the undergrowth just feet away from wildlife. Rats were sighted at the park as early as November last year, and their presence was noticeable when CNA visited earlier this week. The park, previously located in Jurong, moved to a 17ha-site at the Mandai Wildlife Reserve in...

President Trump has pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of corruption-related crimes, including trying to sell a U.S. Senate seat vacated by former President Barack Obama. Blagojevich served as the state's governor from 2003-'09. It was a political saga toward the end of his time in office. In 2008, federal prosecutors accused Blagojevich of turning Illinois' government into a moneymaking operation for himself by trying to, among other things, shake down a children's hospital and racetrack owners. When prosecutors charged Blagojevich with corruption over the Senate seat, they presented as evidence a profanity-filled telephone conversation he had...

The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) is one of the most ubiquitous and familiar creatures on the planet — but also perhaps one of the least understood. According to Kaylee Byers, one of the lead researchers with the Vancouver Rat Project, "In some ways, we know more about life on Mars than how rats navigate life on Earth." "Rats have long been associated with filth, disease and death," said Bobby Corrigan, a world-renowned rodentologist and New York City's unofficial "rat czar."