Free Republic

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."

Nancy Mace talks about funding to castrate monkeys and rats to study transgederism, HIV, fertility, hormone therapy, and chemsex drugs. The video is 6 mins. MarioNawfal X (6 min video)

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) dropped extremely disturbing news during a House oversight hearing on Thursday, revealing just how taxpayers are funding some of the most cruel experiments imaginable.Thursday’s hearing, titled “Taxpayer-Funded Animal Cruelty,” proved a welcome break to the blowups in recent days and weeks as both parties found common ground on the issue. As TGP readers know, the federal government has spent years funding barbaric animal experiments to the tune of $20 billion.Disgraced former NIH Director Anthony Fauci, who was widely criticized for his lies, coverup, and involvement in gain of function research funding, is one of the key...

What the 2024 election results made clear is that the Obama coalition is dead. If Democrats are to have any shot at reclaiming power, so too must be the niceties and mores of the Obama era. Yes, Democrats must get mean – ruthlessly, bitterly mean. This is not to say, however, that they need merely to cast aside the former first lady’s once-famous, now-infamous messaging mantra. No, what I prescribe is not just a new approach to political discourse but a new theory of opposition party politics. Trumpism has corrupted America in many ways, but one of the most obvious...

We crafted our first rodent car from a plastic cereal container. After trial and error, my colleagues and I found that rats could learn to drive forward by grasping a small wire that acted like a gas pedal. Before long, they were steering with surprising precision to reach a Froot Loop treat. As expected, rats housed in enriched environments – complete with toys, space and companions – learned to drive faster than those in standard cages. This finding supported the idea that complex environments enhance neuroplasticity: the brain’s ability to change across the lifespan in response to environmental demands. After...

Even rank-and-file prosecutors involved in high-profile January 6 cases appear distraught at the possibility they might be held accountable for their conduct. From CNN: “One Justice employee told CNN that people inside the department are ‘safety planning.’ Another told CNN that some are considering whether they should hire lawyers. A third official told CNN that there is a ‘general sense of depression’ among attorneys who worked on legal cases that some Republican lawmakers have spoken out against, saying those attorneys are concerned their years of work will be ‘flushed down the drain.’”

DNC National Finance Committee member and Harris campaign fundraiser Lindy Li analyzed what went wrong with Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign that led to the "epic disaster" against President-elect Donald Trump this week. Li told Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Will Cain on Saturday that multiple factors doomed the campaign in her opinion, including Biden’s choice for Harris to be his successor, the Harris campaign’s overconfidence in their polling data, and former President Obama’s delay in endorsing the vice president as the Democratic candidate. "The truth is, this is just an epic disaster – this is a $1 billion disaster,"...

Rats and mice are a persistent problem in many cities, often requiring rodent control services. The cities with the most rats and mice are usually determined by factors such as sanitation practices, food waste access, and suitable habitats. These rodents can cause significant property damage and can be a serious public health concern in many urban areas, which may make you wonder, what city has the most rats or mice? Keep reading to see Terminix’s list of the 50 most rodent-infested cities from 2023 to see if your city made the list.What cities have the most rats and mice?Terminix shares...

Biden-Harris senior economic adviser Gene Sperling on Monday left the White House for the presidential campaign trail on the same day American stocks plunged and fears of a recession became readily apparent. Sperling is leaving to become a senior economic adviser to Harris’s policy team on her presidential campaign. He served Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and President Joe Biden tasked Sperling with administering the $1.9 trillion coronavirus pandemic passed in the early days of his presidency. However, the senior economic adviser for Biden and Harris is leaving the White House at a time that major stock indexes fell...