Free Republic

For Jews in America and around the world, Israel represents a thriving land of survival and opportunity, and not only for my people. Nowhere else in the Middle East are those of all races, religions, sexes and sexual orientations welcome to live in peace and prosperity. Now the dream is dying — thwarted by people who’d like nothing better than to see Israel wiped from the map. It’s a sad day across the United States and abroad as whiny, privileged college students and thrill-seeking provocateurs, egged on by leftist professors, the “mainstream” news media and numbskull politicians, foment pro-terrorist, anti-Jewish...

LONG BEACH, Calif. (CNS) -- A tuberculosis outbreak among residents of a single-room occupancy hotel in Long Beach has left one person dead and led to the hospitalizations of nine others, prompting the declaration of a public health emergency, city officials said Thursday. The city Department of Health and Human Services insists the risk of exposure to the general public is low, with the outbreak restricted to a "distinct population" of people with "significant barriers to care, including homelessness and housing insecurity, mental illness, substance abuse and serious medical comorbidities." As of April 29, a total of 14 cases have...

Paint splattered on floors. Spray-painted messages and screeds covering walls. Furniture moved and overturned. Security cameras disabled. Fire extinguishers missing and entrances blocked by stacks of chairs. “We’ve got our work cut out for us,” a facilities manager at Portland State University said Thursday as he examined the destruction left behind after a three-day occupation by pro-Palestinian protesters in Millar Library.

Activists in Missouri say their proposed amendment to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution has enough signatures to appear on the ballot. Missourians for Constitutional Freedom said on Friday that it collected 380,000 signatures — far past the 172,000 needed to qualify — and delivered the signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State for approval. The group needed to submit signatures by May 5. 📢 In just three months, 380k+ Missourians from every corner of our state have signed the petition to end the abortion ban! Today, we delivered those signatures to the Secretary of State. Help...

Reagan Gray, 26, is accused of sexually abusing a 15 year old boy and sending him naked photos 'on a daily basis' - the abuse started in the autumn of 2020 at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock.A 26 year-old teacher has been accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy and inundating him with explicit images. The accused, Reagan Gray, who was a volunteer at one of Arkansas' largest churches, claimed she limited their sexual activity to oral interactions so he could "stay pure".It is alleged that Gray, working from Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, initiated the abuse in...

Actor Robert De Niro said Thursday on MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour” that former President Donald Trump’s rise was like that of Adolf Hitler’s in 1930s Germany. De Niro said, “He is sick, he is genuinely a sick person that somehow has been allowed into our system. I’m not calling him names, he just can’t be anywhere near the office of the presidency.” He continued, “I don’t understand it. I don’t I don’t think they understand how dangerous it will be if he ever, God forbid, becomes president. I don’t think they really understand. And historically, from what I see, even...

A morning rush is nothing new for a coffee shop, especially not Starbucks. However, the global coffee chain recently found that its struggle to keep up with demand is leading some customers to second-guess purchasing their morning coffee. Starbucks just announced its financial earnings for the second quarter of 2024. Overall, its leadership was upfront in saying that the second quarter of 2024 was not a successful one for the business as a whole. The chain’s U.S. same-store sales declined 3%, and sales outside of North America decreased 6%. “Let me be clear,” Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan said on the...

Economy, other factors have put pressure on consumers People seem to be buying less food from quick-service restaurants (QSR). That appears to be the case after companies such as Yum! Brands, Starbucks and McDonald’s offered their latest quarterly updates on their businesses. In the first quarter, the corporate parent of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut said its overall same-store sales narrowed by 3%, which was "expected," said Yum! Brands CEO David Gibbs in the company’s press release Wednesday. CFO Chris Turner told analysts and investors who tuned into the earnings call that Yum! Brands had expected the first quarter...

For more than a decade, it’s been obvious that voters won’t support any proposal to give NFL owners taxpayer money for stadium construction or renovation. It’s becoming more clear that the elected officials are becoming less inclined to burn political capital by giving public funds to privately-owned football teams. That could be where the puck is moving. No more free cash for multi-billionaires. Currently, the Bears, Chiefs, Bengals, and Browns are facing resistance in their local markets. The Jaguars supposedly will have a public-private deal for a massive renovation to EverBank Stadium soon; until it’s done, however, it’s not. There’s...

(Epic Economist)—Over the past four years, many of us have had the unpleasant surprise of learning that our go-to restaurant, coffee shop, or fast food joint was closing doors for good. Thousands of well-established companies have gone out of business since the pandemic accelerated the descent of the U.S. economy, and conditions have been particularly tough in the restaurant industry. Even during the best of times, managing a restaurant comes with plenty of uncertainty. Though a brand can be incredibly popular amongst consumers, there’s a variety of factors that can result in mass closings, and in some cases, bankruptcy. We...

Hiding in plain site is the singular person who could do more for the Trump candidacy, for the Republican ticket, for the party as such, and for the country, than any other. His name is Dr. Ben Carson. The obvious question is: Why is everyone missing this? Carson, without question, is a world-renowned surgeon and first-class mind. He is a gentle soul who served loyally as a cabinet secretary in the first Trump term—one of the few persons to do so for the full duration. Less we forget, he was also the dedicated vice chairman of Trump’s transition team. As...

Baby boomers are refusing to downsize in their golden years, according to a Redfin study, which found that the generation born between 1946 and 1964 owns nearly three in 10 (28.2 percent) large homes in the nation—nearly twice as many as millennial households with kids (14 percent). This is happening despite boomers' kids having long left the nest and their households having shrunk to one or two people. Instead of selling their large properties and moving to a smaller place, boomers are turning the extra bedrooms into hobby rooms and guest rooms for visiting family members. Read more: What Is...

Two police officers were shot and wounded Thursday in the Saint Teresa neighborhood of San Jose, California. The East Bay Times reported that the incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. Officers were responding to a disturbance call at an Extended Stay America in “the 6100 block of San Ignacio Avenue” when the shots were fired and the two officers wounded. he officers had just made contact with the suspect in the disturbance call when he opened fire. NBC Bay Area noted that one of the wounded officers is in critical condition. The suspect was hit by return fire and is also...

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has signed the bill to repeal Arizona’s abortion ban, making it so babies will continue being aborted in the southwestern state. In a gleeful message, Hobbs celebrated her own signing of the bill. “With the stroke of my pen, the 1864 abortion ban is about to OFFICIALLY become a thing of the past,” she wrote on X (Twitter). However, under the state Constitution, any law repeal doesn’t take effect until 90 days after the legislative session ends, and the end date can vary. For example, if this session ends in late July like last year, the...

One need only look at the most prominent elements of traditional Western Civilization (architecture, music, education, representative governance, civic life, the relationship between the sexes, family structure, Judeo-Christian morality, etc.) to know that it’s far superior to any other that has ever existed—but state such a politically-incorrect truth and you’ll find yourself a target of the progressive left, because they’re intolerant and ignorant, and they’re willing to use violence to make a point. But John Cleese, an English national treasure has never been one for political correctness, and in a recent interview, Cleese reminded us that the West’s culture and...

A teacher with the Mill Valley School District was found dead in the water off of Drakes Beach on Point Reyes on Wednesday, just a day after he was arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing a child, according to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office. Darren Smith, 55, was arrested on Tuesday following a report that the school district filed with the Marin County Sheriff's Office on March 28, according to a news release. The Marin Independent Journal reported Thursday that after initially being booked into the Marin County Jail, Smith was released on $200,000 bail. A Google Search preview of...

A state-level probe into the hiring practices of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is heating up, a sign that lawmakers may have nabbed enough damning evidence to potentially remove her from office. The steps needed to see such a result are many but appear to be on the way. Newsweek reports that a special committee convened by Georgia’s Republican-controlled state Senate is reconvening Friday to hear more testimony about Willis’ hiring of Nathan Wade, a former prosecutor in her case against former President Donald Trump. In March a judge ordered Willis to either recuse herself or accept Wade’s resignation...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has agreed to join House Speaker Mike Johnson on an invitation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress — weeks after the Brooklyn Democrat urged a new election in the Jewish state with the aim of removing the PM from office. “Sen. Schumer intends to join the invitation, the timing is being worked out,” a spokesman for Schumer’s office told The Post on Friday. Netanyahu, 74, has addressed Congress three times, with his last speech delivered months before the Obama administration signed on to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal....

A pro-lifer convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act has allegedly suffered a stroke after being kept in solitary confinement in prison — before even receiving sentencing. Heather Idoni was found guilty in January of violating the FACE Act in Tennessee and of one count of “conspiracy against rights.” She, along with five other pro-lifers, each face up to 11 years in prison. Additionally, Idoni was found guilty on the same charges last Autumn, relating to a pro-life rescue held at the Washington Surgi-Clinic in 2020. In that trial, Idoni and seven of her eight...

A West Virginia judge has reversed a school district’s ban on the five girls who protested against being forced to compete against a transgender player in their high school track & field events. Last month, five girls protested against being forced to compete against transgender students by stepping into their shot put ring but then stepping right out again, thereby forfeiting their events. 5 middle school female athletes in West Virginia on Thursday refused to throw shot put against male Becky Pepper-Jackson. They “stepped in” then “stepped out” in protest. This is how you finally stop men from ruining women’s...