Free Republic

A court case that already has been in the system for years is being pushed up to the level of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and it is expected ultimately to be before the Supreme Court, where it could be a vehicle to overturn that institution's creation of same-sex marriage for the nation. That 2015 ruling, the Obergefell case, has been described by no less than the chief justice of the high court as unrelated to the U.S. Constitution, and exploded limits on same-sex marriage in dozens of states. ... The case at hand is the attack on...

A federal judge rejected former President Trump’s latest attempt for a new trial, upholding the verdict and $83.3 million award in his defamation case against writer E. Jean Carroll. In a written opinion, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said Trump’s arguments are “without merit.” “Mr. Trump’s malicious and unceasing attacks on Ms. Carroll were disseminated to more than 100 million people. They included public threats and personal attacks, and they endangered Ms. Carroll’s health and safety,” Kaplan wrote. A jury in January ordered him to pay $83.3 million to Carroll after Kaplan found he was liable for defamation. Last month,...

Shares of rental car giant Hertz plunged by more than 20 percent on Thursday after the company reported huge losses related to its investment in Electric Vehicles (EVs). For months, Hertz has been struggling after going all-in on EVs. On Thursday, Hertz executives said it lost $1.28 per share in the first quarter, many times larger than Wall Street’s estimate of a loss of 45 percent per share. The wider-than-expected loss came even though business was actually busier than expected for Hertz. The company took in $2.1 billion in revenue, slightly outpacing expectations. In January, Hertz executives announced that they...

Anti-Jewish, pro-Hamas protesters — such as those seen at Columbia and Yale — will be expelled if they try to pull the same stunts at Florida universities, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) made clear on Thursday. “You think about what happened when you have these Hamas demonstrators out. They’re taking over bridges, and they’re taking over roads,” he said, noting that these individuals do not have the right to do that. “How do you know if someone — someone may need to get to a hospital. Someone may need to pick up a child somewhere, and you’re just going to commandeer...

In October 2021, a woman in the US state of Arkansas allegedly typed out a simple Facebook message: "Just out of curiosity, would you know anyone in the market for a fully intact, embalmed brain?"The woman was a staffer at Arkansas Central Mortuary Services, and according to prosecutors, the message was sent to an antique dealer in Pennsylvania.A search of his home would later uncover multiple buckets containing human remains, including pieces of brain, heart, livers, skin and lungs.Investigators say the pair were part of an underground community spanning multiple states across the US, made up of both morgue staff...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Thursday his state “will not comply” with recently unveiled changes to Title IX by the Biden administration. “Florida rejects [President Biden’s] attempt to rewrite Title IX,” DeSantis said in a video posted to the social platform X. “We will not comply, and we will fight back.” “We are not gonna let Joe Biden try to inject men into women’s activities,” DeSantis continued. “We are not gonna let Joe Biden undermine the rights of parents, and we are not gonna let Joe Biden abuse his constitutional authority to try to impose these policies on us...

"Today, our University held firm, enforcing our rules while protecting the Constitutional right to free speech. Peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied," the president added.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with low-level Chinese Communist Party officials, students, and businessmen in Shanghai on Thursday, promoting an “expansion of exchanges” with the rogue state in several fields. The most prominent of his meetings was with the head of the Communist Party in Shanghai, Secretary Chen Jining, who said in a press engagement prior to their meeting that he was pleased to hear that Blinken had attended a basketball game and visited Shanghai’s Yu Garden after landing on Wednesday: Met with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining to discuss the importance of healthy economic competition and a level...

U.S. economic growth was much weaker than expected to start the year, and prices rose at a faster pace, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Gross domestic product, a broad measure of goods and services produced in the January-through-March period, increased at a 1.6% annualized pace when adjusted for seasonality and inflation, according to the department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for an increase of 2.4% following a 3.4% gain in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 4.9% in the previous period. Consumer spending increased 2.5% in the period, down from a 3.3% gain...

A report in the Daily Mail says that Republicans in Congress are investigating more than ten banks “for colluding with the federal government to spy on Americans after the January 6 protests.” The alleged witch hunt was in search of “‘extremism’ indicators.” You won’t be surprised at all to learn what qualifies as an “extremism indicator.” Fox News reported on January 17: Federal investigators asked banks to search and filter customer transactions by using terms like “MAGA” and “Trump” as part of an investigation into Jan. 6, warning that purchases of “religious texts” could indicate “extremism,” the House Judiciary Committee...

Program will address ‘insidious problem’ with racism in medicine: nurses association Nursing students at the University of Illinois soon will receive “diversity, equity, and inclusion” training via virtual reality courtesy of a $20,000 grant to address racism. The American Nurses Association, which awarded the grant through its National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing, says the funds will address an “insidious problem” with racism in nursing. But other medical professionals and scholars say the project is a waste of money. The university’s College of Nursing plans to use the grant to hire a software engineer to create virtual reality training...

Anti-Israel protesters set up an “intifada” encampment on the campus of state-funded City College of New York Thursday — with participants raising a Palestinian flag over a quad. The encampment was set up Thursday morning, and by the afternoon the Convent Avenue campus was riddled with flags and signs, video from independent reporter Talia Jane showed. “Palestine calls this University Intifada,” Within Our Lifetime organizer Nerdeen Kiswani said into a megaphone, per indie reporter Oliya Scootercaster. “We have a right to control where our tuition goes and that it should never go to oppressing any people anywhere!” Kiswani added in...

Hollywood elites are planning to throw more money at President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, with a star-studded fundraiser reportedly being planned for mid-June that will feature George Clooney and former President Barack Obama. The shindig will also feature former Disney boss Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is Biden’s campaign co-chair, according to an Axios report. Julia Roberts might attend the event, unnamed sources told the outlet. Hollywood remains one of Biden’s most loyal constituencies even as his popularity has plummeted with ordinary Americans who must deal with record consumer prices and unprecedented levels of illegal immigration that is swamping cities around the...

The rape conviction of movie producer Harvey Weinstein has been overturned by New York's highest court.The New York Court of Appeals, in a scathing 4-3 opinion, overturned Weinstein's conviction on sex crimes against three women, finding the trial judge "erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes."The court said that testimony "served no material non-propensity purpose" and "portrayed defendant in a highly prejudicial light."Weinstein spokesperson Juda Engelmayer told ABC News, "We are happily surprised and we are studying the ruling."The Weinstein team, which was eagerly awaiting a ruling, was...

Pope Francis: ‘Deniers of climate change’ are ‘foolish’Pope Francis, in a recent CBS interview, labeled skeptics of the climate change narrative as ‘foolish’ for not believing ‘research.’Pope Francis has stated that “deniers of climate change” are “foolish” as they don’t believe “research,” and insisting that “climate change exists.”In comments made to CBS Evening News and aired April 24, the 87-year-old Pontiff decried those whom CBS’s Norah O’Donnell described as “deniers of climate change.” “There are people who are foolish, and foolish even if you show them research, they don’t believe it,” responded Francis. “Why? Because they don’t understand the situation...

Reporter- "What's it like seeing so many Republicans and Trump supporters in Manhattan? Does that surprise you?" Construction Worker, ""No- not at all- it's turning now" Reporter- "What's your message to Joe Biden?" Construction Worker- "F*&^% You!!"

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted Thursday to restore Obama-era net neutrality rules. The agency voted 3-2 along partisan lines to revive rules barring broadband providers from blocking or throttling internet traffic to some websites and speeding up access to others that pay extra fees. The move brings broadband under the purview of the FCC by classifying it as telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act. “Four years ago, the pandemic changed life as we know it,” FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said at Thursday’s commission meeting. “We were told to stay home, hunker down and live online. So...

Palestinian terrorists fired mortars Wednesday at United Nations officials as they toured the proposed site for a pier that is to be constructed in the Gaza Strip to assist with the delivery of humanitarian aid. The Times of Israel reported: Members of a terror group in the Gaza Strip launched mortars at an under-construction pier for a US-led project to bring aid into the Palestinian enclave yesterday, the military says. The mortar attack occurred as United Nations officials were touring the site with Israeli troops on the coast of central Gaza, the IDF says in response to a query on...

The Biden administration finalized a rule Wednesday that bans the use of natural gas in new federal buildings. The Department of Energy announced the final rule, which requires federal agencies to “phase out” and ultimately eliminate the on-site use of fossil fuels starting in 2030. New federal buildings constructed after 2030 will not be allowed to have the natural gas hookups required to power gas stoves and other appliances under the final rule. “The Biden-Harris Administration is practicing what we preach,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said of her agency’s rule. “Just as we are helping households and businesses across the...

Anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian, and pro-Hamas protesters who camped out in Harvard Yard on Wednesday received a rude awakening overnight as automatic sprinklers switched on, soaking tents and sending the activists into a panic. The Harvard Crimson reported that sprinklers began to turn on after 2:00 a.m. in 36º Fahrenheit weather. It later noted at 4:05 a.m. ET: As protesters spend their first night in the Harvard Yard encampment, the biggest threat to their stay has not come from administrators or Harvard University police officers, but the Yard’s sprinklers. Two more sprinklers turned on at the edge of the encampment near Massachusetts...