Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bipartisan legislation to create a commission charged with taming the $34 trillion U.S. national debt is set to advance this week in a House of Representatives panel, as lawmakers battle over federal spending. The House Budget Committee on Tuesday said it will hold a work session at 10 a.m. (1500 GMT) on Thursday to debate and potentially vote on the "Fiscal Commission Act of 2023," just weeks after Washington's total public debt breached the $34 trillion mark, putting it at more than 122% of GDP. Backers of the bill hope it could help make the national debt...

Tim McGraw has some harsh words for divisive political rhetoric and the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol — and he doesn't want to waste words on former President Donald Trump at all. "I'm not going to give him any air," McGraw replied with a chuckle, when asked for his thoughts on the former president during a TIME Person of the Week podcast interview. "From my perspective and my world, that's just so far out there that I can't even put words to it," the singer continues. "I want what's best for our country. I want what's best...

BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio (WCMH) — A rural Ohio city may be voting in this November’s election on whether to ban drag queen performances in public or where children are present. Six Bellefontaine residents are seeking to place a proposed city ordinance prohibiting “adult cabaret performance” on the Nov. 7 ballot after collecting 796 support signatures and filing the petition with the Logan County Board of Elections. If passed, the measure would be enshrined as part of the city’s zoning code regulating adult entertainment. “Adult oriented exhibitions featuring male or female impersonators who provide displays and entertainment appealing to s**ual interest, shall...

Oliver Anthony wasn't angry after learning his song "Rich Men North of Richmond" was used at the first GOP debate this week. He thought the irony was hilarious. "Cause it’s like, I wrote that song about those people, you know?” he says, laughing during his, "It's a pleasure to meet you — Part 2" video on YouTube (below). “So, for them to have to sit here and listen to that, that cracks me up.” At the debate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was asked why he thought "Rich Men of North Richmond" resonated so deeply, so quickly. His response quickly turned...

MSNBC opinion editor Zeeshan Aleem recently condemned "Top Gun: Maverick" as the "most insidious movie" at the Oscars" because it shows the U.S. military as a "beacon of virtue." Aleem trashed the "Best picture" nominee in a Saturday morning column for painting America’s military in a positive light, lamenting that the "literal propaganda," as he described it, is "poised to become canonized as a highly decorated film." The Academy Awards are on Sunday. The action flick, which almost single-handedly recharged the dwindling film industry after the stagnation caused by COVID-19 lockdowns, has been nominated for six Oscars, including "Best Picture."

A critical race theorist and professor demanded that Black people should get special bereavement leave and counseling services in order to deal with issues relating to systemic racism. Angel Jones is a visiting professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville whose work is grounded in critical race theory and critical race feminism. CRT is an ideology and lens that holds America's institutions are systemically racist and views individuals in an oppressor vs. oppressed narrative. Critical race theory postulates that policies that privilege oppressed people should be implemented in order to achieve equity and make up for historical wrongs.

Country music icon Brad Paisley released a new song Friday morning that compares the humanity of those in America with those fighting for their lives in Ukraine. It also features Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In the song, titled "Same Here," Paisley compares the hopes, dreams, and fears of people living in both countries, because to him "there’s just no differences." He also highlights that people in the U.S. and Ukraine alike watch the sunset, attend weddings, and worry about their families.

A number of Americans have been caught with firearms at Cancun International Airport over the last year, but the most recent case involves a well-known American NASCAR driver. Kyle Busch, a champion race car driver, was caught with a .38 caliber handgun and hollow tip ammunition in his luggage at Cancun Airport. He was quickly arrested following the discovery.

What is called Black History Month might more accurately be called “the sins of white people” month. The “sins” of any branch of the human race are virtually inexhaustible, but the history of blacks in America includes a lot more than the sins of white people, which are put front and center each February. Obviously, there is current political mileage to be gotten from historic grievances. At a minimum, politicians and activists get the media attention that is the lifeblood of their careers. Then there are racial quotas, money for special minority programs and hopes for reparations for slavery. If...

New York, N.Y., January 27, 2023 – Allegations have recently been made related to gain of function and directed evolution research at Pfizer and the company would like to set the record straight. In the ongoing development of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer has not conducted gain of function or directed evolution research. Working with collaborators, we have conducted research where the original SARS-CoV-2 virus has been used to express the spike protein from new variants of concern. This work is undertaken once a new variant of concern has been identified by public health authorities. This research provides a way...

The Tuesday, Jan. 24, regular meeting of the Bellefontaine City Council again featured a large, standing-room-only contingent of residents and advocates with strong feelings about a drag queen’s participation in the downtown Christmas parade. This time, however, it was the participants and allies that had their say. Over a dozen speakers — 17 by the council’s count — addressed city council during the meeting with arguments ranging from religious to Consititutional for why the city’s elected leaders should not take any actions to prohibit drag queens or any other LGBTQ+ participation in community gatherings, parades or celebrations. Several of the...

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - A Cincinnati woman impersonated her own mother for nearly half a century in a successful effort to steal nearly half a million dollars from the federal government, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Irene Ferrin, who is now 76, impersonated her dead mother on several occasions and once lied to a U.S. Bankruptcy Court to help hide her scheme, according Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Landry. Ferrin pleaded guilty on Aug. 11, 2022. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Cole on Thursday sentenced 76-year-old Irene Ferrin to five years of probation including one year of home detention....

In the wake of school violence around the country, Benjamin Logan Schools is examining measures to increase school security, including an option allowed under the recently enacted House Bill 99 that enables boards of educations to choose to have an armed presence in school buildings if certain procedures and requirements are met. Board members tabled at their regular rescheduled Thursday evening meeting a resolution to consider a volunteer response team in the district. Instead, the board has called a special meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday,July 6, at the Benjamin Logan High School auditorium, inviting district residents to attend and provide...

County man charged with ethnic intimidation A county man was arrested following a domestic dispute with his wife at their 4000 Alpine Parkway, Zanesfield residence Monday night around six o'clock. The Logan County Sheriff's Office reports that Jimmy Bayes Jr., 33, struck his wife multiple times and threatened to kill her. The victim said that Bayes had been drinking whiskey throughout the day. An argument ensued when she came home from work. Bayes confronted her for “being white.” He added that he hates white people. Bayes struck his wife in the head, face, arms, and torso. He also broke a...

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Nine non-African American Cleveland police officers accused the police department of racial discrimination in the aftermath of the deadly Nov. 29, 2012 chase in a federal lawsuit filed late Friday. The officers - eight white officers and one Hispanic - claim the department has a history of treating non-black officers who shoot black residents "more harshly" than black officers involved in shootings, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio Friday. The suit was filed on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the deadly chase, when 13 officers fired 137 shots...

AKRON, Ohio — An Akron police officer shot a man threatening to kill a woman while holding two knives to her throat. Earion R. Feaster, 31, of Akron, faces charges of felonious assault, abduction and domestic violence in Akron Municipal Court. He is booked into the Summit County Jail. The officer, a 7-year police veteran, is on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, which is the department's policy for an officer-involved shooting. Akron police were called about 10 p.m. to the home in the 200 block of East North Street for a report of a domestic dispute. Dispatchers...

A local woman who repeatedly stole flowers from a serviceman’s grave near West Liberty was arrested at her residence Tuesday morning around eleven o'clock. The Logan County Sheriff's Office reports that Anita Clem, 55, of 2531 State Route 287, West Liberty, removed flowers from Ben Modie's grave at Mac-O-Chee Cemetery on County Road 164. Deputies began investigating the thefts in July after receiving a complaint from Ben's dad, Paul Modie, 58, of rural West Liberty. Modie reported six separate thefts from the gravesite between July and October. Clem was charged with six misdemeanor counts of theft and lodged in the...

MARYSVILLE, Ohio - A Marysville resident says she is upset a local golf course that is visible from state Route 38 hosted a golf tournament where there were topless women present. On Friday afternoon, Jamele Wenger says she was driving on S.R. 38, near the Marysville Golf Club, with her 13-year-old son in the vehicle when he noticed a topless woman hanging off of a golf cart. According to the course management, Vanity, which advertises itself as a gentleman's club, had rented out the course for the afternoon for its second annual golf outing. "All you could see was her...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- One of Ohio's most conservative Congress members teamed up with one of its most liberal representatives to oppose U.S. government funding of rebels in Syria who are fighting the ISIS terrorist group. But Rep. Marcia Fudge, a Democrat from Warrrensville Heights and Champaign County GOP Rep. Jim Jordan offered divergent reasons for voting against the proposal that passed the House of Representatives, 273-156. In a statement that described the vote as a "tough decision," Fudge said she "agrees with a majority of Americans who support airstrikes against ISIS." "I support President Obama's decision to continue airstrikes as...

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- "Caucasians fever Be a believer In the Cleveland Caucasians..." You'd be hard-pressed finding fans of Chief Wahoo singing this version of the Cleveland Indians fight song. But it's been a winning pitch for Cleveland T-shirt designer Brian Kirby. You could say it's the All-Star, Rookie of the Year and MVP of sports T-shirts. The logo lampoons Chief Wahoo -- adding blonde hair and a dollar sign for the feather and substituting "Caucasians" for Indians. And it's caught on – big, out of the blue. Kirby sold $20,000 of the shirts during one recent 24-hour period – so...