Free Republic

Renee Aland said she thought the lizard was an alligator when she first saw it.. A massive, 5-foot-long lizard, presumed to be an Asian water monitor, was seen scurrying around a busy road in western Florida recently. "He’s huge," Renee Aland can be heard saying in video she posted on social media of the lizard. "He’s just strutting across the road. He’s heading to the other side of the road." When her daughter, Zoey Marzonie, asked if she should get closer to the lizard, her mother quickly answered, "Nope, just stay in the car." ... she called the Florida Fish...

During the pandemic, the American people started to feel that Big Government was very cozy with Big Pharma. Now we know just how close they were. New data from the National Institutes of Health reveals the agency and its scientists collected $710 million in royalties during the pandemic, from late 2021 through 2023. These are payments made by private companies, like pharmaceuticals, to license medical innovations from government scientists. Almost all that cash — $690 million — went to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), the subagency led by Dr. Anthony Fauci, and 260 of its scientists....

There were 5,800 mail carriers attacked by dogs last year — about 500 more hair-raising incidents than in 2022, according to the latest rankings from the United States Postal Service. “Letter carriers are exposed to potential hazards every day, none more prevalent than a canine encounter,” said Leeann Theriault, USPS manager of employee safety and health awareness. “All it takes is one interaction for a letter carrier to possibly suffer an injury.” ... New York ranked 6th in most dog attacks on mail carriers ... As in 2022, California topped the list of states with the most dog bites. ....

Colorado Democrats are once again running bogus ads to promote the Republican candidate they believe is least likely to win in a general election against their progressive candidate. This time it’s the 3rd Congressional District race and the GOP candidate that Democrat candidates are supporting is Ron Hanks. The TV ad and mailers deliver backhanded insults that really aims to suggest Hanks has been endorsed by Donald Trump (he has not), and claims Hanks is just too gosh darn Republican to represent the conservative district. One of the problems Hanks is already contending with, he doesn’t actually live in the...

George Washington University class-action settlement for COVID shutdown approved with more money for students, less for lawyers. Mere "overlap between a religious and political view" doesn't negate Title VII’s religious protections, 8th Circuit says.. If COVID-19 litigation were like the virus itself, George Washington University cleared its infection with a pricey therapeutic, the Mayo Clinic's infection rebounded, and Rutgers University faces an unusually virulent strain that could spread far and wide. A federal judge gave final approval to the $5.4 million class-action settlement submitted by GWU students and the private university blocks from the White House, in a tuition-refund lawsuit...

Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale reportedly told her therapist that she was fantasizing about killing her family and committing a school shooting, according to a report by 99.7 WTN radio host Brian Wilson. The therapist reportedly did not report these findings to authorities. 99.7 WTN host Brian Wilson: The ongoing investigation apparently focuses on the shooter’s therapist. Metro Nashville Police Department is remaining silent on this, but sources familiar with the investigation confirm that search warrants were run on the home and office of the therapist in an effort to obtain notes of the therapy sessions with the Covenant...

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”—Thomas Jefferson If America’s schools are to impart principles of freedom and democracy to future generations, they must start by respecting the constitutional rights of their students Take the case of Lucas Hudson. With all the negative press being written about today’s young people, it’s refreshing to meet a young person who not only knows his rights but is prepared to stand up for them. Lucas is a smart kid, a valedictorian of his graduating class at the...

The ‘iDIVERSE’ program bars white and Asian researchers from applying.. The University of California, Los Angeles, medical school was hit last week with whistleblower allegations that its admissions office has for years discriminated on the basis of race, in violation of California law, by holding black and Latino applicants to lower standards than their white and Asian counterparts. The allegations triggered an email message from the dean of the medical school, Steven Dubinett, who denied the claims and said that students and faculty "are held to the highest standards of academic excellence." He subsequently told an obscure Los Angeles Times...

During an arraignment hearing on Friday, the illegal immigrant from Venezuela who is suspected of brutally murdering Augusta University nursing student Laken Riley entered a not guilty plea. NEW: Laken Riley's mother breaks down in court as illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra pleads not guilty during arraignment. Riley's mother Allyson Phillips was seen sobbing in the background. The Venezuelan illegal immigrant is accused of inflicting blunt-force trauma to Riley's… — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 31, 2024 Following the murder of Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered while out on a run along dirt trails on the University of Georgia...

There has arisen in America a generation which never heard of a lowly enlisted combat medic in the US Army who defied Bill Clinton and his entire chain of command, refusing to serve on a United Nations deployment wearing a blue helmet under the command of a general officer from a foreign country. It happened this day, 1995. Ask people over 50 years old, or better yet, 60. MANY of them remember the story - it was front page and nationwide, indeed worldwide news. No good deed unpunished, however, and Army SPC4 Michael New was court-martialed, received a kangaroo trial,...

Legislation signed by Gov. Jared Polis approves the Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority’s first-ever plan to acquire the Stanley Hotel and develop a new film center onsite.. ESTES PARK — Gov. Jared Polis has signed legislation that modifies a grant program for Colorado’s creative industries to allow the Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority to buy the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. Polis signed the legislation Tuesday at the Stanley Hotel. A lengthy amendment to House Bill 1295 — which extends incentives offered under the Colorado Community Revitalization Grant program and was approved by the Colorado House late April...

The American people may finally learn the truth about Joe Biden's heartless campaign to deny the existence of his seventh grandchild this summer when Hunter Biden's former mistress publishes a "tell-all memoir" in the middle of the Democratic convention. The forthcoming book by Lunden Roberts—a former stripper who gave birth to Hunter's daughter, Navy Joan Roberts, in 2019—will offer a "brave and honest" account of her "tumultuous relationship" with the crack-addled first son, including "revelations that could well impact the outcome of the 2024 election," according to a description from Skyhorse Publishing. Out of the Shadows: My Life Inside the...

The left-wing dark money giant Tides Foundation raised more than $33 million on behalf of the national Black Lives Matter group during the George Floyd riots in 2020. Now, Black Lives Matter is suing Tides over its refusal to hand the funds back. There’s just one problem—nearly $9 million of those funds have seemingly disappeared. From 2020 through 2022, Tides transferred $8.7 million from the fund to Black Lives Matter Grassroots, an offshoot of the national Black Lives Matter group led by Melina Abdullah, a longtime activist and professor. But Black Lives Matter Grassroots reported to the IRS that it...

For comparison, the Morrison Police Department issued a total of 1,700 speeding citations in 2023.. MORRISON, Colo. — In its first two weeks, the Town of Morrison's new automated radar camera issued more than 10,000 tickets to speeding drivers, according to Morrison Police Chief Bill Vinelli. The camera is permanently stationed at Bear Creek Avenue and Mount Vernon Avenue. With a posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour along Bear Creek Avenue, the eastbound camera automatically captures the license plate of drivers going 35 mph or more.. ... Tickets are then mailed directly to drivers. The camera was installed...

You may have missed the news, but last week an Army colonel – nice to see an Army colonel doing something besides sharing xis pronouns – at Fort Bragg, which communists now call “Fort Liberty,” caught a Chechen illegal alien lurking in his backyard taking pictures of his kids and smoked him like a fatty at a Cypress Hill concert. This colonel might have been from Delta Force, but he is definitely part of the special operations community, and you might well be wondering what some Chechen illegal alien was doing in his backyard. In fact, there were two of...

"It's locked up in an escrow I think. There's about $5.5 million that are locked up in an escrow seized by the Government of Ontario. They have a seizure order on it, as well as a forfeiture order on it.".. Freedom Convoy protestor Tamara Lich, who has attracted continued media attention for being part of what she calls “the longest mischief trial in history” along with friend Chris Barber, revealed in a recent interview that the Ontario government is still withholding funds sent by supporters of the 2022 protest to Give Send Go. Lich and Barber are charged with mischief,...

Lexi Thompson’s history with the U.S. Women’s Open began as a prodigious 12-year-old when she became the youngest to ever compete in the championship in 2007. Though she’s never won this event, it seems fitting that she makes a big life announcement at this event. In the lead-up to the 79th U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club, Thompson announced her retirement on the USGA’s website. The 29-year-old plans to play out the rest of the 2024 season. Thompson, who has battled a hand injury for some time, has won 11 times on the LPGA, including the 2014 Chevron Championship,...

Chances are, if you’ve been keeping tabs on the COVID “coverup,: you’ve come across this story that began to unfold in 2022. There was a sudden spike in SIDS cases in Ottawa, Canada, where nine babies died shortly after their mothers received the vaccine. One detective, named Helen Grus, took it upon herself to investigate these incidents. Yet, simply for doing her job and delving into the vaccine’s possible role, she found herself suspended and vilified. The Ottawa police settled with one of the families who felt their privacy was breached, simply because a detective was determined to get to...

Seattle-bound United Airlines flight taking off from Chicago O'Hare aborted takeoff after engine caught fire.. ... The FAA said it has halted arrivals into the airport. ... the plane was towed to the gate, passengers deplaned normally and no injuries were reported. "We are working to make alternative travel arrangements for customers, ... The ordeal came as the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York issued a ground stop by Air Traffic Control System Command Center.

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has found that pedestrians are twice as likely to be hit by an electric or hybrid car than by a gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicle. The scientists have hypothesized that the relatively quiet operations of an electric vehicle as well as high pedestrian density in noisy urban areas could be major reasons. The study uncovered a pedestrian casualty rate of 5.16 per 100 million miles driven for electric and hybrid vehicles, more than double the 2.4 per 100 million miles recorded for traditional gasoline-powered cars.