Free Republic

The governing body that oversees high-school athletics in Florida could soon approve a proposal that would lead to high-school athletes getting paid through business agreements such as endorsement deals. The Florida High School Athletic Association held a discussion Tuesday about a potential change to the organization’s bylaws that would allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness under what is commonly known as an NIL policy. The 13-member board, which includes eight members appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in August, is slated to vote on the proposal during a June 4 meeting. “Student-athletes and their parents/guardians will be...

Mothers, law-enforcement officers and veterans are among people included in a new $5 million statewide ad campaign aimed at boosting support for a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow recreational use of marijuana in Florida, supporters of the measure announced Tuesday. Four ads will run on broadcast, cable, streaming, radio and digital platforms, according to the Smart & Safe Florida political committee, which has led efforts to pass what will appear as Amendment 3 on the November ballot. The ads say, in part, that regulated recreational marijuana is a better alternative to cannabis products sold on the black market.

Lavrentiy Beria, the most ruthless and longest-serving secret police chief in Joseph Stalin’s reign of terror in Russia and Eastern Europe, bragged that he could prove criminal conduct on anyone, even the innocent. “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime” was Beria’s infamous boast. He served as deputy premier from 1941 until Stalin’s death in 1953, supervising the expansion of the gulags and other secret detention facilities for political prisoners. He became part of a post-Stalin, short-lived ruling troika until he was executed for treason after Nikita Khrushchev’s coup d’etat in 1953. Beria targeted “the man” first,...

Former President Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden by twice his margin of victory in the Lone Star State four years ago in the contest for Texas’ 40 electoral votes, according to a new poll. A Marist College survey released on Tuesday shows Republican Sen. Ted Cruz leading Democratic opponent Rep. Colin Allred by six points in a crucial Senate contest as the GOP looks to recapture the majority in the chamber in November’s elections. In 2020, Trump defeated Biden in Texas by about 5.5 points, the narrowest victory margin for a Republican presidential candidate in a deeply red state...

My comments below pertain to the war in the Ukraine and an article I just posted to Free Republic:What Is in the Ukraine Aid Package, and What Does it Mean for the Future of the War? csis.org ^ | May 1, 2024 | Mark F. Cancian and Chris H. Park Posted on 5/14/2024, 6:25:05 PM by ransomnoteMY COMMENTS on the csis.org article:In my opinion, the whole article is worth reading. I think that the flag waving cretins in Congress were putting on a show to imply they are helping the Ukraine far more than they actually are. Biden and his...

Women Goes Viral For Saying NO MEANS YES, ROASTED For WIHSING Dude Made MOVE Despite Her REFUSING

Excerpts:After months of intense congressional debate, Congress passed and the president signed into law a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine. The legislation gives the president nearly everything he wanted, which is surprising given the drama in the Republican House caucus. The new legislation brings the total U.S. commitment to $175 billion since the beginning of the invasion. It will produce an immediate surge in deliveries of military equipment, which had fallen to about 10 percent of what they had been last year. Because of the delay, another funding package will not be needed until January. That pushes it past...

Activists suggest that all “colonized” land should be returned to the previous owners. Is it really that simple? Michael Knowles has thoughts.

The May and June US copper contracts both touched $5 per pound today, a record high for the metal. The story is well-known and something I've been writing about for years: There has been minimal investment in new supply and the green transition is incredibly copper-intensive. The latest leg is also benefiting from current and future demand for data centers and electricity in general. In addition, China's economy is improving and it's responsible for about 50% of global copper demand. The picture remains impressive. Goldman Sachs last month said copper is in "the foothills of what will be its Everest"...

New York Congressman Dan Goldman, a staunch Democrat and ally of Joe Biden, has openly admitted to multiple preparatory meetings with Michael Cohen, the controversial former attorney for President Donald Trump, ahead of his testimony in the sham Biden/Bragg trial.During an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Rep. Goldman made the candid admission that he met with Michael Cohen a number of times to prepare him.“I have deposed Michael Cohen. I have met with him a number of times to prepare him,” Goldman said.Goldman, an attorney, previously served as lead counsel in the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump and...

The tallest building in Fort Worth has a commanding position in the city’s skyline, but the 1M SF building only commanded a price of about $12 per square foot at a foreclosure auction. The price per square foot amounted to less than 10% of the previous sale price for Burnett Plaza, which at 40 stories towers over the other buildings in Fort Worth. The winning bidder was one of Burnett Plaza’s lenders: Pinnacle Bank Texas bought back the building at this month’s auction with a bid of $12.3M, according to a report in the Dallas Business Journal. The previous owner,...

A court in Germany has approved the intelligence monitoring of the Alternative for Germany (AFD) political party on the grounds that it poses a “threat to democracy.”As the party’s popularity continues to rise as Germans rise up against the globalist regime that rules them, particulary over the issue of mass immigration, the government has now found an excuse to monitor them by classifying them as an extremist organization. (snip) Meanwhile, Chancellor Olaf Scholz celebrated the ruling, saying it proves that Germany has a “resilient democracy” and that the state protects it “against threats from within.”

Ever since returning to the Chicago area after living for almost a decade in Switzerland, my nice suburban neighbors have scrutinized my parenting. The biggest shock to the community was when I decided that my 7-year-old daughter was responsible enough to walk five blocks to school alone. "You know, we'd be happy to drive her in the morning," said one neighbor. I've discovered that these parents are all lovely people and well-meaning, but they are also part of something my husband and I still — even after being "home" for a decade — can't bring ourselves to join: the school...

Yo Snopes, I need a fact check. We've got an election denier over here!! We can't let this misinformation be shared - it's a threat to democracy! For some reason, the 84-year-old Pelosi thought it would be a good idea to debate Winston Marshall, the former banjo player for Mumford & Sons, on the subject of elites who are disconnected from reality, and to do so at the historic Oxford Union. Real Clear Politics has the full transcript and the video. Marshall's case? "Populism is not a threat to democracy. Populism is democracy." Meanwhile, here was Pelosi telling us that...

Controversy is flaring over this year’s Pittsburgh Pride festival after event organizers claimed that state officials prevented them from holding the annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community at Point State Park in the Golden Triangle. The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which runs the park, countered that there were problems with the group’s permit application. Pittsburgh Pride had announced in January intentions to host the annual celebration at Point State Park. On Tuesday evening, however, organizers wrote on social media that they were forced to change plans “in response to unforeseen circumstances.”

The Vice President used profanity during a speech at the at the annual Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies Legislative Leadership summit.

[H/T Numberonepal]An official new study published in Neurochemical Research has found that lab rats who were given the Pfizer COVID vaccine developed ‘autism-like’ traits.According to the study, pregnant rats given the mRNA jab led to the male pups born after vaccination displaying signs of full-blown autism.The scientists set out to evaluate the effects of COVID vaccination on rats during pregnancy to see the effect on the offspring. What they discovered was alarming: Igor’s Newsletter reports: To their dismay, scientists indeed found profound disturbances in the neurodevelopment of pups born to rat mothers vaccinated during gestation:Compared to the control group of...

Arthur Engoron, the judge who oversaw former President Donald Trump’s monumental civil fraud trial, may be in hot water himself after speaking to an attorney about the case before his ruling without following established rules for the court. The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct is investigating an alleged interaction between a New York real estate lawyer and the judge who issued a $454 million judgment against Trump, according to NBC New York. The outlet reported that real estate lawyer Adam Leitman Bailey acknowledged having a conversation with Judge Arthur Engoron a few weeks before the judge was set...

CNN's Zakaria, in a moment of rare honesty: "I doubt the NY indictment would have been brought against the defendant whose name was not Donald Trump".

A proposed bill in the New York Senate is a gun control law being presented under the guise of an environmental law, warns the Schuyler County Clerk.According to County Clerk Theresa Philbin, “the Sporting Range Good Neighbor Act,” currently pending in the New York State Senate, would place heavy restrictions on shooting ranges, due to proximity to wetlands and open water sources, potentially forcing existing ranges to close.That, in turn, would prevent people from getting pistol permits. It would also mean local school shooting leagues would have no place to practice.At Philbin’s request, on Monday the Schuyler County Legislature will...