Free Republic

Florida Republican Party Chair Christian Ziegler is the subject of a police investigation that reportedly involves an allegation of sexual battery. The big picture: Nonprofit watchdog news site Florida Trident, citing sources close to the investigation, first reported that a woman alleged she was in a "longstanding consensual" sexual relationship with Ziegler and his wife, Bridget, before being "sexually battered" by Ziegler at her home, without his wife present. .... * Christian Ziegler took over as state GOP chairman in February after serving as a Sarasota County commissioner and years of conservative activism. * The governor appointed Bridget Ziegler to...

The Trump administration has finalized a roll back of Obama-era regulations for oil trains. The rules, which date back to 2015, required railroads carrying crude oil or other flammable liquids to outfit their trains with more responsive electronic braking systems. The rules came in response to concerns about explosions and spills from mile-long trains of crude and ethanol. In the Northwest, those trains move along the Columbia River and through cities to coastal refineries. The U.S. Department of Transportation, which has been working on rescinding the rules since last December, said in statement this week that its analysis showed the...

Egg prices rose to record highs in December. A dozen large Grade A eggs had more than doubled in price during 2022, on average. A historic outbreak of bird flu in the U.S. disrupted egg production and supply, economists said. Wholesale egg prices have fallen by more than 50% since December, according to Urner Barry data. Retail egg prices may soon follow, but it’s not a sure thing.

A cousin of a sanctioned Russian oligarch has deep ties to disgraced Long Island Rep. George Santos, whose murky campaign financing is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee and federal prosecutors. Andrew Intrater, 60, gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to a company linked to the sketchy Republican congressman while also heavily contributing to Santos’ campaigns for office, according to a new report. Intrater and his wife each made a maximum contribution of $5,800 to Santos’ 2022 House campaign, the Washington Post reported Monday. The couple also gave tens of thousands of additional dollars to committees linked to the...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A proposal making its way through the state legislature would establish a common-law marriage between “one man” and “one woman.” Opponents of the bill (HB 233) say it would eliminate an age requirement, and in some instances, open the door for a coverup of child sex abuse.

Only a few a dozen NYPD members were placed on unpaid leave Monday after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine — but thousands of unvaccinated employees remain on the job with pending exemption requests, the city’s top cop said. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said 34 cops and 40 civilian members of the force — which account for fewer than .15 percent of NYPD employees — did not comply with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s mandate requiring most city workers to get their first jab by Monday.

"Let’s be crystal clear about this issue. And media, I want you to start reporting the facts," Ivey said. "The new cases of COVID are because of unvaccinated folks." "Almost 100% of the new hospitalizations are with unvaccinated folks. And the deaths are certainly occurring with the unvaccinated folks. These folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain," she continued. "Folks are supposed to have common sense. But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the vaccinated folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down. I’ve done all I know how to do. I can...

New photos have emerged which for the first time show convicted Nazi guard John Demjanjuk at the Sobibor death camp, a Berlin archive confirmed Monday, although he always denied ever being there. Ukrainian-American Demjanjuk was convicted of being an accessory to the murder of nearly 30,000 Jews at Sobibor by a German court in 2011. He died while his appeal was pending. According to the Berlin-based Topography of Terror archive, photos of Demjanjuk are among a newly discovered collection of more than 350 snaps which give "detailed insight" into the camp in German-occupied Poland. The photos surfaced from the estate...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales fell for the first time in seven months in September, suggesting that manufacturing-led weakness could be spreading to the broader economy, keeping the door open for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates again later this month.

The NSA has asked its close security allies to prohibit the use of Huawei equipment in their 5G telecom networks. In a telling twist of fate, recently Vodafone revealed it found backdoors in Huawei equipment in Italy in 2011, now supposedly remediated. The U.K., a member of Five Eyes security alliance for sharing intelligence, has also said it would allow Huawei in some parts of its network. These are worrying developments. It is worth examining the risks the U.S. is worried about in simple, non-technical terms.

UNDISCLOSED, Lebanon — The Army recruiter thought the well-dressed young man was lying. After all, the yarn this man spun, after walking into the recruiting office in Baltimore, sounded like pure nonsense. All kinds of honors at Swarthmore College. Top of his class at Columbia Medical School, and now into his fourth year of the elite, seven-year residency program at Johns Hopkins in neurosurgery. He claimed to speak both English and Korean fluently. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/a-warrior-class-of-their-own Yeah, sure. This young man wanted to be a Green Beret? An enlisted man in the U.S. Army? Bringing home a base pay of $32,000 a...

July 17 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he misspoke during a news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he said he didn't "see any reason why" Russia would interfere in the 2016 U.S. election. Speaking to reporters from the White House, Trump said he was surprised at the reaction he received over his public remarks with Putin on Monday. "I have to say, I came back and I said ... 'what's the big deal?'" he said. Trump said he reviewed the transcript and clips from the news conference and said he made a mistake when he...

President Donald Trump is reportedly open to raising the federal tax on gasoline and diesel by 25 cents to pay for the White House's infrastructure plan. The current taxes, which have not been raised in nearly 25 years, are 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel. At least some Republican lawmakers and many conservative groups are opposed to hiking the federal fuel levy.

Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks is expected to resign from Congress, a source with knowledge told Roll Call. The 8th District congressman did not confirm or deny any plans to resign. He said he expected to make a statement Thursday. “We will have a statement a little bit later, but that’s all I can tell you right now,” Franks told Roll Call. “The statement will explain.”

(full article at link) The Generation X and Millennial cohorts are well known for our supposedly singular worldview: individualistic, self-reliant, and we want things (on our own terms) both personally and professionally. Wait, that sounds suspiciously like the ethos of a major political party. Most of these voters agree with Republicans on economic, fiscal and tax issues, at least insofar as we object to the routine generational theft inflicted on us by the baby boomers who now run Washington. However, they’re quite apart from the GOP on almost everything else. It’s not that there aren’t plenty of voters under 45...

(summary deck only) Silver futures contracts fall $3.19, or 7.5%, to $39.38 an ounce, their third consecutive decrease since hitting a record $48.58 on Friday. Most other commodities also retreat.

Just thought you would like to see a project. Merle Hazard is a friend of mine, and he got the great Arthur Laffer to help him with this video. Merle and I hope you enjoy it. It was picked as Runner-Up for song of the year in the Economist.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Dow Jones industrial average swept past 14,000 for the first time Tuesday following a relatively mild inflation report and a wave of generally upbeat earnings reports. The stock market's best-known indicator crossed 14,000 in the first half-hour of trading, rising to 14,002.60 and having taken just 57 trading days to make the trip from 13,000. Stocks have risen fairly steadily since the spring amid a continuum of buyout news and evidence that despite higher fuel prices and the ongoing problems in the housing market and mortgage lending industry, consumers are spending and companies remain optimistic...

Is the AMT really the realization of the Flat Tax? Is it therefore actually more fair and democratic than the regular tax code? I wonder where my fellow Freepers stand on the issue of repealing, fixing or leaving in place, the AMT, which increasingly is going to become the main tax system in the country for people who actually pay taxes. On the one hand, it results in a higher amount of taxes paid, on the other hand, it seems like a fair, flat tax that a few years ago some conservatives claimed to like. I have my opinion, but...

I came home from work yesterday and there was a Harold Ford for U.S. Senate sign in my yard. Checked with the wife and she had not given anyone permission, nor had the sprogs. What would you do? Other than ripping out the sign which I did pronto. I find this to be just unbelieveably sleazy, but I guess that should be no surprise from this dirty family and their dirty dirty campaign staff.