Free Republic

New pro sports teams bring more than a rooting interest to American cities — they also sparked a spike in flu deaths, according to a new study. Flu mortality jumped as much as nearly 25% in cities that picked up new sports franchises in baseball, basketball, football or hockey, economists at the West Virginia University found. “It’s important for sports fans to realize that there is some additional risk that they’re taking, now that we’re all acutely aware of airborne virus transmission or respiratory virus transmission…when they decide to go to a sporting event,” Brad Humphreys, a WVU economics professor...

When an “entitled” customer rudely tried to push around a McDonald’s employee, the middle-aged woman gave the insolent punk a verbal beatdown that left him speechless.He filmed the exchange and posted it to TikTok to bash her – but was stunned when nearly all comments took her side!The female McDonald’s employee was highly praised by those who viewed the video confrontation. In a video that has gone viral, one female McDonald’s employee was applauded for refusing to allow one extremely entitled drive-thru customer to push her around. Although the video is only 37 seconds long, it’s very clear why the...

An Oregon gun owner went viral for having his AR-15 rifle and a handgun “destroyed” by police in the wake of the Uvalde school massacre. Ben Beers delivered a passionate speech about changing the nation’s gun laws in a video posted on TikTok before delivering his firearms to a local police station. “I no longer want them,” Ben Beers said in the video clip viewed by almost 200,000 users. “I know this will not change legislation or anything to do with gun culture in America but hopefully it’ll be a form of symbolism and hopefully America can wake up because...

An Alabama man faces federal charges over claims he paid a stranger he met on the Kik messenger app $75 to abduct a former female friend and subject her to 'the most brutal rape imaginable.' Matthias Jacob Edward Mann, 22, was arrested last week in the north Alabama town of Hartselle on charges of attempted kidnapping and attempted coercion. He was busted after a person who he believed was willing to assault the woman turned out to be a police officer working undercover online, according to a sworn statement from an FBI agent. 'Can anyone abduct and rape a b****...

Parents and pediatricians, worried for the health of children due to the COVID-19 Delta variant and the return to school this fall, finally have reason for hope and reassurance on the horizon. It has been reported that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine could be available to children ages 5 to 11 years as soon as the end of October. This would be an especially sweet treat just in time for Halloween for this vulnerable population. [cut] As a parent of a fully vaccinated 14-year-old and an as of now "too young to be vaccinated" 10-year-old, my home sometimes feel like a...

There’s no nice way to say this, but somebody has to: There have been a lot of bad reactions on the right to the Afghanistan calamity.em>(Watch the video for the monologue and an interview with WMAL and The Daily Caller’s Vince Coglianese on the how we can fix our foreign policy.)The war in Afghanistan is finally at its end. It was a catastrophe and a mess — a mess that some of us saw up close, a mess that some of us are still living through in Kabul — and a mess that cost many lives.There’s no nice way to...

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) is reportedly weighing another bid for higher office – this time for Texas governor. That the former Senate candidate and 2020 presidential contender is thinking about launching a challenge to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) was first reported on Monday by The Associated Press. There’s currently no timeline for a decision, and he has only begun to think about it recently, according to the news outlet. If he does end up challenging Abbott, it would mark O’Rourke’s third consecutive election cycle seeking statewide or national elected office

Range typically occupies an outsized chunk of the conversation on any new EV. But, in the case of the F-150 Lightning, which has the bestselling pickup's usual healthy scoop of towing and hauling capabilities, things get more complicated. Ford is claiming that the range figures for its electric pickup will come in at 230 miles and 300 miles, depending on whether the standard-range (which we estimate can hold 115.0 kWh) or extended-range battery pack (150.0 kWh, same caveat) is beneath the bed. Those are EPA predictions, specifically EPA combined figures, in lightly loaded conditions. *** Although the Lightning is aided...

The QAnon believer who stormed the US Capitol building while wearing a fur-covered horned hat will be given organic meals in jail after refusing to eat regular food provided by the lockup. A lawyer for Jake Angeli, 33, who also goes by the name Jacob Chansley or QAnon Shaman, said during his initial court appearance on Monday that he was refusing to eat while behind bars because of his strict organic diet.

Celebrating Thanksgiving by entering someone’s home and spreading a lethal infectious disease is a little too darkly ironic anyway. Take the opportunity to think about what you love most about the day. Focus on how to re-create that, and even build on it. Maybe learn to cook one of the dishes that someone else usually brings to dinner. Think of the people you actually look forward to seeing, and call them. Think of the people you don’t look forward to seeing, and don’t call them. Appreciate that you can’t get cornered by some annoying second cousin; you save money on...

The poor Antifa soy boys had no luck with this one. A young female Trump supporter over the weekend was out with fellow patriots at a conservative protest in Portland. When Antifa went for her flag she just wouldn’t let it go.

I wrote earlier about trying to express my reasons to my dad in a calm and intellectual manner. I actually thought I had been calm and well-reasoned. I thought I might even be making progress. Today I found out he put a Trump sign in his yard. I got pissed. Really pissed. And I sent him and my mom a text message. Hands shaking, tears in eyes. This is what it said: Due to the signs in the yard, the kids and I will not be down. The current occupant of the White House is preaching hate and violence, endangering...

Affidavit: Witnesses provide new details about shooting that wounded 2 during Aurora protest by: Eric Ruble, Kristin HaubrichJul 28, 2020 AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — An arrest affidavit obtained by FOX31 and Channel 2 on Tuesday includes witness accounts recalling the shooting that left two people injured during a protest in Aurora on Saturday. Samuel Young, 23, faces four counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree assault. He’s accused of shooting at a Jeep Wrangler that drove through the protest after demonstrators blocked both directions of Interstate 225 near East Sixth Avenue. Two protesters were wounded in the...

Aurora police arrest person of interest in Elijah McClain protest shooting By: Óscar Contreras Jul 28, 2020 AURORA, Colo. – A person of interest wanted in the shooting of two people during a march calling for justice in the death of Elijah McClain in Aurora last Saturday has been arrested. Samuel Young, 23, was arrested on four counts of attempted homicide, police said in a news release late Monday night. Young reportedly fired a weapon as a Jeep drove into the crowd that was marching on Interstate 225 on Saturday. At least two people were injured as a result of...

An Army officer who played a high-profile role in President Trump’s impeachment proceedings is retiring from the military over alleged “bullying” and “retaliation” by the president, his lawyer said Wednesday. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who served as a national security aide at the White House until earlier this year and was up for promotion to colonel, will leave the military instead, his lawyer, David Pressman, said in a statement. “Through a campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation, the president of the United States attempted to force LTC Vindman to choose: Between adhering to the law or pleasing a President. Between...

Breaking — Andrew Vindman retires from military…“Vindman was told by senior Army officials that he would no longer be deployable in his area of expertise, which includes Ukraine…He was also told by senior officers he would need a “rehabilitative assignment” even if he had opted to attend the National War College.” Breaking: Lt Col Alexander Vindman to retire from military. His lawyer blames White House 'campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation' - CNN exclusive. https://t.co/z2qKMTVYuR— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 8, 2020

Minneapolis’ soy boy of a mayor, Jacob Frey, proves that no matter how much you abase yourself to the mob, you can never be woke enough. In a scene reminiscent of a Maoist struggle session, he stood before two black protest organizers Saturday and confessed through a mask into a microphone that he was “coming to grips with my own brokenness.” But the organizers, standing on a platform above him, weren’t interested in providing therapy for this 38-year-old man-child.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said ongoing violence and looting are being perpetrated by “domestic terror groups” of both left-wing and right-wing political orientations. He took to Twitter on Sunday to share his comments.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — This story will be updated throughout the evening. Hundreds of supporters are in attendance at the Theatre in Grand Prairie for Beto O'Rourke's "Rally Against Fear." The Democratic candidate is hosting the event in response to President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great" rally in Dallas. Doors opened at 6 p.m. for O'Rourke's rally, which was originally scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Find out more information here.

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s spokesman sent a profane tweet to a potential Republican challenger as he ripped him for wanting to debate his boss. “Yo @RichValdes what in the actual f–k makes you think you’re entitled to a debate with AOC,” spokesman Corbin Trent tweeted Sunday at the conservative talk-radio producer who’s mulling a run against the freshmen congresswoman. Earlier that day Valdes said he tried to challenge Ocasio-Cortez to a debate on the merits of capitalism versus socialism as they both marched in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade. Valdes claims the democratic socialist “jetted to the other side...