Free Republic

Vermont’s Republican governor has allowed the state to become the first to require oil companies to pay for “costs associated with climate change” without his signature, pushing the law through despite his hesitation about the policy. S.259, passed by Gov. Phil Scott (R) on Thursday, will establish a method to assess the responsibility for greenhouse gas-related costs of any entity that was engaged in extracting fossil fuel or refining crude oil between December 31, 2019, and January 1, 2000.

FIRST ON FOX – Boston Mayor Michelle Wu advocated a soft-on-crime agenda by pushing to abolish the gang registry and arguing that criminal behavior – such as theft – should not be prosecuted. Prior to being elected mayor, Wu filled out the "2021 Boston Mayoral Candidate Questionnaire" from Progressive Massachusetts, a 501c4 nonprofit organization that tracks and ranks how progressive elected officials are. According to its website, the group "intends to transform Massachusetts into a bold laboratory for progressive state initiatives." In the document, Wu outlined her most progressive commitments, including her support for noncitizens voting in Boston's local elections.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Shoppers at some Bay Area Safeway stores will no longer have the option to use self-checkout kiosks. The grocery chain confirmed to KTVU that it's getting rid of the self-checkout machines at several stores, although they wouldn't specify which ones. Safeway officials said they're removing the kiosks because of problems with theft – too many customers steal items when they go through the self-checkout. "Operational changes have been made at select stores throughout the Bay Area given the increasing amount of theft," according to Safeway's statement. "Self-checkout kiosks have been removed at a few stores. Like other...

The state of California incorrectly claimed millions of dollars in federal Medicaid funding for health services that were provided to illegal immigrants, according to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General . The OIG released an audit last month that alleged the California Medicaid program didn't use proper methodology to evaluate reimbursements for resources given to noncitizens who aren't eligible to be fully covered by Medicaid. "States are generally prohibited from claiming Federal reimbursement for Medicaid services, other than treatment of an emergency medical condition, provided to certain noncitizens with unsatisfactory immigration status (UIS)," the office...

CLINTON, N.C. (WNCN) — A fire station in North Carolina was left nearly unable to operate after a group of four people broke in and hauled off with crucial equipment. According to the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office, one of those four suspects has been identified and charged since the May 14 break-in and theft took place in Clinton. Deputies responded to the Piney Grove Fire Department where they discovered a “substantial loss in equipment.” The sheriff’s office said the gear taken from the station is valued at more than $100,000. After the theft, the department had to place one engine...

<p>The former top prosecutor in Baltimore, convicted of fraud for lying about financial hardship during the pandemic in order to buy a beach house with money from the federal government, will serve no prison time.</p><p>Marilyn Mosby, 44, was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest, 100 hours of community service and three years of supervised release Thursday, Erek Barron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland announced.</p>

Where literally every item in the store is behind glass, tied town, tagged, or has a "card" to take to get the actual item...except woke books.

Most of the aid being delivered to Gaza via the new “floating pier” constructed by the U.S. military is being stolen, according to reports. The pier, announced by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address, was completed last week, and the Pentagon said Tuesday that 569 metric tons of aid had been brought ashore thus far. However, the Pentagon is unable to say how much, if any, of that aid has actually reached the organizations that are supposed to distribute it, as reports have emerged of Palestinians simply seizing aid from the back of delivery trucks.

I admittedly have not followed much of the ongoing show trial of former President Donald Trump in New York City for supposedly paying hush money to former adult film performer Stormy Daniels precisely because it's a show trial. If I want to see a serious analysis of fiction, I just read TV Tropes. Still, it does make me happy knowing the "star witness" Michael Cohen, Trump's former "fixer," just keeps digging the prosecution's grave further and further down till they hit bedrock and probably resurface in China. As our indispensable Matt Margolis wrote earlier today, Cohen's latest entry of his...

Well, it's toilet-flushing time, with the Trump trial resuming, this time with Michael Cohen on the stand again crossed examined by the defense. Taken in line with the trial's biased judge, its corrupt district attorney, its beyond-trashy witness Stormy Daniels, Cohen managed to top them all in sheer disgustingness, openly admitting in court that he stole $30,000 from his employer like it was a good thing. According to the Associated Press: Cohen was the last witness — at least for now — for prosecutors, who are trying to prove that Trump sought to bury unflattering stories about himself and then...

The city of Oakland recently removed traffic lights from one busy intersection and replaced them with stop signs after the electrical boxes that controlled the traffic lights were repeatedly tampered with and copper from them was stolen. Local residents and those who own businesses in the area say the issue with the traffic lights stems from the nearby homeless encampment, which has grown over the years. The owner of a vehicle repair shop on the corner of the intersection, Tam Le, said the city is signaling that it is 'giving up on us,' by installing the stop signs. It is...

There are 13,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza. We already know, thanks to the relentless investigations conducted by Hillel Neuer of UN Watch, that some of those UNRWA members joined Hamas operatives on October 7, taking part in the atrocities inflicted that day, joining in the fun of rape, torture, and murder of Israeli men, women, and children. Other UNRWA members in Gaza have subsequently expressed support for Hamas’ actions. UNRWA schools still use textbooks full of antisemitic passages. UNRWA’s European and American donors have repeatedly demanded that such material be excised from the schoolbooks; UNRWA solemnly promises that it will...

Oakland has removed the traffic lights from one intersection and replaced them with 4-way stop signs due to people stealing copper and then tampering with an electrical box. It's a sight that has made drivers do a double take: a stop sign hanging overhead where a traffic light would normally be, located above the intersection of E. 12th Street and 16th Avenue in Oakland. Neighbors said city workers removed the all the traffic lights in the last week and replaced them with four-way stop signs. The installation came after months of people stealing copper wires and tampering with the city...

New York City is losing drugstores as retail theft continues to surge. Gotham has logged 21,578 shoplifting complaints this year through May 12, up 5% from the 20,552 thefts during the same period last year. Manhattan has seen 8,896 incidents of retail theft alone. Crime is so rampant, national chains like Target, CVS and Walgreens are closing locations and tempering expansion plans. Target announced at the end of last year the closure of nine stores across four states, including one in Harlem, due to theft.

Video is 8:36 in length Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services. He is also the Wayne & Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History, Hillsdale College, where he teaches each fall semester courses in military history and classical culture. Victor discusses current political and social events and ideas, and current and past cultural trends.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (WATE) — A scheme designed to let foreigners do information technology work as if they were actually in the United States has been unraveled by federal investigators. The investigation claimed that Jefferson City was home to one of several “laptop farms” that helped make the scheme possible.According to court documents, the schemes involved defrauding over 300 U.S. companies using U.S. payment platforms, online job site accounts and proxy computers located in the United States. The Justice Department shared that two people have been arrested and search warrants were executed in Jefferson City, Washington, D.C. and other jurisdictions.Federal...

California should have known better than to compel a transition to electric vehicles while encouraging rampant drug use and crime, because everyone knows that copper wire is a go-to for addicts and thieves. From a report by John Nolte at Breitbart News:‘Thieves are targeting high-powered Tesla and other EV charging stations and stealing the heavy cable for the copper metal inside,’ reports San Francisco’s NBC affiliate. ‘In Vallejo, someone cut cables from nine charging stations — leaving Tesla drivers in a bind and causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage and repair costs.’‘I think this is the second time...

3:07 If Democrat-run California wants to force residents into electric vehicles (EVs), Democrat-run California had better start cracking down on crime. Talk about the law of unintended consequences… “Thieves are targeting high-powered Tesla and other EV charging stations and stealing the heavy cable for the copper metal inside,” reports San Francisco’s NBC affiliate. “In Vallejo, someone cut cables from nine charging stations — leaving Tesla drivers in a bind and causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage and repair costs.” “I think this is the second time or third that these have been cut,” a local EV driver added....

Footage shows the moment a not-so-dynamic duo were caught stealing a cash register from a Seattle pharmacy - seconds after walking through its doors. The unnamed male and female suspect were promptly arrested, cops said on Wednesday - releasing the almost unbelievable clip in the process. The video shows a team from the Seattle Police Department approaching the Walgreens the pair had just looted - before coming face-to-face with the 20-year-old female, cash register in tow. 'Woah! Woah! Hey!' one of the officers says, as the woman stops in her tracks. Her 40-year-old accomplice, meanwhile, stands still, similarly dumbfounded. 'Put...

San Francisco residents fed up with rampant crime in California stepped up when a man allegedly tried to steal an expensive laptop from a woman at a small cafe. The incident unfolded on Saturday afternoon at Sana'a Cafe near the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on New Montgomery Street. Witnesses said the man walked into the cafe, immediately grabbed a woman's Apple MacBook laptop and tried to run away. Video showed one man tackle him and others jump in to help him. 'Most people want to do the right thing.' The man who first tackled the would-be thief was...