Free Republic

SPARKS AND STRIPES! Battleship Texas helped celebrate America's 250th birthday on July 3, 2026, with a drone show, fireworks, and multiple 14-inch gun salutes. The Battleship is currently undergoing restoration before moving to her new location across the harbor, where she will have a visitor center and welcome visitors on board.

DUBOIS — It was a scene straight out of a Mad Max movie. Two tanks met like gargantuan beasts on a dusty field of battle tucked behind the National Museum of Military Vehicles on Friday. The tanks were heralded first by the echoing rat-a-tat-tat of artillery over the hills of Dubois, thrilling a crowd of hundreds that gathered to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary by watching these rumbling 42-ton tanks show off. “Our thinking was this doesn’t have to just be solemn,” National Museum of Military Vehicles founder Dan Starks told Cowboy State Daily. “It can also be fun. And what’s...

In another ruling, US Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for a 5-4 majority, declared that "the writers of the Constitution purposely left the election rules flexible, knowing that there might be future instances in which additional votes would need to be found and counted to reverse an undesired outcome from the election day counts. Therefore there is no specified legal time limit on counting the ballots. Caches of ballots that were somehow overlooked within the five business day limit the Court has created, but subsequently found years later can still be counted. As a hypothetical, say a sufficient...

Last night I celebrated the 4th of July with a group of friends and relatives. After a small firework show at our celebration, it started the lightning and thunderstorm. And so, it was into my friends’ house we went. That said, I grabbed the remote control and searched for either a drone show, or a firework show from some other part of the country that didn’t have to deal with a thunderstorm. In the midst of this, I happened to find this incredible presentation that encapsulated the rich history of America and projected it on to the Washington Monument in...

Pope Leo XIV urged Americans to embrace the U.S.'s history of welcoming immigrants in a virtual address to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Friday while accepting the 2026 Liberty Medal in recognition of his commitment to religious freedom.

SpaceX has been moving at an incredible pace this week! Ship 40 completes a full six-engine static fire, Ship 41 begins cryogenic testing (twice), Ship 42 enters production, Booster 21 finishes stacking and Booster 22 is already underway. We also check out the latest Starbase Pad 1 and Pad 2 construction, plus huge progress at Kennedy Space Center's LC-39A and LC-37. Blue Origin has revealed major changes to New Glenn following the launch pad explosion, NASA has announced new Moon missions, Falcon 9, Atlas V and Amazon Kuiper continue launching, Rocket Lab acquires Iridium, the Canadarm2 is repaired during an...

Streamer Sneako declares “New York is an Islamic state” / “This is the Islamic Republic of New Yorkistan” “Islam will be in every household. Inshallah, the whole world will become Muslim.” How do we coexist with this?

BlackRock is best known as a financial behemoth managing trillions in assets. But now the world’s largest money manager is making a different kind of bet: one on the future of American workers. The company’s new Future Builders initiative will deploy $100 million over the next five years to help train and place 50,000 skilled trades workers at a time when America is racing to scale the energy infrastructure needed to power the AI boom. “What better way to celebrate America’s 250th than to honor the men and women who actually built the country, and those who are actually going...

...(text of Declaration of Independence et al) To the Founders: It hasn't been easy. We've made mistakes in the past two and a half centuries. But a lot of us still regard with precious sentiment that you pledged your lives, your fortunes, and your sacred honor. I have tried to uphold the duties imparted unto me as a citizen of this land. In reflecting upon the occasion, I am impressed with the conviction that my efforts have been found lacking. Very, very few of us, it must be said, have dedicated ourselves to uphold the responsibilities that come with the...

Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao flew to Beijing on June 17, 2026, for a cozy meeting with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, just three days after her husband, Senator Mitch McConnell, was rushed to the hospital following a reported cardiac arrest at their Washington, D.C. home. Emergency dispatch audio obtained by multiple outlets captured the chaos on June 14: paramedics responded to a “cardiac arrest” call at McConnell’s Capitol Hill residence, with reports of CPR in progress and the 84-year-old senator found unconscious. McConnell was hospitalized that same morning. His office has offered only vague updates, claiming his condition “continues...

A violent altercation broke out between two women and a man at a Chinatown massage parlour on Thursday (July 2) afternoon. A video of the incident posted to Reddit shows a woman in a red blouse holding a man to the ground in a chokehold, while another woman in a black cardigan pushes his head down. He is also kicked repeatedly afterwards. Two other women can be seen trying to intervene, but one of them — identified as 8World to be the owner's wife — gets pushed and attacked as well. Another man can be seen dragging the woman in...

Highly ill-advised' card comes amid tension over military procurementAmid the ongoing review of Canada's fighter jet procurement, a federal public servant has been rebuked for distributing a custom-made business card featuring two Lockheed Martin F-35s at a recent military trade show. According to federal guidelines, all government business cards must follow a standardized template, with a Canadian flag as the sole illustration. The card used by Crista-lynn Ferguson at the Ottawa conference included more than her email, phone numbers and title as director general of fighter capability at the Department of National Defence (DND). Its front featured a metallic logo...

Democrat gubernatorial candidate and State Rep. Francesca Hong said she supports using public funding to expand gender-affirming care, including for transgender youth. During a January appearance on the Take 2 Podcast, Hong called for expanding access to gender-affirming care, saying Wisconsin should invest in clinics that provide the treatment, including for transgender youth. “We have to look at expanding health care, especially gender-affirming care. And right now, when our hospitals are under threat of providing gender-affirming care, which hospitals have paused right now,” Hong said. “We have to make sure that communities are coming together to stand up for trans...

Japan is more Patriotic towards America than many American cities and citizens.

A rare copy of the Declaration of Independence lost for 250 years has been discovered in London, where it is the only known example of its kind outside the U.S. Printed in Exeter, New Hampshire, just days after the Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776, the document was intended to spread news of American independence throughout the American colonies. The early copy remained tucked away in Britain’s National Archives until a volunteer cataloging records from the American Revolutionary War came across it in May among the papers of Royal Navy captains. Only 11 copies of the so-called Exeter printing...

Russia has begun using a new autonomous version of its Molniya strike drone in Ukraine, adapting the cheap fixed-wing attack UAV to hit targets without the control antenna that made earlier models vulnerable to electronic warfare, Defence Blog reported, citing an advisor to the Ukrainian Defense Minister Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov on July 3. The new variant was identified after a Russian Molniya struck a Ukrainian facility and was later found without the usual antenna used for operator control. Ukrainian radio technology specialist Beskrestnov said the drone carried only a camera and an onboard computer, suggesting a different strike profile. Instead...

Police in Payette, Idaho, arrested Andrea Shaw on Tuesday afternoon, more than a year after her two children — fraternal twins Dallas and Tyson Shaw — were found dead at their home on May 1, 2025, eight days after receiving their 18-month vaccines.Police charged Shaw with two counts of first-degree murder. Shaw said doctors ignored her when she warned that the twins’ father had previously experienced a bad reaction to a flu vaccine.

Ukraine still controls the strategically important eastern city of Kostiantynivka, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the General Staff said on Saturday, rejecting Russian claims that it has been captured. Russia's military told President Vladimir Putin on Friday that its forces had taken control of Kostiantynivka, a target that Moscow has long sought in its advance through the Donetsk region. "Of course, that is not true. It is just another Russian lie, an attempt to generate some kind of a news story," Zelenskiy said on X. "If Kostiantynivka were under Russian control, then perhaps (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would have no problem...

OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. -- Okaloosa County is reapplying for permits required to sink the SS United States.The county said they are reapplying for the permitting area where the SS United States will be deployed. This results in the original permit being modified.The historic ocean liner is set to become the world's largest artificial reef. The only thing standing in the way now is final approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers."There's people that want to come from all over Europe, Australia, Asia all different locations wanting to hit it," says Mason Ousley, the manager at Dive Pros.>>>The ocean liner...

Red Lobster’s failed Ultimate Endless Shrimp promotion in 2023 is back in the spotlight in a new lawsuit launched against Thai Union by some of Red Lobster’s creditors. Red Lobster made all-you-can-eat shrimp a permanent fixture on its menu in June 2023 and, by the end of that year, was reporting a significant financial hit as a result. The promotional event, which sold unlimited shrimp for USD 20 (EUR 17.49), was later cited in Red Lobster’s bankruptcy filing in early 2024 and resulted in a dispute between the company and Thai Union, which was a minority owner of the restaurant...