Free Republic

The murder convictions and consecutive life sentences for Alex Murdaugh, a prominent South County attorney who was found guilty of killing his wife and son, were overturned on Wednesday by the state's supreme court. Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 for killing his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at the family's estate in 2021. He will be given a new trial. Murdaugh, 57, also pleaded guilty to a series of financial crimes in September 2023 and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Lawyers for Murdaugh pushed for a new trial based on "improper" conduct by the county clerk, Becky...

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Science, according to the European Union Brussels, the beating heart of the European Union’s bureaucratic empire – where “science” means whatever the green agenda demands and dissent gets you labeled a heretic. In a jaw-dropping display of totalitarian intolerance straight out of the climate cult playbook, a top EU official completely lost it during a public lecture by one of Europe’s leading geologists. The incident unfolded Monday night at the end of a conference featuring Professor Alain Préat, a respected geologist and one of the finest scientific minds of his generation. Préat had just delivered a measured, fact-based presentation painting...

On the eve of President Trump’s meeting in Beijing with Xi Jinping, it is worth reminding ourselves of something not often discussed—the Chinese president's family background. Xi’s is so radically different from almost all Americans that it's extremely difficult for most of us to understand exactly who he is. I first ran into this some years ago, when, at the beginning of writing columns for The Epoch Times, I was informed by their then-publisher (now deceased) to “go easy” on Xi because their objective was to encourage the Chinese leader to liberalize. That seemed naive. But I went along, assuming...

Saudi fighter jets carried out airstrikes on Iran-linked Shi’ite militia targets inside Iraq during the Iran war, while retaliatory strikes were also launched from Kuwait into Iraqi territory, Reuters reported citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. Sources cited by Reuters included three Iraqi military and security officials, a Western official and two people briefed on the matter, including one in the United States. According to one Western official and another source familiar with the operations, Saudi air force fighter jets targeted Iran-backed militia positions near the kingdom’s northern border with Iraq. The Western official said some of the Saudi...

The World War II slogan (that’s a two, not an eleven, Ilhan) “loose lips sink ships” reminded Americans that careless talk could provide our enemies with vital intelligence. Here we are, nearly a century later, and the principle still applies. Recent events involving Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Defense secretary Pete Hegseth illustrate how public disclosures about military capabilities can still compromise our national security.AdvertisementSenator Kelly appeared Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation. Drawing from a classified Pentagon briefing on U.S. weapons stockpiles that were depleted during operations against Iran, Senator Kelly detailed the strains on specific munitions: Tomahawk missiles,...

Like Fang Fang, the Chinese spy who had former Rep. Eric Swalwell under her thumb, Arcadia's Democrat mayor, Eileen Wang was quite the social butterfly. She got around. She was an active member of the Arcadia Rotary Club, the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, the Arcadia Lions Club, the Arcadia Association of Realtors and the Arcadia High School Chinese Parents Booster Club in addition to organizing the “U.S. Heroes Music and Art Festival” which sounds like a pretty busy calendar.AdvertisementAnd with all this socializing, she won a seat on the Arcadia city council in 2022, which in its rotating system, allowed...

The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that the state's redrawn congressional maps are constitutional.

For generations, Americans viewed homes as more than assets. They were the physical foundation of family stability, equity-building, and civic continuity — the bedrock of a middle-class society rooted in dispersed private ownership. Owning a home was analogous to owning a piece of the American Dream itself: a symbol of citizen sovereignty and national agency. That understanding is fading. Recently, while selling a property, I encountered a buyer who presented himself as a flipper. The contract revealed something else: minimal earnest money, aggressive escape clauses, cash-only terms, and assignment language that treated the deal more like a tradable derivative than...

Archaeologists from the University of Haifa have unearthed a 1,600-year-old mosaic with a Greek inscription reading, "Peace on the elders," that may be the earliest evidence of a dedicated institution for the elderly.The discovery was made at the Sussita (Hippos) National Park near the Sea of Galilee, the primary Christian city in the region during the Byzantine period. The mosaic, dating to the late fourth or early fifth century CE, was discovered at the entrance to a public building.According to Dr. Michael Eisenberg, co-director of the excavation project, the finding provides "living proof that care and concern for the elderly......

The Trump administration has moved to seize more than 14 acres of land owned by the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces to expand border‑wall infrastructure near Mount Cristo Rey in southern New Mexico, according to court documents reported by KVIA. The effort puts federal border‑security construction on a collision course with religious‑freedom protections tied to one of the region’s most significant Catholic pilgrimage sites. If approved by a judge, the action could disrupt annual pilgrimages and set a legal test for using eminent domain against religious institutions along the U.S.-Mexico border. The civil case was filed at the request of...

President Trump ripped The New York Times on Tuesday morning over a report detailing the ballooning cost of his project to repair and renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. “The Failing New York Times, which is one of the worst newspapers anywhere in the World, and is losing subscribers on an hourly basis, is now at it again,” Trump wrote in a lengthy, early-morning Truth Social post. “Just like they covered my Landslide 2024 Presidential Election Victory inaccurately, and without shame, constantly making major mistakes and incorrect predictions at every path along the way, they are now trying to justify...

The U.S. government “disclosure” of files related to UFOs commenced on Friday. I had predicted the day before that the results would be a letdown, and so far, that has proven to be the case. If you’re impressed by more of the familiar grainy, black-and-white images of dancing specks in the sky, then you will be impressed by what we saw Friday.Adding to my own feeling of being underwhelmed is the fact that little that’s “known” about UFOs has changed much in 70+ years. A 1958 work by psychologist Carl Jung, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in...

U.S. — Longtime daytime talk show "The View" has announced that next season will feature an all-new cast of angry middle-aged women. After years of occasional changes among the show's personalities, ABC has moved to replace all five of the previous hosts, though it is sticking with the archetype of emotional middle-aged women. "We're ready for a fresh set of high-pitched, seething voices," said showrunner Denette Holman. "The chemistry we are seeing in the new group of hosts is wonderful. The rants, the cattiness, the imminent menopause, it's all there. We're looking forward to a great season." Focus groups...

<p>The CIA then failed to comply with the DNI DIG’s oversight investigation, refusing to provide necessary information for investigators to understand why analytical standards at the CIA were violated. The CIA also illegally spied on the computer and phones belonging to DIG personnel, along with their investigations and contact with whistleblowers, Erdman alleges.</p>

Lake Tahoe doesn’t know where its power will come from after next ski season—and it’s a major problem for the 49,000 residents who call the region home. The Sierra Nevada tourist hub—home to ski resorts, lakeside casinos, and roughly 25 to 28 million annual visitors—is facing an energy crisis with a familiar culprit: the data centers powering the AI boom. NV Energy, the Nevada utility that has supplied the bulk of Lake Tahoe’s electricity for decades, told Liberty Utilities—the small California company that services the region—that it will stop providing power after May 2027. The reason? NV Energy needs the...

A decorated FBI official who is suing the agency for wrongful dismissal said he was asked to pledge loyalty to Donald Trump during his vetting for the role. In his first interview since leaving the FBI in 2025, Brian Driscoll, who served as the interim director of the agency under the US president, told CNN he was repeatedly asked about his personal political views while being interviewed for the role. Mr Driscoll and two other senior FBI officials are suing Kash Patel, the head of the agency, and the FBI over allegations of wrongful termination. The lawsuit accuses Mr Patel...

WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned Wednesday that Iran is “frighteningly close” to developing weapons-grade enriched uranium.Speaking to lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Wright stressed that Iran’s enriched uranium, which President Trump is deadset on confiscating, puts the regime just weeks away from the threshold needed to get a nuke.“They are a small number of weeks away to enrich that to weapons-grade uranium. There’s still a weaponization process that happens after that, but they’re quite close,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Taylor Swift has earned recognition alongside hip-hop mogul Jay-Z and reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny on The New York Times' newly published list of the 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters. The unranked compilation, released Monday, represents the culmination of ballots submitted by hundreds of music industry experts before being refined by the newspaper's editorial team. The selection process aimed to identify artists whose compositions have shaped the American musical landscape over the past five decades. The comprehensive roster includes an impressive cross-section of American musical talent spanning multiple generations and genres. Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey, Carole King, and Stevie Wonder represent...

Gunshots have been heard in the Philippine Senate building, Senate authorities said on Wednesday, where a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court has been holed up to resist arrest. [SNIP] Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos insisted the incident was not carried out by government personnel, but rather an apparent shootout between an unidentified armed group and Senate security personnel. Marcos said no government forces attempted to enter the Senate to arrest Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, a longtime ally of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who evaded arrest by local investigative unit officers earlier this week. Senator Dela Rosa was filmed...