Free Republic

A not so rhetorical exercise that occasionally makes the rounds asks the reader to look at the 45 goals of the Communist Party that were read into the Congressional Record in 1963 and consider how many have actually been accomplished. “Not for nothing,” as they say, but a significant percentage of the items on that list are already in place. For the purposes of this essay, I would direct the reader to this little gem: 22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks...

Less than half of student loan borrowers have been making their payments on $1.6 trillion of debt as they struggle to afford housing and groceries – and some are letting the bills pile up as a form of protest. Only 38% of the 42.7 million borrowers nationwide are in repayment and current following five years of leniency measures from the US government following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Education said in April. While most borrowers have loans that are less than $40,000, about 3.6 million Americans owe more than $100,000 each in federal loans totaling $656.7 billion – or...

AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) -- ABC13 has confirmed with multiple sources that House Democrats will return to Texas.

Russian forces made a sudden thrust in eastern Ukraine in recent days, as Russian leader Vladimir Putin seeks a battlefield advantage ahead of talks with President Trump on Friday. The infantry penetration, which officials and soldiers said stretched several miles deep near the Ukrainian city of Dobropillya, is a rare move in a war where defenses have gained the upper hand and Russia has struggled to add to the around 20% of Ukraine that it has occupied for much of its 3½-year invasion. Ukraine’s military said it was counterattacking in the area against what it said were small groups of...

CACHE, Okla. (KSWO) - Cache Public Schools had an unveiling on Aug. 11 where they showed their brand new electric buses. School officials say this is a vital step in modernizing transportation for students in their district. A ribbon cutting was held this afternoon to showcase the 6 brand new electric vehicles. Officials say the move to electric is more affordable and reliable in the face of volatile diesel prices and shows a real step in improving the students’ experience.

The Rabat prosecutor’s office has decided to prosecute feminist activist Ibtissam Lachgar in detention. She was presented to the public prosecutor on Tuesday, following her arrest by the National Brigade of Judicial Police (BNPJ) on Sunday. Lachgar, also known as “Betty” on social media, was arrested after posting a photo of herself wearing a t-shirt with inscriptions deemed offensive to divinity. The image showed her wearing a shirt with “Allah” followed by “is lesbian” – a play on a well-known feminist slogan, according to her explanation. The controversial post was accompanied by text describing Islam as “fascist, phallocratic and misogynistic.”...

Tucker Carlson interviews Shroud of Turin expert, proving the resurrection of Jesus is realProtestant Bible scholar and author Jeremiah Johnston explained in detail why the famous Shroud of Turin was Jesus Christ's actual burial cloth.Tucker Carlson interviewed a Bible scholar who highlights the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, proving Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.In a recent interview with Carlson, Protestant Bible scholar and author Jeremiah Johnston explained in detail why the famous Shroud of Turin was Jesus Christ’s actual burial cloth and how it proves the resurrection.Johnston said that the shroud, which has been extensively studied, shows “pre-mortem and...

12 August 2025 Tuesday of week 19 in Ordinary TimeAltar of the Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem, the Holy LandReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First readingDeuteronomy 31:1-8Joshua shall cross the Jordan at your headMoses proceeded to address these words to the whole of Israel, ‘I am one hundred and twenty years old now, and can no longer come and go as I will. The Lord has said to me, “You shall not cross this Jordan.” It is the Lord your God who will cross it at your head to destroy these nations facing you and dispossess...

Daryl Hall and John Oates have resolved their dispute over Oates’ plan to sell his half of their joint venture to Primary Wave Music. Court documents filed Aug. 11 reveal the legal back-and-forth between the duo has now been privately resolved, without any additional information on their deal. The pair started litigation in 2023 when Hall launched arbitration seeking to block Oates from selling his stake in Whole Oats Enterprises — this includes the band’s name and likeness rights as well as royalties — to Primary Wave. Primary Wave has become a music-catalog marketing powerhouse over the past 15 years,...

President Trump has nominated an unqualified economist to take over one of America’s most important statistical agencies. On August 1, Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS produces the consumer price index and the jobs report, two of the most important statistical products of the U.S. government, among hundreds of other reports and thousands of data series. Some tried to defend Trump’s move by saying he was demanding improvements to the agency’s methodology, which is in need of updating. The response rate to the employer survey for the jobs report has declined...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV: The “suspended” documentsIn just a little over one hundred days since taking office, Pope Leo XIV has met several times with all the heads of dicasteries. He has approved appointments already in place, messages already in progress, and initiatives now in the final stages. For now, however, there have been no key decisions regarding the heads of dicasteries—five are over 75, and Prevost’s successor at the Dicastery for Bishops is still missing—nor have there been any crucial documents. Leo XIV has not made any really substantial governing decisions. A critical moment will soon arrive, however, when...

The foreign-born population of the United States declined by 2.2 million people since January, according to an analysis from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). That figure includes an estimated 1.6 million illegal aliens. The CIS based its report on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data and suggested that much of the exodus stemmed from self-deportations driven by the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Overall, the study found that there were roughly 53.3 million foreign-born people in the U.S. in January of 2025, compared with 51.1 million in July.

Ukrainian defenses are buckling under the relentless Russian pressure. This happened in the area near Pokrovsk: instead of banging their heads against a heavily fortified city, Russian forces, as they do, circumvent it, seeking to cut all supply lines and encircle the defenders, at which point the garrison has to either surrender or be destroyed by attacks from all sides.This playbook was implemented in Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Kurakhovo, Ugledar and so many other places.What is striking now is that the northern prong, expected to turn west to encircle Pokrovsk, found weaknesses on the depleted defenses, and dashed north by 9 miles.Post...

The closely watched New York mayoral and governor’s races appear to be forming into shapes that will bring little comfort to centrist Democrats, with both elections happening in November. A new Siena Institute poll released on Tuesday shows New York City’s Democratic socialist mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, leading former New York governor Andrew Cuomo by 19 percentage points – while the Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik is chipping away at incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul’s lead in a hypothetical contest for the New York governor’s mansion in 2026. Hochul’s lead over Stefanik, who was nominated to be US ambassador to the United...

In an episode of his program that was sure to create significant buzz online, Tucker Carlson announced an exclusive interview with the dredged-up corpse of long-dead terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Carlson continued his string of controversial interviews by orchestrating the retrieval of bin Laden's remains, which had been buried at sea following his death at the hands of the U.S. military in 2011. He then propped the decomposing remains up in a chair and had a lengthy discussion with it. "It's time to finally get your side of the story," Carlson was seen telling bin Laden's barnacle-crusted skeleton in...

The scale of the effort to “debank” Donald Trump because of pressure from Biden administration regulators went far beyond JPMorgan and Bank of America, The Post has learned. At least 10 other financial institutions closed their windows to the billionaire real estate tycoon over his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill ­melee. The moves came in the months after Trump left the White House in 2021, sources inside the Trump Organization told me. The stunning scale of the blacklisting is being revealed here for the first time. ... It should be reported as much as possible for the simple...

Scientists are urging NASA to send a message to a mysterious interstellar object before it is too late. The object, known as 3I/ATLAS, is traveling on a rare retrograde path and will reach its closest point to the sun on October 29, 2025, which Harvard physicist Avi Loeb suggested could be an ideal window for a covert approach on Earth. While Loeb is not 100 percent sure 3I/ATLAS is of alien origin, he proposed communicating with it as a precaution and crafted a six-word message for the occasion. The physicist told the Daily Mail that he wants to beam, 'Hello,...

The 18-year-old high school student alleged the server would not let her exit the Buffalo Wild Wings restroom until she unzipped her hoodie and showed she had breasts.A Minnesota teen filed a charge of discrimination against a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant on Tuesday after she alleged that a server followed her into the women’s restroom and demanded she “prove” she was a girl. Gerika Mudra, 18, went to dinner in April with a friend in Owatonna, about an hour south of Minneapolis. When she went to the restroom, a server followed her inside and banged on the stall door while...

Keir Starmer was dealt a fresh blow last night as his Government's popularity sunk to its lowest level to date. The Government's approval rating slipped to minus 55, according to pollsters YouGov. Just 13 per cent of the public included in the survey said they approved of the Government's record since returning to power under Sir Keir last summer - the same percentage as the previous week. But those who disapproved slipped by another percentage point, down to 68 per cent. It meant the net approval rating lurched to a record low for this administration. The weekly poll makes grim...

Proof-of-concept trial shows significant effect on obstructive sleep apnea symptomsKey Takeaways: *Blowing a conch shell improved moderate obstructive sleep apnea symptoms in a small randomized trial. *Sleep quality and apnea-hypopnea index also improved with conch blowing. *A larger, more diverse trial is needed to confirm the benefits observed. The forceful breathing involved in the traditional Hindu practice of blowing a conch shell, or shankh, improved moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) symptoms, a small randomized trial showed. Regular practice of the yogic breathing exercise over 6 months cut daytime sleepiness by 34% compared with baseline, as measured by the Epworth Sleepiness...