Free Republic

We reported some time ago on New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to create a “Department of Community Safety.” This is the initiative that gets characterized misleadingly as simply a plan to replace cops with social workers. It is much more than that. It is much more frightening than that. It is the ultimate fulfillment of the leftist vision of abolishing the police and substituting for them a cadre of individuals who will be empowered to forge the new society Mamdani and his Marxist supporters envision. The first step in this effort has been the creation of something called...

Back in May 2024, I had a post titled “So How Are Things Going In China?” The post was inspired by a New York Times article of April 15 of that year that had reported that China’s economy had grown “more than expected” in the first three months of 2024; and by a just-issued IMF prediction that China’s economy would grow by 5% in 2024. To believe the New York Times and the IMF, in 2024 the Chinese economy was growing at an annual rate of 5% or more. For 2025, China again reported a GDP growth rate of about...

Those who wield power over life and liberty should share, at least proportionally, in the price of being wrong. Dr. Thomas Sowell, the renowned economist and social theorist, once observed: “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.” His insight highlights a fundamental disparity in governance. Politicians, bureaucrats, and judges routinely issue rulings and enact policies that carry enormous ripple effects on society -- yet they are insulated from the human and financial costs incurred when...

There’s nothing really new in the uproar surrounding the loss of a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle over Iran this past weekend. Media hysteria over the downing of a single U.S. aircraft has become a commonplace schtick in coverage of American wars over the past three decades. During WW II, the U.S. lost over 23,000 planes in combat. I kid you not, playmates: 23,000+ – and that’s only combat losses. Overall losses, including accidents, amounted to 65,164. The media talking heads would have had to be carried out in straitjackets if they’d been active at the time. Losses dropped sharply following...

Dive Brief:* Artificial intelligence was the leading cause of U.S. layoffs announced in March, accounting for roughly a quarter of the total, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said in a report Thursday. * Overall, U.S. employers announced 60,620 job cuts last month, a 25% increase compared with February, the report found. The month’s total included 15,341 layoffs attributed to AI. * “Companies are shifting budgets toward AI investments at the expense of jobs,” Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at the Chicago-based firm, said in the report. “The actual replacing of roles can be seen in technology companies, where AI...

As Karoline Leavitt gears up to welcome her second child, there's chatter on who will fill her role during her maternity leave... Leavitt, 28, is due in May, and three women in her press office are seen as potential stand-ins during her absence: Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly, Assistant Press Secretary Taylor Rogers, and Regional Press Secretary Liz Huston. Kelly joined the White House in January and brings extensive political experience, having worked on several Republican campaigns. Prior to being on Leavitt's team, she worked for the Republican National Convention as a national press secretary and as communications director for...

Could Marco Rubio be the one to take down the woke and seemingly untouchable Rep. Ilhan Omar? He seems to think that $40 million fortune of hers came from something different than wine sales from her winery. [X post at link] Which is shockingly direct. Usually, they don't state things so directly. But if it's true that Omar ran a pay-to-play refugee operation, it would surely be illegal. And who would be in a position to know this better than Rubio who runs the Department of State and all its adjacents? With a confident tweet like that, it seems likely...

Brussels avoids speaking about it openly but the ghost of the 2020 COVID-19 crisis is beginning to reappear in the corridors of the EU. What if the next major restriction does not come from a virus but from a lack of energy? In Brussels, nobody wants to utter the term yet. The European Commission avoids any official comparison with the pandemic and rejects talk of “energy lockdowns.” But the idea is beginning to circulate with growing normality. The war with Iran and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz have triggered a crisis that no longer resembles the...

Saturday Night Live is under fire after a cast member cracked 'what's the worst that can happen?' about Trump attending a play - an unmistakable nod to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.During Friday’s 'Weekend Update,' comedian Michael Che took aim at the president’s visit earlier this week to the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, where he attended the opening-night showing of Chicago. 'President Trump attended the opening night of Chicago at the Kennedy Center and I think that's cool,' Che said during the skit. 'The president is going to the theater...I mean, what's the worst that can happen?'

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger (D.) and other local authorities are under fire over a recent string of very high profile and preventable crimes committed by illegal aliens in the sanctuary state. One of Spanberger’s first actions as governor was to sign an executive order barring state and local authorities from cooperating with federal authorities for federal immigration enforcement. Since then, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has pleaded with Spanberger and Fairfax County officials to stop releasing dangerous criminals back into the community without notifying ICE. In the past few weeks, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lodged...

With Valentine’s Day chocolates down to the bottom of the box and Halloween candy many moons away, your sweet tooth might be aching a little extra. Luckily, Easter is right around the corner, bringing plenty of beloved springtime sweets to the table—or rather, basket. Ever wonder how your Easter candy preferences compare to the rest of your state? You might be a Peeps fan, while your neighbors are reaching for Starburst—or perhaps your Easter candy soulmate lives beyond state lines. Either way, America picks favorites, and some are more surprising than others. Ready to see how your taste stacks up?...

Grandma didn’t make 3,000 donations. So who did? Here’s a graphic version of the breaking ActBlue scandal for easy consumption. The NYT Allegations: Foreign Donations and Misleading CongressActBlue is the engine behind nearly all Democratic small-dollar fundraising. It has processed billions of dollars in online donations. But a growing pile of evidence — from the New York Times, congressional investigators, James O’Keefe’s undercover reporters, and ActBlue’s own lawyers — now suggests the platform was a fundraising machine comprised of illegal foreign money and fake donors. Worse, internal memos show ActBlue’s leadership seemingly lied to Congress about how safe their vetting...

Stephen Cloobeck, an eccentric, lefty billionaire who’s burned more than $1 million supporting Rep. Eric Swalwell’s run for California governor, is engaged to a Penthouse Pet and Israeli OnlyFans model who’s facing a string of criminal charges for allegedly burglarizing the homes of rich old men in Los Angeles. The Post can reveal that Swalwell’s campaign benefactor recently became engaged to Adva Lavie, who also goes by the name Shoshana and has been accused of posing as a romantic partner or travel companion before stealing cash, gold, and high-end designer goods. In an exclusive interview, Cloobeck told The Post that...

When I served in the USAF as a security policeman, we were among the very few airmen or officers allowed to carry weapons on base. There are the “rivet counters,” airmen armed with rifles—M-16s back then, M4s now—who guard aircraft, missiles and related installations. And there are traditional police officers who in those days carried S&W Model 15 “Combat Masterpiece” .38 Special revolvers. We were issued 18 rounds of lead, round -nosed .38 special ammunition, and no speed loaders. Alert aircrew were allowed to carry revolvers, but only when climbing aboard their bombers and other aircraft. Then, as now, most...

The problems with defense of Europe are complex. Europe not wanting to defend itself is only one of them. Europe has been taking a lot of flak in the last two months in the midst of the Iran War, raising the question of whether its members are capable of or interested in militarily defending themselves. An example is a serious conflict that arose recently when President Trump asked the Europeans to help the U.S. open the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait has been mostly closed to traffic by the Iranians, and Trump insists that the waterway should be an open...

On Easter, the holiest day of the year, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Savior, and Treasure. Just saying those words out loud — Lord…Savior…Treasure — it is easy to recognize why modern socialist governments find Christianity so threatening. For if He is the King of kings, then all of our would-be masters in this world are pale imposters. If He alone is the Way and the Truth and the Life, then the marble halls of Big Government are just false paths leading to false idols that promise false salvation. If He is the only Treasure, then...

This week, Christians around the world of all strands celebrate what we consider some of the most significant events in world history — the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on behalf of the salvation for those who believe in the Lord.There are many historical reasons to believe in these events, which I’ve addressed in previous columns, such as this and this.Meanwhile, as a student of American history, I find it fascinating that, for the most part, the vast majority of our nation’s settlers and founding fathers also believed it.Here are some examples just from the founding era. Special...

Gold prices dropped sharply following comments from Donald Trump late Wednesday evening, after he addressed the nation on the ongoing Iran conflict but failed to provide clarity on how or when it might end. At a time when geopolitical tensions are escalating and uncertainty remains high, gold would typically surge as a safe-haven asset. After Trump’s latest speech failed to provide clarity on how or when the conflict with Iran might end, gold fell more than 2–3% in early trading, while oil prices surged and markets began pricing in a very different economic outcome.For investors, this shift is critical. It...

For three years, a butcher in Zurich (Switzerland) sold pork to customers who believed they were purchasing veal. Following an inspection by a food safety officer, the butcher has now been held accountable. A halal butcher sells—in theory—halal meat: that is, meat permitted under Islamic law, and therefore, *a fortiori*, not pork. This Zurich-based butcher, however, does not appear to share that view. Over a three-year period, he allegedly sold 3.1 tons of pork while passing it off as veal, according to the Swiss edition of *20Minutes*, which broke the story. The deception was twofold. **Fraud** On one hand, religious...

From the O. J. Simpson trial to Britain’s “swift courts,” justice now bends to identity—proof that without shared culture, the scales no longer balance. Justice isn’t blind anymore: Multiculturalism has made impartial justice impossible. “Law grows with the growth, and strengthens with the strength of the people, and finally dies away as the nation loses its nationality.” — Friedrich Carl von SavignyOn Tuesday, October 3, 1995, the verdict in the O. J. Simpson criminal trial was broadcast live across the globe, a truly defining moment of the late twentieth century. In the now-iconic split-screen imagery, as the words “not guilty”...