Free Republic

An enterprising New Jersey man raked in up to $20,000 a day running illegal marijuana vending machines — with at least 80 locations across the state, prosecutors said. Ben Gross, a 40-year-old Toms River resident, was arrested Friday after investigators identified him as the owner of the Barbwire vending machine company. Cops in Ocean and Monmouth counties spent more than two years tracing the operation, officials said. Prosecutors said Gross made between $17,000 and $20,000 per day from the machines.

An American soldier stationed at Fort Polk in Louisiana was arrested last week after he told users on the popular messaging platform Discord that he planned to conduct a mass shooting at a synagogue. Jakob Marcoulier, 22, was arrested on Thursday and charged with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce after the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received a tip in February that he had made threats toward synagogues, according to the US attorney’s office for the Western District of Louisiana. According to court documents, the FBI obtained audio from Discord in which Marcoulier allegedly said, “After this deployment if...

~ Freeper Canteen ~--Canteen Mission Statement--Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allies' military and family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Today We Want You To Take The..... American Culture Quiz: Country Classics/Patriotic Practices Click HERE & scroll down to take the quiz! Have fun!Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.

Jimmy Kimmel, host of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show, responded on Monday to demands from first lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump that he be fired for his "expectant widow" comment.In a sketch last week that was a parody of the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Kimmel referred to Melania Trump as an "expectant widow." Following the shooting on Saturday, the first lady demanded Kimmel be fired for what she said was a call for violence. The president later joined his wife in the demand, posting on Truth Social, "Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC."Kimmel on...

~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Port, North CarolinaMilitary Ocean Terminal Sunny Point (MOTSU) is one of the largest military terminals in the world. It serves as a transfer point between rail, trucks, and ships for the import and export of weapons, ammunition, explosives and military equipment for the United States Army and is operated by the 596th Transportation Brigade.The terminal lies between the small town of Boiling Spring Lakes, North Carolina, and the Cape Fear River a few miles upstream of Fort Johnston (North Carolina) and the small city of Southport, North Carolina. Built...

Days before the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting, Kimmel said during a late-night monologue that the first lady had "a glow like an expectant widow."President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are taking aim at late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke he made about the first lady looking like an "expectant widow," days before the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday. In a fiery statement Monday on social media, President Trump criticized Kimmel's joke and called on Disney — which owns ABC and airs the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show — to fire...

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces. Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today! ~ Hall of Heroes ~ James Elliott Williams Info from here. James Elliott Williams (November 13, 1930 - October 13, 1999) was a sailor of the United States Navy during the 1950s and 1960s. He was the most highly decorated enlisted man in the history of the United States Navy. Williams was born in Fort Mill, South Carolina and moved two months later with his parents to Darlington, South Carolina...

WASHINGTON — Gunman Cole Allen sent an anti-President Trump manifesto to his family members about 10 minutes before opening fire at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner — calling himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin” and revealing he was trying to kill Trump administration officials, The Post has learned. “Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial,” Allen wrote in the document, which a relative provided to police, a US official said. “I’m not a schoolkid blown up or a child starved...

A faction of Boko Haram, officially known as Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), has reportedly selected 68 women from a group of 416 abducted victims, with plans to distribute them among its members. The alarming disclosure was made on Thursday by the President of the Borno South Youth Alliance (BOSYA), Samaila Ibrahim Kaigama, who told SaharaReporters that he was directly contacted by one of the insurgents detailing their next line of action amid what they described as government inaction. According to Kaigama, the contact occurred around 8:00 PM on April 23, when individuals identifying themselves as members of JAS...

YOU ARE SPECIAL "I don't know why I was even born," the young sailor confided! "I'm ugly. I'm not talented. I've never been what you would call smart. I don't really have any friends. And I can't seem to do anything right. I feel like I've spent my whole life letting people down. Sometimes I wonder if even God could love me!" That conversation took place more than a decade ago, but I still remember it as if it were yesterday. That one and a lot of others over the years with the same message: "I'm no good; I'm...

"Please help me.” Lindsey Graham goes on Fox News to plead for money. ...

After two Syrians were accused of stabbing a 28-year-old father to death in the German city of Pulheim, police have confirmed the victim was German national Sebastian H., who leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter, but also has a partner who is four months pregnant with what would have been his second child. The incident occurred just before midnight in a parking lot at the city park in Pulheim, North Rhine-Westphalia. Five men engaged in a physical confrontation, but three individuals were reportedly armed with baseball bats and knives. This encounter proved fatal for Sebastian H., who suffered multiple stab wounds...

Suspected Muslim extremists posing as moto-taxi drivers on April 9 killed an evangelist in central Uganda shortly after he preached at a gospel event, sources said. Alfred Kitenga was beaten and stabbed at about 9:30 p.m. along the Northern Bypass in Kawaala, Wakiso District, after he and his wife, Anna Grace Nabirye, were returning home from preaching in the Namungoona area of Kampala, she said. After the couple spent the evening preaching in Namungoona as part of an evangelistic team, four people who identified themselves as motorcycle taxi drivers approached them, saying they were Christians who had attended the event,...

***** Tunes For Our Troops ~ The Freeper Canteen Music Dedication Presents: The "Colors" of Music *****~ Support The Artists You Hear Throughout The Canteen ! ~ ***** Warning: Not all music may be appropriate for children! Please click with caution. Thank you! Tunes For The Troops This music is provided for the entertainment of our Troops, Veterans, Allies & their families! Enjoy the variety of musical selections that the Canteen DJs provide throughout the thread. Please ping any DJ with your requests for the Troops! All music is removed on Monday.Thanks to all the DJs for their time...

The US State Department said it is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji, leader of the Iran-aligned militia Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS). In a notice issued through its Rewards for Justice program, the department said al-Saraji, also known as Abu Ala al-Wala’i, heads the group, which it accused of attacks on US personnel and facilities in Iraq and Syria, as well as violence against Iraqi civilians. The notice said individuals providing information could be eligible for relocation and financial compensation. Help stop the violence and attacks against U.S. diplomatic facilities and...

There are now three United States Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers operating in the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility. CENTCOM confirmed in a post on X on Thursday afternoon that the 10th and final Nimitz-class supercarrier, the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), has entered the Indian Ocean. CVN-77 joins the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), which is now in the Arabian Sea, and the U.S. Navy's newest and largest supercarrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), operating in the Red Sea after transiting the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean.

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. We serve coffee, tea,or maybe a tall brew? Topped off with great conversation and music. No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a glass and start a conversation. You never know who you might meet in the Cafe. Glad you could join us. Enjoy your stay. Our...

Another city is choosing to fly the old Minnesota state flag in what appears to be a growing trend. Elk River is the latest city to opt for the 1983 design in the flag debate. It follows the cities of Champlin, Zumbrota, Plainview and others in reverting to the old state symbol that was originally adopted in 1957. Elk River Mayor John Dietz said over 1,000 Elk River residents weighed in and about 75% of responses were in favor of the old flag. "I have been on the city council for 32 years, 16 as a council member and 16...

The U.S. military, which has been responding to Iran’s loitering drone attacks, has finally adopted Ukraine’s air defense technology. As low-cost drones continued to damage high-value military assets, it is interpreted that the U.S. has deployed Ukraine’s combat-proven response system at key Middle Eastern bases. On the 22nd, Reuters reported, citing multiple sources, that the U.S. has deployed Ukraine’s command and control platform at Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia, a key military asset in the Middle East, to defend against Iranian drones.… Ukrainian military officers are reported to have visited the base over recent weeks to train U.S. forces...

Blockade of Hormuz threatens to choke Iran’s trade lifelines and push a fragile economy toward collapse. Mounting losses, inflation and internal divisions raise doubts over Tehran’s ability to sustain prolonged conflict. The economic viability of Iran’s resistance is facing an unprecedented existential threat due to the US naval blockade of the strait, which accounts for over 90 percent of Iran’s $109.7 billion in annual trade. Beyond immediate revenue loss, the blockade creates a catastrophic “storage clock” for Iran’s energy infrastructure. With only about 20 million barrels of spare onshore storage capacity and a surplus production of 1.5 million barrels per...