Free Republic

97 percent of inpatient hospital markets lack meaningful competition....From 2014 to 2026, individual market premiums are up 129 percent, employer-sponsored insurance premiums are up 68 percent, and general inflation is up 39 percent...In 2026, the average deductible for an individual on a bronze plan is $7,476, and the average deductible for an individual on a silver (no CSR) plan is $5,304....The federal taxpayer share of the premium increased gradually from 68 percent of the premium in 2014 to nearly 80 percent in 2020. As a result of the COVID credits, the federal taxpayer share of the premium reached 93 percent...

...talks in Berlin this weekend involving White House envoy Steve Witkoff, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and... Democrat Congressman speaking of photos from the Jeffrey Epstein Estate depicting...sex acts... The US Treasury lifting sanctions on controversial Brazilian Supreme Court Justice... One person killed during a Ukrainian drone attack... Two new US government reports are out concerning the troubled V-22 Osprey... House Republicans introducing their version of Obamacare extension... A US special forces team raided a Chinese merchant vessel...headed for Iran... Trump says there is agreement between Thailand and Cambodia... International Criminal Court prosecutor ousted after his arrest warrants for Israeli... Germany...

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A woman was critically injured and taken to a burn center after an aggravated assault involving acid Wednesday night, sources close to the investigation confirm. Around 8:16 p.m., a woman was walking around Forsyth Park and a man hiding in the shadows near Whitaker St. suddenly came out and attacked the victim with an unknown chemical substance. Sources close to the investigation say the liquid melted through the victim’s clothing and headphones. The victim has been identified Ashley Wasielewski, according to sources close to her family. First responders located and treated the victim on scene before...

Richard Wayne Van Dyke was born in West Plains, Missouri, on December 13, 1925. He was raised in Danville, Illinois. At one time, he considered being a minister because of his mother’s religious influences, but a high school drama class would ignite in him a love of entertainment. In his senior year, Van Dyke dropped out of Danville High and joined the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. He served as a radio operator before being transferred to Special Services to entertain the troops.

The Baz Luhrmann film is coming to cinemas in FebruaryThe first trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert film has just dropped – check it out here. The film, which is set for release next year, features long-lost footage of the legendary singer’s Las Vegas residency alongside 16mm footage from the 1972 film Elvis on Tour and 8mm film from the Graceland archive. The trailer begins with Richard Strauss’ ‘Also sprach Zarathustra’ and footage of Presley twirling his ring and tapping his foot before a show, before it reads, “In 1969, Elvis returned to the stage to begin...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the US has offered to create a "free economic zone" in the contested Donbas region of eastern Ukraine in a bid to push a peace deal over the line. The Donbas - an industrial and coal-mining area primarily made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions - has become one of the key sticking points in the US-proposed peace plan. The first draft of the plan, widely leaked last month, stipulated that Ukraine must withdraw from areas of the Donbas it currently controls, thought to be a minority portion, as a condition for peace. Ukraine considered that...

The US Department of the Treasury has lifted sanctions imposed on the Brazilian supreme court justice who oversaw the conviction of the former president Jair Bolsonaro. Justice Alexandre de Moraes had been under Global Magnitsky sanctions, which target individuals accused of human rights abuses, since July. His wife Viviane Barci de Moraes – who was added the sanctions list in September – was also removed from the register on Friday. The move had been repeatedly requested by Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in negotiations with Donald Trump to roll back the 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports. The decision...

A King County judge set bail at $100,000 for a California truck driver accused in a three vehicle crash on northbound SR 167 near SR 18 in Auburn that killed a 29-year-old Bonney Lake man on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. As we previously reported, Kamalpreet Singh, 25, of Elk Grove, California, was arrested Thursday morning on investigation of vehicular homicide following the crash, according to the Washington State Patrol and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. At Singh’s first appearance hearing, prosecutors argued there was probable cause for his arrest and requested that bail be set at $100,000. After hearing...

Warning - a very hard article to read. But not as hard as the actual violence or the perversion of law that allowed this to happen. Progressives made the Blue Line attack possible. It's time to end their stranglehold over Chicago You don’t hate the Neo Machine enough.No matter how much you despise the Godfather of the crimes against Chicago humanity, JB Pritzker, aka Governor “Let ‘em leave” Pritzker.No matter how much you loathe Brandon “Mayor 6.6” Johnson…...No matter how much you detest his bosses: Boss Toni Preckwinkle and the instruments of her evil, late, unlamented apprentices: “State’s Attorney” who...

— Several people throughout California were arrested in connection with a series of semi-truck and trailer thefts in Sutter County and surrounding areas. . The first reported theft was on Aug. 3, when the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office responded to Larkin Road in Live Oak for reports of a stolen semi-truck and trailer. The person who reported the property stolen said the trailer was carrying about $400,000 worth of product. The Woodland Police Department reportedly found the trailer abandoned. However, it was empty. Additionally, the Sacramento Police Department found the semi-truck within Sacramento city limits. Nearly three weeks later, on...

An alleged intruder armed with a hammer was shot dead Thursday morning around 7:00 a.m. by a Gulfport, Mississippi, woman who had a protective order against him. WLOX reported that two women were home at the time of the alleged intrusion and that both women had a protection order against the man. The alleged intruder entered through a window and attacked one woman, who was able to get to another room in the house to keep herself safe. The second woman grabbed a gun and shot the man, killing him. The Sun Herald noted that the alleged intruder, identified as...

Newsom’s flip on trans kids is just more of Gavin attempting to reinvent Gavin History will not be kind to Gavin Newsom. But it will be accurate. This week, Gavin flipped on the trans kids position he took in his first podcast with Charlie Kirk. On his podcast last March with Kirk, Newsom agreed that he thinks that it was “deeply unfair” to have trans athletes competing against women in sports. But after the podcast, Newsom did nothing about biological males who identify as female competing against female athletes. Now – he’s all-in on trans everything. Because as he said...

The term “exorcist” goes past the iconic 1973 horror film. The belief finds itself prominent within the Catholic community. Rev. Chad Ripperger is not only a priest within the religion but also an exorcist. There are currently around 150 Catholic priests in the United States who have received training to perform exorcisms, and when researching famous exorcists like Revs. Vincent Lampert and Gabriele Amorth, Ripperger’s name appears. Whether it was Catholics interested in delving into their religious relationship or people intrigued by the big bolded word “exorcist” on the event flyer, people filled the majority of the Grand Ballroom in...

***** Tunes For Our Troops ~ FReeper Canteen Music Dedication Presents ~ Hanukkah Celebration ~ *****~ 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 &...

Among its countless achievements, the song was named the 20th century’s most-played song on American radio and television by the BMI.Only the most momentous songs in pop history make it into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Top 40 of Rolling Stone’s 2004 list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, and the Top 10 of the RIAA’s Top 365 Songs of the Century. But only one could achieve all that and be named the most-played song on American radio and television during the 20th century by the BMI. Its title? “You’ve...

Minnesota Governor and failed Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz blamed white men for the widespread fraud in the Somali community. It was recently revealed that Walz and the Democrats allowed a $1 billion heist to take place largely through the Somali community in Minnesota. The massive scandal happened on Tim Walz’s watch. The GOP-led Oversight Committee is conducting an investigation into the Somali fraud ring.

Former Trump White House official Marc Short told Politico’s Dasha Burns that the Democratic Party will likely dominate the 2026 midterms. In an appearance on CSPAN’s Ceasefire alongside Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod, Short said that the Republican Party is already set to endure heavy losses in the upcoming elections. “I think it’s going to be a really steep climb, Dasha,” said Short, in relation to GOP midterm efforts. “The reality is that Americans like divided government. They don’t want one party in control. Each time there’s been one party in control, there’s been a backlash.” The once chief of staff...

BOSTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that a provision of U.S. President Donald Trump's signature tax and domestic policy bill that deprives Planned Parenthood and local affiliates that perform abortions of Medicaid funding is not an unconstitutional punishment.

Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, Iryna Zarutska, Jocelyn Nungaray, Ruby Garcia, and Kayla Hamilton. They are just some of the American women who have been murdered in this country in the last few years. All of their deaths, arguably, could have been avoided if Democrats prioritized protecting citizens instead of illegal immigrants. Despite their tragic deaths, you’d be hard-pressed to find any Democrat who expressed as much sympathy, empathy, and concern for their lives as they have about suspected Venezuelan cartel drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea

An illegal immigrant viciously bit a federal agent who was arresting him in Louisiana over Thanksgiving weekend. In images obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent is seen walking away from an arrest gushing blood from his hand after the attack. Maximiliano Perez-Perez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, is now facing charges for assaulting a law enforcement officer. Perez-Perez, 22, used his teeth as a weapon, breaking the skin of the arresting ICE officer and resisting arrest in Tullos, Louisiana on November 21, 2025. Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that it's not...