Free Republic

Nearly 200 House Democrats are moving to shield Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from further investigation after federal investigators raided her Washington, D.C., home earlier this month. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., led 175 members of the House Democratic Caucus in a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Attorney General Todd Blanche, criticizing the probe into Omar's immigration history as a partisan attack and accusing them of trying to sway her bid for another term in Congress. "Congresswoman Omar is seeking reelection in Minnesota’s 5th congressional district in just one week. News of the search warrant, whether...

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar's account of fleeing Somalia's civil war as a child offers a timeline of her early life, family history and eventual resettlement in the United States, including a recollection of how officials recorded relatives' birth dates during the refugee screening process. The Minnesota Democrat's 2020 memoir, This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey From Refugee to Congresswoman, describes a childhood disrupted by fighting in Mogadishu and a journey that took the family through Somalia and Kenya before they were eventually resettled in the United States. Omar has faced a wave of scrutiny from MAGA hard-liners and...

FWIW, based on a few years worth of studying voter registration and other data---which led me to be dead on in 2024 six months out with "Trump 312 EVs with 1.5% of the pop vote) and in 2016, before the election, with "Trump will win with between 300 and 320 EVs" (final 304), and yes, I missed in 2018 on the House---here goes: *Rs hold the senate at 52. Possible ceiling of 54. Paxton, Collins, AK seat, OH all holds. I think Rodgers wins in MI, Whatley loses NC. My long-shots are Sununu with NH and Tafoya in MN. Either...

The leaders of Finland and Norway called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to urge him to end the war in Ukraine, breaking with a longstanding practice among Western European leaders of shunning direct contact with the Kremlin. The phone call by Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere was a bid to influence the diplomatic process at a time when President Donald Trump has shifted his position in favor of Russia and U.S. ties with Ukraine have hit their lowest point in 18 months. The Nordic leaders spoke by phone to Putin and afterward to...

Former President Barack Obama took to the campaign trail over the weekend to rejuvenate Democratic voters and take aim at President Donald Trump. He offered a snarky remark about Trump’s renovations to the White House that, like many of the criticisms Obama makes, didn’t really make any sense. The 44th president blasted Trump for installing gilded architectural modifications and decorations, making a senseless comment connecting Saddam Hussein and the Cheesecake Factory. As humorless as it actually was, it does present the president with a wonderful opportunity: Trump should work a shift at Cheesecake Factory. “What’s with the gold?” said Obama....

Flavio Bolsonaro and his family have fled Brazil and will be granted visas by the State Department to enter the United States. Bolsonaro, who has stopped short of conceding this weekend’s election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was reportedly set to arrive in the U.S. on Tuesday evening despite an investigation into him in Brazil. He is understood to be joined by his wife and two daughters. “The State Department will issue visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States,” a Trump administration official told the Washington Examiner. The former right-wing...

... Mr. President, I would like to report a massive Election Fraud scheme against which I have fought for many years. I was present at the preliminary release of the findings of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s volunteer Cold Case Posse investigation into Obama. Sheriff Joe mentioned that you had only hours earlier sent him a FAX wishing him well with the investigation. It is my contention that Barack Hussein Obama did in fact criminally usurp the office of POTUS by fraud. That Mr. President is ELECTION FRAUD. Though now unseated, I would not want the American people to pay many millions...

The head of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has issued a further warning on how Artificial Intelligence will likely lead to mass unemployment, revealing just the four occupations he believes will survive the imminent AI expansion. In a recent interview, Gates revealed that while AI will create “true abundance”, the next two decades will be “as tumultuous a period as there’s been in human history.” Gates's bold new claim comes with '20-year warning' Discussing the prospect of AI superseding the workforce in the years to come, Gates offered his 20-year warning on the Decoder podcast, having already disclosed which sectors were most...

The civil rights group says it is nonpartisan and doesn’t get involved in candidate races but is spending heavily to support Kotek. You can tell the governor’s race is close when supporters of Gov. Tina Kotek take unusual measures to maintain Democrats’ nearly 40-year monopoly on the statewide office. First, the carpenters union in September dumped an unprecedented (for Oregon) $10 million into a PAC and have so far given $750,000 of it to Kotek. Then, on Oct. 15, the ACLU of Oregon announced it had formed a political action committee—something the organization confirmed it had never done before. “ACLU...

A group of 13 killer whales gave passengers aboard a Southern California whale watching boat an unforgettable experience over the weekend, swimming directly up to the vessel in a rare close encounter. The orcas were spotted Saturday, Oct. 24, by a crew with Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari, based in Dana Point... ...... The whales exhibited a behavior known as “mugging,” which occurs when whales or dolphins voluntarily approach a boat and linger nearby, sometimes circling the vessel or appearing to investigate it. Despite the name, the behavior is not considered aggressive. ...... The whales belong to the...

SANTA CRUZ >> Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, visited the Santa Cruz Main Jail on Saturday in an unsuccessful attempt to arrest an inmate. ICE has visited Santa Cruz County dozens of times over the past two years, and has previously arrested someone exiting the jail. This time, however, more than two dozen legal observers gathered on the scene to document the visit and inform the community of ICE’s presence on social media.

The "Change Bloc" responds to exit poll results: "The public has had its say." According to most exit polls, the "Change Bloc" has secured a majority among the public—and its leaders were quick to respond. Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the "Yashar!" party—the largest in the bloc—stated: "If these are the final results, it is a victory for the mainstream Zionist majority in Israel; I will act immediately to carry out the will of the people." Lapid added: "Don't let anyone confuse you: the Netanyahu bloc has suffered a crushing defeat." Yair Golan wrote on X: "Now it is our turn...

Early voting in Texas is up about 50% compared with the same point in the 2022 midterm elections, with particularly strong participation among voters with Democratic primary histories, The Texas Tribune reported Tuesday. Nearly 4.5 million Texans cast ballots during the first seven days of early voting, representing 23.4% of registered voters, according to Texas secretary of state figures cited by The Texas Tribune. The surge comes as Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton faces Democrat state Rep. James Talarico in a closely contested U.S. Senate race that could help determine control of the chamber. Texas Democrats hope to win...

Donald Trump’s criminal investigation into Representative Ilhan Omar—which is aimed at stripping her citizenship—is far more than just another attack on a vocal critic. As many have noted, this denaturalization push is an assault on the constitutional order itself. It amounts to a declaration of dictatorial or czar-like power, in which the sovereign can declare any foe an “enemy of the people” at will and delegitimize even the opposition’s duly elected representatives by fiat. All of which raises a question: Can Democrats do anything about this? Well, yes, they actually can. enior House Democrats tell me they’re discussing a dramatic...

No clear winner emerged in Israel’s election, according to exit polls published by Channels 11, 12, and 13 on Tuesday night, all of which showed both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc and the opposition bloc seeking to replace him falling short of a 61-seat Knesset majority. The opposition bloc, comprising Yashar, B’Yachad, Yisrael Beytenu, and the Democrats, was projected to win 50-53 seats, compared with some 50 for Netanyahu’s bloc. Neither side appeared to have a clear path to forming a coalition. The Joint List and Ra’am were projected to win a combined 17-18 seats, potentially making Arab parties pivotal...

Mass demonstrations, when IRGC came out to play, they encountered armed resistance. Pahlavi circulating contact info to civil servants and military, urging next steps to be taken towards revolution. Some technical difficulty. Targeted drone attack in Tehran building, result and intended victim not yet known. Ayatoilets trying to gaslight and demonizing Pahlavi. He has plans that he's made known for reconstructing Iran after revolution. He's pro-western, pro-democracy and pro-free markets. Li'l Lulu stole election in Brazil, very similar to the Brandonistas' theft, and Bolsonaro Jr. has skedaddled and asked for asylum in America to avoid arrest like they did his...

You may have seen the name Jackie Singh popping up on X over the last few days. But if you're not a member of the military or veteran community, you may not have paid attention to the details and simply scrolled by. For those not in the know, Singh is known for her extreme left-wing independent journalism. As a brash and outspoken purveyor of progressive ideology, she has a background that many on the left do not — she served in the U.S. Army in an active combat zone. And she uses that detail to bludgeon any and all criticism...

BLM’s recent roundup in Nevada’s Callaghan Complex illustrates this entrenched cycle. Low-flying helicopters gathered over 2,000 wild horses from 1.1 million acres in July, causing eleven deaths, including several foals. Surviving horses face indefinite holding, adoption, or sale channels that carry risk of slaughter. Without on-range fertility management, herd populations will quickly recover, triggering another gather in just a few short years. The Callaghan roundup alone cost taxpayers $765,000, paid to a private contractor BLM has relied on since 1975. The federal government maintains over $100 million in open contracts with this single company – a relationship that incentivizes roundups...

Other recent polling has supported “toss-up” ratings for the race from election handicappers, like the Cook Political Report. Another survey, released last week by Fox News, showed the two candidates tied in their support from likely voters in the state, while a Suffolk University poll conducted earlier this month similarly found the Democrat with a 2-point advantage. Collins is running for a sixth term in Congress. If she is successful in the general election, she will become the longest-serving senator in the state’s history. Despite Jackson’s lead in the Marist poll, 58 percent of respondents said they believe the Republican...

Explanation: Sometimes it's night on the ground but day in the air. As the Earth rotates to eclipse the Sun, sunset rises up from the ground. Therefore, at sunset on the ground, sunlight still shines on clouds above. Under usual circumstances, a pretty sunset might be visible, but unusual noctilucent clouds float so high up they can be seen well after dark. Normally too dim to be seen, they may become visible just after sunset during the summer when illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon. Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds and are known more technically as polar mesospheric...