Free Republic

The now-infamous Quality “Learing” Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has reportedly been “trucking in” children following the release of citizen journalist Nick Shirley’s viral video alleging fraud. The Quality “Learing” Center — which found itself at the center of national attention and mockery after Shirley’s video showed the facility misspelled “learning” on its sign — was “bustling” with children on Monday, with one resident telling the New York Post they “never” saw children “go in there until today.” The local told the outlet that seeing children at the daycare center on Monday — just three days after Shirley shared his video...

You’ve seen the video. Nick Shirley, a citizen journalist (aka a journalist), traveled around Minnesota looking for fraud at state-funded daycare centers largely run by Somali immigrants. He found obvious evidence of malfeasance — and a worldwide audience on X. Shirley’s 42-minute video has now been viewed 115 million times, even forcing a huffy response from Governor Tim Walz (last seen exaggerating his military service). Shirley deserves the attention. But when it comes to waste, fraud, and abuse in government programs, nothing holds a candle to health-care spending. Especially in blue states. And especially since the Affordable Care Act and...

More than 20 years after it was on the other end of one of the biggest upsets in BCS history, Miami pulled off the biggest upset of the College Football Playoff era on New Year’s Eve. The No. 10 Hurricanes beat No. 2 Ohio State 24-14 in the Cotton Bowl to advance to the semifinal round of the playoff. Miami was a 9.5-point underdog at kickoff. Before Wednesday night, the biggest upset in playoff history — in either the four-team playoff or the current 12-team format — was Ohio State’s win over Alabama as a 7.5-point underdog on Jan. 1,...

17 min video Stunning Historical Beautiful

Education has become one of the main ideological battlegrounds across the Western world and particularly within the European Union. Although the EU treaties recognise education as a national competence, in recent years Brussels has developed an increasingly sophisticated architecture of programmes, funding streams and partnerships with NGOs aimed at exerting direct influence over what happens in classrooms—especially in areas related to identity, gender and sexuality. It is in this context that the report Indoctrinating Children: How Brussels Embeds Gender Identity in the Classroom, published by MCC Brussels and authored by sociologist Ashley Frawley, must be understood. The study documents how...

Such a coincidence that so many European churches are being burned to the ground. They should install more extinguishers.

Publix has long been considered Florida's favorite supermarket, but it seems customers are turning their backs on the grocery giant. One frustrated shopper recently took to Reddit to air their grievances after picking up a prime tenderloin steak at a Publix store in Yulee, Florida. A photo of the package showed the meat priced at a jaw-dropping $61.49 — or $49.99 per pound. 'This is criminal,' the customer wrote. 'You can get a full ribeye or tenderloin dinner with table bread, 2 sides and softdrinks in Florida at a Outback, texas roadhouse or Longhorn for $26 - $31,' one wrote....

Daily Readings from the USCCBSolemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God The Octave Day of the Nativity of the LordThe shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Luke 2:16–19 At the birth of Christ, the Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Heart was full of love and...

The New Year festivities in the Netherlands left two people dead, saw 'unprecedented' violence against police and destroyed a 19th century Amsterdam church. A 17-year-old boy from Nijmegen and a 38-year-old man from Aalsmeer were killed in fireworks accidents. Three others were left seriously injured. One person has been arrested in connection to the teenager's death, but authorities have not yet revealed any information on the suspect's identity and an investigation is ongoing.

From Wikimedia Commons: Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Viktor Vasnetsov, 1887). Predictably, human nature remains constant across the centuries, driven by the same primal impulses—ambition, fear, greed, and tribal loyalty—that fuel conflict and upheaval. These enduring drives and emotions ensure that humanity cannot permanently exorcise evil; it persists, resurfacing in ever-shifting forms. In the twentieth century, Western civilization teetered on the brink of annihilation, barely surviving the twin horrors of Nazism and Bolshevism. These ideologies, shrouded in propaganda myths about “race” and “class”, respectively, unleashed unprecedented destruction, claiming tens of millions of lives and threatening the very foundations of liberal...

An iconic church in Amsterdam has been partially destroyed after a fire ripped through its spire in the early hours of New Year's Day. The Vondelkerk, which sits just next to the Dutch capital's famous Vondelpark, collapsed in on itself as 2026 celebrations unfolded. The blaze is thought to have started just after midnight, and was soon declared a major fire and a regional emergency. By 2.30am local time, the inferno was still raging - with authorities warning locals about the heavy smoke. The blaze went on to cut off the electricity of almost 100 nearby homes. Dramatic images from...

The MONTHLY Gardening Thread is a gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the...

A total of 41,472 migrants arrived in the UK in 2025 after crossing the English Channel – the second highest annual figure on record. The Home Office confirmed on Thursday that no migrants made the journey on New Year’s Eve, continuing a run of no crossings over the festive period. It means the overall number of arrivals last year finished 9% below the all-time high of 45,774 in 2022. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to “smash the gangs” had been “a complete disaster” and the “one in, one out” deal with France is a “farce”....

China's EV Car Bubble is Finally Bursting! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG-eJDtySU8 186,000 Views Living in China for 14 years, one thing I noticed about China is that China is wasteful. I'm talking from the top to the very bottom. Everybody is guilty of being wasteful in China. It's part of Chinese society. If you go out for a meal with friends, you order a huge amount and there's always leftovers that just get thrown away. Especially if you're trying to show off, this is part of what you do. If you're a government official, you're going to have every single dish in the...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem 🇮🇱(1/1/26)[Prayer]A New Study For A New YearGenesis 2:77 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.________________________

The Washington state attorney general released a statement on X Tuesday evening warning independent journalists to stop investigating fraudulent Somali daycare centers or they could be charged with a hate crime. “My office has received outreach from members of the Somali community after reports of home-based daycare providers being harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking,” State AG Nick Brown stated. “We are in touch with the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families regarding the claims being pushed online and the harassment reported by daycare providers. Showing up on someone’s porch, threatening, or harassing them isn’t...

President Donald Trump railed against alleged social services fraud in Minnesota during remarks at his New Year’s Eve celebration at Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday. "Can you imagine they stole $18 billion," Trump said. "That's just what we're learning about. That's peanuts. And California is worse, Illinois is worse and sadly New York is worse." Trump continued, "We're going to get to the bottom of all those. It was a giant scam."

The Trump administration has ended the lease agreement for three public golf courses in Washington, a move that offers President Donald Trump an additional opportunity to put his stamp on another piece of the nation’s capital. The National Links Trust, the nonprofit that has operated Washington’s three public courses on federal land for the last five years, said Wednesday that the Department of the Interior had terminated its 50-year lease agreement. The Interior Department said it was terminating the lease because the nonprofit had not implemented required capital improvements and failed to meet the terms of the lease. While it...

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1). God is more interested in your faithfulness than He is in your accomplishments. Our society is success oriented. We love success stories. We even have television programs that exalt the lifestyles of the rich and famous. But God's standard for success is quite different. Unimpressed by our status or wealth, He looks instead for faithfulness to His will. Paul understood that principle and diligently pursued his calling as an apostle—one of those unique...

Around 40 revelers were killed and another 100 injured, most of them seriously, after an explosion ripped through a packed bar in a Swiss Alps resort town during a New Year’s celebration, officials said. The deadly blaze erupted around 1:30 a.m. at the Le Constellation bar in the ritzy ski resort town of Crans-Montana in the Valais Canton. While the cause of the fire remains unclear, it appears to have been an accident. Witnesses believe the explosion was triggered by sparklers being held too close to the ceiling, which set the roof on fire, according to reports. “At the moment...