Free Republic

The American Red Cross has declared a "blood crisis" across the nation. The organization released a warning about the second-ever blood supply crisis this week after blood donations fell to a four-year summer low. This decline worsens an emergency shortage that "threatens the availability of lifesaving blood for patients across the country," the organization wrote in a press release.

The U.S. Treasury bought yen on Friday to support the battered Japanese currency, the Financial Times reported, marking Washington’s first yen-buying intervention with Tokyo in more than a decade as it languishes near 40-year lows. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York sold euros for yen on behalf of the Treasury through Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the FT said, citing people familiar with the matter. The report did not indicate any amounts of yen purchased. Earlier on Friday, the Treasury informed a number of banks that it might intervene in the yen market and that they should “stand ready...

Visegrád 24 @visegrad24: The same people obsessed with the “Israel lobby” rarely mention how much Qatar spends buying influence in America.

Whenever I think back to my childhood, everything seems fairly joyful and innocent. And then, one day, my mother told me that I once got locked in a bathroom with a bucket full of water as a kid. That was scary, but thankfully, nothing happened.

Rep. Max Miller’s (R-OH) lawyer has taken full responsibility for making an inappropriate photo of the lawmaker’s young daughter public on social media. In a statement to Mediaite, attorney Aaron Minc apologized for what he called a “completely unintentional” inclusion of the 2-year-old’s image. Lawyers for Miller’s wife, Emily Moreno, filed a letter in court claiming the image appeared to show the child’s genitals and could constitute Child Sex Abuse Material. Emily Moreno has accused Miller of scalding her with boiling water, and other abuse. Her father, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), finally called for Miller to quit Congress on Sunday....

President Donald Trump cast doubt in recent days on allegations that Russia is helping Iran target U.S. forces, even as members of his own administration acknowledge Moscow and Beijing are supporting Tehran in other ways. Trump dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's claim that Russia supplied Iran with satellite imagery of U.S. military installations in the Gulf, saying any assistance would have been "very unimpactful" given the damage inflicted on Iran's military. "We’ll find out if that’s true. I’ll ask Putin. We’ll find out," Trump told reporters at the end of July.

There is one question that has been asked across the WNBA over the last month, and it’s about the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports. The debate has continued to gain momentum since Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham spoke publicly about protecting women’s sports for biological women. Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase was recently asked about the issue, and she approached it from a different angle. As Nakase explained that her own experiences shape her views, the focus was more on inclusion rather than competitive fairness. Nakase said she had dealt with criticism about her height and...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A Rochester homeowner shot and killed an intruder who police say was trying to break into his Avery Street home early Monday morning. Rochester police responded around 4:15 a.m. to the 300 block of Avery Street near Emerson Street. RPD Capt. Frank Umbrino said the homeowner was awakened by someone attempting to enter through the back door. When officers arrived, they were met by the homeowner and found the suspected intruder inside the kitchen. The intruder was pronounced dead at the scene. “It appears at this point that it’s a justified shooting,” Umbrino said. Police said...

Democrat nominees are creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky. They’re all together ooky.Democrats should be in the driver’s seat this fall. Mid-term elections usually go to the party out of power. The SAVE Act won’t be passed in time to stop fraud and corruption at the polls. The president is unpopular. The war is unpopular. The economy is as slow as Jessica Tarlov. And MAGA is almost as enthusiastic as Detroit Tigers fans. The problem for Democrats are the openly communist Democrats who primaried the ones who can pass for normal. The crop of Democrat nominees this year look like...

The Trump administration is racing ahead with President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project, which is now rising from the ground even as a court case to stop the project continues. Recent photos of the ongoing construction, highlighted by the New York Times, show that crews have assembled the framing of the first floor of the East Wing, a minor milestone indicating construction has progressed from strictly bunker-related to above-ground. The ascent is occurring quickly – before a federal appeals court can rule whether or not the administration violated the law by knocking down the historic East Wing and beginning...

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff picked up a high-profile endorsement Tuesday from former U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican whose clashes with President Donald Trump prompted him to back other prominent Democrats. Flake said he still disagrees with Ossoff on key policy issues. But in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he said character outweighed those partisan differences. “I’m still a conservative Republican. But character matters. And I want someone in that seat who takes the institution seriously and will protect the institution,” Flake said.

The current trend of Democratic Socialists of America goobers going on Fox and proudly coming out for all the weird and stupid things they support is akin to the phenomenon of a few years ago where you had furries publicly and proudly proclaiming their bizarre identity, except the people pretending to be cartoon foxes and wombats were less embarrassing. As dumb and creepy as it is to dress up as an anime marsupial and admit that their furry fetish tops “sincere people” and “long walks on the beach” on their list of turn-ons, at least the furry strange-os didn’t murder...

I thought of various clever-seeming ways to organize this cornucopia of quotes from the diary of former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci. But that would mean cutting some of these gems. So here they are, in ascending order of embarrassing awfulness. 1. Anthony Fauci on Anthony Fauci: — “Apparently, a lot of people at the Pentagon admire me very much …” — “The nurses went absolutely wild to see me, they were squealing and laughing and clapping. It was something to behold.” — “Did I mention he’s easy on the eyes?” — Fauci,...

0:000 seconds When you run [music] out of luck and your life really sucks, just blame the juice. 0:055 seconds Lost [music] your keys, missed the train, stab your toe in the rain. 0:099 seconds Just blame the juice. [music] Economy's down, your football team's drowned. Just blame the juice. 0:1616 seconds Bend your [music] toast. Ghosted by the one you love most. Just blame the Jew. 0:2121 seconds One look in the mirror. Why question the facts? It's easier finding an old [music] schedule to attack. Every century's got one. The story is not new. 0:2929 seconds When truth...

Sunday saw the 10-year anniversary of the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling against China’s nine-dash line. Fourteen countries reacted by reaffirming the ruling. China, predictably, reacted with saber-rattling. To recap the case: In 2012, prompted by a standoff at Scarborough Shoal, the Philippines sought international arbitration. China refused to participate in or recognize the process. It went ahead anyway, and the court ruling eviscerated China’s position, ruling its infamous nine-dash line invalid and faulting China on other points. China still refuses to recognize it and has tightened its grip over the area via salami-slicing gray-zone tactics. But the ruling stands....

Die Welt and other outlets broke a story about Chancellor Merz drawing up plans to isolate German states where AfD may win a majority in the future, so that Germany can retain its role as key central NATO transport hub in the war against Russia being stirred by European elites: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/07/30/merz-plan-to-prevent-putin-friendly-afd-state-blocking-nato/From the Telegraph piece above: Friedrich Merz is drawing up secret plans to prevent German pro-Kremlin “traitor states” from obstructing Nato’s plans to defend against a Russian invasion. German officials fear the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party could frustrate the movement of allied forces through two eastern states it is...

RICHFIELD, Wis. — A 69-year-old man flew a helicopter from the Rosendale area to a Cabela’s store in Richfield on Saturday evening because “the drive was too long,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said. A sheriff’s deputy responded about 6 p.m. to a report that a helicopter had landed in the Cabela’s parking lot in the Village of Richfield. The deputy contacted the pilot, a 69-year-old Rosendale man, who said he had flown to the sporting goods store. The drive from Rosendale to Richfield takes about 50 minutes. The sheriff’s office said the pilot was properly licensed, landed safely and...

Cmdr. Joseph Sammur was relieved as the commanding officer of USS West Virginia (SSBN-736) (Blue Crew) last week due to a loss of confidence, the Navy announced Saturday Sammur’s relief follows an investigation into a maintenance issue, a Submarine Forces Public Affairs spokesperson told USNI News on Monday. West Virginia is currently in port for maintenance, according to the Navy’s Saturday news release. Cmdr. Luke Kelvington, Submarine Squadron 20 deputy for training, has temporarily assumed command of West Virginia’s Blue Crew. Sammur, who assumed command nearly a year ago on Aug. 14, 2025, has been temporarily reassigned to Submarine Group...

MADISON, Wis. -- Madison police and other city agencies began clearing the encampment Tuesday at the site where Corey Ruiz was shot and killed by a police officer. Madison Police Department spokesperson Stephanie Fryer told News 3 Now that, at around 5 a.m. Tuesday, city officials entered the encampment at the intersection of Williamson and Baldwin streets with a bullhorn and asked people to gather their belongings and leave. Fryer said that people in the encampment lit three fires, leading Madison Fire Department and police personnel to intervene. Some people grabbed candles from the memorial dedicated to Ruiz and threw...

Snapchat’s automated system flagged a private DM to three contacts and triggered an FBI alert in under 60 minutes, ending her teaching career Sixty minutes. That’s how long it took for a private Snapchat message to travel from Kristen Volpe’s phone to the FBI to the deputies standing in her elementary school hallway. On January 29, 2025, the 22-year-old student teacher at John L. Hensey Elementary in Washington, Illinois, vented to her boyfriend and two roommates — three people total — after a student closed her laptop mid-class and wiped her lesson plan. She referenced shooting the student or the...