Free Republic

After three hours of parsing American case law, for once I share Donald Trump’s exasperation. See, many a naif, including yours truly three hours ago, would have thought the Democrats’ “sanctuary cities” unconstitutional. A sanctuary city instructs its local police force to cease all co-operation with federal immigration agents. The constitution’s supremacy clause dictates that federal law overrules local law, just as rock crushes scissors in the hand game. For subjurisdictions to offer refuge from big meanie federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (the aptly cold-hearted sounding ICE) should not, legally, be possible.It’s possible. The work-around is the 10th Amendment’s “anti-commandeering...

The Louvre museum in the French capital, Paris, is hiking its ticket prices for most non-European visitors by 45 per cent. The famous institution was the scene last year of a daring heist which saw robbers get away with jewels worth over a $100 million dollars, blamed in part on its deteriorating state. "I want visitors from outside the EU to pay more … and for that surcharge to go towards funding the renovation of our national heritage," Culture Minister Rachida Dati said announcing the hikes in 2024. But France’s decision to increase entry costs to the help fund much-needed...

Polling got underway Thursday in Uganda’s presidential election, but logistical delays hampered voting in some areas while restrictions on internet access drew criticism for potentially compromising electoral transparency. Millions of Ugandans are signed up to vote in a crucial presidential rematch between a former pop star and their long-time authoritarian leader, who aims to prolong his nearly 40-year rule. In their previous encounter at the polls in 2021, President Yoweri Museveni, now 81, won by a landslide. Bobi Wine, a singer-turned-politician, finished a distant second.

Gavin Newsom backtracks on outrageous ICE claims made by his own team. SNIP “Your press office tweeted out that it was state-sponsored terrorism,” Shapiro said, before pushing back on the characterization of federal agents. “Our ICE officers obviously are not terrorists,” Shapiro added. “Yeah, I think that’s fair,” Newsom agreed. The governor also said he “disagreed” that ICE should be abolished. SNIP Newsom also squirmed when Shapiro praised President Trump as the greatest foreign policy president in his lifetime and demanded to know why he wouldn’t “radically” reduce income tax for California

Iran is once again on fire. For the better part of the last month, Iranians have been taking to the streets in large numbers to demand change. The proximate cause for the protests was spiraling inflation, but as the crowds grew, Iranians clamored for the end of the Islamic regime. Despite the avalanche of speculation, no one knows what will happen in Iran. That is the nature of popular uprisings, they are unpredictable. To many analysts, journalists, pundits, and academics, this round of protests feels different from previous ones in 2009, 2017, 2019, and 2022—and maybe they are. Or maybe...

The ruthless slaughter of anti-government protesters in Iran appears to have stopped — but only because residents are being held hostage in their homes by machine gun-wielding security forces that have flooded the streets, sources told The Post Thursday. After weeks of anti-regime protests across Iran left thousands dead, the mass mobilization of security forces has suppressed the demonstrations, with many too afraid to step foot outside now. “There were tanks out — there’s tanks everywhere,” the source told The Post after speaking to family in Tehran about the current situation

On Jan. 1, Bulgaria became the eurozone’s 21st member when it gave up its 145-year-old currency, the lev, for the euro. In Sofia and Brussels, this development was roundly celebrated as another step in the European Union’s economic and political integration. What went largely unnoticed, however, is the extent to which Bulgaria’s adoption of the euro represents a strategic blow for the Kremlin. After years of sustained effort to block Sofia from joining the eurozone, Moscow failed to prevent a decision that anchors Bulgaria more deeply and irreversibly within the European project. The currency switch not only exposed the limits...

The failed ‘ceasefire’ (in which the fire never actually ceased) was premised on Hamas disarming. As anyone with any common sense warned, Hamas would not disarm. And no one would force it to disarm. That hasn’t stopped Steven Witkoff from pushing on with imaginary plans based on fantasies about how Hamas really wants peace despite decades of evidence otherwise.Unmoved by those concerns, US special envoy Steve Witkoff announced on Wednesday the “launch of phase two,” where the goal will be “moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance and reconstruction.“We’ve talked to a number of Hamas people, and we’re hearing throughout...

Denmark said it did not manage to dissuade President Donald Trump from seeking to conquer Greenland during high-level talks at the White House on Wednesday. "It's clear the president has this wish of conquering Greenland," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said at a news conference after a closed-door meeting attended by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "We had what I will describe as a frank but also constructive discussion," he added, standing alongside Greenland’s minister of foreign affairs, Vivian Motzfeldt. "The president has made his view clear, and we have a different position.” Trump...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. "Finally, brothers, rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God...

Tensions boiled over Tuesday night at a West Bank Business Association public safety meeting, where residents and Democratic politicians voiced fears that an upcoming “March Against Minnesota Fraud” could lead to harassment of Somali community members. The march, planned for Jan. 17 at Minneapolis City Hall, is organized by conservative influencer Jake Lang, who has been advertising the march on X. In a post, he called for “crusaders” to “take back” Minnesota from Democrats. Dozens filed into the Jan. 13 meeting in the Brian Coyle Community Center — a gathering place for the Minneapolis’ Cedar Riverside neighborhood and many in...

A new preliminary report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board reveals that PG&E reportedly told fire crews that they “did not need assistance” with a gas leak just an hour and a half before a massive explosion at a Hayward home. The explosion happened on the morning of Dec. 11, at 867 East Lewelling Blvd. in Hayward. Three residents and three PG&E employees were injured, according to the NTSB report, and at least two homes were damaged. Before the explosion, PG&E was contacted around 7:25 a.m. because a service line had been hit by a roadway repair company,...

The Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “quietly released” tens of millions of dollars in previously frozen Title X family planning funds to Planned Parenthood affiliates and other abortion facilities in December, Politico reported Jan. 13.As CatholicVote previously reported, the Trump administration in April 2025 froze roughly $27.5 million in federal family planning grants to organizations, including Planned Parenthood, while it reviewed whether recipients had used taxpayer funds to support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.According to Politico, the funds were restored in December 2025, prompting the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to drop a lawsuit seeking...

As allies met in Paris to firm up security guarantees for Ukraine, the presence of peace envoys sent by Donald Trump offered hope that the US was still listening to the EU despite the president's threats to annex Greenland. "We have largely finished the security protocols," said Steve Witkoff, one of the two emissaries, as he stood alongside the leaders of France, Germany, the UK and Ukraine at the presidential palace in Paris. "This is important so that when this war ends, it ends forever," he said. Even as France and the UK inked their resolve to deploy troops to...

[Catholic/Anglican] Why Today’s Men Are Repulsed By the Mainstream Catholic ChurchOne of the most devastating realities about the Catholic Church today is that men are generally repulsed by what they see, beginning in their local parishes and all the way up to the Vatican.Merely looking at some of the prominent aspects of the “mainstream church” today, we can understand why this is: flamboyant priests like Fr. James Martin are rewarded by the Vatican while good men like Bishop Joseph Strickland are banished; rather than finding the firm and immutable religion of the saints, we find an amorphous set of nice...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Schneider asks Pope Leo XIV for authoritative document to protect Latin MassBishop Athanasius Schneider suggested Pope Leo pen an apostolic constitution to ensure long-term legal stability for the Traditional Latin Mass and establish liturgical peace.Bishop Athanasius Schneider has said he proposed the promulgation of an apostolic constitution to regulate the coexistence of the traditional Latin Mass and the post-conciliar Roman rite to Pope Leo XIV.On January 14, Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan, stated in an interview published by the Cofraternity of Our Lady of Fatima that he personally suggested to Pope Leo the issuance of...

🚨 HOMAN drops the hammer: ‘We’re creating a database of people interfering with ICE. We’ll make ‘em famous, put their faces on TV, notify their employers, neighborhoods, and schools. Bet a lot of bosses don’t know what they’re up to!’ Make’m famous!

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, conversation and music. Gather around the Canteen cooler and strike up a conversation. Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here. No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a chair, put your feet up, grab a drink,...

PHOENIX — Kyrsten Sinema is being sued by a woman who alleged that the former U.S. senator from Arizona had an affair with her husband and broke up her marriage.

EuroNews reports that a collection of Iron Age objects was unearthed during an archaeological investigation conducted ahead of a construction project in the East of England. A nearly complete Celtic battle trumpet, or carnyx, and parts of a second one were found in the hoard, in addition to a bronze boar head from a military standard and five shield bosses. "The carnyces and the boar-headed standard are styles well known on the continent and remind us that communities in Britain were well connected to a wider European world at the time," said Fraser Hunter of National Museums Scotland. To read...