Free Republic

As U.S. military operations continue on the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, taking out drug-smuggling boats, the left has been dining out on the absurd claim that the U.S. Navy's targets are nothing more than fishing boats, filled with humble fishermen. . . . I'm not sure why they did this, but the Wall Street Journal decided to interview a few, and well, yes, they are drug dealers.

Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was damaged on Thursday following the launch of a manned Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station, the Roscosmos space agency said. The Soyuz MS-28, which was carrying Russian cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, along with NASA astronaut Chris Williams, took off from Baikonur at 12:27 Moscow time and successfully docked with the ISS later in the day. “Damage to several elements of the launch pad was detected,” Roscosmos said hours after the crew arrived at the ISS. “An assessment of the condition of the launch complex is currently underway.” The space agency said...

Thanksgiving weekend ends on Sunday, and still there’s no peace in Ukraine. Donald Trump’s latest attempt to end the war – his 28-point plan – began to fall apart from the moment it mysteriously leaked to various international news outfits last week. As that story landed, Reuters broke some other news: Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, would stand down in January. Kellogg, who represents the more ardently pro-Ukrainian faction of the administration, had clashed repeatedly with Trump’s peace envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been engaging in friendly dialogue with Moscow for most of the year. His departure seemed...

President Donald Trump said on Nov. 27 that the United States could eliminate income taxes over the next couple of years due to revenue generated from tariffs. Trump made the remarks during a Thanksgiving call with U.S. service members, saying the tariffs he imposed on foreign nations have generated substantial revenue and pushed companies to build their manufacturing facilities in the United States to avoid tariff costs. “We’re taking in hundreds of billions of dollars like we’ve never done before. And some of that’s going to go back in a form of a sort of dividend to our people, but...

Ousted Oxford Union president-elect George Abaraonye has issued an apology to the family of Charlie Kirk after celebrating when he was shot. The 20-year-old PPE student at University College, Oxford, sparked outrage in September when he wrote in a WhatsApp group of Union members: 'Charlie Kirk got shot, let's f****** go', and posted a similar message on Instagram.The comments came just months after Abaraonye sat opposite Kirk, one of the most prominent pro-Trump voices in American politics during a heated Oxford Union debate.He now claims his reaction came before the seriousness of the incident became clear.'I had very little context...

It was one of the big set-pieces in Washington in 2019. All eyes were on Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, who was testifying to a House committee about his former boss.A Democratic member of the committee, Stacey Plaskett, was preparing to question Cohen and was seen on camera texting someone on her phone.This week, the public found out the identity of the other person in that exchange - convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.According to emails made public by his estate under a subpoena, he was encouraging her to ask about a Trump Organization employee. After Ms Plaskett did so,...

The Trump administration is working toward cutting illegal migrants off from federal tax benefits and money transfer services, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday. “At [President Trump’s] direction, we are working to cut off federal benefits to illegal aliens and preserve them for U.S. citizens,” Bessent wrote on X. As part of the effort, the Treasury Department will propose new regulations “clarifying that the refunded portions of certain individual income tax benefits are no longer available to illegal and other non-qualified aliens, covering the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and the...

A teenager died after she was tied up and thrown into a swamp to drown in an honour killing because her Western behaviour shamed her family, according to prosecutors in the Netherlands. Ryan Al Najjar's brothers have now been put on trial for her murder, while her father, who is accused of ordering the killing, fled the country to return to Syria. Mohamed, 23, and Muhanad Al Najjar, 25, are charged with taking part in the horrific crime against their 18-year-old sister, whose body was found gagged with her hands bound behind her back, ankles taped together, and submerged in...

There are sunken treasures, and then there is the legendary shipwreck of the San Jose. Considered by many to be the ‘Holy Grail’ of shipwrecks, we have been reporting on the explorations of the massive treasure since November 2023: The San Jose Galleon, the ‘Biggest Sunken Treasure in History’, Hasn’t Been Salvaged Yet – But It’s Already Causing Dispute in Court. The remains of the Spanish galleon San José, estimated to be worth nearly $20 billion, has been located off the coast of Colombia. pic.twitter.com/Tsb02Cgu87— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) December 16, 2023This week, it was reported that Colombian scientists have recovered...

Tens of thousands of Afghans entered the US under special immigration protections following the US withdrawal from the country in 2021Afghans living in the US have condemned Wednesday's "deeply tragic" deadly shooting attack in Washington DC, while stressing that the suspect - who moved to the US from Afghanistan four years ago - does not represent them.The alleged gunman, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered America under a programme that offered special immigration protections to Afghans who worked with the US in the wake of the its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was killed in Wednesday's...

Since I have no Spirit-filled words for her, I'll just give you the funny comments instead. RESPONSES AT LINK......................... Republicans should probably just play this on repeat for the midterms.

If enacted on a long-term basis, the change would significantly shift the way National Guard troops have worked with law enforcement in the District since their arrival.National Guard troops patrolling in D.C. will be paired with local law enforcement personnel, at least temporarily, in the wake of the Wednesday attack that killed one troop and critically injured another, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post and two D.C. police officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss planning that is still in progress.“Officers will conduct high-visibility patrols with the National Guard and provide assistance as needed,”...

Remember would-be Assassin #2, Ryan Routh? Everything about him has been strange since the very beginning, quite possibly because he may simply be clinically insane by the looks of it. But today he upped the ante, even for him with several extremely bizarre Court Filings and one strange offer to President Trump. Allow me to show you…. Everything I’m going to show you can be found here if you want to verify for yourself: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.675704/gov.uscourts.flsd.675704.373.0.pdf First up, this Subpoena issued to President Trump inviting him to come to Court and punch Routh in the face, calling it “Most fun in...

The Bay Area Afghan community is condemning the shooting of two national guard troops in Washington, D.C, allegedly by an Afghan national. But they are also raising concerns that their entire community is being demonized and held accountable in the aftermath of the shooting.

The mountain states of America hold within them some of the fastest growing towns in the country. Dreamy mountain towns like Leavenworth in Washington, Alpine in Wyoming, and Elizabeth in Colorado have always been among the top places for those who love the outdoors. Now, more and more folks are planning to go and never turn back. The cost of living, moving closer family, and seeking a slower pace of life are top reasons people move to the more rural parts of the country. From idyllic mountain towns to high-desert hubs, we’ve narrowed down the ten outdoorsy towns with the...

Video SummaryMatt Walsh argues that chain restaurant food quality has sharply declined in recent years, with nearly identical, poor-tasting food across major brands (Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, etc.).Key points raised:Private equity is often blamed, but it’s not the primary or new culprit; PE has owned major chains for decades (e.g., Domino’s to Bain in 1998, Burger King in 2002) and typically buys either growing or failing companies with the goal of long-term profit, not deliberate destruction. Some PE turnarounds (e.g., Arby’s) have been successful.Cases like Red Lobster are more complex: it was already in steep decline before PE involvement,...

The US military carried out a follow-up strike on a suspected drug vessel operating in the Caribbean on September 2 after an initial attack did not kill everyone on board, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. That September strike was the first in what became a regular series of attacks on alleged drug boats. While the first strike appeared to disable the boat and cause deaths, the military assessed there were survivors, according to the sources. The second attack killed the remaining crew on board, bringing the total death toll to 11, and sunk the ship.

A woman was slashed with a razor during the Tuesday evening rush hour on a Bronx subway train, the latest in a series of violent incidents across New York City’s transit system, according to police, as reported by The New York Post. The attack occurred around 5:30 p.m. aboard a northbound 2 train as it passed through the Pelham Parkway station. Authorities said the victim was speaking with someone when an unknown woman inserted herself into the conversation, sparking an argument. Would-be chain thief slashes woman with razor on NYC train in latest transit chaos: cops https://t.co/7NvBNzo3NO pic.twitter.com/nukz0Tr5rv— New York...

Yet another grotesque scandal from western Ukraine is tearing apart the carefully curated heroic facade that globalist western leaders have built around Zelensky’s increasingly authoritarian government in Kyiv.According to a report from the Ukrainian news outlet Pravda, Ukrainian investigators have finally arrested the head of a regional draft center after he allegedly savagely beat a conscript in the groin, inflicting such severe damage that surgeons had no choice but to amputate one of the man’s organs.The assault is said to have unfolded in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk when the victim dared to refuse a fluorographic exam amid Ukraine’s notoriously chaotic...

Why wasn’t Kamala Harris cleaning her collard greens in the bathtub this year? Kamala Harris on Thursday posted a TikTok video of herself preparing Thanksgiving dinner with her nieces. Harris chose to post a small clip herself preparing collard greens. Of course she did. Is she preparing to run for office again? “We are preparing collard greens!” Harris said. Recall that last year on the campaign trail Kamala Harris told a Georgia voter she used to clean her collard greens in the bathtub. Maybe her Indian mother taught her that? Kamala then told the Georgia voter that she uses Tabasco...