Free Republic

It’s time again to dig up the story about Al Capone’s vault. Forty years ago this Tuesday (April 21), a live syndicated television special drew a record 30 million viewers with a tantalizing premise: Crews were going to blast their way into a mysterious sealed chamber in the basement of Al Capone’s onetime crime headquarters, the Lexington Hotel, in Chicago’s South Loop. Would they uncover riches? Bodies of Capone rivals? IRS agents and a medical examiner would be standing by. Prohibition-era gun discovered in walls of distillery linked to Al Capone Alas, the final moments of “The Mystery of Al...

Summary: During the period of the Revolution, slavery was much closer to being banned in America than most people realize.

Children who do not reach the age of 18 before January 1, 2027 will never be permitted to buy cigarettes or tobacco products in the UK, once a new law that has now completely cleared parliament gets royal assent from King Charles III. The rules will apply in all four of the UK's constituent countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This will effectively mean that people born on or after January 1, 2009 will never be eligible to buy them... Smoking in designated areas outside pubs and bars and other hospitality settings will remain permissible... Smoking and vaping will...

Explanation: Why are there three arches across the sky instead of two? Last month, after being dropped off by a helicopter at a high mountain peak in the Alps near the Swiss Italian border, an adventurous astrophotographer expected two arches of our Milky Way galaxy to be visible during the night. These were the inner arch looking in toward the center of our galaxy on the left, visible just before sunrise, and the outer arch on the right visible just after sunset. But there were three arches. The surprised astrophotographer soon realized that the sky was so dark that an...

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) resigned from Congress on Tuesday, 30 minutes before she was scheduled to appear before an ethics panel over her alleged theft of $5 million in taxpayer money to fund her political ambitions. A House Ethics investigative subcommittee found last month that she violated more than two dozen laws, rules or regulations governing lawmakers and was weighing whether to recommend a censure — or potential expulsion. “After careful reflection and prayer, I have concluded that it is in the best interest of my constituents and the institution that I step aside at this time,” the Florida Democrat...

Amazon removed the paperback edition of French writer Jean Raspail’s 1973 novel “The Camp of the Saints” from its U.S. listings Friday, citing a violation of its offensive content policy. Vauban Books, the publisher of the 2025 English edition, made the announcement Monday after the dystopian novel was flagged for “offensive content.” The novel is dystopian fiction that examines what happens when mass immigration meets a society that has lost its self-preservation instincts. The story follows the choices made at every level of society as a horde of immigrants sets sail from India for France. The immigrants chose France because...

The head of the Southern Poverty Law Center said Tuesday that the civil rights organization was being "targeted" by the Trump administration with a criminal investigation that appeared to focus on the group's use of confidential informants that gathered evidence on "extremely violent groups." Bryan Fair, the interim chief executive of the group, said in a video posted Tuesday that the 55-year-old organization was facing a "serious" threat: "a criminal investigation and possible charges against the SPLC or some of our employees." Fair said SPLC's confidential sources had “risked their lives to infiltrate and inform on the activities of our...

And it came to pass at that time that a man named Donald came forth from the land of Queens, across the great East River from the city they called the New Jerusalem. Now this Trumpite was a master builder and a skilled storyteller, but he was not at first a man of God. He built vast temples to Mammon, some of which, heavy with debt, collapsed in a heap. He had lain with many women, numbering more than his wives. It was even said that he had kept company with a man from Sodom known as Epstein the Onanite....

Kevin Warsh, the 56-year-old former Federal Reserve governor, was in the hot seat for his Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing and said his Fed would be independent from the White House. Warsh fielded questions on issues ranging from his views on monetary policy to his sprawling and complex personal finances to his ties to the Trump White House. He would become the wealthiest Fed chair if confirmed. Questions about the Fed’s long-cherished independence have dominated the discourse surrounding the central bank during President Donald Trump’s second term. Warsh gave a qualified endorsement of Fed independence — but noted he doesn’t...

Hezbollah Fires Rocket at Israeli Forces and UAV Toward Northern Israel. Hezbollah launched a rocket toward Israeli forces and dispatched a UAV toward northern Israel.

Houston Police Officers’ Union: “In no way does the HPOU or its leadership condone or tolerate racist behavior from any of our officers.”A Houston police officer has been relieved of duty after a video circulating on social media allegedly shows her making offensive, racist remarks, according to the Houston Police Department. Officer Ashley Gonzalez was sworn in in January 2024 and assigned to the South Gessner Patrol Division. She has been relieved of duty pending an investigation, an HPD source confirmed Tuesday morning. Gonzalez was identified as the speaker in a video of a racist rant that has gone viral...

On Tuesday’s CNN This Morning, Audie Cornish didn’t merely report the departure of three women in Trump’s cabinet—she raised the specter of sexism right out of the gate. Teasing the segment, Cornish asked: “Is there a different standard for women in the White House?” [See also, screencap.] From there, Cornish kept steering the discussion back to gender, suggesting that the departure of three women is "a trend." [snip] Let’s not forget Trump’s first term, when high-profile firings and forced exits fell overwhelmingly on male officials—including prominent figures like Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. So was...

Ashley St Clair's post on Benny Johnson was taken by many as an implication of him being gay as the former MAGA influencer warned she has evidence against him.Former MAGA influencer Ashley St Clair has taken to Instagram to publicly threaten pro-Trump commentator Benny Johnson, seemingly implying that he is gay after warning that she is ready to reveal damaging information about him. Ashley posted Instagram story with Benny's photo and multicolor flag with the song ‘gay’ playing. Many took it to be an implication of Johnson's sexuality. “Former MAGA influencer Ashley St. Clair just posted this moments ago...

Derek Dooley is trying to pull off a tricky balancing act as he campaigns for the U.S. Senate: run against Democrat Jon Ossoff while waging war on Washington itself. The former football coach sharpened that message with the launch of his first TV ad, timed to promote his campaign against U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins just before early voting begins next week... “D.C. politicians focus on getting rich and famous, and never on who hired them, which is you,” Dooley says in the spot. “And as a football coach for 30 years, I can spot these ‘me first’...

Breaking news

Carson Bender was set up at the base of a tree while hunting on private land near Nekoosa — about 100 miles north of Madison — when he turned around to find the fierce predator stalking him. The 19-year-old hunter quickly whipped out his phone to record the encounter as the bobcat slowly inched closer to him, video posted on his Instagram page shows. “I pan over with the phone, and the bobcat is just staring at me,” he told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “I was like, uh-oh.” The cat locked in on Bender for a few tense moments — then,...

𝐓𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 — 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒, 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐊𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐀, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏’𝐒 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘍𝘰𝘹. 𝘕𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸.” Tucker Carlson’s descent from conservative media star to conspiracy peddler is now complete: — Says he 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 get elected — His last guest praised 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐊𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚 as better than America — Promoting the conspiracy that the Butler ass∗ssination attempt was 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 — Had a guest claim “𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭” — Candace Owens on the same trajectory — abandoned...

While the post did not identify the women, it included a photo of Bita Hemmati, a protester arrested during anti-regime demonstrations in January The regime accused Hemmati of multiple crimes, including using explosives and weapons, throwing objects such as concrete blocks, participating in protest gatherings, and disrupting national security, according to the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Hemmati was arrested alongside her husband and two other men who lived in their apartment building, with all four sentenced to death for purported crimes against the regime. Also featured in the post were Diana Taherabadi, 16, and Mahboubeh Shabani,...

NEW YORK, NY — Former President Barack Obama and current New York City Mayor Zorhan Mamdani delighted preschool students this week by taking turns reading passages from the Communist Manifesto. "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles," Obama recited to the kids. "The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. Right, kids?" The preschoolers looked on in admiration and slight confusion as the two politicians continued their reading, pausing only to make sure the kids were...

For decades, the Armenian American community has sought a simple action from the White House: Officially recognize the 1915 systematic annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as a genocide. It is an event that the Turkish government continues to deny. Although Congress moved to recognize the genocide in 2019 and a formal presidential acknowledgment was made in 2021, the current administration has spent the past year retreating into the linguistic fogginess of “great calamity” and “historical tragedy” to describe this dark chapter in world history... The administration’s conduct in the Iran war is under intense global scrutiny......