Free Republic

An urgent manhunt is underway for an Arizona sex offender who allegedly threatened to assassinate former President Donald Trump during his Thursday visit to the U.S.-Mexico border. Ronald Lee Syvrud — whom the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office described as a 66-year-old white man who stands at six feet tall, weighs 220 pounds, and wears glasses — allegedly made the unspecified threats on social media, the Daily Mail reported. A press release from the sheriff’s office revealed that Syvrud, whose last known address is in Benson, has multiple open warrants in Wisconsin for DUI and failure to appear in court, as...

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can continue to pursue his censorship lawsuit against the Biden administration. The Supreme Court ruled in June that state and individual plaintiffs who alleged the Biden administration violated their First Amendment rights when it pressured social media companies to suppress speech did not have standing to sue. District Court Judge Terry Doughty found Kennedy meets the standard set by the Supreme Court because there is “ample evidence” to show he has been censored in the past at the direction of government actors and “substantial risk” that the censorship will continue....

Boeing Starliner program manager Mark Nappi ... it's no surprise that the company's Starliner crewed flight test is taking longer than expected — so far, almost ten times longer than expected. NASA astronauts Butch Williams and Suni Wilmore are on Day 77 of their eight-day stay aboard the International Space Station. Nappi says he regrets not doing a better job of managing expectations. "I think we all knew that it was going to go longer than that.. We didn’t spend a lot of time talking about how much longer, but I think it’s my regret that we didn’t just say...

“‘Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth’” (Matthew 6:19). You cannot pursue both God and riches. Ours is a society consumed with material things. Status, success, and importance are all too often measured by a person’s financial worth. Those with wealth flaunt it; those without wealth fake it. People often rack up huge debts in their desperate and futile pursuit of happiness through accumulating material things. Sadly, that same materialistic mind-set permeates the church. Instead of offering an alternative, that of being distinct from the world, the church joins the world in its pursuit of riches. Most tragically...

Conspiracy theories. What to some is a sign of critical thinking is, to others, a sign of dangerous insubordination. I was taught by my father that a good argument can stand up to criticism and that finding someone who disagreed was a fine way to test your theory. I’ve never been too bothered when folks disagree with me. In fact, I’m eager to know why. I want to learn whether or not I’m missing something. But these days, it seems that I’m in the minority. The “danger” of conspiracy theories The term has long been used in a derogatory fashion...

Enrollment for Black and Latino students dropped at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the first class formed after the Supreme Court found race-conscience admissions in colleges unconstitutional. The university’s admissions department on Wednesday released its first-year class profile, showing a sharp drop in its Black student population. About 5% of MIT’s incoming class of 2028 is Black, a significant drop from its 13% average in recent years. Latino students make up 11% of the class of 2028, compared to a 15% average in recent years. Overall, 1,102 students make up the incoming class.Stu Schmill, MIT’s dean of admissions, attributed...

The man who fired shots at former President Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania had encrypted accounts in multiple countries, according to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives task force investigating the attempted assassination.“We haven’t learned much about those overseas accounts,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) told a press conference in Chicago on Aug. 21. “We do know they were in ... Belgium, New Zealand, and Germany.”Waltz is on the “Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump.”FBI officials previously disclosed that Crooks used encrypted messaging applications.“Why does a 19-year-old kid who is a health care...

Ukraine has seized more Russian territory in two weeks than Russia has seized in Ukraine all year. Reinforcements sent by Moscow failed to stop a Ukrainian surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region during its second week, creating a dilemma for the Kremlin – to further tap Russia’s invasion force in Ukraine by diverting more battalions to defend Russia, or to throw new conscripts into the war. Moscow has so far kept regular recruits into the armed forces on rotation at home, sending only contract soldiers to the bloody battlefields of Ukraine. But the Kursk offensive has changed that delicate political...

On Wednesday, during the third day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, a speaker at the Black Caucus event made a revealing statement that has caught the attention of political observers. Rev. Mark Thompson, who hosted the Black Caucus panel, urged attendees to maintain a controlled demeanor until the upcoming election, sparking discussion and criticism, particularly from the Trump campaign. Rev. Thompson, known for his role as the host of the “Make it Plain” podcast, addressed the audience with a directive to stay composed in the weeks leading up to the election. “We got 70 days to act...

Cops in Arizona are hunting for a convicted sex offender who allegedly threatened to kill Donald Trump — and they believe he’s on the loose in the border region where the former president is set to speak Thursday. Ronald Lee Syrvud has several outstanding warrants — including for a DUI in Wisconsin and a hit-and-run in Arizona — where he is also sought for failing to register as a sex offender, according to the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office.

Donald Trump told the Daily Mail on Wednesday that he doesn’t want briefings from U.S. intelligence agencies because it could lead to him being accused of leaking classified information.‘I don’t want them, because, number one, I know what’s happening. It’s very easy to see what’s happening … because as soon as I get that, they’ll say that I leaked it,” he said.“So, the best way to handle that situation is, I don’t need that briefing. They come in, they give you a briefing, and then two days later, they leak it, and then they say, ‘You leaked it’ … So...

Suspect has outstanding warrants in Wisconsin and Arizona, police said A manhunt is underway in Arizona for a suspect who threatened to kill former President Trump ahead of a rally in the Copper State later Thursday. The Cochice County Sheriff’s Office has identified the suspect as 66-year-old Ronald Lee Syrvud. The sheriff’s office said Syrvud has outstanding warrants from the state of Wisconsin for DUI, failure to appear for DUI and from Graham County Arizona for hit-and-run and felony failure to register as a sex offender. The sheriff’s office said it also has an absconder hold for Syrvud for failing...

Controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate was detained again Wednesday as masked Romanian cops carried out fresh raids on his home amid new allegations of human trafficking and sex with a minor, authorities said. The self-proclaimed misogynist — who is already awaiting trial on rape and human trafficking charges — was hauled away from his Bucharest property alongside his 36-year-old brother Tristan. “What I’ve done wrong, who knows,” Tate, 37, raged to reporters as he was ushered into a police van amid the latest probe.

The funny thing about being famous is there will always be people who hate you. Fame is like that, and that’s the world Donald Trump comes out of. So when he hears that people hate him, in a way, it’s like a normal part of the job. Politicians don’t want to inspire indifference, but hatred is worse. While Trump is very much loved by his die-hard supporters, he is also hated by many more people, and not just Democrats and never-Trump Republicans

Vice President Harris’s campaign spokesperson says the campaign isn’t worried about the possibility that independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will drop out and endorse former President Trump, saying their message “isn’t for” him, but rather for voters who are on the fence about a second Trump term. “I think our message, frankly, isn’t for RFK,” Michael Tyler said Thursday on MSNBC. “It’s for the voters who are looking for a place to go in this campaign.” Tyler, speaking from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, touched on the rumors that Kennedy will drop out of the race Friday and...

The Bronx mom charged with murdering her 7-year-old daughter in an August 2021 tragedy that shocked the city could be ordered to come to court, a fed-up judge said Wednesday — after the accused killer blew off her second hearing in a week. Navasia Jones — who refused to leave a Corrections Department bus on Monday — made it up six floors this time to a holding room just outside the courtroom, but would not budge further. “She is refusing to come out,” a state court officer explained after Justice Joseph McCormack called out Jones’ case in Bronx Supreme Court...

Explanation: In silhouette against a crowded star field along the tail of the arachnological constellation Scorpius, this dusty cosmic cloud evokes for some the image of an ominous dark tower. In fact, monstrous clumps of dust and molecular gas collapsing to form stars may well lurk within the dark nebula, a structure that spans almost 40 light-years across this gorgeous telescopic portrait. A cometary globule, the swept-back cloud is shaped by intense ultraviolet radiation from the OB association of very hot stars in NGC 6231, off the upper right corner of the scene. That energetic ultraviolet light also powers the...

The Supreme Court on Thursday partially agreed to the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) request to revive an Arizona law that strengthens proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting. The justices in a 5-4 vote reinstated a provision that mandates officials reject state voter registration forms if the person did not provide proof of citizenship. But a majority declined the RNC’s demand to also put into effect Arizona’s separate prohibition on someone voting for president or by mail without citizenship proof, even if they applied using a federal version of the registration form.

The White House issued a blistering statement Thursday following President Donald Trump's bizarre late night broadside calling Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro a 'highly overrated Jewish Governor.' 'It is Antisemitic, dangerous, and hurtful to attack a fellow American by calling out their Jewish faith in a derogatory way, or perpetuating the centuries-old smear of “dual loyalty,” said White House Principal Deputy Communications Director Herbie Ziskend in a statement issued to reporters. 'President Biden and Vice President Harris believe we must come together as Americans to condemn and combat Antisemitism – and hate and bigotry of all kind,' he said, in a...

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER This matter is before the court on Defendant’s motion to dismiss based on Second Amendment grounds. (Doc. 26.) A response and a reply have been filed (Docs. 28, 29), and the court held a hearing to establish additional facts about the weapons charged. The motion is thus ripe for review. The court finds that the Second Amendment applies to the weapons charged because they are “bearable arms” within the original meaning of the amendment. The court further finds that the government has failed to establish that this nation’s history of gun regulation justifies the application of 18...