Free Republic

A close-up view of the center of the NGC 6505 galaxy, with the bright Einstein ring around its nucleus, captured by ESA’s Euclid space telescope. The Einstein ring is formed by gravitational lensing, with the mass of galaxy NGC 6505 bending and magnifying the light from a more distant galaxy into a ring. NGC 6505 is a well-known galaxy only around 590 million light-years from Earth, and Euclid’s discovery of a spectacular Einstein ring here was unexpected. (Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, T. Li) MUNICH — When the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope launched on July...

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday will be the first Arab leader to meet with President Trump at the White House. This time, it is shaping up to be more of a burden than a blessing, as the president weighs the possibility of reduced aid to sell him on his plan to resettle Gaza. Trump’s surprise proposal—for the U.S. to take over the Gaza Strip and develop it as an international destination while its residents are relocated—has shocked the Middle East, but he has continued to press the case, including saying in an interview aired Monday that Palestinians wouldn’t have...

“Under President Trump, the EPA will be focused on our core mission to protect human health and the environment, while Powering the Great American Comeback,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin wrote in a statement. “The previous Administration used DEI and Environmental Justice to advance ideological priorities, distributing billions of dollars to organizations in the name of climate equity. This ends now. We will be good stewards of tax dollars and do everything in our power to deliver clean air, land, and water to every American, regardless of race, religion, background, and creed.”

Accountability has come for the FEMA employees responsible for sending almost $60 billion to house illegal aliens in New York City. As Jim Hoft reported, Elon Musk revealed early Monday morning that FEMA sent $59 million just last week to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants. One of the hotels in question was the Roosevelt in Manhattan. According to Musk, sending this money to these high-end hotels violated the law and interfered with President Trump’s executive order. He also vowed to to recoup the funds for the taxpayers. Now, the Washington Examiner’s Anna Giaritelli has revealed...

Court orders restricting Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and other Trump administration actions are sparking a public showdown on a key constitutional question: what are the legitimate powers of the executive branch? As DOGE plows ahead cutting wasteful programs and axing entire agencies, judges are slowing progress by issuing temporary restraining orders in response to lawsuits from Democrat-aligned groups and state attorneys general — leading some constitutional scholars to suggest, as Vice President JD Vance did on Sunday, that the courts may be overstepping their role. “If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a...

The legendary rock singer and iconic figure of glam rock, David Johansen, whose indelible influence stretches through his time with New York Dolls to his alter ego as Buster Poindexter, has revealed the distressing details of his battle with stage 4 cancer. Johansen's diagnosis includes a brain tumor, a condition he bravely kept private since 2020. He remained active and engaged with friends and family for as long as his condition allowed. His battle, however, escalated to a new level of urgency following a serious fall in November 2024, which resulted in his back breaking in two places. The severity...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will travel to Ukraine this week to discuss a potential deal concerning rare earth minerals, according to a source familiar with his plans. Bessent will be the first cabinet-level official in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to visit Ukraine. Both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Trump have expressed interest in a pact that would give the United States access to Ukraine's rare earth resources in exchange for continued support in fending off the Russian invasion. The source, who requested anonymity as the plans were still confidential, did not offer additional details on the itinerary. The...

A group of investors led by Elon Musk is offering about $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit behind OpenAI, escalating a dispute with the artificial intelligence company that Musk helped found a decade ago. Musk and his own AI startup, xAI, and a consortium of investment firms want to take control of the ChatGPT maker and revert it to its original charitable mission as a nonprofit research lab, according to Musk's attorney Marc Toberoff. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman quickly rejected the unsolicited bid on Musk's social platform X, saying, “no thank you but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion...

[Catholic Caucus] The true enemies of the Church are bad CatholicsOn the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, the anniversary of her first apparition to Saint Bernadette, I offer this reprise from our kind benefactor NC:It is a well-known account. Sister Marie Bernarde (Bernadette) Soubirous is in the convent of the Sisters of Charity in Nevers, it is 1870, war is raging throughout northern France as the Prussian-led German armies march towards Paris. The first printed version of the account,* published while she was still living, is the following. A visitor came to Bernadette at that time and made her...

ANNOUNCING OUR VALENTINE’S DAY CRYPTOGRAM CONTEST!!! This Friday at 9am, Valentine’s Day, we’re having a “Solve Today's Cryptogram Contest" with cash prizes for those who can solve the Cryptogram in the fastest time.

For decades, the deep state has quietly manipulated American institutions, consolidating power beyond the reach of the electorate. Two distinct efforts—Operation Mockingbird and the contemporary DOGE (Disclosure of Government Expenditures) movement—highlight different aspects of this subversion. While Operation Mockingbird sought to control public opinion through media infiltration, DOGE aims to expose the unchecked bureaucratic network that leeches taxpayer dollars. By examining these two movements, we can recognize the systemic corruption within our government and advocate for true conservative reform. Operation Mockingbird: A Deep State Propaganda Machine Operation Mockingbird was a covert CIA initiative designed to control American media narratives, ensuring...

Pope Francis slates ‘major crisis’ of Trump’s border policies, rebuffs JD VancePope Francis has written to US Catholic bishops critiquing the 'major crisis' of Trump's policies on illegal immigration and urging the bishops to 'work closely' with migrants.In a highly unusual move, Pope Francis has written to the Catholic bishops in the U.S. critiquing the “major crisis” of the Trump administration’s policies regarding illegal immigration and urging bishops to “work closely” with migrants.Citing “these delicate moments that you are living as Pastors of the People of God who walk together in the United States of America,” Pope Francis’ letter was...

Attorney Alan Dershowitz said Monday that many of the injunctions blocking actions by President Donald Trump, ranging from his executive orders to his efforts to address wasteful and fraudulent spending, will be thrown out on appeal. The Trump administration is appealing injunctions imposed by federal judges that targeted the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order ending birthright citizenship, among others. Dershowitz said during “The Dershow” that the cases will eventually be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court. “Nobody ever said that our system of checks and balances would make it easy to govern or would...

NATIONAL GUITAR DAY Each year on February 11, National Guitar Day strikes a chord with music lovers and musicians alike. This musical day honors one of the most iconic and versatile instruments in the world--the guitar. Whether you’re a beginner strumming your first chords or a seasoned professional shredding on stage, National Guitar Day is the perfect time to appreciate the instrument that has shaped countless music genres and inspired generations. #NationalGuitarDay The guitar’s roots trace back over 4,000 years. Records show stringed instruments appeared in ancient civilizations, such as Mesopotamia and Egypt. It wasn't until the 16th century the...

On many nights since Oct. 7, I have stayed up to watch the Israeli news. There is an eight-hour time difference between Chicago and Tel Aviv, and Israel’s news begins at 7 a.m., or 11 Chicago time. I am often astonished at the difference between what was reported on mainstream American news outlets in the evening, and what Israeli news focuses on a few hours later. But nothing prepared me for the chasm I experienced a week ago, on an early Thursday morning; one week later, I can’t stop thinking about it. By “it,” I mean the seething mob scene...

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday he had no information about unconfirmed reports on Telegram that U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff might have flown into Moscow, saying no meetings with him were on the agenda.

Over the weekend, an Obama-appointed judge issued a temporary injunction blocking the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive Treasury Department data. While the media frames this as a limited restriction on political appointees and special government employees, the reality appears far more sweeping. Judge Paul Engelmayer’s ruling explicitly bars all political appointees—including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent—from Treasury payment records and financial systems, restricting access to career civil servants (essentially the Deep State) within the Bureau of Fiscal Services. This unprecedented move effectively prevents the Treasury secretary from overseeing his own department’s financial data, raising serious concerns about executive...

Bound. Starved. Wounded. Tortured. These are the conditions that some hostages being held in Gaza still face, according to information their families said they had received from Israeli military and security officials after Hamas released three captives on Saturday as part of a cease-fire agreement. The emaciated appearance of three hostages released in a ceremony in Gaza staged by Hamas last weekend — Eli Sharabi, 52; Or Levy, 34; and Ohad Ben-Ami, 56 — and the details of their captivity have relatives of the remaining captives sounding the alarm about the urgent need for the continuation of the phased cease-fire...

Ready to connect some dots? Get comfy, because this one’s a doozy. What we’re about to lay out is a picture of Deep State corruption at its finest starring none other than Congressman Jamie Raskin, one of the left’s most rabid anti-DOGE crusaders…and now, we may know why. Jamie is going all out to stop DOGE—but why? For the American people? Please. That’s a joke. So, what’s the real reason? Well, some newly unearthed info on Jamie Raskin’s wife is starting to bring the full picture into focus—and it just might explain why Congressman Raskin is so terrified of DOGE...

Rep. Nancy Mace accused her ex-fiancé and three business partners of committing “depraved” sexual crimes against herself and a dozen other women — including underage girls — in explosive remarks in the House of Representatives on Monday. The South Carolina Republican pol said she came forward with the shocking allegations of rape, voyeurism and other sexual abuse after uncovering a trove of more than 10,000 videos and other photographic evidence contained on the phone of her former husband-to-be Patrick Bryant. “I accidentally uncovered some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable — we are talking about rape, nonconsensual photos,...