Free Republic

THE first-ever orbital rocket launched from Europe has crashed into the ground and exploded moments after its take off. German startup Isar Aerospace’s uncrewed Spectrum rocket fell into the sea and burst into flames just 40 seconds after blasting off from Norway’s Arctic Andøya Spaceport on Sunday. The dramatic fireball marked a fiery end to what had been billed as the continent’s first-ever orbital launch attempt — seen as a major step in Europe's bid to break into the booming commercial satellite market. The 28-metre Spectrum rocket lifted off at 12.30pm local time (10.30 am UK) after weather delays earlier...

Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right French National Rally party, has been found guilty in an embezzlement case that could see her banned from running for office. Ms Le Pen and 24 other officials from National Rally were accused of diverting millions of euros from the European Parliament to pay for party staff. The money was meant to be used to pay for EU aides but instead was used to pay staff working for the French party. The defendants denied any wrongdoing. Prosecutors pressed for Ms Le Pen to be banned from running from office for five years,...

Elon Musk held a town hall Sunday in Wisconsin to raise awareness about this Tuesday's upcoming state supreme court election. He spoke for close to 2 hours, speaking extemporaneously and taking questions from the audience.

While numerous federal district court judges have issued ill-conceived restraining orders against the administration, I have long believed that it will prevail in its efforts to place control of the state in the hands of the elected executive, away from the deep state bureaucracy and its black-robed judicial allies. As the litigation of these matters proceeds, I think my belief will be justified. We will return to a constitutional republican form of government. For a day-to-day look at the progress of these multiple cases, I urge you to go to X and follow Professor Margot Cleveland, who is (bless...

A dark mass of clouds hung low over North Charleston as Marine Col. Charles "Tre" Del Pizzo began his descent. It was a Sunday afternoon, late September 2023. Del Pizzo's hands were on the control stick and throttle of an F-35B Lightning II, the U.S. military’s most advanced stealth fighter, a $136 million supercomputer with wings. The F-35B can hover like a helicopter, and Del Pizzo planned to use that technology to land. Del Pizzo had just finished a training sortie over the Atlantic with a second F-35B pilot, practicing tactics at upwards of 500 mph at seven times the...

President Donald Trump announced plans to chop down a tree that was said to have been planted by former President Andrew Jackson. In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said that he was working with "the wonderful people at the National Park Service" to make "tremendous enhancements to the White House, thereby preserving and protecting History!" "One of the interesting dilemmas is a tree planted many years ago by the Legendary President and General, Andrew Jackson," Trump described. "It is a Southern Magnolia, that came from his home, The Hermitage, in Tennessee. That’s the good news!" "The bad news...

US vice president JD Vance has made a "power move" that marks him out as favourite to be the Republican's next presidential candidate, according to a former party chair. Ronna McDaniel told the Sky News Trump 100 podcast her "money would be on" Vance becoming the next nominee following his appointment as finance chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC). McDaniel, who was RNC chair for seven years until 2024, described it as a "power move from a political standpoint and somebody who understands how the rules are made". It's the first time a sitting vice president has served as...

A group of Columbia University grads tore up their diplomas on campus over the weekend to protest the school’s cooperation with the Trump administration, and the feds’ detention of former student and anti-Israel demonstration leader Mahmoud Khalil. The rally, which took place during the Ivy League university’s annual Alumni Day celebration Saturday, included students as well as a few dozen graduates of Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs — with the crowd chanting, “Free Palestine!” “It’s not easy to do this, with none of us doing this lightly. There’s no joy in this,” said Amali Tower, a 2009 SIPA...

Washington -- In New Mexico, police and prosecutors backed an effort to outlaw devices that convert pistols into machine guns. In Alabama, the governor made it a priority. Lawmakers in both states - one led by Democrats, the other by Republicans - responded this year with new laws making so-called Glock switches illegal. At least half of US states now have similar laws prohibiting the possession of such devices, a list that has grown over the past decade as law enforcement officers have found more of the tiny yet powerful devices attached to guns. States are mimicking federal law, which...

One of California's largest Muslim celebrations took place at Cal Expo on Sunday. Despite the rain and wind, more than 40,000 people gathered to mark the end of Ramadan.

The U.S. is still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic with more and more long COVID cases emerging. Bird flu is a growing threat. Measles outbreaks have been occurring. Antibiotic-resistant organisms continue to spread in healthcare settings. So what do you do next if you are in charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is supposed to protect the health of humans in the U.S.? How about lay off the entire staff of the U.S. government’s Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy?

Do you want your taxpayer dollars funding studies on preventing pregnancy in “transgender boys” or HIV stigma in Thailand? Fortunately, Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary also considers that a waste, so he’s cutting numerous idiotic woke studies. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Trump’s new agency heads have uncovered billions of dollars of egregious fraud and waste, including the previously unknown agency whose employees lived “like kings” and the Social Security funding for 150+ year olds. Now HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is looking to streamline the massive, unwieldy, unconstitutional, and harmful federal healthcare agencies. It’s time...

[Catholic Caucus] Do the Bishops Really Emphasize "Using Proper Terms?" That Depends!When I'm in a masochistic mood, I read the Arlington Catholic Herald. Usually, I just scan the headlines and put it in the paper recycling. Occasionally, though, I actually do read at least a few articles. Sometimes it even gives me a good laugh, an eye roll, and a rueful head shake.Such was the case when I read an article yesterday explaining how the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) is getting a new name, OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults). Wow! Now that is an earth-shaking...

CNN Republican commentator Scott Jennings laid into the Democrats who are calling for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ouster over the Signal-chat SNAFU that resulted in The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg being added to a chat group discussing military strikes on Houthi terrorists. In the wake of President Donald Trump’s assurance that he does not plan to fire anyone over the Signal incident, Jennings joined Sunday’s broadcast of “State of the Union” and pointed out the hypocrisy of Democrats who were calling for Hegseth’s head despite remaining silent when military leadership under President Joe Biden made decisions that resulted in the...

President Donald Trump has launched a political counterrevolution in the early days of his second presidency. One of the most profound ways he’s doing this is by effectively cutting off the Left’s massive, government-funded patronage networks. What’s making Trump’s moves so effective is that many of these networks are based on government functions that long ago either waned in usefulness or have completely abandoned their purpose. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin appeared on One America News Wednesday and explained how the Left has insidiously transformed the federal government into a Democratic Party funding apparatus. Zeldin explained how the EPA...

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) introduced a bill to fully defund NPR and PBS during a viral congressional hearing this week, calling the taxpayer-funded outlets “propaganda machines for the radical left.” The move came after a House Subcommittee on Government Efficiency hearing Wednesday, where NPR CEO Katherine Maher was brutally grilled by GOP lawmakers for the outlet’s deep-seated liberal bias while taking taxpayers’ money. Jackson’s bill—titled the “No Partisan Radio and Partisan Broadcasting Services Act” or the “NPR and PBS Act”—seeks to eliminate federal funding for both NPR and PBS. “Hardworking Americans are sick of footing the bill,” Jackson told Fox...

The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced Thursday it generated over $39 million in revenue from oil and gas lease sales on public lands during the first few months of 2025. A press release by the agency says these sales are “underscoring the Department’s continued commitment to responsible energy development on public lands and American Energy Dominance.” The revenue also reflects the government’s ongoing focus on supporting job growth, reducing reliance on foreign resources, unleashing domestic energy production and streamlining the permitting and leasing processes. “This quarter’s lease sales demonstrate Interior’s unwavering commitment to fostering American Energy Dominance, and we...

We're trying again to repeal ranked-choice voting here in the Great Land, and the process has now passed its first hurdle. The petition has been drafted, and the process of gathering signatures is starting now. In 2024, the repeal effort failed by a narrow margin - fewer than a thousand votes - despite being outspent massively by money from Outside. But there's a new team running the initiative this time, and they are taking a different approach. The second effort to repeal ranked-choice voting began its next big phase on Saturday, with the signature-gathering effort launched at the Governor’s Prayer...

More measles cases have been reported in Ontario over the last week than the total number of cases recorded in the decade between 2013 and 2023A mother of an infant, a principal of a religious school, and a public health physician — they all share the desire to get kids vaccinated against measles as Ontario recorded another 102 cases over the past week. Public Health Ontario said Thursday there have been 572 cases since the outbreak began in October, 453 of them confirmed and 119 probable. Of the 42 people requiring hospitalization, two have required intensive care, and 36 have...

Join together with Fellow FREEPERS to Pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, 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 2:1-2Religion Forum Threads Labeled [Prayer] are Closed to Debate of Any Kind.Psalm 136:1His Faithful Love Endures Forever