Free Republic

Italian soldiers with anti-drone rifles in Rome, Vaticanoi, for fear Islamist attacks. Because of Islam we are forced to live in fear.

Meet the Slate Truck, a sub-$20,000 (after federal incentives) electric vehicle that enters production next year. It only seats two yet has a bed big enough to hold a sheet of plywood. It only does 150 miles on a charge, only comes in gray, and the only way to listen to music while driving is if you bring along your phone and a Bluetooth speaker. It is the bare minimum of what a modern car can be, and yet it’s taken three years of development to get to this point. But this is more than bargain-basement motoring. Slate is...

The FBI's arrest of a Wisconsin judge shocked the establishment. But it's exactly the kind of escalation the MAGA base has been agitating for. "This is not the time for summer soldiers or sunshine patriots," MAGA podcaster Jack Posobiec told Axios, invoking founding father Thomas Paine. Why it matters: Friday's arrest of Milwaukee County judge Hannah Dugan, on charges of obstructing an immigration arrest, is a stunning escalation of President Trump's battles with political opponents.

Standard & Poor’s 500 downgraded its credit rating of city of Los Angeles general obligation bonds, citing its “weakening financial position and an emerging structural imbalance.” Los Angeles faces a $1 billion deficit, having burned through its once-record reserves in just two years. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is currently seeking a state bailout, but given that the state says it has “no capacity” for new spending commitments, it’s unclear if the funding will materialize. S&P warns that if trends continue, it could further downgrade the city’s credit rating, which would further increase borrowing costs due to higher associated risk...

Why should the Internal Revenue Service have enough trained manpower, guns, and ammo to equip nine or ten infantry battalions? Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has revealed that employees of the Internal Revenue Service owe about $50 million in back taxes. The problem extends far beyond the IRS: In Fiscal Year 2021, the IRS found that 149,000 federal employees owed about $1.5 billion in unpaid taxes. Let’s bear that in mind while looking at the amount of firepower the IRS can deploy. In 2020, they had 2,100 “special agents,” who carry firearms and are fully trained to use them. These are...

Huge explosion hits the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, killing 5 people and injuring more than 700 others. - AP

As part of President Trump’s Operation Take Back America, a team of Border Patrol agents arrested ten illegal aliens in Pomona, California, on Tuesday. Nine of the illegal aliens arrested were found outside a Home Depot store. The arrests that sparked a protest by an immigrants rights group included one illegal alien convicted of a weapons charge and child abuse with serious bodily injury. A small group of protesters appeared within hours at the Pomona Home Depot site, carrying signs that read, “ICE Out of Pomona.” The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) posted a video on social media showing...

After NFL quarterback prospect Shedeur Sanders was not selected in the first round of the NFL Draft Thursday, many critics debated why on social media. Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman joined the debate Friday, suggesting the reason Sanders slid was because "America continues to fear strong black men." Bowman also compared the 23-year-old quarterback to former NFL star Eli Manning, who refused to play for the San Diego Chargers after being selected with the No. 1 pick in 2004. "The NFL doesn’t like [Shedeur]Sanders because he wears gold chains and talks like a rapper. They don’t care that he’s...

A RORATE Guide to the Cardinals and the Conclaveby Serre VerweijApril 26, 2025[Read our previous piece on the Conclave here.]The spectre of the coming conclave hangs ever over the heads of more than 130 cardinal electors and 1.2 billion Catholics. Speculation is rife. Will the next Pope be like Pope Francis or more ‘conservative’, like Pope Benedict?This question is crucial. The Vatican is dealing with grave financial problems. Pope Francis has not been able (or willing) to solve this problem, in spite of the fact that it was part of the reform mandate he received in 2013. The Vatican...

The FBI on Friday arrested a Wisconsin county judge on obstruction charges, accusing her of preventing the arrest of a man by immigration authorities during a federal law enforcement operation at her courthouse. FBI Director Kash Patel said Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan "intentionally misdirected federal agents away" from an immigrant who is in the U.S. illegally and was set to be arrested. Patel said that the man, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, was later arrested and is currently being detained. Dugan was arrested at 8 a.m. on Friday at the courthouse where she works, according to a federal law enforcement source....

Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) claimed Friday on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” that Trump administration officials could be arrested for “interfering with a legal proceeding” or “kidnapping.” Raskin said, “I regard it very much within the prism of what we’ve been dealing with over the last month, which is an intense assault on judicial independence. They have been disobeying federal court orders systematically. They have incurred criminal contempt findings in the courtroom of Judge Boasberg, a conservative Republican, a judge. They have been demanding the impeachment of judges who rule against the lawlessness of the Trump administration. There are now...

VIDEOIt sure looks like something strange happened when Joe Biden leaned forward to pray during the Pope's funeral. Notice that Jill Biden right away moved forward to tell Joe something. The people around them also noticed something strange. Did they also smell something strange? Was it something embarrassing? Something like what happened when he previously visited Vatican City? Accidents happen and sometimes they do repeat themselves in the same places.

While it is encouraging to see the Trump administration shut down the southern border and deport a few plane loads of violent, gang-affiliated illegal aliens, it is a drop in the proverbial bucket. There are, by most conservative estimates, between 20 and 30 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S. If the Trump administration were to deport 10,000 per week, it would take over thirty-eight years to deport them. Judging by the federal judiciary’s activism since Trump assumed office, we can expect legal challenges to each and every deportation order. With this in mind, we could double the time...

President Trump unveiled his latest plans to shake up the White House grounds on Wednesday — announcing he will pay for two large flagpoles. The president came out of the residence in the morning to survey the grounds on the north side and was spotted with groundskeepers, who were spreading their arms, showing just how large the flags were going to be. “We’re putting up a beautiful, almost 100-foot-tall American flag on this side and another one on the other side, two flags, top of the line,” he later told reporters outside the White House. There are currently no freestanding...

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he doubts Russia’s Vladimir Putin wants to end his war in Ukraine, expressing new skepticism that a peace deal can be reached soon. Only a day earlier, Trump had said Ukraine and Russia were “ very close to a deal.” “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump said in a social media post as he flew back to the United States after attending Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican, where he met briefly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump...

Federal agents have arrested a judge in NM for housing migrant gang members in his home... Journalistic report. Includes news footage and commentary.

President Trump on Saturday said he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin may be stringing him along after the latest deadly strikes on Ukraine, as the U.S. seeks to bring an end to the war in Eastern Europe. “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump posted Saturday on Truth Social. “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”

President Trump on Saturday said he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin may be stringing him along after the latest deadly strikes on Ukraine, as the U.S. seeks to bring an end to the war in Eastern Europe. “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump posted Saturday on Truth Social. “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!” His...

Meet Joel Matos-Nieto. He’s 23 years old, covered in gang tattoos, a proud member of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua cartel, and until recently, roaming around Denver like he owned the place. Why was he here? Good question. Better question: why did anyone think it was a good idea to let him stay? This guy isn’t some poor migrant looking for a better life. He’s a criminal import. His rap sheet already includes motor vehicle theft, obstruction of a police officer, and property damage — all here in the U.S. And that’s just what he got caught doing. God knows what...

Joel Matthew Caswell faces charges including wire fraud, tax evasion and aggravated identity theft; local businesses, residents have long history of court cases.. ... According to an indictment filed in the case, Caswell faces four felony counts of wire fraud, three counts of tax evasion, one count of aggravated identity theft and 15 counts of failure to collect or truthfully account for and pay over tax. The case against Caswell centers largely around the alleged defrauding of federal programs devised to offer relief to businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Grand jury charges in the indictment allege that between 2018...