Free Republic

Texas Senator John Cornyn is facing stiff competition from Challenger Ken Paxton, who currently serves as the Attorney General of Texas. Many have criticized Cornyn for being a RINO, or a Republican in name only, and it seems that the public agrees, as Paxton has started to pull ahead in the polls. For context, even in deep red states like Texas, Republican lawmakers will compromise on their conservative principles to get ahead. Often derogatorily referred to as RINOs, these legislators see more in common with the DC sDCmp than their constituents at home. In any case, Punchbowl News reports that...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo XIV: Catholics need to rediscover ‘sense of mystery’ in the liturgyPope Leo XIV's praise for the beauty and 'mystery' of the Eastern liturgy has given hope to Catholics that he might be more favorable to the traditional Mass than his predecessor.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Praise from the pope for the beauty and “mystery” of the Eastern liturgy has given hope to Catholics that Leo XIV might be more favorable to the traditional Mass than his predecessor.In recent years, the long-standing so-called “liturgy wars” have become even more painful due to the sweeping and punitive restrictions placed...

role as a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Lincoln Acres Elementary to manipulate her victims, luring them with gifts, special attention and even completing their homework, according to the San Diego County district attorney’s office. When one of her victims was not allowed access to social media or personal electronic devices at home, she went so far as to set up an unsanctioned after-school program and directed him to message her through a school chat application, prosecutors said. The 36-year-old teacher pleaded guilty in February to two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child, one count of a lewd...

BREAKING: Massachusetts US Attorney Leah Foley announces she will arrest activists that try to stop ICE investigationsREAD: https://justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/statement-us-attorney-leah-b-foley-regarding-attempts-obstruct-ice-operations LINK - https://x.com/AntiWuCoalition/status/1922712799274246495

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) said Wednesday on CNN’s “Inside Politics” that he will not support the House spending bill because it has “real Medicaid benefit cuts.” Hawley said, “It ought to be just a basic foundational principle, it is wrong to cut health care for the working poor, and that’s what we’re talking about here with Medicaid. My state is a Medicaid expansion state, over 20% of Missourians, including hundreds of thousands of children, are on Medicaid.” He added, “I don’t like the idea of decreasing funding for rural hospitals. I’m worried that the House bill goes way too far...

BOZEMAN, Montana — Nine felony cases connected to a game of “Crime Bingo” played by Bozeman Police Department officers will not be prosecuted, said Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell. “It’s a tough call, but dismissal of the cases is the best way to protect the defendant’s constitutional due process rights and to ensure procedural fairness in those cases,” said Cromwell in a statement. Bozeman Police Chief Jim Veltkamp revealed the “Crime Bingo” during an April 18 press conference, saying an independent review concluded “that zero of the cases had been affected by the game.” Cromwell announced last week that four...

Explanation: This pretty nebula lies some 1,500 light-years away, its shape and color in this telescopic view reminiscent of a robin's egg. The cosmic cloud spans about 3 light-years, nestled securely within the boundaries of the southern constellation of the Furnace (Fornax). Recognized as a planetary nebula, egg-shaped NGC 1360 doesn't represent a beginning, though. Instead, it corresponds to a brief and final phase in the evolution of an aging star. In fact, visible at the center of the nebula, the central star of NGC 1360 is known to be a binary star system likely consisting of two evolved white...

ISTANBUL—Diplomatic brinkmanship over U.S.-brokered efforts to efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine reached dizzying levels on Wednesday, with each side seeking to call the other’s bluff by demonstrating a desire for peace and casting the other as the obstacle to it. Ukraine’s president said he would be waiting in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Thursday for Vladimir Putin, but the Russian president is sending a team of negotiators to Istanbul, and the Kremlin won’t say if he will be there. President Trump hasn’t ruled out the possibility of joining any talks in Turkey, and senior U.S. officials are headed...

Dusty Springfield made her way into the heart of 1960s swinging London with the British trio The Springfields. Her solo hits include "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" (1966) and "Son of a Preacher Man" (1969). After a bout with drugs and alcohol, she saw her career resurrected with the 1987 Pet Shop Boys song "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and the soundtrack to the 1988 film Scandal.

Lawmakers from both parties fell asleep during an all-night hearing as Republicans successfully moved Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill to cut taxes and secure the border through its initial House committee. The House Ways and Means Committee held a 17-hour long hearing to discuss the merits of the “big, beautiful” bill that will extend the Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, secure the border, rein in wasteful spending, and more. Although Republicans successfully advanced the bill out of committee, it did leave a toll on some lawmakers. Videos have emerged of Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) falling asleep.

Since President Donald Trump took office, U.S. Border Patrol has seen an unprecedented surge in applications from men and women who want to serve at the U.S. borders. From January to April 2025, USBP received 34,650 applications, representing a 44% increase over the same four-month period in 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection says. “This historic spike in applicants is a direct reflection of the renewed national commitment to border security under the leadership of President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” it said. Under Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks, Texas’ first Border Czar,...

Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg predicted that "Trump's efforts to restore American manufacturing will fail because excessive regulations make it too hard to build things in this country. From my time as Secretary of the USDOT I learned that everything goes over budget and takes far longer than it should because of regulations like the rules mandating that 40% of the benefits go to 'under-served' minorities." President Biden established the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council whose job is to ensure that the voices, perspectives, and lived realities of communities with environmental justice concerns are heard in the White...

With a public apology secured, Claire Mitchell KC & Zoe Venditozzi fight on for a pardon and are spreading the word with a podcast and tartan memorialAre you female, have one or more moles and are capable of expressing yourself? Perhaps you have a cat, are maybe single by design or circumstance, and given to bestowing well-meaning medical tips? Then you might as well get yourself a pointy hat and broomstick because turn back the clock a few centuries and you’d find yourself accused and convicted of witchcraft and in a burning bucket of tar surrounded by a braying mob...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will not participate in the negotiations set to take place in Istanbul on May 15, APA reports citing Kommersant.ru. This contradicts an earlier report by The Washington Post, which claimed Lavrov would attend the talks alongside President Vladimir Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov. Meanwhile, U.S. President’s Special Representative Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Istanbul on May 16, accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. President Donald Trump recently stated that Putin’s visit to Türkiye would depend on his own travel plans to the country. It should be noted that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed...

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It’s official — the deer of Abruzzo can breathe a little easier. A controversial plan to cull nearly 500 of them, including over 140 fawns, has been scrapped, and animal rights groups are celebrating what they see as a hard-won victory. The story began last August, when the Abruzzo Regional Council approved a resolution authorising the killing of 469 deer as part of population control efforts. The plan sparked outrage among environmental and animal welfare associations, who took the matter to court. Despite an initial setback — with the regional administrative court (TAR Abruzzo) refusing to suspend the measure —...

Have you ever just had a family dinner conversation over a group holiday or spoken with friends about going to Ibiza to party, and minutes later, relevant ads appear on Facebook or other applications or websites? More than likely you answered yes, and that’s simply because all smart devices are permanently listening in on everything you say and keep track of everything you do. They are constantly gathering behavioural data, mostly for commercial and marketing purposes. In the case of vehicles with built-in smart devices, including sensors, they build complete profiles of the drivers and their passengers. They map their...

Bodycam footage of Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver assaulting federal agents / screen image House Speaker Mike Johnson said the three New Jersey Democrats who stormed the ICE facility in Newark last Friday may face disciplinary action. Speaker Johnson said the members of Congress who assaulted ICE agents at the Delaney Hall center may face expulsion from Congress. “Look, there’s three possible disciplinary actions that Congress – that the House can take. You can censure a member and that probably does seem appropriate here. You can kick them off committees… that’s a new tradition adopted by the Democrats or you can...

In a massive sting operation straight out of a crime thriller, Spanish police have smashed one of Europe’s most powerful underworld banks – a slick, secretive syndicate laundering millions using the ancient and shadowy “hawala” method. Cash, crypto and contraband – the works. In unbelievable scenes, Spain’s National Police, backed by EUROPOL and EUROJUST, swooped on a web of luxury and illegality. The secret January raids – now revealed – saw over 250 officers hit 13 locations across Spain and Belgium in a coordinated blitz, nabbing 17 suspects, seizing mountains of loot and blowing apart a money-moving machine that had...

The EU’s top court annulled the Commission’s decision to deny the newspaper New York Times access to messages exchanged between President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, finding that the EU executive failed to plausibly explain why it does not possess the texts. After a long tug-of-war between the European Commission and The New York Times over transparency surrounding the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine contracts, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) today ruled that the Commission “has not given a plausible explanation to justify the non-possession of the requested documents.” According to the Court, the Commission cannot simply...