Free Republic

President Donald Trump’s approval rating in New Jersey bests that of Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ), according to a poll, marking a negative sign for Democrats. The Emerson College/Pix 11/the Hill poll, published Thursday night, finds that Trump has a neutral rating in the Garden State, with 47 percent approving and 47 percent disapproving of his performance. Another six percent did not have an opinion or had neutral feelings about his performance. Conversely, Murphy has a negative approval rating in the traditionally blue state. Of the respondents, 40 percent give him positive marks, while 45 percent disapprove. This equates to a...

The Aztec Empire once hosted an expansive trade network that brought volcanic glass to its capital from right across Mesoamerica, coast to coast. The largest compositional study of obsidian artifacts found in the ancient Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan has now revealed the far-flung influence of the Mexica culture – the largest and most powerful faction of the Aztec Alliance. The 788 precious obsidian objects analyzed include weapons, urns, earrings, pendants, scepters, and decorated human skulls. They appear to have been sourced from across the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, even from the lands of rival governments. The discovery speaks to the commercial...

The Hag’s seventh No.1 featured such great players as James Burton and Jim Gordon.Merle Haggard’s reputation as the champion of the working class was further cemented on May 16, 1969. That day, he was at Capitol Records’ studios in Hollywood with an A-list of musicians that comprised the Strangers, recording the great “Workin’ Man Blues.” It went on to become the seventh in an incredible total of 24 country No.1s amassed by “The Hag” in just ten years. Haggard’s tough upbringing, including time in San Quentin for a robbery conviction, and his unshakeable principles as a man of the people,...

Whilst it has been argued that US President Donald Trump has been turning a deaf ear to Europe with regards to tariffs, in the case of hearing aids, it’s not true. Three of the world’s largest and longest established hearing aid manufacturers are based outside of Danish capital Copenhagen in an area known locally as the “Silicon Valley of Sound.” These companies, Demant, GN Store Nord and WS Audiology (as well as Swiss rival Sonova Holding) must have held their collective breaths as Trump announced the levy of tariffs for products imported into the USA but once again, they were...

An American baby, KJ Muldoon, born with a rare and life-threatening genetic disease, is growing normally after undergoing the first successful personalized gene therapy. In a new study, researchers report that the baby is among the first humans to receive this therapy to correct tiny yet critical errors in his genetic code. These errors are fatal to half of the affected infants. Although this treatment is not anticipated to become mainstream, doctors hope the technology will eventually aid millions with similar conditions. Dr. Kiran Musunuru from the University of Pennsylvania said, “This is the first step towards the use of...

Mayoral hopeful Andrew Cuomo bailed on a planned visit Friday to a Queens senior center as dozens of raging protesters were expected to confront the ex-gov over his botched handling of the nursing homes during the pandemic. About 25 protesters marched in front of Peter Cardella Senior Citizens Center in Ridgewood for over an hour as they eagerly waited to face Cuomo over his administration’s controversial directive to send infected COVID-19 patients into nursing homes — which resulted in thousands of deaths. “I’m still trying to process and come to terms with how to prevent that [a pandemic] from happening...

A duck gets flashed flying at 52km/h in a 30 zone sets off a speed camera, and it might not be his first offence. A duck has done what no one expected: triggered a Swiss speed camera. But the real twist? This may not have been his first time. On April 13th 2025, in the quiet town of Köniz, near Bern in Switzerland, police reviewing routine radar footage were surprised to spot a mallard duck clocked at 52km/h in a 30km/h zone. The feathered flyer was snapped mid-air, in full flight — and clearly not respecting local traffic laws. Just...

Verizon announced the termination of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in a Thursday letter sent to FCC Chairman Brandon Carr. The telecommunications company said it recognized that some of its DEI policies were "discriminatory" and vowed to terminate all company roles focused on DEI effective immediately. This comes after the Trump administration launched a probe into the company over such policies in February. Verizon cited Supreme Court rulings, President Donald Trump's executive orders, and federal mandates for its decision to eliminate DEI from the company. The company will no longer maintain workforce diversity goals and said it would...

Breaking- The Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration, blocking them from deporting a group of Venezuelan illegal alien gang members in Texas under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act

The Trump administration has fired nearly 600 Voice of America employees as the president is working to overhaul the agency. The employees who were notified this week are mostly contractors, The New York Times reported. The 600 equals about one-third of the agency's staff. Those fired were told their last day of work will be May 30, which also will be the deadline to return badges, credentials, and other VOA property, The Hill reported. The firings follow U.S. Agency for Global Media senior adviser Kari Lake's announcement last week that One America News Network will provide news-feed services to the...

A Northern California businessman is making moves to get his company's products out of China and to the U.S. now that import tariffs are set to drop to 30% starting Wednesday. Price Johnson is the COO of Cephalofair Games. The company makes board games, including Gloomhaven and Frosthaven. The recent Trump administration trade deal to pause 145% tariffs and bring them down to 30% for the next 90 days has Johnson making moves to get his product out of a Shanghai warehouse and back to the US. "I'm talking to my freight partners. Half of them are telling me, 'I'm...

For years, Democratic state leaders believed their immigrant programs were free from federal interference. But Republicans in Washington are now threatening to penalize states that continue them.

Elite panic equates patriotism with fascism. We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S.,” a Wednesday New York Times headline read. Sure, plenty of well-known Democrats (mostly from Hollywood and the media) vowed to leave the U.S. in the event of a second Trump presidency: Sharon Stone, Cher, Barbra Streisand, Raven-Symoné, Whoopi Goldberg, Elon Musk’s gender-confused son Xavier Wilson, and even Cardi B rank among those who’ve at least hinted at that kind of radical action. But few of them have actually done anything about it. But even the New York Times knows that nobody takes the vague premonitions of...

HealthWatch Weight loss drugs have "no end game" amid lack of data on long-term use, former FDA commissioner warns healthwatch By Edited By May 13, 2025 / 1:03 PM EDT / CBS News Weight loss drugs have transformed how Americans lose weight, including former commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Dr. David Kessler. But, Kessler warns there are unknowns about long-term use of the drugs and how to get people off them. "There is no end game," he said on "CBS Mornings Plus" Tuesday. "FDA allowed these medicines out without a long-term strategy." Kessler faced unexpected weight gain...

The FBI Headquarters is leaving the J. Edgar Hoover Building on Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C., according to the bureau’s director, Kash Patel. Patel, who made the announcement in a short clip Friday on Fox’s Mornings with Maria, called the building “unsafe for our workforce.” The move would transfer 1,500 employees to various locations across the country.

They arrive at the U.S. border from around the world: Eritrea, Guatemala, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ghana, Uzbekistan and so many other countries.They come for asylum, insisting they face persecution for their religion, or sexuality or for supporting the wrong politicians. For generations, they had been given the chance to make their case to U.S. authorities.Not anymore.“They didn’t give us an ICE officer to talk to. They didn’t give us an interview. No one asked me what happened,” said a Russian election worker who sought asylum in the U.S. after he said he was caught with video recordings he made of vote...

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump accused James Comey on Friday of calling for his assassination in a coded post on social media, rejecting the former FBI director's explanation that he was not aware of any violent connotation.U.S. law enforcement officials are investigating an Instagram photo posted by Comey of the number 8647 formed by seashells with the comment, "Cool shell formation on my beach walk."The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here.In U.S. slang, the number 86 can be used as a verb meaning...

Dave Portnoy just handed out one of his highest pizza ratings ever to a newly opened pizzeria in Little Italy – which is now causing impatient lines and sold-out pies. The Barstool Sports founder is known for his viral — not to mention controversial — one-bite pizza reviews. And he recently gave Ceres — a three-month-old-or-so pizzeria at 164 Mott St. run by two former Eleven Madison Park chefs, Jake Serebnick and Julian Geldmacher — a whopping 9.2 out of 10 score. Portnoy showered it with praise, calling it “spectacular” and “must-have, top-of-the-list Manhattan pizza … as good as it...

Xaviaer DuRousseau once marched in Black Lives Matter protests. Then he started watching PragerU videos — and they resonated with him. In the summer of 2020, Xaviaer DuRousseau was preparing to appear on a Netflix reality show called “The Circle,” where a group of strangers, isolated in separate apartments, compete for a cash prize and occasionally adopt fake digital personas to trick one another. Mr. DuRousseau, then 23, was a progressive who marched in Black Lives Matter protests, had pushed his university to require ethnic studies courses as a graduation requirement and voted for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) -A chaotic arrest was carried out by immigration officers Thursday outside the Mecklenburg County Courthouse. On Thursday, May 15, officers with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, chased a man across the lawn of the courthouse, across 3rd Street, and into a duck pond in nearby Marshall Park. WBTV recorded what happened next. The video shows multiple officers surrounding the man as he stands waist-deep in the water. Moments later, an officer in blue tackles the man into the pond, where he is handcuffed and led away to a waiting vehicle. WBTV’s Jason Puckett was...