Free Republic

Elon Musk criticized Bill Gates for his past association with the late convicted sex offender and trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, following Gates’ condemnation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Gates had claimed that the proposed government reductions could lead to “millions of deaths,” prompting Musk’s pointed response. Gates continued, arguing that DOGE was endangering children worldwide by slashing USAID, as it is the United States’ foreign aid apparatus. However, the Microsoft co-founder refrained from addressing complaints regarding how many Americans do not believe that U.S. taxpayers should “pick up the check” when it comes to other foreign nations’ problems. “The...

Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett has alleged that staffers in Joe Biden’s administration engaged in a “cash for clemency” scheme, using an autopen to issue pardons in exchange for financial payoffs. An autopen is a device that mechanically reproduces signatures. On Tuesday, Rep. Burchett appeared on “The Benny Johnson Show” and stated, “You are gonna find staffers that were able to take forms, get them and run them through some sort of bogus legal system, then they auto-penned them.” Burchett said he believes there was a pay-for-pardon scheme happening, and pointed to a historical scandal involving former Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton,...

Five tornadoes rated EF4 have struck the U.S. so far in 2025 after two more were confirmed following the most recent siege of severe weather in mid-May. Tornadoes in the violent category like these makeup less than 1% of twisters this century, so how does this year's number stack up compared to the average? Big Picture -Defining Violent Tornadoes: While all tornadoes are dangerous, meteorologists reserve "violent" for those with the two highest ratings on the Enhanced-Fujita scale - EF4 or EF5. That's because these strongest tornadoes are capable of devastating damage, such as crushing and throwing vehicles, leveling well-built...

BBC'S SUMMARY In an extraordinary Oval Office meeting, Donald Trump confronts South Africa's leader with video over discredited claims of a white genocide in South Africa Trump says white farmers are "fleeing South Africa" and plays footage showing people chanting "kill the Boer, kill the farmer" This is the first time we've seen this sort of ambush in the Oval Office, reports Bernd Debusmann Jr Responding to the footage, Ramaphosa says the chants don't represent government policy There were parallels with the infamous Zelensky meeting in the Oval Office, writes Anthony Zurcher, but Ramaphosa kept his composure A group of...

"Every man has by nature the right to possess property as his own," wrote Pope Leo XIII, in his famous 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, laying down the basics of Catholic social teaching. The plans of contemporary socialists to seize private property, Leo XIII denounced as "emphatically unjust, for they would rob the lawful possessor, distort the functions of the State, and create utter confusion in the community." The last Pope Leo's defense of private property adds no small amount of irony to the small Chicago suburb of Dolton, Illinois' plan to honor the new American-born Pope Leo XIV by seizing...

Sir Keir Starmer has announced plans to ease cuts to winter fuel payments, in a U-turn following mounting political pressure in recent weeks. More than 10 million pensioners lost out on the payments, worth up to £300 ($400), when the pension top-up became means-tested last year. Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir said ministers would change the threshold to allow "more pensioners" to qualify again. But it remains unclear how many will regain their entitlement for the payments, or when the changes will take effect. Sir Keir said the policy would be changed at the autumm Budget, adding ministers...

Charged with "causing fear" to someone or other a year ago, criminal proceeding to commence right after release. He supposedly was leading the South Port riots from Spain. Transcript linked below video.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is being approached incorrectly. This is because Palestinians are not Arab. They are culturally arabized Jews/Israelites. I am not the first person to hold this position. Both the first President of the state of Israel Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, and the Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, believed that the Palestinians were descended from Jews. David Ben-Gurion wrote several books and articles on the subject and even created a task force with Moshe Dayan to “Judaize” the Bedouins. As war and conflict continued this idea was eventually abandoned. At the time there was no way to really know. However, genetics...

Migrants deported to South Sudan by Donald Trump include murderers and sexual abusers, the Daily Mail can reveal. The latest deportations come as a federal judge ruled U.S. officials must retain custody and control of the migrants in case he orders in the future that their removals were unlawful. U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts issued the ruling late Tuesday after an emergency hearing. Attorneys for the immigrants said the Trump administration appeared to start deporting people from Burma and Vietnam to South Sudan despite a court order restricting removals to third-party countries. The Daily Mail can now...

Even the most powerful figures in the NFL were unable to stop the tush push. A proposed ban of the tush push play that the Philadelphia Eagles have popularized did not receive enough votes at the spring meeting Wednesday in Eagan, Minnesota. Before the vote, retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce and team owner Jeffrey Lurie spoke to the owners to lobby for the merits of keeping the play. Sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter that the final vote was 22-10 on the proposal, which was submitted by the Green Bay Packers. The proposal needed 24 votes to pass. Among the...

Sales at Target fell more than expected in the first quarter as the retailer faced boycotts for ditching its DEI efforts and felt the impact of President Trump's tariffs. Target cut its forecast for the rest of the year warning that sales would slip further as its customers pulled back on spending amid an uncertain economic environment. Earlier this year the company conceded to the Trump administrations attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives by scaling back its own efforts. However, the retreat created a fierce customer backlash leading to store boycotts that further damaged sales. Sales for the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a rare display of full bipartisan support, President Donald Trump's "No Tax On Tips" bill passed through the Senate unanimously after legislators received clarification that bribes can count as tips. Speculation swirled that the bill could potentially face opposition in the Senate from Democrats looking to stonewall a key Trump campaign pledge, but senators enthusiastically jumped on board after finding out that all of the bribes, kickbacks, slush fund contributions, and lobbyist donations would be categorized as tips and, therefore, tax-exempt. "We are thrilled to support this measure," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. "It's rare...

President Donald Trump’s meeting Wednesday with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa began cordially — but when Ramaphosa protested against claims of “genocide,” Trump turned on a video. The video showed radical leader Julius Malema and other black political figures addressing rallies, chanting slogans such as “Kill the farmer!” and “Shoot to kill!” The video also showed threats to seize white-owned farmland, and a large memorial to murdered farmers featuring over a thousand crosses along a roadside. Ramaphosa had begun by avoiding the issue, saying instead that he wanted to focus on trade, investment, and efforts to promote peace around the...

In testimony before the Congressional Committee on Appropriations this week, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy, Jr. wrangled with Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Id) over whether governments should be adding fluoride to drinking water. Simpson questioned whether Kennedy's opposition to fluoridating was wise, saying "as a dentist I am acutely aware of statistics showing that where water is fluoridated cavities are rarer. I fear that removing it will lead to an epidemic of rotting teeth among our population. Are you indifferent to this risk?" Kennedy responded saying "the National Toxicity Program issued a report in August 2024, a...

Let's all act as if we have wax in our ears and cannot hear or even understand Putin's simple set of claims he has always put forward if the SMO is to end. Let's all pretend Putin is Genghis Khan 2.0 wanting to take over the 'free' and 'democratic'(laughs) world. Let's all pretend everything we say and do is destroying Russia, its economy, and Putin's government. Let's also pretend Russia is also running out of weapons and many more of its soldiers are dying than those in Ukrainian forces. Let's pretend that there is no BRICS or SCO Let's pretend...

An Ohio high school discovered that a proclaimed 17-year-old Venezuelan migrant student is actually a 24-year-old illegal immigrant, authorities say. Police in Perrysburg, Ohio, arrested Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra on Monday for identity fraud, according to a police report obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Police say Labrador Sierra ... falsely posed as a minor and successfully enrolled himself in a local high school for more than a year before an investigation uncovered his actual identity. Labrador Sierra approached Perrysburg Schools in November 2023 and requested to be enrolled as a student, according to police. The Venezuelan national told...

An autopen is a device that mechanically reproduces signatures. On Tuesday, Rep. Burchett appeared on “The Benny Johnson Show” and stated, “You are gonna find staffers that were able to take forms, get them and run them through some sort of bogus legal system, then they auto-penned them.” Burchett said he believes there was a pay-for-pardon scheme happening, and pointed to a historical scandal involving former Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton, who was implicated in selling pardons in the 1970s. “Tennessee has had a history of this; we had a governor … he sold pardons,” Burchett said. “You can look it...

America is at a crossroads: Will we cave to the radical left’s vision for our nation, where men win trophies in women’s sports and our border is wide open for illegal aliens, or do we stand with President Trump in his mission to Make America Great Again through America First policies? I know where I stand, and I’m running for Senate to fight for the future of our nation where taxpayers, not criminals and foreign governments, are put first. The stench of the Biden-Harris administration’s lawlessness and economic devastation still lingers in the air today. President Trump inherited a mess...

As President Donald Trump attempts to muscle his GOP agenda through a narrow House majority, Rep. Chip Roy is perhaps the most important holdout to win over. He may also be the toughest. Speaker Mike Johnson and his team have been confident they can pass Trump’s massive reconciliation bill, because they don’t believe any Republican will want to stand in the way and face Trump’s wrath. But Roy, the unapologetic fiscal hawk, is the rare GOP lawmaker willing to publicly challenge the president. He has already survived multiple calls by his own party to oust him — including from Trump...

Sorry, I have time on my hands, and I don’t trust ANYBODY in politics except Scott Adams and he’s not long for the world 🥺😥😱