Free Republic

DENVER — Mayor Mike Johnston announced furloughs and a hiring freeze during a Thursday morning news conference, as the city faces a $250 million budget deficit. This comes as the State of Colorado had to manage a more than $1 billion budget shortfall this year. In 2025, Denver is experiencing a $50 million revenue gap due to revenue flattening and increasing costs, according to Johnston. Heading into 2026, the mayor is projecting a $202 million deficit to manage. He puts part of the blame on declining sales tax revenue that he says was caused by economic uncertainty created by President...

At a time when Minnesotans should be thanking their lucky stars for the violent criminal illegals who are no longer trolling their streets, Governor Tim Walz decided to spit in the face of law and order and mock the very people he was elected to serve. In a wildly tone-deaf commencement speech at the University of Minnesota’s law school, Walz launched into a deranged rant about President Trump, accusing him of being a “tyrant” for doing exactly what the American people elected him to do: secure the wide-open border and enforce the law. The Detroit News: Democratic Gov. Tim Walz...

A third alleged accomplice has been arrested in connection with the escape of one of ten inmates from the Orleans Parish Correctional Facility, according to Louisiana State Police. Connie Weeden, 59, is believed to have assisted the fugitives and was taken into custody following an investigation that revealed she was in contact via phone with escapee Jermaine Donald – both before and after the escape. Donald remains at large. Authorities say Weeden gave cash to Donald via a "cell phone app." She has been charged with one felony count of accessory after the fact and booked into the St. Tammany...

Introduced from South America, mathenge was intended to halt desertification, but now three-quarters of the country is at risk of invasion by the invasive tree For his entire life, John Lmakato has lived in Lerata, a village nestled at the foot of Mount Ololokwe in northern Kenya’s Samburu county. “This used to be a treeless land. Grass covered every inch of the rangelands, and livestock roamed freely,” he says. Lmakato’s livestock used to roam freely in search of pasture, but three years ago he lost 193 cattle after they wandered into a conservation area in Laikipia – known for the...

As part of a flurry of posts on Truth Social on Friday morning, Donald Trump is now proposing slamming the European Union (EU) with a massive new tariff because of the "unacceptable" trade imbalance the U.S. has rung up. Moments after threatening Apple and executive Tim Cook with a 25 percent tariff unless iPhones are made in the U.S., the president moved on to another threat certain to roil the stock market. On Truth Social he wrote: "The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult...

New Hampshire’s Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed a pair of bills into law Thursday that place bans on sanctuary city polices in the Granite State. “There will be no sanctuary cities in New Hampshire,” Ayotte said during the bill signing, according to New Hampshire Bulletin. “Period. End of story.” The two bills that are now law — House Bill 511 and Senate Bill 62 — ban municipalities and counties in the state from putting in place policies that prevent local officials and police from cooperating with federal immigration officials such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Among other requirements, House...

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) announced the completion of the first B61-13 gravity bomb Monday. The keynote address took place at the Pantex Plant in Texas during an event led by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. “Modernizing America’s nuclear stockpile is essential to delivering President Trump’s peace through strength agenda,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a Department of Energy press release. “The remarkable speed of the B61-13’s production is a testament to the ingenuity of our scientists and engineers and the urgency we face to fortify deterrence in a volatile new age,” his statement...

[Catholic Caucus] Will Leo XIV Reaffirm the Forgotten Truths of Paul VI’s 1968 Credo?For those defenders of the Vatican II revolution who consider Paul VI to be a saint, there should be little justification for resisting his 1968 Credo. But the need for Leo XIV to boldly proclaim these truths can be measured by the extent to which they have today been abandoned even by those men who purport to revere the legacy of Paul VI.In his Open Letter to Confused Catholics, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre praised Paul VI’s 1968 Credo of the People of God, Solemni Hac Liturgia, as a...

An Indigenous tribe from the Brazilian Amazon has sued The New York Times, saying the newspaper’s reporting on the tribe’s first exposure to the internet led to its members being widely portrayed as technology-addled and addicted to pornography. The Marubo Tribe of the Javari Valley, a sovereign community of about 2,000 people in the rainforest, filed the defamation lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages this week in a court in Los Angeles. It also names TMZ and Yahoo as defendants, alleging that their stories amplified and sensationalized the Times’ reporting and smeared the tribe in the process....

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Kermit the Frog knows it's not easy being green — or graduating from college and entering the real world, especially during a time of economic uncertainty and political turmoil. Members of the University of Maryland's class of 2025 received their diplomas Thursday evening with sage advice from the amphibious Muppet ringing in their ears.

House Republicans passed their giant tax and budget bill Thursday, a political triumph for Speaker Mike Johnson despite its policy disappointments. The House bill had to pass because the alternative was a GOP failure to govern, but the Senate now has a chance to make it better. The House version does include some policy gains, notably preventing a $4.5 trillion tax increase next year if President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts expire. Lower tax rates for individuals are made permanent. The measure would restore full expensing, which encourages business investment, albeit only through 2029. The bill also doesn’t disturb the 21%...

In the Name of Health: First Reactions to the MAHA ReportThe first report from the Make America Healthy Again Commission is out, with a particular focus on children’s health. The relatively short report includes astonishing data on obesity, heart disease, diabetes, life expectancy, substance abuse, mental illness, and many other terribles. The report is a shock, a painful read, a five-alarm fire, and the charts alone are astonishing. It is embedded below for your reading misery. “This report—Make Our Children Healthy Again: Assessment—is a call to action. It presents the stark reality of American children’s declining health, backed by compelling...

In human trials, participants were able to detect Morse-code-like flickering from infrared LED sources and accurately judge the direction of the incoming signals. In a major step toward wearable superhuman technology, researchers have developed contact lenses that allow mice and humans to see in infrared without requiring any power source. The lenses enable simultaneous perception of both visible and infrared light, with applications ranging from security to assisting the visually impaired. The team engineered soft contact lenses embedded with specialized nanoparticles that convert near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths (800–1600 nm) into visible light. These particles emit light in the 400–700 nm range—detectable...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” John 15:14–15To some, Jesus’ definition of friendship may, at first glance, seem odd. He says that we are His friends only when we do what He commands us to do. Imagine saying that to one of your best friends. Such a statement would most likely be met with a laugh and...

When's the last time you heard a song about Waxahachie? A couple of nights ago I (i.e., Traces of Texas, not POF) posted a song about Mineola and now this! Try not to tap your toes to this great song from Austin's @MonteWarden1. I read one review that said Monte's invented a whole new musical sound and I kind of agree. Comment by K45H, @HeyKA5H. Thanks for sharing! Guaranteed to lift your spirit and make those that love to dance, get up on the floor. Cool country w a jazz big band vibe. Closing my eyes takes me back to...

On December 2, 2023, in the modest gymnasium of a community college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, President Donald Trump addressed a raucous crowd of supporters. As he spoke about the enduring force of the movement he ignited in 2015, he paused to reflect on a man many had forgotten—but whose ideas are increasingly animating the rising generation of conservatives. “You know there was a man, Pat Buchanan, a good guy, a conservative guy,” Trump began. A sudden, collective cheer erupted from the left side of the stage—unmistakably youthful, unexpected in tone. “Wow! Young people, they know him,” Trump responded with...

The world’s first vaccine against gonorrhoea is set to be rolled out in the UK amid a surge in cases of the sexually transmitted infection. Initially the vaccine will not be available to everyone, with a focus on vaccinating gay and bisexual men with a history of multiple sexual partners or an STI. 85,000 cases of gonorrhoea were reported in 2023, the highest number since records began in the year 1918. The rollout of the vaccine is due to begin in August by NHS England, with NHS Scotland also looking into a similar rollout. Though the vaccine is understood to...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the terror attack in Washington, DC on Wednesday in a statement pointed on X on Thursday, adding: ‘Free Palestine’ is just today’s version of ‘Heil Hitler’.” Netanyahu was referring to the fact that the alleged murder, Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, shouted “Free, free Palestine!” and other familiar pro-Palestinian slogans after murdering two Israeli embassy staffers. Netanyahu also used his statement to slam the leaders of France, the United Kingdom, and Canada for their insistence that Israel stop the war in Gaza before Hamas had been disarmed and removed from authority. He said that...

At one time, most Americans (and virtually all academics) would have agreed with the famous saying, often attributed to Voltaire, “While I disagree with what you say, I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Over the last several decades, that has dramatically changed. Many academics now seem to embrace the opposite view—something like, “Since I disagree with what you say, I will do everything possible to silence you.” Is that an exaggeration? You won’t think so after reading Nicholas Wolfinger’s new book, Professors Speak Out: The Truth About Campus Investigations. Wolfinger, a sociology professor at the...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not hold back in his criticism of U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Israeli leader’s condemnation comes after the U.K., France and Canada issued a joint statement demanding that Israel end its military campaign in Gaza. In a video statement released on Thursday, Netanyahu said Hamas does not want a Palestinian state; rather, the terror group wants the destruction of the state of Israel. He questioned how this "simple truth evades the leaders of France, Britain, Canada and others." Netanyahu went on to accuse...