Free Republic

Dear FRiends, We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. This means no spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers. And because we are not a 501C, we have preserved our God-given, constitutionally protected right to free speech without government intervention. If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today: Click here: to donate by Credit CardOr here: to donate by PayPalOr by mail to: Free Republic, LLC...

Cops have made a surprising discovery in what appeared to be ordinary bales of hay. A shocking series of photos have shown how sheriff's deputies uncovered a human smuggling operation after discovering multiple undocumented immigrants hidden inside meticulously altered hay bales during a routine traffic stop in Texas. The disturbing discovery was made on Monday afternoon when Fayette County Drug Interdiction Sergeant Thumann pulled over a white Ford F-250 towing a gooseneck trailer loaded with round hay bales on Interstate 10 near Flatonia. What appeared to be an ordinary agricultural load then turned into a major bust. On closer inspection,...

Concerns raised in a confidential planning document appear prescient, with humanitarian groups, possible donors and some senior IDF officers questioning the plan. May 24, 2025 at 2:00 a.m. EDTJERUSALEM — Last year, a group of former U.S. intelligence and defense officials and business executives, working in close consultation with Israel, prepared a proposal for supplying humanitarian aid to Gaza that would address Israeli government claims that assistance was being diverted by Hamas. In previously unreported internal documents, the group detailed a radically new and ambitious model: It envisioned the creation of an organization called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) that...

The Trump administration sees tariff talks as a chance to pressure a rival into concessions. E.U. officials have acted as though they were dealing with an ally. The European Union has been following tried-and-true rules of global commerce as it tries to negotiate with the Trump administration to avert painful tariffs on cars, pharmaceuticals and just about everything else.The problem? President Trump is ripping up that rule book.Mr. Trump announced in a Truth Social post on Friday morning that he is recommending a 50 percent tariff on European imports as of June 1, claiming that the bloc’s trade barriers, taxes,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s early selections for U.S. attorneys have drawn strong pushback from Democratic senators who have considerable power to block them, setting up another fight over personnel picks from a president who places a premium on loyalty as he staffs his administration.His choices for the top prosecutors in Nevada, New York and New Jersey are opposed by Democratic senators, and at stake is the Republican president’s ability to have the team he wants for positions with enormous sway over which cases and crimes are investigated and what penalties the government seeks. The power they wield was...

SummaryTrump administration accuses school of 'coordinating' with China U.S. lawmakers have expressed worries about Chinese government influence on campuses Harvard accused of training sanctioned Chinese officials WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - Harvard University's links to China, long an asset to the school, have become a liability as the Trump administration levels accusations that its campus is plagued by Beijing-backed influence operations. On Thursday the administration moved to revoke Harvard's ability to enroll foreign students, saying it fostered antisemitism and coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party. Among them are Chinese nationals who made up about a fifth of Harvard's foreign student...

The controversy related to his recollections of his time covering the Iraq War. In January 2023, Williams told NBC viewers he had been traveling with four U.S. Army helicopters forced to land to avoid enemy fire and then trapped by a sandstorm.That much was true, but over the next dozen years, Williams made it seem like he was closer to the action than he actually was, that the helicopter in which he was riding was shot down. Eyewitnesses, however, said other helicopters were hit and that Williams' helicopter arrived at the scene an hour later.In a timeline of statements from...

Think you could use a few more friends? Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says AI will do the trick. In a recent interview with podcaster Dwarkesh Patel, the Silicon Valley titan said the average American has fewer than three friends but a desire to have “something like fifteen.” Zuckerberg thinks computer code will fill the gap: “The average person wants more connectivity, connection than they have,” he observed. “As the personalization loop kicks in, and the AI just starts to get to know you better, I think that will be just really compelling.” ... It’s also an admission from Zuckerberg that...

Today, President Donald J. Trump took a series of executive actions to unleash nuclear energy in the U.S. as part of the administration’s effort to secure the energy future of America and unleash American energy dominance.Joining President Trump were some of the top leaders in nuclear energy:“We have some of the largest companies in the world — the hyper-scalers — who need this energy for AI, who are now working with us to fund the development and construction of the next-generation nuclear,” said Constellation Energy CEO Joseph Dominguez. “Nuclear is a 24/7 resource. These datacenters run 24/7. Some of them...

Timothy P Irvin, of Flash Cadillac and Timothy P and Rural Route 3, performing his song After The War with Jim Salestrom. Tim performed this song at the Viet Nam War Memorial in Washington DC live on CNN. Many dignitaries were present in the audience including President Clinton and Colen Powell

The European Union's trade chief said the 27-member bloc is committed to securing a trade deal with the US based on "respect" not "threats". It comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to slap a 50% tariff on all goods sent to the US from the EU. "The EU's fully engaged, committed to securing a deal that works for both," EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said after a call with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. "EU-US trade is unmatched & must be guided by mutual respect, not threats. We stand ready to defend our interests."...

Were the Puritans aligned in their eschatological views? This article examines various theologies of eschatology that emerged between the 17th and 18th centuries, focusing on seven prominent Puritan writers and their unique perspectives. We’re going to look at Owen, Goodwin, the Mathers (father and son), Edwards, Turreting and Wittsius. Each of these Puritan writers offers unique interpretations of eschatology that draw on specific passages from the Bible, particularly the book of Revelation. Their arguments, however, were not without their weaknesses. For example, premillennialists like Cotton Mather faced the challenge of reconciling their beliefs with passages that suggest a more spiritual...

24 May 2025 Saturday of the 5th week of Eastertide St. Vincent of Lerins Church A Western-Rite Orthodox Church of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America, Omaha, NE Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: C(I).First readingActs 16:1-10'Come across to Macedonia and help us'From Cilicia Paul went to Derbe, and then on to Lystra. Here there was a disciple called Timothy, whose mother was a Jewess who had become a believer; but his father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy, and Paul, who wanted to have him as a travelling companion, had him...

"The U.S. government has announced plans (on 22 May) to deploy more than 1,000 troops to its shared border with Mexico (in addition to the ~10,000 already in place), to “provide enhanced sustainment, engineering, medical, and operational capabilities... ...In a May 22 press release, U.S. Northern Command said “1,115 service members were approved to deploy to the Southern Border” as part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s “continued whole-of-government approach to gain full operational control of the southern border.” Northern Command, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is responsible for defending the continental United States and Alaska, while also coordinating defense...

US President Trump's announcement of a so-called "Golden Dome" defense system modeled after Israel's "Iron Dome" has created both an opportunity and a dilemma for Canadian Prime Minister Markey Carney. "On the one hand, the diagrams of the 'Golden Dome' show it covering all of North America," Carney observed. "This implies that we could be protected for free. On the other hand, an overt alliance with the United States could make Canada a target of a missile attack from one of the United States' many foreign enemies." "Canada is a weak and inoffensive nation," Carney pointed out. "Switzerland, another weak...

Eighteen people were injured, including four critically, in a knife attack at Hamburg central station in Germany, police said. The victims, aged between 19 and 85, were waiting for a train on the platform when they were stabbed at about 6.05pm on Friday. Police said the suspect, a 39-year-old woman, was detained at the scene with the help of two passers-by. In an update on Saturday, Hamburg police said there was “very concrete evidence of a mental illness on the part of the suspect”. There was no evidence of political motivation or that she was under the influence of drugs...

If you like maps, this piece is just for you. Political animals, especially the kind who oppose the current peaceful ideological revolution within the United States, count on voters to have short memories and forget things that happened not all that long ago. Take Joe Walsh and Adam Kinzinger, two of the biggest morons on this platform, who are raking in massive subscription cash by screeching about “Orange Man Bad” 24/7 as prime examples. Walsh once demanded President Obama build moats filled with alligators to discourage illegal border crossings; now, he’s a raving lunatic clamoring to be loved by the...

During the 12 months leading up to March, more than 6,000 US citizens have applied to either become British subjects or to live and work in the country indefinitely – the highest number since comparable records began in 2004, according to data released on Thursday by the UK’s Home Office. Over the period, 6,618 Americans applied for British citizenship – with more than 1,900 of the applications received between January and March, most of which has been during the beginning of Donald Trump’s second US presidency. The surge in applications at the start of 2025 made that the highest number...

To explain why your communities are being ruined. Grok answers and eventually admits that it is exactly as first questioned a mandate to have racially mixed communities nationally Q National mandate was through HUD in the Obama administration to have every zip code reflect national race proportions. what is the name of the mandate ? A There was no national mandate under the Obama administration’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) explicitly requiring every zip code to reflect national racial proportions. The policy often associated with efforts to address racial segregation and housing disparities is the Affirmatively Furthering Fair...

https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr1/BILLS-119hr1rh.pdf SEC. 110115. MAGA ACCOUNTS. (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter F of chapter 1 is amended by adding at the end the following new part: ‘‘PART IX—MAGA ACCOUNTS ‘‘SEC. 530A. MAGA ACCOUNTS. ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—A MAGA account shall be exempt from taxation under this subtitle. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, such account shall be subject to the taxes imposed by section 511 (relating to imposition of tax on unrelated business income of charitable organizations). ‘‘(b) MAGA ACCOUNT.—For purposes of this section— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘money account for growth and advancement’ or ‘MAGA account’ means a trust created or organized in the United...