Free Republic

"A hypothetical small town regarded as typically dull or insignificant."That's the definition Google assigns to the word "Podunk." For many it's a mythical place filled with country bumpkins and nothing to do.As it turns out, Podunk actually exists and it's right in Upstate New York.There are no official signs to let you know you've arrived, other than map coordinates and the nod of a street sign reading "Podunk Road," but one can actually visit the hamlet of Podunk, New York. The tiny no-stoplight-town, made up of a handful of houses, is inside the town [township] of Ulysses, nestled within the...

Eighteen people were injured, four critically, in a knife attack Friday in the German city of Hamburg, authorities said. Hamburg police said they have arrested a 39-year-old German woman, who they believe acted alone in carrying out the attack at the city’s Central Station, after a major police operation. She is in police custody and expected to be brought to a court on Saturday, police said. Seven people were “badly injured,” while seven others were “lightly injured,” police said. The victims are aged between 19 and 85 years old. The four critically injured, who include a 24-year-old female, 24-year-old male,...

Michael Mann, a prominent climate scientist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, sparked controversy on May 23, 2025, by posting on the Bluesky social media platform: “If Trump doesn’t comply, we’re in second amendment territory.” The statement was made in response to a report on a federal judge’s ruling that blocked President Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, appearing to suggest people take up arms to overthrow or assassinate the America First leader. The May 22 injunction froze the administration’s plan to eliminate the department, which included terminating around 1,300 employees. Mann’s post—interpreted by many as...

A longtime aide to former President Joe Biden admitted that White House staff felt justified doing “undemocratic things” during his term in office because they believed President Donald Trump posed an existential threat to American democracy. The revelation came during an appearance by Axios reporter Alex Thompson on “Fox News Sunday” with Shannon Bream, where he discussed insider accounts from his reporting on the Biden administration. Thompson described a mindset inside the White House — one in which unelected aides saw themselves as the real decision makers while shielding Biden from scrutiny and managing the presidency behind the scenes. “If...

Hi Freepers: I am here seeking prayer request for job search for the third time. The first time was 2008 and the second time was 2019. Both times, down to a wire, I could have stayed at my old jobs but found something at the last minute and moved on. I really thank the Freepers who prayed for me the last two times. This time is the same. We are expected a big layoff in the coming months. I have started the job search. I am praying that God will guide in this difficult times, walking on a razor's edge....

MADRID, May 22 (Reuters) - Austrian singer JJ, who won this year's Eurovision Song Contest, called in an interview published on Thursday for Israel to be excluded from the 2026 edition in Vienna due to the war in Gaza. Eurovision, which stresses its political neutrality, faced controversy again this year linked to the war. An Israeli military campaign has killed over 53,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the enclave's health authorities say, since Hamas militants' cross-border attack on October 7, 2023 that killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

A Florida Checkers employee allegedly shot and killed a customer in a fight over missing mayonnaise, according to authorities. Fast food server Elijah Mackey, 23, allegedly shot 40-year-old customer Wesley Robertson late Wednesday after Robertson complained about his order at the drive-thru window in a branch in Kissimmee, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said. A witness told deputies the incident was sparked by missing packets of mayo, according to his arrest warrant. Mackey allegedly climbed out of the drive-thru window, called Robertson a slew of insults, then pulled out a gun and shot him in the chest, the warrant said.

Terrifying video of the early Saturday morning robbery and beating of a uniformed off-duty New York City housing police officer in the Bronx was posted Sunday night by a retired NYPD cop. The 27-year-old officer had finished his shift and was walking to his car around 4 a.m. when he was attacked.

Writing about the death of #MichaelLedeen is something I always feared a quiet dread I carried in my heart for years. Today, with overwhelming sorrow, I find myself doing just that. @michaelledeen was everything. Everything I have today my safety, my second chance, my voice I owe to him and his beloved wife, Barbara. In 2008, after surviving a decade of imprisonment and torture in the Islamic Republic in #Iran, I managed to escape to Iraq. It was Michael who intervened. He engaged directly with the U.S. government and secured my entry into the United States as a political refugee....

The German Chancellor said that now Ukraine can attack military targets in Russia BERLIN, May 26. /TASS/. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that Germany will no longer limit the range of weapons Berlin and its allies supply to Kiev. "There are no longer any restrictions on the range of weapons supplied to Ukraine – not from the British, not from the French, not from us. And none from the Americans either," he said during a discussion at a forum organized by the WDR broadcaster. "That means that now Ukraine can defend itself by, say, attacking military targets in Russia,"...

The question on my mind, of late, is when do we recognize that the entire Western world is involved in a war for freedom? What may have gone unnoticed in the recent past was the failed campaign of George Simion in Romania. Well, “failed campaign” might be misleading. Without any specific knowledge, Simion was leading in all the polls, by a good margin, before he lost to the globalist candidate Nicusor Dan. Previously, Calin Georgescu’s campaign resulted in his victory, but the Supreme Court of Romania ruled that that election had been influenced by Russia and therefore nullified. His close...

The good news is that moonbattery is not a sustainable ideology. Europe will be free of feminists, communists, and their woke worshipers. The bad news is that we might not like what replaces them. Via Allah’s Willing Executioners: The Ribera neighbourhood in Barcelona woke up with dismay [last] Thursday. The recently painted feminist mural in Carrer de la Bòria was vandalised in a way that disturbed residents. Under the motto Free, feminist and rebellious, the artist Mariel Soria had painted the portraits of eight women (including Simone de Beauvoir, Maria Aurèlia Campmany, Àngela Davis and Malala Yousafzai) together with a...

"President Trump realizes that President Putin lied when he said on the phone that he was ready for peace, or told his envoy that he was ready for peace", says Macron during a press briefing during a state visit to Vietnam. "We have once again seen Donald Trump express his anger. A kind of impatience. I now only hope that it is translated into action." It is not clear whether Macron has spoken to Trump recently. The Frenchman is making renewed demands to set a deadline for a proper ceasefire – "so that everyone can see that he is lying"...

French President Emmanuel Macron was caught on camera appearing to be slapped—or at the very least shoved—by his wife Brigitte Macron as they stepped off their presidential plane in Vietnam. The awkward encounter unfolded Sunday night and has since gone viral, and now the Elysee Palace is in full-blown damage control mode. As the Macrons arrived for a high-stakes diplomatic visit aimed at rekindling French influence in Southeast Asia, President Macron was caught off guard before he could even wave to the cameras—his wife’s unexpected gesture made him recoil, visibly stunned, before he regained his composure and tried to play...

(NewsNation) — The EPA administrator has promised to end a contentious feature in many automobiles: the automatic start-stop feature that temporarily shuts down engines at red light stops. Lee Zeldin says the start-stop function, which automakers began installing to reduce emissions in return for federal incentives, annoys most motorists, who consider it “the single worst feature in their motor vehicle.” “They want it eliminated,” Zeldin told Blake Burman on “The Hill” Thursday. Democrats say EPA illegally canceled hundreds of grants aimed at boosting ‘environmental justice’ To that end, he said the EPA will seek to revoke its approval of credits...

A 31-year-old Danish national with no criminal record who has been living in the U.S. legally for more than 10 years was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials during a routine appointment to finalize his citizenship, according to multiple media reports. Kasper Eriksen, a green card holder who works as a welder in Sturgis, Mississippi, where he lives with his wife and four children, was unexpectedly taken into custody on April 15 and later transferred to the LaSalle Detention Center in Louisiana, Newsweek reported. ... ICE officials reportedly detained the 31-year-old for failing to file a single document,...

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus said to his disciples: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.” John 15:26–27Jesus informs His disciples that “the Spirit of truth” will come and that the Spirit, as well as the disciples, will “testify” to Him. When Jesus first spoke these words to His disciples, they would not have comprehended what He meant. Since these words are prophetic in nature, they are words...

The first four months of President Donald Trump’s second term has been a whirlwind of historic progress. From his executive actions to his reciprocal tariffs to his determination to bring peace to the world, President Trump has acted quickly to implement the Make America Great Again (MAGA) agenda. In the mission to undo the damage done by the last presidential administration, no cabinet member has been more instrumental than Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem 🇮🇱(5/26/25)[Prayer]Water, Rivers, and Streams in the BibleExodus 2:11-2511 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” 14 The man said, “Who...

The House has approved Senate Bill 10 even though a similar Louisiana law was deemed unconstitutional. Supporters say Christianity is core to U.S. history.