Free Republic

BREAKING: Viktor Orban: "JD Vance is right. In Europe, freedom is not threatened from outside, but is being overthrown from within. Change is needed, this cannot go on."

Last week at an event at the European Parliament, an MEP asked me a question that I hear often: “Does JD Vance hate Europe?” My guess is that he does not hate the Europe of tête de veau in a Rive Gauche brasserie in Paris, of Sunday mass at the Duomo in Milan, of Alpine lakes in Switzerland, or of paintings at the Alte Pinothek in Munich. What he hates is Brussels, or rather, “Brussels”—the symbol of official, bureaucratic Europe, and the dictatorship of managerial liberalism administered from there. He hates the Europe of decrees from the European Commission, of...

While President Trump is striving to bring about peace to one of the bloodiest wars on the planet, one of the Senate’s most notorious war hawks is rattling his sabers, angling for more turmoil. Senators Lindsey Graham (RINO-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) arrived in Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday. Per a press release from Zelenskyy’s office, the three discussed U.S. legislation that would strengthen sanctions against Russia, coordinating diplomatic efforts to achieve “a just and lasting peace,” and developing bilateral relations between Ukraine and the United States. Look at how warmly Zelenskyy and Graham greet each...

ANTARCTICA — With the unexpected growth of the polar ice caps ruining his climate campaign, a frustrated Al Gore was seen blowing a hair dryer at the ice caps in a desperate bid to get them melting again. Gore reportedly mounted a dangerous expedition to the southern ice caps armed with only hair dryers and aerosol cans, resolved to either stop the ice cap growth himself or to punch a hole in the ozone layer and let the sun do the work. "Come on, melt baby," said Gore, shivering. "You're killing me. Stupid cold weather making stupid ice and causing...

Beginning next year, visitors to Hawaii will be subject to a “climate impact fee” which aims to generate funds for mitigating future environmental challenges the state expects to face. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green signed Act 96 into law Tuesday, effectively approving a tax — also known as the “Green Fee” The law now increases the the state’s Transient Accommodation Tax (TAT) by .75%, to 11%. This fee will be applied to costs for tourism-related activities including hotels and cruise ships that dock in Hawaii. Unlike other state programs, the money generated won’t go into a dedicated special fund. Instead, the...

The US supreme court on Friday announced it would allow the Trump administration to revoke the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan, Cuban, Haitian and Nicaraguan migrants living in the United States, bolstering the Republican president’s drive to step up deportations. Video starts with a Cuban woman crying and screaming in Spanish how they come here from Cuba for a better life. She came here and can't speak English yet? There are other countries she could have gone to.

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - A bill on transgender athletes now goes to Gov. Jim Pillen’s desk. Wednesday night, state senators voted 33-16 to pass LB89, introduced by Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth. The bill was created to restrict trans athletes from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. Earlier this month, when the senators were debating the bill in the second round, lawmakers adopted Ralston Sen. Merv Riepe’s amendment, which removed part of bill that would have banned trans people from being able to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity in schools and state buildings

Feckless French authorities were seen standing by and doing nothing today as illegal migrants carried toddlers onto dangerously overloaded small boats ready to cross the Channel for Britain. In infuriating scenes the French police officers were seen with their hands on their hips and with their mobile phones out filming the moment the youngsters were crammed onto the deathtrap vessels. French authorities are failing to stop almost two-thirds of would-be Channel-crossing migrants, despite Britain paying our European neighbour almost £500,000 every day to do so. These astounding images were taken on the beaches of northern France this morning (Saturday May...

[Note: What follows is a blog-post formatted version of the 34 page letter I submitted to the FTC on May 21, 2025 in response to the agency’s RFI entitled: “Request for Public Comment Regarding Technology Platform Censorship.” I have also added a section at the end on what you can do to save the open web from Google’s AI takeover.] In this letter I will explain how Google censored my travel website – and thousands of small and independent web publishers like me – all so that it can use AI to control the flow of information online. In late...

Explanation: On May 7, the Sun setting behind a church bell tower was captured in this filtered and manipulated digital skyscape from Ragusa, Sicily, planet Earth. In this version of the image the colors look bizarre. Still, an intriguing optical illusion known as an afterimage can help you experience the same scene with a more natural looking appearance. To try it, find the sunspots of active region AR4079 grouped near the bottom of the blue solar disk. Relax and stare at the dark sunspot group for about 30 seconds, then close your eyes or shift your gaze to a plain...

This week, Rasmussen's Mark Mitchell announced that "for the first time in the 29-year history of our asking Americans whether the country is on the right track 50% of voters said yes. This level of optimism wasn't achieved during the Clinton, Bush, Obama, or Biden administrations nor the first Trump term. Only last November 63% said the country was on the wrong track. Clearly something has changed the minds of Americans." "Perhaps it was how President Trump so quickly sealed a border that President Biden said couldn't be done without Congressional action," Mitchell speculated. "Our country had to put up...

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved mNEXSPIKE® (mRNA-1283), a new vaccine against COVID-19, for use in all adults 65 and older, as well as individuals aged 12-64 years with at least one or more underlying risk factor as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"The FDA approval of our third product, mNEXSPIKE, adds an important new tool to help protect people at high risk of severe disease from COVID-19," said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. "COVID-19 remains a serious public health threat, with more than 47,000...

In the depths of the ocean, there are countless undiscovered shipwrecks. Ranging from old sailing vessels, to massive cargo haulers. Most of these wouldn't get even a bit of interest. However, when you limit yourself to *warships*, well, that changes. And in today's video, we'll be looking at another five missing wrecks. Consider this something of a sequel to the video I made a couple years back, after Nautilus visited Midway. In light of their upcoming Guadalcanal survey, this felt fitting.

"A Secret Service whistleblower has come forward with a shocking allegation: former President Joe Biden was so mentally impaired during his time in the White House that he would “get lost in his closet,” according to Sen. Josh Hawley. On Friday, Hawley revealed the disturbing claim as part of a broader accusation that Democrats engaged in a deliberate cover-up of Biden’s cognitive decline—what he now calls one of the most egregious political scandals in modern presidential history."

Whoever ‘approved this mockery … should be called upon to resign,’ music composer says A doctoral student at the University of Nebraska recently orchestrated a drag performance appropriating the Catholic Mass for the final recital of his musical degree. The performance imitated various parts of the Mass, including the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. It was hosted by Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church of Lincoln, Nebraska. Two Catholic and conservative advocates told The College Fix that this “mockery” of their faith reveals a double standard in singling out Christianity and highlights a significant lack of academic rigor in university...

"Article III Project" founder Mike Davis and "War Room" host Steve Bannon comment on the role the Federalist Society and its chairman Leonard Leo played in the first Trump administration and how this term will be different.MIKE DAVIS: Yeah, when you have Leonard Leo taking over a billion dollars—I think it was like $1.6 billion—from a billionaire who gave him his fortune, Barre Seid, and then Leonard sat on the sidelines with all that money for three years of lawfare and didn’t support groups that were helping President Trump with the lawfare.He actually had guys out there like Ed Whelan,...

I came across this trailer last night for this film staring Neal McDonough. I haven't heard of it and it was released this month. I rarely watch films in theaters these days as there are so few modern films that are worth seeing. But this looks pretty good to me. Has anyone here seen it? Based on the comments for the trailer Neal McDonough is non-woke and is a good guy.

I loved Top Gun Maverick. I know this one is not as good, but is it still worth seeing at the movies?

As the ongoing court case with President Trump over the Kamala Harris pre-election interview continues, CBS and parent company Paramount Global are becoming more mired in trauma. This week, the announcement was that in their desire to end the process, and facilitate a pending corporate merger, Paramount was offering a $15 million settlement. Trump has rejected that outright. He has called for the sum to be $25 million, but that may not be the hitch in getting an agreement, given this is holding up the merger valued at roughly $8 billion. It appears that his demand for full retraction and...

Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has urged Washington’s chief negotiator with Moscow, Steve Witkoff, to consult European leaders before placing trust in Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Witkoff has been part of U.S. delegations leading talks with Moscow and Kyiv since February, after Trump tasked members of his administration to help negotiate an end to Russia’s three-year war in Ukraine. However, he has faced criticism from Kyiv for peddling Russian narratives, including a suggestion to hand over four partially occupied eastern Ukrainian regions to Moscow. In March, Witkoff said that Putin has no intention to “take all of...