Free Republic

Surprise: everything is expensive. That seems to be especially true in Illinois. At the very last minute over the weekend, Illinois passed their budget for the next fiscal year. Major elements of it included adding a tax to online sports betting and tobacco tax. Not every part of the budget passed since it came down to the 11th hour. Besides issues involving Chicagoland transit, there was another part of the proposal that restaurant allies are calling the "pizza tax". The bill would include a $1.50 delivery tax (on food, Amazon deliveries, etc.) on anything delivered with a motor vehicle. It's...

When a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck central Croatia in 2020, it caused extensive damage to the city of Sisak's town hall—and led to a fortuitous archaeological discovery, The Miami Herald reports. During renovation and repair work to the building, construction crews encountered long forgotten and well-preserved Roman ruins buried just beneath the modern structure’s basement. Archaeologists determined that they belonged to a small theater or odeon, measuring around 65 feet in diameter, which would have once held musical performances and political gatherings. Croatian authorities described the unexpected find as “extremely valuable” and one that helps provide a deeper glimpse into the...

A sandstone relief believed to represent Victoria, the Roman goddess of Victory, was unearthed from the Vindolanda fort near Hadrian's Wall in northern England, according to a statement released by the Vindolanda Trust. The deity was highly esteemed in Roman society, especially among soldiers, and was often honored after military success on the battlefield. The foot-and-a-half-tall sculpture was found in the rubble above a military barracks at the site, where as many as 800 Roman auxiliary troops were stationed.Archaeologists believe that it may have been part of an ornamental arch or gate that once adorned the building. The barracks and...

Every year, our nation sets aside the second Sunday in May to rightfully honor and pay tribute to the mothers in America. After all, if it weren’t for our mothers, none of us would be alive. This year, I was struck by the degree to which a growing portion of our society appears to believe that Mother’s Day should be updated to also include those who own pets; now referred to as “pet moms.” Yep, you read that right: some want pet owners honored right alongside actual mothers on Mother’s Day. Apparently, 60 percent of those who participated in a...

📍 Where & When: Announced on June 3, 2025, with plans to go public soon.GrabAGun will allow customers to purchase firearms online, though federal law requires the weapons to be picked up from authorized and licensed dealers, where standard background checks will be conducted. However, accessories such as scopes and ammunition can be shipped directly to consumers’

For the first time since the U.S. created an international group to coordinate military aid to Ukraine three years ago, America’s Pentagon chief will not be in attendance when more than 50 other defense leaders meet Wednesday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who returned from a national security conference in Singapore on Sunday, will not arrive in Brussels until Wednesday evening, after the Ukraine Defense Contact Group’s meeting is over. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss scheduling details, confirmed that Hegseth also will not participate by video conference. It is the latest in a series of steps...

From X https://x.com/catturd2/status/1930037840731046281 In 2015 in a debate in the Republican primary, Donald Trump completely owned and humiliated Rand Paul. I mean,Trump destroyed him. 10 years later, Rand hasn’t gotten over the humiliation. He’s been voting against Trump no matter what he does ever since. This is what it’s all really about. 100%, President Trump, ended his presidential dreams with one line, and he has never gotten over it https://x.com/i/status/1930040325965254891 Video clip of the debate exchange. https://x.com/LangmanVince/status/1930040325965254891

🚨 Trump, Donald Trump, Keir Starmer, Kier Starmer, US news, UK news, US UK trade deal, Farage Trump vs Starmer, Donald Trump Keir Starmer, Starmer’s EU deal, Trump destroys Keir Starmer LIVE! 🇬🇧🇺🇸 🔥 The Trump vs Starmer showdown just went next level in this explosive parody concert! Watch as Donald Trump humiliates Keir Starmer on live TV and savages him with a brutal rejection — backed by Tommy on drums and Elon Musk on sax! This MUST-SEE PARODY is a rallying cry for British sovereignty, Reform UK, and Nigel Farage supporters across the nation. After the smash hit “GO,...

If there's anything Hollywood — and its audience — loves more than a Nazi villain, it's a Nazi villain who gets exactly what they deserve in the final reel. I'd like to present the Top Five Movie Nazis Who Got Exactly What They Deserved, but before I do, I'll remind you that this list is definitive and that no arguments or additions will be tolerated. I'm kidding, of course — I only put together these lists as a jumping-off point for an excellent discussion in the comments section. With that in mind, and with my general acceptance that half of...

<p>Country star Tim McGraw's daughter has confirmed her sexuality during Pride Month.</p><p>Oldest daughter Gracie, 28, who he shares with wife Faith Hill, recently took to Instagram to proudly post about her sexual orientation.</p><p>She re-shared a post that read, 'EVERYONE GET MORE GAY NOW!'</p>

A senior official who dismantled the US government’s Russian disinformation unit is married to a Russian woman with links to the Kremlin, The Telegraph can reveal. Darren Beattie has provoked alarm within the State Department since being appointed in February for his ardent pro-Russian views. He has been noted for his focus on destroying the agency tasked with tackling Kremlin propaganda. Mr Beattie, the acting under-secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, is married to a woman whose uncle has taken several roles in Russian politics and once received a personal “thank you” message from Vladimir Putin.

In his first prayer intention video of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV has asked the faithful to pray that the world might grow in compassion during the month of June. “Let us pray that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from his heart, learn to have compassion on the world,” the pope said in a video released June 3. The video also includes an original prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to which the month of June is dedicated. ---snip---Here is the full prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus:...

Nearly one million Russian troops have been killed or wounded in the country’s war against Ukraine, according to a new study, a staggering toll as Russia’s three-year assault on its neighbor grinds on. The study, published on Tuesday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that close to 400,000 Ukrainian troops have also been killed or wounded since the war began. That would put the overall casualty figure, for Russian and Ukrainian troops combined, at almost 1.4 million. Officials cautioned that casualty figures were difficult to estimate because Moscow is believed to routinely undercount its war...

Hamit Coskun’s Koran-burning conviction is a shameful affront to liberal, Enlightenment values. It’s a verdict that would make the Ayatollah smile. Today, in nominally liberal Britain, a man has been found guilty of a crime after he dared to burn a Koran in public. Hamit Coskun, a Turkish-born asylum seeker, has been convicted of a ‘religiously aggravated public-order offence’ over his – quite literally – incendiary protest outside of the Turkish consulate in London in February, against what he sees as the Islamist turn of Erdogan’s Turkey. If nothing else, Coskun’s stunt has exposed the Islamist-apologist turn of our own...

A pet zebra has escaped in Tennessee, stunning drivers as it repeatedly raced down residential streets — even bringing a busy interstate to a standstill. The still-at-large animal was spotted several times across Rutherford County, southeast of Nashville, on Saturday, and sheriffs say the animal remains at large, unless its owner has found it and not reported it. Dodging vehicles and narrowly avoiding getting hit, the pet caused havoc when it ran along a busy Greater Nashville interstate over the weekend. The zebra broke loose on Saturday, just a day after its owner purchased it, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office...

WASHINGTON — Kenny Capps is a cancer patient who has been battling multiple myeloma for a decade. A 53-year-old father of three children who lives in North Carolina, he was on the brink of losing his health insurance coverage due to rising costs — until Democrats passed an Obamacare funding boost four years ago. “Thanks to the enhanced premium tax credits, we were able to keep affording insurance,” Capps told NBC News during a recent visit to Washington to raise awareness about the issue. “It had almost doubled to the point of my mortgage at that time, so I was...

Federal authorities say the man arrested for a suspected terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday was prepared to conduct mass murder using homemade explosive devices and a self-fashioned “ flamethrower.” In addition, the FBI says that the suspect, Mohamed Soliman, an Egyptian national in the U.S. illegally, admitted that he intended to “kill” as many “Zionists” as possible at a demonstration to free Israeli hostages that he intentionally targeted. As reported by Fox News’ Kayleigh McEnany during Monday’s edition of “Outnumbered,” Soliman was found to have had 14 Molotov cocktails on his person along with the flamethrower that he...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…. (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)I recently attended a large family event. Seating arrangements are always difficult but for some unknown reason, the hostess banished two of our family members to tables where they knew nary a soul, while...

The legacy media finds itself in a dilemma of its own making. The depth and seriousness of Joe Biden’s mental and physical problems during his presidency are being exposed daily—ironically, much of it by the denizens of the legacy media as they feverishly attempt to absolve their culpability in keeping the American people in the dark about Biden’s unfolding mental and physical infirmities as well as what was really happening in the Oval Office. The net result of this disingenuous mea culpa will accelerate the already record downward spiral in the citizenry’s trust in the media.During the 2020 campaign, it...

Four months into Trump’s second term—and despite nonstop media hostility—he’s nearly tied or ahead in major polls. How is that possible? It’s simple: A booming economy, a foreign policy grounded in realism, a secure border, and popular working-class policies—all contrasted by a Democratic opposition mired in chaos, antisemitism, and no credible alternative. Victor Davis Hanson discusses this on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”