Free Republic

The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) girls’ softball state tournament is officially under way — and so is the controversy surrounding Champlin Park’s starting pitcher. Marissa Rothenberger, a trans-identifying male athlete, threw a complete-game shutout Wednesday morning as No. 2-seeded Champlin Park defeated No. 7 Eagan, 5-0, in the Class AAAA quarterfinals. Rothenberger allowed seven hits and struck out four in the win. Rothenberger, whose participation in girls’ sports highlights a growing trend across the state and country, threw 14 shutout innings in back-to-back games in the sectional finals to help Champlin Park reach the state tournament. On Wednesday,...

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a Wednesday interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s behavior is growing increasingly “desperate” as his war against Ukraine continues three years after Russia’s attempted takeover of its eastern European neighbor. “He seems to be more out of control than he used to be,” she told “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade. “He was always an imperialist, but there is something about him now that seems almost more desperate in wanting to extinguish Ukraine.” -snip- “It shows that the Ukrainians are very advanced in what they are doing in their defense industry with...

Strawberry tree extracts helped treat ulcerative colitis in rats. (HJBC/Shutterstock) In a nutshell A traditional Mediterranean plant, the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), showed strong protective effects against ulcerative colitis in rats, performing nearly as well as a common prescription drug. The extract worked by reducing inflammation, preventing tissue damage, and restoring antioxidant enzyme levels, suggesting multiple mechanisms of action. While promising, these findings are from animal studies, and more research is needed before the extract can be considered a safe or effective treatment for humans. ======================================================================== JENDOUBA, Tunisia — A humble fruit from the Mediterranean region might hold the key...

Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos, a pediatric infectious disease expert and top CDC official, resigned on Tuesday as co-leader of the agency’s group that oversees updates to COVID-19 jab recommendations. Reuters first reported her resignation. This is the start to a great Birthday!!🎂 CDC official overseeing COVID-19 vaccine recommendations resigns – CBS News https://t.co/bNn66H01Cg — Brian Tyson, MD 🇺🇸 (@btysonmd) June 4, 2025 Per Reuters: Panagiotakopoulos said in an email to work group colleagues that her decision to step down was based on the belief she is “no longer able to help the most vulnerable members” of the U.S. population. In her...

How long can the average person expect to live in your country? The average life expectancy of a country reflects the cumulative impacts of economic development, quality of life, healthcare systems, and various other factors that affect overall well-being. Across the globe, life expectancy differs sharply between high-income and low-income countries. This infographic shows the 25 countries with the lowest life expectancy (at birth) in the world, using data from the UN’s World Population Prospects portal.

This week, FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs Ben Williamson clarified the agency's new position on gay pride activities. "I've received several questions about the FBI's stance on Pride Month and what related activities FBI divisions and employees should or should not participate in," he said in an email to assistant directors and special agents. "So, I want to take the opportunity to make FBI leadership's expectations clear: There should be no official FBI actions, events, or messaging regarding Pride Month." "You are free to do whatever you want on your own time," he added. "The FBI's job as the...

More voters approve of the job President Trump is doing than approved of the job former President Barry Obama was doing on this same day during Barry’s second term. How do you like those apples-to-apples? On this same day during his own second term (June 4, 2013), Obama’s average job approval rating was 47.1 percent. Today, exactly 12 years later, during Trump’s second term, The Donald enjoys an average approval rating of 47.5 percent. Trump is also scoring better than former President George W. Bush did on this same day during Bush’s second term (June 4, 2005), 45.9 percent for...

~Here's a cheery headline from the Russian press: Markov: an attack on Russia's strategic aviation is grounds for the use of nuclear weapons. That would be Sergey Markov, former advisor to Tsar Vlad, who admittedly is somewhat partial to nuke-rattling: in the early stages of the Ukraine war, he threatened to nuke the UK, for what reason I forget - the exciting new Islamic blasphemy laws? the paedo rape gangs? This time, however, Mr Markov was responding to the weekend's Ukrainian drone strike deep inside Russia. By "deep", I mean Siberia. Which supposedly took out forty of Putin's 120 strategic...

The audacious attacks on Russian airfields highlight the power of unconventional, asymmetric warfare — and the threat to U.S. strategic bases and ports, experts say.Ukraine’s surprise Sunday strike that used relatively inexpensive drones to knock out a significant portion of Russia’s long-range bomber capability was arguably the single largest blow to Moscow in its three-year war on its neighbor and a stunning display of asymmetric warfare. The out-of-the-blue drone blitz elicited glee among Ukraine’s backers in Washington, but also a chilling realization: The United States is increasingly vulnerable to just such a low-tech, low-cost strike. “The Pentagon should be very...

Israel warned Wednesday that it is “prepared” to “act accordingly” to stop Greta Thunberg’s so-called Freedom Flotilla Coalition from reaching Gaza — as the eco-activist frolicked and filmed smiling social media content on the Mediterranean Sea.

Explanation: Is the sky the same every night? No -- the night sky changes every night in many ways. To better explore how the night sky changes, the USA's NSF and DOE commissioned the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Cerro Pachón, Chile. In final testing before routine operations, Rubin will begin to explore these nightly changes -- slight differences that can tell us much about our amazing universe and its surprising zoo of objects. With a mirror over 8 meters across, Rubin will continually reimage the entire visible sky every few nights to discover new supernovas, potentially dangerous asteroids, faint...

The crew of a cargo ship carrying 3,000 vehicles to Mexico, including 800 electric vehicles, abandoned ship after they could not control a fire in waters off Alaska's Aleutian island chain. Smoke was initially seen coming from the deck loaded with electric vehicles Tuesday, according to a Wednesday statement from the ship’s management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime. There were no reported injuries among the 22 crew members of the Morning Midas.

Texas lawmakers are taking a stand against chemical-laden processed foods, pushing a bill that would require warning labels on snacks and soft drinks containing ingredients banned in other countries. Senate Bill 25, which passed unanimously in the state senate, is now awaiting Governor Greg Abbott’s signature. If signed into law, it would force food manufacturers to disclose whether their products contain substances deemed unsafe by regulators in Australia, Canada, the European Union, or the United Kingdom. The list of affected products is extensive. Skittles, M&M’s, Doritos, and Mountain Dew are among the brands that could soon carry labels warning consumers...

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he discussed the recent drone attacks by Ukraine on Russia and developments concerning Iran in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed the two spoke. During the conversation, Putin told Trump that Russia will have to respond to the Ukrainian drone attacks, the U.S. president said. "It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace," he said in a Truth Social Post. "I stated to President Putin that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and, on this, I believe that we...

If it’s happening in Georgia, you can bet it’s happening all over the country. Embedded bureaucrats are quietly rewriting the policies voters put in place. Georgia’s Medicaid program exists to serve the state’s most vulnerable — low-income children and foster youth, pregnant women, and disabled adults. It was never meant to be a vehicle for radical politics. But recent revelations about how the state awarded multibillion-dollar Medicaid contracts show exactly how far left-wing ideologues inside government agencies will go to push their agenda. Internal documents reveal that senior staff at Georgia’s Department of Community Health inserted ideological land mines into...

It turns out Volodymyr Zelensky did have another card to play.Ukraine’s astonishing drone attack on military airfields and critical assets deep inside Russia on Sunday blindsided the Kremlin, destroyed at least a dozen strategic bombers and marked a seismic shift in modern warfare.The mission, dubbed Operation Spider’s Web, was a fresh reminder to leaders of the world’s most advanced militaries that the toughest threats they face today are not limited to their regular rivals with expensive gear. Instead, swarms of small, off-the-shelf drones that can evade ground defenses can also knock out billions of dollars of military hardware in an...

This week, President Donald Trump’s border czar said that he is “convinced” there will be a major terrorist attack in the United States as a direct result of former President Joe Biden’s open border policies. “It’s coming,” Homan said in an interview on Fox News, adding that there were 2 million “got aways” who crossed the border during Biden’s tenure. “Why did 2 million illegal aliens pay more to get away?” Homan told Hannity. “They could have paid half of what they paid to cross the border, turn themselves in to Border Patrol agents, get released that same day, get...

The Dutch government collapsed on Tuesday after the Party for Freedom led by Geert Wilders pulled out of the coalition over the government’s asylum policy. Wilders had been adamant leading up to the collapse that without strict restrictions on immigration, his party would leave the coalition government. Wilders made good on those threats Tuesday. “We had no choice. I promised the voters the strictest asylum policy ever, but that was not granted to you,” said Wilders, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Netherlands’ prime minister, Dick Schoof, said Tuesday following the Party for Freedom’s exit that he would hand...

BEIJING (AP) — For most Chinese, the 36th anniversary of a bloody crackdown that ended pro-democracy protests in China passed like any other weekday. And that’s just how the ruling Communist Party wants it.Security was tight Wednesday around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, where weeks of student-led protests shook the party in 1989. Under then-leader Deng Xiaoping, the military was sent in to end the protest on the night of June 3-4. Using live ammunition, soldiers forced their way through crowds that tried to block them from reaching the square. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed, including dozens of soldiers.The...

The Justice Department on Tuesday charged two Chinese researchers with attempting to smuggle a fungus dubbed "Fusarium graminearum," into the U.S. which it claimed scientific research "classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon." The two researchers, identified as 33-year-old Yunqing Jian and 34-year-old Zunyong Liu, were allegedly receiving funding from the Chinese government for their research, and were allegedly citizens of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The pair, who were supposedly dating, allegedly lied to U.S. officials about the fungus in Detroit last year, with Liu stating he did not know how the material ended up in his luggage. He...