Free Republic

Explanation: Savudrija lighthouse shines along the coast near the northern end of the Istrian peninsula in this well-composed night skyscape. A navigational aid for sailors on the Adriatic Sea, the historic lighthouse was constructed in the early 19th century. But Polaris, an even older aid to navigation, shines in the sky above. Alpha star of the constellation Ursa Minor, Polaris is also known as the North Star. In this scene Polaris forms the shortest bright arc near the North Celestial Pole, the extension of Earth's axis of rotation into space. Of course, the North Celestial Pole lies exactly at the...

Elon Musk on Thursday said that his company SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft “immediately” because of threats by President Donald Trump to cancel government contracts with Musk’s businesses. Musk’s announcement, on his social media site X, came amid an escalating war of words with Trump that began after the Tesla CEO criticized the major tax bill being pushed by the Republican president. “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” Musk wrote. Dragon is the only U.S. option for delivering crew to and from the International...

...Trump made his comments while he and Merz spoke to reporters during Merz's White House visit on Thursday. Merz pointed out that the anniversary of D-Day is on Friday, saying it was when "the Americans ... ended the war in Europe." "That was not a pleasant day for you," Trump responded "No, that was not a pleasant—well—" Merz began before Trump interjected. "This was not a great day," Trump said. Merz cut in: "In the long run, Mr. President, this was the liberation of my country from Nazi dictatorship." "That's true," Trump said Merz went on to say that "we...

By every honest metric, President Donald J. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill dramatically improves the fiscal trajectory of the United States and unleashes an era of unprecedented economic growth.HOAX: The One Big Beautiful Bill increases spending.FACT: The One Big Beautiful Bill delivers nearly $1.7 trillion in mandatory savings — a fact that even the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) admits is true.FACT: This is the highest level of mandatory savings in history — dwarfing spending reductions from similar reconciliation bills in 2005 ($140 billion), 1997 ($800 billion), 1993 ($370 billion), and 1990 ($440 billion) on an inflation-adjusted basis.FACT: The One Big...

There are countless pundits who proclaim that America’s population must grow, grow, grow. Otherwise, our economy will crash and there won’t be enough people to support the elderly, join the military, pay taxes, or to keep housing values from falling. Census data show that America’s population growth rate is decreasing, which has prompted many observers to embrace the argument that we must rely on immigration to prevent population from declining. The evidence suggests that immigration provides few if any economic benefits for the majority of Americans. Take the simplest measure of all — real GDP. George Borjas, a Professor of...

The problem with the courts is the same as the problem with many of our other institutions. Called the Skinsuit Phenomenon, after the great @Iowahawk’s famous tweet that perfectly sums up the leftist approach to marching through our society: “1. Identify a respected institution. 2. Kill it. 3. Gut it. 4. Wear its carcass as a skinsuit, while demanding respect. #lefties.” The courts are supposed to have respect because they’re supposed to do their job, but, as is so common these days, they’re not doing the job, yet they still expect the respect. That’s just not in the cards. Things...

The Grants Pass (OR) City Council, Police Chief, and concerned Citizens all had their say in a raw meeting Wednesday 6/4/25 dealing with the unbearable "homeless" situation in town. One thing is clear: HB 3115 must be REPEALED AND REPLACED with HB 2432 "The Safe Communities Act"! CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES (takes a minute!) https://sites.google.com/view/save-gp

For months, US economic data has shown resilience, with layoffs remaining low and business activity staying steady despite fears over policy uncertainty. But the tide may be shifting. Multiple data points this week have shown signs of slowing as a wide swath of tariffs has been in effect. On Thursday, weekly filings for unemployment benefits hit their highest level since October 2024, adding to a slew of data showing a cooling economy leading into the Friday morning release of the May jobs report. Earlier in the week, the Institute for Supply Management's Services PMI registered a reading of 49.9 in...

Once again, the consensus of government and private weather forecasters is that this coming summer will witness above-average temperatures in most parts of the United States. Already, warnings have been sounded that America’s power grids will be under great stress—as has been the case for a number of years—with a strong probability of blackouts and brownouts in some parts of the country. For example, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) summer reliability assessment published on May 18 cited the 15-state Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) as the regional grid most likely to see a meltdown this summer. NERC’s warning...

An elusive fungus capable of generating quantities of a compound used to synthesize the hallucinogen LSD has finally been discovered on the morning glory vine after decades of searching. Almost a century ago, the Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman hypothesized the whimsical plant might harbor a species that belongs to a family of ergot-generating fungi. As the man who discovered and was first to synthesize LSD ( lysergic acid diethylamide) from the ergot alkaloid, Hoffman had been keen to expand our understanding of the biology and chemistry of organisms that produced it. While biochemical data hinted that a commonly cultivated morning...

@RepThomasMassie The house has a 72 hour rule which requires the bill to be posted 72 hours before passage. BUT the Speaker circumvented this rule with a “managers amendment” that re-wrote and added substantial portions of the bill as it went through the rules committee the night the bill was passed. There’s another House rule which requires a day to pass before voting on a bill after the rules committee has modified it. Would you believe the House voted to suspend that so-called “same day rule”?! 😳 This means the final language of the bill was released only a few...

As leading AI labs compete in a breakneck race to develop more powerful systems, the “Godfather of AI” says ethical concerns and safety research are being sidelined, risking serious consequences for society. The Financial Times reports that AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio has sounded the alarm on the current state of AI development, warning that the competitive drive to create increasingly intelligent systems has led to a reckless disregard for safety and ethical considerations. Bengio, often referred to as the “Godfather of AI,” believes that this negligent approach could have disastrous consequences for humanity. In an interview with the Times, Bengio...

Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!

Investigators are working to uncover what caused a fleet of decommissioned SEPTA buses to catch fire at a Philadelphia bus depot on Thursday morning. SEPTA GM Scott Sauer said over a dozen of the torched buses were Protera-manufactured electric buses that he said have not been used in several years. A total of 40 buses were damaged in the fire, sparking air quality concerns that the city's health department says are still unhealthy for nearby residents. No one was injured in the fire at SEPTA's largest bus depot that runs 24-hours a day.

Donald Trump’s journey from the world of business (with WWE along the way) to the Oval Office is a story of the power of showmanship and the blurred lines between entertainment and politics. As the only WWE Hall of Famer to become President of the United States (so far), Trump’s political career has been significantly influenced by his experiences in professional wrestling.

Elon Musk went nuclear on President Trump Thursday, accusing him of withholding information from the public about Jeffrey Epstein because it would implicate him. “Time to drop the really big bomb,” Musk posted on X after a multi-hour tirade against the president. “@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files.” That is the real reason they have not been made public,” he claimed. “Have a nice day, DJT!” The disgraced financier’s association with Trump has been known for years as the two were videotaped and photographed together at parties in the 1990s.

The woman who was charged after spitting on DOJ official Ed Martin is potentially facing new charges after she went on an insane tweet rant and threatened Interim DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro. Last month, the Justice Department charged the unhinged woman who spat on DOJ official Ed Martin. The woman, identified as Emily Gabriella Sommer, was charged with violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111 (Assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and employees of the United States). Sommer spat on then-Acting DC US Attorney Ed Martin last month while he was interviewing with Newsmax. “We need to stay focused,” Ed...

President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to cut Elon Musk’s government contracts as their fractured alliance rapidly escalated into a public feud with Trump suggesting he would use the U.S. government to hurt his fellow billionaire financially. The spectacular blow-up between the president of the United States and the world’s richest man played out on their respective social media platforms after Trump first broached the topic in a White House meeting with Germany’s new leader. The rancorous breakup happened less than a week after they appeared together at the White House and Trump thanked Musk for his brief but tumultuous...

New Testament scholar NT Wright has shared further thoughts on the murder of children in the womb, offering that while he’s no scientist and it’s tough for him to talk about the issue on account of him being a man and not a woman, that he believes there are exceptions for rape and incest, as well as the mental health of the mother who can’t bear having a child with a fetal deformity. Wright previously revealed that he thinks a substantial element of the pro-life movement is just “people nervous about sex” who get manipulated by “powerful men telling women...

Radio host Charlamagne Tha God on Thursday criticized black Democratic voters for what he called blind loyalty to the party. Charlamagne’s comments on “The Breakfast Club” followed former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announcing on Wednesday that she was leaving the Democratic Party to become an independent and publishing a book. The radio host praised her departure from the Democratic Party, arguing that black Americans should not be tied to either major political party. WATCH: VIDEO AT LINK................... “I respect her being independent because I feel like if you black in this country, you shouldn’t be loyal to any...