Free Republic

I left California in 2018 after having lived there since 1968. Many were doing the same then. I have written about this move many times in books, articles, blogs and on this Substack. The subject has started to bore me. I didn’t want to hear about California. I barely commented about the fires that were so mishandled by the state and city’s incompetent leadership. But with the demonstrations of the last few days, the protestors blocking the 101 as I type, burning cars and pelting police, I cannot hold back. President Trump has done the right thing calling in the...

Remember the dark days of the Biden years, when the economy felt like it was sputtering along and every other job created seemed to be on the government payroll? Well, there's good news. Things have changed completely under President Donald Trump's second term. The latest numbers are nothing short of phenomenal, especially if you're a fan of actual, you know, private sector job growth. The White House wasted no time touting the recent jobs report, and who can blame it? The contrast is stark. The U.S. job market continues to defy expectations under President Trump. In May alone, the economy...

Oakmont Country Club will play host to the 125th U.S. Open (Thursday - 12 June - Sunday - 15 June). NBC Sports will present nearly 300 hours of live, first tee to final putt coverage across NBC, USA Network, GOLF Channel and Peacock. Twenty-one of the 47 broadcast hours will be on NBC, the most network exposure for any major golf championship.

Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes are not only rich in vitamins and minerals but also contain a range of plant compounds that benefit your health. Anthocyanin is one such example. This antioxidant of the flavonoid family is purported to reduce inflammation and protect you from conditions like cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. You may want to know how to get this compound in your diet. This article explains what anthocyanin is, plus its health benefits and the foods and drinks that contain it. What is anthocyanin? Anthocyanins are a group of antioxidants found in red,...

Greta Thunberg and her posse of international activists will be forced to watch footage of the Oct. 7 terror attack after Israeli forces intercepted their Gaza-bound “selfie yacht,” Israel’s defense minister revealed Monday. Israel Defense Forces captured and boarded the Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, after the Swedish activist and the others on board tried to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip — just hours after Israeli officials demanded they call off the stunt. ... “I congratulate the IDF for the quick and safe takeover of the ‘Madleen’ flotilla to prevent them from breaking the blockade...

For most of my life, Australia appeared to be a combination of English and American virtues. It was a big, free-wheeling country, with brave, strong people who nevertheless hewed to the best British principles of liberty. That image got destroyed when large swaths of Australia became the most tyrannical places on earth during COVID. Now, Australia has dragged itself further into the tyranny gutter by refusing admission to Hillel Fuld, an Israeli-American who speaks out in defense of Israel amidst the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. You might not have heard of Hillel Fuld, although I bet that you...

Sky News host Andrew Bolt claims the United States is almost at the brink of a “civil war”. “I got to say, it is happening again, scenes that look almost like a civil war in America,” Mr Bolt said. “When Donald Trump was first elected president you had American cities being torched, by rioters, by anarchists and the hard-left, all encouraged by anti-Trump Democrat politicians who are exploiting race resentments after the death of a drug-affected George Floyd.”

Even wars have rules. They don't stop soldiers killing each other but they're intended to make sure that civilians caught up in the fighting are treated humanely and protected from as much danger as possible. The rules apply equally to all sides. If one side has suffered a brutal surprise attack that killed hundreds of civilians, as Israel did on 7 October 2023, it does not get an exemption from the law. The protection of civilians is a legal requirement in a battle plan. That, at least, is the theory behind the Geneva Conventions. The latest version, the fourth, was...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson ABC News says the riots in LA are just people burning cars for fun: “Could turn volatile if you move law enforcement in the wrong way and turn what is people having fun watching cars burn into a massive confrontation and altercation.” From Steve Guest 7:43 AM · Jun 9, 2025

Cole Escola became the first nonbinary person to win a Tony in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play category at last night’s Tony Award ceremony for their work in the Oh, Mary! They are also now the third nonbinary actor to win a Tony, following Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee, who both took home the coveted statues in different categories at the 2023 ceremony. At last night's awards ceremony, Escola was up against some heavy hitters — George Clooney, Daniel Dae Kim, Jon Michael Hill, Harry Lennix, and Louis McCartney. In the...

The situation in Los Angeles is spiralling toward yet another round of sure to be infamous LA riots, as leftist rioters ostensibly protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement as it tries to arrest and deport illegal aliens in the city are both fighting with law enforcement officers and setting the city alight. Horrifyingly, an LA Councilwoman was egging them on as they did so. That was Los Angeles City Council Member Eunisses Hernandez (D), who gave a speech as the situation was escalating, in which she called for protesters to surge and advance the already violent riots against the ICE agents....

Daily Readings from the USCCBStanding by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. John 19:25–27The memorial we celebrate today, which was added to the Roman Liturgical Calendar in 2018 by Pope Francis, highlights the truth that the Blessed Virgin Mary is not only the Mother of...

I need not tell fellow Freepers the story of the USS Indianapolis, we all know it.Harold Bray has lived in Benicia, California for many years (as did I). Mr. Bray routinely shared his story with high school history classes (both my sons heard his him). I met him once and spoke with him, he is a gentlemen and a hero. His birthday is coming up: June 15th. He will be 98 years old. His family and friends have asked for birthday cards and well wishes from as many people as possible. The address to send the cards is:Harold Bray PO...

For decades, the bedrock rationale for NATO’s existence has been the formidable conventional and nuclear threat Russia posed. However, recent geopolitical realities necessitate a critical re-evaluation of this foundational premise.Russia, the very reason for NATO’s enduring vigilance, increasingly reveals itself as a waning power. Its protracted and costly war against Ukraine has demonstrably exposed severe limitations in military capability, logistical resilience, and strategic foresight. Despite its historical might and nuclear arsenal, Russia has failed to decisively defeat a significantly smaller neighbor after years of brutal conflict.This protracted stalemate suggests that Moscow’s capacity for conventional expansion is severely diminished, and its...

Closeup image of an ancient wooden Egyptian falcon. Researchers have found a way to repoduce the blue pigment visible on the artifact, which is the world's oldest synthetic pigment. (Credit: Matt Unger, Carnegie Museum of Natural History) =============================================================== In a nutshell * Ancient Egyptian artisans developed precise, repeatable recipes to create four distinct shades of Egyptian blue, the world’s first synthetic pigment, long before the science of chemistry existed. * The pigment’s iconic blue color comes primarily from the mineral cuprorivaite, and researchers found that even samples with only 50% cuprorivaite could produce rich, vibrant blues. * Modern scientists recreated...

For years, the popular “LA Scanner” account on X presented itself as a simple, neutral feed with just scanner updates, crime alerts, and public safety notices. But now, the left-wing mask has finally slipped. And what do we see underneath? A raging left-wing activist with Stage 5 TDS, an open hatred for law enforcement, and a not-so-subtle agenda to turn his 40K followers into digital foot soldiers for sabotage against ICE. In a now-viral post, the account openly encouraged people to commit a federal crime – calling in fake reports to ICE in order to tie up their resources and...

Ukrainian drones struck two major facilities supplying Russia's military on Monday, dealing a double blow to President Vladimir Putin's war machine. The facilities struck in early morning attacks were a plant in the Chuvash Republic, which produces navigation systems for Russian drones and missiles, and a gunpowder factory in Kazan, according to local reports.

snip... That's the point to remember as you watch the "National Guard" of the so-called global hyperpower try to re-establish its sovereignty in Paramount, California. When I wrote the above at the dawn of the century, the city was 72 per cent Hispanic. Now it is 82.3 per cent. Over 36 per cent of the population is foreign-born. Which is not normal, outside of conquest in war or colonisation. As Democrats are wont to say when one proposes deporting an MS-13 rapist, "That's not who we are." Which at least appears to acknowledge that "who we are" is a topic...

Among the most surprising finds is that the inhabitants of the earliest cities of the Bronze Age (3500–1200 b.c.) were enthusiastic pig eaters, and that even later Iron Age (1200–586 b.c.) residents of Jerusalem enjoyed the occasional pork feast. Yet despite a wealth of data and new techniques including ancient DNA analysis, archaeologists still wrestle with many porcine mysteries, including why the once plentiful animal gradually became scarce long before religious taboos were enacted...In the 1990s, at the site of Hallan Çemi in southeastern Anatolia, archaeologists unearthed 51,000 animal bones dating to about 10,000 b.c. Of these, boar bones made...

For about 400,000 years, humans have consistently relied on fire for various purposes, especially for cooking, a process that helps kills off harmful bacteria and parasites in our food while also making it easier to digest. According to a statement released by Tel Aviv University (TAU), however, cooking was not the motivating factor for why early hominins learned to control fire. Instead, TAU archaeologists Miki Ben-Dor and Ran Barkai propose, its original purpose was to preserve meat in order to extend its shelf life and to ward off scavengers intent on stealing humans’ hard-won prey. The research examined the earliest...