Free Republic

Explanation: What are all those streaks in the sky? A galaxy, many satellite trails, and a few meteors. First, far in the distance, the majestic band of our Milky Way Galaxy runs down the left. Mirroring it on the right are several parallel trails of Earth-orbiting Starlink satellites. Many fainter satellite trails also crisscross the image. The two short and bright streaks are meteors — likely members of the annual Eta Aquariids meteor shower. The planet Venus shines on the lower right. Venus and the satellites shine by reflected sunlight. The featured picture is a composite of exposures all taken...

U.S. — Thousands of free Americans gathered in cities across the country today to lament their lack of freedom by holding rallies while shouting "Trump is a king!" and exercising their right to freely protest in a free country. The downtrodden, oppressed, upper-middle-class populace in urban centers throughout the United States boldly made their voices heard to decry President Donald Trump as acting like an all-powerful monarch as they openly protested and displayed their liberties in the freest society on Earth. "Trump is a tyrant! He has taken away our freedoms!" cried Mable Mcclean, a 68-year-old bisexual Episcopalian priest and...

News broke late Thursday of a massive Israeli strike that killed several top Iranian military leaders and targeted key facilities. Secretary of State Marco Rubio scrambled to clarify the U.S. position, insisting the attack was a unilateral move by Israel and that America had no direct involvement. But Trump was already on the phone with a handpicked group of journalists, offering a very different message. He praised the strikes as “excellent,” made clear the U.S. had foreknowledge, and didn’t bother with diplomatic ambiguity. The U.S. didn’t pull the trigger — but Trump was riding shotgun, playing the eager sidekick without...

Tehran warned that any country that helped repel Iranian attacks on Israel could face attacks by the Islamic Republic, which would target regional bases "of the collaborating state." This includes sites in the Persian Gulf states and naval vessels in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, according to the statement on Iranian state media. The U.S. operates permanent and temporary military sites across at least 19 locations in the region, the Council on Foreign Relations said. Azizi said there was an understanding in Tehran that everything happening now—Israeli strikes and the broader military campaign—was approved by Washington. In that...

As much as it’s horrifying to watch a city burn and the lives of cops and federal agents threatened by violent protesters, there is a silver lining to the last several days of rioting in Los Angeles. The desperate attempts to spin what’s happening do a fairly good job of illustrating what’s wrong with the political discourse in this country — and further demonstrate that the dishonest sophistry used to excuse violent riots in 2020 is no longer remotely persuasive.Still it’s worth classifying and breaking down the specific arguments and talking points that have been employed by the Democrat Party-media-industrial...

CAIRO: Iran has warned the United States, United Kingdom and France that their bases and ships in the region will be targeted if they help stop Tehran’s strikes on Israel, Iran state media reported on Saturday.

Residents of are told to shelter in place after massive fire erupts at Marathon Oil refinery plant At this time, emergency crews are actively responding to a major fire at the Marathon Oil refinery plant in Texas City. Massive flames and thick plumes of toxic smoke can be seen billowing from the site, prompting officials to issue a shelter-in-place order for nearby residents due to health and safety concerns. The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation, and authorities have not yet determined how it started. Hazmat teams are also on standby as a precaution, given the potential for...

On June 14, 2025–the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday–the nation will honor its legacy with a grand military parade in Washington, D.C. President Donald J. Trump will join veterans, active-duty troops, wounded warriors, Gold Star Families, and Patriotic Americans from across the country to celebrate our heroes who have protected our country through strength and selflessness.

Revolutionary Guard commander Sardar Esmail Kowsari told local media in an interview closing the Strait of Hormuz "is under consideration, and Iran will make the best decision with determination." "Our hands are wide open when it comes to punishing the enemy, and the military response was only part of our overall response," added Kowsari, who is a member of parliament in addition to his military position. Iran’s short- and medium-range missiles would be capable of targeting oil infrastructure platforms, pipelines in the Strait, or even attacking commercial vessels, and surface-to-surface missiles could target tankers or ports along the Gulf. Airstrikes...

'Our political leaders have to take responsibility for the fact that they have pushed a lot of normal people to the brink.' Patrick Christys says illegal immigration has created a 'powder keg' in the UK as protests erupt in Northern Ireland.

Minnesota authorities admitted they let a gunman who shot a Democratic lawmaker and her husband dead slip away despite engaging him in a firefight immediately after the murders. State Representative Melissa Hortman was shot along with fellow Democrat John Hoffman, a state senator, in a chilling assassination spree in the early hours of Saturday morning. Local police, sheriff's deputies, and the FBI have since launched an extensive manhunt, as authorities say multiple gunmen may be at large... The first shooting occurred just after 2am at Hoffman's home in Champlin, about 20 miles from Minneapolis. Hoffman and his wife were shot...

Host and pundit Tucker Carlson has publicly criticized President Donald Trump and other conservatives for their support of Israel's recent military strikes on Iran. In his newsletter titled "This Could Be the Final Newsletter Before All-Out War," Carlson accused Trump of being "complicit" in Israel's attack, arguing that U.S. funding and weapons supplied to Israel, which Trump has boasted about, place the U.S. at the center of the conflict. He stated, "Washington knew these attacks would happen. They aided Israel in carrying them out," and suggested that direct U.S. involvement in a war with Iran would betray voters who supported...

Giovanni Garcia pulled up to a dusty intersection in South Gate and scoped the scene. It was quiet, just folks walking home from work, but Garcia was among several people drawn there in hopes of bearing witness to one of the federal raids that have unfolded across Los Angeles County in recent days. Just minutes before, several Instagram accounts had posted alerts warning that white pickup trucks with green U.S. Customs and Border Protection markings had been seen near the intersection. With friends loaded into his white Grand Cherokee and a large Mexican flag flying out of the sunroof, this...

White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security advisor Stephen Miller has warned that the United States’ Alien Registration Act will now be enforced, and “illegals who fail to register with the government, as required by law, will be criminally prosecuted.” Under the Alien Registration Act, which had not been enforced for 75 years, all non-citizens are required to register with the government, submit their fingerprints, and provide the address where they are residing. Miller confirmed that the law will now be enforced in a post to X, responding to a Politico article titled, “Federal prosecutors now...

While the idea might be novel for many Americans, military parades are common spectacles in many parts of the world.President Donald Trump is set to realize on Saturday, as he turns 79, one of his long-standing ambitions: to host a major military parade in Washington.While the idea might be novel for many Americans, military parades are common spectacles in many parts of the world. Trump was so taken by France’s Bastille Day ceremonies in 2017 that he vowed to match or top them. “It was one of the greatest parades I’ve ever seen,” Trump told reporters of the French festivities.Under...

The suspect in the assassination and attempted assassination of two Minnesota lawmakers has been identified as Vance Boelter, two law enforcement officials briefed on the case tell CNN. Boelter is 57 years old and, according to a law enforcement official, he works for a security company, Praetorian Guard Security. The company website says that Boelter serves as the director of security patrols and has had training by people in the US Military. ...

It was the morning shift at Ambiance Apparel, a clothing wholesaler on the edge of Los Angeles’s fashion district, and along with a crowded showroom of mannequins and women’s skirts was a sprawling warehouse, where immigrant workers were bustling about.On any other day, the inventory would have flowed smoothly, from folded piles to cardboard boxes stacked on wooden pallets to be loaded onto trucks. But on June 6, as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swarmed the premises, dozens of employees at the warehouse and at a second facility nearby fled their workstations, ducking between shelves and inside boxes.They couldn’t...

A new Pew Research Center report shows that although Christianity continues to be the world’s largest religious group, its share of the rising global population has fallen over the last decade, mainly due to people walking away from the faith. The report, based on an analysis of 2,700 censuses and surveys, shows that the global population of Christians grew by 121.6 million people from 2010 to 2020, reaching some 2.3 billion people. As a share of the global population, estimated to be about 7.8 billion in 2020, Christians fell by 1.8 percentage points to 28.8%. The global population of Muslims,...

Vance Luther Boelter is accused of killing Hortman and her husband and seriously wounding Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife. Both Hoffman and his wife have had surgery and are expected to recover. Boelter reportedly impersonated a police officer when he attacked Hoffman and his wife at their home in Champlin, leaving them critically injured before proceeding to Hortman’s residence. According to records, Governor Walz appointed Boelter in 2019 to serve a four-year term on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board. During Governor Mark Dayton's administration, he was a member of the Governor’s Workforce Development Council in 2016. Authorities...

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday named eight new vaccine policy advisers to replace the panel that he abruptly dismissed earlier this week. They include a scientist who researched mRNA vaccine technology and became a conservative darling for his criticisms of COVID-19 vaccines, a leading critic of pandemic-era lockdowns, and a professor of operations management.Kennedy’s decision to “retire” the previous 17-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was widely decried by doctors’ groups and public health organizations, who feared the advisers would be replaced by a group aligned with Kennedy’s desire to reassess —...