Free Republic

“For those people who say they want peace, you can’t have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon," said the U.S. president. June 15, 2025. U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed allegations that his support for Israel in its war against Iran was at odds with his “America First” commitment, stating that preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear arms was a top U.S. priority. “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, very simple. Regardless—Israel or not Israel—Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb,” Trump told The Atlantic for an interview published on Saturday

DALLAS (RNS) — For the second year in a row, a move to bar churches with women pastors from the nation’s largest Protestant denomination failed. A proposed amendment to the Southern Baptist Convention’s constitution, which would have kept any church that affirms, appoints or employs a woman “as a pastor of any kind” from belonging to the SBC, got 60.74% of the vote Wednesday (June 11), just shy of the two-thirds majority needed to move forward. A similar proposal failed last year on a second vote. Since 2020, the SBC’s statement of faith has upheld the office of pastor as...

While the Southern Baptist Convention held its annual convention, another Baptist group gathered in the shadows of the event. Baptist Women in Ministry, a national organization dedicated to “advocating for the full affirmation of women in ministry and leadership in Baptist life,” met nearby in a United Methodist church where they criticized motions and amendments trickling out of the meeting. Two of the speakers were Meredith Stone, Executive Director of BWIM and interim teaching pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, (An SBC Church) and Allison Beth Barr, a prominent progressive egalitarian and historian at Baylor University, who we’ve...

Prominent Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart has been hospitalized after having a heart attack in his family home early Sunday morning with his son Donnie Swaggart revealing that without a miracle he is likely to pass away very shortly. Speaking to his congregants during the evening service, his son, Donnie Swaggart, told the gathered body: This morning at a little after eight, Gabe and I rushed into Mother’s house. Dad had gone into cardiac arrest. He never regained consciousness. We both took turns giving him chest compressions until EMT could get there and they were, I’ve never seen so many people arrive...

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Eight people have been arrested after a joint investigation by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations, where illegal immigrants were allegedly paying to get fraudulent driver’s licenses. “About a month ago, we began investigating information that individuals within the Bay County Tax Collector’s Office were issuing fraudulent driver’s licenses to aliens,” said Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford. Investigators say suspicious driver’s license transactions were occurring at the Bay County Tax Collector’s Office, and two DMV employees were being financially compensated to provide driver’s licenses to those who did not qualify for them....

As the Trump administration faces substantial pushback in the courts, including an unprecedented wave of nationwide injunctions halting its policies, some are claiming that his opponents are tilting the scales of justice by selectively bringing their lawsuits before sympathetic courts in a practice called “forum shopping.” They note that three-quarters of the lower court justices who have blocked Trump policies were appointed by Democrats.Gaming the federal justice system, however, is harder than it sounds because plaintiffs bring cases before courts rather than judges. Most federal courts have a mix of judges appointed by Democrats and Republicans. The plaintiff’s goal in...

Developments continue apace in Israel and Iran, where the two bitter enemies will enter their fourth day of war. Earlier today, news reports had the Iranians asking erstwhile intermediaries to pressure Israel into cease-fire negotiations, albeit on the same terms as before -- with Iran maintaining its nuclear enrichment programs and with the usual "Death to Israel" and "Death to the Great Satan" messaging. That didn't work out so well, apparently, so the mullahs asked Vladimir Putin to intercede with Donald Trump. According to Israel Hayom -- and no one else so far -- Trump told Putin that he wasn't...

("an analyst told CNN." CNN, June 15, 2025 https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-strikes-news-06-15-25) _______ CAMERA Special Report: The National Iranian American Council; Tehran’s Best Friend in Washington. By: Sean Durns November 24, 2015. [...] Parsi’s dissertation on Israeli-Iranian relations served as the basis for his book Treacherous Alliance (2008, Yale University Press). Parsi is a resident alien, with Swedish and Iranian passports, not an American citizen, although he runs an organization that claims to represent Iranian-Americans... Upon coming to the United States in 2001, Parsi worked as a managing director for Hooshang Amirhadmadi of the American Iranian Council (AIC) while completing graduate study. Parsi...

In a Sunday evening Truth Social post, President Donald Trump ordered ICE officers to "do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History," first focusing on "our crime ridden and deadly Inner Cities, and those places where Sanctuary Cities play such a big role."The move is a bit of a departure from a post that Trump made on Thursday, in which he shocked supporters by announcing that "changes are coming" to the administration's "very aggressive immigration policy." Trump noted that farmers and people in the hospitality industry let...

Vance Luther Boelter isn’t just a name in the headlines, he’s a man with layers, a past, and a family caught in the storm of his actions. Before he became the prime suspect in a politically charged shooting spree that left a Minnesota lawmaker dead and others critically injured, he was a husband, a father, and a man with a résumé that didn’t scream “violent extremist.” But now, the world is scrambling to understand how someone with his background could be linked to such brutality. Boelter, 57, wasn’t always a fugitive. He was once a respected professional, holding a doctorate...

For the third straight day, Israel and Iran traded salvos, with the two sides destroying facilities in both Tehran and Tel Aviv. The war began on Friday, after Israel destroyed nuclear facilities in Tehran and took out the heads of the nuclear program in Iran in order to prevent them from enriching uranium.Now, The Wall Street Journal's live update reports even harder hits by Israel on Sunday:Israel’s military said on Sunday it was striking dozens of targets in Iran, the third day of intensive aerial attacks aimed at the country's nuclear program and senior leadership.An Iranian missile barrage overnight triggered...

Sen. Lindsey Graham is continuing to push for the US to fully enter Israel’s war against Iran, including potential regime change efforts. Graham, giddy like a schoolgirl at the prospect of war, made the comments on Sunday’s episode of CBS’s “Face The Nation.”Host Margaret Brennan began, “The thing with diplomacy is that the Israeli Prime Minister is calling for the Iranian people to rise up against the regime—a regime he says is calling for the destruction of his state. It doesn’t seem like there’s a compromise there. If it’s truly this existential, is this just leading us toward the outcome...

The gunman accused of shooting two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota has been taken into custody. Vance Boelter, 57, was arrested late Sunday night for the murders of Democratic State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the attempted murder of Democratic State Senator John Hoffman and his wife. He is facing both state and federal charges, with authorities announcing on Sunday that there is both a 'nationwide warrant' for Boelter's arrest for the murders and attempted murder at the state level as well as a federal warrant for 'unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.' Boelter, a Trump supporter, was tracked into...

Our Nation’s ICE Officers have shown incredible strength, determination, and courage as they facilitate a very important mission, the largest Mass Deportation Operation of Illegal Aliens in History. Every day, the Brave Men and Women of ICE are subjected to violence, harassment, and even threats from Radical Democrat Politicians, but nothing will stop us from executing our mission, and fulfilling our Mandate to the American People. ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History. In order...

Found and surrendering apparently

containerized launcher designed to fire the same suite of artillery rockets and ballistic missiles as the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) and M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) has appeared at the U.S. Army’s Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The ability to launch ballistic missiles, in particular, from what is outwardly indistinguishable from any other shipping container, presents a flexible strike capability that is harder for opponents to spot. Ukraine’s recent Operation Spiderweb covert drone attacks highlighted to a dizzying degree the value of even lower-end concealed fires capabilities. Trump also observed paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division...

An outage that affected customers across the Los Angeles, Van Nuys and surrounding areas on Sunday morning was allegedly caused by what Spectrum described as a “criminal act of vandalism,” and the company is now offering a reward for help finding the person responsible. “Early this morning our fiber optic lines were intentionally cut in Los Angeles due to vandalism,” the internet and cable provider shared in a statement. Spectrum did not immediately specify how many customers were affected by the fiber cuts, but said that the temporary outage affected “some residents and businesses.” According to the company, “criminal acts...

Kamala can’t get a call back. California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom reportedly didn’t even pick up the phone when former Vice President Kamala Harris called him this week about the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles County. The former vice president “wasn’t able to connect with her longtime political friend and rival but left him a voicemail to express support,” a person close to her told POLITICO’s California Playbook. A voicemail? Oh girl. She also called Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass. Wonder if she had to leave them voicemails, too? (snip) Democratic strategist Steve Maviglio thinks Harris may be “eyeing...

Leaked files reviewed by The Grayzone expose the covert war waged by British intelligence against Russia in the Black Sea, outlining Ukrainian “honey trap” plots along with blueprints for blowing up the Kerch Bridge. Sensitive documents reviewed by The Grayzone indicate that the United Kingdom is the central architect behind Ukrainian military operations targeting Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Among other explosive findings, the files reveal high-ranking British military and intelligence figures drew up detailed plans to “maximize attrition of [Moscow’s] Black Sea Fleet,” plotted to blow up the Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia with fertilizer bombs, and even...

Randi Weingarten, left-wing activist and president of the second-largest teachers’ union in the United States, is leaving the Democratic National Committee (DNC), citing disagreements with leadership and dismay at the direction of the committee. Weingarten, who heads the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and has been an influential member of the DNC for 23 years, wrote a letter to DNC Chair Ken Martin indicating that she is at odds with committee leadership, Politico first reported. “While I am proud to be a Democrat, I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and I do not...