Free Republic

One of the more controversial arms of the government under the administration of former President Joe Biden could soon cease to exist as anyone knew it. Biden’s successor, President Donald Trump, has made that much abundantly clear. The embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency is going to be “wound down,” per the president’s orders, as described by Reuters. FEMA, which has an annual budget of about $30 billion, will start being phased out as its responsibilities get doled out to other departments. For example, federal disaster aid funds will now be distributed directly from the White House. Trump was speaking to...

J.J. Spaun has powered through the tough course conditions, terrible weather and heat of competition to win the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club on Sunday. Spaun, who turned pro in 2012 and has just one PGA Tour win under his belt, has captured his first major of his career at a course that consumed some of the game's biggest stars. He did so in dramatic fashion, too, as Spaun closed the door with a birdie at the 18th, a long, winding putt from 64 feet to secure the victory. ---SNIP--- Sunday’s start wasn’t at all what he had...

The US aircraft carrier the USS Nimitz has left the South China Sea and is heading west as the conflict between Israel and Iran descended into open warfare. Donald Trump has issued a warning to Iran, saying the country will experience 'the full strength' of the American military if it attacks the US. It comes amid reports he vetoed Israel's plans to assassinate Iran's Supreme Leader. The USS Nimitz had a planned port call in Vietnam later this week, but this has been called off as the conflict escalates. Tracking websites show the vessel moving west along with its strike...

Liz Shuler knows she has a long summer ahead of her. Over the past week, the president of the AFL-CIO, which has more than 15 million members, has seen organized labor’s ongoing battle with the Trump administration come under an even brighter spotlight. David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union of California (SEIU), was arrested on June 6 during a demonstration against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in Los Angeles’s garment district. His detention set off alarm bells among unions across the country, and made it clear that organized labor would play a major role...

In a nutshell * Scientists successfully transmitted light through an entire adult human head for the first time, overcoming extreme attenuation of 10^18 to detect individual photons * The technique can potentially monitor deep brain regions like the midbrain and cerebellum that are currently unreachable with existing optical brain imaging methods * While limited to participants with fair skin and no hair, the breakthrough opens doors for future portable brain imaging devices to detect strokes and tumors without expensive MRI machines +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GLASGOW — Doctors may be a step closer to peering deep into your brain to spot strokes or...

We Voted to Deport Every Single One of Them Kurt Schlichter Kurt Schlichter | Jun 16, 2025 It’s strange how I keep being told by the regime media and Democrat political flunkies, to the limited extent that those are different things, about how I didn’t vote for what Donald Trump is doing to illegal aliens. I keep hearing about how I don’t want ICE raiding Home Depots, factories, and non-Beatles strawberry fields or sending away 30-year illegal aliens or illegal alien honor students. I’m told that Donald Trump only promised to deport criminal aliens – in the sense that they...

By WAFB Staff Published: Jun. 15, 2025 at 9:14 PM CDT|Updated: 9 hours ago BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart went into cardiac arrest at his home Sunday morning and is in intensive care at a hospital, his son said Sunday evening. Jimmy Swaggart, 90, is one of the most well-known televangelists in the world. He is the founder of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. His son Donnie says Swaggart went into cardiac arrest around 8 o’clock Sunday morning and “has never regained consciousness.” He said paramedics responded to Swaggart’s home and were able to get a heartbeat before rushing...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem 🇮🇱(6/16/25)[Prayer]Water, Rivers, and Streams in the BibleDeuteronomy 3:16-1737 But in accordance with the command of the Lord our God, you did not encroach on any of the land of the Ammonites, neither the land along the course of the Jabbok nor that around the towns in the hills.Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.________________________

Over the years I have returned repeatedly to the subject of the New York City Housing Authority, or NYCHA. Begun with great optimism prior to World War II, NYCHA expanded rapidly in the 1960s and 70s, until it housed around 500,000 people. The economic model was always pure unmodified socialism — the government owns everything, rents are tied to income (“to each according to his needs”), and any shortfalls in paying costs fall on the taxpayers. But after all, we will save oodles of money because there will be no profits for the evil developers. For a few of my...

EXCLUSIVE: More than two months have passed since women's fencer Stephanie Turner went viral after being punished by USA Fencing for kneeling in protest of a trans opponent. And after nine weeks of immense public and federal scrutiny against USA Fencing in the aftermath of the incident, the organization amended two of its most controversial policies last weekend. The organization's board of directors changed its rule to de-prioritized states with laws deemed "harmful" to the LGBTQ population and a rule that did not guarantee the national anthem be played before every event. Turner reacted to USA Fencing's recent policy changes...

NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of assassinating the top Democrat in the Minnesota House held deeply religious and politically conservative views, telling a congregation in Africa two years ago that the U.S. was in a “bad place” where most churches didn’t oppose abortion. Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was captured late Sunday following a two-day manhunt authorities described as the largest in the state’s history. Boelter is accused of impersonating a police officer and gunning down former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home outside Minneapolis. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz described the shooting as “a...

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) estimated Monday that it had destroyed one-third of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers in less than four days of fighting, even if Iran was still capable of firing large barrages at Israel. In a statement, IDF Spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said that Israel had destroyed 120 of the regime’s estimated 360 missile launchers across Iran. Though the Israeli government estimates that Iran still has “thousands” of ballistic missiles, it is limited in its ability to use them by the number of launchers, as well as by daylight: the Iranian military prefers not to maneuver when...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan condemned Israel’s “act of force” against Iran and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities when they spoke by phone on Monday, the Kremlin says. “Both sides expressed the most serious concern about the ongoing escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict, which has already led to a large number of casualties and is fraught with serious long-term consequences for the entire region,” a Kremlin statement says. “The leaders spoke in favor of an immediate cessation of hostilities and the settlement of contentious issues, including those related to the Iranian nuclear program, exclusively...

TEHRAN — Any qualified individuals or eager recent college graduates looking for work in the field of nuclear engineering will be happy to know that there are exciting opportunities that have just recently opened up in Iran. Suddenly and without warning, multiple exciting positions in the field of nuclear energy research became available, creating opportunities for experienced engineers to step in and start working immediately. "These vacancies just exploded onto the scene," said one job listing. "All experienced nuclear engineers are encouraged to apply." Some of the job openings posted in the last 48 hours included: Enriched Uranium Inspector: A...

Israel’s precision strikes on Iran aren’t endless war—they’re a rare case of strategic force serving global security without costing American lives or treasure. As a veteran who frequently rails against what I call “useless, endless wars,” I feel a duty to explain my seemingly contradictory position of supporting Israel’s recent kinetic actions in Iran. First, by “useless, endless wars,” I am specifically referring to the expenditure of American blood and/or treasure in a war that ultimately does not serve the national security interests of the USA. Examples: Squandering American lives in a futile and unwinnable effort to transform a medieval...

Donald Trump announced his candidacy on this day in 2015. I admit to not watching it live. As far as I knew he was a celebrity real estate mogul and that was that. I hadn’t watched any of his TV shows. While my family and I were initially Cruzers, we slowly warmed up to the incredibly successful Brooklyn guy who shared our common goals for America. After eight years of the muslim, Donald Trump was the right man at the right time in the nick of time. In fact, we didn’t view the speech until sometime in 2017. No matter,...

The current war between Israel and Iran, rooted in decades of irreconcilable differences, could be a “dry run” for a future conflict between Israel and Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is following a similar path as Iran’s ayatollahs: pursuing a domestic military industry, building a nuclear program under a civilian guise, and acting as a state sponsor of terror by supporting groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

“‘Do not judge so that you will not be judged’” (Matthew 7:1). Believers are not to make unrighteous and unmerciful judgment on others because it manifests a wrong view of God. With the phrase “so that you will not be judged,” Jesus reminds the scribes and Pharisees that they are not the final court. To judge another person’s motives or to stand in the place of condemnation is to play God. “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). During the millennial kingdom Christ will share some of that judgment...

Iran bet on bluff and delay—but lost its proxies, deterrence, and leverage, leaving a regime rich in threats but bankrupt in power. Iran apparently had not adjusted to its new 2025 status—or maybe it had. Most of its bought terrorists are currently either destroyed or anemic. There is no more ascendant Iranian “Shia crescent” in the Middle East. Russia is no longer a Middle East power, patron, and protector. The Assad dynasty imploded, flipping Syria from an Iranian proxy into a likely Iranian enemy. Hezbollah, once supposedly the most fearsome of all the Iranian terrorist tentacles, was humiliated and neutered...

16 June 2025Monday of week 11 in Ordinary Time Catholic church St Benno - MunichReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First reading2 Corinthians 6:1-10How we prove that we are God's servantsAs his fellow workers, we beg you once again not to neglect the grace of God that you have received. For he says: At the favourable time, I have listened to you; on the day of salvation I came to your help. Well, now is the favourable time; this is the day of salvation. We do nothing that people might object to, so as not to bring discredit on...