Free Republic

Beginning June 13, 2025, Operation Rising Lion has centered around the capabilities of Israel’s largely U.S.-made air forces. F-16s, F-35s and the venerable F-15s have opened up the skies over Iran. That enabled a complex campaign targeting Iran’s air defenses, nuclear sites, ballistic missile and drone production, and some of Iran’s mobile missile launchers. Israel has used precision weapons ranging from the satellite-guided JDAM to the newer Small Diameter Bomb.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) argued Tuesday that it’s too early for Congress to consider legislation that aims to prevent President Trump from using military force against Iran. “I think we’re getting the cart ahead of the horse here,” Thune told reporters on Capitol Hill when asked if he would allow a war powers resolution to come up for a vote on the Senate floor. “This is something that’s happened the last few days,” the South Dakota Republican said of the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel. “I think the president is perfectly within his authority in the steps...

The prospect of U.S. involvement in an increasingly volatile conflict between Israel and Iran has cleaved clear divisions within the MAGA movement – a rarity over the course of President Trump’s decade-long political career. Top Trump allies have pleaded their case in recent weeks directly to the president and on social media for why the U.S. should fully avoid engaging in any dispute between Iran and Israel. On another side, other Trump allies are arguing it is in the president’s interest to take a more aggressive posture toward Iran. Some have suggested the schism could fracture the president’s coalition. Sources...

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently released a survey that found businesses are passing some or all of the cost of higher tariffs onto consumers through higher prices. The New York Fed conducted its survey of businesses in the New York and northern New Jersey region from May 2-9 and found most businesses passed on at least some of the higher tariffs to their customers through higher prices. It found that about 90% of manufacturers and roughly three-quarters of service firms import some goods, with the average share of imported inputs at around 30% for all firms. Manufacturers...

“‘Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” and behold, the log is in your eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your eye’” (Matthew 7:3–5). When we judge critically we also manifest an erroneous view of ourselves. The “speck” Jesus refers to is not something insignificant—it was likely a twig or splinter. Though small in comparison to a log, it was not a...

A U.S. Air Force E-4B “Nightwatch” aircraft — commonly known as the “Doomsday Plane” — landed at Joint Base Andrews late Tuesday night following a highly irregular flight path from Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana. The flight sparked speculation given the plane's historical role during major national or global crises. Formally designated as the National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC), the E-4B is built to serve as a mobile command post for the President and top military officials in the event of nuclear war or other catastrophic events.

18 June 2025 Wednesday of week 11 in Ordinary Time Schönau Monastery, Germany Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First reading2 Corinthians 9:6-11There is no limit to the blessings which God can send youDo not forget: thin sowing means thin reaping; the more you sow, the more you reap. Each one should give what he has decided in his own mind, not grudgingly or because he is made to, for God loves a cheerful giver. And there is no limit to the blessings which God can send you – he will make sure that you will always have all...

News of the weird is nothing compared to the weirdness of the regular news these days. The Murray, Kentucky, Police Department recently noted it received a complaint about a man intentionally releasing a raccoon inside a business on the evening of June 6. According to a report from The Blaze, the animal subsequently bit a patron. The man, 40-year-old Jonathan Mason, was arrested just six months earlier for being drunk and disorderly — and trying to leave a bar … on a mule. (One jackass atop another.) I’ve always been a fan of weird news. In fact, I used to...

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement read by a television presenter on Wednesday that his country will not accept US President Donald Trump's call for an unconditional surrender. In his first remarks since Friday, when he delivered a speech broadcast on state media after Israel began bombarding Iran, Khamenei said peace or war could not be imposed on the Islamic Republic. "Intelligent people who know Iran, the Iranian nation, and its history will never speak to this nation in threatening language because the Iranian nation will not surrender," he said. "The Americans should know that any...

The $1 bond was paid. But for someone so eager to torch the American house, Khalil is oddly determined to keep a room in it. On Friday, the only door that opened was the one back to his cell. Mahmoud Khalil, Columbia’s most litigious Gaza sympathizer, had seemingly triumphed in federal court—only to find himself right back where he started. Down in Louisiana, where the alligators grow so mean. After days of breathless media coverage and a headline-generating injunction questioning the legality of Mahmoud Khalil’s detention, Judge Michael Farbiarz quietly reversed course. In a terse, two-page order, he declined to...

Sarcasm and Silliness from a Windy City Cop Wednesday, June 18, 2025 What's This? Crime is down? Nationally? Murder rates are plummeting. While we still have more than half a year to go, Kash Patel, the FBI’s director, says that the U.S. is on track to have the lowest murder rate ever. The current record low occurred in 2014 when the FBI reported a murder rate of 4.45 per 100,000. The question is: why? Law enforcement matters, but it is probably also that Trump is deporting criminal illegal aliens. According to Patel, “Let good cops be cops,” is the answer....

Russia has strongly defended Iran’s right to maintain peaceful nuclear installations. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Iran had the right to such facilities in the past, holds it now, and will continue to do so in the future. She made these remarks while speaking to Sputnik Radio, stressing that peaceful nuclear sites are now under direct attack. Zakharova warned that the threat of nuclear conflict in the Middle East is no longer a theory but a real and growing danger. She said these attacks are not only increasing tensions but also posing a serious threat to both the...

Now coming into view are the specifics of EPA’s strategy to end the Obama/Biden efforts to strangle the energy sector of the economy in the name of “saving the planet” from climate change. A document released by EPA last week on June 11 lays out the plan for repeal of the absurd (and dangerous) regulation that would have ended use of fossil fuels to generate electricity by some time in the 2030s. This EPA document is particularly interesting for the way it treats — and effectively sidelines — the so-called Endangerment Finding, the 2009 regulatory action that is the basis...

It had been three days since Egypt and Syria launched a two-headed assault against Israel, and now,..Kissinger and the rest of Richard Nixon’s administration faced a decision with titanic consequences. Should they send a flagging Israel the tanks, jets, and other weapons it needed to win the war? Or let the belligerents duke it out as is? The president and his administration chose the former. For the Israelis, this was a deliverance that could have come from God himself. Simply put, America’s resupply saved Israel.... The whole of the U.S. government was caught unawares by the outbreak of the Yom...

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned on Wednesday that direct U.S. military assistance to Israel could radically destabilise the situation in the Middle East, where an air war between Iran and Israel has raged for six days. In separate comments, the head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, was quoted as saying that the situation between Iran and Israel was now critical. Ryabkov warned the U.S. against direct military assistance to Israel or even considering such "speculative options," according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

As Russia was unleashing its deadliest attack on Ukraine’s capital in nearly a year, President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the Canadian Rocky Mountains early Tuesday hoping to meet with President Trump and secure more support for Ukraine from the Group of 7 industrialized nations. Instead, Mr. Trump left the global powers’ summit early, canceled his meeting with Mr. Zelensky, lamented Russia’s absence from the leaders’ get-together and rejected the idea of issuing a joint statement in support of Ukraine. A single, brief reference to Ukraine in a summary of the talks’ conclusions, released by the host, Prime Minister Mark Carney...

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass lifted the nighttime curfew she imposed last week on the city’s downtown area to prevent crime prompted by protests, which began in the wake of raids on undocumented migrants in the city. Bass said arrests and confrontations with the police had declined since this past weekend’s demonstrations. In a statement, Bass said the seven-day curfew was a success in helping ease tensions, protect stores, restaurant and residents from “bad actors who do not care about the immigrant community.” “My priority will continue to be ensuring safety, stability and support in the downtown neighborhoods,” Bass said,...

Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the last Shah of Iran and the former crown prince, said that plans are in place for a 100-day transitional period if the Islamic Republic regime falls in war with Israel. In a Tuesday video statement in Farsi, Pahlavi sought to reassure Iranians that opposition forces have a plan for the country's future. "Iran will not descend into civil war or instability," he said. "We are prepared for the first hundred days after the fall, for the transitional period, and for the establishment of a national and democratic government - by the Iranian people...

In an exclusive interview with Diane Sawyer, the actor discusses his ALS diagnosis, the challenges ahead and why he remains hopeful.

@PahlaviReza The Islamic Republic has come to its end and is collapsing. What has begun is irreversible. The future is bright, and together we will turn the page of history. Now is the time to stand up; the time to reclaim Iran. May I be with you soon.