Free Republic

What is to happen to New York—and for that matter to Los Angeles and a host of lesser but still important American cities? I have been thinking about that for some time—particularly after the recent LA fires that have barely been repaired— but have started to obsess about it with the rise of Zohran Mamdani in the NY mayoralty race. Mamdani seems a prototype of what we used to call online a “useful idiot,” a phrase ascribed to Lenin, although, like so many similar, no one seems to be able to locate evidence of his having used that precise language....

It’ll be months before many provisions of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” will take effect, but the impact for some parts of Black Chicago can be seen a mile away. It’s going to be bad, real bad. It might be premature to make firm predictions on how the wide-ranging bill will impact individuals and their households. However, considering its historic changes to safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps, many are predicting the Trump Administration’s signature legislation will have a dramatic effect on low-income Americans. Some say work requirements and other changes could result in households receiving fewer...

Lod Mayor Yair Revivo launched a scathing accusation against the State of Israel on Sunday morning, claiming it is "encouraging the elimination of Arab Israelis." Speaking to Kan Reshet Bet, Revivo addressed the spiraling violence within the Arab sector following the murder of Nadia Khinawi, who was shot dead in her home on Saturday night. "Someone entered the house at 9 p.m., walked into the living room, and shot two women in the head," he recounted. "They had no connection to any conflict, other than a shared family name." Revivo described what he sees as a “collapse of every moral...

Mary Strause, a filmmaker in Wisconsin, logged on to Amazon’s video-streaming service in late May so she could share a link to her latest project, a docuseries that harshly criticized the U.S. health care industry. She was surprised to see that her video had vanished. Ms. Strause had no way of knowing it, but the video had been taken down after a law firm working for UnitedHealth Group, one of the country’s largest health care companies, sent a letter warning Amazon and another streaming service, Vimeo, that the video was defamatory. It was the latest salvo in an aggressive and...

FEHD WEXD BAD UPC RCZ BAD GAVWD GVMWZ FMVGU BRWW. —RBBEOPU

Our education system feeds them a fantasy version of socialism that makes all things better, a trend that must stop if America is to survive. Once seen as a taboo word in American politics, socialism has experienced a notable resurgence, especially among young voters. Polls show that more than half of millennials and Gen Zers now view socialism favorably. Politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have transformed what was once a fringe ideology into a highly popular political movement. Even more troubling, they’ve achieved this not through real policy solutions but by promoting a utopian fantasy rooted...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem 🇮🇱(7/13/25)[Prayer]Water, Rivers, and Streams in the BibleJoshua 4:1-181When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2“Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” 4So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5and said to them, “Go over before...

The Talk ShowsJuly 13th, 2025 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:FACE THE NATION (CBS): Margaret Brennan anchors: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.); Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.); Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.). Joint interview: Sen. Linda Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Richard “Danang Dick” Blumenthal (stolen honor) (D-Conn.).FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Anchor Shannon Bream: Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas); DHS Secretary Kristi Noem; Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). Legal panel: Tom Dupree and Andy McCarthy. Panel: Marc Thiessen, Francesca Chambers, Josh Kraushaar and “Whiny” Juan Williams.MEET THE dePRESS (NBC): Hosted by Kristen Welker: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem; Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.);...

In the battle for Ukraine, the front line is increasingly at a standstill. The reason: rapid innovations in drone technology. From just a few commercial and homemade drones, which the Ukrainians used at the start of the war to locate invading Russian columns, unmanned vehicles now dominate the battlefield. Each side has hundreds of them constantly in the air across the 750-mile front line. Drones can lay mines, deliver everything from ammunition to medication and even evacuate wounded or dead soldiers. Crucially, drones spot any movement along the front line and are dispatched to strike enemy troops and vehicles. ‘Wedding...

What does the future hold as to large additions to heavily subsidized wind and solar electricity generation capacity in the U.S.? For those paying attention, the legislative back-and-forth of the One Big Beautiful Bill, as it made its way through Congress, has been something of a roller coaster ride. At this point, I am betting that the utility-scale wind and solar industries are near the end of their line. This post reports on the latest development, which is an Executive Order signed by President Trump on July 7. But count on the wind and solar subsidy farmers to keep fighting...

Is this what the embattled Democrats need right now? As President Donald Trump chugs along his second term, generally notching more wins than losses, many Democrats have all echoed a similar question: "Where is Barack Obama?" Sans a party figurehead -- like the role Trump presently occupies for the GOP -- the leader-less Democrats have been looking for some sort of unifying voice to guide the party amid the ongoing Congressional reign of the Republican supermajority. The last two leaders of the Democrats, former President Joe Biden and failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, have both been somewhat rejected by their...

Residents in one of London's most exclusive neighbourhoods say their properties are 'unsellable' and are fleeing the area due to Labour's tax raids and out of control crime with 'mugging gangs' and Rolex rippers roaming the streets unchecked. Multi-million pound mansions and townhouses on the wide leafy lanes of Knightsbridge and Kensington have fallen in value and are at the lowest levels for 15 years. Since 2018, house prices in Knightsbridge alone have dropped by over a million pounds, costing on average just £2.6 million today.

“When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean’” (Matthew 8:1–2). Leprosy was a most feared and contagious disease in the ancient world. Spongy, tumor-like swellings grew on the face and body, and eventually leprosy affected the internal organs and bones. In ancient Israel lepers were vivid object lessons regarding sin. Like leprosy, sin infects the entire person (cf. Eph. 2:1) and is ugly, corrupting—incurable without extraordinary means. Several things stand out about the leper...

Why so many people are captured by unlikely hearsay and anonymously sourced tales of high-level criminal conspiracies rather than meaningful political issues. Cynical Publius, a poster on X, accurately describes for me the fantastical conspiratorial posts this week about Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Jeffrey Epstein records and death as “ragebait engagement farming.” I hate mobs and mob thinking, and I think Bondi has achieved a remarkable courtroom record against a tsunami of judicial insurrection. This week the Department of Justice she heads, for example, just won its 13th Supreme Court victory in six months. White House Press Secretary...

Federal authorities have confirmed that more than 300 illegal aliens were arrested Thursday during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at a Ventura County, California cannabis farm. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed on X that 319 unlawful immigrants were apprehended during the raid at Glass House Farms, and said that "law enforcement rescued 14 children from potential forced labor, exploitation, and trafficking." The raid is believed to be the second-largest single-state ICE worksite operation in history, behind the first Trump administration's 2019 Mississippi chicken plant raids that netted almost 700 illegal alien arrests. One man taken...

Then I finally came to live in the U.S. and discovered a country chained by political correctness, which has become America’s new zeitgeist. Censorship came not as much from the government as from the media denouncements, which were then universally repeated by the mindless adepts of “progressivism.” Wherever I look I see a never-ending buildup of false narratives in an increasingly unfree society, where few things remain to be enjoyed for their beauty without the political ball and chain attached to them. One can’t even buy a chicken sandwich or watch a TV show, let alone read the news, without...

President Trump raged Saturday that he’s giving “serious consideration” to taking away comedian Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship – but the actress fired back with a flurry of posts ripping him and picturing him with Jeffrey Epstein. The social media sparring between the longtime rivals reignited when Trump argued the former talk show host is a “Threat to Humanity” in a fiery post on Truth Social. “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “She is a...

China faces chaos as devastating floods hit Beijing. After record-breaking rainfall, a massive dam collapse submerged entire districts like Chaoyang, paralyzing the city. This disaster in China's capital forced over 10,000 evacuations, crippled transportation, and exposed deep flaws in infrastructure. From subway shutdowns to rivers overflowing, China is in crisis again. Experts warn that climate change is turning seasonal storms into unstoppable natural disasters. The Beijing flood is just one chapter in a larger wave of extreme weather events sweeping across China in 2025. Stay tuned for shocking footage and real-time updates from the heart of the storm.

Iran has arrested at least 21 Christian converts in recent weeks, with some facing charges under a new law targeting alleged collaboration with hostile states, a rights group said.

The picture, shared to Instagram, appears to portray two large nuclear explosions with fallout across Israel.