Free Republic

NEW YORK — For sale: A 54-pound (25-kilogram) rock. Estimated auction price: $2 million to $4 million. Why so expensive? It's the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth. Sotheby's in New York will be auctioning what's known as NWA 16788 on Wednesday as part of a natural history-themed sale that also includes a juvenile Ceratosaurus dinosaur skeleton that's more than 6 feet (2 meters) tall and nearly 11 feet (3 meters) long. According to the auction house, the meteorite is believed to have been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike before traveling 140...

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin attempted to rebuff criticism of its welcoming attitude toward antisemitism by explaining "look, the Democratic Party has been the most successful political organization in America's history. The reason why it has been is that it has always had a 'big tent' philosophy of tolerance for diverse viewpoints. Some of those viewpoints--like support of slavery--are no longer legal. But others, like antisemitism are merely controversial. Those having such views are entitled to participate in the democratic process of voting for candidates who best represent their views." PBS News Hour, host Amna Nawaz asked Martin...

Everyone knows that the "big, beautiful" tax bill signed into law on the Fourth of July lowers tax burdens for families and businesses. It also averts a $4 trillion tax increase [that would have started] next year. That's enough reason to heartily celebrate.… Here is a list of some of the major policy victories: The law is the most aggressive federal advancement of school choice by allowing low-income parents to direct education dollars to private, charter or Catholic schools that are better for their kids. The law also expands eligibility for personalized medical savings accounts instead of conventional insurance. ......

President Trump is set to meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte this week on the heels of the U.S. leader announcing plans to sell NATO allies weapons that it can pass on to Ukraine. In a statement, NATO said Rutte will be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday and will also meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and members of Congress. CBS News reached out to the White House for additional comment. Sen. Lindsey Graham confirmed on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that he and Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal will be meeting with...

Northwoods Community Church is an evangelical multisite church with campuses in Peoria and Canton, Illinois. A member of the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches, they’re led by Senior Pastor Jon Rychener, who took over the role just a few short years ago. For years, they have put on “At the Movies” sermon series, featuring films such as Spider-Man, Indiana Jones, Top Gun, Mission Impossible, and Seabiscuit, to name a few. During their 2023 Super Mario Sunday, Pastor Rychener was seen being “sucked into” the Super Mario video game, becoming a character for a few minutes before “returning” to the real world...

Baylor University, one of the largest and oldest Baptist universities in the world, has rescinded a $643,000 grant from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation intended to promote LGBTQ acceptance within the church. Was it a principled stance, or something altogether different The grant was awarded to Baylor’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work “to foster inclusion and belonging in the church,” with a focus on understanding “the disenfranchisement and exclusion of LGBTQIA+ individuals and women within congregations to nurture institutional courage and foster change.” However, public outcry from the university’s community, including churches, partner organizations, and supporters,...

Life.Church South Broken Arrow Life kicked off their At the Movies campaign with a Super Mario Brothers theme, decorating their church and crafting a sermon based around the adventures of Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Princess Preach, and whatever stray Koopa that may make it into a sermon illustration. South Broken Arrow is one of more than 40 locations of the 85,000-member, seeker-sensitive, multi-site-based Oklahoma church. Led by Craig Groeschel, their promo material explains: At the Movies is an annual summer event at Life.Church. We decorate our lobbies in our favorite movie themes and invite friends and family. During the experience, we...

Wasn’t it just weeks or so ago when I warned that the left’s growing anguish over their loss of power would get worse? Since then it has gotten worse, much worse with leftist rioting against federal law enforcement officers. They’ve told the left-wing news site “Axios” that their party’s base demands more violence. “Some of them have suggested … what we really need to do is be willing to get shot” when visiting ICE facilities or federal agencies, a third House Democrat told Axios. “Our own base is telling us that what we’re doing is not good enough … [that]...

Hollywood icon Richard Dreyfuss has shared a heartbreaking health update with fans as he confirmed that he is too poorly to attend this year's SharkCon. The Jaws star, 77, played Matt Hooper in the award-winning Stephen Spielberg film, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. In a new clip shared to SharkCon's Instagram on Sunday, Richard was tucked up in a hospital bed with a Jaws blanket. Richard looked pale and appeared to struggle when addressing fans heading to the event. Richard said to the camera: 'Hello fellow cons. I am very, very sorry to tell you that I've...

"Mike Benz: Epstein was working with the CIA in the early 1980s at the very start of his career after he left Bear Stearns. In 1981, right after leaving Bear Stearns, Jeffrey Epstein created a one-person for-profit company in his one-bedroom New York apartment. It was called the Intercontinental Assets Group, and it held itself out as an international bounty hunter for high-net-worth individuals to both recover money and shield money internationally. Right away in 1981, he starts this company that basically helped royalty and high-net-worth individuals basically recover loan debts or assets owed to them that were held in...

"After I see the people run, I just see something big, just walking just right over there, it went right over there I swear, I promise you, it went right over there. And it said 'rawr,' and I just kept walking," he recalled. "I seen it, seeing me, see it, so in my head I’m like, ‘Nah, I got to go man, I’m out.'" Jones said he remains on edge. "I am going to keep this bat right here, man, just in case," he said during Thursday's interview. "I am going to protect us, I ain’t going to let nothing...

A man has escaped a French prison by hiding in the bag of a fellow inmate who was leaving prison after serving their sentence, officials told local media. The prison service has launched an investigation after the man escaped from Lyon-Corbas prison in south-east France on Friday, according to broadcaster BFMTV. He "took advantage of the liberation of his fellow inmate to hide himself in his luggage and get out", the prison service said in a statement to AFP news agency. French media have reported that the escaped prisoner was serving several sentences and was also under investigation in a...

LMAO! A radical leftist just tried blocking traffic outside the Turning Point USA event in Tampa, and got absolutely WRECKED by a police officer Florida cops don’t play! 🤣🔥

MUST WATCH. John Kiriakou tells a story he NEVER TOLD PUBLICLY.. "THE FASCINATING JOURNEY OF JOHN BRENNAN'S ASCENSION TO HEAD OF CIA" John Kiriakou says, "When I got hired Brennan was a DS-14 nobody. Deputy Director of the Arab/Israeli analysis group. He worked for a women Martha Kessler who was a great mind on Syria & they did not get along and he was imposed on her. He went to her asked her for a promotion & wanted her blessing". She said, "Not only are you not ready for the Senior Service but you are FIRED." John explains that "...

Florida Democrats are raising alarms over conditions at the state’s new immigration detention center, 'Alligator Alcatraz'. They say the facility is inhumane and an environmental threat to the Everglades. On Saturday morning, a group of Florida Democratic members of Congress visited the facility for a brief, state-coordinated tour that lawmakers say was a sanitized effort to cover up what’s really happening inside. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who represents Florida’s 25th congressional district, said the group had originally intended to make an unannounced visit, which is permitted under federal law. However, they believe the state caught wind of the...

It sounded like a great idea. Governor Andrew Cuomo, before he was unceremoniously forced out of office, convinced state lawmakers to shell out over $100 million to purchase decorative LED lights to enhance the beauty of some of New York's most iconic bridges. The cost seems excessive, but this is the government. You have to make room for paying double or triple to satisfy all the people with their hands out--they need to make an excessive profit, pay exorbitant salaries to preferred workers, throw some money at consulting and design firms, and leave some money left over to recycle into...

Dave Cousins, who founded folk prog band Strawbs as The Strawberry Hill Boys in 1964, has died. Founding member and longtime frontman Dave Cousins has died, aged 85. The news was reported this afternoon on Cousin's Facebook page. The statement reads: "DAVID JOSEPH COUSINS 1940-2025 It is with profound sadness that we have to announce the passing of David Joseph Cousins at the Pilgrims Hospice in Canterbury, peacefully following a long illness, today, Sunday 13 July 2025.

With the impending expiration of the $7,500 EV tax credit, Tesla and Ford are desperately pushing potential buyers to make their purchases before the September 30 deadline. Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill has ended the EV handout, much to the dismay of Elon Musk, Ford, and others trying to sell EVs to Americans who have not embraced the technology. Business Insider reports that the race is on for automakers to sell as many EVs as possible before the $7,500 tax credit, a crucial incentive for buyers, comes to an end on September 30. President Donald Trump’s recently passed Big Beautiful...

<p>The detention facility, located in the Everglades, houses hundreds of migrants in a tent city. Lawmakers were given a limited tour and claim they were denied access to areas where migrants are currently detained.</p><p>Detainees reportedly live in crowded cages (32 per cage), and have limited access to hygiene. Lawmakers reported seeing meager meals, and detainees are using the same water from the toilets for drinking and brushing their teeth.</p>

Attorney General Pam Bondi has trouble enough on her hands. I write not to add on to her woes, but to seize the opportunity to call attention to those poor souls sacrificed on the altar of racial appeasement, most notably George Zimmerman, but also Greg and Travis McMichael. They share the dubious honor of being abandoned by Republican governors and attorney generals too spineless to resist a Democrat-fueled mob. Bondi’s original sin was her framing of Zimmerman for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. I use the word “framing” with precision. I know the case as well as anyone...