Free Republic

State leaders partner with nonprofits to purchase and forgive medical debt.Michigan has eliminated $144 million in medical debt for more than 210,000 residents as part of a state initiative announced by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The debt relief comes through a partnership with the nonprofit organization Undue Medical Debt, which purchases medical debt for pennies on the dollar. "We believe that getting sick or getting hurt shouldn't have to mean going broke," Whitmer said. Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist noted the widespread impact of medical debt in the state, saying, "We estimate that there are more than 700,000 adults who carry medical...

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today released the following update regarding U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operation at two marijuana grow sites in California. On July 10, 2025, federal law enforcement officers executed criminal warrant operations at marijuana grow sites in Carpinteria and Camarillo. As of July 14, at least 14 migrant children have been rescued from potential exploitation, forced labor and human trafficking. ICE has transferred 10 of the children who are unaccompanied to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.(HHS).

The City of Keller will consider a partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through the 287(g) program, making Keller the first city in Tarrant County and the largest in Texas to take this step, according to the city's mayor Armin Mizani. "In Keller, public safety is non-negotiable," Mizani wrote in a letter. "Our job is simple: Protect our families and enforce the laws to keep our community safe." According to Mizani's letter, if approved and implemented, when people are arrested and booked into their local jail, part of the process would include being screened by ICE to "determine if...

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently shook up his communications team, and now the outspoken Democrat is turning many of Donald Trump's brash political tactics against the president himself. Newsom and his team have used online trolling, meme wars, mocking TikTok videos, insults such as "****," and even a lawsuit against a media company — in this case, one accusing Fox News of misleading reporting — to create an edgy resistance.

The cuts to National Public Radio’s taxpayer funding have definitely been a long time coming. The leftist outlet is blaming climate change (there’s a surprise) for — wait for it — a lot of rain, in summertime! “Climate change is fueling brutal rainstorms. Here's how to stay safe,” read the ridiculous headline for NPR’s July 15 Consider This podcast by All Things Considered co-host Juana Summers (ironic) and Climate Desk correspondent Michael Copley, both of whom are not scientists. Of course, Summers exploited the Texas flood disasters as a springboard to blame rainfall and recent flooding writ large in the...

US Army apologizes to pro-life groups for calling them ‘terrorists’ under Biden adminThe secretary of the Army formally apologized to Operation Rescue and the National Right to Life for a Biden-era military presentation labeling the pro-life organizations ‘terrorist groups.’The Trump administration’s work to rectify its predecessors’ misconduct continues, this time with a formal apology from the U.S. Army for a Biden-era military presentation that labeled mainstream pro-life organizations “terrorist groups.”As LifeSiteNews covered last year, a photograph leaked of a presentation shown during an anti-terrorism briefing at Fort Bragg (renamed Fort Liberty at the time), right after one about the Islamist...

Masked Border Patrol agents on Thursday raided a Home Depot parking lot in the south Sacramento area, resulting in multiple arrests. Gregory Bovino, the U.S. Border Patrol sector chief, shared a video on Instagram, saying the operation led to the arrests of eight people for being in the country illegally. One of those arrested is an aggravated felon for charges related to fentanyl trafficking, he said. The Department of Homeland Security later said "at least 11" people were arrested in the Sacramento operation. The video also included blurred video of a man who Bovino said was arrested for allegedly impeding...

President Donald Trump weighed in on CBS’s announcement that it is canceling Stephen Colbert‘s late-night talk show — and the president is hopeful Jimmy Kimmel will be next to get axed. CBS said Thursday that it plans to end “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” in May 2026, calling it a “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” “I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday morning. “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”

SummaryFederal police serve warrants ordered by Supreme Court Bolsonaro to wear ankle monitor, cut foreign contacts Judge is 'dictator' reacting to Trump, Bolsonaro tells Reuters Trump levied tariff over trial he called a 'witch hunt' BRASILIA, July 18 (Reuters) - Brazil's Supreme Court issued search warrants and restraining orders against former President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday, banning him from contacting foreign officials over allegations he had courted the interference of U.S. President Donald Trump.Federal police raided Bolsonaro's home and put an ankle monitor on him, an escalation in the legal pressure he is already facing and that Trump has tried...

On July 18, 1976, at the Summer Olympics in Montreal, Nadia Comaneci of Romania became the first gymnast to receive a perfect score of 10 from Olympic judges for her performance on the uneven bars and, moments later, the balance beam. The perfect scores changed the gymnastics world. She would do it five more times in Montreal. The 14-year-old was the breakout star of the Games — sorry, Sugar Ray Leonard and Bruce Jenner — with three gold medals, followed by two more in 1980, all with her growling coach Bela Karolyi by her side. In all, she won 21...

A grizzly bear charged a man near his residence along Foothill Road east of Kalispell on the night of July 10, 2025. According to Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, the person heard a disturbance outside and discovered the bear getting into a chicken coop. The bear charged at him, and the man shot and killed it. The man was not injured in the encounter. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is investigating the incident. This is at least the fifth such incident in recent weeks: A man shot and killed a grizzly bear that was threatening him on the northeast...

Edging away from the unreliable China supply chain, the Pentagon is going in-house.The Pentagon is making a signal shift in its defense industrial policy. In a recent move, the Department of Defense (DOD) has acquired a significant stake in MP Materials, a US domestic rare earth minerals mining company. Consistent with the Trump administration’s objective to reduce or eliminate America’s dependence on China for supply chains critical to national security, this move is seen as a strategic step. It aims to establish a defense industrial policy that can provide for a surging production capability more rapidly to meet emerging threats....

EXCLUSIVE: The Obama administration "manufactured and politicized intelligence" to create the narrative that Russia was attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election, despite information from the intelligence community stating otherwise, Fox News Digital has learned. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard Friday declassified documents revealing "overwhelming evidence" that demonstrates how, after President Donald Trump won the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, then-President Barack Obama and his national security team laid the groundwork for what would be the yearslong Trump–Russia collusion probe. Documents revealed that in the months leading up to the November 2016 election, the intelligence community consistently assessed that...

I found the video interesting and enjoyed his delivery. I wrote some notes (below) which stop around the 14 minute mark as I don't have time to write more. Outline:[0:00] America’s race to collapse[2:29] ‘Leave the World Behind’ is cynical elite nihilism[4:22] Believable characters or American caricatures?[5:57] A confusing metaphor for climate catastrophe[9:53] How to topple a government in three easy steps[12:07] The film's most destructive conspiracy theory[15:02] What happened to "hope and change"?[16:12] Obama's fringe, simpleton explanation of reality[18:34] The "anti-racist" Ibram X. Kendi is just racist[20:44] Conspiracy theories of invisible racism[22:33] The George Floyd story was a lie[24:52]...

To hear National Public Radio (NPR) CEO Katherine Maher tell it, the loss of federal funding for the public network is as close to nuclear armageddon we can get without, you know, actually experiencing a nuclear attack. No matter. It's really, really, really bad, says Maher. "There's a real understanding of the need there, as well as for emergency alerting, in which public media plays an extraordinarily important role," she said. We absolutely have to have this 19th-century technology to warn rural Americans of an "emergency"? ... As Robby Soave points out, cutting off NPR and PBS from federal dollars...

🚨DNI Tulsi Gabbard declassifies document showing the Obama administration manufactured the bogus Russia Hoax pic.twitter.com/VDlbPiyMLG— TheBlaze (@theblaze) July 18, 2025

A top Wall Street economist is sounding the alarm on sky-high valuations in AI stocks — and drawing comparisons to the tech bubble of the late 1990s. "Yes, AI will do incredible things for all of us," Torsten Sløk, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, said on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid. "But does that mean I should be buying tech companies at any valuation?" According to Sløk, the answer is increasingly no. In a research note to clients this week, he pointed to internal data showing the price-to-earnings ratios (P/E) of the 10 largest companies in the S&P 500 —...

The legislation introduced by Yakym is titled the Securing Help for Involuntary Employment Loss and Displacement (SHIELD) Act. Congressman Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., on Thursday discussed legislation he introduced that would keep unemployment benefits from workers who choose to go on strike."We've introduced a few bills dealing with unemployment insurance, because a big part of what I believe is that we should protect it for people who actually need it," Yakym said on the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. Yakym explained that there are progressive states that allow workers who choose to go on strike to collect unemployment benefits,...

Key Points PepsiCo’s quarterly earnings and revenue beat Wall Street’s expectations. The company reiterated its full-year outlook. The company also shared details on its turnaround plan, a quarter after it lowered its guidance due to lower consumer spending and President Donald Trump’s tariffs. ================================================================ PepsiCo on Thursday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts’ expectations, as the company projected that weak North American demand will rebound as strategy changes take hold. Executives shared more details on the quarterly conference call about how Pepsi plans to boost its brands, lean into healthier snacking trends and cut costs. CEO Ramon Laguarta...