Free Republic

The Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard composition is a country classic, but it certainly wasn’t an instant hit.No one would argue that the Patsy Cline song “I Fall To Pieces” is anything but a country classic. But an instant hit? It certainly wasn’t one of those. On August 7, 1961, the song written by the prolific writers Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard climbed to the top of the Billboard country chart — six months after it was released, and nine after it was recorded on November 16 the year before. In the 2020s, it’s not uncommon for a song...

Here’s a striking statistic: A third of all Washington, D.C., district judges (known for anti-Trump rulings) are foreign-born. Does this matter?It certainly may if they’re anything like hard-left representative Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). She said in Spanish at a recent Mexico City summit, “I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American.”Then there’s Representative Deqa Dhalac (D-Maine), who was the first female Somali-born mayor in the U.S. In a resurfaced video clip, she can be heard saying, while wearing her hijab, that she wants to “help our country” (referencing Somalia). She did catch herself and follow the quoted phrase with, “our former...

It’s time for America to reclaim its principal city as the jewel it was designed to be.On Monday, a crime that would be shocking in most of America happened in Washington, D.C. That crime, where it occurred, wasn’t shocking at all. And this fact should create consequences that Americans from Maine to Hawaii ought to be proud of. Edward Coristine isn’t quite 20 years old, but he’s nonetheless a famous figure. Coristine is known by his alias, “Big Balls.” He’s a college student and programmer formerly appointed to the Department of Government Efficiency, but he’s now a permanent federal...

Clarkson had announced late Wednesday night that she was postponing the August dates of her Vegas residency because Blackstock "had been ill."Talent manager and Kelly Clarkson‘s ex-husband Brandon Blackstock has died after a battle with cancer. He was 48. “It is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away,” Blackstock’s management company Starstruck, founded by his father, Narvel, said in a statement posted to its Instagram account. “Brandon bravely battled cancer for more than three years. He passed away peacefully and was surrounded by family. We thank you for your thoughts and prayers and...

Israel’s security cabinet met Thursday night to debate whether to approve a full military conquest of the Gaza Strip, as IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned that such an operation would endanger the lives of hostages still held by Hamas. Zamir, addressing ministers during the high-stakes meeting, repeated his support for a strategy of encirclement and said advancing into densely populated areas would make it impossible to ensure the hostages’ safety. He also warned that a full conquest would come at significant cost to the military’s strength and readiness. Outside the meeting, hostage families and former captives...

Scylax of Caryanda, a Greek in the service of the Persian Great King, is best known for his early exploration of India and for shaping what the ancient Greeks knew about the East. Born in the late 6th century BC in a Carian town of Asia Minor (Anatolia), he lived at the cultural crossroads of Greek and Persian influence. Scylax became both an explorer and a writer—an essential figure in the transmission of geographical knowledge between civilizations. Unfortunately, Scylax’s original writings have not survived. What we know of his life and work comes from fragments preserved by later historians like...

Columbia University agitator and terror fanboy Mahmoud Khalil just let the truth slip: The “pro-Palestine” movement believes Hamas was justified and right to commit the Oct. 7, 2023, atrocities, to forestall a “very imminent” Saudi-Israeli peace deal. SNIP The savage Oct. 7 attacks, Khalil told The New York Times’ Ezra Klein, were just a “desperate attempt” to “break the cycle.” What “cycle”? The one where Israel was making peace with Arab states. But, whined Khalil, Israel and Saudi Arabia were about to normalize relations “as if Palestinians are not part of the equation,” and “unfortunately . . . we couldn’t...

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would meet with Vladimir Putin even if the Russian leader will not meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in comments that suggested Washington and Moscow could soon hold a summit.Trump's comments followed a statement from Putin earlier in the day that he hoped to meet with Trump next week, possibly in the United Arab Emirates. But the White House was still working through the details of any potential meetings, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.When asked by a reporter if Putin would need to meet with Zelenskyy in order to secure a meeting...

The Fairfax County Public Schools system in Virginia has launched an investigation into accusations that school staff arranged abortions for students without notifying their parents, according to local reports. School officials at Centreville High School in Union Hill allegedly arranged and bankrolled abortions for girls in 2021, including a 17-year-old, according to local news outlet WJLA. “We learned yesterday of these concerning allegations from 2021,” FCPS said in a statement to the outlet on Wednesday. “We are launching an immediate and comprehensive investigation as we take all concerns of student wellbeing very seriously.” Pressed on whether FCPS staff have ever...

ICE agents used a "never before seen" tactic to enforce US immigration law during a huge raid at a Home Depot. While LA mayor Karen Bass and activists are outraged, the new tactic may have protected officers in one of America's most dangerous sanctuary cities. More show notes: ICE was using a Penske rental truck as a "Trojan Horse" at Home Depot in Los Angles. One of the drivers posed as someone looking for work then agents came storming out of the back. Penske release statement on this..on video. Typical double talk.

Donald Trump is making good on his pre-election promises and continues to push for favorable crypto regulations. Today, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, signed an Executive Order that aims to allow 401(k) investors access to alternative assets (such as digital assets). According to the official announcement: “The order directs the Secretary of Labor to reexamine the Department of Labor’s guidance on a fiduciary’s duties regarding alternative asset investments in ERISA-governed 401(k) and other defined-contribution plans.” This comes as part of Trump’s plans to establish the country as the leading player in the cryptocurrency industry. To this point,...

Gina Carano has received a settlement following her controversial 2021 firing from Disney's The Mandalorian. The actress and mixed martial arts veteran, 43, who starred as Cara Dune in the Star Wars franchise spin-off, was canned from the popular series in early 2021 over Instagram posts comparing Jews in the Holocaust to American conservatives. Carano confirmed the settlement herself on her official X account stating: 'I have come to an agreement with Disney/Lucasfilm, which I believe is the best outcome for all parties involved. I hope this brings some healing to the force.' She added, 'I want to extend my...

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- More than 9,200 Department of Water and Power customers in Granada Hills and Porter Ranch remained without water service Thursday while the utility scrambled to repair a broken underground valve -- a job that could last through the weekend. The affected area is bounded roughly by Rinaldi Avenue on the south, Balboa Boulevard on the east, De Soto Avenue on the west and the foothills and hills to the north, according to the DWP. According to the agency, water crews were conducting repair work on Tuesday at a pump station that connects to a 10 million-gallon...

Long before bourbon dominated the liquor market, rye whiskey reigned supreme. Now, a Midwestern distiller is teaming up with scientists to bring back a long-gone type of grain and turn it into spicy, bold whiskey. The source is a wooden schooner named the James R. Bentley that's been sitting in Lake Huron for nearly 150 years. The ship sank in Nov. 1878 after striking a shoal.

~Favorite Rich or Poor Songs~ Fiddler on the roof - If I were a rich man (with subtitles)*Video*

What if I told you a high level official in the US Government had an account on a sex solicitation website and regularly engaged in swinger activity? Would anyone even be surprised? I wonder how long it will be till it comes out. A lot of things will then start to make more sense… A LOT. Tick tock.

• As AI reshapes how stories are created and consumed, Hollywood faces an existential question: Can it stay culturally central or is it being overtaken?• Startups like Luma and Moonvalley are pushing the boundaries of AI-native filmmaking, while legacy studios scramble to adapt.• Depending on how it’s used, AI could spark a creative rebirth or hasten Hollywood’s slide into irrelevance.• Across conversations with tech CEOs, studio executives and filmmakers, some foresee a renaissance. Others warn of a flood of cheap content and a “Black Mirror”-style future. At a Starbucks in downtown Culver City, Amit Jain pulls out his iPad Pro...

My startling chat with Grok Grok tries to serve Elon Musk, the aggressive censors at X, and me X deleted several of my posts with no explanation. Instead of complaining to X, I contacted Grok and asked why my posts were being vaporized. We communicated for 45 minutes, which resulted in more than 25 pages of single-space copy! People wonder what AI is all about. I can report that Grok does everything super-fast. He (she if you prefer) does not make grammatical or spelling mistakes. Like me, he loves alliteration. Whatever you say, he weaves that into his conversation so...

Patrick Ruffini is a co-founder of Echelon Insights, a research and analytics firm. By the time 2028 rolls around, high-quality polling of the presidential race may prove very hard to come by. And it won’t be because of a natural evolution in how Americans take polls — something we pollsters are all too familiar with — but because of a switch that’s set to be flipped next month at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California. Apple’s new mobile operating system, iOS 26, includes a new feature designed to curb unwanted spam calls and text messages. It will do so by segregating...

Virginia’s [Democrat] gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger raked in $50,000 in campaign donations from an electric vehicle tycoon who is a member of the Chinese Communist Party, according to campaign finance records. The funding is perplexing given that Virginia law forbids foreign nationals from making political contributions, and Chinese law typically bans CCP members from holding foreign citizenship or permanent residency.Pin Ni, an executive at Chinese automotive conglomerate Wanxiang Group and the head of the company’s American subsidiary, gave the donations to Spanberger’s campaign in April and May.The news comes as Republicans slam [the Democrat] over her support for electric vehicle...