Free Republic

Federal agents raided a car wash in Culver City on Tuesday, taking into custody eight people there and nearly 30 overall in the Los Angeles area, according to reports. Handy J Car Wash at 12681 Washington Blvd. was targeted alongside a Home Depot and several other sites. ... In a statement, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said it was “a targeted immigration raid … that resulted in the arrest of eight illegal aliens from Honduras and Mexico.” She identified several of those arrested as well. “Esteban Leal-Ramirez illegally entered the country TWICE in 2007 and has been...

There has been an alarming increase in violent attacks on churches in the United States over the past five years, according to a report from the Family Research Council (FRC). The organization released its 2024 analysis of attacks on US churches and found at least 415 incidents. “[A]cts of vandalism remained the most prevalent type of hostility against churches, accounting for 284 of the 415 incidents.” Researchers found 55 arson attacks, 28 gun-related incidents, and 14 bomb threats against churches. FRC warned that “with Christianity seemingly losing influence and respect in American life…there may be less societal pressure to discourage...

The devices dropped explosives on members of Colombia's navy and army, who were manning a checkpoint on the Naya River. Four other members of the security forces were injured in the attack. Drone attacks have become increasingly common in recent years in Colombia: in 2024, 115 such attacks were recorded in the country, most of them carried out by illegal armed groups. In January, the government said it was putting a plan into place to prevent such attacks by beefing up its anti-drone technology, in order to better detect and "neutralise" drones. Off-shoots of the Farc rebel group, which refused...

[Catholic Caucus] SSPX pilgrimage for Jubilee endorsed by Vatican despite canonical disputeThe Vatican’s official Jubilee 2025 calendar is currently listing a pilgrimage by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (SSPX), with the occasion marking a rare moment of visible accord following long-running tensions between SSPX and the Vatican. According to the SSPX website for Great Britain, the pilgrimage on 21 August will include a public Rosary at Colle Oppio, a Solemn High Mass at 9.30 a.m., and a procession entering the Holy Door of the Archbasilica of St John Lateran.The SSPX, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in November 1970...

An Illinois judge denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to enforce arrest warrants against derelict state House Democrats. The Democrats fled to Illinois last week to block the Republicans from voting on a new congressional redistricting map. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened the derelict Democrats with arrest and removal from office if they didn’t return to the Capitol. Judge Scott Larson said Paxton failed to “present a legal basis for the court to obtain subject matter jurisdiction over this cause of action…” The Hill reported: An Illinois judge on Wednesday declined Texas Attorney...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ To Terrorists, With Love! U.S. Marines from the 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, conduct joint training exercises with Peruvian Marines from the Batallòn de Ingeniería de Infantería de Marina on the Salinas firing range in support of Resolute Sentinel 23 in Peru. Resolute Sentinel improves readiness of U.S. and partner nation military and interagency personnel through joint defense interoperability training, engineering projects and knowledge exchanges. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt. Nicholas Monteleone) Canteen Mission StatementShowing support and boosting the morale ofour...

... A rising coalition of health activists warns that mRNA vaccine ingredients—including spike protein and SV40 DNA plasmids—may be circulating in donated blood. Meanwhile, hospitals are cracking down on patients’ rights to choose unvaccinated donors, mirroring the infamous 1980s AIDS blood scandal. With 22 U.S. mRNA vaccine projects scrapped due to safety concerns, the debate now centers on whether life-saving blood transfusions are becoming vectors for hidden health threats...

In New Jersey, we think of the fall of former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez as a story of old fashioned corruption — a politician taking gifts for favors. For that crime, Menendez is now serving an 11 year prison sentence. And state officials have continued to pile on consequences, with Attorney General Matt Platkin filing a lawsuit to have it judicially confirmed that Menendez is “forever disqualified” from holding public office, and Assemblywoman Aura Dunn promoting a bill that would take away state pensions from former officials convicted of misconduct in office. But there is an equally disturbing side of...

President Trump on Wednesday suggested that he was powerless to control President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia ahead of a planned meeting on Friday in Alaska, saying he could not convince the Russians to stop killing Ukrainian civilians or hacking American court records. Mr. Trump did warn of “severe consequences” if Mr. Putin did not agree to abandon his grueling invasion of Ukraine during their discussion, scheduled to be held at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. But Mr. Trump was dismissive when asked to address matters of national security and the horrors of war, raising questions about whether he has...

[Catholic Caucus] New Coke, New Mass: What's the Lesson?It's been observed that the secular Coca Cola Company has been much more astute about what they are producing than has the hierarchy of the Catholic Church!Consider. Recall that many years ago now a huge ad campaign was conducted by the soda company for putting out what they themselves labeled on the cans and bottles the NEW COKE.This was supposed to capture the imagination of the whole world. The revered Coca Cola Company has now improved their famous soda and even more folks will want to drink their product.It didn't take long...

Eleven alleged members of a street gang based in Los Angeles are facing federal racketeering and other charges for their roles in a suspected prostitution and sex-trafficking ring. Members of the Hoover Criminal Gang are accused of forcing girls and women into prostitution on the Figueroa Corridor of Los Angeles, resulting in a 31-count federal indictment, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.

President Donald Trump told European leaders during a call on Wednesday that he does not intend to discuss any possible divisions of territory when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska this week, according to two European officials and three other people briefed on the call. Trump said on the call, which also included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that he is going into the meeting with Putin with the goal of securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, those sources said. Trump and European leaders agreed that a ceasefire in Ukraine has to be implemented before peace negotiations can begin,...

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The JFK pool on Hickory Street has been drained after it was announced Monday that it’s closed for the summer. According to city officials, recent violence has left the pool without supervision after lifeguards refuse to return to their post. “I feel like it should’ve been a better decision than to just close the pool,” said Buffalo resident Pharez Lackerson. “That should’ve been the last resort.” What was once a community resource that reopened after years of closure on Buffalo’s East Side now sits quiet and empty after an alleged assault on a young city lifeguard who...

[Catholic Caucus] Open Letter to Leo XIV on Amoris LaetitiaHis Holiness Pope Leo XIV22 July 202500120 VATICAN CITYEuropeI address to you this heartfelt petition regarding an urgent and practically unprecedented problem that Your Holiness has inherited from the previous pontificate. It is one which I and many other Catholics believe lies at the very heart of the mission entrusted to you by Our Lord as the Successor of Blessed Peter: that of guarding and teaching the uncorrupted doctrine of Christ that was “once and all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).1. I refer to the fact that Chapter VIII of...

James Clapper had admitted to lawyering up ever since Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard began declassifying and releasing documents that have exposed the Russian collusion hoax to its core. We knew the prime suspects and suspected their motives. Still, now we have the documents to corroborate the claims, which the liberal media has laughably and understandably avoided—they would have to admit guilt and complicity in this seditious conspiracy. Clapper, who was DNI under Obama, was reportedly not sold on the Steele dossier, believing it to be hot garbage, but included it in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment since it...

Uptown Ed - Arista All Stars (Featuring Michael Brecker)

Russia appears to be preparing to test its new nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered cruise missile, according to two U.S. researchers and a Western security source, even as Russian President Vladimir Putin readies for talks on Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday. Jeffrey Lewis of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and Decker Eveleth of the CNA research and analysis organization, based in Virginia, reached their assessments separately by studying imagery taken in recent weeks until Tuesday by Planet Labs, a commercial satellite firm. They agreed the photos showed extensive activity at the Pankovo test site on the Barents Sea...

Nigel Farage has blasted "weak" Sir Keir Starmer over 50,000 migrants crossing the Channel on small boats under Labour. The milestone is expected to be confirmed on Tuesday when official figures are released. In a post on X, the Reform UK leader said: "As I predicted five years ago, unless we deport illegal migrants, the invasion will be huge. Fifty thousand since our weak Prime Minister took office, and there is no sign of it stopping." The 50,000 figure comes 401 days after Sir Keir entered 10 Downing Street, compared to 603 days under his predecessor Rishi Sunak. Labour has...

***Kabul is running dry, withered by scarcer rainfalls and snow melts and drained by unregulated wells. It has become so dry that its six million people could be without water by 2030 — and are now fighting about it. Its water reserves are emptying nearly twice as quickly as they are getting replenished. The Taliban administration, short of cash, has so far been unable to bring water from nearby dams and rivers to the choking city. *** Kabul, surrounded by snowy mountains and crossed by three rivers, had never been known as a dry city. But while its population has...

Investigators said they had found evidence of “systematic torture” at detention centers where the military government is holding children as proxies for their parents.U.N.-backed investigators say they have found significant evidence of “systematic torture” at Myanmar detention centers, where the military government is holding children as young as 2 years old as proxies for their parents. The Southeast Asian nation of about 54 million people has been mired in turmoil since 2021, when democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown by the military. The coup set off mass protests across the country that were violently suppressed, followed by...