Free Republic

‘They have no business messing around with our city government.’ State-appointed auditors came to St. Petersburg Wednesday to begin two days reviewing spending by Mayor Ken Welch and the majority Democratic-led City Council. Confronting them was a group of local residents in front of City Hall who declared they didn’t trust what the DeSantis administration says is the motivation for looking into local government spending. Mimicking the federal initiative led by Elon Musk in the first months of the second Trump administration, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis introduced Florida’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) earlier this year, describing it as an...

[Catholic Caucus] Cradle Catholics Are Leaving the Church. Why?How to stop the massive leakage of Catholics out of the faith? Devout practice, the most lasting testament to the truth of the Faith.The Catholic Church in the U.S. is hemorrhaging Catholics at an increasingly alarming rate, according to a new study. The University of Notre Dame’s Church Life Journal recently published an article entitled “Religious Transmission: A Solution to the Church’s Biggest Problem,” which determined that nearly 90 percent of “cradle Catholics” have left the Catholic Church. Most of those ex-Catholics become religiously unaffiliated.When Catholicism has been under threat throughout the...

Kyiv will not give up land that Moscow troops aren’t occupying as part of any peace deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands. Speaking ahead of his meeting with President Trump on Monday, Zelensky told reporters in Brussels that while Kyiv would be open to “land swaps” in exchange for peace, Putin’s demands to cede the entirety of the Donetsk region — including parts under Ukrainian control — is off the table. “We need real negotiations, which means they can start where the front line is now,” Zelensky said. “The contact line is...

A Canadian province is threatening $25K fines for hiking! “Safetyism,” like censorship, cancel culture, lawfare, and numerous other maladies, is one of our era’s curses. Indeed, many Canadians and others in the Western democratic world generally seem all too willing to trade personal freedom for state-sanctioned “protection” and rule by “experts”. Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservative government, headed by Premier Tim Houston, along with Liberal provincial governments in New Brunswick and Newfoundland, led by premiers Susan Holt and John Hogan, respectively, are subscribing to this playbook by banning people from entering the woods. Nova Scotians will be fined $25,000 for hiking....

Streamed 5 hours ago. At least two shooters on Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn. 11 shot, 3 dead, 37 shots. Tousi says Crown Heights, but sounds more like Park Slope to me. On the border. Mandani said nothing, apparently, even though his mouth moved and noises came out of his face, saying nothing (Tousi [haha] here). No info about suspects. Transcript attached below video.

BREAKING: EUROPE’S FUTURE IS VANISHING These are CRAZY stats. Brussels is now 52% Muslim schoolchildren. Amsterdam 43%. Vienna 41%. London 37%. Half of Europe’s capitals have 30%+ Muslim pupils - the shift is exploding in classrooms. Europe’s identity is collapsing.

Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews on Wednesday's "Morning Joe" said Democrats are falling into a trap by denying the rising crime in Washington, D.C. "Trump looks at the city visually like a real estate agent," Matthews told co-host Mika Brzezinski. "He wants to beautify the city like he's doing at the White House with that ridiculous ballroom he's putting in and getting rid of the Rose Garden. That's Trump work. But I think it shows strength. I agree with you. I think this is a strength move against the big cities who are in a difficult situation on crime." "The...

Citizens of a democratic state have the ability to part the clouds of lies and propaganda that cloud a lazy, compromised media.Winston Churchill is famed for his adamant and courageous opposition to appeasement. What is not as well known is that Churchill also praised appeasement in strong terms: “Appeasement from strength is magnanimous and noble, and might be the surest and perhaps the only way to world peace.”One must, however, discern the difference between that and appeasement from weakness and fear, which, he declared, “is alike futile and fatal.”The pride of tyrannies is legendary. They regularly require human sacrifice...

After Alaska, it is now very likely that Trump will visit Moscow next (with or without Zelensky). Since Trump had a B-2 flyover, it will be interesting to see what Putin does for the arrival ceremony. I am sure he will feel the need to match, or even exceed, the arrival ceremony his military in Moscow (especially if Zelensky is there, which will likely never happen).

A chilling video has allegedly shown a lawmaker accompanying a friend who stuffed ballots in a swing state that Donald Trump only won by just over 80,000 votes. Abu Musa, a city council member of Hamtramck, Michigan, was in the passenger seat handing several bundles of what appear to be absentee ballots to the driver. Musa then watches the driver deposit three stacks of ballots into a drop box. Michigan State Police confirmed the authenticity of the clip, which was filmed on August 1. It is part of an investigation into council members’ residency requirements. The alleged ballot box stuffing...

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said Harjinger Singh is being charged with Vehicular Homicide FT. PIERCE, Fla. — The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced Saturday the arrest of a semi-truck driver following a deadly crash Florida's Turnpike in St. Lucie County on Aug. 12. FLHSMV says the driver, Harjinger Singh, was driving "recklessly and without regard for the safety of others on the road." According to The Florida Highway Patrol's report, Singh attempted to make an illegal u-turn near mile-marker 170, which resulted in a mini-van crashing into the side of the...

It was a frost-bitten day in late January this year. On the Interstate 91 in Vermont, some 15 kilometres from the Canadian border, US border agents pulled over a blue Toyota Prius. Law enforcement had been tracking the Prius’s two occupants, 21-year-old Teresa ‘Milo’ Youngblut and 26-year-old Felix ‘Ophelia’ Bauckholt for a couple of days. A hotel employee had raised suspicions about the pair after seeing them both wearing black combat clothes and seeing Youngblut carrying a gun. But beyond that, the agents knew little more about them.

A Georgia daycare worker was arrested and charged on Monday for severely beating a one-year-old boy at Little Blessings Child Care in Bainbridge. Heartbreaking and shocking photos posted to social media show the precious baby boy suffered a black eye and lacerations to his face. 54-year-old Yvette Thurston was arrested and charged with first-degree aggravated battery and three counts of felony child abuse. According to reports little baby Clay Weeks was beaten on his first day at the daycare. He was immediately taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

Resident Cloud Elvengrail filed a complaint that "the 24-hour Antifa occupation outside the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in South Portland is disturbing the peace. Every day for months I've had to endure around the clock loud and shrill noises. It's pure torture. I want the police to enforce the City's anti-noise codes." Elvengrail also complained of harassment and and intimidation. Other witnesses from the neighborhood corroborated her testimony, saying they "didn't feel safe." Video evidence of assaults on federal agents, members of the media and residents, as well as arson attacks on the ICE facility were also...

In April, at an extraordinary meeting of the World Economic Forum (“WEF”) board, Klaus Schwab announced he was stepping down with immediate effect and bogeyman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe was appointed the interim Chairman. On 15 August, with the completion of the investigation into Klaus Schwab and his wife Hilde, Brabeck-Letmathe has stepped down from his role as interim Chairman. On the same day, the World Economic Forum announced the appointment of Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, as interim co-chairman alongside André Hoffmann, Vice Chairman of pharmaceutical and diagnostic giant Roche. This appointment takes effect immediately. Much has been written...

The traditionally Russian-speaking area is at the heart of what the Russian president calls the “root causes” of the war, and taking it over is near the top of his list of territorial and political demands.The proposal to end the war in Ukraine that emerged from the summit in Alaska between President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia centers on persuading Kyiv to give up the Donbas, the industrial region in the east.The traditionally Russian-speaking area has been at the heart of what Mr. Putin calls the “root causes” of the war, and taking it over is near...

As President Donald Trump declared Washington, D.C., a crime-ridden wasteland in need of federal intervention this week and threatened similar federal interventions in other Black-led cities, several mayors compared notes.The president’s characterization of their cities contradicts what they began noticing last year: that they were seeing a drop in violent crime after a pandemic-era spike. In some cases the declines were monumental, due in large part to more youth engagement, gun buyback programs and community partnerships.Now members of the African American Mayors Association are determined to stop Trump from burying accomplishments that they already felt were overlooked. And they’re using...

Russia's Vladimir Putin agreed at his summit with President Donald Trump to allow the United States and its European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the 3 1/2-year war in Ukraine, special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday.“We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO," he told CNN's “State of the Union.” He added that it “was the first time we had ever...

Summary Zelenskiy flies to Washington on Monday to meet Trump Merz, Macron, Starmer, Meloni, von der Leyen to accompany him Rubio sees progress but says both sides need to make concessions Putin wants swathe of Ukraine land in peace deal, sources say Putin warned Europe against 'behind-the-scenes intrigue' LONDON/KYIV, Aug 17 (Reuters) - European leaders will join Volodymyr Zelenskiy to meet Donald Trump in Washington, they said on Sunday, seeking to shore up Zelenskiy's position as the U.S. president presses Ukraine to accept a quick peace deal to end Europe's deadliest war in 80 years.Trump is leaning on Zelenskiy to...

The U-Boat campaign off the United States' coast is pretty well known. Complacency on the American side, and daring on the German side. Combining in a perfect storm that saw many, many losses in the early days after the United States joined the war. That said, not all those losses were American. Some U-Boats were lost too, including one particularly noteworthy one. U-166. A submarine sunk close off the Gulf Coast. This sinking became something of a controversy, in how the captain responsible was treated by the Navy. But the boat, herself, is interesting all her own. After all, this...