Free Republic

California voters don’t like Governor Gavin Newsom’s and California Democrats’ redistricting plan. The POLITICO-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab survey found that Californians prefer keeping the independent panel by a nearly two-to-one margin, with just 36% of respondents backing the idea of returning redistricting authority to state lawmakers, even temporarily. (Snip) The independent commission enjoys widespread popularity across the political spectrum. It holds a 64% approval rating overall, with strong support from independents (72%), Republicans (66%), and Democrats (61%). This rare bipartisan agreement underscores the public’s deep-seated mistrust of politicians and their desire to keep the redistricting process free from partisan influence.

A Guatemalan man died on Thursday after an SUV struck him as he fled from a federal deportation raid in California.The morning of the incident, Immigration and Customs Enforcement was raiding a Home Depot in Monrovia, California, according to KABC-TV in Los Angeles.

The Kremlin's military recruitment is doing so well this year that it may increase its annual target again, said the deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence. "In general, the Russian Federation's recruitment plans are being fulfilled by at least 105 to 110% each month," said Maj. Gen. Vadym Skibitsky, in an interview with Ukrainian news outlet Suspilne that was published on Tuesday. Skibitsky said Russia has likely recruited two-thirds of the 343,000 new soldiers it aims to field in 2025, putting it on track to hit its annual goal. Russia's expanded military recruitment, buoyed by large sign-up bonuses and other...

LOS ANGELES — Downtown in the City of Angels is looking more and more like a ghost town. The famed Los Angeles neighborhood has become a shadow of its former glory — with rows of boarded up shops, chain stores leaving in droves and hoards of drug-using vagrants sparking major safety concerns for shoppers and business owners alike. The Post can reveal that there are more than 100 vacant storefronts in the area’s Historic Core, which was the rip-roaring heart of the downtown shopping and entertainment district. A map of business closures in the Historic Core of LA / Donald...

"The point is, Blank said on national television – yes, the game was broadcast on NFL Network, which picked up the Falcons' feed – that democracy in the United States is under pressure despite the fact he's a democrat and endorsed Kamala Harris."

Washington – At the nation’s most visited landmarks, D.C. Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Hector Amaya, a security forces officer with the 113th Squadron, was patrolling the National Mall with fellow Airmen when he witnessed a Park Police officer being assaulted while directing traffic on August 16, 2025.“The park police officer asked for our help, and I was the first one to catch up, and was able to detain him to the park police and turn him over,” Amaya said.

Our Troops Rock! Thank you for all you do! For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces. Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today! ~ Hall of Heroes ~ Donald Sloat Info from here. Donald P. Sloat (February 6, 1949 - January 17, 1970) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the Medal of Honor, United States military's highest decoration. His award was made posthumously in 2014 for his actions in the Vietnam War. Rank and organization: Specialist Four, United States Army,...

Immediately following World War II, ex-Nazi Franz Kindler is living under a false identity as a teacher in a small Connecticut town, and even married the headmaster's daughter as part of his cover. Then one of Kindler's old associates arrives unexpectedly in town, bringing in his wake a sly federal investigator, and Kindler resorts to desperate measures to preserve his secret.Final scene from "The Stranger" (1946, Film Noir - Orson Welles, Loretta Young, Edward G. Robinson) [spoilers]

Hundreds demonstrated in Syria’s Sweida on Saturday, denouncing last month’s sectarian violence and calling for the right to self-determination for the Druze-majority province. A week of bloodshed began on July 13 with clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin, but rapidly escalated, drawing in government forces and volunteers from other parts of Syria. Syrian authorities have said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses, Druze factions and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have accused them of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses against the Druze, including summary executions. The Observatory has said the violence killed some...

The Democrats are starting to realize that they have no chance in elections if they continue to vehemently oppose everything Trump is doing. Failed presidential candidate and treasonous Russiagate conspirator Hillary Clinton said in a recent interview that she is “encouraged” by Trump’s actions with NATO and Ukraine as he seeks to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end. Clinton made the comments during an appearance on the Raging Moderates podcast with host Jessica Tarlov. Tarlov attempted to set her up to bash Trump, implying that President Trump has overseen a “breakdown” of relationships with allies and Europe is “just...

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday that President Donald Trump needs to bring the "hammer" down on Russian President Vladimir Putin with additional secondary sanctions. After meeting with Putin at a high-stakes summit in Alaska, Trump shifted from advocating for an immediate ceasefire deal to a broader "peace agreement" between Ukraine and Russia. In an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, Pence described Trump’s style in dealing with dictators as the "velvet glove" approach but said he thinks "the hammer needs to come, and it needs to come immediately."

<p>Joe Caroff, the unheralded graphic designer whose iconic creations included James Bond‘s 007 gun logo, posters for West Side Story and A Hard Day’s Night and typography for Last Tango in Paris, Manhattan and Rollerball, died Sunday. He was 103.</p>

State leaders in both parties say they're ready to redraw political lines ahead of 2026, but state laws and constitutions make mid-decade redistricting virtually impossible in many places. In Missouri, Republicans are taking aim at Kansas City's U.S. House seat. President Trump sparked a national sprint to redistrict when he asked Texas Republicans to draw five more congressional seats for the GOP in their state ahead of next year's elections. In response, Democratic and Republican leaders in at least seven other states have said they're open to moving their political lines in the fight over the U.S. House, but that...

A New York teenager has said she was left traumatized after allegedly being hit over the head with a metal Stanley Cup by another girl's mom at her school. Madison Evans, 14, said she is now 'shaking all the time' after the attack left her with 17 stitches - and admits she may never use the brand again because of the distress. 'I can’t even look at those cups anymore. Every time I see one, it just brings it all back,' she told the New York Post. The teen said the incident unfolded around 11am Tuesday as she was leaving...

FT. PIERCE, Fla. - A semi-truck driver has been arrested for vehicular homicide after the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles says he made a reckless maneuver which turned deadly on the Florida Turnpike in St. Lucie County on Tuesday. Harjinger Singh was taken into custody after investigators say he tried making an illegal U-turn, causing a minivan to collide with the side of his commercial semi-truck. Dig deeper: An investigation revealed that Singh had been living illegally in the U.S. since 2018. FLHSMV says that he had a Commercial Driver's License in the state of California after...

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee mocks the BBC after it implied Israel starved a Gazan woman who, in fact, died of leukemia. Sharing journalist Melanie Phillips’ critique, he quips the BBC would apologize “the same day a Baskin Robbins opens in hell.” .....

The Supreme Court’s landmark opinion on same-sex marriage isn’t the only high-profile precedent the justices will have an opportunity to tinker with – or entirely scrap – when the court reconvenes this fall. ... Even before Trump was reelected, the Supreme Court’s conservatives had put a target on a Roosevelt-era precedent that protects the leaders of independent agencies from being fired by the president for political reasons. The first few months of Trump’s second term have only expedited its demise. ... A recent Supreme Court appeal from Kim Davis, a former county clerk from Kentucky who refused to issue marriage...

Seriously. I mean YES disrespect for this Hamas propagandist IslamoChristian. Daniel Rubenstein @paulrubens Today I learned that George Stephanopoulos has a sister named Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos who is a Russian Orthodox nun who moved to the Holy Land in the 1990s and just appeared on Tucker Carlson's podcast in order to tell let us that Hamas is totally misunderstood. Aug 12, 2025* 🎗️ David Lange @Israellycool From excusing October 7 to pushing long-debunked atrocity stories, she’s got a habit of peddling propaganda… and apparently a habit of skipping showers for nearly two weeks. I.C. 2/2. From israellycool.com Aug 13, 2025*...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican-ordered investigation underway in LimaInvestigators have in recent weeks summoned priests and archdiocesan employees to answer questions about the financial situation of Caritas Lima, a network of diocesan schools, and multiple alleged coverups of sexual misconduct — including cases previously reported by The Pillar, among them sexual misconduct claims linked to the archdiocesan seminary.—Senior archdiocesan sources told The Pillar that a group of Augustinian priests led by Fr. Alexander Lam, OSA, his order’s assistant general for Latin American, had been interviewing clerics and archdiocesan employees virtually about allegations of abuse coverup and financial misconduct by Cardinal Carlos Castillo.The...

A week after the latest deadline to somehow resolve the trade war that Donald Trump has launched against Canada — and with Canadian officials now looking ahead to a full renegotiation of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement — many things remain unclear. But when Mark Carney spoke to reporters in British Columbia on Tuesday, he expressed clarity about at least one thing. "While we'll continue to work with the United States on the many mutually beneficial opportunities that we share in trade and investment," the prime minister said, "it is clear that we cannot count, or fully rely, on what has been...