Free Republic

Democrats are still in denial about Washington, DC’s crime problem, and decrying President Donald Trump’s intervention — but it’s time they face reality. Over the last 12 days, as Trump federalized the DC police force and deployed federal officers on district streets, the city’s shockingly high murder rate screeched to a halt. No homicides were recorded at all in that time frame, a sharp, statistically significant drop that’s far too large to dismiss as mere chance. . . . Statistically, compared to the homicide rate during the first seven months of this year, the odds of that happening by chance...

Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, PhD, an oceanographer, was one of the first to view footage from the UAP incidents in 2015 involving fighter jets attached to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which at the time was conducting training exercises off the coast of Florida. Two videos captured by Navy fighter jets that were made public in 2020 show strange craft flying at incredible speeds with no visible means of propulsion, sometimes rotating in midair. “I knew then that what I saw was not our technology. We don’t test experimental aircraft in training ranges—it’s too dangerous—and I had access to everything classified....

A Tennessee man with the same name as New York Yankees legend Babe Ruth is facing charges alleging that he used the names of hundreds of dead or retired pro baseball players to make phony claims for payouts in class action settlements. George Herman Ruth is charged with 91 counts in the indictment handed down in U.S. District Court in Greeneville, Tennessee, on Aug. 12, the U.S. attorney's office announced late last week. The 69-year-old from Morristown is charged with mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers, money laundering, making false statements to his probation officer...

In a major archaeological breakthrough, researchers have identified the earliest known use of hydraulic lime plaster in Phoenician architecture -- crafted not from volcanic ash like Roman concrete, but using recycled ceramic pottery. This discovery, made at the Iron Age site of Tell el-Burak in southern Lebanon, sheds light on ancient sustainability practices and high-level engineering previously unattributed to the Phoenicians.The findings, published in Scientific Reports (2025), come from a multidisciplinary study of plaster samples collected from three installations, including a well-preserved wine press dating to ca. 725–600 BCE.Ancient Wine Infrastructure Built with Recycled PotteryLocated just 9 km south of...

On Sunday, August 24th, Ukraine’s Independence Day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the existence of the Druzhba (Friendship) oil pipeline, just like the political friendship between Ukraine and Hungary, is now directly tied to Budapest’s position.During a press conference, a journalist asked if after the strikes on the Druzhba oil pipeline and appeals to U.S. President Donald Trump Ukraine had gained additional leverage over Hungary, especially in terms of the lifting of Budapest’s veto on opening EU accession negotiation clusters.Zelenskyy responded by saying that Ukraine has always supported friendship between the two countries, but its further existence now depends...

Home prices are falling in half of the nation's largest markets, a new report reveals —sparking fears that a housing crash is looming. Sellers are slashing prices at record rates to to lure hesitant buyers put off by soaring mortgage rates and economic uncertainty. In July alone, 27.4 percent of listings had a price cut — the highest rate ever recorded in Zillow's monthly data going back to 2018. It helped push prices down year-over-year in 25 of the 50 largest US cities. Most were in the South and West. Florida and Texas, in particular, are home to former boomtowns...

PONCHATOULA, La. — A Tickfaw man has been arrested after shooting at a car during a road rage incident, critically injuring a pregnant teen girl. The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office arrested Barry West, 54, of Tickfaw on four counts of attempted second-degree murder, one count of illegal use of a weapon and obstruction of justice. According to deputies, on Sunday, around 9 a.m., the 17-year-old girl was in a Ford Expedition with two other people traveling on North Hoover Road in the Ponchatoula area. They encountered West, who was driving a silver Dodge truck in the same direction. After an...

President Donald Trump announced the United States is prepared to accept up to 600,000 Chinese students as part of a trade deal his administration is trying to strike with China."We're going to allow, it's very important, 600,000 students," Trump told reporters Monday at the White House. "We're going to get along with China. But it's a different relationship that we have now with China."

Labour could "unleash a crime wave on Britain" by scrapping thousands of short sentences to ease a prison population crisis which could see jails running out of space by March. Dire forecasts from the Ministry of Justice predict the nation could run out of cells for offenders, and the latest data shows fewer than 1,000 male places are available. It's reported the Government may need to scrap thousands of short sentences and release scores of lags early in order to head off the potential disaster in capacity. Latest MoJ figures published on August 8 show the total prison population, including...

Denver Parishioners Worry About 'Psychological Safety' Because Their Priest Is Actually CatholicThis writer spent a lot of time writing about the late Pope Francis and his attacks on Catholic traditionalists and the suppression of the Latin Mass. It was -- and remains -- a gross injustice in the Catholic Church, especially because the attacks on the Latin Mass were based on lies.... The push by some to make the Catholic Church 'modern' and 'relevant' to the current culture has turned some parishes into bastions of what this writer calls 'morally therapeutic deism' as opposed to, you know, Catholic Churches.What does...

TOKYO - The Japanese government asked European and Asian countries to refrain from attending a military parade and other events that China will hold next month to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, diplomatic sources said Sunday. Japan seeks to prevent China's interpretation of history from spreading, with the parade slated to be held in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Sept. 3 to commemorate what Beijing calls its victory in the 1937-1945 "War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression" and the "World Anti-Fascist War." According to the sources, Japan conveyed to other nations through its embassies abroad...

A Chinese national claiming to conduct research as a “visiting scholar” at a prestigious Michigan university now finds herself facing a long prison term after pleading no contest this week to three smuggling charges and making false statements to federal officers. Chengxuan Han, also a Ph.D. candidate at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, pleaded no contest this week in a Detroit federal court to sending four packages from China containing concealed biological materials to colleagues working in a University of Michigan laboratory. The incident is the most recent criminal case involving Chinese students possessing potential hazardous...

A record 28,076 migrants have crossed the Channel to Britain in small boats this year, a 46% rise on the same period in 2024, government data showed on Monday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his handling of immigration. The sharp increase comes amid mounting public concern over immigration, which is polling as the public's top concern, with anti-migrant protests continuing outside hotels housing asylum seekers. The record was reached on Sunday after 212 migrants arrived in four different boats that day, the data showed. The Home Office, or interior ministry, did not immediately respond to a request...

Executive Summary In this report, we use the best available data to provide new estimates of the size and characteristics of the U.S. population, aged 13 and older, who identify as transgender. Data come from the 2021- 2023 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the 2021 and 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Key Findings Over 2.8 million adults (aged 18 and older) and youth (aged 13 to 17) identify as transgender in the United States, or 1.0% of those aged 13 and older.Among U.S. adults, 0.8% (over 2.1 million people) identify as transgender. Among youth aged 13 to...

Journalists Against Journalism.Our critics can call us any name they like. That doesn’t change the facts.“Olivia Reingold and Tanya Lukyanova performed a public service by asking and answering a simple question,” write The Editors. (Illustration by The Free Press, images via screen grabs)By The Editors 08.25.25 — Israel and AntisemitismLast week, The Free Press ran an investigation into a dozen viral photos published by major international media outlets aimed at depicting starvation in Gaza. All 12 pictures featured distressed Gazans, mostly children. All were skin and bones. And all suffered from preexisting conditions, like cerebral palsy.Crucially, that last piece of...

Introduced in 1958, the Bonneville became the company's range-topping model in 1959. The 1961 redesign saw Bill Mitchell handle the styling, and the Bonneville joined the "Coke bottle" craze. In 1965, Pontiac rolled out a longer and more sculpted version. It's among my favorite Ponchos, especially in two-door guise.

Artnet reports that researchers seeking to comprehensively document shipwrecks in the alpine Lake Constance successfully recorded 31 sunken vessels. The lake borders Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The wide variety of wrecks highlights the body of water's important role as a nexus of regional trade as well as a spot for travel and leisure. The project, which was initiated by the State Office for Monument Preservation, used bathymetric mapping, side-scanning sonar, ROVs, and divers to carefully probe the 207-square-mile lake, which reaches depths of 800 feet. Among the highlights was a fully preserved cargo ship that still had its mast and...

Abrego Garcia immediately put up a legal fight to stop his deportation. “I fear persecution in Uganda on account of my race, nationality, political opinion, and membership in a particular social group. I also fear torture by or at the acquiescence of a public official in that country,” Abrego Garcia said on Saturday. On Monday, Judge Xinis temporarily blocked the Trump Admin from deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia

In the mid-1980s, the "Cola Wars" were raging, with Coca-Cola and Pepsi engaged in a fierce battle for dominance in the lucrative soft drink market. As the iconic American brand that had reigned supreme for nearly a century, Coca-Cola found itself in a precarious position, facing a relentless challenge from its long-time rival. The data paints a clear picture of the competitive landscape. By 1985, Pepsi had captured 58.4% of supermarket soda sales, while Coca-Cola‘s share had dwindled to just 41.6%. [1] This shift was particularly concerning for Coca-Cola, as supermarkets were a crucial battleground in the Cola Wars, with...

As one of the most popular drugs in the gay community, users mistakenly believe that crystal meth leads to fun and enhances their life experiences. Due to that train of thought, this drug has become somewhat of an epidemic among the gay population—particularly in major metropolitan cities. Here’s a look at 7 alarming facts concerning meth use in the gay community.