Free Republic

“. . . this time the story has escaped the narrative guardrails and some real reckoning looms.” —Jeff Childers Unwittingly, that New York Times headline is a wondrous case of the self-solving mystery. You come here to understand the many social and political mysteries of the day. I will attempt to unravel this hairball.Most obviously, the suspect, now dead, in Wednesday’s Minneapolis school shooting was not a “her.” He was a him, a 23-year-old male, Robert Westman, who had been pretending to be a female for some years since undergoing puberty, with the encouragement of his parents and the cultural...

“Millie! Get out of the street!” The yelling from the room next to me pulled me from my nap. “Millie! Get out of the street!” The plea sounded again, and a few more times. By now, I was almost fully awake while sitting upright in my office recliner. My wife was trying to reason with a cat—not even our cat—to get out of the middle of the street in front of our home. Over the many years, a number of our cats had met their demise in that street. So, the imploring wasn’t without a reason (although reasoning was a...

The 26-year-old man accused of killing a father who’d just dropped off his 6-year-old at school in Shrewsbury on Thursday morning is facing two criminal charges, according to court records. Snehal Ansh Srivastava is charged with armed assault with intent to murder and carrying a firearm without a license. He is set to be arraigned on those charges in Westborough District Court on Friday. Officials confirmed Friday the charges against Srivastava are in connection with the Shrewsbury incident. Shrewsbury police first responded to the incident shortly before 8:50 a.m. Thursday after the victim called 911 to report an altercation near...

Armed civilians taking on active shooters: The Bureau’s numbers are off – by a lot.The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a lot to answer for, and, no doubt, the current leadership has its work cut out, depoliticizing the country’s supposedly premier law enforcement agency. The latest skeleton to fall out of the closet concerns how the Bureau has been vastly undercounting the number of cases of defensive gun use by armed Americans. The only reason for deliberately doing such a thing would have been orders coming down from Justice Department top brass – or from the White House – to...

Trump’s Global Tariffs Found Illegal by US Appeals Court

The president has barely broken a sweat in coaxing leftists to reveal just who they are.It’s been like taking candy from a baby. President Trump, armed with a thorough understanding of the left’s debilitating and seemingly incurable Trump Derangement Syndrome (the clinical designation is TDS), has been shamelessly and effortlessly baiting his sworn enemies into loudly opposing his many initiatives supported by strong or even overwhelming majorities of the American people. It has almost been too easy.In fact, the president has turned it into an art form. He realizes that all he needs to do to coax leftists into adopting...

Rep. Rashida Tlaib will headline a Detroit pro-Palestinian conference featuring ex-prisoners, extremistsA controversial pro-Palestinian gathering in Detroit is drawing scrutiny for featuring speakers with extremist views—including two former Israeli prisoners released in a Hamas deal—alongside Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., a prominent anti-Israel congresswoman. The second annual "People's Conference for Palestine" conference, which is being organized by a dozen different pro-Palestinian groups, will begin Friday afternoon and will end on Sunday. Rep. Tlaib will speak alongside several individuals accused of espousing antisemitic rhetoric, including a professor who has compared Jews to Nazis, a journalist who quipped about Hamas kidnapping "several...

Long-term cannabis use can lead to severe vomiting, and U.S. emergency departments are seeing increasing numbers of adolescents with this illness, according to recent research out of Boston.Increases were seen across the U.S., regardless of states’ recreational cannabis legalization status, the study said. Severe nausea and vomiting caused by long-term cannabis use is called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The only cure is to stop using cannabis, although hot baths and showers may relieve symptoms. Research findings recently published in a research letter in JAMA Network Open stated that: -U.S. emergency department visits for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome...

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson overtook former Vice President Kamala Harris in latest 2028 presidential betting odds. According to online betting website Polymarket, a platform where users can place "yes" or "no" bets on the likelihood of world events, the wrestler turned actor is hypothetically more likely to win in 2028 than Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. According to the betting odds at the time of writing, Harris has a 5 percent chance of winning the 2028 nomination, while Johnson has a 5.6 percent chance. California Governor Gavin Newsom is leading with a 32 percent chance. Next is New York...

[Catholic Caucus] The Martyrs of San JoaquinPolitical power grows out of the barrel of a gun. – Zedong Mao (1893-1976)The train’s forged-steel wheels slowed down and screeched to a stop at Kilometer Marker 491, in the windswept, desolate Highlands of Jalisco.In one of the railcars, six Catholic men waited their fate, on that morning, April 25, 1927, in Rancho San Joaquin, when, suddenly, a soldier called out three names: Andres Sola y Molist. José Trinidad Rangel Montano. Leonardo Perez Larios.Forced off the train, the three were goaded down a ravine and ordered to stand in a large pool of spilled...

The Epping hotel case was about more than planning law. It was a litmus test for where the loyalties of this Labour government lie. I went to support the peaceful, patriotic protestors in Epping, because I share their concerns about illegal migrants being housed in communities. Starmer’s government, on the other hand, has shown itself to be on the side of illegal migrants who have broken into our county. Yvette Cooper has used taxpayer money – your money – to keep open a hotel housing them. The Government’s lawyers proceeded to argue that accommodating illegal migrants was in the “national...

Luca Guadagnino’s latest film, Amazon MGM Studios’ ‘After the Hunt,’ stars Roberts alongside Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri, Chloë Sevigny and Michael Stuhlbarg.To give you a sense of the knotty conflicts, character dynamics and power struggles at play in Luca Guadagnino’s new film After the Hunt, during the film’s official Venice Film Festival press conference, Julia Roberts got asked out of the gate to offer her thoughts on whether the film undermines the feminist struggle. “Not to be disagreeable because it’s not in my nature,” Roberts said with a grin as she defended the movie by countering that it’s only meant...

Age is truly just a number. A 72-year-old man demonstrated remarkable bravery, presence of mind, and physical fitness in rescuing a father and his son from a rip current at Florida’s New Smyrna Beach on Tuesday, according to a local outlet. While riding waves, David “Bean” Coffee, 72, became aware of calls for help and spotted the pair grappling with the powerful current. In an act of bravery, Coffee made two separate trips on his surfboard to save them. Initially, he assisted the son, who had lost his surfboard due to a snapped leash, before circling back to rescue the...

https://babylonbee.com/news/russia-ukraine-reach-new-type-of-truce-where-they-keep-bombing-each-otherUKRAINE — Following constructive talks about ending their war, the leaders of Russia and Ukraine have reportedly reached a new type of truce where they keep bombing each other indefinitely. "President Zelenskyy and I understand each other perfectly," said Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We are proud to announce we have agreed to a truce where we continue fighting until the end of time." Zelenskyy is reportedly asking the international community for $1 billion a year to keep bombing Russia in hopes of maintaining the bombing truce. "I am committed to honoring this historic agreement," Zelenskyy said. "Please send money. I...

Explanation: The diffuse hydrogen-alpha glow of emission region Sh2-27 fills this cosmic scene. The field of view spans nearly 3 degrees across the nebula-rich constellation Ophiuchus toward the central Milky Way. A Dark Veil of wispy interstellar dust clouds draped across the foreground is chiefly identified as LDN 234 and LDN 204 from the 1962 Catalog of Dark Nebulae by American astronomer Beverly Lynds. Sh2-27 itself is the large but faint HII region surrounding runaway O-type star Zeta Ophiuchi. Along with the Zeta Oph HII region, LDN 234 and LDN 204 are likely 500 or so light-years away. At that...

The Trump administration is preparing an immigration enforcement blitz in Boston in the coming weeks, according to a current administration official and a former administration official. The latest plans, which could still change, would involve a surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel and represent the latest Democratic-run city to be targeted by President Donald Trump. The Trump administration has frequently clashed with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and criticized the city’s so-called sanctuary policy — which limits local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal agents looking to arrest and remove undocumented immigrants.

Since 2021, a concerning increase in pilot incapacitations and near-miss incidents has raised alarms among aviation and medical experts, leading to a heated debate over the safety of air travel and the potential link to COVID-19 vaccines. A retired airline captain and immunology specialist, Dr. Kevin Stillwagon, has presented compelling evidence suggesting a correlation between the rise in pilot health issues and the rollout of vaccine mandates. This trend has significant implications for aviation safety and regulatory oversight. Summary of Key Points: -Rise in incapacitations and deaths: Since 2021, there has been a 40 percent increase in early pilot deaths...

Immigration authorities announced Thursday the arrest of an illegal immigrant pedophile with a lengthy criminal record who was living in a residence that was operating an at-home daycare. Immigration and Customs Enforcement nabbed Ezequiel Cruz-Rodriguez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, on Thursday. His criminal history includes sex offenses involving a child under 14, sexual battery, illegal possession of a firearm, driving under the influence, and robbery. Cruz-Rodriguez was a member of the Logan Heights gang, a primarily Mexican gang based in San Diego, where the illegal immigrant was residing. At the time of his arrest, he was living with his...

FORT MYERS. Fla. – Jaimee Michell, founder and president of Gays Against Groomers, said transgenderism should be classified as a mental illness, arguing that cross-sex hormones only worsen the problem. This comes after a transgender gunman opened fire during a mass shooting early Wednesday morning, killing two children and injuring 17 others, according to several news outlets. Speaking on Florida’s Voice Radio with host Drew Steele, Michell warned that prescribing synthetic hormones to those suffering from gender dysphoria is “a recipe for disaster.” “Time and time again when we sound the alarm that cross sex hormones given to a mentally...

Kazakhstan has revealed a major natural resource breakthrough with the discovery of 38 new mineral deposits, including 19 tons of gold and a vast reserve of rare earth metals. The discoveries mark a strategic shift for the Central Asian country, signaling its ambition to become a key supplier in global clean energy and tech supply chains. These findings, published in the journal Minerals, were made during the first quarter of 2025 as part of a national initiative to accelerate geological exploration by 2026. Gold And Rare Earth Metals Found Near The Capital One of the most significant discoveries is a...