Free Republic

~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Grissom Air Reserve Base, IndianaGrissom Air Reserve Base is a United States Air Force base, located about 12 miles north of Kokomo in Cass and Miami counties in Indiana. The facility was established as a U.S. Navy installation, Naval Air Station Bunker Hill, in 1942 and was an active Air Force installation, Bunker Hill Air Force Base from 1954 to 1968, and Grissom Air Force Base from 1968 to 1994. Pursuant to a BRAC 1991 decision, the installation was downsized to an Air Force Reserve installation and renamed Grissom Air Reserve Base. Since...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media.This is the c onfidence we have in approaching God: That if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14)Religion Forum threads labeled *Prayer* are closed to debate of any kind.1 John 5:20 "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the...

The gender gap between men and women has been a durable fact of life in American politics — and nowhere is this gap larger than among the youngest cohort of American adults, Gen Z. But it’s not just politics driving the divide. The latest NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey shows how the political gender gap persists alongside different social beliefs between young men and women. Gender divides within adults ages 18 to 29 show up in questions ranging from how Americans feel about President Donald Trump to their views on what constitutes success. Young men and women...

Gaza aid flotilla organisers say boat carrying Greta Thunberg hit by suspected drone and is on fire Greta Thunberg’s ‘Freedom Flotilla’ claim their ship has been ‘bombed’ and set on ‘fire’ by a drone. “The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) confirms that one of the main boats, known as the 'Family Boat' - that was carrying GSF Steering Committee members, was struck by what is suspected to be a drone.” Yasemin Acar, one of the activists travelling with Thunberg posted a video saying “The Family boat has been officially attacked a drone came right above it, released a bomb and it...

A new taxpayer-funded study shows just how far the medical establishment will go to make sure Americans fall in line with the COVID vaccine agenda. Titled “Different Vaccination Debunking Interventions,” the newly published paper isn’t about developing safer vaccines, studying side effects, or investigating long-term risks. Instead, researchers (with significant conflicts of interest with big pharma) wanted to learn how to convince skeptical Americans to get several COVID-19 shots. The University of Pennsylvania researchers earned praise from the media for uncovering the “best ways to debunk COVID vaccine misinformation,” particularly among the vaccine hesitant. There’s a clear conflict of interest...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV: Member of New Polish President's Entourage Presented the Problem of Traditionis Custodes in Meeting with Roman CuriaThe new Polish president, the conservative and devout Catholic historian Karol Nawrocki, visited the Vatican for the first time as President this week.With him was one his advisors, also a historian, National Security Advisor Dr. Sławomir Cenckiewicz, who pleaded with the Curia regarding "Traditionis custodes":I paid filial homage to the Vicar of Christ.I also met Cardinal Parolin and several prelates from the papal circle.Visiting the papal apartments, having the opportunity to spend a longer time in several apartments where St....

A cyber group known as “Purgatory” is behind a terrifying spree of AI-enhanced swatting calls on college campuses — and experts urge authorities to catch up to “internet speed” to stop it. Between Aug. 21 and Aug. 25, at least 10 universities across the US were thrown into chaos after fake active shooter calls sent armed federal and local law enforcement agencies to lockdown campuses, launching students into full-blown panic. The calls have since been linked to Purgatory, a group of cybercriminals who use AI tools to replicate sounds of screaming and gunfire while on the phone with local authorities,...

Who Was Colonel Harland Sanders? At the age of 40, Harland Sanders was running a popular Kentucky service station that also served food—so popular, in fact, that the governor of Kentucky designated him a Kentucky colonel. Eventually, Sanders focused on franchising his fried chicken business around the country, collecting a payment for each chicken sold. The company went on to become the world's largest fast-food chicken chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Sanders died in Louisville, Kentucky, on December 16, 1980.

Money laundering isn’t new — and neither is China’s role in it. Millennia ago, Chinese merchants developed schemes to “clean” the profits of commercial trade and avoid taxation. Today, their successors are doing much the same. Only now, they’re laundering billions through the U.S. financial system and fueling one of the deadliest fentanyl-fueled drug crises in American history. In a step in the right direction, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (known as FinCEN) issued a sweeping advisory on Aug. 28 warning that Chinese money laundering networks now represent “one of the most significant money laundering threat actors facing...

In the wake of a residential burglary involving tens of thousands of dollars in stolen tools, the San Jose Police Department's Western Division has made a notable breakthrough by arresting four individuals connected to the crime. According to a social media post from the San Jose Police Department, the officers responded to a report of an attempted vehicle theft and burglary in west San José last Thursday. They managed to track down the suspected vehicle to a South San Jose residence utilizing Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) data, resulting in the apprehension of one individual believed to be a primary...

I used to tease my parents that if they started eating dinner at 4:30 or 5 p.m., it was the first official sign of old age. And because they have a good sense of humor, whenever they would hop out for an early bird special, they would call me from the restaurant to say, “It’s 5 p.m. and we’re having dinner!”While it’s no surprise that there are plenty of retirees and parents with little kids who dive into their dinners before many people have wrapped up work, that’s starting to shift. Younger people, particularly Gen Z-ers, are getting on board...

A recent poll has found that Gen Z men who voted for Donald Trump are likely to say that having children is the most important thing for their success while Gen Z women who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris ranked having kids second from the bottom in a list of factors that contribute to their success while earning money and their career is at the top. There is a divide growing in politics among Gen Z voters in particular, where more young men are voting in line with the GOP as Gen Z women have been voting for...

Step into an unassuming industrial building in Teltow, just outside Berlin, and a bright, clacking universe unfolds: around 50 pinball machines line 200 square metres, from classics like Wizard and The Addams Family to modern hits such as Game of Thrones. Welcome to Flipperhalle Berlin - proof that pinball is back in vogue. The United States, the world's largest pinball market, has seen a dramatic revival since the mid-2000s, fuelled by the rise of arcade bars, or "barcades," that pair vintage games with food and drink. The trend has spread far beyond the US: pinball machines now pop up in...

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, said Sunday he hoped to convince wealthy New York City residents that paying increased taxes would improve "even their quality of life." "How do you bring these wealthy residents to the table as mayor? Stop them from saying they’re leaving, going to Florida because we need that tax revenue to pay for some of the things you’re talking about. How do you pay for it if they’re gone?" MSNBC "PoliticsNation" host Rev. Al Sharpton asked Mamdani. Mamdani said the top 1% of earners in the city make about $1 million...

The appeal trial is set to last five weeks, with the verdict expected before next summer, ahead of the high-stakes presidential election in 2027. A Paris court has set dates for far-right leader Marine Le Pen's appeal trial, in a case that will determine whether the far-right leader can run for president in 2027 after being barred from office for embezzling EU funds. The Paris court announced the hearings will run from 13 January to 12 February 2026. Le Pen, leader of the National Rally (RN, formerly Front National or FN), is currently barred from holding office after being handed...

There have been several corruption cases reported in the last few years involving ministers, former ministers and high-profile officials. At least 19 people were killed Monday (Sep 8) when police dispersed young demonstrators in Kathmandu and other parts of Nepal demanding the government lift a social media ban and tackle corruption.Several social media sites, including Facebook, YouTube and X, have been inaccessible in Nepal since Friday after the government blocked 26 unregistered platforms, leaving users angry and confused. Police used rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannon and batons when the demonstrators pushed through barbed wire and tried to storm into...

Trying to get accurate information about the LGBTQ Catholic participation in the Holy Year Jubilee can be frustrating. Misinformation and disinformation abound, but in the end the consensus was these disaffected Catholics did not get want they wanted—a big shout-out from the pope. It never happened. “Did Pope Leo welcome LGBTQ Catholics at Jubilee events?” Putting this question in a search engine yields a response from AI (Artificial Intelligence) that says, “Pope Leo XIII did not specifically address LGBTQ issues during his papacy.” True enough. Pope Leo XIII died in 1903 at a time when transgender persons barely existed. On...

The town where death is not allowedThe town of Lanjaron where the villagers were not allowed to die. Photo credit: Saiko3P/Shutterstock Situated 659 m above sea level at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in Granada, the village of Lanjaron is famed for its mineral-rich water sources, which have long been believed to promote youth and good health. The town also has historical and cultural significance, having attracted visitors for centuries, including the renowned poet Federico García Lorca, who visited the village annually from 1917 until 1934. The people of Lanjaron are affectionately known as the Cañoneros (Gunners), a nickname...

"I wanna be clear that, like, law enforcement isn't to prevent crime. They're not supposed to prevent crimes from happening."

President Donald Trump ripped Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) on Monday for stating last week that the concept that rights are given by a creator – a foundational American belief – is “extremely troubling.” During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last Wednesday, Kaine called comments from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, suggesting rights are God-given, “very troubling.” “The notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government, but come from the creator–that’s what the Iranian government believes,” Kaine said. “The statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling,”...