Free Republic

It was quite a week. The biggest story was the indictment of James Comey, about which I have reservations. But the indictment was a boon to memesters, who recalled Comey’s earlier art project featuring seashells. Much more happened, too. The Trump administration adopted recommendations by the Harvard School of Public Health on the use of Tylenol by pregnant women, which were immediately denounced by leftists, even though it turned out that the manufacturer of Tylenol said the same thing. Jimmy Kimmel returned to television and garnered massive ratings in his first show back, mainly due to people tuning in to...

Health insurance companies report profits of billions annually while raising premiums on beneficiaries and routinely rejecting patient and medical provider claims. By ignoring the public perception, these companies are inviting increased scrutiny by Congress. Becker’s Payer Issues reported on February 12, 2025, that the big seven health care companies made a combined $34.1 billion in 2024. These companies include UnitedHealth Group, which led the way with $14.4 billion in profits. These companies were the beneficiaries of additional government support for premiums because of the Obama Administration and COVID pandemic policies which kept premiums artificially low. These policies are expiring, yet...

A Moldovan oligarch and former senior politician has been extradited from Greece accused of involvement in the theft of $1bn (£748m). Vladimir Plahotniuc, 59, was flown from Athens to Chisinau on Thursday morning and then taken to a detention centre in Moldova's capital, local officials said. The tycoon, who faces several long-running criminal cases in Moldova, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to prove his innocence. His extradition comes days before Sunday's parliamentary elections, with President Maia Sandu warning that Moldova's independence and European future are in danger because of attempts by Russia to foment violence and spread...

The United States said it would revoke Colombian President Gustavo Petro's visa after he took to New York's streets on Friday in a pro-Palestinian demonstration and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey President Donald Trump's orders. "We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions," the State Department posted on X. Petro, addressing a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters outside the U.N. headquarters in Manhattan, called for a global armed force with the priority to liberate Palestinians, adding, "This force has to be bigger than that of the United States." "That's why from here, from New York, I ask...

DramaAlert @DramaAlert IDIOT Antifa activist mistake ICE CUBE's tour bus with an ICE deportation bus, vandalizing it. (video at link)

Russian drones crossing into Poland and MiG-31s violating Estonian airspace revived the core question: how does a Russia vs. NATO war actually begin? Moscow will keep probing seams—airspace, air defenses, political will—aiming to force NATO into an Article 4/5 dilemma. Europe’s fragmented defense industry, ammunition shortages, and uneven appetite for risk create openings for a rapid, deniable “fait accompli” in the Baltics using EW, drones, and covert forces. That scenario wouldn’t resemble a set-piece tank battle; it would be a shock campaign designed to split allies before they can mobilize.

Without financial independence, people often feel trapped -- working jobs they don’t enjoy, delaying major decisions, or living with constant stress about money. Achieving financial independence provides peace of mind and freedom of choice.

A city councilwoman in Oklahoma resigned this week after it was revealed that she told a supporter of President Donald Trump to kill herself. Bree Montoya, who represented Ward 3 in Norman, a city just south of Oklahoma City, got into a spat with a Facebook user in June over the size of the local 'No Kings' protests. These demonstrations occurred all over the United States and largely coincided with the US Army parade in Washington, D.C. celebrating the military branch's 250th anniversary. When arguing about the protest in Norman, Montoya told a woman named Audra Abbott to 'open a...

Did anyone ever really believe that men could become women? ‘Tipping Point’ author Malcolm Gladwell helped answer that question when he recently apologized for publicly asserting that men could change sex and fairly compete against women in sports because he was “cowed”. No one bothered to follow up with the more interesting question, ‘What is Malcolm still too cowed to say in public’? It’s a question that also ought to be addressed to the various public figures, politicians, intellectuals and talkers, who have recanted the transgender heresy. We know that they claimed to believe in one obviously wrong thing because...

Sep 27, 2025 Russian submarine Novorossiysk is at risk im the Mediterranean Sea. Russian news channel reports that the Black Sea Fleet submarine "Novorossiysk," currently on combat duty in the Mediterranean Sea, is experiencing serious technical problems. Due to damage in the fuel system, fuel is leaking directly into the hold. There are no spare parts for repairs or qualified specialists on the submarine, and the crew is unable to fix the malfunctions. The serious accident has caused other problems as well. The accumulated fuel in the hold is an explosive hazard. The source believes the crew has no choice...

New rule closes dangerous loopholes, holds states accountable, and launches immediate enforcement action against California for gross negligence

Chinese gangs are taking advantage of loose marijuana rules in Oklahoma to grow and transport marijuana to other states for sale on the black market, authorities say. Oklahoma narcotics officials told Congress $153 billion worth of marijuana is unaccounted for and likely leaving the state for the black market in other states. As many as 85 percent of licensed grow sites have connections with Chinese owners or operators, according to Mark Woodward, information officer with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. Since 2022, the state has shut down more than 6,000 illegal growing operations. Most U.S. states have made marijuana legally...

Taxpayers will pick up an additional $100 million tab for illegal migrants facing deportation, Democratic Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani pledges, calling it a “cornerstone” of his campaign. “Four hundred thousand of our residents are right now in urgent risk of deportation,” the socialist lamented on MSNBC “The Weekend,” adding fewer than 200 of them received access to free lawyers last year. The city’s 2026 budget, passed in June, already includes $54.5 million to fight deportation orders in court on the taxpayer’s dime – “more than any other major city in America,” Mayor Eric Adams has said.

President Trump says he is authorizing troop deployment in Portland

AUSTIN, Texas — More than three decades after four teen girls were found dead inside a burned-down yogurt shop in North Austin, investigators say they finally know who killed them. Law enforcement sources confirmed to KVUE Senior Reporter Tony Plohetski that the 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders have been solved using genetic genealogy technology. The perpetrator has been identified as American serial killer Robert Eugene Brashers, who died by suicide in 1999. Brashers’s DNA profile has previously been connected with a 1990 murder in Greenville, South Carolina; the 1997 rape of a 14-year-old in Memphis; and the 1998 double murder of...

At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

President Trump is backing a White House plan to tap former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to run Gaza under a United Nations-backed transitional authority once the war ends, according to Arab and US officials familiar with the proposal. Under the draft, Blair, 72, would serve as interim administrator of a Gaza International Transition Authority (GITA) that would govern the enclave for several years with Palestinian technocrats and an Arab-led peacekeeping force before handing control to Palestinian leaders, officials told the Wall Street Journal. The blueprint is being circulated to Arab and Israeli counterparts and remains one of several options...

Dozens of Canadian-made aircraft imported into Russia since Ukraine war began, CBC visual investigation findsCBC News has found dozens of Canadian-made planes were imported to Russia, even following sanctions. This includes one imported by oligarch Igor Kesaev, left. The map, right, shows a route that plane flew after sanctions were put in place in February 2022. (CBC, Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters, ADS-B Exchange)Members of Russia's business elite are flying in Canadian-made luxury planes that were imported after sanctions targeting the country's aviation sector came into place, CBC's visual investigations unit has found. Russian import records obtained by CBC News show 34 business...

On August 29, 2025, Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, reintroduced the “Safe Students Act”. The Safe Students Act (H.R. 5066) repeals the Gun Free School Zone Act of 1990. From H.R. 5066: (3) The Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 (18 U.S.C. 921 note, 922 note; section 1702 of Public Law 101-647; 104 Stat. 4844-4845) is repealed.Thomas Massie has issued a press release to notify people about the reintroduction of the bill. From the press release:The “Safe Students Act” (H.R. 5066) repeals the “Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990,” (GFSZA) eliminating GFSZA’s one-size-fits-all federal ban on guns in...

GORDO, Ala. — A photo in a Facebook post deemed racially insensitive that sparked an outrage in the community and resulted in the cancelation of the 101st edition of one of Alabama high school football's greatest rivalries originated not from a Gordo High School dress-up day, as the principal indicated in a statement, but rather came from the website of a faith-based camp more than 1,000 miles away, The Tuscaloosa News has learned. Gordo was scheduled to host Pickens County, its rival located 8 miles down the same country highway in rural West Alabama, on Friday, Sept. 26. The game...