Free Republic

At midnight on Wednesday, the federal government shut down. Democrats made good on their promise to vote against a continuing resolution if Republicans didn’t extend expiring Obamacare tax credits, and funding expired. Now, both sides are digging in to play the blame game. Democrats argue that Republicans are to blame for refusing to budge on health care, while Republicans blame Democrats for refusing to provide the votes to keep the government open. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is making an unprecedented threat to not just furlough federal workers — normal for a shutdown — but lay them off outright and go...

WASHINGTON — The final order of removal against illegal immigrant and accused MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia will stand after an immigration judge rejected a motion from his attorneys to reopen the case Wednesday. DHS cheered the decision. “With today’s ruling, Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s final order of removal stands. This MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, domestic abuser, and child predator will never be loose on American streets,” DHS wrote. “His lawyers tried to fight his removal from the U.S. but one thing is certain, this Salvadoran man is not going to be able to remain in our country. He...

The U.S. government has asked the Oregon federal judge presiding over National Guard case to recuse himself. Following President Donald Trump’s announcement that he will deploy the National Guard to Portland, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Trump administration. The federal judge presiding over the case is Michael Simon, who is married to Oregon Representative Suzanne Bonamici. Bonamici is one of the members of Congress representing the City of Portland. On Saturday, Bonamici was one of the Oregon leaders who spoke out against the deployment of federal troops to Portland. The Department...

The BBC reported this evening (Thursday) that mediators Qatar and Egypt contacted the head of Hamas' military wing in Gaza, Izz ad-Din al-Haddad, who made it clear that he opposes US President Donald Trump's 21-point plan. According to the report, al-Haddad believes that the US plan is intended to bring about the end of Hamas's rule - whether the terrorist organization agrees to it or not - and therefore, from his perspective, there is no point in accepting it, and Hamas must continue fighting. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump told reporters that Hamas has three to four days to...

Explanation: Galaxies like colorful pieces of candy fill the Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014. The dimmest galaxies are more than 10 billion times fainter than stars visible to the unaided eye and represent the Universe in the extreme past, a few 100 million years after the Big Bang. The image itself was made with the significant addition of ultraviolet data to the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, an update of Hubble's famous most distant gaze toward the southern constellation of Fornax. It now covers the entire range of wavelengths available to Hubble's cameras, from ultraviolet through visible to near-infrared. Ultraviolet data...

Fool's Ball, Week Five Your home for all things Fool's Ball! In Memoriam Danny Lee (BENDER2)

The Democrats have shut down the government because they’re putting illegal immigrants ahead of American citizens.Do not listen to Chuck Schumer or any of his allies in the corporate media when they spin about this critical point. As Vice President JD Vance correctly points out: “It’s not something that we made up. It’s not a talking point. It is in the text of the bill that they initially gave to us to reopen the government.”The Dems nuked a near-term CR budget fix because they insisted on taxpayer-funded healthcare for foreign migrants who do not even belong in America, and no...

NATIONAL FRIED SCALLOPS DAY Right at the beginning of National Seafood Month, National Fried Scallops Day serves up a seafood dish enjoyed across the country. October 2nd each year brings scallop fans together to celebrate their favorite dishes. #FriedScallopsDay The word scallop refers to the common name applied to many species of marine bivalve mollusks in the family Pectinidae. Every ocean in the world provides habitat for these mollusks, too. In fact, many areas of the world prize scallops as a food source. The name scallop applies to the meat of the scallops when it is used as seafood. The...

A biologist has filed a federal lawsuit challenging her firing by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission because of a post on a personal social media account after the murder of conservative leader Charlie Kirk. Brittney Brown, who worked for the commission studying shorebirds and seabirds in the area of Tyndall Air Force Base in the Panhandle, alleges in the lawsuit that her firing on Sept. 15—five days after Kirk was shot during an appearance at a Utah university—violated her First Amendment rights.(snip) The lawsuit said Brown was fired after reposting on her Instagram account a post from an...

[Catholic Caucus] The Brew: Pope Leo Smothers Pro-Lifers in the ‘Seamless Garment.’Well, the mystery man has taken off his disguise. Like traumatized children who hope that their mama’s new boyfriend won’t beat them as much as the last one, Catholics greeted the new man called “Il Papa” with hope. And indeed Leo XIV is a big improvement in some ways over Pope Francis. Leo doesn’t seem to be a sociopath, and is probably even a theist.But as we reported yesterday, Leo’s latest public statement has given away that he embraces one of the most detestable heresies in Church history since...

The federal government shutdown that began at the stroke of midnight on October 1 wasn’t an accident, a matter of miscommunication, or the result of congressional leaders getting behind on their paperwork. Both major parties went into it with eyes open, having for their own reasons spurned the negotiations that usually head off these destructive events at the last minute. It would be naive, then, to expect the shutdown to end quickly or simply. Democrats have a fairly elaborate list of demands they want met before voting en masse to reopen the government. Republicans simply want it to reopen so...

TRUMANN, Ark. (KAIT) - Police arrested a woman after they say she tried to lure two children to the home of a registered sex offender. According to a community safety alert, Trumann police received a complaint from a resident about a suspicious incident involving her children on Sept. 30. The complainant told police that her two children were playing outside when a woman came up to them. “The female reportedly attempted to lure the children to a residence a few houses away that is occupied by a registered sex offender,” the release said. Police say the interaction was recorded by...

During an EU summit Wednesday, leaders discussed the plan, with the idea winning support from bloc heavyweights France and Germany, according to officials involved in the discussion. However Belgium, whose approval is critical because it hosts Euroclear, reiterated concerns about the plan and sought assurances that its financial interests would be protected. Earlier, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who hosted the summit, told reporters that the bloc sees financial support to Ukraine as critical. “And I think that the idea from the Commission is actually quite a good way forward,” she said. The European plan seeks to resolve several problems...

Trump administration sends memo to Congress declaring 'non-international armed conflict' with drug cartels The Trump administration sent a memo to Congress on Thursday saying that the United States is now "in a non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels, which administration officials have designated as "terrorist organizations." "The President directed these actions consistent with his responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to his constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive to conduct foreign relations," the memo states. The notification to congressional lawmakers came...

The healthcare “cuts” Democrats are using as an excuse to shut down the government are actually the phase-out of temporary pandemic-era Obamacare credits. Contrary to their current talking points, the phase-out of these credits was included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which passed without a single Republican vote. This legislation, which significantly increased federal spending on temporary pandemic-related healthcare programs, extended subsidies for insurance policies purchased through the Obamacare exchanges only through 2025. The Biden administration’s emergency pandemic subsidies should be allowed to expire as intended. This would enable individual and small group plans to regain fiscal stability...

The infamous incident prompted numerous headlines and a discussion about privacy and personal conduct in the internet age. The married tech CEO spotted on camera this summer with his arms wrapped around one of his employees at a Coldplay concert has been spending time with his wife, new photos show — months after the unusual incident consumed the internet and made numerous headlines. (snip) A month later, Cabot, who was already separated from, and living apart, from her husband, Andrew, filed for divorce. A source close to her later insisted to PEOPLE that she and Byron were not romantically involved...

[Catholic Caucus] Pro-Abortion Senator Dick Durbin “Overwhelmed” By Pope Leo XIV's DefenceOn Wednesday, pro-abortion Senator Dick Durbin told NBC News that he was "overwhelmed" by the support he received from Pope Leo XIV.Durbin was scheduled to receive a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich in November. However, he declined after facing clear backlash from Catholics, including a few US bishops.Durbin said he was allegedly surprised by "the level of controversy" and "shocked" by Leo XIV's defense: "It's amazing to me. It’s quite a moment. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t know it was going to happen."On Tuesday, Leo...

BMW is recalling over 145,000 vehicles due to a potential fire risk from an overheated starter. “This safety recall involves the engine starter. In certain cases, the engine starter may not start the vehicle properly. These improper starting attempts could result in local overheating of the engine starter,” a recall notice read. Reuters has more: The issue affects vehicles across 2020 340I, X7, and X5 models, the auto safety regulator said. BMW dealers will replace the engine starter, free of charge, NHTSA said in the notice. Earlier this week, NHTSA said that BMW would recall over 196,000 vehicles in the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats kept their promise to reject any Republican spending bill that didn’t extend or restore health care benefits, choosing instead to force a government shutdown. Now they have to figure out how to get out of it. Just hours after the shutdown began, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said that if the Republicans work with them, “the shutdown could go away very quickly.” But that won’t be easy. Republican leaders — Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump — have said that they won’t negotiate or be “held hostage ”...

Good Bunny, Bad Bunny; Danica Patrick wants no bunny at the Super Bowl halftime show. While commenting on another account’s post about the Puerto Rican rapper, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Patrick criticized the idea of having him perform on stage in Santa Clara, Calif., for the pinnacle of television in America. “Oh fun,” the former race car driver said on X. “No songs in English should not be allowed at one of America’s highest rated television events of the year … not just for sports.”