Free Republic

The sun will soon be setting on the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California’s Mojave Desert. Boosted by $1.6 billion in taxpayer-backed loans in 2011, the gargantuan project was hailed by President Obama’s first energy secretary, Ernest Moniz, as “an example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy.” Instead, it has become yet another example of central planners squandering taxpayer money on an ill-conceived green-energy boondoggle. Covering five square miles of the sun-drenched Mojave Desert, 65 miles southwest of Las Vegas, Ivanpah features three 459-foot towers and 173,500 computer-controlled mirrors known as heliostats. “The mirrors reflect...

Mexico’s proposed 8% tax on violent video games.The Mexican federal government has announced a new 8% excise tax on violent video games. The justification? That violent games are responsible for violent behavior. Violence is indeed a heavy problem in Mexico, and organized crime has left significant parts of the country in a state of terror. But attacking video games seems a poor policy-choice that echoes the moral panics of the 1990s—when games like Mortal Kombat triggered congressional hearings and headlines about the corruption of the youth that led to the creation of the ESRB system. Such panics gain political traction...

Gov. Newsom signed SB 79 on Friday, allowing buildings up to nine stories near transit stops in eight California counties. The law overrides local zoning and takes effect July 2026. Mayor Bass and the City Council opposed it over local control concerns. Multiple exemptions make the bill complex, and cities await an official map to determine which properties are affected by the upzoning. On the campaign trail eight years ago, Gov. Newsom famously promised to support the construction of 3.5 million new homes in California by the end of this year. He’ll likely fall short by millions, but his latest...

The Washington Post reviewed leaked audio from four off-the-record lectures the tech investor delivered in San Francisco over the past month that fused beliefs about religion and technology.Tech billionaire Peter Thiel recently warned that Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and critics of technology or artificial intelligence are “legionnaires of the Antichrist” in private lectures on Christianity that connected government oversight of Silicon Valley to an apocalyptic future, according to recordings reviewed by The Washington Post.In the four, roughly two-hour lectures, which began last month and culminated Monday at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Thiel laid out his religious views to...

Most Democrats left President Trump conspicuously unmentioned as they cheered a potential end to the conflict, reflecting the tricky politics around the war and their party’s deep hostility to Mr. Trump.When President Trump announced a deal that could end the Israel-Hamas war, most Democrats were quick to cheer the promise of an imminent return of hostages and the close to a catastrophic conflict.But few were willing to credit Mr. Trump himself, reluctant to praise a president who has said he hates them and wants them jailed, and whom many of them regard as complicit in Israel’s brutal strategy in Gaza.“I...

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) will introduce a bill on Tuesday that would sharply reduce the number of H-1B migrants working in U.S. white-collar jobs. The bill, to be announced Tuesday morning, would begin to count visa renewals as new visas, so ending the current practice of allowing unlimited renewals for most of the 85,000 visas granted to companies each year. The unlimited renewals policy allows roughly 750,000 H-1B visa holders to retain white-collar, career-track jobs that would otherwise have gone to young U.S. graduates. Without the exemption, the number of company-employed H-1B visa holders would drop to roughly 250,000. The...

Yellow taxis and black cabs, big apple v big smoke, Trump Tower or the BT Tower? London and New York share a rivalry that goes back hundreds of years. The latest blow came courtesy of President Trump, who labelled Sir Sadiq Khan a “terrible” mayor and said the capital had considerably changed under his tenure. It is not the first time the US president has locked horns with Khan, who has been elected twice by Londoners. But are there any grounds to Trump’s claim — and is life in London better or worse than in Trump’s hometown, New York? How...

Adequate folate consumption is recommended for women in preconception and pregnancy to ensure cell growth and development. But new research has revealed the need to establish a safe upper limit on consumption. Current guidelines recommend supplementation with 400 to 500 micrograms (µg) of folic acid daily, starting at least one month prior to conception and continuing through the first trimester, to reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Dr. Tanja Jankovic-Karasoulos has found excess maternal folate levels—caused by the dual impact of folic acid (FA) food fortification and higher-than-recommended supplementation doses during pregnancy—can be linked to...

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for their development of new molecular structures that can trap vast quantities of gas inside, laying the groundwork to potentially suck greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere or harvest moisture from desert environments.The chairperson of the committee that made the award compared the structures called metal-organic frameworks to the seemingly bottomless magical handbag carried by Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” series. Another example might be Mary Poppins’ enchanted carpet bag. These containers look small from the outside but are able to hold surprisingly large quantities within.The committee...

Former BBC presenter Jack Murley is claiming £48,000 in compensation after being sacked over 'deeply inappropriate' radio segments CommentsA BBC presenter has claimed he thought he was acting within the broadcaster's guidelines after being dismissed for "inappropriate" radio content. Jack Murley worked at BBC Radio Cornwall from 2019 until being removed from the airwaves in 2023. He was based in Truro until a "heated conversation" with his manager regarding his social media activity. Jack maintained he was "acting within the BBC's social media guidelines", an employment tribunal was told. He had posted his opinions on social media from 2022...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Friday announcement that the U.S. will host a new Qatari air force facility in Idaho has drawn the ire of the Trump administration’s closest allies, including Laura Loomer, who said she felt “betrayed” over the matter. In a flurry of social media posts Friday afternoon, Loomer unleashed on the administration’s announcement that it had signed the letter greenlighting the building of a Qatar Emiri air force contingent at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in southwestern Idaho. The air arm of Qatar’s armed forces, Qatar Emiri air force pilots would train to fly F-15s in the...

Internal documents show a convicted transgender-identifying sex offender accused of exposing himself to women and minors in Arlington and Fairfax County, Virginia, had contact via email with an Arlington School Board member. Local news outlet 7News first reported on the exchange, which was obtained in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Defending Education. The new report surfaced as 58-year-old Richard “Riki” Cox faces 20 charges related to his visits to pools owned by the Arlington Public Schools (APS), which are open to the public outside of school hours. Both Fairfax and Arlington school districts have policies allowing people...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Even one of the most revered institutions in the world found out that it was not immune to being trolled by the leader of the free world, as President Donald Trump retaliated for his peace prize snub with a picture of the Nobel Committee wearing sombreros. According to inside sources, Trump decided to respond to the Nobel snub by using the same method that had worked so well last week against congressional Democrats in the wake of the government shutdown, posting a photoshopped image of the esteemed committee wearing traditional Mexican hats. "When you snub someone...

YUKON, Okla. — Yukon Public Schools are adding a new coffee shop at their high school campus, stirring up opportunities for students with special needs "We have a responsibility as schools to offer all kinds of opportunities for our kids," said Keith Sinor, superintendent of Yukon Public Schools. The new program offers inclusion by the cup. "Gonna be making some cold brew," said Elaine, one of the workers at the coffee shop. "Vanilla bean," said Tara, another worker at the shop. It’s a shop where every cup of coffee has a shot of confidence.

Steve Bannon has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn his contempt of Congress conviction that saw the former Trump administration official and War Room host spend four months in prison. Bannon had been subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating January 6, however, the information sought was initially protected under executive privilege. After Trump revoked that privilege, and Bannon was able to respond to the committee, he was indicted and later sentenced. The petition for a writ of certiorari filed in the nation’s highest court centers around Section 192 of Title 2, which states, "Every person who having been summoned...

Videos of an incident from mid-September is making the rounds on social media showing a man getting shot with a pepper ball as he and other agitators were on the property of an ICE facility in Chicago. The Department of Homeland Security has said that the man as well as others in the anti-ICE group were blocking vehicles from exiting the property. The video of the man, identified as David Black, shows him on federal property in what has been a stand-off between the group of agitators blocking ICE vehicles from leaving the facility. Black says he is a pastor...

ABC late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel told his audience that Antifa does not exist in the same week that the funding mechanisms for organized Antifa rioters was revealed by, Seamus Bruner, the Director of Research at the Government Accountability Institute (GAI).The ratings-killing Kimmel addressed the Antifa issue during his monologue on Thursday insisting that there is “no Antifa.”“You understand, there is no Antifa? This is an entirely imaginary organization,” Kimmel exclaimed, plying the left’s recent favorite assertion about the group. “There is not an Antifa. This is no different than if they announced they rounded up a dozen Decepticons [from the...

From indie‐chart toppers to cult classics, these songs capture Harriet Wheeler’s ethereal vocals and The Sundays’ jangle‑pop magic.Ever since The Sundays emerged with their debut single “Can’t Be Sure” and the instantly adored Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, they’ve personified a kind of guitar-led indie pop that’s both literary and otherworldly. The English band—fronted by the quietly iconic Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin—crafted only three albums, yet their influence on dream pop, shoegaze, and indie music endures. Their songs shimmer with emotional clarity, marrying crisp, chiming guitarwork with Wheeler’s crystal-clear vocals. While they never chased commercial trends, their music...

Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine rejected in a joint statement on Friday any "foreign guardianship" over Gaza, stressing that its governance is a purely internal Palestinian matter, according to Reuters. In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Hamas official Basem Naim said that while Hamas will no longer be directly involved in governing Gaza following the implementation of US President Donald Trump's peace plan, there is no plan to fully disarm, as Naim claimed that “no one can deny us the right to resistance by all means, including armed resistance.” When asked...

Dispensational Dispensational Zionism views the reestablishment of Israel in 1948 as a direct fulfillment of prophecy and a sign that history is approaching its climax. This view carries significant risks. It can reduce Israel to a mere prophetic symbol, turning Jewish people into actors in a divine drama rather than covenant partners. It can also foster uncritical support, a tendency to view all of Israel’s policies as automatically justified. At its worst, eschatological zeal leads to fatalism: if conflict in the Middle East is “predicted,” then pursuing peace seems pointless. This instrumentalizes both Israel and its neighbors and risks excusing...