Free Republic

The NFL’s announcement that Bad Bunny will headline the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show has sparked excitement across music and sports. But while fans celebrate the Puerto Rican superstar’s historic booking, former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown is questioning how these selections are actually made—and pointing directly at Jay-Z. He wrote: "Barack Obama's best friend Jay-Z runs the Super Bowl selection process through his company Roc Nation which has an exclusive contract with the NFL. This is who chooses the halftime show, the most watched musical performance in America." His claim adds weight to ongoing discussions about how much power...

By Dr. John BergsmaThe themes of the Readings for this Sunday focus on the gratitude for God’s salvation. Gratitude is an important psychological and spiritual disposition. Dr. Daniel G. Amen, the popular brain researcher and public health spokesman, identifies gratitude as a key character quality of persons with physiologically healthy brains. That’s right: gratitude affects your physical health, including the shape and functioning of your brain. This Sunday’s Readings focus particularly on gratitude to God, and how it should be expressed. 1. Our First Reading is 2 Kings 5:14-17: Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at...

A week after federal agents arrested dozens of people during a military-style immigration raid of a South Shore apartment building, resident Cassandra Murray slowly inches down four flights of stairs because the elevators are broken again. Murray is disabled and walks with a limp. The 55-year-old wears plastic gloves as she holds onto a railing, pointing out urine spots and feces smeared on the wall in the building where she has lived for a decade. Murray is on her way to see a new apartment. She says her move wasn’t prompted by the harrowing raid or the Venezuelan immigrants who...

The best #content train on the planet right now went full steam ahead this week, and it even picked up a new, insufferable passenger! The Kamala Harris book tour, in which Kamala goes around and lies her ass off about things that have literally never happened, welcomed Hillary Clinton to the show on Thursday, and buddy – it was a DOOZY. It sort of reminded me of that scene from Dumb & Dumber where Harry and Lloyd just scream ‘Mockingbird’ at each other in the van? And hey! That analogy works well here, because these two broads are truly two...

A Jewish man in Missoula, Montana, was assaulted on Oct. 7 by a self-proclaimed “Nazi,” according to the Missoula Police Department. On Tuesday, the suspect, Michael Cain, 29, got into an argument with the victim who had a visible tattoo of the Star of David on his forearm. Cain asked the victim about his tattoo and allegedly identified himself as a believer in the teachings of the Nazi party. When the victim, who told Cain he was Jewish, then asked Cain to show him any Nazi-related tattoos on his body, Cain allegedly kicked and punched the victim, who was seated...

Debate moderators repeatedly cut off Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earl-Sears' time short and allowed Democrat Spanberger to run over time. "You have 30 seconds" (Winsome Earl-Sears gives answer). 15 seconds pass - bell dings - "Your time is up."

How does a mere mortal—in this case, an average American girl in a stars-and-stripes dress with a red cardigan—transform into a Beatles-esque global phenom? Taylor Swift was performing from a young age and showed potential for success, surely, but few could have anticipated the unprecedented level of stardom she’d reach. By pairing her talent and artistry with incredible entrepreneurial instincts, Swift is not only building a musical legacy; she has built a reputation for bold, effective fanbase development. Swift’s early success as a teenage country music star was straight out of the entrepreneur’s playbook. She seized an opportunity that other...

Konstantin Ganich, a Ukrainian crypto blogger and trader known online as Kostya Kudo, was found dead in a Lamborghini today amid a severe cryptocurrency market downturn. The incident occurred as digital assets experienced extreme volatility, intensifying ongoing discussions about mental health challenges facing crypto traders and influencers. Ukraine has seen growing cryptocurrency adoption as residents seek economic resilience amid national financial pressures. Galish had been promoting trading strategies during this period of market instability. Recent crypto market fluctuations have created widespread distress across the trading community, particularly affecting high-profile investors and social media influencers who built followings around digital asset...

(I don't believe people who just happened to be born on any of 365 days, deserve any special notice for it, but their Mothers do. My Mother, born in 1912, gave birth to me this day in 1954. So, to indulge myself, I thought I'd pass along this comedic poem from her birth year, 1912, from a children's book.) The Rocket Book (1912) by Peter Newell. Narrated at the click-link at Librivox by Phil Chenevert. The Rocket Book by Peter Newell at Gutenberg(Twenty-one comedic illustrations) [pg] The ROCKET Book by PETER NEWELL HARPER & BROTHERS NEW YORK [pg] COPYRIGHT, 1912,...

Posing as a TV reporter clad with body armor, Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday mocked the Trump administrative narrative that National Guard troops are needed to quell chaos in “war-torn Chicago” in a bit for ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “This is JB Pritzker, reporting from war-torn Chicago. As you can see, there’s utter mayhem and chaos on the ground. It’s quite disturbing,” he says on a downtown Chicago bridge. “The Milwaukee Brewers have come in to attack our Chicago Cubs. “We’ve seen people being forced to eat hot dogs with ketchup on them, and our deep dish pizza, well, has...

Research into grape pips found from an excavated Byzantine monastery in Israel hints at the origins of the ‘mysterious’ Gaza wine and the history of grapevine cultivation in desert conditions. The pips from settlements in Israel’s Negev desert - one of which was dated to the 8th century - were likely from a white grape, and is potentially the earliest of its kind documented anywhere in the world. It is thought it could be linked to the sweet white wine - the Gaza wine - that archaeologists have seen references to in historical records, but a lack of evidence of...

Dominion Voting Systems -- the voting machine company at the center of false 2020 election fraud conspiracy theories -- has been sold to a seemingly new election company run by a former Republican election official, according to a person familiar with the sale. John Poulos, the former Dominion CEO, confirmed the sale in a statement. "Liberty Vote has acquired Dominion Voting Systems," Poulos said.

A budding and potentially powerful Nor’easter is threatening to bring “major” coastal flooding impacts to parts of the mid-Atlantic Sunday into Monday, prompting New Jersey to already declare a state of emergency. The combination of strong and persistent northeast winds and high astronomical tides will send pounding surf into the Atlantic coast from Virginia to New England. But the brunt of the flooding appears focused on the New Jersey and Delaware coasts, along with Delaware Bay. Coastal Flood Watches are in effect from Sunday through Monday as 12–15-foot waves could mean some areas could see tides reach 2–4 feet above...

Patients who have a new type of lens implanted in their eyes during surgery for cataracts or to correct their eyesight have excellent or good vision over distances both near and far, and often no longer need spectacles for reading. Research presented evaluated outcomes for around 200 patients in 17 sites in Europe and Asia-Pacific who had surgery to implant the TECNIS PureSEE. Data were available for 238 patients at the time of the Congress, making it one of the biggest studies to report on this type of lens so far. The findings showed that the EDF presbyopia correction IOL,...

Cowboys running back Miles Sanders will miss the rest of the 2025 season due to knee and ankle injuries. Though he was not a featured part of the offense, Sanders recorded 20 carries for 117 yards while catching all eight of his targets across his eight appearances.

Every month, over 60,000 people search for terms like “best AI chatbot,” “top AI chatbots,” or “what is the best AI chatbot?” — and the number keeps rising. In many ways, we’re living through AI’s version of the Big Bang. What started as a handful of tools has rapidly expanded into a vast, ever-evolving universe of thousands of AI platforms — each claiming to be the next breakthrough. With so many tools available and countless generic lists floating online, it’s no surprise users feel overwhelmed trying to choose the right AI chatbot. Professionals, students, educators, marketers — people from all...

The historic Thurn und Taxis hunting lodge was burned down on Monday morning. Lappersdorf Volunteer Fire Department.German police are investigating whether far-left extremists from Antifa were behind a massive fire that destroyed the historic Thurn und Taxis hunting lodge near Regensburg, Bavaria earlier this week. The fire, which broke out in the early hours of Monday, reduced the 19th-century building to its outer walls and caused damage estimated at around €4 million. Authorities confirmed that a statement claiming responsibility for the arson has been posted on the far-left online platform Indymedia. The message, signed by an “Antifa Kommando,” described the...

The alarms aren’t just blinking anymore. They’re blaring. America’s debt-fueled consumer economy is starting to crack. Families who used to keep the stores and car dealers busy are now falling behind on payments. This isn’t some slow leak. It looks and feels like the early days of 2008, only deeper and faster. Car loans are a disaster. Credit cards are choking people. Home loans are sliding into trouble. Even those Buy Now Pay Later apps, sold as a way to “manage money,” are pulling people into digital debt traps. The question isn’t if the hit is coming. It’s how long...

California's Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter had a bad week. Not only did she flip out when a reporter asked her a very simple question -- namely, how she planned to win if she didn't court Republican voters -- but old footage of Porter berating staff resurfaced, too. Along with that, so did prior allegations that Porter abused her ex-husband, including pouring a hot pot of potatoes on him during an argument.

Crypto prices tumbled amid investor concerns over economic stability and escalating trade disputes. Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two major cryptocurrencies, crashed after United States President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on 'any and all critical software' import goods from China. The continuing trade tensions between the two countries were significantly heightened by this move. According to Reuters, Bitcoin had dropped 8.4% to £78,000 ($104,782) as of 21:20 GMT. Ethereum also had a 5.8% decline, settling at £2,700 ($3,637). XRP, DOGE and Ada fell around 19%, 27%, and 25% in the last 24 hours, respectively, Bloomberg reported.…..