Free Republic

Long Beach became the first U.S. city to mandate staffing ratios at self-checkout lanes, requiring one employee per three stations. Major grocery chains, including Vons and Albertsons, closed self-checkout to comply with the new theft-prevention ordinance. Unions say the law protects workers; retailers warn it will increase costs and lines for shoppers already frustrated by rampant theft. Tired of rampant shoplifting scaring away citizens and shoppers, Long Beach is trying to force stores to add staff and reduce dependence on self-checkout. The beachfront city, with a population of around half a million, last month started requiring major food and pharmacy...

Israeli and Arab military officials have come together for meetings and trainings, facilitated by U.S. Central Command, on regional threats, Iran and underground tunnels.Even as key Arab states condemned the war in the Gaza Strip, they quietly expanded security cooperation with the Israeli military, leaked U.S. documents reveal. Those military ties were thrown into crisis after Israel’s September airstrike in Qatar, but could now play a key role in overseeing the nascent ceasefire in Gaza.Over the past three years, facilitated by the United States, senior military officials from Israel and six Arab countries came together for a series of planning...

President Trump’s long, avid embrace of social media has been eagerly adopted by his top aides, replacing longstanding governmental norms with online ones.A White House feed flooded with taunts of opponents and beatification of its allies. An F.C.C. chairman using a GIF to answer a question from the news media. An F.B.I. director who posts potential evidence from a shooting and news of a high-profile arrest on X.During the first nine months of Donald J. Trump’s extremely online administration, the president’s always-be-posting style has been adopted and echoed by a coterie of top aides who have embraced online tactics, replacing...

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced today 10 new construction contracts totaling approximately $4.5 billion were awarded in September 2025, which will add hundreds of miles of Smart Wall along the southwest border. “For years, Washington talked about border security but failed to deliver. This President changed that,” said CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott. “The Smart Wall means more miles of barriers, more technology, and more capability for our agents on the ground. This is how you take control of the border.” The Smart Wall is a border security system that combines steel...

Dozens of sitting judges shared with The Times their concerns about risks to the courts’ legitimacy as the Supreme Court releases opaque orders about Trump administration policies. More than three dozen federal judges have told The New York Times that the Supreme Court’s flurry of brief, opaque emergency orders in cases related to the Trump administration have left them confused about how to proceed in those matters and are hurting the judiciary’s image with the public. At issue are the quick-turn orders the Supreme Court has issued dictating whether Trump administration policies should be left in place while they are...

High school homecoming celebrations in Mississippi ended in gunfire, with two separate shootings on opposite sides of the state Friday night that left at least six people dead and many more injured, authorities said. Four of the dead were killed in downtown Leland, after a high school football homecoming game in the Mississippi Delta region on the state’s western edge, a state senator said Saturday. About 20 people were injured in the gunfire after people gathered in downtown Leland following the game, state Sen. Derrick Simmons said. Of the 20 wounded, four were in critical condition and flown from a...

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has directed the Defense Department to use “all available funds” to ensure U.S. troops are paid Wednesday despite the government shutdown, a short-term fix that will not apply to the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have been furloughed. Trump said in a social media post that he was acting because “our Brave Troops will miss the paychecks they are rightfully due on October 15th.” The Republican president’s directive removes one of the pressure points that could have forced Congress into action, likely ensuring that the shutdown — now in its 11th...

…One general observation we can make right from the beginning is that in crossing the Red Sea, the children of Israel were coming OUT OF something bad. In the crossing of the Jordan River, the children of Israel were coming INTO something essentially good, but not without its challenges. And in between, there was a desert or wilderness. This desert represents a training place; a place of learning; a place of trials; and a place of testing. Even Jesus went into the wilderness to be tested (Luke 4:1-14). The children of Israel were also lead by the Lord in the...

Oct 11 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Joe Biden is receiving radiation therapy for his prostate cancer diagnosed in May, a spokesperson for him said on Saturday."As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment, the spokesperson said.Biden, who turns 83 next month, in September underwent a procedure known as Mohs surgery to remove cancerous cells from his skin.The Democratic former president in May revealed that he had been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. His team said the illness was aggressive but hormone-sensitive, meaning it was likely to respond to...

Humphreys County, Tennessee, Sheriff Chris Davis said that they found "no survivors" during a search of the blast site.Authorities said on Saturday that they found “no survivors” during a search of the site of a massive blast at a Tennessee explosives plant. At least 18 people were unaccounted for after the explosion on Friday. The explosion at Accurate Energetic Systems in Hickman County — around 60 miles southwest of Nashville — was reported just before 8:00 a.m. on Friday, with officials initially saying that “several” people were dead. “I can tell you that more than 300 people have been through...

Republican Jack Ciattarelli is closing the gap with Rep. Mikie Sherill by arguing that high taxes and foolish energy policies are ruining the Garden State.No one beats up on New Jersey like its own beleaguered residents, who arguably get less for their money than anyone else in the country. A family in a $600,000 house might pay $12,000 a year in property tax. A decade ago they could boast that this paid for some of the best schools in the country, but New Jersey has slid from second to 12th place in math and reading scores. And don’t even start...

The increasingly woke Church of England has drawn international backlash over an “ugly” graffiti art installation at Canterbury Cathedral, one of the oldest Christian structures in England. Days after announcing that Right Rev Dame Sarah Mullally would become the next Archbishop of Canterbury and the first female to hold the most senior position in the global Anglican Communion, the Church of England has sparked another controversy by covering the walls of medieval Canterbury Cathedral with graffiti-style “art”.

Explanation: Seen edge-on, spiral galaxy NGC 4302 (left) lies about 55 million light-years away in the well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. A member of the large Virgo Galaxy Cluster, it spans some 87,000 light-years, a little smaller than our own Milky Way. Like the Milky Way, NGC 4302's prominent dust lanes cut along the center of the galactic plane, obscuring and reddening the starlight from our perspective. Smaller companion galaxy NGC 4298 is also a dusty spiral. But tilted more nearly face-on to our view, NGC 4298 can show off dust lanes along spiral arms traced by the bluish light of...

Thousands of anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters marched in central London on Saturday, despite the announcement of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal aimed at ending the war in the Strip. Demonstrators held signs with the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” seen by many as a call for Israel’s destruction, and a placard comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. The crowd chanted “Israel is a terror state” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” while marching to Whitehall, where many British government buildings are clustered. Ben Jamal,...

Diane Keaton, one of Hollywood’s most distinctive and beloved stars, has died at the age of 79. A family spokesperson confirmed to People that the Oscar-winning actress passed away in California. Her loved ones have requested privacy as they mourn her loss.

Tech billionaire Marc Benioff seemingly shed his liberal ties and directly clashed with his longtime friend Gavin Newsom by praising the president in a recent bombshell interview. The CEO of the San Francisco-based software company Salesforce recently confessed to the New York Times that he believed President Donald Trump was 'doing a great job' and that he'd support the National Guard's presence in his city. 'I fully support the president,' Benioff declared. The CEO, who's also the godfather of the California governor's daughter, supported Trump's controversial call to send the National Guard to US cities. When speaking about San Francisco,...

Diane Keaton, whose long, versatile career was indelibly highlighted by her Academy Award-winning performance as Woody Allen’s titular love interest in the actor-writer-director’s 1977 romantic comedy “Annie Hall,” has died, according to People. She was 79.

I was deeply moved by a Terry James’ article recently titled, “Warning the Clueless.” We all deal with them—the clueless and unaware. Many are clueless by choice! His point was that we as “watchmen on the wall,” who know what’s coming, must warn clueless people—Christians and non-Christians—that time is running out. As Terry says, “These believers are not being taught about Christ’s return—about the rapture—from most pastors in most pulpits. This is a neglected teaching in even well-known evangelical church bodies today.” Terry continues, “When Christians truly understand the nearness of the call from Jesus Christ, many will have a...

Brian Niccol, I call on you to bargain a fair contract with Starbucks Workers United baristas! I support Starbucks baristas in their fight for a union and a fair contract, and pledge not to cross the picket line. That means I will not patronize any Starbucks store when baristas are on strike. Why is this important? Baristas are the most important part of the Starbucks experience. Baristas open the stores every morning and close them every night. They greet customers, make the coffee, clean up the spills, and remember customers’ names and favorite orders. Yet, it’s too hard for baristas...

First, I’ll say it—a liberal white woman left this voicemail. It’s the only voter bloc insane enough to leave something like this. That’s the Democratic Party base: angry white liberal women, crusty boomers, and a bunch of gays. She might be a lesbian—who knows. But it’s definitely a white woman hoping the wife of this ICE officer gets murdered with her kids, because that’s what happened to the Nazis or something. No, she wasn’t referencing the shaving of heads of women who had relations with SS officers, which the French and Dutch population employed during and after the war. Oh,...