Free Republic

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he spoke with Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) last week to tell her Republicans are “working around the clock” to bring healthcare prices down, after she vocally criticized Republicans throughout the week for the government shutdown and split from her party in deploring rising costs. “I had a thoughtful conversation with her on the phone the other night,” Johnson told host Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday.” Johnson said Republicans on the committees of jurisdiction were the ones leading discussions on the shutdown and healthcare subsidies — committees he said Greene isn’t a part of but...

A former maintenance worker says he once used a garden hose to prevent a potential explosion at the Tennessee bomb factory that was obliterated Friday in a mystery blast that likely killed 18 people. Greg McRee, 44, was hailed a hero in 2020 after dousing flames shooting from an industrial chimney at Accurate Energetic Systems (AES). His quick thinking, according to colleagues, stopped the fire from reaching a nearby stockpile of TNT boosters and blowing the building sky high. But instead of being rewarded, McRee says he was dismissed days later from his $28-an-hour supervisor job at the sprawling munitions...

Agencies have been shuttered going on three weeks with no end in sight as the White House and congressional Democrats continue their standoff.The ongoing government shutdown will collide with the U.S. economy this week, as missed paychecks and the absence of billions of dollars of government services reverberate beyond federal workers and sting the broader public.President Donald Trump and lawmakers in Congress remain deadlocked heading into a third week of shuttered federal agencies. Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but lack the votes in the Senate to defeat a filibuster of legislation to fund ongoing operations. Democrats insist that Trump...

Organisers plan to flood central London just a day after guns fell silent in Gaza, sparking fury over antisemitic chants and public disruption. Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators are expected to flood central London on Saturday—just a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect—prompting accusations that organisers are fuelling division. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) will bus supporters from across the country to march through Westminster and Waterloo from midday. The demonstration comes less than 24 hours after a Trump-brokered peace deal brought fighting in Gaza to a halt, with Israel agreeing to withdraw troops from parts of...

(UPI) — Longtime Moody Blues bassist, singer and songwriter John Lodge died suddenly and unexpectedly at age 82 on Friday while surrounded by his family. His family announced his death in a prepared statement but did not say his cause of death. “It is with the deepest sadness that we have to announce that John Lodge, our darling husband, father, grandfather, father-in-law and brother, has been suddenly and unexpectedly taken from us,” his family said, as reported by The Guardian. “As anyone who knew this massive-hearted man knows, it was his enduring love of his wife, Kirsten, and his family...

Higher education leaders and public-school superintendents say they depend on skilled foreign workers to fill critical roles.President Trump’s $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas will have major consequences for tech companies and financial firms. But the effects of the new fee will also ripple across the education system and show up in classrooms across the country.Higher education leaders and public-school superintendents say the steep fee will hurt schools that depend on foreign workers to fill critical teaching roles. Some university and college presidents said it would impede their ability to hire faculty members through the visa program, which allows educated...

Concerns over crime and violence spiked in Gallup polling this month, with the public opinion organization noting a particular increase in mentions following Charlie Kirk's assassination on Sept. 10. The Gallup poll was conducted Sept. 2-16 and published Monday. Mentions of crime or violence more than doubled over the past month, rising from 3% in August to 8% in September, according to Gallup. That’s the highest level since August 2020, and before that, 2002, Gallup said. The organization also noted that survey respondents might’ve been influenced by the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting or the stabbing death of a Ukrainian woman...

CAIRO (AP) — Israel said Sunday that it expected all of the living hostages held in the Gaza Strip to be released Monday in its breakthrough ceasefire deal with Hamas, as Palestinians awaited the release of hundreds of prisoners held in Israel and a surge of aid into the famine-stricken territory.“In a few hours, we will all be reunited,” Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said in a statement.U.S. President Donald Trump planned to leave later in the day to visit Israel and Egypt to celebrate the ceasefire announced last week that offered hope for an end...

A man has sparked outrage after climbing onto an altar in St. Peter’s Basilica, dropping his trousers and urinating in front of stunned onlookers. According to Il Tempo newspaper, on Friday morning, a man managed to climb onto the Altar of Confession, steps in front of St Peter’s Tomb, after breaking past the barriers surrounding the Holy site. He was then filmed taking down his pants and urinating from the Altar. The Rome daily noted that while undercover police officers quickly detained and arrested the man, “the damage and destruction had already been done.” The identity of the man has...

Ironically, the problems that are causing the waning of the TLM might be remedied were the TLM more widely available.For centuries, Catholics around the world attended the celebration of what is often called the Tridentine or Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) and was more recently called the Extraordinary Form of the Mass by the late Pope Benedict XVI. The English author and Catholic convert Evelyn Waugh wrote, shortly before the liturgical reforms promulgated by the Second Vatican Council, of the TLM’s influence on generations of Saints and martyrs. “This was the Mass for whose restoration the Elizabethan martyrs had gone to...

Eyal Yakoby @EYakoby: Palestinian in Germany: "With God's help, we will finish you off. We will destroy the last Christian." From Ncole ✡︎ Oct 9, 2025.

Summary Shutdown standoff overlooks rising national debt and fiscal health issues Debt growth outpaces economic growth, threatening fiscal stability 'Messaging war' distracts from underlying problems, budget expert says WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The ongoing shutdown debate between Democrats and President Donald Trump's Republicans is largely avoiding the difficult fiscal issues clouding the country's future - the rising national debt and the long-term financial health of Social Security and Medicare. The fifteenth partial federal govern since 1981 has been sparked by Democrats' demand for spending, which would cost about $1.5 trillion over the next decade according to the nonpartisan Committee...

The changes follow a class action lawsuit challenging the longstanding fee structure of the entire U.S. real estate system. An important sea change has taken place in the United States' $136 trillion real estate market. It stands to impact nearly everyone buying or selling a home. And it’s due to a game-changing lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors. Consumers face new rules designed for their benefit. But the overhauled system and the fallout are still being figured out. Jared Breit helped spark the real estate revolution. He joined a class action lawsuit challenging the longstanding fee structure of...

Protesters battled with police outside an ICE facility in Chicago on Saturday as demonstrators in Oregon hosted a 'laser party' in an attempt to deter federal helicopters from the area. The streets of Chicago turned chaotic as protesters clashed with cops outside the Broadview ICE facility, leading to multiple arrests after demonstrators breached the perimeter. Hundreds of protestors flooded the streets around the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility earlier in the day for a march against Trump Administration policies. One person was carted away in handcuffs as others were trampled by officers - wielding heavy batons - in the...

In hindsight, it was clear all along that President Trump didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet in being snubbed, he nonetheless proved something extremely important.His rejection reveals that the official claim of the award is false when it says the prize goes to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”That standard describes exactly the peace Trump has achieved this year by settling conflicts around the world,...

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Did you know the first newspaper in the future United States lasted one day? The official reason the governor of the Massachusetts colony shut down Publick Occurrences was because publisher Benjamin Harris — a stern advocate of freedom of speech — failed to get a license. The unofficial reason was the British government did not like what Harris’ publication had to say, characterizing its content as “uncertain reports.” More than a decade would go by before the monarchy would allow another newspaper to be published, one with the king’s approval. That was in the fall of 1690 — roughly 85...

This is one piece of gold that President Trump is never going to get his short, stubby fingers on: an 18-karat gold medal with three naked men embracing, awarded to those who promote peace, democracy and human rights. The Nobel Peace Prize has been given to some beauts — like Henry Kissinger, for helping end the Vietnam War he perpetuated to aid Richard Nixon’s re-election. But the prize was not designed for someone like Trump. The Norwegian Nobel Committee would no doubt discontinue the award before it would give it to him. His longing is partly inspired by his jealousy...

American historians think Trump is birthing a totalitarian regime. In fact, they’ve been working in one entirely of their own making.After attending the Organization of American Historians annual conference in Chicago, IL earlier this year, I felt compelled to compose a reflection of the event, primarily focusing on one session — a session titled “The Election of 2024.” As a historian who followed the presidential election closely, I was eager to hear how some of my colleagues viewed the roles of media and money on the election, as well as how they portrayed the most important issues to voters...

Since immigration-enforcement agents began their descent on Chicago, acting with seemingly unprecedented speed and ferocity, Evelyn Vargas and her colleagues at Organized Communities Against Deportation have been in a frenzy. They help run an emergency hotline that refers people who have been detained to immigration lawyers and directs their families to support services such as food pantries, emergency housing, and mental-health care. (On a single day last week, it took 800 calls.) And they oversee a team of 35 “rapid responders” who have been sprinting across the city to film arrests, aiming for at least two to arrive on the...