Free Republic

The Derry Township Supervisors on Tuesday approved a permit for a proposed solar farm along Newhouse Road after hearing objections to the project from several neighboring residents. The supervisors indicated they aren’t any more pleased about the proposed 27-acre solar array than residents are. But they said they are issuing the permit because the plan for installing 11,000 solar panels meets the requirements of a related township ordinance. “I’m like you,” Supervisor Don Kepple told solar farm opponents attending the township meeting. “I wouldn’t want this in my backyard. How can you say ‘no’ when everything is done right down...

Party members are being attacked in the streets, and AfD offices are being burnt down. Unable to steady the rise of the right-wing populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) through democratic means, extremist leftists are increasingly turning to violence. Two party members were attacked on Sunday, October 5th in Göttingen by two women and three men who recognised them as belonging to the AfD, leaving the pair “slightly injured.” The five perpetrators—aged between 23 and 49—are being investigated on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. Author Kolja Barghoorn described the incident as proof that “Germany has a massive problem with far-left extremist...

T-Mobile, the US telecom giant, announced on Monday that it has appointed its current Chief Operating Officer, India-born Srini Gopalan, as the company’s next Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective November 1, 2025. With this elevation, Gopalan joins the distinguished club of India-born CEOs heading some of the world’s most influential companies in the US, a group that includes Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet and Google, Vimal Kapur of Honeywell, Raj Subramaniam of FedEx, Arvind Krishna of IBM, and Shantanu Narayen of Adobe.

Perhaps because it came out the year I was born, I have a hard time imagining a world without A Fistful of Dollars, Sergio Leone and the spaghetti western. It's easy to forget how much this single film changed not just the western but the movie hero, whose credibility forever afterward came with stubble and unkempt hair, abundant sarcasm and an implacably bad attitude. It became an article of faith that the only honest way to look back at the world arrayed against the hero was through a squint. By the time I actually understood what a western was, Leone...

As the youngsters say, she was a baddie. Hillary Clinton celebrated her and former President Bill Clinton‘s 50th wedding anniversary with a series of throwback pictures posted to X (formerly Twitter) — and people are losing their minds over it, many claiming actress Sydney Sweeney is her doppelganger. On Saturday, the former Secretary of State gave a peek into the early days of her and Bill’s marriage by sharing several — dare we say, thirst trap — pictures of the couple in their late 20s looking madly in love. Hillary’s sweet tribute to her hubby read: “When we got married...

I am amazed by how many Christians seem unsure of where they should stand on the topic of Israel. Others openly oppose it altogether. And yet, the God we serve—the God of Israel—is using the Jewish State to try to get the attention of the world. That is what we read in Ezekiel 36:19-24, when God speaks about the Jewish people living in disobedience: “So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My...

The emergence of two videos showing former Rep. Katie Porter in an unfavorable light have cast a cloud over her gubernatorial prospects, feeding perceptions among some that the Irvine Democrat is thin-skinned and a short-tempered boss. How Porter responds in coming days could determine her viability in next year’s race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to both Democratic and Republican political strategists.“Everyone’s had a bad day. Everyone’s done something that they wouldn’t want broadcast, right? You don’t want your worst boss moment, your worst employment moment, your worst personal moment, captured on camera,” said Christine Pelosi, a prominent...

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...