Free Republic

In the early days of this blog — say, prior to about 2020 — I made a regular sport of heaping scorn on the New York Times. Every week or two I would take a particularly preposterous article and attempt to analyze whether it represented incomprehensible ignorance of the world versus intentional deception of the readership. Or maybe both! More recently, the Times has gotten so crazy, and the craziness so widely recognized, as rarely to justify such an effort on my part. But then, sometimes I can’t stop myself. Take today’s Times. As background, yesterday was the occasion of...

[snip] Today, Katty Kay called the project "a let-them-eat-cake moment" given that it was happening during a government shutdown in which some food welfare benefits are on hold. Eugene Robinson took it an absurd step further, claiming: "People in Washington don't seem to have a sense of how ridiculous and infuriating this is to everybody else in the country."On behalf of tens of millions of people outside Washington, let me assure you, Gene: we're not infuriated, although many might be mildly amused by your hyperbole. Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

On October 8, 2025, an 82-year-old woman was attacked by an Asiatic black bear in the city of Daisen in Akita Prefecture, Japan. The attack was caught on video. The bear is presumed to be an Asiatic black bear because the brown bears (Ursus Arctos) in Japan are limited to the northern island of Hokkaido. Daisen and Akita prefectures are not in Hokkaido. Akita prefecture is on the largest of the Japanese islands, Honshu. Honshu has a significant population of Asiatic black bears. From the bear’s actions, it appears to be a juvenile bear that has not yet perfected its...

U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan has removed prosecutor Maggie Cleary from the Eastern District of Virginia amid a restructuring linked to politically sensitive cases. The Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed the removal as part of Halligan’s reorganization efforts. Cleary, who briefly led the office after Acting U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert’s resignation, has not been confirmed for reassignment. Under Halligan, the Justice Department charged former FBI Director Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James after Trump had urged investigations. Siebert resigned over fears of being ousted for not targeting Letitia James; Trump later said he was dismissed for supporting Senate Democrats....

In those neighborhoods, where civil society breaks down, giving way to anarchy and Haitian-style barbarism, civilization is effectively suspended. Across the United States, the trajectory of inner cities has been one of “inexorable decline” — a descent from centers of economic growth, cultural splendor, and communal solidarity into fragmented, dystopian environments marked by neglect and anarchy. Like mirror images of downtown Port-au-Prince, these urban landscapes, far from civic greatness, have become wastelands defined by abandoned structures, pervasive insecurity, and social disintegration (aggravated by the “homelessness crisis”). The emblematic example of Detroit crystallizes the narrative of urban decline — a Democrat-run...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom violated federal law by upgrading the driver’s license of the illegal migrant trucker accused of causing a horrific, drug-fueled pile-up that killed three people and wounded several others, a bombshell new report claims. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed Newsom for Tuesday’s deadly crash, alleging state officials unlawfully upgraded Jashanpreet Singh’s commercial license weeks after a new federal rule went into effect barring illegal immigrants from holding such privileges, according to a DOT report released Friday. The restrictions, which require states to verify an applicant’s legal status, took effect on Sept. 26 — while the 21-year-old Indian...

Eyal Yakoby @EYakoby Zohran Mamdani’s intern Arzoo Malik is calling for a Holy War through Jihad and martyrdom: “This is all jihad, this is all ibada, and this is all counted for by Allah. How committed am I to this? What am I willing to sacrifice for this noble cause?”

I was one of those many, many retired officers who thought it was great when Pete Hegseth walked in and told an assembly of hundreds of generals and admirals that they suck and are fat, and they needed to unsuck and get unfat. Well, he was a little more polite than that, but not much. Of course, when their subordinates screw up in a massive way like these generals and admirals have over the last three decades, these generals and admirals would not have sugarcoated it. There would be no talk of feelings, no hugging. They would nuke their delinquent...

A growing number of Republicans on Capitol Hill have raised concerns about President Trump’s expanding war against drug cartels carried out without consultation or authorization by Congress, and are pressing for more information and involvement in a campaign whose legal basis remains murky. Most in the group have not expressed explicit opposition to the strikes that have been carried out so far against boats in the Caribbean Sea and, this week, expanded to the Pacific. The vast majority of Republicans have enthusiastically rallied behind them, and this month, all but two of them voted to block a measure that would...

In California, US Rep. Robert Garcia announced that "the House Democrats on the Oversight Committee are establishing a 'Master ICE Tracker' that will help our Antifa street fighters locate where immigrants are being arrested and allow them to intervene and prevent the deportation of the folks invited into our country by former President Biden." Apple and Facebook have removed similar ICE trackers from their platforms lest they be held liable for damages in any violent confrontations enabled by their ICE trackers. Garcia explained his strategy, saying "with the government shutdown there is no money to pay the ICE agents that...

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General Atomics is exploring laser armament options for drones across its portfolio, including its new Gambit family of autonomous combat aircraft. General Atomics via Carter Johnston =============================================================== General Atomics recently showed what it says is a rendering of an MQ-20 Avenger drone armed with a laser directed energy weapon. The laser beam is depicted projecting through a fully rotating nose cone turret fitted in place of its normal nose section. The company says this is a purely conceptual design, but it reflects a broader exploration of potential laser armament for uncrewed aircraft across its portfolio, including members of the highly...

So far, classic new pylon designs have not had the desired positive effect on public acceptance. The Austrian Power Giants combine innovative pylon design with aspects of nature in the form of animals in order to harmonize electricity infrastructure with nature. In this overall concept, an Austrian Power Giant is to be designed for each of the 9 federal states in Austria in the form of an animal that matches the respective federal state. For example, due to the annual visits of storks to Burgenland, the stork was chosen as the symbolic animal of this federal state. Or the deer,...

President Donald Trump late Friday blasted the Ontario provincial government in Canada for waiting until after the first two games of the World Series to pause a television ad featuring former President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs. "They could have pulled it tonight," Trump told reporters at the White House as he headed to fly to Asia. "Well, that's dirty play," he said. "But I can play dirtier than they can, you know." Trump had cited the ad in his decision on Thursday night to trade negotiations with Canada. Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Friday afternoon said he would pause the...

We often imagine our galaxy as a serene, spinning disk of stars, a celestial carousel of light against the black velvet of space. This comforting image, however, is an illusion. From our tiny vantage point, embedded within one of its spiral arms, we are only now learning that the Milky Way is a place of profound and dynamic movement, a living entity that breathes and shudders on a scale almost impossible to comprehend. The latest revelation, born from the unparalleled data of the European Space Agency’s Gaia space telescope, is not just a wobble or a tilt, but a colossal,...

It’s too good. It’s beyond comical. For the past week or so, liberal America has been apoplectic over President Trump’s new addition to the White House. He’s renovating the East Room so that a proper ballroom can be on the grounds, a venue that can accommodate at least 650 people. The president of the United States will forever have a place for official state dinners and other events—no more tents on the lawn. And yet, you’d think Trump ordered a slash-and-burn of the entire residence. Other presidents have done this—it’s not a big deal. The project is being funded by...

Anyone who has spent time around New York City has probably run into Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa. A tall, tough hombre with his trademark red beret, he probably knows every crack, crevice, and crack house in the city. Heck, he's probably on a first-name basis with half the city's cats, given the dozens of adoptees he has in his apartment. From his career slinging hamburgers in an all-night fast food restaurant in the bad old days of the Bronx-is-burning to his 24/7 radio career, he is the man who never sleeps in the city that never sleeps. His knowledge...

Volkswagen will continue to operate...despite cutoff of chips made in China... US and Chinese officials holding trade talks this weekend... US military drones are flying over Gaza... ...airports in Vilnius and Kaunas, Lithuania shut down tonight... Ontario Premier Doug Ford backing down from an advertising campaign... 17 people killed when a rubber boat carrying migrants capsized... Explosions in Kiev late tonight... Attacking Ukrainian drones taken down as they approached Moscow... A secret donor stepping forward...pay US military salaries... ...temporary pause issued by a federal appeals court against President Trump's deployment... United States imposing sanctions on the President of Colombia... Three...

BOZEMAN — A fatal multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 90 claimed the life of a 42-year-old Bozeman woman on Wednesday afternoon. According to a Montana Highway Patrol report, a 53-year-old Billings man, driving a Peterbilt truck in the eastbound lane, struck several vehicles that were slowing down due to a construction zone, near mile marker 311. The driver stated to troopers that he was checking his email at the time of the crash. The truck driver did not slow down in the construction zone and continued at highway speeds, striking the rear of a VW Golf, driven by the Bozeman woman...

[Catholic Caucus] Italian synodal document gets new vote after standoff in AprilA previous attempt to vote on the document was met with opposition from critics who said it was too vague on LGBT issues and women's ordination.The Italian synodal assembly is set to vote Saturday on a summary document of the country’s three-year synodal process, after the last attempt to bring the document to a vote in April ended in a standoff. The previous attempt at a vote was halted after progressive members of the assembly reportedly threatened to oppose the text, saying it did not adequately discuss the topics...