Free Republic

The government shutdown gets uglier at the end of this week. With President Donald Trump traveling abroad and Congress still deeply divided over a path to fund federal agencies, a pileup of deadlines on and around Nov. 1 is set to put many U.S. households at risk of new hardship: Popular programs that provide nutrition assistance, early childhood education and air service to rural communities are now among those about to run out of money. Thousands of federal employees will also miss their first full paychecks this week, so services like TSA screenings and air traffic control operations could be...

A new species of butterfly has just been named after Iryna Zarutska, the Ukrainian refugee who was brutally murdered on the Charlotte, NC light rail in August. The butterfly is very beautiful and has been officially named “Iryna’s Azure.” Take a look: Matt Van Swol @matt_vanswol · Follow 🚨#BREAKING: A scientist who discovered a new species of butterfly has named it after Iryna Zarutska to ensure "she is never forgotten." The scientist said, "Her name will be forever immortalized as a butterfly..." The butterfly is called "Iryna's Azure." 🚨WOW! A scientist has just named a newly-discovered butterfly species after Iryna...

Trump-hating author Stephen King clearly lives in the world of fiction because he proved on Sunday that he cannot distinguish between satire and reality. King and some of his fellow leftists thought they saw an opportunity to dunk on President Trump for a post he allegedly wrote about the World Series match-up between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. Here is what Trump supposedly wrote, which had TDS clowns up in arms. No matter who wins, I will refuse to invite either baseball team to my ballroom as they are both run by highly inept officials from...

Check out this headline: Why was he pressured? Well, because people found out he was convicted of sexual abusing teen boys a few decades ago. You'd think they would include that in the headline. Here's Spotlight Delaware on the Democratic Party Chair in Sussex County, who balked (ironically, as you'll see in a moment) at the initial calls for him to resign. The Sussex County Democratic Party Chair, Jeff Balk, who was the subject of recent controversy over his decision to remain in leadership despite his past sex crimes against minors, resigned Sunday night ... His resignation comes amid a...

(Oct. 26, 2025) — INTRODUCTION Well, well, well… some sanity and rational thought may at last be seeping into the question and analysis of the so-called “birthright citizenship” issue under the 14th Amendment. As discussed by your humble servant earlier this year here, the 14th Amendment birthright citizenship issue is different, but closely related, to the “natural born Citizen” (“nbC”) issue under Art. 2, § 1, Cl. 5, the Constitution’s “Eligibility Clause.” Because that which follows may become convoluted, readers may wish to keep a supply of their favorite caffeinated beverage nearby. As a preliminary matter, that clause, of course,...

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Gov. JB Pritzker's (D-Ill) claim that crime is down in his state and the City of Chicago is based largely on reclassifying felonies to misdemeanors. The Governor boasted "this essentially cost-free method of improving our safety record is something we should have thought of doing a long time ago. Prosecutors have always had the authority to decide whether to reduce the cost of prosecuting offenders by offering them a deal to plead to a misdemeanor and get a lesser sentence or probation rather than being tried for a felony. We also save on incarceration expenses with the lighter sentences." US...

New York Black Lives Matter founder Hawk Newsome ranted about “black faces of systemic oppression” as he turned himself in Monday to face charges for allegedly assaulting a black man during a bust up at a political rally in Harlem last week.The activist is accused of punching Manhattan Democratic District Leader William Allen and hurling a bullhorn at him when the protest descended into chaos on Friday afternoon, sources told The Post. The entire saga unfolded when Newsome and a host of activists swarmed Councilman Yusef Salaam’s Harlem office to object to a non-profit leader having her community funding yanked....

Ukraine is rushing to strengthen its positions in the strategic eastern transport hub of Pokrovsk as about 200 Russian troops have infiltrated the city in small groups, Kyiv's military said on Monday. The Ukrainian general staff, which made the estimate of enemy forces, reported small arms firefights and the active deployment of drones. The Russian defense ministry said that its assault groups were trying to advance near the train station. Russia has been aiming to occupy Pokrovsk, a key part of Kyiv's defensive lines, for months, seeing it as a crucial point for its push to fully capture the Donetsk...

It’s Past Time to End This Shutdown This week, Congress pushed our nation into the fourth week of a full government shutdown – an avoidable crisis that is harming families, communities, and the very institutions that hold our country together.As president of the American Federation of Government Employees, I represent over 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers...The Army nurse in San Antonio, the TSA officer in Atlanta, the USDA food safety inspector in Iowa, and hundreds of thousands more like them are being asked to keep our country running without the paychecks that keep their own households afloat.The path forward...

I have long been a proponent of the deep exploitation of nuclear power, and watched this video today from Bill Whittle titled: LINK: It’s Atom-Splitting Time! that tipped me off to what is afoot on this front, and it is the first IV Generation Nuclear Power plant scheduled to be built and operated in the United States by 2026...next year! I would like to hear opinions here on Free Republic from our members who have experience in the field, are interested, or simply wish to comment, since I believe this is our path forward. I don't advocate this for "green"...

LOS ANGELES, CA — California Governor Gavin Newsom gave voters a rare glimpse into his tragic story while appearing on a popular basketball and entertainment podcast, recounting his tough childhood where he got in one little fight and was forced to move in with his auntie and uncle in Bel-Air. Newsom told the previously unknown story to illustrate the challenges he faced as a disadvantaged youth, giving insight into how far he had come since he lived on the mean streets as a young boy to now govern the Golden State. "This is a story all about how my life...

As the Trump administration makes moves to change the H-1B visa program to benefit American-born workers, Skillstorm CEO Justin Vianello backed those efforts in an interview with Fox News Digital while offering his expertise on other issues that need to be addressed with work visas. Vianello told Fox News Digital that one of the "biggest challenges" with the current H1B system is the "impact" on college hiring, particularly with computer science and computer engineering graduates. Vianello explained that the unemployment rate for college graduates with those degrees is significantly higher than the average for all college graduates -snip- Vianello went...

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Guadeloupe early Monday, according to government officials and seismic data from Colombia’s Geological Survey. What to Know: The quake occurred at 7:38 a.m. local time (12:38 UTC) on October 27. Epicenter was located at 16.54°N, -59.49°W, off Guadeloupe’s eastern coast. Depth was classified as “superficial,” under 30 kilometers. Quakes in the 6.1–6.9 range can be destructive within 100 kilometers, especially in vulnerable areas. No tsunami warning issued as of time of writing and no immediate reports of damage.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: During the rally for New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered a loud and emotional speech at Forest Hills Stadium. She spoke with visible intensity, her tone growing stronger as she addressed the crowd. It was a charged moment reflecting her trademark passion and energy.

The Nicolás Maduro regime said Sunday Venezuela has captured a group of alleged mercenaries with ties to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and accused Washington and Trinidad and Tobago of coordinating military exercises intended to provoke an armed confrontation in the Caribbean. In a statement released by Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, the socialist government said the arrests revealed what it described as a “false-flag operation” planned from waters bordering Trinidad and Tobago, or from Trinidadian or Venezuelan territory, “to generate a full-scale military confrontation” against Venezuela. The regime’s announcement comes amid the fast-growing buildup of U.S. forces in the Caribbean...

[Catholic Caucus] Pressure on Church to allow decriminalisation of abortion in AndorraPressure is growing on Cardinal Parolin to push the Holy See to decriminalise abortion in Andorra.The head of government of the Principality of Andorra, Xavier Espot, and his Minister of Institutional Relations, Ladislau Baró, travelled this week to the Vatican to engage in talks with the Holy See over the proposed decriminalisation of abortion.According to a statement issued on Thursday by the Andorran government, the delegation – which also included the country’s ambassador to the Holy See, Carles Àlvarez – met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State...

(The Daily Signal)—President Donald Trump named two members of his Cabinet as an unbeatable duo in the 2028 presidential election. When asked by a reporter on Air Force One Monday morning if he would run in 2028, Trump said, “We have great people.” “One of them is standing right here,” he said, referring to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “We have JD [Vance], obviously. The Vice President is great. Marco is great, I think. I’m not sure if anybody would run against those. I think if they ever formed a group, it would be unstoppable.” Trump said he “hasn’t really...

Picture this: You’re a high-school senior who just scored early admission into your dream university. You’re elated … until you realize you’ve also locked yourself into whatever financial-aid package the school decides to offer, with no ability to shop around or negotiate. Congratulations, you’ve just become Exhibit A in a new class-action lawsuit (well, not literally) that accuses America’s most elite universities of running what amounts to an admissions cartel. Four students filed a federal lawsuit in a Massachusetts federal district court in August, targeting Duke University and other top-tier institutions, as well as the Consortium on Financing Higher Education....

Europe’s inability and unwillingness to protect its incorporeal cultural cornerstones has now extended to its tangible cultural icons.I write from a quiet, mountainous part of Central Europe. The scenery is idyllic, and the fall air is crisp. But much as the case has been in my other recent trips to the European continent, the sights I see and the conversations I hear are all underscored by a similar haunting concern: Will there even be a Europe, in any cognizable sense of the term, a century from now?All across the continent, fertility rates have plummeted, and the Christianity that defined the...