Free Republic

They're from the government, and they're here to help: 'Friendly' San Diego city officials are set to send teams of inspectors to dig through people's trash cans looking for recycling violations. Nicely, of course. They plan to issue 'oops' citations to scofflaws who throw the wrong stuff in the wrong trash bins. In San Diego, we put trash in one of three bins -- generic trash (black can), recycle trash (blue can), and organic trash such as food scraps and lawn clippings (green bin.) (snip) Oh, it's not because they want to go through our trash, they say. Ostensibly, it's...

It’s the weekly errand we all love to hate: grocery shopping. From not being able to find a perfectly ripe avocado to juggling your list, keys and coffee while simultaneously pushing a cart, it can be a tough task to tackle. But fortunately, there’s an app for that, and we’ve rounded up our top 12 tech faves below. Thanks to these shopping apps, you can say goodbye to that dreaded moment when you get to the store and realize you left your list at home. (We’ve all been there!)

8 November 2025 Saturday of week 31 in Ordinary TimePhoto published by SOCIETY OF TRADITIONAL ROMAN CATHOLICS, NIGERIAReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First readingRomans 16:3-9,16,22-27The mystery kept secret for endless ages must be broadcast everywhereMy greetings to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked death to save my life: I am not the only one to owe them a debt of gratitude, all the churches among the pagans do as well. My greetings also to the church that meets at their house. Greetings to my friend Epaenetus, the first of Asia’s gifts to Christ; greetings...

Imagine a fire chief who refused to fight fires because it would violate the flames’ right to burn. You’d think such absurd logic could only exist in satire, yet Mexico’s new president has just offered us something remarkably similar—except the flames in question are drug cartels, and the houses burning are filled with real people on both sides of the border. Every day, roughly 200 Americans die from drug overdoses, with the vast majority of fentanyl flowing through Mexico’s cartel-controlled territories. Just last week, these same criminal organizations gunned down a mayor at a Day of the Dead celebration in...

Barbara Wien posted flyers exposing White House adviser Stephen Miller’s address and calling for “NO NAZIS.” Drawing on Marc Caputo’s Axios story, Jessica Schwalb reports for the Washington Free Beacon (links omitted): On Sept. 11, a day after conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was killed by a politically motivated assassin, Barbara Wien, a retired 66-year-old American University professor, posted the flyers around Miller’s Arlington neighborhood showing a photo of the Trump adviser in a red circle with a cross through it. They also included a QR code that linked to the Instagram account of Arlington Neighbors United for Humanity, an activist...

7 November 2025 Friday of week 31 in Ordinary Time Veiled images during Lent, Nigeria Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First readingRomans 15:14-21My duty is to bring the Good News from God to the pagansMy brothers, I am quite certain that you are full of good intentions, perfectly well instructed and able to advise each other. The reason why I have written to you, and put some things rather strongly, is to refresh your memories, since God has given me this special position. He has appointed me as a priest of Jesus Christ, and I am to carry...

I started receiving the photos and videos not long after Zohran Mamdani ’14 was announced as the winner of New York City’s mayoral race. In one, a nine-year-old Pakistani American in Virginia leaps for joy, his mother desperately guarding the TV for fear he might crash into it. In another, a Jewish friend in Seattle holds her wife as they dance the salsa and proclaim Mamdani to be their mayor. “This is what it means to be seen,” a Palestinian American friend in Los Angeles texted me, he and his wife beaming as they watched the results. Those faces: all...

VIDEOThe Miss Universe Director is the Comedy Gift that Keeps on Giving! The more I look into this guy, the more the sheer comedic entertainment arises. In this case it is his long tearful apology for calling Miss Mexico a "Dumbhead." The amazing thing about his tear filled plea for forgiveness is how similar it seems to Jimmy Swaggart's infamous tear filled plea for forgiveness. However, like the Thai people taking American foods such as fried chicken and then making it even better with their own flavorings, the Miss Universe Director took Swaggart's apology and made it even more entertaining...

Terrorism, as diplomatic strategy, just suffered another humiliating defeat. On Thursday, Kazakhstan became the first country in Donald Trump’s second term to join the Abraham Accords, formalizing a relationship with Israel that’s existed since 1992. The announcement came thirty-three years after diplomatic ties began, which makes it roughly as groundbreaking as celebrating your silver wedding. But timing is everything, and this particular non-event delivers a verdict on the most consequential gamble in recent Middle Eastern history. Documents captured by the IDF in Gaza show Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar telling his inner circle on October 2, 2023, that an “extraordinary act”...

A Modesto man was arrested after allegedly breaking into a Riverside County home and attacking an older couple, killing a man, according to the Murrieta Police Department. On Wednesday, around 8:18 a.m., officials said a woman called 911 and reported that an unknown man had entered her home and attacked her and her husband. She said she had been stabbed in the head with a screwdriver, and her husband had been stabbed with a knife.

The SR-71 Blackbird was a “fantastic” aircraft, but its origins lie in the even faster, single-seat CIA A-12 “Oxcart.” Developed by Lockheed’s Skunk Works to fly at Mach 3.2+ and 90,000 feet, the A-12 required a 90% titanium airframe to survive the 800°F heat. In a “stunning” Cold War irony, the CIA had to secretly buy the titanium from its main adversary, the Soviet Union, using “shell companies” and a “pizza oven” cover story.

Donald Trump is often described as a “populist,” a “nationalist,” or as someone who sits outside the traditional ideological categories. However, when one examines his foreign policy closely, a different picture emerges. Trump is, in practice, a neoconservative. He is not a neoconservative in the sense we once knew: he does not cloak American interventions in the language of democracy promotion, human rights, or universal values…What makes him distinctive is not the substance of his policies, but the way he frames them, stripped of the moralizing tone. Oddly enough, this makes his foreign policy more transparent—and perhaps, in some ways,...

Crowe shows us why he’s one of the last great movie stars as well as a brilliant performer, settling into the high-powered character actor phase of his career. Like Gene Hackman in his greatest ’80s and ’90s performances, Crowe has such a regular-guy energy that on those rare occasions when Göring is thwarted or disappointed and we get a glimpse of his capacity for overwhelming violence, it somehow comes as an unsetting surprise within the context of the scene, even though we know the man’s a killer.

…The Catholic Church has no official, binding doctrine on tattoos. You won’t find a paragraph in the Catechism of the Catholic Church saying, “Thou shalt not ink thy skin.” This silence leaves room for interpretation, guided by broader principles like respect for the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and the virtues of prudence and modesty. Pope Francis has even chimed in with a surprisingly open take. In 2018, during a meeting with young Catholics, he responded to a seminarian’s question about tattoos by saying, “Don’t be afraid of tattoos.” He noted their historical use...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the sky is the limit when it comes to military and technical cooperation with Iran, adding Russia is currently meeting Iran’s needs. The top diplomat made the comment when asked, at a press conference, whether Russia was supplying Iran with S-400 missile systems and Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets. Iran and Russia officially started to implement a 20-year comprehensive strategic partnership treaty nearly a month ago, signaling a significant step towards deepening bilateral ties between the two countries. Under the treaty signed in January 2025, Russia and Iran are committed to helping each other counter...

The election success enjoyed by Democrats in New York City, New Jersey, Virginia, and California have buoyed optimism in the Party. Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn) said "the blue wave validates our strategy of keeping the government closed until our Party's demands are met. Essential personnel in areas of national defense and air traffic control are not getting paid. Sooner or later they will have to stop working for the government and get other jobs just to pay their bills. Folks dependent on welfare will balk at the Trump Administration's continued efforts to enforce the legislatively enacted work requirements for able-bodied...

Today we get into the claim that the U.S. stole northern Mexico, and why that is false. Knowing this history is incredibly important, and you shouldn't need to hire a lawyer to understand it. That's why I'm here to help! I'm Jake the Lawyer, your Internet Esquire. On this channel I'll be explaining concepts, history, and legal doctrines we've all heard of, but might not totally understand. Thank you for watching! I'll be dropping episodes every Wednesday. Please enjoy and have a wonderful day.

Fuller and his group’s version of ‘I Fought The Law’ is a classic rock’n’roll record, but always risks being upstaged by the macabre circumstances of his death.No matter how memorable was Bobby Fuller’s signature hit – and his version of “I Fought The Law” is inarguably a classic rock’n’roll record of any era – it always risks being upstaged by the macabre and never-explained circumstances of his death. Born on October 22, 1942 in Baytown, Texas, Fuller became a noted performer in the El Paso, Texas area to which he and his family relocated. His first appeared on disc came...

Animal advocates say they’re seeing a disturbing increase in dogs being abused, neglected and even set on fire at homeless encampments across Los Angeles. About two weeks ago, on Florence Avenue in South L.A., a 1-year-old Shepherd mix named Luke had been set on fire.

A well-preserved Caenagnathid dinosaur, affectionately known as Spike, is expected to headline Christie’s inaugural “Groundbreakers: Icons of Our Time” auction in London on December 11. At 68 million years old and counting, Spike is one of the most complete specimens of its kind, possibly representing a new species. Discovered in 2022, the sub-adult dinosaur has more than 100 preserved fossil bones and is believed to have once been heavily feathered. This is the first time a Caenagnathid Oviraptorosaur has been offered at auction. It is estimated to fetch between £3 million and £5 million ($4 million to $6.6 million). Related...