Free Republic

“We live in the dumbest of times and Democrats are truly led by the dumbest of all of us.” —Sean Davis, The Federalist. You can suppose the government will re-open this week, and then what? It could close back down in January when the latest funding patch runs out. And then what? Another shut-down and another continuing resolution? The nation hopscotches toward insolvency and breakdown. The sorrows of Mr. Trump mount as his enemies devise ever-novel punishments for the people of this land. The mutual animus of the two parties spirals upward like the vortex of a developing superstorm. It’s...

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It was only just over a week ago — Halloween day, actually — that I had a post on the scariest houses in Greenwich Village. As the scariest house of all, I picked the one at 80 Washington Place, which had recently been the alleged site of rigged poker games where wealthy marks had gotten fleeced out of millions of dollars. Today, in a weekly column titled “Gimme Shelter,” the New York Post provides an update on that very house. It’s on the market! The headline is “Luxury NYC pad used in the NBA gambling scandal has listed for $22.5M...

The 42-day federal shutdown forced by Democrats thrust the economics of Obamacare into the limelight, and exposed an uncomfortable truth: An insurance industry whose executives are increasingly liberal donors has seen its earnings soar with the injection of taxpayer-funded subsidies that propped up Barack Obama's signature health program from collapse. The nation’s largest health insurance companies have seen good business since Obamacare was first passed in 2010 and fully implemented in 2014. This has come in no small part because of federal government subsidies to the insurance industry, which government estimates show totaled $1.8 trillion in 2023 alone. Those subsidies...

Certain bitter plant compounds — the kind found naturally in cocoa, apples, berries and red wine — may temporarily boost memory by activating the brain's internal "alarm system," a new study suggests. Researchers at the Shibaura Institute of Technology in Japan found that when mice consumed flavanols — plant-based compounds known for their antioxidant properties — their brains released a surge of noradrenaline, a chemical linked to alertness and focus. Within an hour, the animals performed about 30% better on a memory test compared with untreated mice, according to the findings, which were published in October in the journal Current...

A teen boy and his mother filed a federal lawsuit against Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and its police department, alleging false arrest and imprisonment after the boy was misidentified in a surveillance video and jailed for nearly a month on gun charges. The complaint filed by Mekhi Johnson and his mother, Amber Garrity, on July 31 (and obtained by Atlanta Black Star) claims Williamsport Police Bureau Agent Benjamin Hitesman ignored evidence proving Johnson’s innocence and failed to inform prosecutors, willful omissions that a county judge later said “cast a dark cloud” over local police and all law enforcement..... Based solely on that...

“At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them,” Laurence Binyon wrote. His words in his poem For the Fallen have become timeless and are read every year on Remembrance Sunday as Britain comes together to pay respect to all those who have died in conflict since the First World War. Some 107 years after WWI ended, those words still hold power today while reminding people about the lives sacrificed for peace. The first Armistice Day was observed on November 11, 1919, to mark the first anniversary of the end of the First World...

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For the first time, astronomers have picked up a radio signal from the mysterious interstellar visitor as it speeds through our Solar System. South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope detected absorption lines from OH molecules...Harvard professor Avi Loeb, who has been studying 3I/ATLAS since the summer, said: 'These molecules leave a distinct radio signature that telescopes like MeerKAT can pick up.'... Optical images captured on November 9 reveal that 3I/ATLAS is ejecting enormous jets of material both toward and away from the sun. The jets stretch nearly 600,000 miles sunward and almost 1.8 million miles in the opposite direction, roughly the...

Portland woman chases ICE in her Mustang then panics and wails 'I'm a mom' when they threaten to arrest her An anti-ICE activist who chased down federal agents in her electric Mustang was left wailing and hyperventilating when officers threatened her with arrest. Video shows the moment the unidentified woman suddenly changed her tune and begged for mercy after being stopped... The woman ran a red light, nearly struck a school bus and wove through traffic as she tried to box in ICE vehicles with her car,... 'Please, give me a warning. I have kids,' she begged as officers informed...

I get it—the whole purpose of pro-abortion sites is to “normalize” abortion, to make it nothing more than a “rite of passage” for women. But when “mainstream” publications, such as the Washington Post, print their most egregious assertions without qualm, you know (if you ever had any doubt) they have descended into shills for the abortion lobby. Take, for the example, the subhead to one of Michelle Boorstein’s stories in the Washington Post which read “ Americans who see a religious case for abortion access try to shift the narrative.” “Shift the narrative” and how! The lead to her account...

A bill proposing the death penalty for “terrorists” passed a first reading in Israel’s parliament on Monday – a measure that could apply to Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis. The amendment to the penal code, demanded by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and approved by the National Security Committee, was approved by 39 votes to 16. It must pass a second and third reading before becoming law. The vote went ahead amid a tense truce with Hamas in the Gaza war that had raged since October 7, 2023. While the death penalty exists for a small...

A 62-page document written by President Donald Trump’s on-again-off-again pick to run NASA, billionaire Jared Isaacman, outlines a sweeping, ambitious, and at times controversial plan for the space agency.... The leak — according to a recent Ars Technica report and a source who confirmed the account to CNN — looked to have been part of an effort by Duffy, who is temporarily running NASA, to spur controversy and potentially thwart Isaacman’s renomination... A Mars shot and nuclear propulsion One eye-popping proposal in Project Athena is to set up a new Mars program, dubbed “Olympus.”...The document also includes numerous mentions of...

Rich Tidwell is the pastor of Ormond Church, a small non-denominational gathering in Canton, MO, that was founded more than a decade ago. According to his website, he is a husband, father, YouTube Apologist, polemicist, and is a “passionate follower of The Way.” Married to his wife Brandi more for more than 14 years, they have have seven children together, some adopted. He believes “proper hermeneutics are derived from examining original languages, cultural context, and multi-verse coherence” and that “Crippled by fear and compromised by tradition, Rich is convinced the status-quo Church is due a second reformation.” At first glance...

SEVEN HILLS, Ohio — A Broadview Heights man is facing an assault charge after police said he attacked a 3-year-old boy inside a Meijer store in Seven Hills on Wednesday morning. According to Seven Hills police, the 37-year-old suspect allegedly ran up behind the child around 10:30 a.m. and smashed the boy's face into the spikes of a shopping cart. Witnesses told officers he struck the boy's face at least three times before the child's mother and aunt grabbed their children and tried to escape through the store. They told police they were afraid for their lives. Police said the...

In February 1944, the U.S. Navy launched one of the most devastating strikes of the Pacific War — Operation Hailstone. Over the skies and seas of Truk Lagoon, the Japanese stronghold once called the “Gibraltar of the Pacific” was shattered in a two-day assault that rewrote naval warfare. This video tells the forgotten story of how the USS Iowa, USS New Jersey, and America’s radar-guided firepower changed history. Discover how advanced analog computers, precision gunnery, and overwhelming air superiority combined to destroy Japan’s once-invincible fleet. From massive 16-inch naval guns thundering across the ocean to the smoldering wrecks beneath Truk’s...

“NEWPORT, Ore. — Newport city officials said Monday they are aware the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is evaluating locations along the Oregon coast for a potential immigration enforcement facility and that the Newport Municipal Airport has been identified as a possible site. City officials said they are working with local, state and federal legislators to verify the information, assess potential effects on public safety and city resources, and explore available municipal and legal options. Attempts to contact Homeland Security representatives by phone and email have not received a response, according to the city.”

“‘But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.” For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon!” The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds’” (Matthew 11:16–19). Contemporary people love to criticize whatever...

JUST IN: Assistant AG Harmeet Dhillon is pushing to ensure mail-in ballots MUST be received on Election DAY to be counted. The case is about to be heard by the Supreme Court! DHILLON: "Election Day means Election DAY! Stay tuned!"

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP, unexpectedly took center stage in debates over the federal government shutdown.As funding for the program, formerly known as Food Stamps, ran out in October, Congress, President Donald Trump, and the federal courts have wrestled with what to do about feeding millions of Americans who depend on this benefit each month.SNAP has grown in size and cost since its inception in 1964, as have many other social welfare programs.Here’s a closer look at the program, what it costs, the participation rates in different states, and how it has come to top $100...