Free Republic

THE ROAD TO THE CHICAGO TRAIN FIRE ATTACK. On April 23, 2020, a man poured gasoline around the Illinois state government building in Chicago and set it on fire. The man, identified as Lawrence Reed, 44, was said to be angry because he had not received his monthly government Supplemental Security Income check. According to the Chicago news site CWB Chicago, Reed went inside the building, known as the Thompson Center, and asked a worker at a train kiosk where his check was. Reed left and came back about an hour later, asking the same thing. Then, according to CWB...

There isn't much to say in the Body here. This is just a brilliant, fun, exuberant, and very unique music video. Video concept by Nils Neumann Music written by Nils Neumann, Celina Von Wrochem, and Philip Calisto. Directed by Nils Neumann Lyrics by Celina Von Wrochem Produced by Celina Von Wrochem and Philip Calisto Mixed & mastered by Nils Neumann and Stephan Umrath Video Production Leo Ludwigs Director of Photography Jesse Koch & Leo Ludwigs Camera, Operator Jesse Koch The cast: Milena • Clapperboard, Spotlight, Runner Nils Neumann • Violin, Banjo, Ukulele, Mark Tree, Mandolin, Marimba, Backing Vocals Philip Calisto...

Advocates for transparency on social media cheered this weekend when X, the app owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, rolled out a new feature that disclosed what the company said were the country locations of accounts. The feature appeared to unmask a number of accounts that were portraying themselves as belonging to Americans but in reality were based in countries such as India, Thailand and Bangladesh.But by Monday, the effectiveness and accuracy of the feature were already in question, as security experts, social media researchers and two former X employees said the location information could be inaccurate or spoofed using...

An award-winning Canadian-American author whose career was tied to his apparent indigenous ancestry has recently learned that he has no Cherokee roots.Thomas King revealed the findings on Monday in an opinion piece published in the Globe and Mail newspaper. The announcement follows a mid-November meeting with King and members of the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds, a US-based group dedicated to exposing people who falsely claim American Indian heritage. The 82-year-old said he accepts the findings of a genealogist with the organisation but writes in the essay: "I feel as though I've been ripped in half.""Not the Indian I had in...

Ukraine has said a "common understanding" has been reached with the US on a peace deal aimed at ending the war with Russia.The proposal is based on a 28-point plan presented to Kyiv by the US last week, which American and Ukrainian officials worked on during weekend talks in Geneva.In a post on social media, US President Donald Trump said the original plan "has been fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides".He added: "I have directed my Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with President Putin in Moscow and, at the same time, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will...

Scouting America responded on Tuesday to a reported memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seeking to cut ties with the organization, saying it was “surprised and disappointed” by the potential policy change, as the military has given its support to the Scouts since 1937. Congress requires the Pentagon to support Scouting America’s Jamboree, lending trucks, ambulances and medical teams free of charge. “The Scouting movement has had a strong relationship with our nation’s military going back more than a century,” according to the group. “From the tremendous support of the West Virginia National Guard at our National Jamborees to Scout...

It looks like Indiana's Republican-led legislature is set to consider redistricting in the coming weeks. President Trump posted to Truth Social:It looks like the Indiana Senate Republicans will be coming back in two weeks to take up Redistricting, a very important initiative to balance out the Democrats’ endless “Sue to Blue” and Census rigging strategy that has stolen seats from Republicans, and given them to Democrats who would not have them if they played fairly. Radical Left Democrats have rigged the game for a long time — Remember, until the GREAT Speaker Newt Gingrich, Democrats controlled the House for 40...

Rioters outside Park East synagogue in New York recently chanted genocidal screeds such as “There is only one solution: intifada revolution” and “we don’t want no two states, we want all of it.”But rather than unequivocally condemn the rabid antisemitism inherent in the protests, New York City’s mayor elect Zohran Mamdani’s office chose to not only tokenize synagogues as “sacred spaces,” but to then also condemn the synagogue and its event guest, Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that strives to get Jews to move to Israel, as “promot[ing] activities in violation of international law.” (RELATED: The New York Times Sets a...

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has said that imprisoning violent criminals is racist and immoral.

The Supreme Court might allow Texas to use its new GOP-friendly map for the 2026 election. Federal judges blocked the new map from taking effect, ruling that it appeared to be unconstitutional. WASHINGTON — The Texas redistricting case now before the Supreme Court turns on a question that often divides judges: Were the voting districts drawn based on politics, or race?The answer, likely to come in a few days, could shift five congressional seats and tip political control of the House of Representatives after next year’s midterm elections.Justice Samuel A. Alito, who oversees appeals from Texas, put a temporary hold...

“The mayor is incompetent, and the governor is … a big, fat slob,” he said with a comically-timed pregnant pause. “He ought to invite us and say, ‘Please make Chicago safe.’ We’re gonna lose a great city if we don’t do it quickly,” Trump warned. Minutes later in his remarks, Trump was in full comedian-in-chief mode, mercilessly trolling Pritzker while mocking Chicago’s soft-on-crime policies. “I looked at the various cases, granting mercy, discovering the terrible trauma that everyone’s going through, and I had a little bit of a Pritzker joke. I was going to talk about Pritzker in size, but...

Censures were historically rare rebukes against lawmakers. But members of the House are increasingly using them in ways their peers say are political.Republicans and Democrats in Congress spent much of last week voting to formally reprimand each other, and both sides are tired of the back-and-forth.Congress voted on as many censure measures last week as it did during all of the 118th Congress. On Monday, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Washington) lobbed a disapproval measure against retiring Democratic colleague Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois. The next day, Rep. Ralph Norman, who is running for governor in the state of South...

[Catholic Caucus] SSPX in Charlotte plans for new chapel to accommodate growth after Latin Mass suppressionThe Society of St. Pius X chapel on the outskirts of Charlotte has experienced slow but steady growth since Traditionis Custodes was published.An SSPX church on the outskirts of Charlotte, North Carolina is planning to build a new chapel due to growing numbers of attendees after the Latin Mass-suppressing orders of Traditionis Custodes.St. Anthony’s in Mount Holly, within the geographical bounds of the Diocese of Charlotte, announced last week that Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) leadership has green-lighted an effort to search for land...

A misconduct probe into the boss of Silicon Valley’s largest water supplier has dragged on for a year – with no answers as to what the agency has discovered — while he continues to collect paychecks. A Santa Clara Valley Water spokesperson has confirmed CEO Rick Callender is still on leave. But the agency won’t say whether the investigation has concluded, or how much public money the agency has spent thus far to both investigate and pay its leader.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union lawmakers voted on Tuesday to deepen integration of the bloc’s defense industry with Ukraine as a U.S. peace plan remains in flux and Russia’s unconventional warfare operations rattle the 27-nation bloc. European Parliament legislators voted 457-148, with 33 abstentions, to approve a 1.5-billion euro ($1.7 billion) program, with 300 million euros ($345 million) slated for the Ukraine Support Instrument. Raphaël Glucksmann, an EU lawmaker from France’s S&D party, said that the defense program “will enable us to build a more resilient and sovereign Europe” through partnering with Ukraine to build a cutting-edge military industrial complex....

Governments assume they can print as much currency as they like and it will be accepted by force. However, the history of fiat currencies is always the same: first governments exceed their credit limits, then ignore all the warning signs and finally see the currency collapse. Today, we are living the decline of developed economies’ fiat currencies in real time. The global reserve system is slowly but decisively diversifying away from a pure fiat currency anchor towards a mixed regime where gold plays the dominant role, not fiat currencies. IMF COFER data show that, while the US dollar still dominates,...

Watch as a radical Imam in Florida sobs uncontrollably at a press conference, triggered by bold American patriots simply savoring a bacon sandwich near a mosque. This is another blatant demand to erase American traditions and impose Sharia rules on everyday Americans! In the face of unchecked border invasion flooding the United States with anti-freedom ideologies, real patriots are pushing back: exercising their God-given rights to eat, speak, and live FREE. No more cowering to tantrums. America First means bacon stays on the menu!

Tucho Doesn’t Necessarily Dislike Mary, Just True CatholicsIf we had to pinpoint an even stronger motivation for Mater Populi Fidelis, it seems that it would be Tucho’s dislike of “conservative” and “traditional” Catholics, who are almost certainly the groups most offended by the rejection of Our Lady’s titles.In his June 11, 2025 tribute to Francis, Cardinal Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández expressed his sensitivity to the way in which people perceive his words:“Therefore, when faced with a complex theological moral issue, we must always consider how it impacts real people, their lives, and their suffering. We should ask ourselves what effect...

An infant has died from whooping cough in Kentucky, the third such instance in the past 12 months, state health officials said Monday. The infant and their mother were not vaccinated against the illness, officials from the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) noted in a release. In June, KDPH officials said two infants in the state had died from the disease, also known as pertussis, in the prior six months, the first such instances in Kentucky since 2018. The infants and their mothers were not vaccinated against the disease. As of Nov. 19, health officials have confirmed 566 cases...

Hashtag-do-whatever-I-tell-youCato Networks says it has discovered a new attack, dubbed "HashJack," that hides malicious prompts after the "#" in legitimate URLs, tricking AI browser assistants into executing them while dodging traditional network and server-side defenses. Prompt injection occurs when something causes text that the user didn't write to become commands for an AI bot. Direct prompt injection happens when unwanted text gets entered at the point of prompt input, while indirect injection happens when content, such as a web page or PDF that the bot has been asked to summarize, contains hidden commands that AI then follows as if...