Free Republic

Explanation: The tree is not in danger. That's because the comet pictured just above it, Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon), is far in the distance, well away from the Earth. Comet Lemmon now continues to brighten as it arcs through the inner Solar System, even though it has passed its nearest to the Sun -- because it is now approaching the Earth. The comet will likely appear brightest when it is at its closest to the Earth next week, then closing to about half the Earth-Sun distance. Comet Lemmon may then be visible to the unaided eye, but it is more...

Airbus, one of the biggest aircraft makers globally, has issued a major warning that the company said could likely ground many passenger jets worldwide. The aeronautics company announced Friday that they have discovered a potential vulnerability in the software on board the Airbus A320 during solar storms, which may hinder pilots from steering or stabilizing the plane while in the air. Airbus issued an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT), a global warning that urges all airlines using the A320 passenger jet to immediately update their software and hardware to better protect against radiation interference. Industry safety experts believe the problem originated...

https://babylonbee.com/news/no-thanks-says-hungry-homeless-man-after-being-offered-marshmallow-jello-salad SAN FRANCISCO, CA — New reports indicated that local homeless man John Brill politely yet firmly refused a passerby's offer of free leftover marshmallow jello salad earlier today, despite having not eaten in several days. According to the individual who attempted to give away the Thanksgiving side dish, Brill's eyes, which had initially lit up at the prospect of finally filling his stomach, were quickly filled with disdain after he saw the colorful marshmallow jello salad. "No, thanks," Brill said, sadly, returning the container to his would-be Good Samaritan. "I'll just take my chances scrounging up something else, I...

The economy is growing fast. The stock market is booming. Interest rates have plunged. The unemployment rate remains very low and few workers are being laid off. Consumers have not entered a holiday season with inflation running this low since before Joe Biden was president.No wonder a record number of Americans say they plan to shop this weekend and sales are expected to grow at a healthy rate.Economists are forecasting that registers will be ringing up sales at a fast pace this year. The National Retail Federation expects sales in November and December to grow between 3.7 percent and 4.2...

A former World Trade Center worker who “narrowly escaped” the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks has been beaten to death by three teens — one of whom was just 12 at the time of the attack, according to officials. Long Island native Roger Borkum, 64, was found “severely beaten” just before midnight on Oct. 19 in Downtown Jacksonville, FL., after three teens were seen “kicking and stomping” him, according to an arrest report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. He was found with blood “pooled” around his head — and a “blood trail extending down the sidewalk,” the arrest report said....

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There’s a particular kind of innocence in believing that generosity will be recognized for what it is. A nation opens its doors, offers a warm meal, provides a safe bed, and assumes the visitor understands the privilege. For decades, America set out the banquet, refilled the bowls, and quietly told itself that this time, surely, the guests would take only what they needed. But people who are constantly fed start to forget who stocked the pantry. They come back with friends. Then relatives. Then demands. And the hosts, too polite to object, keep ladling stew while pretending not to notice...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that head of the office of the president of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, had written a letter of resignation.

If the Trump administration's crackdown on immigrant truckers had a face, it would be Harjinder Singh. The Indian-born Singh was behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler in Fort Pierce, Fla. in August when he allegedly made an illegal U-turn, causing a crash that killed three people. A.J. Jenkins, a truck operations specialist, observes an autonomous truck operating in no vehicle operator (NVO) mode during a route in Ellis County, Texas. He is in the driver's seat but his hands are in his lap while the truck is driving on a road. The steering wheel has a sign labeled "NVO Mode."...

Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect. The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States. The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him. I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally. Joe Biden was...

President Trump on Friday declared any document signed by Joe Biden with an autopen is “hereby terminated and of no further force or effect.” snip..... "@realDonaldTrump Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect. The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States. The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him. I am hereby cancelling all Executive...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump says he wants to “permanently pause migration” from poorer nations and is promising to seek to expel millions of immigrants from the United States by revoking their legal status. He is blaming immigrants for problems from crime to housing shortages as part of “social dysfunction” in America and demanding “REVERSE MIGRATION.”His most severe social media post against immigration since returning to the Oval Office in January came after the shooting Wednesday of two National Guard members who were patrolling the streets of the nation’s capital under his orders. One died and...

Wait, is being rude a felony now? Apparently it is, at least in (of all places) Florida. The New York Post reported Saturday that “three men stormed a University of South Florida parking garage and harassed Muslim students during dawn prayer on Tuesday — an incident captured in videos that showed the group shouting slurs, waving bacon and crowding worshipers as they bowed.” For that “all three face a felony count of disturbing schools and religious assemblies under Florida’s hate-crime enhancement statute, along with misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and disrupting a school or lawful assembly.” Wait a minute. They...

In the contention over the United States’ peace plan for Ukraine, the Europeans are in their accustomed role — carping from the sidelines. Not only can the once-great European powers no longer dictate the fate of far-flung parts of the world, they can’t even dictate the end of a war involving a European country whose fate they deem crucial to their own future.We’re a long way from the British controlling about a quarter of the globe’s territory in the early 20th century; a long way from British and French diplomats, Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot respectively, drawing the lines in...

Volodymyr Zelensky, in the next phase of talks to end the war in Ukraine, intends to draw a red line at the most contentious issue on the table: the Russian demand for Ukraine’s sovereign territory. As long as he remains the nation’s president, Zelensky will not agree to give up land in exchange for peace, Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Andriy Yermak, told me today in an exclusive interview. “Not a single sane person today would sign a document to give up territory,” said Yermak, who has served as Zelensky’s chief of staff, lead negotiator, and closest aide throughout the full-scale war...

Despite stiff competition, the Democrats’ recent attack on President Trump may be their most dangerous to date.The six members of Congress whose viral video told our armed forces that “you must refuse illegal orders” crossed a perilous line. By making every soldier a general, empowering them to decide whether they agree with their orders, their message opens a Pandora’s Box that undermines the chain of command, a foundation of military effectiveness. Stopping just short of inciting insubordination, it openly encourages dissent within the ranks and, in the process, empowers our adversaries.Although the video tells service members, “We have your back,”...

Three provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill are designed to boost worker pay and encourage business investmentNational Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett joins 'Sunday Morning Futures' to weigh in on the potential economic fallout if Trump’s tariffs are struck down in the Supreme Court and rising tensions over China’s rare-earth minerals.Democrats’ favorite word lately is "affordability." They have painted the false narrative that the election of socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani in solidly blue New York City or Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger in solidly blue Virginia were somehow referenda on President Donald Trump’s agenda. This fallacy not only ignores the...

On Wednesday evening President Trump gave a statement on the shooting of the National Guardsmen near the White House. In his statement he took up the Minnesota fraud cases. At about 2:00 President Trump asserted that “hundreds of thousands” of Somalis are “ripping off our country and ripping apart that once great state [of Minnesota]. Billions of dollars are lost and gangs of Somalians come from a country that doesn’t even have a government, no laws, no military, nothing — as their representatives in our country preach to us about our Constitution and how our country is no good.” “Hundreds...

Higher education is suffering from many woes, and the federal government (and sometimes Donald Trump in particular) often gets much of the blame for them. But one factor that, in my judgment, is ultimately responsible for much contemporary collegiate angst probably cannot be primarily blamed on the feds: the effects of grade inflation. I would submit that this affliction is the predominant single factor in the precipitous decline in student learning in American colleges and universities. Combined with long-term rising fees for college attendance, grade inflation has made universities an increasingly dubious value proposition: Attendees, their parents, and the public...

The shooting of two National Guard members the day before in Washington hung over President Trump’s Thanksgiving events at Mar-a-Lago, where he held a call with members of the military to thank them for their service on the holiday. At the beginning of the call, he revealed that one of the Guard members, Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, had died. “It’s just happened,” Mr. Trump said. “She was savagely attacked. She’s dead. Not with us.” The other victim, he said, was “fighting for his life.” Later, a White House official said that the president had spoken with the family of the...