Free Republic

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The U.S. Department of Justice, under President Donald Trump, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs of violating federal law by refusing to hand over the state’s full voter registration database, including protected personal information, as part of a federal election-compliance review. According to the complaint, federal attorneys say Hobbs unlawfully rejected a September request for an unredacted electronic copy of Washington’s statewide voter registration list — including names, addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers — along with voter registration application records...

The number of Gen Z college freshmen who are entering universities without high school math skills is skyrocketing — as SAT scores are plummeting, a stunning new report has found. Even more shocking — many of the students can’t even do middle-school level math, meaning their skills are fifth grade or below. Experts say this phenomenon, combined with steadily rising high school graduate rates, show that the country is suffering a massive grade inflation problem. The University of California San Diego, for instance, has reported a staggering 30-fold increase in the number of students unable to do basic arithmetic over...

One of Canada’s largest budget airlines is under fire after an agent tore up a family’s boarding pass and falsely told an elderly passenger he had “no right” to film after their flight was bumped. Jason Huang and his family, including his 73-year-old father, arrived at Edmonton International Airport in August to board a WestJet flight to Toronto when they were told at the check-in counter that the plane they had booked was downsized and that they would need to fly out several hours later, the CBC reported. Huang pressed the agents about why his family had been bumped from...

"What we have tried to do, and I think have made some progress, is figure out what can the Ukrainians live with that gives them security guarantees for the future," US Secretary of State saidNEW YORK, December 3. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the key subject of dispute in the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine is the remaining 20% of the territory of the DPR under Kiev's control. "What they're literally fighting over now is about 30 to 50 kilometer space and the 20% of the Donetsk region that remains [under Ukrainian...

The U.S. labor market slowdown intensified in November as private companies cut 32,000 workers, with small businesses hit the hardest, payrolls processing firm ADP reported Wednesday. With worries intensifying over the domestic jobs picture, ADP indicated the issues were worse than anticipated. The payrolls decline marked a sharp step down from October, which saw an upwardly revised gain of 47,000 positions, and was well below the Dow Jones consensus estimate from economists for an increase of 40,000. Larger businesses, entailing companies with 50 or more employees, actually reported a net gain of 90,000 workers.

In a major geopolitical realignment that could have far-reaching consequences and further strain the already troubled US-Canada relationship, Ottawa has joined the European Union’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative. Canada will be the first non-EU country to join the ambitious security plan, part of the EU’s broader “ReArm Europe” or “Readiness 2030” initiative. Meanwhile, despite frantic negotiations stretching over weeks, the UK failed to join the initiative. Talks on the UK joining the SAFE fund ended without agreement last week. The move will give Canada access to a €150 billion (US$170 billion – CAD 244 billion) low-interest loan scheme...

The family of a Colombian fisherman who died in a U.S. military boat strike in September has filed a formal complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights alleging the U.S. government illegally killed him. Alejandro Carranza was killed in a strike in the Caribbean on Sept. 15, according to the petition, filed on Tuesday. "From numerous news reports, we know that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza and the murder of all those on such boats," according to the petition. In the petition, Carranza's lawyer Dan...

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, the ranking member on the Senate's aviation subcommittee, is demanding the Transportation Department expand its $10,000 bonus to all air traffic controllers and FAA technicians who worked without pay during the government shutdown. The department said it would give the bonuses only to those who did not miss a day of work during the 44-day shutdown. "Excluding 96 percent of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Air Traffic Controller and Technician workforce from this bonus is unfair, divisive and disrespectful to the over 20,000 dedicated Federal employees who worked under extremely stressful conditions to ensure...

WASHINGTON — Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas got a lawyer for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office to admit Tuesday it mounted a “fishing expedition” against a pro-life organization without receiving specific complaints about the group. Thomas drilled down on the investigation of First Choice Women’s Resource Centers during oral arguments in a case challenging a subpoena the organization received from AG Matthew Platkin’s office. “You had no basis to think that they were deceiving any of their contributors?” Thomas asked Chief Counsel Sundeep Iyer. “We certainly had complaints about crisis pregnancy centers,” Iyer deflected before admitting none specifically...

With Tuesday’s White House Cabinet meeting chugging past the two-hour mark, President Donald Trump ‘s eyes fluttered and closed. His budget director busied himself doodling a fluffy cloud. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was lucky enough to speak early, but the title on his nameplate was misspelled. The sleepy, and occasionally slipshod, gathering nonetheless ended with a flurry of news. Trump declared that he didn’t want Somalis in the U.S. and Hegseth cited the “ fog of war ” in defending a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean Sea in September. The president started things off by...

Rare supercar was bought by Toronto jeweler accused of laundering millions for drug kingpinAt $11.9 million US, the agreed-upon price for the Mercedes was steep. But the buyer — an alleged money launderer for a transnational criminal network — was accustomed to dealing in eye-watering sums. CBC News has uncovered new details about the purchase last year of a rare Mercedes-Benz supercar, recently seized by the FBI amid its investigation into Canadian fugitive Ryan Wedding. This spectacular seizure, thought to be the most valuable vehicle ever confiscated by U.S. federal authorities, made headlines around the world. After all, the roofless...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem 🇮🇱(12/3/25)[Prayer]The Scriptures in Handel’s “Messiah”Psalm 24:7-107 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.Holy Bible, The King James Version________________________

There’s more bad news over at Grand Canyon National Park: All of the park’s hotels on the South Rim will be closing indefinitely to overnight visitors as of Saturday, Dec. 6. Properties that will shutter include El Tovar, Bright Angel Lodge, Maswik Lodge, Yavapai Lodge and Trailer Village, park officials stated in a news release. The closures come on the heels of the devastating Dragon Bravo Fire on the park’s North Rim, which destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, the visitor center, a wastewater treatment plant and more than 100 other buildings. The South Rim’s hotels are closing due to...

Republican Matt Van Epps held off Democrat Aftyn Behn in Tuesday’s hotly contested special election for Tennessee’s 7th District House seat, giving the GOP a much-needed electoral victory to close out a bumpy 2025. With 99% of the expected vote in, Van Epps — a former Army helicopter pilot endorsed by President Trump — led Behn by 8.9 percentage points, well below the 22-point margin by which Trump carried the district in last year’s presidential election. Behn, a 36-year-old state representative, had raised Democrats’ hopes for a stunning upset in the conservative stronghold after late polling showed her within striking...

Dec 2 (Reuters) - Officials in Minneapolis on Tuesday said they were not aware of imminent federal immigration raids targeting the area’s Somali community, which has come under blistering attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump in recent days. Anti-immigration rhetoric was a major part of Trump's campaign and since taking office in January he has overseen an aggressive campaign by masked federal agents across the country that has instilled fear in immigrant communities and prompted protests and backlashes in the cities targeted. During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump ratcheted up his inflammatory rhetoric about Somalis, saying they had contributed...

In my last post I linked to, and quoted portions of, the objection submitted by myself and two colleagues to the pending settlement of the rate increase request of our local utility, Con Edison. The gist of our objection is that the ratepayers should not be forced to pay to build infrastructure for delivery of “renewable” electricity that does not exist. Our objection was filed on the day before Thanksgiving, November 26. That day had been set as the due date for all statements either in support or opposed to the pending settlement, which is referred to as the Joint...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blasted Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Tuesday for his role in the controversy surrounding the strike on a suspected Venezuelan narcoterrorist cartel boat on Sept. 2. “Secretary Hegseth said he had no knowledge of this, and it did not happen. It was fake news. It didn’t happen. And then the next day, from the podium at the White House are saying it did happen,” Paul said while speaking to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. “So, either he was lying to us … or he’s incompetent and didn’t know it had happened.” Paul also...

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3 December 2025 Saint Francis Xavier, Priest on Wednesday of the 1st week of AdventBasilica of St. Francis Xavier, Dyersville IowaReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingIsaiah 25:6-10The Lord will prepare a banquet for every nationOn this mountain,the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoplesa banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines,of food rich and juicy, of fine strained wines.On this mountain he will removethe mourning veil covering all peoples,and the shroud enwrapping all nations,he will destroy Death for ever.The Lord will wipe...

A federal judge late Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from making widespread immigration arrests in the nation’s capital without warrants or probable cause that the person is an imminent flight risk. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington granted a preliminary injunction sought by civil liberties and immigrants rights groups in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Officers making civil immigration arrests generally have to have an administrative warrant. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, they may make arrests without a warrant only if they have probable cause to believe the person is in the U.S. illegally...