Free Republic

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump expressed concern that his wife, Melania, may now be aware of what he got her for Christmas after news reports surfaced that the U.S. military had seized a Venezuelan oil tanker this week. When the story broke, Trump reportedly scolded White House staff for potentially spoiling the surprise that he was giving his wife the one-of-a-kind gift of a seized tanker filled with crude oil. "I hate to think the surprise is ruined," Trump told friends. "I know she would love to have opened that tanker on Christmas morning and have it be a...

A groundbreaking study from the University of Ottawa, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has uncovered critical insights into Greenland’s hidden geological structures. By mapping the Earth’s temperature beneath Greenland and northeastern Canada in intricate 3D models, this research sheds new light on the historical and future dynamics of the region’s ice sheet. The findings are crucial not only for understanding past climatic shifts but also for predicting the potential impact of Greenland’s ice on global sea levels. Understanding Greenland’s Thermal Landscape The research, a collaboration between the University of Ottawa, the University of Twente, and...

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a key provision of President Donald Trump’s signature domestic policy bill, allowing the administration to defund the Planned Parenthood abortion business. The One Big Beautiful Bill that Trump signed this summer withholds Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and other major abortion sellers, delivering a major victory to pro-life advocates seeking to end taxpayer support for organizations that kill babies in abortions. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s preliminary injunction, ruling that the measure in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act does not constitute an unconstitutional punishment. “It instead...

This is a chapter from my book, "Sleuthing The Scriptures". I wrote the book in late 2022. It's Christmas time again, so I am offering it to me fellow freepers. I pray you enjoy it. When you think of the first story of Christmas, it’s usually about Mary and Joseph looking down at their new born son in a manger, surrounded by barn animals and maybe a shepherd or two looking on. Angels singing praises of joy to the Lord Most High, and maybe even the star that is guiding the wise men from Babylon to the destination of the...

By Dr. John BergsmaOnce when I was a grade school kid, my mother and I camped in Shenandoah National Park for a week in the fall. One morning we got up to go hiking, but the weather was bad. It was starting to rain. I was bummed. My mom said to go back in the tent and pray that the weather would clear. So I did go and pray. But the weather didn’t clear, it only got worse. The rain got heavier, and the wind began to pick up—slowly and first, but soon so strong that the tent was shaking...

Almost everything we build (houses, buildings, bridges) depends on a material that we use without thinking too much, cement, true? It is so common that it seems inevitable, but its impact is enormous, just its production generates around 8 % of the world’s CO₂ every year. Eight percent!! But, there is a new material that is stealing the show… cardboard and paper, the same ones that end up in the trash everyday. We pollute by producing cement while wasting materials that could be used to build. But, wait, Laura, how can we use paper and cardboard in construction? Okey, let’s...

The Army vs. Navy Game is a spectacle like no other. Every year, these two storied service academies get together to cap the college football regular season, and this year will be no different. The Commander-in-Chief's Trophy is on the line as the pageantry will again be a sight to behold. What also will be a sight to behold, as is usually the case, are the uniforms that will be worn by the Black Knights and Midshipmen. As is the case for some time, when the two teams meet this year on Dec. 13 in Baltimore they will wear special...

In contrast to the warmongers, President Trump has continuously said, “I want everybody to stop dying.”So, what’s preventing peace? Russian President Putin offered peace December 25, 2022, January 6, 2023, and again on June 14, 2024, with TASS reporting Putin offered “another real peace proposal to Kiev,” stating, “These parameters were generally agreed upon by everyone back during the Istanbul talks in 2022.” Yet, all of these proposals were rejected by Zelensky, the Biden administration, and the Brennen-infested CIA.Remember, this mess started in 2014 with Biden and the CIA in Kyiv toppling the duly elected pro-Russian president of Ukraine, because...

Senator Ted Cruz has weighed in on Representative Ilhan Omar and issued her with a warning after allegations have swirled that the progressive congresswoman married her brother so he could become an American citizen. Cruz shared an article on X, accusing Omar of the reported sham marriage, writing: 'If this is true, then Omar faces criminal liability under three different statutes.' The Republican senator then cited three US laws, including Federal Marriage Fraud, State Incest Laws, and Tax Fraud. Federal Marriage Fraud prohibits any American from knowingly entering into a marriage to evade immigration laws. Meanwhile, all state incest laws...

People experiencing flu or cold symptoms should wear a mask in public places as the UK grapples with a “tidal wave” of illness, an NHS leader has said. Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, said the country was facing a “very nasty strain of flu” that had occurred earlier in the year than normal, and face coverings should be worn on public transport, as during the Covid pandemic. He told Times Radio: “When you were talking about anything like Covid, I think we need to get back into the habit that if you are coughing...

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to restore billions of dollars in canceled FEMA disaster mitigation funding, siding with 22 states and the District of Columbia that sued over the canceled grants this summer. President Donald Trump’s administration said in April it was “ending” the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which helped communities with predisaster projects to harden infrastructure and improve resilience against the increasing threats of climate change. The administration called the program “wasteful and ineffective” and said it would halt $3.6 billion in funding awarded but not yet paid and would...

At the end of a Jan. 23 news conference in Paris, where even the NBA’s global ambitions failed to shield him from domestic criticism over the state of the league’s product, Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged something that many had concluded long ago: The NBA’s analytics movement had pushed the game to a problematic place — one that sits exactly 23 feet 9 inches from the goal, or 22 feet in the corners — where the league must now consider intervening. When it comes to the NBA’s glut of three-pointers, Silver said, “it’s absolutely [true] that the analytics have taken teams...

My youngest daughter, Katie, who was only 20 years old, was killed on Jan. 19. Her only “crime” was being a passenger in a car in Urbana, Illinois. The man who took her life, Julio Cucul-Bol, was an illegal immigrant who was driving drunk when he slammed into the Honda Civic she was riding in at nearly 80 miles an hour. He fled immediately and was then aided by associates in Urbana and Chicago as he tried to escape justice.

A political science professor at the University of Arkansas stands accused of praising Iran’s Supreme Leader using the school’s letterhead and attacking Israel, The Post has learned. Shirin Saeidi, head of the school’s Middle East Studies program, also allegedly supported a convicted Iranian regime war criminal, evidence shows. Now, lawmakers and a group of Iranian dissidents are demanding administrators at the university further discipline Saeidi, who was removed from her position Friday, according to a spokesman. Saeidi used the school’s letterhead to appeal for the release of Hamid Nouri, who was convicted by a Swedish court in 2022 of ordering...

A senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News there have been multiple injuries after American service members were ambushed in Syria on Saturday. The official added that some of the injuries were serious. Two local Syrian officials earlier told Reuters that a convoy of U.S. and Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State terrorist group was targeted while on patrol in the central town of Palmyra.

Congress appears poised to pour more gasoline on the fire that caused the nation’s affordability crisis by extending COVID-era subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka “Obamacare.” This is not to say that the beneficiaries of the ACA aren’t suffering from soaring healthcare costs. They are. But the problem, once again, is that the government’s “solution” is just more of what caused the problem in the first place. The growing deficit, the epidemic of dependence on government welfare programs, and soaring prices are all part of the same crisis. We’re not just having an affordability crisis. We’re having a...

December 6 Puccini: LA BOHÈME December 13 Giordano: ANDREA CHÉNIER December 20 at 12:00 p.m. Mozart: THE MAGIC FLUTE – Abridged, English December 27 HANDEL AT THE MET January 10 Bellini: I PURITANI January 17 Bizet: CARMEN March 14 Puccini: MADAMA BUTTERFLY March 28 Verdi: LA TRAVIATA April 11 Mozart: DON GIOVANNI May 2 Tchaikovsky: EUGENE ONEGIN May 9 Donizetti: LA FILLE DU RÉGIMENT May 23 Puccini: TURANDOT

A Republican activist from Idaho has received a barrage of death threats and abuse after he won free beer for reporting an illegal migrant to ICE. Ryan Spoon, vice chairman of the Ada County Republican party was announced as the first winner of the Old State Saloon bar's giveaway in Eagle, Idaho. Bar owner Mark Fitzpatrick won praise from Homeland Security after announcing on social media last month that if individuals provide evidence such as photos, videos, or alternative documentation to help ICE locate migrants without legal status, they qualify for a month of free beer. The bar additionally boasted...

ERUSALEM, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Israel's cabinet has decided to give legal status to 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank, including two that were vacated 20 years ago under a pullout aimed at boosting the country's security and the economy, Israeli media reported. The Palestinian Authority on Friday condemned the move, announced late on Thursday. Some of the settlements are newly established, while others are older, Israeli media said. The move to legalise the settlements in the West Bank -- territory Palestinians seek for a future state -- was proposed by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Israeli Defense...

A grieving uncle reportedly took the law into his own hands after growing furious over the handling of a case involving the accused killer of his nephew. CBS News Colorado obtained police documents on Wednesday, which showed that a 36-year-old Aurora man named Daniel Alexander Ashby attended a court hearing inside the Arapahoe County Courthouse in Littleton, Colorado, earlier this week for 19-year-old Christopher Ramirez-Rodriguez. The teen is accused of running a red light and killing Ashby’s 12-year-old nephew in July. Police say the Ashby’s nephew was crossing the road on his electric scooter at the time of the incident....