Free Republic

A Minnesota mom lost her breath and had to abruptly end her speech during a press conference on Wednesday that was organized after President Donald Trump’s administration paused federal child care funding. The Department of Health and Human Services announced earlier on Wednesday that it was freezing all child care funding after independent journalist and YouTuber Nick Shirley reported that several Minnesota daycare centers were empty and appeared to be inactive — despite receiving millions of taxpayer dollars. A department official told ABC News it would release the funds “only when states prove they are being spent legitimately.” In response,...

Miami is winning...4th quarter...17-14... Ohio State will probably end up winning somehow...

Dipti Sharma@Diptish098 HIDDEN GROK COMMANDS THAT 90% OF USERS DON’T KNOWMost people use GROK like this: “Write a post,” “Make a list,” “Explain this…”But if you’re doing that, you’re missing out on 90% of its real power.Here are 8 advanced commands that will make GROK work at its full potential:Dipti Sharma@Diptish09·17h1️⃣ “Act as…” – Turns GROK into any expert.→ Generic prompts give weak answers. Defining a clear role improves results dramatically.→ Example: “Act as a luxury brand marketer. Develop a high-end product promotion strategy.”Dipti Sharma@Diptish09·17h2️⃣ “Break this answer down into 3 levels: beginner, advanced, expert.”→ You get a response tailored...

French startup Ÿnsect shot into the spotlight when “Iron Man” star Robert Downey Jr. touted its merits on the “Late Show” during Super Bowl weekend 2021. Now, nearly four years later, the insect farming company has been placed into judicial liquidation — essentially bankruptcy — for insolvency. The company’s demise is hardly a surprise, as Ÿnsect had been embattled for months. Still, there is plenty to unpack about how a startup can go bankrupt despite raising over $600 million, including from Downey Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition, taxpayers, and many others. Ultimately, Ÿnsect failed to fulfill its ambition to “revolutionize the food...

“The Ballad of Wallis Island”—One of 2025’s most endearing sleepers was this British comedy from director James Griffiths about a duo of folk singers, played by co-writer Tom Basden and Oscar-nominee Carey Mulligan, who travel to a Welsh island for a gig. Basden’s writing partner, Tim Key, plays the rich fan who encourages the duo to reunite for this performance. What follows is a film filled with big laughs and a startling amount of heart.... “Bugonia”—Based on Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 film, “Save the Green Planet!”, Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest collaboration with actress Emma Stone is a galvanizing apocalyptic satire. She plays...

Hay its a New Year, and the internet is still reletively anonymous. Have a New Year that is good and full of only good surprises, and easily manageable bad ones.

Troops, Veterans, Families, Allies, and FRiends.....The FReeper Canteen Presents.....HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026!!Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. May Light always surround you; Hope kindle and rebound you. May your Hurts turn to Healing; Your Heart embrace Feeling. May Wounds become Wisdom; Every Kindness a Prism. May Laughter infect you; Your Passion resurrect you. May Goodness inspire your Deepest Desires. Through all that you Reach For, May your arms Never Tire.”-D. Simone Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops...

President Donald Trump claimed that California and Minnesota are both rife with fraud, slamming the two states and their respective governors as "Crooked." "There is more FRAUD in California than there is in Minnesota, if that is even possible. When you add in Election Fraud, then they are tied for first. Two Crooked Governors, two Crooked States!" the president asserted in the post on Wednesday, referring to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Trump also slammed Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., in a Truth Social post on Wednesday. "Much of the Minnesota Fraud, up to 90%, is caused...

Explanation: What created the Waterfall Nebula? The origin is still being researched. The structure, officially designated Herbig-Haro 222, appears in the region of NGC 1999 in the Great Orion Molecular Cloud complex. The elongated gaseous stream stretches about ten light years but appears similar to a long waterfall on Earth. Recent observations indicate that HH-222 is likely a gigantic gaseous bow shock, similar to a wave of water caused by a fast-moving ship. The origin of this shock wave is thought to be a jet outflow from the multiple star system V380 Orionis off the lower left of the frame....

It was Robert Burns (1759–1796), the great eighteenth-century Scottish poet, who transformed the old song (and many other Scottish standards) for publication. He devoted the last ten years of his short life to collecting old verses, revising and "mending" as he saw fit, even composing poetry to accompany popular airs. When Burns turned his attention to "Auld Lang Syne," he claimed merely to have transcribed the words from "an old man's singing." But from the time his version of the song was first printed (in 1796, just after his death), it has been understood that Burns lent more than a...

Iranians begrudgingly accepted Islam but refused to accept Arabic as its supposedly divine language. Scholars have argued that it took almost four hundred years before Arabs conquered the entire Iranian empire. In those centuries of turmoil, Iranian Christians and Jews—like Zoroastrians who had been the dominant faith in the empire—were often subjected to the terrors of a local pious Muslim bully. By the fifteenth century, Shiism—one of the main branches of Islam—forcefully became the “state” religion of Iran, but even that did not altogether destroy Christian life in the country. Assyrians and Armenians continued to live in parts of the...

The best guitar riffs in rock have become part of the cultural fabric, shaping the face of music and influencing wannabe axe legends down the generations.Some of the great songs of modern times – such as “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction)” or “Smoke On The Water” – strike you as much for their distinctive guitar licks as their powerful lyrics. The guitar riff, which often opens a song and forms the main repetitive melodic anchor, has been a core part of blues, rock’n’roll, and even punk songs for decades, and the best guitar riffs have changed the shape of music....

First off, I don't trust *anything* the Democrat media says. But why would they keep hiding and lying about Michelle Obama actually being a gay/"trans" male, if it were so? Wouldn't they be out, loud, and proud with it by now? Wouldn't they have gone on Oprah and boasted how "brave" our "first transgender first lady" is? Michelle actually being Michael just sounds like something the modern, reprobate minded Democrat party would be extremely open and boastful about.

Kids on the autism spectrum are facing challenges as Minnesota implements measures to prevent fraud in social service programs. State's new preapproval processWhat we know: The state is now conducting preapproval reviews on Medicaid claims in 14 high-risk areas, including autism centers. This means businesses like Holland Autism Centers have had their claims held, with no payments expected for up to 90 days. Jennifer Larson, founder of Holland Autism Centers, expressed concern over the financial strain this delay is causing. "They can hold funds according to the federal government up to 90 days. Well, 90 days is a whole quarter....

For more than a decade, an elderly Chinatown resident purportedly had no access to electricity, water and gas. With bags of sundries piled high within his one-room rental flat, his nights were spent along the stretch of corridor outside the unit. His circumstances were shared online on Dec 23 by non-profit platform Keeping Hope Alive, which assisted in decluttering the flat. The volunteer group's Facebook post noted how time seemed to have stopped 10 years ago for the man in his 80s, who had a 2015 calendar hung on a wall. With water supply cut off, the man, surnamed Wong,...

Recorded at a time when Frank Sinatra considered retiring, ‘My Way’ has become a timeless anthem for the generations that followed.Frank Sinatra‘s recording of “My Way” has spent longer on the UK singles chart than any other song – an amazing 124 weeks. That’s almost twice as long as its nearest rival, which you might be surprised to know is “Amazing Grace” by Judy Collins. It’s a timeless anthem that, even in a digital world where songs can be streamed endlessly at the touch of a button, will never be superseded, no matter the prevailing trends. Sinatra recorded the song...

The Department of Health and Human Services is freezing all childcare payments to all states, an official for Donald Trump’s administration told ABC News in a report published Wednesday. States’ funds will be released “only when states prove they are being spent legitimately”. The report came a day after Jim O’Neill, the HHS deputy secretary, and Alex Adams, an HHS assistant secretary who oversees the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), appeared in a Tuesday evening video message. O’Neill declared that the department had “activated our defend-the-spend system for all ACF childcare payments across America” and would now require “justification,...

Mmm dd, 2025 7th day within the octave of Christmas (optional commemoration of Saint Silvester I, Pope)Main altar in the parish church of Saint Sylvester Pope in Kanfanar, CroatiaReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II).First reading1 John 2:18-21You have been anointed by the Holy OneChildren, these are the last days;you were told that an Antichrist must come,and now several antichrists have already appeared;we know from this that these are the last days.Those rivals of Christ came out of our own number, but they had never really belonged;if they had belonged, they would have stayed with us;but they left us,...

Built by a small Italian team, the bot exploded in popularity.Turns out robots can trade, too. A new AI trading bot reportedly flipped a $3,200 investment into $14,158 in just one week, with the receipts to prove it, according to verified trading records and third-party data from MyFxBook. The story doesn’t end with the initial success. Starting from July 2025, with a $1,000 investment, the bot once again stunned traders. By December 2025, it earned a profit of $5,600 — an astonishing 560% gain over the 5-months period. Skepticism was expected... and honestly, deserved. Sure, there are glowing reviews online...

Even though Rob Reiner directed some of Hollywood's most beloved movies before his gruesome murder, he had only helmed two films since 2017, and pal Bill Maher shared the devastating reason why, RadarOnline.com can reveal. "The discussions we had in recent years were a lot about him not being able to get funding," Maher, 69, shared on his Club Random podcast about how Reiner couldn't get studios to cough up the money for new projects. Maher gushed over Reiner's 'charisma' and 'presence' on his podcast. Reiner's impressive directing resume included such beloved hits as The Princess Bride, Stand by Me,...