Free Republic

I don’t know why Nick Shirley’s video has gotten so much attention. For the most part the attention is welcome, but it has engendered quite a few misunderstandings. The national commentary in the wake of Shirley’s video has been almost entirely ill-informed. Those who attack Shirley and try to undermine his video are missing the point. Whatever the merits of that video, there is absolutely zero doubt that there has been an enormous amount of fraud in Minnesota’s Somali community. Some of it relates to child care. In fact, child care fraud came to light a decade or more ago....

New Jersey drivers are about to get hit with a nearly 9% hike in the state’s gas tax — leaving them once again grappling with one of the highest rates in the country. Thanks to legislation signed into law in 2024, the state — the only one in the nation to not allow self-service pumps — is raising its gas tax by 4.2 cents to 49.1 cents for gasoline and 56.1 cents for diesel Jan. 1. The jump would average out to about $27 more per year per driver, for a total cost of $320 just for the state gas...

New York City’s first lady Rama Duwaji appeared to wear $630 “artisan” leather boots from a high-end designer to her Democratic socialist husband Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral swearing-in ceremony — a luxury look that flew in the face of the politician’s “everyman” image, eagle-eyed critics said Thursday. Duwaji, a 28-year-old artist, gave more socialite than socialist on New Year’s Day as she apparently rocked one of the fashion house Miista’s pricey boot designs — one which is said to be crafted from “vegetable tan cow leather” and feature an “ultra-cushioned memory foam insole.” The fashion firm charges $630 a pair for...

“Russia says those killed were celebrating in a cafe located in an area of southern Ukraine controlled by Moscow. Russia has accused Ukraine of killing at least 24 people, including a child, in a drone attack on a hotel and cafe where New Year celebrations were taking place in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region. Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of the region, first made the claim in a statement on Telegram before Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and senior politicians later accused ⁠Ukraine of carrying out “a terrorist attack”.

An autonomous Waymo taxi took a wrong turn and drive straight into an active fire scene in Los Angeles, California. A driverless Waymo vehicle turned onto Melrose Avenue in Hollywood and past road flares, finding itself in the midst of an active fire scene earlier this week, according to a report by ABC 7. The robotaxi reportedly drove into an area that the Los Angeles Fire Department had blocked off, and appeared to have one passenger in the backseat. Witnesses told the outlet that the Waymo car stayed inside the closed area of the fire scene for about ten minutes...

Russian President Vladimir Putin lied when he claimed earlier this week that Ukraine tried to kill him in a massive drone attack targeting one of his residences, according to US intelligence.

Over the past 10 months, Russian losses in the war with Ukraine have been growing faster than any time since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, BBC analysis suggests. As peace efforts intensified in 2025 under pressure from US President Donald Trump's administration, 40% more obituaries of soldiers were published in Russian sources compared with the previous year. Overall, the BBC has confirmed the names of almost 160,000 people killed fighting on Russia's side in Ukraine. BBC News Russian has been counting Russian war losses together with independent outlet Mediazona and a group of volunteers since February 2022....

13 year old Rob Reiner With His Family • March 27, 1960 [Reelin' In The Years Archive]

🚨NEW: Scott Adams shares devastating health update😞🙏 "I talked to my radiologist yesterday and it’s all bad news. So the odds of me recovering are essentially zero." "You should prepare yourself that January will probably be a month of transition one way or the other."

Blockbuster cinema returns full-throttle in 2026, but as always, it’s the smaller, more auteur-driven projects that catch our eye and keep us optimistic about the filmgoing prospects in the new year. As we set our sights on the films and filmmakers set to light up our screens across the next 12 months.From the culmination of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” saga, to the surefire prospect of at least one, if not two, new Hong Sang-soo films, and everything in between, our scope spans the entire globe, with the lingering understanding that so many of our most talked-about films by year’s end will,...

2025 had the lowest rate of - mass shootings since 2006 - homicides since 1950s - teenage pregnancy in recorded history - suicides since 2020 - road fatalities since 2019 - drug overdose deaths since 2019 - alcohol consumption in recorded history - inflation since 2020

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Explanation: Cycle 25 solar maximum made 2025 a great year for aurora borealis (or aurora australis) on planet Earth. And the high level of solar activity should extend into 2026. So, while you're celebrating the arrival of the new year, check out this spectacular auroral display that erupted in starry night skies over Kirkjufell, Iceland. The awesome auroral corona, energetic curtains of light streaming from directly overhead, was witnessed during a strong geomagnetic storm triggered by intense solar activity near the March 2025 equinox. This boreal skyscape captures the evocative display in a 21 frame panoramic mosaic.

Minnesota State Sen. Michael Holmstrom, Thursday on Newsmax, called allegations of widespread social services fraud a "black eye" for his state, blaming Gov. Tim Walz for failing to stop it and the local media for failing to cover it. The Republican lawmaker, speaking with Newsmax's "Wake Up America," also predicted the controversy could shift Minnesota politics, saying Republicans were "only in the minority by one vote" in the legislature. "This is the year that Minnesota turns red," he said. Holmstrom's comments come after a viral video by independent journalist Nick Shirley drew national attention to claims of illegal activity and...

Backdrop On October 31, 2025, Pastor Gary McKibben and I conducted a livestream titled Per Aspera Ad Astra—Latin for “through hardship to the stars”—a phrase famously embraced by Jack Parsons, one of the godfathers of America’s early space program. In that discussion, we traced the modern rocketry enterprise back to Parsons and his notorious, explosion-prone circle of engineers at Caltech and JPL, sometimes nicknamed the “Suicide Squad.” Yet Parsons’s obsession extended far beyond propulsion and pyrotechnics. By the mid-1940s, he was deeply immersed in the ritual occultism of Aleister Crowley and Crowley’s system of Thelema, attempting to merge technological ascent...

A father was deported to Mexico last month after living in the U.S. for over 30 years, leaving his six children without their only parent, his lawyer said. According to Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, Rosalio Vasquez Meave was arrested on September 15. His lawyer, Michelle Edstrom, said he was dropping off his children at school when an ICE vehicle pulled him over and detained him.

Minnesota GOP House Speaker Lisa Demuth confirmed this week that Republican lawmakers helped direct independent journalist Nick Shirley to daycare facilities amid growing concerns over widespread fraud in state and federally funded programs. Speaking during a virtual press conference Monday, Demuth said her caucus has been "working with" Shirley as part of broader efforts to expose fraud and hold the administration of Democrat Gov. Tim Walz accountable. "Our caucus has been working to expose fraud for years, including working with Nick Shirley and agency whistleblowers to get the information out to the public and to hold the Walz administration accountable,"...

A politically charged YouTube video thrust a group of Somali-owned day cares in Minnesota into an uncomfortable spotlight this week, accusing the owners of defrauding the state and unleashing a torrent of threats against them. A lawyer who represents one of the operators of Minnesota Best Childcare Center in Minneapolis, which was featured in the 43-minute video, said his Somali clients have received hundreds of death threats since the video went viral late late last week. “Everybody is very scared right now of being targeted,” attorney Jason Steck said Dec. 31. “Nobody wants to stick their head up. Nobody wants...

1) Republican push: cut/suspend fuel taxes and “hidden” regulatory costsState-level GOP bills: Republican legislators have repeatedly introduced measures to suspend or roll back fuel-tax increases or reduce regulatory cost add-ons, but these efforts have generally failed in Democrat-controlled committees/chambers. Federal pressure: Some California Republican members of Congress have urged the Governor to suspend scheduled state fuel tax increases and pause implementation of certain CARB policies they argue raise prices at the pump. 2) Democratic/administration posture: don’t cut fuel taxes; manage markets + pursue climate policyNo major move to reduce state fuel taxes: Democratic leadership and the Governor have not pursued...

A crazed, shadow-boxing United Airlines passenger wildly claimed he was in a “simulation” as he allegedly assaulted the crew, punched a flight attendant in the face and forced the plane to divert mid-flight. Jordan Langston, 25, wreaked havoc on the Salt Lake City-bound flight Sunday when he got up from his seat shortly after departing Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC, and stormed the front of the plane, waving his arms and screaming, “This is a simulation,” the Lincoln Journal Star reported. When pressed by a flight attendant what he meant when he said simulation, the unruly traveler repeatedly yelled,...