Free Republic

President Donald Trump ordered the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, toppling a brutal totalitarian regime. But he's only getting started. The Babylon Bee consulted with experts at the FBI, CIA, NSA, and DMV to compile the following list of who Trump is planning to arrest next: Tim Walz: He just declared war on the federal government, which is more than Maduro ever did. Kathleen Kennedy: It's time for her oppressive rule over Lucasfilm to end. Travis Kelce: It may be the only way to save him from Taylor Swift. Ariana Grande: At least as a prisoner, she'll be forced...

The relationship between President Trump and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene grew so poisonous that the White House told the Secret Service that Greene may have tipped off Code Pink protesters about his surprise visit last fall to a D.C. restaurant she recommended, two sources on Trump's team tell Axios. That episode — which involved a chaotic confrontation between anti-war activists and Trump — embarrassed the president and intensified concerns in the White House about his safety, a year after he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. Why it matters: Trump aides view the Joe's Seafood debacle as a point of...

CHRISTMAS BIBLE-ART EPISODE #27 of 33 ADORATION OF THE MAGI M A T T H E W CHAPTER 2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” The star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming...

At about 2:30 a.m., a shelter dog named Dawson escaped from his gated enclosure and then used his teeth to open the front door of the animal shelter in West Virginia, slipping quietly into the night. When staff at Huntington Cabell Wayne Animal Shelter arrived at about 5 a.m. on Jan. 4, they were puzzled to find the front door unlocked.

President Donald Trump said drug “cartels are running Mexico,” and suggested the U.S. military could start land strikes against them there.

Gold and silver flow into LBMA coffers, but ETFs take up the supply, and a silver shortage reappears in London. LBMA Gold and Silver Supply Climb - ETFs take up Supply December saw the biggest monthly jump in LBMA gold supplies since 2019. For silver at least, this is mostly from ETFs. Demand for silver ETFs has risen, as you can see below. The amount of metal still available is the top color, whatever that is. The bottom color is silver ETF holdings. Bitcoin to Gold Breaks Lockdown Trend Line Gold to bitcoin may have already broken the lockdown trend...

Two Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members were shot and wounded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Portland, Oregon, Thursday afternoon during a targeted vehicle stop in East Portland. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed the agents involved were Border Patrol personnel conducting operations related to a Venezuelan national involved in a recent shooting in Portland. According to DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, the driver of the car “weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over” the agents, prompting one of them to fire defensive shots out of fear for his life. When agents identified themselves to...

The Supreme Court is expected to issue opinions this morning at 10:00 a.m. There is some speculation that the tariff opinion will be issued but that isn't a sure thing.Scotusblog will be liveblogging the opinion release and we will be following along.Here is the link to the pending cases for this term. Pending cases Of note from the oldest heard cases (the October sitting), are:The conversion therapy case, Chiles v Salazar Issue(s): Whether a law that censors certain conversations between counselors and their clients based on the viewpoints expressed regulates conduct or violates the free speech clause of the First...

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok restricted access to a much-criticized deepfake generator on social media platform X following a surge of users creating nonconsensual nude images. Grok now says that "image generation is currently limited to paying subscribers" as "this helps ensure responsible use while we continue refining things," citing "recent issues and improvements to safeguards." The chatbot has drawn scrutiny from regulators and politicians across Europe after it enabled users to manipulate pictures posted online into a series of deepfakes, including depictions of undressed minors and public figures. Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch was one of the latest...

A third of Washington State Ferries are offline—and this crisis didn’t just happen. Years of Democrats chasing battery-powered ferry press releases while neglecting basic maintenance left commuters stranded and routes unreliable. This is what misplaced priorities look like. And those in charge waltz off into the sunset with a government pension.

A Nebraska state senator caught on video removing portraits of America’s Founders from a hallway in the state Capitol is defending her actions. Democratic State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh was shown on Capitol security footage taking down portraits from an exhibit celebrating the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. The exhibit was provided by conservative nonprofit PragerU and included images of signers of the Declaration of Independence and prominent women in American history, according to Gov. Jim Pillen, who criticized the lawmaker’s actions. "Celebrating America during our 250th year should be a moment of unity and patriotism, not divisiveness and destructive partisanship,"...

A bloodied, blade-wielding patient at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital was shot and killed by cops Thursday night after he barricaded himself in a room with an elderly patient and a staffer — sending the Park Slope medical center into lockdown, according to cops. Police rushed to the hospital after receiving multiple 911 calls just before 5:30 p.m. about a man who barricaded himself inside an eighth-floor hospital room with an elderly patient and a member of the hospital security staff, Charles Minch, Assistant Chief and Commanding Officer of patrol borough Brooklyn South, said at a press conference late Thursday. The madman...

King County’s latest audit shows $1.8 billion in taxpayer dollars unaccounted for, as Paul Guppy reports. And what happens to the bureaucrats that allow such fraud? Punished? Nope, promoted.

When the mainstream “journalists” can’t find a legitimate Somali-run business, it must be bad. The Somali fraud scandal that slow-burned for nearly a decade has exploded with the force of the Pacific Palisades wildfire. Ironically in both events, Democrat politicians laid the ground work for the disaster and left the burning embers that are now consuming them. Indeed, if followed to its logical conclusion, it will be found Minneapolis is just a typical blue city built on a model of fraud that’s been replicated elsewhere: legal and illegal immigration that has allowed them to electorally take over states they would...

Geneva, N.Y. — A member of the Geneva City Council is facing charges in connection to a multi-agency narcotics drug trafficking probe. Ahmad Whitfield, 45, was arrested Wednesday after selling cocaine/fentanyl to another person, according to New York State Police. It came during an investigation in the Geneva area conducted by the NYSP Violent Gangs and Narcotics Enforcement Team, the Geneva Police Department, the Ontario County Sheriff's Office and the Seneca County Sheriff's Office. Whitfield was charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, state police said. He was taken...

Dr. Oz, the senior government health official, wants Americans to stop drinking alcohol for breakfast. With all due respect, man, maybe next week. 2026 has barely gotten out of bed, and it’s already too sloshed to drive. We’re all just trying to keep up. If you’re not already drunk by the time you read this—what are you even doing? You’re clearly not spending enough time on social media. Stop playing with your kids or pretending to work, go inside, pour yourself a pint of cheap gin, and scroll until you’re too angry or depressed to get off the toilet. The...

Unbelievable. Insanity in Tehran: Regime Cuts Internet to 80 Million, Streams Tucker Carlson on Loop. In a twist of dystopian irony, the Islamic Republic has pulled the plug on the nation’s internet and phone lines, plunging 80 million citizens into digital darkness, only to fill the void with the voice of Tucker Carlson.

On Wednesday, Renee Nicole Good died in Minneapolis after being shot in a defensive shooting by an ICE agent who had previously been hit by a car in a similar situation. Almost everyone is focused on the specific events of that day rather than what is clearly an escalatory spiral with no endpoint in sight. Andrea Widburg wrote an excellent post the other day that correctly redirected us to the growing schism between leftists’ grasp on reality and their actions. Not highlighted in this article are the special circumstances that the left has cultivated over the last generation, which have...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS/Gray News) - The loved ones of a 29-year-old South Carolina man who was fatally struck by a car while crossing the street with his girlfriend are doing their best to cope with his loss as the suspect is being held without bond. Malcolm D. Johnson, 29, died after he was hit by a car Sunday night in downtown Columbia, according to Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford.

The MTA has hit the $1.5 billion jackpot, thanks to the state collecting massive fees dedicated to mass transit from each from three bidders awarded casino licenses. Each of the three winning bidders are required to pony up a $500 million upfront license fee for the privilege to operate a casino.Under state law, the money is redirected to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to fund the operations of its subway and buses and commuter rail lines. Mets owner Steve Cohen, in tandem with gaming partner Hard Rock, have delivered the $500 million fee to operate a “Metropolitan Park” casino complex near...