Free Republic

RAQQA, Syria — The Syrian government Sunday announced a ceasefire with the Syrian Democratic Forces, taking almost full control of the country and dismantling the Kurdish-led forces that controlled the northeast for over a decade. The announcement comes as tensions between government forces and the SDF boiled over earlier this month, eventually resulting in a major push by government forces toward the east. The SDF appeared to have largely retreated after initial clashes on a tense front line area in eastern Aleppo province. Syria's Defense Ministry said it ordered the fighting to halt on the front lines after the agreement...

We are quickly approaching the Marco Rubio singularity. Before we know it the entire Washington D.C. megaplex will just be one giant Rubio. From Little Marco making fun of Trump's tiny hands, to being one of the most important people in the second Trump Administration. It's almost like Rubio is scooping up open positions like they're Pokémon. He's gotta catch them all.

Bruce Springsteen criticized the ICE surge in Minnesota and the shooting of Renee Good during a surprise show in New Jersey over the weekend, parroting the words of Mayor Jacob Frey in demanding that ICE "get the f--- out of Minneapolis." Springsteen performed a surprise set Saturday night in New Jersey at the Light of Day benefit show. During a set with Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers, he performed his song "The Promised Land" off "Darkness on the Edge of Town" — which he dedicated to Renee Good. SNIP What they're saying: Before the rendition, Springsteen made a statement against...

Who said this? “If you don’t have any borders, you don’t have a nation.” The speaker went on, “Trump did a better job. I don’t like Trump, but we should have a secure border. It ain’t that hard to do. Biden didn’t do it.” It was Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in characteristic candor. If, as Milton Friedman argued, you can’t have open borders and a generous welfare state, Sanders, as a self-described socialist, prefers the welfare state. The facts at this point are not in much doubt. The Pew Research Institute, not an anti-immigration outfit, estimated that there were 10.2...

A family in Long Beach said it has left the home and community behind as it feared the Trump administration’s immigration policies would eventually catch up with its family member. The Burgueno family, made up of a U.S. citizen matriarch, her undocumented husband and their teenage son, said Monday that it has taken the final steps to self-deport. “We crossed the border in Otay,” Sonia Burgueno told NBC Los Angeles at the U.S.-Mexico border Monday. “We packed as much as we could.” Calling it the hardest decision her family has ever made, Sonia Burgueno had deep roots in Long Beach:...

NORTH DAKOTA (Valley News Live) - A driver was cited for traveling 104 mph in an 80 mph zone on Interstate 29 Sunday despite the highway being closed due to weather conditions, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol. The driver received a $140 citation and seven points for speeding. A juvenile passenger was in the vehicle at the time of the stop. The driver was also charged with reckless endangerment, a Class A misdemeanor, according to the patrol. I-29 from Fargo to the Canadian border remains closed, and no travel is advised.

A murder suspect wanted for killing a 17-year-old girl was found shot to death inside a car in Texas, according to police. Deshawn Suggs, 18, was discovered inside a vehicle around 4am Saturday in San Antonio with an apparent gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 'We have these parties, teen-adult parties, at these random properties, these abandoned properties, that ultimately lead to gun violence.'

67 people died while in ICE custody during the Obama administration - no protests, no riots The Obama years saw migrant detention systems plagued by documented issues of substandard medical care, contributing to preventable deaths - all under the direct(ion) of Barack Obama. According to the ACLU, those violations in medical standards factored into at least eight deaths between 2010 and 2012 alone. By mid-2016, count reached 56 deaths under Obama, including six suicides. About 67 total deaths happened during Obama's full time in office, according to ICE records. Critics say that even though Obama's administration oversaw one of the...

~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Naval Support Facility Thurmont, MarylandCamp David is the country retreat for the President of the United States. It is located in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont, and Emmitsburg, about 62 miles north-northwest of the national capital city of Washington, D.C. It is officially known as the Naval Support Facility Thurmont. Because it is technically a military installation, the staffing is primarily provided by the Seabees, Civil Engineer Corps (CEC), the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Naval construction battalions...

EXCLUSIVE: After Narrowly Escaping Death At The Hands Of A Communist Minneapolis Lynch Mob, Jake Lang Gives New Details Of How Roaming Mobs Of 1,000s Of Zombie-like Leftists Viciously Attack Not Only Him But Anyone Wearing An American Flag @JakeLang

Russia has sentenced an American man to five years in prison for illegally transporting weapons, a court said Monday, noting that a rifle was found on his yacht after it docked in the port city of Sochi last June. Russian media said he smuggle the weapons on his private yacht from July 2024 — June 2025. Dozens of Westerners, including Americans, have been imprisoned in Russia, especially after the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, with many of them later swapped in prisoner exchanges. "A U.S. citizen was found guilty of illegally transporting and moving firearms," the regional court's'...

Walz: "I would not put it past this administration to target midnight mass services amongst folks going to worship because that's who they are." That's who *they* are?! Yet, when ANTI-ICE protesters actually RAIDED a Church in the middle of service yesterday, Walz is SILENT

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Roche is Sad and WorriedThose who visit the Dicastery for Divine Worship say that Cardinal Roche has been looking downcast lately; they find him sad and worried. And no wonder. His career as a bishop, now drawing to a close in the shadows of old age, has been a series of failures. His pontificate in Leeds was disastrous in many respects, including financially. That is why—and this is no secret—the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales asked Pope Benedict in 2012 to find him another position where he could do no harm to souls or banks. And...

Americans who fled to the Netherlands in a bid to escape the Trump administration are now living in filthy refugee camps, it has emerged. According to Dutch immigration authorities, 76 US citizens claimed asylum in the country last year, a significant increase from the nine that did in 2024. Many of those who have left are transgender or parents to transgender children and are housed in the 'queer block' of an overcrowded camp in the northern village of Ter Apel, The Guardian reported. The camp, which resembles a prison, has guards stationed at every gate and offers less than desirable...

🚨 JUST IN: Elon Musk ENDORSES Speaker Johnson and Steve Scalise passing an improved version of the SAVE Act that requires PHOTO VOTER ID, on top of citizenship to vote NO EXCUSE! Pass it in the House and the Senate must move quickly! 🇺🇸🇺🇸

Big cheer for President Trump to start the game!😀

Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is outperforming Republican Congressman John James among likely voters in Michigan who “Lean GOP,” according to a new poll on the 2026 governor’s race. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is overseeing her own election for governor, maintains a majority of Democrats, with 74.2% of those who identified as “Strong Dem” and 52.1% of those who “Lean Dem” backing her campaign. Duggan, who ditched the Democratic party in December 2024 to run as an Independent, has the support of 19.2% of Michiganders who identify as strong Democrats, 29.2% that lean Democrat, 47.3% of Independents,...

The Supreme Court of India now holds the fate of a single young man and, with him, the moral direction of the country. If the justices authorize the withdrawal of food and fluids from 31-year-old Harish Rana, they will not only decide how one life ends. They will create India’s first concrete case of court-sanctioned “passive euthanasia” under the Common Cause framework and set a precedent for every similarly vulnerable person who cannot speak in their own defense. Common Cause is the 2018 judgment in which the Court read a “right to die with dignity” into Article 21 of the...

19 January 2026 Monday of week 2 in Ordinary Time St. Henry's Catholic Church, Elsmere, KYReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(II).First reading1 Samuel 15:16-23Saul disobeys the Lord and the Lord rejects himSamuel said to Saul, ‘Stop! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.’ Saul said, ‘Tell me.’ Samuel continued, ‘Small as you may be in your own eyes, are you not head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king over Israel. The Lord sent you on a mission and said to you, “Go, put these sinners, the Amalekites, under...

Virginia Democrats passed a constitutional amendment on Friday that would codify within the state constitution the right to kill unborn babies in abortions. The proposed abortion amendment will now go before voters in a statewide referendum in November. The Democrat-controlled state Senate also passed amendments to address same-sex marriage, restoring the voting rights of felons who have completed their sentences, and redistricting, WRIC reported. In Virginia, constitutional amendments must be approved by both the state House and Senate twice before being placed on a ballot and ratified by a simple majority of voters. State lawmakers passed the first three amendments...