Free Republic 1st Qtr 2026 Fundraising Target: $81,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $12,062
14%  
Woo hoo!! And now only $88 to reach 15%!! Thank you all very much!! God bless.

Latest Articles

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • Today's Toons 1/23/26

    01/23/2026 3:54:23 AM PST · by pookie18 · 14 replies
    The Right Reasons ^ | 1/23/26 | pookie18
    Click on link
  • The “Mindfulness” Degree

    01/23/2026 3:44:18 AM PST · by karpov · 18 replies
    James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | January 16, 2026 | Christopher L. Schilling
    Do American colleges still teach students how to think? Or have whole programs been built on fashionable but unexamined assumptions? Increasingly, one wonders whether parts of the curriculum are outright harmful. For years, it has felt as though American higher education were approaching rock bottom. One of the newest degrees on offer suggests we may finally have arrived. As a religious practice within Buddhism—particularly in its Theravada and Zen traditions—so-called mindfulness meditation aims to cultivate an awareness of the present moment, calm the mind, and help one avoid being carried away by thoughts. The term often overlaps with self-help trends...
  • Donald Trump, Not Unchained

    01/23/2026 3:37:20 AM PST · by karpov · 44 replies
    Wall Street Journal ^ | January 22, 2026 | WSJ Editorial Board
    A funny thing happened this week that you wouldn’t think possible from reading the common narrative of President Trump as a Frankenstein’s monster unchained to do whatever he wants: He backed down from his demands to own Greenland. And he did so after financial markets, European allies and the U.S. Congress raised objections. The “authoritarian” Trump narrative was wrong again. This isn’t to dismiss Mr. Trump’s often wild demands and threats. They have consequences in lost trust among allies and doubts about American reliability. These costs are hard to quantify, but they are real and may show up in a...
  • Trump Admin Moves to Deport Mahmoud Khalil as NYC Mayor Mamdani Defends Him/barfalicious defense

    01/23/2026 3:34:29 AM PST · by Eleutheria5 · 18 replies
    JBN ^ | 22/1/26 | Zohran Mamdani
    Pic of Kahlil The Trump administration is moving to deport Mahmoud Khalil, the Syrian born anti Israel activist and Columbia University graduate who was arrested by ICE, as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly rallies behind him. video of Mamdani bloviating about Khalil's free speech Speaking at a press conference in Brooklyn, Mamdani insisted Khalil should be allowed to stay in New York, calling the planned deportation “an attack” and claiming it is part of a wider effort to silence speech tied to pro Palestinian activism. Khalil became a national figure after helping lead the aggressive anti Israel demonstrations...
  • Chinese company snaps up Nathan's hot dogs: 'Why are we allowing foreign companies to own American ones?'

    01/23/2026 3:28:28 AM PST · by Java4Jay · 48 replies
    Nathan’s Famous — the century-old hot dog brand synonymous with Coney Island and Fourth of July excess — has been sold for $450 million to Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods.
  • More Hatred/barfalicious

    01/23/2026 3:26:07 AM PST · by Eleutheria5 · 4 replies
    May Lim's Post ^ | 23/1/26 | May Lim
    𝐀 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐱𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐢𝐠𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬. Embedded Video.
  • Convicted Minnesota fraudster alleges Walz, Ellison were aware of widespread fraud

    01/23/2026 3:23:31 AM PST · by DFG · 13 replies
    Fox News ^ | 01/22/2026 | Ashley Carnahan , Alexis McAdams
    A Minnesota woman convicted in one of the state’s largest fraud schemes alleged in a jailhouse interview that Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison were aware of widespread fraud well before federal prosecutors stepped in. Aimee Bock, the former head of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, spoke to Fox News from Sherburne County Jail in Minnesota, claiming state officials continued approving and paying claims even after concerns were raised about potential fraud. Bock alleged the state approved program sponsors and was responsible for monitoring claims, but officials repeatedly failed to investigate or stop suspicious companies after she flagged...
  • Trump Gives Marco Rubio Yet Another Job

    01/23/2026 3:20:14 AM PST · by DFG · 14 replies
    Daily Caller ^ | 01/22/2026 | Daily Caller Staff
    President Donald Trump said Thursday that he’s putting Secretary of State Marco Rubio in charge of the U.S. bid to bring the 2035 World Expo to Miami, stacking a new assignment onto the former Florida senator’s already-high-profile role running America’s top diplomatic shop. Trump said Florida wants the Expo and that he backs Miami as the host city, according to an Associated Press report that cited his social media post. “The Great State of Florida has expressed strong interest in hosting the Expo in Miami, which I fully support,” Trump wrote. “Miami Expo 2035 can be the next big milestone...
  • Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones's liberal nepo son is 'too spooked' to return to CNN after Scott Jennings eviscerated him during debut appearance

    01/23/2026 3:14:02 AM PST · by C19fan · 38 replies
    UK Daily Mail ^ | January 22, 2026 | Will Potter
    The liberal nepo baby son of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones is 'too spooked' to return to CNN after he was eviscerated by Scott Jennings last year, insiders say. Dylan Douglas, 26, an actor and political radio host, was reportedly left so upset by his on-air confrontation with Jennings that he is 'done with tough interviews', according to Hollywood insider Rob Shuter's Substack. Shuter cited sources close to Douglas that say he has made it 'crystal clear' he is done with all hostile interviews, including CNN and 'any outlet where a host might dare to challenge him.'
  • Zelenskyy drops brutal truth bombs upon European allies

    01/23/2026 3:08:27 AM PST · by RandFan · 8 replies
    Sky News UK ^ | Jan 23 | Sky News UK
    Volodymyr Zelenskyy dropped a barrage of truth bombs on his European allies about their collective failure to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin and be respected by his US counterpart, Donald Trump. Invoking the spectacle of Bill Murray's classic comedy, Groundhog Day, at a speech in Davos, the Ukrainian president said the UK and Europe are stuck in a doom loop, repeating rhetoric about what needs to be done - without taking the action required to make things change. This, he said, meant they were left scrambling to respond to world events instead of standing united as a great...
  • Trump snubs Canada by withdrawing country's invite to join 'most prestigious Board of Leaders ever'

    01/23/2026 3:03:35 AM PST · by RoosterRedux · 27 replies
    Fox News ^ | Michael Sinkewicz
    President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Canada was no longer welcome to his newly established Board of Peace. In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump rescinded Canada's invitation, informing Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that his country could no longer join the "most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled." "Dear Prime Minister Carney: Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time," Trump wrote. Trump unveiled the board during a speech and signing...
  • How Trump’s ICE enforcement record blows Obama’s out of the water— by a lot

    01/23/2026 2:54:41 AM PST · by Kid Shelleen · 10 replies
    NY Post ^ | 01/22/2026 | John R. Lott Jr.
    The media narrative against President Donald Trump’s effort to enforce immigration law was on full display last week at a White House press briefing. ---SNIP--- Only about 40 or so of those who were detained claimed to be US citizens accidentally or erroneously arrested by ICE, and just half of those people were held for more than a day; most were released in a few hours. Any error is serious, but 40 mistakes out of 595,000 arrests amounts to an error rate of just 0.0067% — roughly one wrongful detention for every 14,925 arrests. Compare that with the final two...
  • Iraq says it will prosecute Islamic State detainees transferred from Syria

    01/23/2026 2:53:39 AM PST · by Enterprise
    https://www.internazionale.it ^ | 22.1.2026 | Reuters
    Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said on Thursday it would begin legal proceedings against Islamic State detainees transferred from Syria after the rapid collapse of Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria triggered concerns over prison security.The U.S. military said on Tuesday its forces had transferred 150 Islamic State detainees from Syria to Iraq and that the operation could eventually see up to 7,000 detainees moved out of Syria. It cited concerns over prison security after the military setbacks suffered by the Syrian Democratic Forces. An Iraqi military spokesperson confirmed that Iraq had received a first batch of 150 Islamic State detainees, including...
  • Today's Cryptogram

    01/23/2026 2:41:35 AM PST · by FroggyTheGremlim · 11 replies
    Hiya kids! Hiya, Hiya!Good Morning Crypto-FReepers.I see some of the same old faces out there.But that's OK - I like you anyway.It's a nice Quote today.Hope you like it.Have fun!!! Ha Ha Ha!I'll be good - I will, (like heck) I will. Ha ha ha. FPD MZPH SFJH XVP SVJL GQJDD SZPGDJ LFPGQA. - RVUVPDAD UJFBDJCWhere'd I put my magic twanger? Oh, here it is - - -boinng!__ HAL'S CRYPTOGRAM HELPER
  • US withdraws from the World Health Organization

    01/23/2026 1:10:29 AM PST · by Olog-hai · 18 replies
    Reuters ^ | January 22, 20265:25 PM EST | Jennifer Rigby and Emma Farge
    The United States officially left the World Health Organization on Thursday after a year of warnings that doing so would hurt public health in the U.S. and globally, saying its decision reflected failures in the U.N. health agency’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump gave notice that the U.S. would quit the organization on the first day of his presidency in 2025, via an executive order. According to a press release from the U.S. Health and State Departments, the U.S. will only work with the WHO in a limited fashion in order to effectuate the withdrawal. […] The...
  • Trump Administration Reviews $88M in Pandemic Loans to Abortion Giant Planned Parenthood

    01/23/2026 12:45:45 AM PST · by Olog-hai · 1 replies
    Breitbart ^ | 22 Jan 2026 | Katherine Hamilton
    The Small Business Administration (SBA) is probing whether affiliates of abortion giant Planned Parenthood illegally received $88 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans during the COVID-19 pandemic. “At the height of the pandemic, affiliates of Planned Parenthood took $88 million in taxpayer dollars to fund their abortion-on-demand agenda—and the Biden administration made sure they got nearly every cent forgiven, even after the first Trump administration protested,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler told The Daily Signal. “Six years later, the Trump SBA holds the same conviction: Planned Parenthood Federation of America was never eligible to receive a dime in pandemic-era relief...
  • Davos has turned into an Art Basel party scene — and longtime attendees aren’t thrilled: ‘I liked it when there was less visibility’

    01/23/2026 12:40:27 AM PST · by Libloather · 11 replies
    NY Post ^ | 1/22/26 | Lydia Moynihan
    Longtime attendees are complaining that this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos felt more like Art Basel in Miami and less like an elite conference, with thousands descending on the tiny Swiss mountain town to chase parties rather than conduct diplomacy or business. The annual event wraps up Friday. While keynotes and fireside chats still made headlines— and still drew big names such as Donald Trump and Elon Musk — attendees complain that it’s been overrun and devolved into a social scene that falls somewhere between St. Barth’s at New Year’s and Snow Polo in St. Moritz. “There is so...
  • Inside the nightmare winter for Minnesota child care providers There is uncertainty around half-a-billion dollars in federal funding, not to mention state scrutiny and frightening threats.

    01/23/2026 12:34:54 AM PST · by xxqqzz · 27 replies
    Minneapolis Post ^ | January 22, 2026 | Mathew Blake
    Unlike some of her peers, Jessica Herod has not had staff detained by federal immigration agents, hecklers defecate in front of her door, or armed state investigators entering her daycare. Still, Herod is worried. She is co-founder and chief operating officer of Olu’s Beginnings, a child care center in North Minneapolis where 75% of the children enrolled depend on federal funding. Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced that it suspended $467 million in annual payments to Minnesota that enable low-income parents to access child care. The unprecedented federal funding freeze, which is now tied up in court, “would affect...
  • ‘Your own analysis says you knew’: Rep Gill leaves Jack Smith stammering over McCarthy subpoena

    01/23/2026 12:11:23 AM PST · by SmokingJoe · 13 replies
    YouTube ^ | 01/22/2026 | Economic Times
    This ~4-5 minute clip from The Economic Times (uploaded January 22, 2026) shows a heated moment from a recent House Judiciary Committee hearing where Republican Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) aggressively questions former Special Counsel Jack Smith. Gill focuses on Smith's office subpoenaing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's phone toll records just 16 days after McCarthy became Speaker in early 2023 (covering Nov 2020–Jan 2021). He accuses Smith of: Labeling McCarthy a potential "flight risk" in a nondisclosure order to secretly obtain the records. Violating the Speech or Debate Clause (constitutional protection for lawmakers). Misleading the court and ignoring internal DOJ...
  • Arizona AG Kris Mayes wildly suggests residents can shoot masked ICE agents under state’s self-defense laws: ‘Recipe for disaster’

    01/23/2026 12:02:51 AM PST · by Libloather · 37 replies
    NY Post ^ | 1/22/26 | Anna Young
    Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes wildly suggested that residents can open fire on masked ICE agents if they feel their life is in danger under the state’s self-defense laws. The Democrat, in a sit-down with 12 News anchor Brahm Resnik, warned that Arizona’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which allows citizens to use deadly force if they believe they’re in imminent danger, could become a “recipe for disaster” if protesters clash with immigration officers. “It’s kind of a recipe for disaster because you have these masked federal officers with very little identification, sometimes no identification, wearing plain clothes and masks,” Mayes...