Free Republic

In a scathing column at Unherd last month, Anglican priest Giles Fraser took aim at one of the most controversial men in England: Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson. Robinson, after a recent stint in prison from November 2024 to May 2025 for contempt of court, now identifies as Christian. This was Robinson’s fifth stint in jail, mostly for activities related to his anti-Islam activism, which has defined his public life since founding the English Defence League in 2009 (he left the group in 2013, stating that it had become too extreme). Fraser’s missive was a scathing rebuke of...

Transgender patients of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles secured a win this week after the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to end its efforts to obtain personal and medical information of more than 3,000 young patients.

Brief summary of the video: The YouTube video (from WCCO - CBS Minnesota, uploaded January 24, 2026) is a ~7-minute clip of a press conference by U.S. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. He discusses a fatal shooting that morning in south Minneapolis during a targeted DHS operation involving Border Patrol agents. Key points from Bovino's statements: The suspect was identified as Jose Werta Chuma (described as an undocumented immigrant with prior criminal history including domestic assault and disorderly conduct). During the operation, the man allegedly approached agents armed with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and extra loaded magazines. Agents attempted to...

Minnesota’s alleged fraud scandal continues with the blue state now "on the clock" to comply with federal officials. "We asked Minnesota for evidence that child care funding goes to legitimate providers," Jim O’Neill, deputy secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), wrote in an X post video alongside HHS Assistant Secretary Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Alex Adams. "Six weeks later, they still have not sent this information." The ACF sent a "preliminary notice of non-compliance" to the state, according to O’Neill. "We are no longer asking, we are demanding," Adams said. "Since Minnesota refused to...

As progressives push to disband the agency, centrists are warning Democrats risk similar blowback to the ‘defund the police’ movementProgressive Peggy Flanagan advocates for a complete overhaul of ICE, while centrist Angie Craig warns against alienating independent voters.Peggy Flanagan, the progressive pick in the race for Minnesota senator, says the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is beyond fixing. Her opponent in the Democratic primary, centrist Angie Craig, isn’t so sure. “We need a system to enforce immigration laws in this country, but ICE has completely lost the trust of the American people, and they continue to act in ways...

...In a newly filed brief at the Supreme Court, the Trump admin. isn’t arguing politics or modern talking points, like so many experts thought they would... They’re arguing history. And once you see what they put on the record, it’ll be clear to you why this entire “birthright” debate has been shut down for so long.What Team Trump put in front of the Supreme Court of the United States was a very long paper trail showing how birthright citizenship has been understood for decades after the 14th Amendment was ratified... The 14th Amendment doesn’t say that anyone born on US...

24 January 2026 Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop, Doctor on Saturday of week 2 in Ordinary TimeSt. Francis de Sales Church; Purcellville, VA;Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst reading2 Samuel 1:1-4, 11-12, 17, 19, 23-27David's lament over Saul and JonathanDavid returned from his rout of the Amalekites and spent two days in Ziklag. On the third day a man came from the camp where Saul had been, his garments torn and earth on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and...

For the few delusional Miami Dolphins fans holding out hope the franchise would run it back one more time with Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill … it's probably time to officially put that to bed. Now, I'm a Dolphins fan, sadly. Have been my whole life, sadly. I am not, however, a delusional one. I want the whole thing burned to the ground, and that's what they appear to be doing. New GM, new coach, and a new era. The team made sure to point all of this out in its latest social media blast.

Family members say the man killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, was an intensive care nurse at the Veterans Administration who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Trump's immigration crackdown in his city. They told The Associated Press he was an avid outdoorsman who loved getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He had participated in protests following the killing of Renee Good, who was shot behind the wheel of her SUV by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Law Enforcement officer earlier this...

Politics Strange Bedfellows: Meet the PAC Working to Reelect Thomas Massie—And Partnering With the DSA to Fight ICE The embattled Kentucky congressman traveled to Pennsylvania to meet with IPAC around the time its founder wrote his campaign a check Thomas Massie poses with IPAC chairman Rafed Aljoboury (IPAC7_ORG/X) Collin Anderson October 16, 2025 Earlier this year, in June, Integrity Political Action Committee (IPAC) announced a "new coalition" with the Democratic Socialists of America aimed at fighting ICE's "crackdown on immigration violations." Two months later, an unlikely figure traveled to the area to meet with IPAC's leaders: Rep. Thomas Massie, the...

Summary of the conversation between Dave Rubin and Ayaan Hirsi AliAyaan Hirsi Ali discusses her Somali background, born in 1969 shortly after independence, highlighting how clan bloodlines remain the core identity and social welfare system in Somali society, supplemented by Islam. She describes the persistence of clan dynamics even in diaspora communities, such as the 70,000–80,000 Somalis in Minnesota, where clan loyalties shape behavior, voting, and resource allocation.She explains that clan orientation views taking from external systems (e.g., welfare fraud) not as theft but as helping the in-group, contrasting this with modern nation-state principles. She frames the Minnesota situation as...

Mayor Mamdani on Saturday accused ICE of terrorizing cities nationwide after federal agents shot and killed an armed 37-year-old anti-ICE protestor in Minneapolis. “As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis today,” Mamdani said on X in his latest attack on the agency. “ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE.”

Chaos erupted in Minneapolis Saturday after hundreds of protesters faced off against federal agents in the wake of the fatal shooting of an armed man who allegedly tried to intervene in the arrest of a criminal migrant. One Homeland Security agent even lost a finger in the violence, according to DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who posted photos of a sobbing demonstrator — and the bloody, severed digit. “In Minneapolis, these rioters attacked our law enforcement officer and one of them bit off our HSI officer’s finger,” she posted on X, adding, “He will lose his finger.”

Britain has learned, after a roller coaster year that ended in a tense confrontation over Greenland, that it cannot change President Trump. The more tantalizing question is whether Mr. Trump has changed Britain. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s charm offensive toward the president did not spare Britain a fusillade of new tariff threats and stinging social media posts over the British government’s opposition to Mr. Trump’s designs on Greenland. Mr. Starmer might argue that Mr. Trump’s subsequent climb-down validated his emollient approach. Still, Mr. Trump also turned against a deal made by Mr. Starmer, which he had previously endorsed, to relinquish...

The man shot dead during a struggle with federal agents in Minneapolis has been identified as an intensive care nurse who treated critically ill military veterans. Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was killed shortly after 9am Saturday after an altercation involving multiple federal officers. Minneapolis police confirmed the deceased was a white, 37‑year‑old Minnesota resident and US citizen. Pretti's friends have since confirmed his identity to the Daily Mail as they paid tribute to the 'good, kind' who they say was 'executed' by a Border Patrol agent. The University of Minnesota alumnus most recently listed himself as a ‘junior scientist’ on...

Summary Largest regional grid sees electricity prices spike MISO imports power from another grid to meet demand amid gas supply constraints Texas grid faces winter storm test, but improvements reduce blackout risk BOSTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. electric grid operators on Saturday stepped up precautions to avoid rotating blackouts, as frigid weather hitting half of the country's population stressed their operations. The PJM Interconnection - the largest U.S. regional grid that serves 67 million people in the East and Mid-Atlantic - reported temporary spikes in spot wholesale electricity prices that soared above $3,000 per megawatt hour on Saturday morning...

Federal judges in Minnesota have several times in recent weeks rejected arrest warrants for people protesting a surge of immigration officers in that state, finding that federal agents do not have sufficient evidence that protesters assaulted officers or committed other crimes, according to two people briefed on the discussions. In these sealed court proceedings, magistrate judges in the federal court in Minnesota have been deluged with requests from federal prosecutors to arrest and criminally charge protesters. The rise in requests comes amid increasing clashes between protesters and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after a surge of federal officers arriving in...

Per capita per unit time, suppose around 30,000 Iranians were massacred in just a couple of days. Let’s contrast that with Gazan civilian deaths, which may be of the same order of magnitude relative to population, but spread over two years. Let’s put Gazan deaths at 50,000 (a likely overestimate). Iran: 167 deaths per million per day (30,000 of 90 million killed in 2 days) Gaza: 34 deaths per million per day (50,000 of 2 million killed in 2 years) Even this is not a fair comparison. Per-capita rates implicitly treat all 90 million Iranians as equally at risk as...

The Iranian protests reveal the “pro-Palestine” lie. Moment 586. Jan 18, 2026 Mark Changizi. YouTube. Dr. Mark Jangzizi, here's your science moment. They claimed that they were only pro Palestine, not pro- Hamas. They told us over and over again, "We're not pro Hamas, we're just pro Palestine." Now, never mind that the 10/7 war wasn't about Palestine at all. It was about Gaza. The Palestine Authority wasn't even part of the broad conflict that had half a dozen Islamic Republic proxies. Never mind that they never spoke out against Hamas, who had been Gaza's brutal, unelected oppressor for a...