Free Republic

With so much going on in the world, it's easy to forget that it's only been a little over a year since Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was killed. He was allegedly gunned down by Luigi Mangione, who is awaiting trial on both state and federal charges in conjunction with Thompson's murder. In his alleged manifesto, Mangione wrote "these parasites had it coming" and "I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done." Several prominent Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, defended Mangione's actions, essentially saying violence is wrong, but UnitedHealthcare...

According to a Politico report citing an internal Pentagon notification, United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has requested additional military intelligence officers to support operations against Iran for at least 100 days and possibly through September. When the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran last Saturday, the operation was framed as a swift military campaign. Donald Trump later described it as a limited effort expected to last roughly four to five weeks. ...

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told CBS News’ Alan He on Thursday that President Donald Trump called him after his grilling of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem the day before, and suggested that Noem’s under oath testimony had not been accurate. Noem and Kennedy tussled during a Senate hearing on Wednesday over the hundreds of millions of dollars she spent on a pro-ICE ad campaign she starred in. “The president approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently?” Kennedy asked Noem during the hearing. “Yes sir, we went through...

After Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines decided to end his reelection bid Wednesday evening, observers noticed similarities between him and a Democratic lawmaker who made a similar move months ago. As Montana’s candidate filing deadline approached at 5 p.m. MST Wednesday, Daines — who had been seeking a third term — suddenly withdrew his bid, later announcing in a video statement that his decision came after “much careful thought.” The retiring senator quickly threw his support behind Republican Kurt Alme, a U.S. attorney in the Trump administration who entered the race just eight minutes before the filing deadline, according to...

A social media post from James Talarico about his “white skin” giving him “immunity” from the “virus of racism” has left the Democratic US Senate nominee from Texas wide open to attacks from Republicans and other pundits, who attacked his message as “peak woke” and openly racist. GOP Gov. Greg Abbott said the pro-Black Lives Matter post is proof that Talarico “is toast” in the Nov. 3 contest, in which Democrats are seeking to win one of Texas’ two US Senate seats for the first time since 1988. Talarico, a state legislator who triumphed over US Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas)...

President Trump’s political advisers expect him to endorse Senator John Cornyn in Texas’s May 26 Republican-primary runoff election following the incumbent’s better-than-expected finish against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the first round of voting yesterday, three people briefed on the deliberations told us. Trump declined to get involved in the race before the first round of voting, and Republican Senate strategists had been worried that he wouldn’t endorse Cornyn, who has been critical of the president in the past. Strategists have also warned that Paxton, a scandal-scarred favorite of Trump’s MAGA base, would need more money from top GOP...

@KenPaxtonTX The Save America Act is the most important bill the U.S. Senate could ever pass, and I'm committed to helping President Trump get it done. I would consider dropping out of this race if Senate Leadership agrees to lift the filibuster and passes the SAVE America Act. John Cornyn is a coward who has refused to support abolishing the filibuster to pass this bill. Now, Fake News reporters and the establishment are trying to destroy me with misinformation. The truth is clear: No one has been more loyal to Donald Trump than me—fighting the stolen 2020 election, being in...

VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — Britney Spears was arrested Wednesday night in Southern California and booked early the following morning, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s office, which didn’t say what charge she faces. Messages seeking comment were left with the sheriff’s office; the California Highway Patrol, which was identified as the arresting agency; and Spears’ representative. Spears was arrested around 9:30 p.m. in Ventura County and released on Thursday, sheriff’s office records show. She has a May 4 court date scheduled. Spears, 44, born in Mississippi and raised in Louisiana, was a teen pop phenomenon who became a defining superstar...

It was just confirmed that President Trump has a HIGHER approval rating than both Barack Hussein Obama and George Bush at this point in their 2nd terms — RealClearPolitics

“The government is supposed to be more powerful than private companies,” Altman said during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei criticized Altman’s relationship with the Trump administration in a memo to employees on Friday, according to a report from The Information. Amodei reportedly wrote that Anthropic has not given “dictator-style praise to Trump,” while Altman has. The Department of Defense has clashed with Anthropic in recent weeks over how the agency can use its artificial intelligence models. Negotiations escalated, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared Anthropic a “Supply-Chain Risk to National Security” in a...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican ends probe into priest accused of ‘physical and psychological abuse’ at youth campsThe Vatican closed the canonical case against Fr. Valentino Salvoldi after declining to waive the statute of limitations, mirroring the earlier dismissal of the civil case.The Vatican has closed the canonical case against an Italian missionary priest accused by more than 20 people of sexual and psychological abuse.In 2025, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed that it would not lift the statute of limitations in the case of Father Valentino Salvoldi, an 80‑year‑old priest from the Diocese of Bergamo, accused by at...

A purported US government contractor accused of stealing more than $46 million in crypto from the US Marshals Service was busted on the island of Saint Martin in a coordinated operation between the FBI and the French Gendarmerie, FBI Director Kash Patel announced. John Daghita’s since-deleted LinkedIn page identifies him as working for Virginia-based Command Services & Support (CMDSS), a technology firm led by his father, Dean Daghita, which held contracts with the Marshals Service for managing seized digital assets. The younger Daghita was reportedly able to access private crypto addresses — and millions of dollars in funds — through...

I have argued that the current economic environment has a lot of eerie parallels to 2007. We have extremely high asset valuations, the economy is loaded up with debt, and monetary policy has taken a similar trajectory, with easy money blowing up these bubbles. We even have characters like Larry Kudlow talking up the economy just like they did in 2007. I'm not the only one who sees these concerning parallels. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently said elevated asset prices and an increasingly competitive banking environment, pushing more credit, remind him of the pre-2008 financial crisis years. "My own...

The Manassas Mosque, sandwiched in a strip mall just 30 miles from Washington, DC, is facing its own fight for survival after commemorating 'our leader' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a day after he was killed in an airstrike in Tehran. The Daily Mail has learned that the imam of the mosque Abolfazl Bahram Nahidian, who goes by Abu Nahidian, is trapped in Tehran with his wife. 'He's okay, but he wanted us to know that if anything happens to him, we should continue what we're doing here in the mosque,' Beyah said. 'Did he say we should retaliate for what is...

Donald Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles is demanding action to bring gas prices down as the war with Iran sends oil skyrocketing, sources have revealed. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other top officials, including a council led by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, 'are getting screamed at to find some good news', industry executives said. Iran has shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil flows, sending prices soaring more than 10 percent in a single week, with Brent crude jumping from $72 to more than $82 a barrel. The average gas price jumped 11...

I live in Phoenix. Not much rain but gopher holes around the perimeter of my back yard. Evidently a very healthy gopher. I need Bill Murray. I did try a product called 'Gopher Scram' and everywhere I put it he did scram but problem is he scrammed to a different place in the yard. I read you have to keep reapplying the 'scram' every 30 days in areas that rain maybe? But it worked from the get go and I could just go and do that again. Considering more Gopher Scram because it did work but anyone have any input...

Job 23:10-11 (King James Version) But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Listening to the Buggy Whip Press explaining the Iran attacks to the American people is like watching a monkey typing Shakespeare. Trump has such an amazing gift of exposing everyone for exactly who they are and what they are not. Nobody believes them or listens to them since they know the standard reporting will be Trump bad Iran good, so why listen...

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) told Angel Families who were present in the audience that he was “sorry,” but that Americans are more likely to be murdered by fellow Americans than illegal aliens. “For the folks that are here and your families, I’m sorry. It’s terrible what happened to your children and family members, but they are more likely, American citizens are more likely to be attacked by United States citizens who are not undocumented who came here and who were born here,” Cohen told Angel Families. “[Americans] are more likely to commit...

More than five years after the high-profile detention of two Australian bloggers, another overland journey through Iran would end in far lengthier imprisonment. British nationals Craig Foreman and Lindsay Foreman, both in their 50s, entered Iran on December 30, 2024 during a round-the-world motorcycle expedition. They crossed from Armenia with valid tourist visas, an approved travel plan, and a licensed Iranian guide. Family members said the couple intended to transit the country en route to Pakistan before continuing toward Australia. Their case followed an earlier incident that had already drawn international scrutiny. In July 2019, Australian travel bloggers Jolie King...

A failure at Cuba’s main thermoelectric plant has caused a massive blackout affecting two-thirds of the island, the Cuban government confirmed Wednesday. The partial collapse of the island’s National Electric System (SEN) — the second in a month — has left nearly 7 million of the island’s almost 10 million inhabitants without power. The outage is also affecting the capital, Havana. The government has not yet specified the reasons for the blackout, which is affecting 10 of the country’s 15 provinces, from Camagüey in the east to Pinar del Río in the west. According to state television, an “unforeseen shutdown”...