Free Republic

How Central Banks Plan to Control You | Catherine Fitts Interesting talk about money and power. Would like freeper input. What is to stop people from banding together and forming private bank entities like the Chinese do on chinatowns?

Archaeologists recently unearthed a gold-laden burial in Panama — an epic discovery that dates back over 1,000 years. The Ministry of Culture of Panama announced the discovery, made at the El Caño archaeological site in Panama's Coclé Province. The tomb contained several gold and metal artifacts, including chest plates, ear ornaments and bracelets, as well as "finely crafted ceramics." The tomb is called Tomb 3.

If there is one lesson the 20th century should have taught us, it is that governments make poor grocers. The image of Boris Yeltsin standing in a Texas supermarket in 1989, stunned into silence by the abundance of a randomly selected American grocery store, remains one of the most powerful indictments of central planning ever recorded. Yet, in New York City, history is being ignored. After just a month, the mayor is already involved in a controversy surrounding his refusal to clear homeless encampments, with tragic results. Despite these early failures, the enthusiasm among young people and Democrats is still...

Canada is set to pass a grim milestone in its medically-assisted suicide program with a total of 100,000 citizens projected to be euthanized by the government before its 10th anniversary on June 17. The Great White North’s MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying) program will soon cross the sickly six-figure threshold, according to The National Post. Ottawa’s most recent data shows 15,767 Canadians were euthanized by the state in 2024 — 5.1% of all deaths in the nation that year. Rachel Fournier, who has requested medical assistance in dying, looks out a window at a palliative care center. About 45 Canucks...

A Minnesota House hearing about “misclassification of workers” at the State Capitol this week somehow turned into a kerfuffle about the “benefit of shoplifting.” It happened during a presentation before the House Workforce, Labor and Economic Development Committee about worker misclassification. In short, a committee news release said, “worker misclassification is the illegal practice of treating employees as independent contractors to sidestep paying wages and benefits, while also cheating taxpayers.” During the presentation, Republican Rep. Isaac Schultz asked if any studies have been done about employers having to pay higher wages and benefits, leading to higher prices. “I wonder if,...

AUTHOR’S NOTE I’m a civilian data analyst. I am not a former military officer, intelligence analyst, or defense policy professional. I did something stupid for this article: I pirated a lot of military texts, mirrored multiple websites such as CSIS, loaded my workstation with every bit of data that I could think of, and threw it at AI agents. This was for my own education as much as it was yours. For military strategy and doctrine, I have relied on credentialed professional analysts: CSIS, ISW, CEPA, the Institute for Science and International Security, CENTCOM and IDF public statements, and Gen....

A federal court in New York City convicted an Iranian agent of attempting to assassinate US officials, including US President Donald Trump, in a trial that showcased allegations of Iran-backed plotting on American soil.The verdict on Friday came during the US-Israeli airstrike campaign against the Iranian regime. Asif Merchant, a business owner who has family in Pakistan and Iran, acknowledged during the trial that he sought to put an assassination plot in motion during the 2024 presidential campaign, which was quickly disrupted by American investigators before it had a chance to proceed. ...He admitted at trial that he attempted the...

CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett sat down with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday to discuss the war with Iran, potential American casualties, and what an Iranian surrender could look like. CBS aired an edited version of this full interview on TV on Sunday. "We're very much on track, on plan," Hegseth said. "We're not flying a mission accomplished banner-- like George W. Bush on-- on an aircraft carrier. We're not doing that and we haven't done that. But we can be clear with the American people that this is not a fair fight." "Our capabilities are overwhelming...

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The family of 55-year-old Steven Jones, the man who was shot nine times by a Hartford police officer while he was having a mental health crisis, will hold a press conference Monday.The family will be represented by a high-profile civil rights and personal injury attorney, Ben Crump. He’s best known for representing the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Randy Cox.

Islam has traditionally played an important role in the life of Chechen society. It has been a part of its ethnic identity for more than two centuries, and at critical times of national history it was a powerful source of social mobilization.Islamization of ChechnyaThe religion of the Muslims started to spread in the region in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was promoted by missionaries from the neighboring Dagestan (especially Kumyks), as well as through contacts of lowland Chechens with neighboring Kabardinians, Nogays, and Crimean Tatars. In Ichkeria – the mountainous region in south-eastern Chechnya – and in Ingushetia (where...

A little over 2 minute video...very sweet.

For a few years now, it has been blindingly obvious that New York had over-promised and over-committed on impossible “climate” goals that could not be achieved. In various posts I have referred to this as an approaching “cliff,” or perhaps as the “green energy wall.” It has been entertaining to ponder what the final disaster might look like. This week has had a lot of developments. Most interesting is the growing split among the governing Democrats between, on the one hand, those who see disaster coming and are looking for some kind of graceful exit and, on the other hand,...

9 March 2026Monday of the 3rd week of Lent (optional commemoration of Saint Frances of Rome, Religious)St Frances of Rome, Ross on Wye, UKReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet. Year: A(II).First reading2 Kings 5:1-15There were many lepers in Israel, but only Naaman, the Syrian, was curedNaaman, army commander to the king of Aram, was a man who enjoyed his master’s respect and favour, since through him the Lord had granted victory to the Aramaeans. But the man was a leper. Now on one of their raids, the Aramaeans had carried off from the land of Israel a little girl who had...

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son has been wounded in the Iran war, it emerged today after he was named as the country's new Supreme Leader. Mojtaba, 56, the second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was announced as his successor on Sunday after being appointed by the regime's 88-person assembly - despite previous opposition from his father. The 'vengeful' hardline cleric is already marked for assassination by Israel after it vowed to 'eliminate' whoever succeeded the slain Ayatollah, having killed him and Mojtaba's wife Zahra Haddad-Adel in strikes on the first day of the conflict. In one report on his...

Can Iran Wait it Out? In a section titled, Can Iran Win?, Jim begins by acknowledging that the U.S. and Israeli forces have done far more damage thus far: Notwithstanding Iran’s limited success in counterattacks, it’s clear that the U.S. and Israel have inflicted far more damage on Iran than Iran has inflicted on the region. That asymmetric damage ratio will continue to grow. The U.S. and Israeli attacks will expand even as Iran’s capacity to strike back is being heavily degraded. However, there are deeper considerations here. For example, while taking out the 86-year old Ayatollah Khamenei was satisfying...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem 🇮🇱(3/9/26)[Prayer]A New Study For A New Year: PersonalitiesGenesis 37:12- 36 12 And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. 14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came...

In 2024, Brandon Herrera, also known as the online personality The AK Guy, came very close to winning a runoff primary against Representative Tony Gonzales in the Texas Republican primary for District 23. The Texas Congressional District 23 extends over a vast, mostly rural area of west Texas. In the initial multi-candidate primary, Herrera won 24.6% of the vote. In the 2024 runoff, Herrera won 49.4% of the vote, very close to an upset victory. Texas District 23 is considered a “safe” Republican district. In the general election of 2024, Gonzales received 180,720 votes to Democratic candidate Santos Limon, who...

An out-of-control American Airlines passenger freaked out after she was kicked off the plane for playing videos on her loudspeaker. A video posted on February 26 captured a female passenger erupting at flight attendants after she was asked twice to use headphones. The woman is seen sitting in her seat, shouting profanities at the crew, before she is heard yelling: 'I played a video for 30 f***ing seconds, at 50 percent sound, and that's the f***ing reason you're kicking me off.'

A Bridgerton star has reignited the controversy over whether George III's wife Queen Charlotte, who is depicted in the Regency-era drama, was black in real life. Adjoa Andoh said of the royal, played by fellow black actress Golda Rosheuvel: 'Queen Charlotte wasn't fictionalised as a woman of colour, she was a woman of colour. You just have to do your historical research.' The actress – who in 2023 said the Buckingham Palace line-up after King Charles' coronation was 'terribly white' – said the Netflix series gave viewers 'a more realistic version of history'.

Britain's aircraft carrier could require a French escort to the Middle East as there are not enough Royal Navy ships to do the job. HMS Prince of Wales has been upgraded to advanced readiness, as criticism mounts over Britain's military response to the conflict with Iran. This means that the crew of the £3billion ship, currently undergoing repairs in Portsmouth, must be ready to sail with five days' notice.