Free Republic

At present, there is no sign of de-escalation in the Iran conflict. The Strait of Hormuz has become a geopolitical chokepoint that could plunge the global economy into a severe crisis. While European governments work on emergency plans to mitigate soaring energy prices, the maritime insurance market is experiencing a seismic shock. War is raging in Iran. Amid the fog of propaganda, it is increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction, to distinguish AI-generated material from actual bomb strikes, and to see behind the carefully woven veil of media spin and national interests. Yet, we attempt here to make sense...

Bombing of energy infrastructure in Tehran sparks toxic rainfall warnings, record crude price surge, and accusations of war crimes as fires and smoke engulf Iran’s capital.The bombing of major Iranian oil depots and energy infrastructure around Tehran by a United States and Israeli military coalition has triggered massive fires across the Iranian capital, sent crude oil prices surging, and prompted warnings of a growing environmental and humanitarian crisis.The strikes targeted multiple fuel storage facilities in Tehran and nearby provinces and were described by observers as a major escalation in the widening conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel....

Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes I verified this and it’s true“Lab-grown chocolate is coming to shelves in 2027. Oreo, Cadbury and Toblerone are already funding the Israeli biotech producing it because a lab is cheaper than a farm”“Cadbury has been quietly replacing your chocolate — This dairy milk isn't legal chocolate in 27 countries, the cocoa butter was replaced with vegetable fat, a cheap blend of 6 industrial oils. What remains is diluted with polyglycerol — Soon even that gets replaced, you'll be eating cells grown in a pharmaceutical tank”Cadbury Dairy Milk (in the UK and many markets) has included vegetable...

Susan Robinson, a physician known for performing abortions later in pregnancy and who worked with providers in Albuquerque, has died. Her death is drawing renewed attention to New Mexico’s role in the national abortion industry and Albuquerque’s connection to one of the country’s most widely known facilities offering the procedure. ​Robinson’s death was confirmed in a public statement by abortion provider Shelly Sella, who worked alongside Robinson providing third-trimester abortion services in both Wichita, Kansas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Dr. Susan Robinson died this morning, less than a year from her cancer diagnosis,” Sella wrote in a public post. “Susan...

CBS poll reveals strong 76% public approval for short military action against Iran, contradicting Democrat views... InteractivePolls @IAPolls2022: CBS POLL: Approve/Disapprove of Military action against Iran if think conflict would last... 🟢 Days/Weeks: 76-24 (+52) 🟤 Months: 46-54 (-8) 🔴 Years: 13-87 (-74) https://x.com/IAPolls2022/status/2028962183049097691

In Indiana, a Marion County Superior Court judge issued a permanent injunction March 5 blocking enforcement of Indiana’s abortion ban on the outrageous claim that there is a so-called religious right to kill babies in abortions. The judge blocked the ban for a certified class of people who claim killing a baby in an abortion is an exercise of their religious beliefs. The ruling is prompting sharp criticism from pro-life advocates, who called the decision a perversion of religious freedom protections. Judge Christina R. Klineman ruled that the state’s 2022 abortion law violates Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act by substantially...

Multiple white male police officers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are suing the Philadelphia Police Department over alleged discriminatory hiring and promotion practices. The lawsuit — filed by America First Legal on behalf of five white police officers — contended that the law enforcement professionals were “passed over for promotions and denied advancement because of their race and sex,” according to a Feb. 26 release from the group. Philadelphia allegedly tried to conform the racial demographics of the police force to the population of the overall city, causing them to pass over white officers for promotions.

You can't make it up. A Nashville, Tennessee, reporter was detained because she's apparently in the country illegally. In a written statement, a spokeswoman for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said on Friday that Ms. Rodriguez had overstayed her tourist visa 'and currently has no lawful immigration status.' But even amid the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement operations, Ms. Rodriguez is an unusual target for detention. She has an active asylum case, a pending green card application through her American husband and no criminal record. In the past, immigrants applying for green cards through their American spouses were not subject to...

TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is issuing a safety warning to civilians in Iran, March 8, as Iran’s terrorist regime blatantly disregards the safety of innocent people. The Iranian regime is using heavily populated civilian areas to conduct military operations, including launching one-way attack drones and ballistic missiles. This dangerous decision risks the lives of all civilians in Iran since locations used for military purposes lose protected status and could become legitimate military targets under international law. Iranian forces are using crowded areas surrounded by civilians in cities such as Dezful, Esfahan and Shiraz to launch attack drones...

In August of 2025, long before trans-shooters Robert Dorgan and Jesse Van Rootselaar shot and killed 11 in Pawtucket RI and Tumbler Ridge, BC., Phillip Wharton blatantly and quite publicly threatened the life of President Trump and still no one in law enforcement can bring themselves to seriously consider there may be a prescription psychiatric drug problem affecting the trans-identified. Twenty-year-old Wharton is of interest because, like those before him who carried out their murderous rampages he, too, identifies as “trans.” One can only wonder if Wharton had not shown up on law enforcement radar would he actually have attempted...

An Israeli source added to the Post that UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka will arrive in Israel on Monday amid the ongoing escalation. Hezbollah has instructed its members to confront the Lebanese army should it attempt to intervene with the group's activities, a source familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post. “The instruction is very clear: if the Lebanese army attempts to dismantle a position or prevent rocket fire, confront them,” the source said.

TEHRAN — As the conflict in the Middle East stretched into a second week, the Iranian government issued a public statement boasting that it had destroyed hundreds of U.S. missiles with its buildings. Despite losing dozens of members of its leadership, the embattled Ayatollah's regime remained defiant while taunting the world that it had successfully wiped out hundreds — if not thousands — of U.S. missiles, drones, and bombs by blocking them with buildings and military bases throughout the country. "The wreckage of their bombs can be seen strewn throughout the rubble of our cities," new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei...

Republicans attempting to oust Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie in a bitter primary are deploying his opposition to the war in Iran. The Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund on Thursday released an ad supporting Ed Gallrein, the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump, that focuses on Massie’s opposition to the war. “America is at war with a fanatical regime that seeks nuclear weapons. American hero Ed Gallrein stands with President Trump, our country and our military,” a narrator says in the 30-second spot. “Thomas Massie, he stands with Iran and radical leftists in Congress,” the narrator says, “opposing Trump just like...

It turns out that in addition to fraudulent payments of federal aid in Minnesota meant for feeding children and providing daycare to children of working parents it has been revealed that fraudulent payments for autism therapy must now be added to the list. In testimony given in Congress it was pointed out to Gov. Tim Walz, that in 2017 about $1 million in federal funds was paid to help fight autism. In 2024, $343 million was paid. Walz admitted being totally ignorant and unembarrassed by this revelation, saying "I'm not a financial genius. I am only a governor. I can't...

Every few years, Washington rediscovers fraud. A viral clip of someone misusing food stamps. A headline about child care providers in Minnesota. A politician promising to crack down on “fraud and abuse.” The ritual is familiar. And the response is always the same: more paperwork, more surveillance, more hoops to jump through for people who are already struggling.

Investing.com - U.S. stocks were a sea of red on Monday as the escalating conflict in the Middle East pushed oil prices to $100 a barrel, raising fears that higher energy costs could weigh on the economy. At 09:43 ET (13:43 GMT), the benchmark S&P 500 index slid 1.2% to 6,655.57 points, the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite slumped 1.3% to 22,103.06 points, and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.4% to 46,846.08 points.

The FBI is expanding its criminal probe into suspected election irregularities, secretly obtaining a large tranche of voting records from Arizona’s largest county with a recent grand jury subpoena, multiple people familiar with the probe told Just the News. The sources, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the grand jury probe, said FBI agents are receiving gigabytes of electronic election data from Maricopa County, about a month after the bureau first disclosed an investigation into election irregularities by raiding a warehouse near Atlanta and seizing ballots from the 2020 election conducted in Fulton County,...

Ukraine has received only about 600 advanced interceptor missiles for the MIM-104 Patriot air defense system during the entire course of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian officials told The New York Times. Dmytro Lytvyn, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Kyiv had received roughly that number of interceptor missiles over four years of war. Ukraine has repeatedly urged Western partners to provide additional Patriot systems and interceptor missiles as Russia continues to launch large-scale missile strikes targeting cities and critical infrastructure. The Patriot system remains among the few air defense platforms capable of reliably intercepting advanced ballistic missiles, including...

Government efforts to protect Muslims from abuse will in "no way" restrict people's freedom to criticise Islam, the communities secretary has said. Steve Reed told the BBC he believes a new definition of "anti-Muslim hostility" included in the government's social cohesion plan finds the right balance. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) last year raised concerns that a new definition risked creating a "chilling effect" on freedom of expression. The social cohesion plan, which will be published on Monday, also includes measures aimed at promoting integration and tackling "extremist influence" in institutions, such as charities and universities. An independent...

Large language models aren’t good at lots of stuff, like counting fingers or suggesting pizza recipes. But one thing that “AI” is quite good at is analyzing massive amounts of data and finding possible connections that aren’t immediately obvious. That makes it perfect for unmasking anonymous internet posts, according to a new research paper. Researchers at ETH Zurich and the MATS research fellowship associated with Berkeley ran a program [PDF], collecting data from sources with generally anonymous usernames, like Reddit. By collecting users’ posts across related but distinct movie subreddits, then feeding the LLM data from a Netflix data leak,...