Free Republic

My latest song. Yeah, it's a silly name.

Iran’s new Supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei released his first statement Thursday vowing to use the “lever” of closing the Strait of Hormuz to international energy shipping — after reports circulated that he was in a coma and had his leg amputated after being severely injured in the US-Israeli strikes that killed his father and other family members. The lengthy message was read out on Iranian state TV by an anchor as an image of Khamenei was displayed on screen, a break from tradition. No explanation was given for why the 56-year-old did not appear in the flesh, with experts suggesting...

"Our Father who art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9). Prayer begins with the recognition that God is your Father and has the resources to meet your needs. The term Father is one of the most commonly used terms in our prayers, and rightly so because that's how Jesus taught us to pray. But as common as that term is to us, it was very uncommon to the people of Christ's day. Then, most of the people who worshiped false gods thought of them as distant, capricious, and immoral beings that were to be feared. Even the Jewish people, who should have...

Daily Readings from the USCCBAnd when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions. Mark 12:34Among the scribes and Pharisees, the scribe in today’s Gospel stands out. He got it right, and Jesus praised him for his openness and understanding. The scribe began by asking Jesus a question: “Which is the first of all the commandments?” At that time, the scribes and Pharisees often debated the question of which commandments were most important. From the Torah, the first...

Rep. Eric Swalwell’s claims about living in a rented California home have raised “red flags” among members of the state Democratic Party after multiple neighbors at his supposed home of nine years have never seen or met him. The Democrat frontrunner for Governor claims he’s lived since 2017 with another family in a 1,350-square-foot Livermore home owned by the sister-in-law of his political mentor, Tim Sbranti. But five neighbors failed to identify Swalwell on Wednesday when The Post showed them a picture of the congressman and identified him by name. “I’ve never seen him,” said Gita Prusty, who noted she’s...

Last week, Netflix made one of its biggest acquisition moves yet, buying InterPositive, an AI company co-founded by Ben Affleck. While the financial details were not initially disclosed, sources told Bloomberg the deal could be worth as much as $600 million.

For around 700 years, Native people of the American Great Plains hunted bison at a site in central Montana that archaeologists call Bergstrom. Then, around 1,100 years ago, humans abandoned the site even though bison remained abundant in the area, according to a statement released by Frontiers. "The Bergstrom site presented a puzzle," paleoecologist John Wendt of New Mexico State University said. "Why would hunters stop using a site that had worked for so long?" In 2019, Wendt's team began digging and investigating three-foot-by-three-foot excavation pits to try to better understand the Bergstrom site's use and eventual disuse. Researchers collected...

As fascinating as drone warfare can be — particularly the seemingly sci-fi drone-vs-drone variety — keeping up with all the developments is a fool's errand. Yesterday's hot new thing is practically outdated today, and today's hot new thing may look obsolete tomorrow. That's an exaggeration, of course, but some days it doesn't seem like much of one. That's why today's news about Ukraine's Sting counter-drone caught my eye, and what it might mean for U.S. and other Western forces going forward. I vaguely remembered reading something about the Sting a year or more ago, but I just learned today that...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness". (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

What if I told you that a woman who has pleaded guilty to filing a false police report told a tall tale about the Department of Homeland Security kidnapping her and holding her in two different states incommunicado? Would you automatically assume it is true and broadcast it as news to the world, creating a viral story that dominated discussion about ICE abuses for days? Or would you check it out first? Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi, a U.S. citizen from Skokie, spent nearly 30 hours in custody by federal immigration officials after she was detained at O’Hare Airport last week. Naqvi's...

Let me begin by putting all my cards face-up on the table. No one wishes the SAVE Act, requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo-ID in order to cast a ballot, to become law more than I. Currently, in my home state of California, it's actually illegal here to both ask for ID at polling places and to show ID. Elections are held open for weeks until enough stray mail-in ballots, which for some reason break for Democrats every single time, flow in to swing a total that at one point showed promise of sanity in...

Sunday morning a man shoved two people onto the subway tracks in New York City. Both of the people he shoved were complete strangers.A maniac randomly shoved two straphangers – including an 83-year-old man – onto Upper East Side subway tracks just before noon Sunday, cops and law-enforcement sources said.The elderly victim and a 31-year-old man were separately waiting for a train at the Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station in Manhattan around 11:40 a.m. when the fiend came up from behind and thrust the two onto the rails below, police said.Luckily, there was no train coming at the time this happened....

During the first hour of Operation Epic Fury, Iran's Islamic government was obliterated. An Israeli airstrike struck a leadership meeting at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's compound in Tehran around 8 a.m. (Tehran time) on February 28. Not only was Khameini killed, but the casualty list included about 40 other senior officials who could reasonably be in the line of succession. In fact, it seems as though the mullahs have elected one of the victims of the airstrike, Mojtaba Khamenei, as their Grand Poohbah. He hasn't been seen (White House Trolls Iran As Regime Tries to Hide ‘Supreme Leader’ Condition – RedState)...

Florsheim, the shoe brand President Donald Trump has been widely reported to favor and gift to allies, is owned by a parent company that is suing his administration over tariffs imposed during his second term. Weyco Group Inc., which owns Florsheim Shoe Company, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade in December challenging the legality of those tariffs and seeking refunds for duties it says were unlawfully collected.

Global energy markets are bracing for a potential supply shock after Iran’s new Supreme Leader vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed while attacks on commercial ships intensified across the Persian Gulf. In his first public comments since taking power, Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a stark warning about the future of the conflict and the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz.Khamenei said Thursday that the maritime corridor must remain closed as leverage against Iran’s enemies.“The closure of the Strait of Hormuz should continue as a tool to pressure the enemy,” he said in televised...

Depending on your passport, it’s been a tough spring for Canada versus the United States. Back in February at the Winter Olympics, the Canadian women’s hockey team lost the gold medal game to the United States, 2-1 in overtime. The men’s team lost their gold medal game… to the United States… 2-1 in overtime. George Springer might still be celebrating that one. It’s time for Round 3. For the first time in the national program’s history, Team Canada has advanced out of pool play at the World Baseball Classic. Its reward for winning Pool A? A date with the United...

Priest: ‘Too many in the Church’ would rather condemn the SSPX instead of abortion, sodomyThe Vatican/SSPX dispute is an unfortunate situation for sure. But is it an intrinsically evil act to ordain bishops without the Pope's approval?I get most all of my news regarding the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals from an old married couple at the nursing home. When I pop in they are almost always glued to the TV, watching sports.On a recent visit I was somewhat surprised when the topic of religion came up before athletics. Before we started in about the Chiefs’ backfield or the Royals’...

For a topic that occupies nearly a third of the Bible, the end times remain one of the most misunderstood areas of Scripture. Many Christians care deeply about God's Word, attend church faithfully, and read their Bibles regularly, yet still feel uncertain when the conversation turns to prophecy. For some, the subject feels intimidating. For others, it feels divisive. For many, it simply feels overwhelming.Conversations about the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Antichrist, the Millennium, or the eternal state can quickly become technical or emotionally charged. Instead of clarity, believers often walk away with more questions than confidence. But this confusion...

The Trump administration temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil “stranded at sea” Thursday in an effort to contain skyrocketing energy prices due to Iranian threats against tanker ships. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the move as one of President Trump’s “decisive steps to promote stability in global energy markets” and keep oil prices low amid the “threat and instability posed by the terrorist Iranian regime.”

“World War III” is not a phrase to be casually tossed around, yet declaring its impending eruption has become a staple of political punditry. The current war in the Middle East is no different. The British media has debated how their country could get sucked into World War III if it allowed U.S. aircraft to use British air bases on their way to bomb Iran. In 2022 and 2023, figures including John Mearsheimer, Tucker Carlson, and Elon Musk warned that helping Ukraine fight Russia would set off a global conflagration. A recent poll conducted by Politico found that a majority...