Free Republic

We all have a life interest in a frank discussion of issues regarding the likelihood that Iran will get nuked. There is traction to be gained from learning about ancient Israel's singlemindedness during their ancestors' self-sacrifice at Masada, especially considering that if Israel nukes Iran … "that might not quite be the last word in the story." This is to say, that Israel's present-day singlemindedness in eliminating Iran, might have some characteristics similar to the history of Masada. This is because credible commentators have predicted that Iran may be announcing that they are nuclear weapon equipped within a matter of...

All six crew members aboard a US KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq on Thursday have been confirmed dead, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced today. In a post on social media, CENTCOM stated, “All six crew members aboard a US KC-135 refueling aircraft that went down in western Iraq are now confirmed deceased." .....

A convicted teen murderer on furlough cut off his ankle monitor and vanished for two days in Orange County. Jose Angel Aguilar was a juvenile when he murdered someone in Anaheim back in 2021. Specific details about the case are not public. Since then, he has been serving time at an Orange County Probation Department juvenile facility. Aguilar has been caught after his brief escape, but the incident has raised troubling questions. The probation department says they were made aware that the juvenile court granted Aguilar access to a weekly academic furlough in February. On March 6, they went to...

No power here in eastern Honolulu. Out all night and continuing this morning. High winds took off part of our plastic lanai roof, uprooted tree in front yard which is currently covering sidewalk. Cable box cover torn off and blown into front yard. You'd think a hurricane came through. No ETA of power return. Ah! Life in paradise.

Tennessee grandmother spent nearly six months behind bars in North Dakota, a state she had never even stepped foot in, after being wrongfully identified by AI facial recognition technology in a bank fraud investigation. The Grand Forks Herald reports that Angela Lipps, a 50-year-old mother of three... from Tennessee, found herself trapped in a nightmare that began last July when U.S. Marshals arrested her at gunpoint while she was babysitting four young children. Fargo police had used facial recognition software to identify her as the primary suspect in an organized bank fraud case, despite the fact that she had never...

Russia has delivered more than 13 tons of emergency medical supplies to Iran via Azerbaijan, as the ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel intensifies. The aid package, consisting primarily of medicines and essential hospital equipment, was dispatched on the direct orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin to address urgent healthcare shortages following weeks of heavy bombardment. The humanitarian shipment was transported by a specialised Il-76 aircraft from Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry to Azerbaijan, from where it was transferred to the Iranian Red Crescent Society for final delivery. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the aid was...

Republican candidate for governor in Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, trails Democrat Amy Acton by 10 points, a new poll from EMC Research, Inc., shows on Thursday. Newsweek reached out to political analysts via email for comment. Why It Matters Ohio has not elected a Democratic governor since 2006. Ramaswamy, a wealthy entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, comes with name recognition while Acton, a physician and former state health director, shows solid numbers with key groups in recent surveys. Ramaswamy, a supporter of President Donald Trump, was tapped to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk in Trump's second term....

According to a statement released by the University of New Hampshire, Meghan Howey and Michael Palace of the University of New Hampshire compared temperature data collected by Landsat 8 satellite thermal sensor between 2014 and 2024 and the locations of burial mounds built between A.D. 1200 and 1600 in what is now Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The researchers discovered that the Anishinaabeg, who lived in the Great Lakes area, built burial mounds near more circular-shaped lakes that warmed later in spring and cooled later in fall. Placement of the mounds may therefore have been associated with a longer maize growing season,...

In 2020, 65% of Virginia's voters approved a Congressional district map that resulted in the state electing six Democrats and five Republicans--a 55% to 45% split--to represent the state in Washington, DC. The Democrat majority in the state legislature is presenting a new map that is expected to result in the state electing ten Democrats and one Republican--a 91% to 9% split--to represent the state in Washington. The ballot language asks voters: "Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia's...

A California appeals court backed a child who wrote “any life” and innocently drew the thumbprints of her friends under “Black Lives Matter” in a picture at school, which she was later punished for. A lower court previously backed the child’s school principal, Jesus Becerra, who worked at Viejo Elementary School in Mission Viejo, California.

Senate Democrats have filed legislation that would stop the U.S. from going to war with Cuba without congressional approval as President Trump has threatened a “takeover” of the country. Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.) and Adam Schiff (Calif.) on Thursday filed the war powers resolution, which could receive a vote by the end of the month. The resolution comes as Trump has said the U.S. could carry out a “friendly” or “not friendly takeover” of Cuba, predicting the collapse of the 67-year communist rule under pressure from the U.S. “Only Congress has the power to declare war...

Massive crowds in Tehran burned US and Israeli flags during Al-Quds Day demonstrations supporting the Palestinian cause.

A 22-year-old convicted murderer was arrested after he cut off his GPS monitoring device while attending classes at an Orange County community college, authorities said. Jose Angel Aguilar, 22, was serving time at a juvenile facility for a murder he committed in 2021 when he was 17, according to the Orange County Probation Department. On Feb. 2, the juvenile court granted Aguilar a weekly release to attend classes at Santiago Canyon College.

The last time I wrote about Havana Syndrome was back in January of 2025. US Intelligence Agencies had officially determined in 2023 that Havana Syndrome was not the result of an attack by a state actor. Advertisement Five of those agencies determined it was “very unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for the symptoms, either as the result of purposeful actions — such as a directed energy weapon — or as the byproduct of some other activity, including electronic surveillance that unintentionally could have made people sick, the officials said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe...

Demonizing the Jews is one of the oldest tricks in the bag. In the early Middle Ages, the accusations against the Jews of Europe started to erupt, and in the first quarter of the 21st century, they haven't stopped. Justin Martyr accused us of being Christ killers in "Dialogue with Tripho", as early as A.D. 160. John Chrysostom, might very well be the poster child for early Christian antisemitism. In his work Adversus Judaeos (387), he describes the Jews as "lucious, rapacious, greedy, destroyers, demon-possessed and assassins of Christ." Then came the ritual murder libel of 1141 when Jews were...

Dear FRiends, As you may have noticed, FR's Memorial Wall hasn't been updated in quite a while, since 2022. In that time, we've lost at least fifteen Freepers (probably more). These are friends who not only deserve a place of honor on the Wall but need a place where they can be "found" and remembered. To that end, we suggest the following update to the Wall (posted in the comments below). The tedious html work is already finished!All a moderator--or anyone with access--would have to do is copy-n-paste the updated html into the existing Wall's code, somewhere after the most...

Until last year, for some 46 years, Iran enjoyed a North Korea-like reputation in the heart of the Middle East: always unpredictable, reckless, dangerous, inevitably to be nuclear, self-destructive, and nihilistic. All that said, was it really ever all that formidable? The mullahs came into power after the removal of the Shah and, subsequently, the interim secular socialists. They did so by taking American hostages, murdering opponents, executing former supporters, and transforming the most secular and modern of the Middle East Muslim nations into the most medieval that routinely hung homosexuals, adulterers, and almost anyone who questioned the authority of...

On This Day

Iran's leadership and its triad of threats: nuclear ambiguity, surging missiles, and drone swarms – the very real hegemonic danger that extended far beyond the Middle East.For years, the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—the Iran nuclear deal—was sold as a historic diplomatic achievement that blocked Iran's path to a nuclear weapon for a generation. Supporters praised it as pragmatic restraint. Critics, including myself, saw it for what it really was: a temporary pause that let Iran preserve its nuclear infrastructure, accelerate its military capabilities, and wait out the sunset clauses.The deal was never designed to be permanent. Many...

Shapiro faces lawsuit over $830K property after allegedly using state police to bar neighbors from their own land