Free Republic

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A California sheriff running for governor has seized more than half a million ballots cast in a November special election from county election officials, saying he’s investigating a ballot count discrepancy. County elections officials have disputed the claims by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, called Bianco’s move unprecedented and says it is designed to sow distrust in elections. Bianco held a news conference Friday saying his office had launched the investigation after receiving a complaint from a local citizens group about the ballot count from a November...

Yes, cigarette smoking is declining and has been for decades. Globally, the number of tobacco users dropped from 1.38 billion in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024. In the United States, 11.6% of adults smoked cigarettes in 2022, down from roughly 21% in 2005 and over 42% in the mid-1960s. The trend is clear and consistent, but the decline is uneven, with certain populations and regions lagging behind. The Global Picture About one in five adults worldwide still uses tobacco or nicotine products, roughly 20% of the global adult population. That’s a significant number, but it represents real progress. The...

An illegal Venezuelan migrant accused of executing a Loyola University Chicago freshman from New York entered the US under the Biden administration, and was released under Chicago’s sanctuary city laws before the killing, the Department of Homeland Security said Sunday. Jose Medina-Medina, 25, allegedly murdered 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman early Thursday morning while she walked along the Chicago lakefront with her friends, according to a DHS release obtained by Fox News. The illegal alien was caught and released at the border under President Joe Biden’s administration in May 2023, according to the DHS. Medina-Medina was also previously released from local custody...

The global population structure is undergoing an unprecedented shift. According to the latest data from the United Nations’ World Population Prospects 2024, an estimated 1.5 billion babies were born worldwide between 2015 and 2025. However, after peaking in 2016, annual birth numbers have generally trended downward. Despite brief periods of recovery, births in 2025 are projected to remain approximately 8.6% below the peak. Looking back at the past decade, 2016 marked the last peak of global fertility, with births reaching 144.85 million—the highest point during this period. Thereafter, the number of newborns worldwide began to decline year by year, dropping...

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) announced Sunday that House Republicans plan to block bills passed by the Senate until that chamber takes action on the SAVE America Act. “This is the issue of our time! I am fine with holding Sen. Thune hostage until we get this done. Figuratively, not literally,” the congresswoman said. She continued by noting agreement across demographic and political lines on the core principle, explaining that “every single person in [the] country agrees it only citizens should vote in our election.” Mace added that the measure represents the best step “to protect democracy.” The SAVE America...

Shortly before 2 p.m. on March 18, 2026, troopers responded to a New York Thruway Authority report of overpass strikes caused by a commercial truck hauling an over-height excavator on a flatbed trailer while driving west between Exits 30 and 36. Troopers located the suspect vehicle and performed a traffic stop on the 2019 Freightliner in the town of Salina. The truck driver was identified as Oleksander Tarakanovskyi, 38, of North Carolina. NYSP investigators determined that the over-height load had struck more than a dozen overpasses along a sixty mile stretch of the New York State Thruway. Troopers say that...

In an infamous Tucker Carlson style of advancing an agenda via "just asking questions", PBS Newshour's Amna Bawaz "interviewed" Mamdani. "Zohran Mamdani on his bold agenda, tackling Islamophobia [sic] and working with Trump." Mar 20, 2026. Since taking office as mayor (roughly 2.5–3 months prior to the current date of March 22, 2026), several controversies have emerged, primarily centered on his administration's early actions, appointments, personal/family associations, and policy decisions. These have drawn criticism from Jewish organizations, conservative media, some moderate Democrats, and others, often focusing on issues related to Israel/Palestine, antisemitism allegations, and personnel vetting. Many stem from his...

As the search for Nancy Guthrie hit its 50th day Sunday, leaving the local sheriff desperate and humiliated, a legendary cold-case detective insisted to The Post that the case is still ripe with potential leads. “Nancy’s case is still very fresh,” said Brian Martin, the crack detective from Fort Payne, Ind., who helped catch the killer of 8-year-old April Tinsley almost 30 years after her murder. Martin said he is optimistic that law enforcement will track down the abductor of the 84-year-old mom of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, after Nancy vanished with nary a trace from her home near...

George Lucas could be forgiven if he felt triumphant on March 22, 1976. That was the day cameras started rolling on Star Wars, his epic movie project that had already been underway for two years. Despite the success of his previous film, the coming-of-age story American Graffiti, the director struggled to secure studio support for his new movie, and he even considered quitting the business before studio Fox decided to back him. “I really wanted to hold on to my own integrity,” he told Rolling Stone later. “So, I was going to try to write a very interesting project. Right...

“And I will establish my covenant between you and Me, and you and your offspring after you, through their generations for an everlasting covenant. . . and I will give to you and your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” (Genesis 17:7-8; cf. Genesis 13:14-15; 48:4; Isaiah 60:21) “The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as He has sworn to you, IF you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. . . But IF you will not obey. ....

Federal prosecutors have charged a former Bay Area resident with carrying out a massive health care fraud scheme that allegedly sought to steal more than $90 million from government programs. A federal grand jury indicted Anar Rustamov, a 38-year-old Azerbaijani national who previously lived in Sunnyvale, on multiple counts tied to health care fraud and money laundering. The Justice Department said he is currently at large and could face significant prison time and fines if convicted. According to prosecutors, Rustamov, who entered the U.S. illegally, played a main role in submitting thousands of fraudulent claims through the Medicare Advantage program....

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s disgraced former chief of staff Dana Williamson has broken her silence as she prepares for court on criminal charges involving alleged tax fraud and a plot to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds. “I’m recovering,” Williamson told the California Post from her home on Friday, referencing a liver transplant she underwent earlier this year that has caused delays in her case. She declined to comment further before closing the door. Federal prosecutors alleged in a 23-count indictment filed in November that Williamson was part of a scheme to steal roughly $225,000 from a...

David Spade is calling out California’s leadership for the collapse of Hollywood. During a recent episode of his podcast, “Fly on the Wall,” which he co-hosts with Dana Carvey, the 61-year-old actor and comedian said “the Hollywood industry is dying” and that he’s “just trying to put the blame somewhere.” “Dude, I’m so old,” he said. “I was on the lot at, uh, CBS Radford when we were doing ‘Just Shoot Me’… And also they were doing ‘Seinfeld,’ and I’d see him on his bike. “It was the greatest lot. Of course, just filed for bankruptcy, the lot. Terrifying in...

Imagine blaming an 18-year-old girl for being shot in the head while walking with her friends near her college. She wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time. The only person who didn’t belong there was the illegal alien from Venezuela who never should’ve been in this country to begin with. And the media still finds a way to spin it. Absolutely vile.

Democratic strategist James Carville admitted members of his party struggle to resonate with young, male voters during a conversation with sports broadcaster Stephen A. Smith on Wednesday. On his "Politics War Room" podcast, Carville asked Smith how the Democratic Party could better reach the demographic. "I'm a Democrat," Carville said. "We do not know how to communicate with young men." "You might be the best person in the world communicating with young men," he told Smith. "Give advice to Democratic strategists… how do we reconnect with young men? What should we be doing?"

Beriev A-50U radar planes are Russia’s eyes in the sky. As Ukraine knocks out more of the A-50Us, Russian forces are slowly going blind. Russia went to war in February 2022 with potentially just seven Beriev A-50U radar planes The A-50Us use top-mounted radars to watch for Ukrainian warplanes and drones In a series of attacks going back three years, the Ukrainians may have knocked out more than half of the A-50Us A drone strike last week reportedly damaged a fourth A-50U on the ground in western Russia Sortieing drones deep inside Russia on 17 March, Ukrainian forces may have...

The FBI under the direction of the Biden administration shocked the world when a leaked document showed the intelligence agency had branded Latin Mass Catholics as likely “violent extremists.” Now another equally shocking CIA internal memo has been unearthed by the Trump administration which shows that under Biden, the CIA had warned that “traditional motherhood” and “homemaking” are signs of white extremism. America First Legal (AFL), which published on X a lengthy thread concerning the disturbing CIA memo, said, “The intelligence assessment reveals the top-to-bottom bias at Biden’s CIA.” “An agency with critical intelligence responsibilities was spending its resources targeting...

Israel has held a special place in my heart ever since the summer of 1971, when I helped Roy Gustafson, one of my father’s associate evangelists, lead Bible teaching tours of the Holy Land. Roy also connected me with two fearless missionaries in Mafraq, Jordan, the late Dr. Eleanor Soltau and nurse Aileen Coleman, who operated a hospital for patients with respiratory diseases. My time in the Middle East during my late teens and early 20s, working alongside these godly men and women, shaped my life profoundly, culminating in 1974 when—after reading in John 3 about Jesus’ encounter with the...

Ten years ago, I wouldn’t have considered it unbelief. Of course, I have long regarded it as unbiblical, and that came through a long time ago in my preaching as a young pastor and in all my writing since then. Yet despite the fact that it’s by far the most popular teaching in churches today, the assertion that the church is the “new Israel” is a denial of what the Bible clearly teaches. The harm that this teaching causes extends far beyond the walls of the churches where it’s proclaimed. The belief that the church, rather than Israel, fulfills all...

🚨 BREAKING: Scott Bessent tells Kristen Welker to shove it when baited into condemning President Trump's celebration of Robert Mueller's death "Given what was done to Trump and his family, it's impossible to understand what he went through." "I think we should have a little empathy for what has been done to Trump and his family." "I watched the look in his eye. Neither one of us can understand what has been done to him and his family."