Free Republic

A probe into what city councilors on Wednesday called a “public safety and public health emergency” within the Boston Police Department is moving forward, as the policymakers warned a yearslong surge in retirements, resignations and forced overtime has pushed force ranks to a breaking point. The warnings come as Boston police officers remain among the city’s highest‑paid employees. City payroll data showed the 54 top-paid city workers in 2025 were all members of the Boston Police Department, many of whom earned tens of thousands of dollars in overtime and detail pay alone, some more than $200,000. ... Halfway through the...

The French president said that the objective is not to be the vassals of two hegemonic powersPARIS, April 3. /TASS/. During his visit to South Korea, French President Emmanuel Macron called for the formation of a "coalition of independence" to counter the unpredictability of the US and the alleged hegemony of China. "I think our objective is not to be the vassals of two hegemonic powers. None of these hegemonic powers, I would say. And we don’t want to depend on the dominance of, let’s say, China, nor do we want to be too much exposed to the unpredictability of...

I use AVG (which is the same as Avast) on my desktop PC but, it's interfering with one of my favorite Bible software programs. Delays it opening because AVG has tagged it as suspicious. It gives me the option to define PC Study Bible as safe which, I've repeatedly done. AVG is still messing the Bible starting up regardless. I run Win 11. Is there another free anti virus besides the above? Thanks.

American officials confirmed that an American fighter jet was shot down in Iran, the New York Times reported today (Friday). Since this morning, Arab and Iranian media outlets have reported heavy traffic of helicopters and low-altitude refueling planes in the Khuzestan province area in southwestern Iran, claiming that they are trying to locate a pilot or two pilots of an F-15 plane, which was allegedly shot down this morning in central Iran. According to an Israeli source, one of the American crew members who was shot down in Iran was rescued alive. The plane that was shot down is an...

NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman took this picture of Earth from the Orion spacecraft’s window after completing the translunar injection burn. There are two auroras (top right and bottom left) and zodiacal light (bottom right) is visible as the Earth eclipses the Sun. This and another photo of Earth are the first downlinked images from the Artemis II astronauts. See and hear what the astronauts do with our 24/7 feed. SNIP

BREAKING: Iran has shot down a US fighter jet according to a source familiar with the incident, and a search and rescue effort is underway to locate two crew, per Axios. Iran is offing a "valuable reward" for anyone who can capture the downed pilots

This is not the run up to the midterm elections that Republicans wanted. A year and a half after winning the White House by promising to lower costs and end wars, Donald Trump is a wartime president overseeing surging energy costs and an escalating overseas conflict that many in his own party do not like. He offered little clarity to a nation eager for answers this week during a prime-time address from the White House, his first since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran more than a month ago, simultaneously suggesting that the war was ending and expanding. “Thanks to...

The Scriptures are quite clear about the nature of Judas betrayal: he was a thief and he did it for money. Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. (Joh 12:4-6 NKJ) It’s fairly banal and prosaic. People do bad stuff for money all the time. The...

[...] On March 10, an EF-1 tornado (a relatively low-intensity storm) struck Wheatfield, Indiana. It directly hit the “Dunns Bridge I & II” solar projects, destroying a significant portion of the facility. According to Report 24, approximately 2.4 million solar modules were damaged or destroyed. Aerial footage showed rows of panels ripped from the ground and twisted metal frame. The facility is valued at approximately $1 billion. According to sources, manufacturer warranties often exclude tornado damage, potentially leaving the operator (NIPSCO) or customers with a massive bill for reconstruction, unless the government steps in with a bailout plan.

Who is winning the war between the US, Israel and Iran? The coverage in many Western media outlets clearly indicates that Iran is the major winner. The reality is that sections of the Western media have framed the conflict with two separate definitions of victory. For the US to be victorious, it must successfully install a new regime with a stable political system. For the Iranian regime to be the winner, it simply has to remain in power, no matter how much it is weakened. What the media does not know is what the ultimate objectives of the US’ Operation...

The weather might have been extreme this winter in Manhattan, but the snow didn’t stop deep-pocketed home buyers, according to a host of market reports released this week. In the first quarter, demand for homes across the New York City borough priced between $10 million and $20 million jumped, with transactions surging 47.4% compared to the same time last year, according to data from Compass. “Despite broader market slowdowns, the luxury market continued to outperform expectations,” the report, released Tuesday, said. Townhouses in particular had a strong start to the year, according to Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller...

Iranian state television has escalated its messaging by warning citizens not to reveal the locations of officials hiding among civilians, while increasingly portraying dissent as hostile action and labeling protesters “enemy combatants.” As the regional conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the United States escalates, Iran’s state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), has undergone a marked transformation in tone and language. Once associated with rigid but largely diplomatic messaging, IRIB now frequently adopts rhetoric that is overtly confrontational, reflecting both wartime pressures and an effort by authorities to project defiance amid mounting military strain. In a segment of a...

The Greek city of Rhodes emerged victorious from a yearlong siege by the Macedonian noble Demetrius Poliorcetes in 304 b.c. To commemorate their city's resilience, the Rhodians built a towering bronze statue of the sun god Helios, their patron deity, who also appeared on their coinage. It took the local sculptor Chares 12 years to construct the Colossus of Rhodes, the tallest sculpture in the ancient world at some 120 feet. Chares created the statue using a revolutionary process known as casting in courses, which no other ancient sculptor is known to have employed. In order to cast each course,...

(Subtitle: Pete Hegseth has dismissed two other generals, David Hodne and William Green, triggering questions about the abrupt changes amid war tensions.) The Pentagon announced on Thursday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had dismissed two other generals and the Army's top uniformed commander, but it did not provide an explanation for the departures during the US battle against Iran. The abrupt firing of senior U.S. Army officers, David Hodne and William Green Jr., has sparked widespread questions. This decision is made at a point of tension. The Middle East conflict is currently in its fifth week, and there are no...

WASHINGTON — Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s top aide Ricky Buria told colleagues last year that he and his boss donned disguises and went out drinking together — a juicy bit of gossip that’s widely believed to be a lie and recklessly planted to sniff out leakers, The Post has learned. Two sources said that Buria, 44, told them separately in early 2025 that he and Hegseth, 45, slipped past the secretary’s security detail while he was staying at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Pentagon City. There’s no proof that the great escape actually happened, but the tale has reverberated within...

By embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion, Democrats have started a game that, in the long run, they cannot win. After all, decent people will not long tolerate an ideology that requires them to accept two toxic and contradictory assertions. For instance, Wednesday on the social media platform X, Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, a black woman who regularly obsesses over skin color, tried defending Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson by insisting that Jackson, a black woman appointed to SCOTUS on account of her sex and skin color, “had to be 10 times better than most” on account of...

For a millennium, Gortyn was the most important city on Crete. Its ruins - largely unexcavated - are scattered across a picturesque landscape of stony hills and olive groves. Scenic Routes to the Past | 58.2K subscribers | 4,704 views | March 27, 2026 0:00 Introduction 0:34 Agios Titos 1:09 Law code of Gortyn 2:30 Acropolis 4:33 Unexcavated area 5:35 Two temples 6:48 Praetorium 7:18 Metropolitan basilica 8:11 Baths

A new report on the goings-on within President Donald Trump's close circle of advisors revealed that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has allegedly urged the group to be "more forthright with the boss" about the realities of his war with Israel against Iran. Wiles was concerned that the president's aides were offering him a rose-colored outlook on how the war was being perceived among Americans, too often telling Trump what he wanted to hear, according to TIME Magazine, which cited several White House sources and a senior administration official. According to the official, Trump has begun many recent...

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth fired two more Army Generals on Thursday after he ousted Army Chief of Staff General Randy George. General George served in the role under Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “General Randy A. George will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said. “The Department of War is grateful for General George’s decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement,” Parnell said. Two other Army generals were removed along with George, said two defense officials, who like some...

STORRS, Conn. (WTNH) — The University of Connecticut has taken down its lampposts on the Storrs campus ahead of the Final Four matchups for the men’s and women’s basketball teams this weekend. “The removal of the lamp posts is a pro-active way of preventing possible vandalism that could result from the celebration of this weekend’s games,” UConn officials said. “This is the third time we have removed the lamp posts, and it has proven effective, along with an increased security presence and student messaging.”