Free Republic

In a recent and viral announcement, Joe Kent resigned as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. In the letter, he accused the Trump administration of bowing to Israeli lobby pressure on Iran. He also stated that Iran (a nation that regularly proclaims “death to America”) “posed no imminent threat to our nation.” AdvertisementThe reactions were mixed: A sharp rebuke from the White House, praise from Marjorie Taylor Greene, and a podcast appearance with Tucker Carlson. In the end, though, this move by Kent was not principled or patriotic. Instead, this move displayed a tried-and-true career-advancement strategy of so-called Republicans: betray...

There’s no doubt that oil prices have gone up since the war began. However, there’s also no doubt that they’re nowhere near as high as they’ve been in the not-so-distant past, including just a few short years ago during Joe Biden’s presidency. In California, as well, the prices far exceed those of any other state. ChatGPT collated the prices for me:AdvertisementHow in the heck did California’s fuel prices get so high?AdvertisementAn essay at the Marin Independent Journal provides some insight for its local readers, leading with the equivalent of “it’s mostly Trump’s fault.” However, what struck me about the essay...

Hezbollah Radwan Force terrorists captured last week by the IDF's Givati Brigade revealed that their organization is facing a sharp decline in morale, and operatives feel that "Hezbollah is sending us to die...to avenge Ali Khamenei." In an interrogation session with the IDF's Unit 504, one of the operatives explained that "morale is on the floor. No one has the strength to go out and fight." Both operatives noted that they were worn out after a year and a half of war, referring to Hezbollah's involvement in the 2023-2025 Israel-Hamas war. They also both said that the official purpose they...

A sickening discovery is under investigation after 20 dead “canines” — apparently skinned and with their front paws removed — washed ashore on a Washington State island in less than two weeks. The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to the disturbing sight on March 26 when beachgoers discovered six carcasses on Guemes Island, about 85 miles north of Seattle, according to officials. --- Cole said she believes the carcasses may have been dumped from a boat with cinder blocks attached, noting that “the way that they all landed here on our beaches was such that they kind of...

Keir Starmer has been warned his relationship with Donald Trump may be beyond repair after the US president derided the prime minister for consulting his team about military decisions, in a mocking impersonation. In a new low for UK-US relations, Trump appeared to imitate Starmer in a weak voice during an Easter lunch speech at the White House and said the UK was “not our best” as an ally. The episode is Trump’s latest broadside at Starmer and the UK’s “old” aircraft carriers after the prime minister declined to let the US use British military bases for its initial strikes...

(Apr. 3, 2026) — Well, the oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara, the “birthright citizenship” case, are over and the matter is now under advisement with SCOTUS. Interested readers can view the transcript here. And as usual, the armchair pontificators are busily at work tapping out their predictions on their keyboards…, not unlike your humble servant. And the fact that President Trump attended the event (although he left before it was over…, arguably not the wisest or most courteous move…, where is Susie Wiles when you need her…?) rendered it even more interesting. Your servant has made his views known...

Lefty TikToker tries to bait ICE agents at JFK airport — see their flawless reaction A doctor who is a lefty TikToker tried to rile up Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at JFK Airport with some obnoxious insults — but they wouldn’t bite. Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, an OB-GYN doctor and who has more than 2.8 million followers on the social media app, approached the ICE officers in vests in the Queens airport terminal and initially appeared to be thanking them before pulling out the rug and berating them, a video she posted Thursday shows. “Excuse me,” she says to the...

Ever since World War Two, America’s aircraft carrier fleets have served as imposing instruments of imperial power, roaming the oceans to cow recalcitrant nations into obedience. Favored by the Trump administration for this purpose, current experience indicates their day is done thanks to the proliferation of anti-ship missiles and the increasing ubiquity of drones. In America’s last Middle Eastern war but two, against the Yemeni Houthis in 2025, the carrier USS Harry S.Truman, complete with its attendant escorts, was driven into retreat, leaving antagonists in control of the Red Sea. On one occasion, the carrier’s desperate maneuver to avoid a...

Friends; this Good Fight Ministries video is bold, gracious, objective, Biblical; liberating; and hits the heart of this global slave trade and its masters; this 30 minute is powerful; Encourage all to watch and be biblically objective; it could help many who are ensalved by this world; male and female; Matt. 11:28-30, John 8:34-36 ☝️👍

Iran’s state broadcaster has adopted a noticeably harsher tone toward dissent, increasingly framing domestic protests as part of a war waged by “enemies.” One of the clearest examples came on March 10, when Police Commander Ahmad-Reza Radan addressed the possibility of protests during the conflict. Speaking on state television, he warned that anyone who took to the streets “at the will of the enemy” would no longer be treated as a protester but as an “enemy combatant.” The wording marked a significant escalation. By invoking the language of combat, the state effectively framed domestic dissent as participation in the war...

Reports that relatives of the Chinese Communist Party’s billionaire tool Neville “Roy” Singham are playing a key role in far-left political circles in New York are only the latest evidence of their nefarious influence in politics across the country. As Will Bredderman reported in the Jewish Insider this week, members of the Shanghai-based tech mogul’s family are operating “inside the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, supporting Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s preferred candidates for Congress and playing significant roles in shaping and advancing key elements of his agenda.” But Singham’s network of anti-American activists has not only...

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to tax his way out of the Big Apple’s self-imposed fiscal crisis is facing a fresh and little-discussed threat, according to well-placed financiers – and it’s coming from artificial intelligence. As I reported earlier this week, investors lately have begun to shun city debt – either selling it in the secondary market or balking at buying its newly issued bonds – over concerns that Mamdani’s numbers aren’t adding up. The worry is that his $127 billion budget still faces a $5.4 billion deficit and that his solutions – like raising taxes on anyone who works –...

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...