Free Republic

Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew was shot and killed in the line of duty at the Swedish Hospital in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood. Breitbart News reported on the shooting, noting that initial reports were that officers were shot and critically injured on Saturday at the hospital. NBC 5 then noted that one of the officers died from his wounds. On Sunday, WGN-TV pointed out that the deceased officer is 38-year-old John Bartholomew. Hospital officials indicated “the alleged gunman was a patient who was in the custody of law enforcement and was brought in for treatment at around 9 a.m.” He was...

Explanation: Can you find the comet? Somewhere through this web of satellite trails is Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS), a bright visitor passing through the inner Solar System. Now, the orbiting satellites themselves only appear as streaks because of the long camera exposure, over 10 minutes in this case. On the contrary, to the eye, satellites appear as points that drift slowly across the night sky and shine by reflecting sunlight -- primarily just after sunset and before sunrise. The featured image was taken just before sunrise two weeks ago from Bavaria, Germany. Presently, Comet R3 PanSTARRS is hard to see...

Pope Leo meets with ‘archbishop’ of Canterbury, prays she will be ‘fruitful’ in her ‘service’‘I pray that the same Holy Spirit will remain with you always, making you fruitful in the service to which you have been called,’ Pope Leo told female Anglican ‘Archbishop’ Sarah Mullally. Pope Leo XIV has received the female “archbishop” of Canterbury in a private audience.On Monday, Sarah Mullally was received by the Pope as the highlight of her visit to the Vatican.LifeSiteNews CEO and Editor-in-Chief John-Henry Westen noted in a post on X that the Catholic Church does not recognize the ordinations of the Anglican...

I’m a consistently boring person. Since my high school years, my politics, my principles, ideology and values have been the same. I’m a traditional liberal, civil libertarian, and civil rights advocate. I support equality, meritocracy, freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and intellectual diversity. I have not changed. But the world around me has changed dramatically, requiring me to switch from being a Democrat critical of the Democrats to becoming a Republican. Even as recently as 10 years ago I couldn’t have imagine myself uttering the words “I am a Republican.” But recent events have pushed me away from the...

The assisted suicide Bill will now fall when the current Parliamentary session ends and will not become law, after the final day of Committee Stage of the Bill was completed this afternoon, without the Bill passing the Lords. The fall of the assisted suicide Bill comes as new polling suggests that the Bill would likely fail if it were reintroduced to the House of Commons, and an analysis reveals there have been near-unprecedented levels of opposition to the Bill in the House of Lords. Private Members’ Bills, like the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, are only debated on...

On Saturday night I (Steve Moore) attended the White House Correspondents Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Every time I enter this hotel, I recall that this was the same Hilton where Ronald Reagan was shot and nearly killed 45 years ago. I walked through the same entrance where that assassin’s bullet came within an inch of killing Reagan. This is an event for the self-absorbed and self-important Washington DC glitterati to see and be seen. I had anticipated a very long security line and about an hour wait to enter the hotel. I brought my paper ticket and my...

The Court of Appeal of Kenya has overturned a 2022 High Court ruling that had recognized abortion as a fundamental right. In its decision delivered on Friday, April 24, the appellate court held that abortion is not a fundamental right under the Constitution, but rather an act that is generally prohibited, subject to specific exceptions. The court ruled that while the Constitution guarantees the right to life from conception, abortion is only permissible under limited circumstances outlined in law. “Having scrutinized the records in the two consolidated appeals, the written and oral submissions by respective counsel for the parties, the...

Curious as to what concerns (if any) y'all have regarding AI...My biggest concern is that its adoption could accelerate the trend of teaching young people what to think rather than how to think.This inherently breeds laziness and obedience.

The video celebrates a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that reinstates a Republican-drawn congressional map in Texas. The 6-3 conservative-majority Court formalized an earlier interim decision, lifting a lower court block on the new Texas map. The map, passed by the Republican-led Texas legislature in August 2025 and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, is designed to flip up to five Democratic seats to Republicans ahead of the November 2026 elections. Liberal justices dissented, citing concerns over racial discrimination, but the majority allowed the map to stand. Broader DiscussionThe host contrasts this with Democratic redistricting efforts, particularly in Virginia, where a Democrat-controlled...

The new map, which would include 24 GOP-leaning seats and four Democratic-leaning seats, would leave Tampa Bay without any Democratic districts. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled on April 27 a new congressional map of the Sunshine State that would add four districts favorable for Republicans. Were the map to become reality, it would apply to the 2026 midterms. DeSantis told Fox News Digital that Florida has not received fair representation since the 2020 Census and said the state’s population growth and political shift justify revisiting district boundaries. He noted that Republicans now outnumber Democrats in the state by about 1.5...

Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., on Monday unveiled a proposed slate of congressional district maps that would see the state net four-Republican leaning seats. The map, first reported by Fox News, would limit Democratic seats to Orlando, and three isolated urban bubbles along the southeastern coast. Florida currently has 20 Republican seats and 8 Democratic seats. The new map would shift the balance to 24 Republicans and 4 Democrats. The move comes in the wake of the Virginia redistricting referendum, which saw voters approve a plan that would shift Virginia from 6 Democrats and 5 Republicans to 10 Democrats and 1...

New Hampshire state Rep. Dale Girard on Monday announced that he had switched his party registration from Democrat to Republican. Girard has served in the state House since 2024 and is also the mayor of Claremont, NH, albeit in a non-partisan capacity. "This morning, I went to Claremont City Hall and officially changed my party affiliation to the Republican Party," he posted on Facebook. "This decision came after a great deal of thought and consideration. I want to be clear—this is not a reflection of any issue I have with Democratic Party leadership. However, during my time serving as a...

At the beginning of Project Hail Mary, the title card reads, “An Amazon Original Film,” before the MGM lion appears, albeit silently. Back in 2016, TV’s South Park created the phrase “member berries” to describe how, even a decade ago, so many shows on streaming platforms such as Amazon’s are built around callbacks to the beloved older TV shows and movies that inspired them, such as the many Star Wars series on Disney+ and the many Star Trek series on Paramount+. If you’re a fan of the science fiction genre, you’ll recognize many of the member berries and tropes that...

On Sunday night’s The Weekend: Primetime, MS NOW reporter Josh Einiger professed uncertainty about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner attacker’s “motive” and “ideology”—despite his manifesto spelling both out in unmistakable terms. Reporting on the investigation into suspect Cole Allen, Einiger cited messages sent by the attacker to family members before the incident. He noted that the writings were “described as anti-Trump in nature,” but claimed they were “not aligned to one specific ideology.” He described himself as a "friendly federal assassin," but he was "not entirely sure what that means in terms of a motive." Did anyone on this show...

The world record for the longest tiramisu has been smashed by chefs in London. At 1,445ft, the gargantuan offering needed 50,000 ladyfinger biscuits for the base and more than 3,000 eggs to make the light fluffy filling. One hundred Italian cooks gathered at Cheslea Town Hall over the weekend to whip up one of their country's best known desserts and dedicate it to the royals. Mirko Ricci, the organiser, was delighted when his staff came in nearly 500ft longer than the previous record holders Milanese Galbani who are based in Milan. Mr Ricci said the pudding is 'the most incredible...

The demographic shift has a sinister political dimension if the fundamentalist brand of Islam continues to rise amongst this rapidly growing segment of the population. No matter what European politicians may say to downplay the negative impact of Moslem immigration, they cannot deny that the continent will experience an unprecedented demographic shift by the end of the century. If the current rate of Muslim immigration continues, Europe’s Muslim population could grow from 30 million today to about 110 million by 2100. This estimate assumes that the Muslim fertility rate will move downward over that period to approach native fertility rates,...

the first time since 1996, foreign central banks now hold more gold than U.S. Treasuries (U.S. debt) in their reserves, marking a historic turning point in global reserve management. Data published by Visual Capitalist reveals that, in the course of 2025, the share of gold in central bank reserves surpassed that of U.S. debt holdings, a trend driven by rising geopolitical uncertainty and a quest for asset diversification. Between 2021 and 2025, central banks - particularly in emerging markets like China, India and Turkey - significantly increased their gold holdings. This move reflects a broader strategy to reduce reliance on...

In what must be the mother of all cons, Democrats are raking in the votes and expect to take the House at midterms with their buzzword 'affordability,' which first popped up during the successful Zohran Mamdani New York City mayoral campaign and has been on a roll since. It's a flim-flam. They plan to focus on impeaching President Trump on Day One, something they aren't saying much about on the national news or in their commercials, and if they retake the Senate and nuke the filibuster, get Trump thrown out of office. That's their plan, that's their agenda, even as...

With two-thirds of the printed copies of his book--"Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery"--remaining unsold, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif) claims he bought these copies "to ensure it would be a best-seller. My plan is to give autographed copies to everyone who donates to my presidential campaign. I think my sly and speedy action here demonstrates my ingenuity as leader and gives me an early lead for the 2028 Democratic nomination for president." "Another factor that will put me ahead of my Democrat rivals is that I was born a poor black child with a low IQ and...

The U.S.-Israel war against Iran was to a great extent predictable. The United States feared Iran becoming a nuclear power. Israel feared that as well, and was also concerned about the Islamist forces – in this case, Hezbollah – that Iran supported in Lebanon. For the United States, the latter was at most a secondary concern, but the nuclear threat was potentially existential. The United States attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities almost one year ago, damaging but not destroying the program. In subsequent negotiations, Iran rejected the U.S. and Israeli demand that it end its nuclear program, and so war was...