Free Republic

On May 1, 1960, U.S. pilot* Francis Gary Powers was allegedly shot down while flying an Air Force Lockheed U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance airplane, affectionately known as the “Dragon Lady.” He was 1,200 miles into Soviet Russia airspace, near Sverdlovsk, about 850 miles east of Moscow. A mystery persists about whether or not the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, or if it was forced down by mechanical problems. Other suppositions exist. The incident sparked a verbal battle between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S., and led to the collapse of the Paris Summit at the height of the Cold...

The SR-71 Blackbird was built to outrun any missile ever fired at it — a jet so fast it could cross entire countries in minutes and vanish before radar even locked on. It was supposed to be untouchable. But in 1972, one mission broke every rule — a flight so extreme that even NASA refused to believe it ever took place. What happened up there was not just dangerous. It was impossible. 27 Minute Video at link..............

In a nutshell: His brother was wounded during the January uprisings. He went to visit his brother at the hospital, but the IRGC confiscated his electronics. When he went back to retrieve his electronics, IRGC took him to his home, where they found out he had a Starlink device. He was severely beaten, and a few days later his body was released to his family. At less than 20% popular support, the IRGC rules only via fear. It is busy executing and killing Iranians

Friday is May Day, the day radical leftists come out and scream about the evils of capitalism. Yet it's always a funny thing when they do that; Why are they still living here, rather than fleeing to a Communist country, if they hate capitalism so much? Of course, they don't because they're hoping to push our country further left. Now, you had a conglomeration of them out in D.C. for all the current causes: May Day, anti-Iran military action, and anti-ICE. While they were in for a day of chanting the same things robotically, President Donald Trump was off to...

A research team at the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has advanced “all-iron” flow battery technology. In particular, a newly formulated electrolyte facilitates thousands of charge-discharge cycles. It provides a budget-friendly, high-endurance answer for the world’s massive energy storage needs. The development solves the long-standing issues of material degradation and leakage (crossover) by re-engineering the iron complex at the molecular level. Cheaper alternative The high price disparity between raw materials is a main driver of this innovation, with lithium currently trading at over 80 times the cost of iron. The massive price gap makes...

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: While bones can regrow themselves when they break, teeth aren’t so lucky, and that leads to millions of people worldwide suffering from some form of edentulism, a.k.a. toothlessness. Now, Japanese researchers are moving a promising, tooth-regrowing medicine into human trials. If the trial is successful, the researchers hope the drug will become available for all forms of toothlessness sometime around 2030. The average adult human body contains 206 bones—the hardened mixtures of calcium, minerals, and collagen that provide the biological scaffolding that walks us through our day. While we may not...

Uranus in near-infrared. Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI The rings of Uranus were only discovered in 1977 and the outer rings, named for the Greek letters μ and ν (mu and nu), have been a nice puzzle. First of all, they are different colors, with ν being redder and μ being bluer. This already hints at a difference in composition. New research now suggests a different origin for the two altogether. Researchers have combined observations from JWST, Hubble, and the Keck Observatory to better understand what these rings are made of and where they come from. “By decoding the...

Phys.org reports that wheat for baking bread (Triticum aestivum) may have first been grown some 8,000 years ago in Georgia. Genetic studies of modern wheat plants and wild grasses indicate that domesticated wheat and wild goat grass were mixed in the South Caucasus and the Caspian Sea region. This hybrid plant eventually became bread wheat, explained Nana Rusishvili of the Georgia National Museum and her colleagues. They examined charred grains recovered from Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora, two Neolithic village sites in Georgia. Because charred grains of bread wheat look similar to durum wheat and other wheat seeds, the team...

A team of researchers led by Kyungcheol Choy of Hanyang University found evidence of chicken-keeping some 2,000 years ago with the Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) technique, according to a statement released by Hanyang University. This technique allows scientists to analyze collagen peptides and amino acid sequences obtained from small samples of bone, thus allowing the identification of even highly fragmented remains. The chicken bones in this study were unearthed at the Gungok-ri site in southwestern Korea. "We confirmed not only the presence of chickens but also their management during the Proto-Three Kingdoms period," Choy said. Plus, elevated levels of...

Venezuela’s oil exports rose to 1.23 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, the highest level since 2018, as shipments to the United States, India, and Europe accelerated. Exports climbed 14% from March levels, according to shipping data and PDVSA documents, with 66 cargoes leaving Venezuelan ports during the month. That compares with 61 vessels in March carrying about 1.08 million bpd. Since the January capture of Nicolas Maduro and the installation of an interim government, Washington has eased sanctions and taken control of Venezuelan oil sales. That shift has reopened access for trading houses and joint-venture partners, including Chevron,...

.. Because of the grave danger (communism) posed to the common good, Pope Pius XI turned to St. Joseph in 1937 to have Jesus' earthly father deliver the Church from the many errors of communism. He wrote: "We place the great action of the Catholic Church against the atheistic communism of the world under the aegis of the mighty protector of the Church, St. Joseph" (Divini Redemptoris, n. 81). In response to the Holy Father's words, Catholics began to fervently invoke the intercession of St. Joseph, especially under the title "Terror of Demons", to combat the atheistic ideas of communism....

The Department of Defense on Friday confirmed new agreements with seven technology companies to deploy artificial intelligence tools across its classified networks, marking a broad expansion of its AI partnerships while excluding Anthropic from the program. The companies selected—OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Nvidia, Elon Musk’s xAI, and startup Reflection—will provide systems for what the Pentagon described as “lawful operational use.” Defense officials said the effort is aimed at building an “AI-first fighting force” and improving decision-making across military operations. The move significantly widens the Pentagon’s vendor base. Until recently, Anthropic’s Claude model had been the only AI system...

For decades, Iran survived by staying just below the threshold of direct confrontation. It relied on shadow oil shipments, asymmetric attacks, and strategic disruption. That formula worked against sanctions. It is now colliding with something it was never built to handle: a sustained, enforced blockade.And markets are only beginning to understand what that means.How a Shipping War Turned Into Economic ContainmentThe escalation did not begin with the blockade. It began with Iran attempting to weaponize uncertainty.Early in the conflict, Tehran targeted commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, effectively freezing traffic through one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints....

Vatican Threatens SSPX Excommunication Ahead of Consecrations, Faces Double Standard AccusationsA new rupture between Rome and the SSPX may be imminent as the Vatican reportedly prepares excommunications over unauthorized episcopal consecrations. Yet at the same time, Pope Leo XIV’s meeting with a female Anglican “archbishop” is fueling accusations of theological double standards. Is the Church witnessing a replay of 1988—or something even more consequential?The grapevine from the Eternal City has it that the Vatican is allegedly intent on SSPX excommunication (of it’s bishops and priests) over the upcoming July 1 episcopal consecrations without papal approval, reeking of Pope John Paul...

President Donald Trump said to reporters on Friday that construction will begin “over the next week” on a temporary arena on the White House South Lawn to host a planned UFC event in June. Appearing outside of the White House, Trump answered a question on the event, scheduled for June 14 to mark both his birthday and the nation’s 250th anniversary. “You’re gonna be hosting the first-ever UFC fight at the White House in 45 days, sir,” said an unpictured reporter. “Can you preview the event? Can you talk about the card and what does it mean…?” “They have some...

Argentinian President Javier Milei warns that progressive policies and open borders are pushing Europe to the “brink of extinction.” Milei delivered his new condemnation of Europe’s uncontrolled migration on Tuesday during his participation at a economy debate in Buenos Aires titled, “Keynes and the General Theory,” an event that served as a scathing condemnation of John Maynard Keynes and Keynesian economics — which the Argentine President has been a long fierce critic of. During the debate, Milei mentioned Europe’s collapse as a warning of what can happen to a country or region exposed to progressive agendas, pro-abortion policies, a broken...

A newly identified species of ancient snake, Vasuki indicus, may rank among the largest snakes to ever exist. The massive reptile lived around 47 million years ago in what is now Gujarat, India, according to research published in Scientific Reports. Scientists estimate it reached an extraordinary length of about 11 to 15 meters (36 to 49 feet). While it belonged to the extinct madtsoiidae family, researchers say it represents a unique lineage that originated on the Indian subcontinent.

Rosie O’Donnell has found a fresh start, and a healthier future, by leaving America. The A League of Their Own star, who fled to Ireland when longtime rival Donald Trump returned to office in 2025, took to Instagram on Tuesday, April 28 to post an image of a Women.com article which noted that her “Mounjaro face transformation is undeniable.” “I have diabetes 2. I have lost 56 lbs. in just over 3 years — I’m thankful for my improved health,” O’Donnell, 64, captioned the post. While the prescription drug is designed to regulate blood sugar levels in people with type...

A top Co-Op City official warned that residents could pay four times more in monthly maintenance charges if New York State’s controversial green-energy laws aren’t peeled back. Jeffrey Buss, Co-Op City’s general counsel, claimed monthly maintenance fees could skyrocket from $950 for a one-bedroom to more than $4,000 to pick up the tab for the edicts. Some 50,000 working and middle class residents of The Bronx complex, which is America’s largest residential cooperative, could see their affordable digs become unaffordable if the co-ops are forced to dish out as much as $1 billion to rewire buildings and revamp infrastructure, he...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In a late Friday Truth Social post, President Donald Trump finally delivered the endorsement that each of the top GOP candidates in the race to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell badly coveted. And it went to U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, whom Trump called a "proven political winner" who is "always a vote we can count on because he knows what it takes to get things done." Some Kentucky political insiders say this could seal the Republican Senate primary in Andy Barr’s favor. "It's over," former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, a Republican and former U.S. Senate candidate...