Free Republic

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision on the landmark voting rights case of Louisiana v. Callais, while arguments were heard in the Virginia Supreme Court in Scott v. McDougle. In Callais, the Supreme Court held that Louisiana’s congressional map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Yesterday, the Supreme Court ordered that the judgment be issued to the lower courts immediately, rather than in 32 days, allowing Louisiana to redraw its congressional maps immediately. In McDougle, the state held a referendum vote to temporarily amend the state’s constitution to allow...

Alberta separatists said Monday they have formally submitted almost 302,000 signatures to try to trigger a referendum on the province leaving Canada. The group needed 178,000 signatures to force the province to consider such a vote. The question of separation could go on a provincewide ballot as early as October, as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said she would move forward if enough names are gathered and verified. Smith has said she personally does not support the oil-rich province leaving Canada. A “yes” vote would not trigger independence automatically. Negotiations with the federal government would have to take place and...

ALLEN PARK, Mich.—A crew of engineers slipped past the empty security gate at a Ford Motor truck plant outside Detroit just after 3 a.m. The factory lines were still at that hour—but that was the point. The crew was there to test a section of a new pickup that few at the company knew even existed. Ford’s secret project had an ambitious goal: to figure out how to make electric vehicles in the U.S. that could compete with the Chinese models clobbering competitors globally. The secret is now out as Ford races toward building its first model, a new truck...

Amsterdam has become the world's first capital city to ban public advertisements for both meat and fossil fuel products. Since 1 May, adverts for burgers, petrol cars and airlines have been stripped from billboards, tram shelters, and metro stations. At one of the city's busiest tram stops, adjacent to a grassy roundabout bursting with vibrant yellow daffodils and orange tulips, the poster advertising landscape has changed. They now promote the Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands, and a piano concert. Until last week it was chicken nuggets, SUVs and low-budget holidays. Politicians in the city say the move is...

WASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is crisscrossing the country as he lays the groundwork for an increasingly likely 2028 presidential campaign — refining his pitch, building relationships and working to move past his bruising 2024 defeat by President Trump. The term-limited Sunshine State governor, 47, started the week by joining business leaders at the Milken Institute’s global conference in Beverly Hills and will keynote the New York Republican Party’s May 19 annual gala at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. “I’m in my mid-40s. [20]28, you know, maybe beyond that, I think that there’s a lot of runway,” DeSantis said...

Video shows the moment an alleged drunk driver mounts the sidewalk and chases a child riding a dirt bike in a shocking incident in a leafy Washington state neighborhood. Wendy Clemente, 56, was arrested for allegedly trying to mow down the child in her vehicle while under the influence, the Spokesman-Review reported. Horrifying cellphone footage taken by a neighbor shows the car turning toward the boy riding his dirt bike while Clemente honks her horn repeatedly on a street in the upscale Pacific Northwest town of Cheney, Washington. “This woman is crazy,” the neighbor is heard saying as the silver...

India wants to fence the border with Bangladesh badly – even if it takes venomous snakes or crocodiles. Analysts and activists have expressed alarm at the prospect of dangerous animals such as crocodiles being used to deter refugees and migrants. “This would be hilarious if it weren’t sinister and dangerous,” said Angshuman Choudhury, a researcher with a focus on northeastern and eastern Indian border states. “It’s absurd, right?”

Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad, who offered free beer in the event of President Donald Trump's death, announced his bid for Wisconsin governor on Sunday. "I’m running for Governor because I believe Wisconsin needs a battle-hardened fighter to join the rest of America to save our Democracy from Trump’s regime, and that person doesn’t exist in the crowded field of Democrats currently running in Wisconsin’s Gubernatorial primary," Bangstad wrote in a Substack post on Sunday. Bangstad's announcement came a little over a week after his brewery advertised free beer in the event of Trump's death. The Facebook comments came...

Senate Republicans are seeking $1 billion of taxpayer money to help fund “security adjustments and upgrades” linked to Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project. The proposal was outlined in a reconciliation package focusing on federal law enforcement and border security spending, which was released by Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Monday. The legislation also allows for part of the $1 billion package to be used for security upgrades for the East Wing Modernization Project—also known as Trump’s ballroom project—including “above-ground and below-ground security features.”

(Photo credit: Exclusive Image for Unsplash+) Research Shows That Avoiding Eggs Entirely Linked To 22% Higher Risk Of Memory-Stealing Disease In A Nutshell People who ate eggs regularly had lower Alzheimer’s diagnosis rates over 15 years. The lowest risk appeared in those eating eggs five or more times per week. Eggs provide nutrients linked to brain health, including choline and vitamin B12. The study shows a connection, not proof that eggs prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Eggs have spent decades bouncing between dietary hero and villain, praised for their protein one year and vilified for their cholesterol the next. A new study...

Overshadowed by the rise of the Roman Empire, the Etruscan civilization -- and their exquisite art, progressive society, and advanced engineering -- was largely forgotten by history. This film reclaims their story, revealing how Etruscan innovations and customs were the foundation upon which the entire Roman world was built, and how their legacy continues today. The Etruscans, the ancient world's greatest untold story | 11:12 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco | 36.1K subscribers | 58,106 views | May 1, 2026

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned new rulings have “spawned chaos” in Louisiana after the court agreed on Monday to speed up a previous order that a map drawn by the state was found to be unconstitutional for racial gerrymander and that the Voting Rights Act did not require the state to create an additional majority-minority district. ... Jackson, one of the three liberal justices in the court, dissented, writing that “the Court’s decision in these cases has spawned chaos in the State of Louisiana,” and highlighted the timing of elections in the state and that mail-in ballots were...

New audiobook release: Mourt's Relation; or Journal of the plantation at Plymouth, by Edward Winslow Because American culture is important to celebrate and remember. In this instance, the first Thanksgiving. Mourt's Relation; or Journal of the plantation at PlymouthMourt's Relation is an account of the first year of the Plymouth Colony who arrived in Massachusetts, and is one of two books used as primary sources about the first Thanksgiving. The other is William Bradford's "Of Plimoth Plantation". - Summary by progressingamerica"Of Plimoth Plantation": Bradford's History of the Plymouth Settlement, 1608-1650

America didn’t ruin Chinese food. It built its own version, and China wants a taste. The same food snobs mocked as fake is now being imported back as a real cuisine. The American palate gets laughed at until the rest of the world starts copying it. BRIEFING Jett here. For years, food snobs have treated American Chinese food like some greasy little crime scene, as if General Tso’s chicken and beef with broccoli were culinary vandalism. My eyes are rolling back in my head right now because American-style Chinese food is freaking amazing. And now, it’s becoming really popular inside...

The National Education Association (NEA) was hit with a federal complaint Monday alleging that it subjected Jewish members to an antisemitic environment, according to a copy of the complaint shared with the Washington Free Beacon. The complaint, filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) , alleges that the nation’s largest teachers’ union allowed activists within the organization to harass Jewish members. At the NEA’s 2025 Representative Assembly—the group’s annual gathering—for instance, the union debated a resolution banning materials from the Anti-Defamation League from appearing in classrooms. During...

One of the beneficiaries of Virginia’s aggressive attempt to gerrymander the state for Democratic advantage could be a former federal prosecutor whose campaign for Congress hinges on his efforts to use the law to target President Trump and his supporters. When a slim majority of Virginia voters gave the legislature authority last month to create congressional districts that could give Democrats a 10-1 advantage, J.P. Cooney cheered the outcome in a message on social media, boasting that the new district he was running in had been drawn “expressly for the purpose of standing up to Donald Trump’s and MAGA’s corruption.”...

Roughly one week after the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals handed Texas a win on its border security law, SB 4, the law is facing a second legal challenge. The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas, and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed a class-action lawsuit on Monday seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to block the law from going into effect. The law, which makes illegal entry into Texas a state crime, is set to go into effect May 15. It gives Texas law enforcement the authority to return illegal foreign nationals to a port...

A New Braunfels, Texas, woman arrested in January for setting fire to a county Republican Party’s headquarters was charged with terrorism, according to local media. Grace Carol Brown was arrested Jan. 22 by the New Braunfels Police Department on suspicion of arson and burglary after employees at the Comal County Republican Party headquarters discovered the building had been broken into and a small fire had been set on Jan. 14, according to a Jan. 23 release. A Comal County grand jury added the terrorism charge on April 15, the San Antonio News-Express reported. “Sadly, this incident is not isolated,” Texas...

Florida detectives are pursuing a group of teenagers whose late-night joyride across a local golf course left the pristine landscape scarred by deep tire tracks and thousands of dollars in property damage. It happened around 7:17 p.m. on Saturday, April 18, at the Weston Hills Golf Course, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO). Deputies responding to reports of suspicious activity arrived to find evidence of significant damage to the course’s greens. A witness at the scene told deputies that several juveniles had been riding motorized bikes and a golf cart across the course. The scale of the disruption was...

WASHINGTON (KFSN) -- A new report says a former U.S. House of Representatives staffer filed a complaint against Valley Rep. Jim Costa with the House Committee on Ethics back in 2023.The report from News of the United States (NOTUS) says a woman, whose name is not mentioned in the report, came forward and filed the complaint after she had a more secure position in Congress and wasn't concerned about losing her job. The woman claimed Costa repeatedly asked her to dance and made advances toward her during an event in February of 2020, while she worked with a different lawmaker.The...