Free Republic

The United Kingdom has fallen. It’s a country where people are jailed for flipping off traffic cameras, where social media posts can also land you in prison, and where smoking is now banned for anyone born after January 1, 2009. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, and it makes one proud to be American that they are not part of this chaos. And HBO’s Bill Maher was not shy about discussing it either.

In a significant development for the tech and semiconductor industries, Apple and Intel have struck a preliminary agreement under which Intel will manufacture some of the chips that power Apple devices. The news, reported by Robbie Whelan and Rolfe Winkler for The Wall Street Journal on May 8, 2026, marks a notable comeback effort for Intel and highlights ongoing efforts to strengthen domestic U.S. chip production. The Role of the Trump Administration: The U.S. government played a pivotal role in facilitating the deal. Last summer, the Trump administration converted nearly $9 billion in federal grants into a roughly 10% stake...

A committee comprising three senior Iraqi figures is close to finalizing an "executive plan" to disarm factions within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) that enjoy support from Iran, Asharq Al-Awsat reported on 8 May.Development of the plan, which will be presented to US officials in the next few days, comes amid expected changes to the leadership of key security agencies under the incoming government of Ali al-Zaidi.Trump congratulates Iraq PM nominee Ali al-Zaidi, eyes stronger tiesZaidi was nominated by the Shia-majority Coordination Framework (CF) political bloc on April 27 as the consensus candidate to succeed Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani....

Anticipation of a forthcoming U.S. government “disclosure” on alien life is everywhere in the media.President Trump has ordered a full release of files on UFOs. This week, FBI director Kash Patel said, “You’re going to start seeing those releases literally happening in the very near future. We just met on it.” Where do language-based code, computer-like information processing, or machines come from? In our experience, they have only one known cause: intelligence. The existence of ET life wouldn’t prove unguided, purposeless naturalistic evolution—it would provide another example to doubt it.Some, including Dawkins himself, have speculated that life on Earth could...

So, this is weird.Vi Lyles, the five-term mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, has announced her resignation and will leave office at the end of June.Charlotte Observer: Longtime Charlotte, NC Mayor Vi Lyles plans to step down less than halfway through her latest term leading the nation’s 14th-largest city. https://t.co/8lkHJasPBY— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) May 7, 2026Huh.As well, you might imagine, speculation is swirling like mad concerning the 'why' of it, only six months into a new term that ran in the face of her horrific performance during the Iryna Zarutska murder.For urging compassion for a multi-felonious, vicious, bestial...

Nearly 130 people arrested Wednesday night as soccer fans rioted in celebration of the Paris-St. Germain (PSG) victory over... On Friday President Emmanuel Macron announcing the return of French Ambassador Stephane Romatet to Algeria. Romatet was recalled just over a year ago as tensions between Algeria and France boiled over... On the surface of French politics there is supposed to be a united "Left" bloc that includes the far-left "LFI", Ecologists and the Socialist Party. But elements of the Socialist Party... This week the aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" and escort ships making their way into the Red Sea placing...

The primary purpose of government is to protect the liberty and property of the citizens. We have seen, for some time and in almost every major American city, how municipal governments from Boston to Los Angeles have utterly failed in this primary role. In Los Angeles in particular, the despicable phenomenon of "flash mobs," organized (presumably) online, strikes with the speed of summer lightning and loot convenience stores, threatening the owners and employees, and stealing everything but the shelving and light fixtures - leaving chaos in their wake.On X, a prominent Californian, Justine Bateman, took to her X account to...

In this age of technology, it's not uncommon to come across at least one AI-generated video with every scroll on social media. But recently, a particular trope of short-form videos took the internet by storm - in the form of snowy mountains, a wood-chopping man, braised duck and a mystical woman draped in white. "Did you save a fox on a snowy mountain?" is a question that has made its rounds with the release of a Chinese AI-generated microdrama. Created to appear like a period drama made in the 1970s, it follows a traveller on a snowy mountain who saves...

ANYONE WHO has stood in a long queue at border control, or bypassed one, knows that not all passports are created equal. Citizens of some countries can speed through the gates; citizens of others must submit to interrogation and delay. Henley & Partners, a consultancy that helps rich people acquire citizenship in attractive countries, ranks passports by the number of countries their holders can enter without a visa. Its latest assessment of passport power shows that America is sliding down the table. Our map below shows how countries compare this year. Asian countries dominate the top of the table. Singapore...

Miners in Myanmar have discovered a rare ruby of enormous size, considered to be the second-largest by weight ever found in the conflict-battered Southeast Asian nation, state media reported Friday. The ruby, measuring 11,000 carats (2.2 kilograms, or 4.8 pounds), was unearthed near the town of Mogok, in the upper Mandalay region, the heartland of the lucrative gem-mining industry that has recently experienced intense fighting in the country’s wide-ranging civil war. According to a report from the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar, the newly found rough ruby was discovered in mid-April, just after the traditional New Year festival. While...

New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Mike Flynn today unveiled design concepts to put the ‘park’ back in Park Avenue... The proposed redesign would expand the avenue’s median, add pedestrian enhancements, seating and landscaping, and explore potential bike lanes and innovative streetscape amenities. The project area sits directly above the Grand Central Terminal train shed, which is undergoing a major capital rehabilitation by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s Metro-North Railroad. As the MTA replaces and waterproofs the structure below, the City is advancing a parallel effort to transform the...

If symbolism matters, and in Russia it always has, then today’s Victory Day parade on Red Square spoke volumes. The absence of tanks grinding across the sacred cobblestones was not merely an omission; it was an admission. A regime that once flaunted military might before the world could muster neither armour, missiles, nor meaningful battlefield hardware for its most important national spectacle. For a country that has built so much of its modern identity around martial power, this was less a celebration of victory than a carefully stage-managed display of strategic exhaustion. When Vladimir Putin resurrected and expanded the Victory...

Nuclear weapons experts are raising the alarm bells over the pressing need for the Trump administration to codify in any new deal a ban on Iran’s attempts to use plutonium from its facilities to build an atomic bomb. The administration and non-proliferation experts have largely focused on the Islamic Republic’s atomic weapons facilities that use uranium as the material for building nuclear bombs. Tehran could take advantage of this blind spot and covertly build a plutonium-based nuclear weapon. Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital: "I do believe any proposed deal with Iran...

I still can’t believe that Barack Obama had the audacity to lecture Americans during his recent interview with Stephen Colbert about presidents misusing the Justice Department. "The White House shouldn't be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever," Obama said. "The idea is that the attorney general is the people's lawyer. It's not the president's consigliere." [SNIP] "Barack Hussein Obama is the king of weaponization," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “And documents declassified last year revealed he was present for key meetings that led to critical steps in the opening of the...

Another of his timeless hits entered the Hot 100 in May 1960.Sam Cooke made so many outstanding contributions to music history that it’s impossible to choose just one song that defines him. His smooth, lyrical and expressive voice adorned countless gems, from “You Send Me” to “Chain Gang,” “Only Sixteen” to “Cupid,” and of course the immortal “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Another of his all-time greats, “Wonderful World,” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 9, 1960. The song was written chiefly by A&M Records co-founder and hitmaker Herb Alpert with Lou Adler, but Cooke himself is credited...

A rescued miniature donkey named Miguel has become one of Wyoming’s most in-demand wedding bartenders by wandering through cocktail hours with beer strapped to his sides. “It’s a great conversation starter,” said the beer burro business owner At first glance, it looks like something out of an old Western postcard gone slightly off the rails. It’s a miniature donkey weaving through a Wyoming wedding crowd with baskets of ice-cold beer strapped to its sides while guests in boots and cocktail dresses scramble to take photos with it. Beer burros like Miguel, a rescued miniature donkey, are becoming increasingly popular around...

What kind of guy becomes known as a “queer-identified Antifa activist” and celebrates the assassination of Charlie Kirk? The kind who might find himself arrested for child sex crimes. Via the Post Millennial: Justin Robert Stroup, 37, of Plattsburgh, N.Y., was arrested on April 30 by the New York State Police following a joint investigation involving Plattsburgh City Police and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). He allegedly shared child sex abuse material. His mentality is pure moonbat: After Charlie Kirk was assassinated last September, Stroup wrote on Facebook: “Rest in P*SS you dirty f*cking fascist.” He has publicly averred that “ALL...

The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 to advance restrictions on police traffic stops rooted in one dangerous idea: That cops enforcing traffic laws are somehow the real threat on the streets of LA. Not the drunk driver. Not the gang member carrying an illegal gun. Not the reckless driver blowing through intersections at 90 miles per hour. The cops. Only in LA could elected officials look at street disorder and decide the problem is still too much policing. Read the motion that passed and the message is obvious: Los Angeles is now governed by people who start with suspicion...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he thinks Russia's conflict with Ukraine is coming to an end, addressing reporters after a scaled-back military parade in Moscow marking the Soviet victory in World War Two. "I think that the matter is coming to an end," he said, referring to the "special military operation" in Ukraine, while condemning Western support for the Kyiv government. Russia's annual parade lacked the usual display of tanks and missiles, due to security concerns as authorities feared Ukraine might target Red Square with drones. A last-minute ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv, brokered by US President Donald Trump,...