Free Republic

Our Troops Rock! Thank you for all you do! For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces. Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today! ~ Hall of Heroes ~Hershel W. Williams Info from here. Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams (born October 2, 1923 - died June 29, 2022) is a retired United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. Born in Fairmont, West Virginia, on October 2, 1923, Williams grew up on a...

FOR DECADES, THE FORMULA for career success was simple: go to school, get a job, climb the ladder. But the ladder is now collapsing before our eyes. And honestly, good riddance. The career ladder isn’t just an outdated metaphor — it actively blocks people from finding more fulfilling work. Think about it this way: In school, there are clear markers for success. The goal is to get good grades. This continues into entry-level roles, where workers strive for raises and promotions. Tracked careers like law and consulting are attractive, at least in part, because they offer legible paths for advancement....

In the Comey household, taking on the Trump administration in court is a family affair.A federal judge in New York recently gave Maurene Comey the green light to proceed with her lawsuit against the Justice Department over what she has called her “unlawful” firing from her job as a federal prosecutor.Hours later that same day, prosecutors in North Carolina secured an indictment against her father, former FBI Director James Comey, over an Instagram post featuring seashells that a grand jury agreed constituted a threat to kill or injure the president.The seesawing Comey family fortunes that day represent a snapshot of...

The owner of the Japan nightclub in Mexico City has imposed a nearly $300 cover charge on Americans to protest President Trump’s policies and threats. The surcharge triggered criticism but also won applause from those who see it as legitimate protest against gentrification and American cultural influence in the Mexican capital. ‘Gringo go home.’ The uproar reflects escalating tensions in Mexico City, the site of anti-tourism protests and a growing resentment about American ‘digital nomads’ reshaping the city. MEXICO CITY — Federico Crespo was tired of President Trump’s bullying. Of his punishing tariffs, his threat to bomb cartels in Mexico...

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a public health emergency of international concern. The agency said the outbreak in DR Congo's eastern Ituri province, which has seen around 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths reported, does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency. But it warned it could potentially be "a much larger outbreak" than what is currently being detected and reported, with significant risk of local and regional spread. The current strain of Ebola is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, the health agency said, for which there are...

Conventional wisdom in the entertainment industry has held that religion is a risky subject—polarizing, niche, and best avoided in mainstream storytelling. New research however, suggests the opposite...even among viewers with no religious affiliation... A national survey conducted by HarrisX in partnership with the Faith & Media Initiative, released in late January 2026, examined how American audiences respond to religious themes embedded in mainstream films and television... 77 percent of entertainment consumers agreed that the presence of faith in television and movies is broadly appealing. This sentiment was remarkably consistent across generational lines...Political affiliation made little difference... A telling example came...

Does the “Gray Lady” have a “longstanding Jewish problem“? That question may soon be answered in a Manhattan courtroom as the New York Times stands accused of an alleged attack piece on Israel. This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would sue the paper and columnist Nicholas Kristof for defamation over the publication of what he called a “blood libel.” The latest controversy emerged after the Times ran a Kristof column alleging widespread sexual abuse and torture of Palestinians, including the use of dogs to rape prisoners. The government denounced the column as “one of the most...

Government-made prescription drugs. $20,000 for first-time home buyers. Capped child care costs. These are among the proposals that a cohort of left-leaning congressional Democrats argue will help their party win back working-class voters in the midterm elections and set the stage for success in the 2028 presidential election. The suite of affordability proposals from the Congressional Progressive Caucus is the group’s opening bid in a debate within the party over what Democrats should offer voters frustrated with the current economic picture. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) has directed the chamber’s Democratic policy committee to host listening sessions with...

Teenagers are known for dishing out the dirt, but not quite like this. Students at a high school in Maine were fed potting soil at a community service event raising money to fight hunger, in a bizarre incident the school called “an unfortunate accident.” Students at Medomack Valley High School in Waldoboro had baked a batch of potting soil earlier that day during a science class experiment to determine the effect of sterilized soil on plant growth, according to a statement from the school. “The soil had been placed in a baking dish covered with foil and set off to...

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger has chosen not to pursue a solution that could save the congressional district maps approved by voters, despite a potential legal option available to her. The Virginia state Supreme Court's decision to throw out the amended congressional district maps has left Democrats facing a dilemma in upholding the will of the voters before the November elections. Democrats are grappling with the need to adopt more aggressive political tactics in response to the GOP's rapid redistricting efforts and potential threats to majority-minority districts in blue states. Last week, I wrote about how the far right’s capture of...

The U.S.-brokered alliance designed to counter Iran in the Middle East is showing signs of strain amid tensions between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, an analyst says, as the possibility of a broader conflict with Tehran intensified Sunday. The friction first surfaced May 13 after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he held a "historic breakthrough" meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a "secret visit" to Al Ain near the Oman border. The UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a swift denial following the announcement. Sachs, a senior fellow at the institute, said...

A facet of the trucking industry little known to the general public has had a big impact on highway safety — and last week a US Supreme Court ruling ensured that it will have to take responsibility for the rigs it helps send out on the road. That means innocent Americans who have been maimed or killed in big-rig crashes caused by negligent truck drivers may finally pursue justice. And freight brokers that chase profits by contracting with unsafe trucking carriers — particularly those that hire unvetted illegal-immigrant drivers — will have to rethink their business practices. The court’s unanimous...

XTEND CEO Aviv Shapira says the future of drones is not really about drones. It is about software.In an interview with Military.com, Shapira described XTEND as a company operating “at the intersection between AI and robotics,” building an operating system that allows humans to direct complex robotic missions remotely without manually flying drones or controlling robots. The company’s core product, XOS, is designed to let operators give mission-level commands while artificial intelligence handles much of the flying, navigation and coordination. XTEND describes XOS as a hardware-agnostic operating system that connects platforms, payloads, autonomy and human operators into one mission environment....

Harvey Mansfield is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard University. Still teaching at the age of 94, he has just published a collection of essays, Where Harvard Went Wrong: Fifty Years of Commentary that Fell on Deaf Ears. The book is a collection of his articles, speeches, and book reviews going as far back as 1975. He expounds on themes familiar to Martin Center readers, including grade inflation, the decline of merit and standards, the erosion of the curriculum, and the harms done by the obsession with affirmative action. Mansfield is proud to be conservative, one...

The mainstream media’s outrage over religious expressions by government institutions and politicians is highly selective. At bottom, it the event is Christian, they attack. If it’s any other religion, they applaud. Did the mainstream media publish indignant diatribes when leftist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani held Muslim dinners at City Hall and Gracie Manor for Ramadan? The answer is no, of course they didn’t. Because Islam is celebrated by modern liberal movements and Christianity is despised. And, it’s important to take note of what leftists hate, because if they hate it, it’s probably good. [snip] Progressive outlets are in an uproar...

BOISE, Idaho — All four crew members ejected safely after two Navy jets collided and crashed on Sunday during an air show at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in western Idaho, officials said. The collision involved two U.S. Navy EA18-G Growlers from the Electronic Attack Squadron 129 in Whidbey Island, Washington, said Cmdr. Amelia Umayam, spokesperson for Naval Air Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet. The aircraft were performing an aerial demonstration when the crash happened, Umayam said in a statement. The four crew members from both jets safely ejected and the crash was under investigation, she said. The crew members...

Last week, filmmaker Charles Curran posted a viral AI-generated video that now looks less like satire and more like prophecy. In the video—boosted by Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt—Mayor Karen Bass is transformed into a full Joker—green hair, purple suit, permanent grin—presiding over a burning, chaotic Los Angeles.

Cassidy signaled in his concession speech, without mentioning Trump, that he could spend the final months of his term being more of a thorn in Trump’s side – or at least more openly critical of his party. “Let me just set the record straight: Our country is not about one individual. It is about the welfare of all Americans and it is about our Constitution,” Cassidy said. “And if someone doesn’t understand that and attempts to control others through using the levers of power, they’re about serving themselves. They’re not about serving us. And that person is not qualified to...

"They will be the ones suffering the so-called consequences," the Oscar-winner said. "This is a major change"Javier Bardem believes the tide is turning for actors speaking up for Palestine, and has said that “everyone is beginning to realise” that Hollywood blacklisting was “unacceptable”. The Oscar-winner is at Cannes for his latest film, The Beloved, and was asked today (May 17) if he ever feared the consequences of denouncing the war in Gaza. Bardem has long been a vocal supporter of Palestine, most recently using his platform at the Oscars to declare “no to war and free Palestine”. “The fear...

A shelter-in-place has been issued for a wide swath of South Austin, bordered by south Slaughter Lane, east McKinney Falls Parkway, north Ben White Boulevard and west Escarpment Boulevard. This comes as Austin police are searching for a person who is believed to be responsible for multiple shootings since Saturday. At least two people have been injured. It is not clear what the motive of the shootings are. The shootings have taken place in various locations, including at two fire stations, and appear to be random. As of 2:15 p.m., police believe the suspect to be a male in his...