Free Republic

The British government is reviewing the ‘Youth Rehabilitation Order’ sentences given to two teenage rapists by a judge who said he didn’t want to “criminalise” the perpetrators. The first victim, who was attacked in an underpass in Fordingbridge, Hampshire by the River Avon in 2024 said, the broadcaster related: “Why did I sit and put myself through the pain of going to court, going through a trial, reliving everything because of evidence and watching it all happen again?… It sort of gave me a sense of what’s the point…what was the point in putting me through that just to say...

Residents in a troubled Seattle neighborhood have begun erecting large homemade barricades across residential streets after a surge of gun violence left many fearing for their safety.Neighbors living near Aurora Avenue say repeated shootings, alleged prostitution activity and late-night chaos have pushed the community to a breaking point.Following another burst of gunfire over the weekend, frustrated residents took matters into their own hands by physically blocking off nearby roads in an effort to keep traffic and suspected criminal activity out of the area, Fox 13 reported.Videos circulating online show multiple streets partially sealed off with piles of dirt, chunks of...

Donald Trump told Arab leaders he will only broker a peace deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if they normalize relations with Israel, according to a leaked phone call. The most powerful leaders in the Middle East, including those from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt, joined the President on a conference call on Saturday to discuss progress toward ending the US-Iran war and reopening the vital oil passageway. In return, Trump pressed the leaders to normalize ties with Israel, a demand aimed at nations that have opposed the Jewish state since its founding in 1948. Arab...

ransomnote: Below, brief excerpts of the full video. May 25, 2026

The AR-15 - the deadliest abomination known to man. A gun so terrible it's killed more people than net neutrality and Trump's tax cuts combined. And to demonstrate how awful this weapon is, I did something foolish: I tried firing one. And the experience was so horrible I have not stopped crying and soiling myself since.Yes, even as I type this, tears fill my eyes at the remembrance of pulling that trigger and the terrible things that followed. And my pants... my pants are so soaked.How to describe the experience of firing that monstrosity? When I pulled the trigger, it...

ransomnote: Full video at the link; two excerpts below. 5/25/2026

SP/4 Jeffrey Haerle was a Morse Intercept Operator (as I was) for the Army Security Agency (ASA) The ASA was the Army's signal intelligence (SIGINT) component. The specific job of the the Morse Intercept Operator in Vietnam was to search for, and copy, the messages sent in morse code, via the shortwave radio band, by enemy forces in order to derive intelligence information and in some cases, to assist in the use of radio direction finding to locate the enemy. Although hardly used today, during the 60s and 70s, morse code was one of the primary means of communication used...

Russia tells foreign nationals, including diplomatic missions and staff, to leave Kyiv ASAP

The story of Helias Doundoulakis is like a great war movie. It is the story of the Greek spy who helped Greece and the United States win the war against the Nazis. A true hero, the Greek American worked as a spy during World War II and helped in the liberation of Crete and the eventual victory of the United States against Germany’s Nazi regime. Furthermore, the story of Helias Doundoulakis is also the fascinating story of America’s first national intelligence agency, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Helias Doundoulakis was born in Canton, Ohio to Greek immigrants Demetrios Doundoulakis...

Mehek Cooke@MehekCookeTrump just turned the Abraham Accords into an accountability trap for the Gulf states and Iran walked right into it.Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey have never held Iran accountable is due to exposure. They share a neighborhood. They can't sanction, shame, or confront Iran while having zero security architecture binding them to the West or to each other.The Abraham Accords change that math entirely. Once Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey are signatories, they aren't just recognizing Israel they are locking themselves into a collective security posture.A breach of the Iran deal becomes their problem...

Explanation: What are these strange space globs? Situated in rich star fields and glowing hydrogen gas, these opaque clouds of interstellar dust and gas are so large they might be able to form stars. Their home is known as IC 2944, a bright stellar nursery located about 7,600 light years away toward the constellation of the Centaur (Centaurus). The largest of these dark globules, first spotted by A. D. Thackeray in 1950 using a telescope in South Africa, is likely two separate but overlapping clouds, each more than one light-year wide. Along with other data, the featured Hubble palette image...

SNIP Exhibit A: Graham Platner, the Dems’ hard-left Senate candidate in Maine who cosplays a rugged working-class oyster farmer. He has been given the superstar treatment by the likes of the New York Times and Time in airbrushed cover stories praising him as a “rough-hewn, gravelly voiced … flawed everyman” whose numerous scandals — sporting a Nazi tattoo for 18 years, excusing rape, masturbating in porta-potties, mocking a Purple Heart recipient — are proof of his authenticity and “redemption arc.” SNIP Platner wears his hyper masculinity like a fat suit. It’s hiding something he doesn’t want us to see. Everything...

A film buff found a lost 1968 British TV movie about vampires that sparked a legend that it was so terrifying, it was marked for destruction, a preservation group announced. “No Such Thing as a Vampire” — one of six episodes from the short-lived 1960s BBC anthology series “Late Night Horror” — has been missing for more than half a century after it scarred viewers and caused an uproar that prompted the network to not only kill the show. SNIP The newly rediscovered horror film will screen publicly for the first time since 1969 at Europe’s “Grindfest” horror festival this...

This week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spoke before the 2026 CAP IDEAS Conference that was hosted by the Center for American Progress, saying "first, as a guarantee, we are taking back control of the United States House of Representatives in November. As I speak, we have thousands of people in the field registering as many new voters as we can. People like 64-year-old Californian Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong who has been registering homeless skid row folks for the last 20 years. She lets them use her home address so the mail-in ballots the state sends to every registered...

The political landscape of Cyprus is facing a major shakeup following Sunday’s legislative elections. Results show significant gains for the far-right, a strong showing by anti-corruption newcomers, and a victory for a prominent social media influencer. Just over 500,000 voters cast ballots to fill 56 parliamentary seats in an election widely viewed as a crucial indicator of political trends ahead of the 2028 presidential race. Traditional leaders hold on, but centrists collapse in Cyprus elections While the island’s two dominant parties maintained their top positions, centrist parties aligned with incumbent President Nicos Christodoulides suffered devastating losses. DISY (Right-wing): Retained first...

Chehel Sotun is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Isfahan, Iran. The palace was completed in 1647 during the Safavid era. It is known for its twenty columns, wall paintings, mirror work, and wooden decorations. In the course of the recent conflict, the Governor's Office building located several hundred meters from the palace was struck. No direct hit occurred on the palace itself. However, shockwaves from the nearby strike caused observable damage to the structure.

As parades make their way down city streets and burgers are flipped on thousands of grills across the nation, let’s take a moment to remember the lives of the nation’s most recently fallen heroes — the soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty during Operation Epic Fury. Since the beginning of the strikes launched against Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, 13 service members have died in combat. Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Waukee, Iowa Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Spotsylvania, Virginia, Master Sgt. Nicole Amor,...

Archaeologists have recently uncovered fragments of a life-size mural depicting the Greek Trojan War hero Achilles in the remains of a Roman home near Reims, France. The discovery, dating to the 2nd century CE, sheds new light on the cultural reach and artistic sophistication of ancient Roman Gaul. The mural, depicting the mythological tale of Achilles and Deidamia, was found on the western outskirts of what was once the Roman city of Durocortorum, now modern-day Reims. The discovery offers a rare glimpse into the tastes and traditions of the Roman elite who lived far from the empire’s major urban centers....

he Supreme Court likely sounded the death knell of state and local bans on so-called conversion therapy for minors, at least limited to talking, when eight justices blocked Colorado from punishing counselor Kaley Chiles for not affirming unwanted gender confusion in her young clients while letting her talk them into identifying as the opposite sex. Missouri's Kansas City and Jackson County are nonetheless trying to preserve their self-admitted "functionally identical" ordinances as long as possible, and in the city's case, validate an even further-reaching, all-ages public accommodation ordinance, in response to a challenge by licensed counselors Wyatt Bury and Pamela...

“Today, we remember George Floyd, who was murdered by a former Minneapolis police officer six years ago,” Frey said on X. “That moment changed our city forever. It forced Minneapolis to confront painful truths about race, policing, inequity, and trust — and demanded hard conversations and accountability. Since Floyd’s murder, our city has been challenged not just to say we’ve changed, but to prove it.“ This isn’t Frey’s first foray into pandering for support by propping up Floyd. Astute observers will remember that Frey performatively kneeled before Floyd’s golden casket while weeping back in 2020.