Free Republic

This is a chapter of a book I wrote a few years ago. During our 250th anniversary celebration I will post more of these uplifting stories. The Battle of Brooklyn One of the first large scale battles of our revolution was fought on grounds that would eventually become part of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, now a part of New York City. It happened on August 27 - 28th 1776. Here is how it unfolded and why we should have lost; but won anyway. When General George Washington’s troops were fighting the best army in the world, there was no way...

Last August, Decarlos Brown Jr.—a mentally ill repeat offender out on bail—allegedly stabbed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska to death on a Charlotte light rail train. Video of the shocking murder prompted widespread outrage, pushing the North Carolina legislature to pass a law named for Zarutska and meant to overhaul the state’s criminal justice and mental-health system. But will Zarutska’s killer be brought to justice? Brown is currently mentally incompetent to stand trial, according to a federal judge. As a result, he may never face a jury. In fact, under current law, he could walk free if the court concludes he will...

The prime minister is being subjected to a private pressure campaign from ministers who think he should quit. In a conversation earlier today, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander - a long-term ally of Andy Burnham - advised the prime minister to set out a timetable for his departure. This effort fits alongside the strategies of Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting - both are expected to keep a low profile this weekend. Both prospective prime ministers want to give Starmer the time and space to consult his closest colleagues and family members about his future. The prime minister could be true to...

IT’S TRUE! Steak’n Shake Offering 20 Cent Shakes on Saturday If US Soccer Beats Australia! Steak’n Shake is doubling down on Team America. VIDEOS AT LINK................... What a great company – support your local Steak’N Shake! They did the same last weekend after the US’s win over Paraguay. This company is all in for RFK Jr. and MAHA! On our MAHA journey, we have introduced the following: 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef ✅ 100% beef tallow fries ✅ 100% beef tallow tots ✅ Grade A Wisconsin butter ✅ A2 whole milk ✅ Cane-sugar Coca-Cola ✅ Elimination of all microwaves ✅ And...

The ongoing controversy surrounding the San Francisco Giants' Pride Night and the four players who protested it has officially reached the Trump administration. On Thursday, Department of Justice assistant attorney general Harmeet K. Dhillon announced that the department's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will be investigating MLB after the league issued warnings to the three players who wrote Bible verses on their Pride Night caps, citing possible religious discrimination. “The three players expressed their opposition to MLB’s pro-Pride orthodoxy by inscribing Bible verses on their rainbow-colored hats,” Dhillon wrote in a letter to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. “The Civil Rights...

Rightwing MEPs have come under fire after they celebrated a vote aimed at increasing deportations across the EU with chants of “send them back”, leading other lawmakers to respond with cries of “shame on you”. The heated confrontation in the European parliament came on Wednesday after lawmakers voted 418 to 218 to approve controversial measures aimed at increasing deportations of undocumented people. The overhaul has been widely criticised by rights groups including Amnesty International France, which this week described the plans as “absurd, cruel and discriminatory”, and 16 UN experts, who recently outlined more than a dozen ways in which...

Rosie O'Donnell will join a roster of guest hosts set to replace Jimmy Kimmel for the summer, the late night host has revealed. Kimmel segued to the 'special treat for our commander in chief' with a nod to his September suspension during his Thursday monologue. 'I will be taking the next two months off, this time voluntarily,' Kimmel said, before showing off 'a potent group of' guests. 'Tiffany Haddish, Colman Domingo, Ike Barinholtz, Anthony Anderson, Jelly Roll,' he listed. 'And... I asked one of [Donald Trump's] all-time favorites - Rosie O’Donnell - to be here to keep the hits coming.'...

It would seem that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accomplished what his predecessors could only have dreamed of: U.S. and Israeli fighter jets flying tandem over Tehran, Israeli officers ensconced in U.S. Central Command’s Florida headquarters. Since the days of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s leaders have sought backing from the world’s preeminent superpower, which they hoped would guarantee their state’s survival into perpetuity. None could have imagined the level of cooperation currently on display. If one were to wake up the Old Man, as Ben-Gurion was known, from his otherworldly slumber in the sands of Sde Boker, he would surely...

Recognizing Iran’s ability to influence Hezbollah in ways that Lebanon can’t, US and Qatar broker truce through Tehran, rather than Beirut, after 47 Lebanese killed in response to killing of 4 troops Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire on Friday afternoon, a US official said, after another flare-up in southern Lebanon that saw four Israeli soldiers and dozens of Lebanese casualties. The renewed truce appeared as fragile as ever, as it didn’t see Israel pull out of the large buffer zone it established in southern Lebanon — one that Hezbollah has used to justify continued attacks on troops stationed...

A federal appeals court’s Thursday ruling could force the Supreme Court to decide if suppressors and magazines fall under the definition of “arms.” The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday in Comeaux v. United States that suppressors fall under the category of “arms” and are protected under the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment Foundation noted the “circuit split,” when two appellate circuits disagree on similar cases, in a series of posts on X, while SAF Director of Legal Research and Education Konstadinos Moros specifically mentioned the Ninth Circuit case Duncan v. Bonta. “There is now...

This video discusses a violent incident that occurred at a Target store in Simi Valley, where a man randomly attacked and choked a woman. Key points include: The Incident: On Wednesday evening, a man—later identified as Raian Taber—entered the store and began choking a woman at the checkout counter (0:20-0:35). He subsequently attacked a 16-year-old boy in the produce section (3:44-3:55). Good Samaritans: Several shoppers, including a father named Andy Garvey, intervened to stop the attacker and protect others until law enforcement arrived to arrest him (0:47-1:02, 3:10-4:05). Suspect Background: Reports indicate Taber had been released from custody just two...

Explanation: Does this scene look familiar? It is a modern recreation of the famous painting Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. Both the image and the painting depict a tall tree on the left, a crescent moon on the upper right, the planet Venus just to the right of the tree, a foreground horizon rising from left to right, and clouds above the horizon. Differences include that the photograph was taken in mid-April earlier this year in Cascavel, Brazil, while the painting was composed in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, in 1889. The original Starry Night is considered by many to be one...

While many people worry that robots are coming to take their jobs, one unlucky bot seems to have fallen on hard times. A humanoid robot was spotted begging for money on a street corner in China's Sichuan province last week. In a viral clip, the bot was seen kneeling on the street, holding its hands together and bowing to passersby. Meanwhile, an LED sign and loudspeaker told locals it had 'no money to recharge' and begged them to 'please help with electricity bills'. The robotic beggar even had a small plate for collecting coins and, of course, a QR code...

WASHINGTON/DUBAI, June 19 (Reuters) - Switzerland said U.S. talks with Iranian negotiators on a pact to end the Middle East conflict would not take place on Friday, as Vice President JD Vance dropped plans to travel to Geneva, adding to uncertainty whether a lasting truce can be found. "The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable," the White House spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday night. Vance and the U.S. delegation had been ready to depart as soon as plans were finalised. The talks, set for the mountaintop resort of Burgenstock, would not take place, Switzerland's...

The growing controversy surrounding the San Francisco Giants and Major League Baseball’s response to players displaying Bible verses on their hats during a Pride Night game has put the league in hot water with federal authorities. Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at Department of Justice, announced in a scathing letter on Thursday that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would investigate the case. Dhillon’s letter, addressed to MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred, blasted the league for potential violations of the law. “The Civil Rights Act prohibits MLB and its franchises from unreasonably burdening the rights of players with religious...

A detransitioner revealed that as a teenager he was encouraged to keep using puberty blockers by a pediatric urologist who was later arrested for possessing child pornography. In a declaration submitted in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) on Wednesday, Jonni Skinner recounts the time Dr. Bryan Sack told him that hormone therapy was not to blame for his reddening urine. The detransitioner went on to note that years later, in February, “Dr. Sack was arraigned on six felony charges related to possession of ‘child sexually abusive material.'” Skinner maintains that...

CNN senior data correspondent Harry Enten reported on Friday on what he called one of the most “stunning” trends he’s “seen in covering politics over the last 15, 16 years” – the rise of democratic socialists inside the Democratic Party. Anchor John Berman kicked off the segment, asking, “So when we talk about democratic socialists, how are they viewed inside the Democratic Party?” Enten replied, “Yeah, you know, you mention New York, you mentioned Vermont, obviously, there’s the D.C. mayor. We’ve seen it in Pennsylvania as well. The Democratic Socialists seem to be doing considerably better than they used to...

Pastor Jeffery Campbell has deep ties to Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood. He was raised in the South Side neighborhood, and has served as pastor at Woodlawn Baptist Church for 22 years. And for the past decade, he’s attempted to protect its residents from displacement and gentrification. He’s seen rising rents, residents squeezed by university development and life becoming more unaffordable. Now, there’s a new challenge: the opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Center – part of a 19-acre, $850m campus – that has transformed life in the neighborhood, as well as the adjacent South Shore and Hyde Park, long before this...

ToplinePresident Donald Trump claimed Iran backed out of talks scheduled for Friday in Switzerland, and warned they were "FINISHED" and would "get no money" out of the newly signed deal with the U.S.—as the agreement appears fragile less than 48 hours after it was signed.Key FactsTrump said "we'll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!" referring to the 60-day period after the agreement was signed overnight Wednesday to negotiate outstanding issues, including the future of Iran's nuclear program.The deal included a commitment from the U.S. to lift sanctions on Iran and unfreeze Iranian assets in...

NASHVILLE, TN — While commemorating the film's 20th anniversary, former Vice President Al Gore explained that while An Inconvenient Truth did not prove to be accurate, it did make him incredibly rich. Gore, who wrote and starred in the Oscar-winning documentary, was happy to sit down for an interview with ABC News' Ginger Zee this week to discuss how successful the film was at building his wealth. "I think the film was a great success, actually," Gore said, speaking of the film's numerous failed predictions. "For me, that is. It may not have been true in any way, but...