Free Republic

Healthcare is one of the largest expenses for American families. It rivals housing and exceeds what many save for retirement each year. According to recent surveys from the Pew Research Center, many families rank healthcare affordability among their top economic worries. The high cost of insurance premiums, prescription drugs, deductibles, or unexpected medical bills places tremendous strain on household finances.I hope this article can help those who are caught in the strain of this right now.Why is healthcare so expensive?High costs are due to a combination of factors: advanced medical technology, rising prescription drug costs, administrative complexity, insurance overhead, provider...

America remains one of the world’s most influential countries, but public opinion of the U.S. varies widely across the globe.Some of its strongest support now comes from emerging economies such as Vietnam, India, and the Philippines, while favorability has weakened across several longtime Western allies.This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, ranks how people in 45 countries view the U.S. using January 2026 survey data from Morning Consult’s America Reputation Tracker.Where Positive Views Are the HighestIsrael and Nigeria rank first in the survey, with 83% of respondents holding favorable views of America.Morocco, Vietnam, and Peru round out the top five,...

HOUSTON - The world's biggest soccer tournament has officially turned the United States into a giant cultural exchange program. As thousands of international fans travel across the country for FIFA World Cup matches, many are documenting their first encounters with uniquely American experiences — from massive Buc-ee's stores and Texas barbecue to mechanical bulls and Walmart. The result? A steady stream of viral videos showing visitors experiencing parts of American culture that many locals barely think twice about. Here are some of our favorite reactions so far. International fans enjoy the U.S. 1. A Japanese Fan Discovers Whataburger For Texans,...

SAN DIEGO - As the flood of illegal immigrants at the southern border slowed to a trickle, agents shifted gears. Now, they're focused on seizing drugs - in record amounts - as the border is more secure than ever, officials told The Epoch Times.U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) took The Epoch Times behind the scenes at the border between San Diego and Mexico - home to the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the busiest land border crossing in the Western Hemisphere.The San Diego sector, patrolled by thousands of federal officers, encompasses more than 56,000 square miles. That includes 60...

Nigel Farage admitted that Reform fell victim to Labour adopting his 'get Keir Starmer out' message in Makerfield. The Reform leader said he was 'disappointed' as local plumber Robert Kenyon picked up 16,000 votes – 2,000 short of predictions. And he issued a plea to supporters of Rupert Lowe's hard-Right Restore Britain – asking them to 'think again' about backing his party in future. Mr Kenyon, whose campaign was dogged by old social media posts, came second in the ballot with 35 per cent of the vote, finishing 20 percentage points behind former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. Mr Burnham...

I tend to give President Trump a lot more grace than his critics when he lavishes praise on dictators. There's a reason for that: if you notice the pattern Trump uses to nudge our allies and seduce our adversaries, he is often far harsher on our putative friends than on our avowed adversaries as a strategy to get each of them to act more in line with his wishes. He believes that praising friends has led them to take advantage of us, while harshly attacking adversaries in the midst of negotiations only makes them more recalcitrant. We can argue about...

In “Communion,” Vance weaves his faith journey, beginning in his childhood, through his recent life changes and with his own policy and cultural views... His account of his faith journey, at times, seems to focus on his return to Christianity more broadly, with Catholicism presented as the variety he chose. “I’m not a particularly sectarian person, and this is not a particularly sectarian book,” Vance said in the book’s opening chapter. Although he said he became Catholic for “what I believe are good reasons,” he credited his Protestant spiritual foundation as a key factor in his journey back to God...

emily miller @emilymiller Exclusive! RAW VIDEO. Man arrested for vandalizing Lincoln Reflecting Pool. He grabbed the hose that female National Park Service workers were using to clear the algae. Police and National Guard responded. Watch: VIDEO AT LINK................ 4:30 PM · Jun 19, 2026 · 532.2K Views

The Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa CDC) said on Thursday that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda has now killed over 200 people, and the number of confirmed cases surged by 38 percent in just the past week. Africa CDC reported 894 confirmed cases in total, with most of them sourced to the eastern DRC. This makes the current outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola much worse than Uganda’s first known Ebola outbreak in 2000, but not yet as bad as the devastating DRC outbreaks in 2014 and 2018. Doctors fear...

Party drugs, cocaine most notably, are rampant in the Hamptons during the summer, when wealthy New Yorkers flee the city for the season. 'It's getting busier and it's getting more dangerous. Even when I walk along the streets now I am very cautious.' Residents told the Daily Mail that drinking and drug use is amplifying already risky driving conditions. Last month, a 23-year-old man was arrested on Springs Fireplace Road in East Hampton and charged with DUI and possession of cocaine. Officers described the man as visibly intoxicated, with bloodshot eyes and unsteady feet. On June 8, another man, 54,...

I don't know why this is so funny to me. MANY MANY REPLY MEMES AT LINK............... Yeah, uhh... Tourists are so infatuated with American food — and will be so obese when they leave our country — that the TSA is actually reminding them to pack ranch dressing in their checked luggage. I repeat, our government is reminding World Cup tourists to pack ranch dressing — the most delicious American concoction known to man — under the plane so they can get it home safely and continue their weight-gain into the following weeks. The comments on this were about as...

A judge released evidence in the Karmelo Anthony murder case on Friday. The evidence included bodycam footage of Karmelo Anthony's arrest and pictures of the murder weapon. Photos of Karmelo Anthony's backpack, the murder weapon and the aftermath of the murder scene were released. Pictures of the murder weapon, the aftermath, and Anthony’s backpack pic.twitter.com/4i97iYYHpw — Brooke Taylor (@Brooketaylortv) June 19, 2026 Police bodycam footage shows the moment law enforcement arrived to the track meet to arrest Karmelo Anthony after he fatally stabbed Austin Metcalf. "This is the alleged suspect," a police officer said during the arrest. "I'm not alleged....

As if the Southern Poverty Law Center wasn’t already looking like a menace instead of a respected civil-rights outfit, now comes evidence that one of its top execs was sending donor cash to the white supremacist she was shacked up with. To be fair, it’s long been obvious that the SPLC is a racket exploiting liberals (especially in the media) desperate for right-wing threats to condemn; the nonprofit raked in billions over the decades to support its (shoddy) research, including a “hate map” and database on supposed hate groups. Now it stands charged with funneling funds to members of the...

***** The Freeper Canteen Music Dedication Presents: Tunes For Our Troops~ Celebrating Father’s Day ~ *****~ Support The Artists You Hear Throughout The Canteen! ~ ***** Warning: Not all music may be appropriate for children! Please click with caution. Thank you!Celebrating Father's Day This music is provided for the entertainment of our Troops, Veterans, Allies & Their Families! Enjoy the variety of musical selections that the Canteen DJs provide throughout the thread. Please ping any DJ with your requests for the Troops! Thanks to all the DJs for their time & effort providing entertainment for the Troops! *Canteen Mission...

Bits of the history of Paris are emerging from the ground beneath Notre Dame cathedral, along with pieces of a medieval mystery. The project began when Notre Dame was struck by fire in 2019, and French media are calling it the “dig of the century.” “It’s a rare opportunity for us to work on something that’s tangibly going to make a difference to the history of Paris,” Lucie Altenburg, a conservator with the Paris archaeology unit, said, per the Associated Press. A 1,700-year-old Roman coin stamped with the face of Emperor Constantine has been found, as have fragments of medieval...

They did it! The USMNT (United States Men's National Team) has won back-to-back contests in its first two matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with a victory on Friday handing the Aussies' Socceroos team a giant goose egg, 2-0, in Seattle. And even more dramatically, they did it without star forward Christian Pulisic.The U.S. national soccer team advanced to the knockout round at the World Cup despite the absence of injured forward Christian Pulisic, beating Australia 2-0 on Friday....Alex Freeman, the youngest player on the [U.S.] team at 21 and son of Super Bowl champion Antonio Freeman, gave the...

The Dem Party has many problems, too many to count. But one biggie is their obsession with identity politics. Race, gender, sexuality, and gender-confused status, AKA “transgender,” matter more than competence, judgment, character, or basic common sense. Honestly, this is just another offshoot of the DEI nonsense that’s destroying this nation. And sadly, that screwed up and dangerous mentality is how you end up with situations like this one we’re about to share with you. Does the name Stacie Marie Laughton ring a bell? Stacie, whose actual name is Barry, was once a rising star in New Hampshire politics. But...

As he prepared to sign his “memorandum of understanding” with the Islamic dictatorship of Iran, President Trump again insisted that his deal was much different than that of his predecessor, President Barack Obama. He’s right — it’s probably worse. Obama’s treaty did not prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, it simply punted the issue down the road in exchange for cash. Trump’s agreement has the same vague promises, the same payouts, but with the added twist that Iran can and will take the world hostage by shutting the Strait of Hormuz at will. On Friday, just days after the...

On Juneteenth, when we commemorate the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in 1865, I’d like to remind Sacramento City Unified School District administrators of how profoundly Black children feel the pain and trauma of racial slurs hurled at them by other children they serve.

Freddy, the German soccer fan who has gone viral live-tweeting his fairy-tale experience in the United States, has another major visit on his docket. Ambassador Nick Adams, who is the Special Presidential Envoy for American, Tourism, Exceptionalism and Values in the Trump administration, confirmed to Fox News Digital that Freddy has been invited to the White House. Adams said he caught wind of Freddy early on during his trip to America and immediately became a "massive fan." Adams called Freddy’s journey to the United States a "fabulous thing for our country." "Freddy is one of hundreds of thousands of visitors...