Free Republic

California seems determined to prove out that old saying of President Reagan's, about government: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. California has become a veritable tax-a-palooza, and they have already driven many of the productive residents out of the state—those being the people who work, who invest, who start and run businesses, and who create jobs. From the impeccably coiffed Governor Gavin Newsom, he of the questionable finances, on down, nobody in California's government seems to understand the notion of incentives, or how they work. Now, California is...

A massive fire tore through the historic South Bushwick Reformed Church in Brooklyn Friday [June 19, 2026], reducing much of the 173-year-old wooden landmark to rubble.The blaze broke out around 1:20 pm and quickly engulfed the structure, causing the iconic steeple to collapse as firefighters battled a three-alarm inferno.The church, a Greek Revival landmark built in 1853 and designated a city landmark in 1969, stood as one of the neighborhood’s oldest surviving religious institutions.***It had served generations of families. No civilian injuries occurred, though one firefighter was hurt. The FDNY contained the main blaze by late afternoon, but the damage...

Key Takeaways North Carolina attracted more domestic movers than any other state in 2025, gaining 84,100 residents from elsewhere in the U.S. California (-229,100) and New York (-137,600) remained the nation’s largest sources of domestic outmigration. While Sun Belt states still dominated migration gains, several Midwestern states posted positive inflows as affordability pressures spread across previously hot markets.

June 21 (UPI) -- The Russian government on Sunday halted fuel sales to civilians and businesses not considered vital to functioning and security in Crimea. Sergey Aksyonov, the governor of Crimea, announced people would be turned away from gas stations amid a fuel shortage and logistical difficulties related to the war with Ukraine, the BBC reported. "Further decisions regarding the current situation in the republic's fuel market will be announced at a later date," he said in a post on Telegram. The announcement came amid new attacks by Ukraine on energy and transportation infrastructure on the Crimean Peninsula, Politico reported....

Brave Iranian women are openly defying the theocratic country’s oppressive hijab law — despite the risks following the regime’s deadly protest crackdown. After Iran’s security forces killed at least 7,000 protesters in January, according to human rights groups, many women and girls have continued to stand in defiance of the regime by breaking the country’s strict dress code. Images out of Tehran last week show women of all ages out and about in casual clothes, including one woman sporting an “I Love NY” T-shirt. Another woman was even spotted wearing a red T-shirt with an American flag on it, with...

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his so-called “Hamas slate’’ of local congressional candidates were interviewed last week by a terror-group sympathizer in a get-out-the-vote effort for Tuesday’s primary election. Accused hater Bartley Blakeley — who has several hundred thousand online followers across various platforms — posted her chats on Instagram with the far-left mayor and three House candidates he has endorsed: Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier. “I call it the Hamas slate. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of support for the Hamas slate,” said Dov Hikind, a former Brooklyn state assemblyman who is founder of Americans Against Antisemitism. “The...

Proclamation evangelism, a core missional strategy in Christian theology, invites people into a relationship with Jesus Christ via the public declaration of the gospel. Advocates of this strategy cite the Great Commission of Jesus as the scriptural mandate for Christian witness on a global scale: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.’1 Proclamation evangelists prioritize ‘kerygma’, or the verbal proclamation of the gospel, over other methods as the primary means of fulfilling...

WASHINGTON, DC: A blockbuster upcoming account of the second Trump administration has exposed deep, profane fractures within American foreign policy, revealing that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent privately launched an aggressive campaign to block Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from entering the White House.The explosive details surface in 'Regime Change', a forthcoming book by The New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, which alleges that Bessent repeatedly used highly derogatory nicknames to describe the wartime leader to close associates before a disastrous Oval Office summit. (snip) The Treasury chief reportedly harbored deep frustrations over a stalled, high-stakes critical minerals agreement,...

This video, created by Black Conservative Perspective, criticizes recent actions by African leaders regarding the Juneteenth holiday. The creator argues that the recent commemoration in Ghana, which involved a reenactment of the slave trade, is an inappropriate way to observe the holiday, which he defines as a celebration of freedom. Key points covered in the video: Critique of Juneteenth Observance (0:00 - 2:05): The creator expresses disapproval of observing Juneteenth through displays of sorrow or slavery reenactments, asserting that the day should focus on happiness and gratitude for emancipation. The "Hijacking" of Juneteenth (2:06 - 4:10): The creator discusses how...

Abraham Lincoln’s perspective on slavery was not static. Initially, he viewed slavery primarily as a political and constitutional problem that threatened national unity. However, as the horrors of the Civil War progressed, his focus shifted toward a moral and spiritual imperative for total emancipation. As the war deepened, Lincoln began to immerse himself in the language and theology of the Bible, which profoundly shaped his evolving moral stance. He grew convinced that the nation’s survival was contingent upon its obedience to God’s standard of justice. He moved away from purely secular legalism to a worldview that saw the conflict as...

An Effingham tornado damaged or destroyed about 60 properties, including a museum housing historic Corvettes. No deaths were reported as the recovery begins.

General Motors has gutted its electric-vehicle ambitions and killed more than 1,000 jobs at its flagship Detroit assembly plant — replacing those workers with 50 robots and sparking outrage from labor unions. The replacement “collaborative robots,” or “cobots,” have been installed on the assembly line at GM’s Factory Zero plant in Michigan amid a sharply reduced demand for its EV models and the ensuing push to cut costs, reports said. The machines are now working alongside the remaining humans there who attach the body panels to vehicles as they move down the track, according to AutoBlog. The automaker insists the...

A California appeals court has delivered a major setback to efforts to bring more domestic oil production back online, siding with state regulators in a high-stakes fight over a key pipeline network that connects offshore platforms in Santa Barbara County to refineries outside the region. The California Second District Court of Appeal this week upheld an injunction obtained by the California Coastal Commission against Sable Offshore Corp., ruling the agency acted within its authority when it issued cease-and-desist orders targeting pipeline work along the Gaviota Coast. It comes amid heightened focus on energy supplies as war with Iran and California’s...

“Hardly anybody is still alive today who has personal memories of the Hollywood blacklist of the immediate post-World War II period, let alone of the rabid Communist agitation that took place in the film colony before and during the war,” notes Bruce Bawer in his review of my book, Hollywood Party: Stalinist Adventures in the American Movie Industry, adding “don’t expect this terrific, truth-telling tome to be made into a major-studio movie anytime soon.” Bawer is right, but as they say in Hollywood there’s more to the story.

For the first time in nearly 70 years, children and teenagers in South Carolina can legally play pinball. A law the governor signed last month removed the arcade game from the list of so-called status offenses outlawed for anyone under the age of 18, following a decade-long effort. The original ban was never enforced, but it remained a source of anxiety for law-abiding business owners, supporters of the bill said. Pinball gained popularity during the Great Depression as cheap, accessible entertainment — which critics called unskilled gambling tied to crime. Players released a ball that bounced into holes with different...

[Catholic Caucus] The Fallout from Archbishop Vigano’s Message to Pope LeoArchbishop Vigano’s letter to Pope Leo was a straightforward list of questions for the new Pope to answer regarding actions by Pope Francis and the direction of the Catholic Church.The letter to Leo XIV from Monsignor Carlo Maria Viganò [here] has the merit of confronting the Pope with inescapable questions. And since it comes not from a fanatical ideologue but from a faithful servant of the Church, it fully warrants being taken seriously by anyone questioning what has become of a Church that still calls itself Catholic but, in essence,...

Two direct descendants of prominent abolitionists reflected on the legacy of slavery and the challenges facing Black Americans during a visit to WHYY on Juneteenth. Kevin Douglass Greene, a descendant of Frederick Douglass, said he has little sympathy for people who believe they have lost rights or privileges, noting that African Americans spent generations fighting for basic rights and opportunities. “I can’t feel sorry for … certain populations in the United States [who] felt that they lost their rights and privileges. Just think about the amount of time that it took for African Americans in this country to achieve those...

Taxing the rich sounds good, until they move away.It has never been a better time in America to be a socialist. We aging Gen Xers who thought that socialism had been decisively refuted by the fall of the Berlin Wall have been refuted ourselves: Democratic socialists now run Seattle and New York City, and come January, probably D.C. too, where Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic primary that generally decides the district’s mayoral elections. It is a heady moment for the left, because socialism’s tainted brand has recovered from the vivid failures of the Soviet Union. Fully 66 percent of...

Iranian officials reportedly abandoned peace talks in the wake of President Donald Trump's threat to 'blow the s*** out of them,' just hours after Vice President JD Vance arrived in Switzerland for negotiations with Tehran. The president threatened Iran to restart his bombing campaigns on the country through profanity filled phone calls and posts on social media while Vance began negotiations. Iranian officials back out of the talks after having filed a formal complaint with Pakistani and Qatari mediators and also refused to pose for photographs, according to the Telegraph. Tehran's Chief negotiator Mohammed Ghalibaf warned that the US should...

Hospitality does not require a perfect home, a big screen, or a gourmet meal. It requires room in the heart before it requires room in the house. Paul told the Romans to “practice hospitality” (Romans 12:13); Peter told believers to “offer hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9); the writer of Hebrews warned that some have entertained angels without knowing it (Hebrews 13:2). World Cup hospitality can be especially powerful because the event already creates natural openings. You do not have to force a conversation about culture, home, language, family, or national memory. The game brings those things...