Free Republic

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred told Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that the San Francisco Giants players who wrote Bible verses on their Pride Night caps will not face discipline and acknowledged that the league's warning to the players came before MLB learned the team had failed to clearly inform the pitchers they could opt out of wearing the special caps."The players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be," Manfred wrote in a letter released by Hawley on June 22.Hawley posted the letter on X, saying MLB had "admit[ted] they were wrong to threaten the Giants players...

Woke Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson declared he was reupping the city’s “Trans Femicide State of Emergency” to highlight violence against transgender women — despite just one reported killing of a trans person this year, compared with nearly 200 other murders across the city. His social media posting announcing the initiative drew widespread mockery as critics pointed out his bizarre focus on a small population as the city is plagued by dozens of weekly shootings primarily involving Chicagoans of color. Johnson’s declaration suggests an ongoing epidemic of trans murders. There have been 14 transgender people were killed in Chicago between 2016...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo’s upcoming consistory will echo Francis’ synodal styleThe June 26-27 gathering will divide the cardinals into 20 groups to discuss evangelization, peace, the common good, and synodality.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican has confirmed that the upcoming extraordinary consistory will be conducted through structured small-group discussions and plenary reporting sessions.On June 22, the Holy See confirmed the program of proceedings for the extraordinary consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV for June 26-27, revealing that participating cardinals will carry out much of their deliberation through small-group discussions followed by presentations to the full assembly, in like manner with...

[Catholic Caucus] McElory bans the installation of communion rails in the churches of the Diocese of WashingtonCardinal Robert McElroy, Archbishop of Washington, has ordered that no communion rails be installed or reinstalled in the churches of the archdiocese, in a new liturgical controversy in the United States over kneeling communion and traditional forms of reverence before the Eucharist.The alleged directive was initially reported by journalist Christine Niles of Stella Maris Media, following a recent meeting with priests. To date, the Archdiocese of Washington has not issued a formal decree or official communication regarding this measure.No communion rails or temporary kneelersThe...

Nigel Farage has said "it's not the public's business" to know details of how he spends a £5m ($6.5m) gift from a billionaire Reform UK donor. Speaking to the BBC, the Reform leader said the money from British cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne was an "unconditional gift, I can spend it on cars if I want to". He went on to say the money was for his personal security and he will need protection "until the day that I die", but declined to confirm how much he has spent. Farage has argued he did not need to declare the gift because...

A Bay Area Christian couple is taking the Sunnyvale school district to court — alleging their child’s elementary school refused to let them opt out of sex and gender identity lessons that contradict their religious beliefs. Justin and Rose Taylor, both devout members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, claim the district flatly declined to excuse their two elementary-aged children from lessons on gender transitions and same-sex relationships in violation of a Supreme Court decision last year that affirmed the rights of parents to opt out of such material on religious grounds. That court decision in Mahmoud...

On March 21, 2026, the Danish Free Press Society awarded Raymond Ibrahim with the Sappho Prize. This video contains the official award ceremony, including Mr. Ibrahim’s talk, which took place in Copenhagen. In a press release, the Danish Free Press Society explained why Raymond Ibrahim was awarded the 2026 Sappho Prize. An excerpt follows: “For more than two decades, Raymond Ibrahim has been one of the most rigorous and intellectually consistent voices in the international debate on Christian persecution, Islamism, and the historical conflicts between Islam and the West. His work is grounded in extensive study of primary sources —...

Pickleball was supposed to be for old people who don't move well. It's clear that we're beyond that point. According to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, Michele Bannister, 47, of St. Augustine, allegedly went full John Wick on another player at a park on May 31 after a disagreement over - and I can't stress this enough - who was supposed to get the ball when it got away. Not a joke. This argument apparently got Michele worked up, because after the match when her opponent was speaking to her son about his playing style she "interjected" by going...

U.S. District Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz threw out subpoenas against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other officials regarding immigration. “This course of events- in and of itself-establishes beyond reasonable dispute that the subpoenas were a part of a broader campaign to coerce state and local officials in Minnesota to assist the Trump administration in its enforcement of immigration laws,” wrote Schiltz. “And, of course, this campaign played out against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s well-established history of using criminal investigations to retaliate against and pressure the President’s political and personal adversaries.” President Donald Trump and his administration initiated...

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Exxon Mobil to sue state-owned oil companies in Cuba over the confiscation of property that occurred after Fidel Castro’s regime seized power nearly seven decades ago, letting the lawsuit proceed at a time when President Donald Trump has taken an aggressive stance toward Havana. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the opinion for a 6-3 majority with the liberal justices in dissent. The decision is the latest development in an unusual confluence of legal and geopolitical moves Washington has taken to increase pressure on Cuba. The Trump administration indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro on May...

Streamed live 4 hours ago Live: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches Starfall reentry demonstration mission from Cape Canaveral | 1:29:12 Spaceflight Now | 477K subscribers | 24,634 views | June 23, 2026

Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage predicts Labour MP Andy Burnham will be the “most left-wing prime minister for 80 years” if elected. “This is going to be the most left-wing prime minister for 80 years,” Mr Farage told Sky News host Paul Murray. “It’ll be Starmer but even worse. “Burnham comes in, as I say, treated yesterday in the House of Commons by Labour MPs like the messiah. The reality is going to be different. “The honeymoon I predict will be very short-lived.” Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage predicts Labour MP Andy Burnham will be the “most left-wing prime minister...

The World Cup has brought real excitement to these American shores, and not just in the form of soccer, but in the innocent, wide-eyed discoveries of European tourists experiencing the United States for the first time. Here are some of their most surprising discoveries: 1. Football is actually called "soccer": All this time, they were calling it by the wrong name. 2. Americans prefer a sport called "baseball" where no one kicks anything: How can you have a sport with no kicks? 3. It's surprisingly difficult to be stabbed by a Muslim: You can find it on any street corner...

WASHINGTON — The Department of Education is alerting students on Biden administration student debt repayment plans of a shift that will “streamline” the programs for millions. Under secretary of education Nicholas Kent told The Post in an interview that about 7.5 million individual student borrowers will have 90 days to exit Biden’s SAVE Plan starting July 1. In total, SAVE borrowers hold about $365 billion in outstanding debt, according to an Education Department spokesperson. “We have over 40 repayment and discharge options currently, and the system has become overly complex and very difficult to understand,” Kent said, describing the options...

Oh no, they’re threatening us with a good time again. California government workers, like a lot of federal, state and other workers, haven’t actually been working since the pandemic. Or rather they’ve been ‘working from home’ which is to say working even less than usual. Now, California is considering asking them to go back to the office four days a week. And SEIU, a radical union that represents government workers, among other useless people, is pulling out all the stops and warning of a ‘mass exodus’. “Since COVID we have been working and doing the jobs and being efficient and...

ESPN has made significant progress in toning down its political and social rhetoric in recent years. This was a point for which Colin Cowherd credited ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro last week during a discussion with OutKick. However, one can't help but wonder how dedicated ESPN is to serving fans and focusing on sports following a recent announcement. Last week, the company announced it had re-signed David Dennis Jnr. The network says Mr. Dennis will now cover the "NBA, music, and black culture" across Andscape and ESPN television shows. The obvious first question is why, in 2026, ESPN would pay someone...

A top House Democrat claimed Monday that algae in Washington, D.C.’s reflecting pool is the only issue her constituents back home are talking about. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) said her constituents were “outraged” by algae in the picturesque reflecting pool, calling it “sad” and a “real problem” on CNN. “That’s all anybody talked about at home this weekend,” Dingell said. “It’s very sad, actually, as we do go into the 250th and you know, the 250th is a time that all of us should remember how lucky we are to live in this country, and what our forefathers put...

Englishtown, New Jersey, councilman and former mafia hitman John Alite is being accused of threatening to hit a man with a baseball bat, following his arrest last Friday on charges of loan sharking and extortion. Alite, a former hitman for the Gambino crime family, has been “charged with multiple counts of theft by extortion (second degree), corporate misconduct (second degree), usury (second degree), and terroristic threats,” according to a statement from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. CBS News reported in 2015 that Alite killed as many as 15 people. “He also says he shot 30 to 40 people and...

District Attorney Larry Krasner is something of a bargain for Philadelphia. According to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, he has not only been serving as the city’s prosecutor but effectively as its top public defender. Krasner’s record is the subject of a scathing new opinion, which accuses him of leading a dishonest effort to undermine major criminal cases to engineer new trials for defendants. Krasner has long cultivated a reputation as the champion of the left. We were both liberal students in the same class at the University of Chicago. While I moved to the political center, Krasner moved even more...

A: Political theorist Saul Alinsky (third from right) was known for his labor organizing in Back of the Yards, then a predominately white, working-class area abutting Chicago’s great stockyards. Alinsky's unique approach influenced Obama's own community work. Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council, UPWA-CIO strike. Chicago Public Library, Special Collections, Back of the Yards Newspapers Collection, Box 45, Photo 1.21. C: Known as the “Mother of Environmental Justice,” Hazel Johnson mobilized her neighbors in the Altgeld Gardens public housing project to demand accountability for the disproportionate health effects faced by low-income, mostly Black people on Chicago’s far South Side. She...