Free Republic

California is a blue state, and one of the manifestations of its political orientation has been a tolerance for one of the nation’s highest levels of taxation. The state’s tax rates on retail sales and personal and corporate incomes are among the highest of any state. Although tax rates on real estate are relatively moderate, high property values still translate into high bills for their owners. Specific taxes, such as those on fuel, utilities, cigarettes, liquor, medical care, gambling, guns and ammunition, contribute even more. Overall, state and local governments and school districts collect around $400 billion in taxes every...

A man who routinely boasted about being the first open drag queen to be elected to a school board in the United States was arrested last week for disturbing sex crimes involving children as young as 18 months. Travis J. Longo, 46, who is the vice president of the Cazenovia Central School District’s board of education in New York state, was initially charged over a “pattern” of sending explicit communications to a child under 12 years old. Once authorities seized and searched Longo’s phone, child pornography was discovered. Tyler Toomey, a spokesperson for the United States Attorney’s Office in the...

Today, the word colonialism is treated almost like a curse word. Mention it in a classroom, on social media, or in many political circles, and you’ll immediately hear words like exploitation, racism, oppression, genocide, and theft. For many people—especially younger generations—colonialism has become history’s ultimate villain, the so-called “original sin” from which nearly every modern problem supposedly springs. As a conservative, I’ve always thought this view was far too simplistic. Now, before anyone starts sharpening their pitchforks, let me be clear: colonial powers absolutely committed injustices. Wars were fought. Peoples were conquered. Resources were taken. Some populations were devastated. These...

Californians can expect a wave of changes this summer, from classroom policies to grocery store shelves, as a slate of new laws takes effect.

The plea was made in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, before U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang. Bolton, 77, had faced an 18-count indictment that had accused him of both transmitting and retaining highly sensitive, classified materials during and after his time in the Trump administration. Bolton served as national security advisor from April 2018 until September 2019. Prosecutors alleged that while in that role, he created extensive “diary-like entries” and notes detailing his daily activities, meetings with foreign leaders, intelligence briefings, and sensitive policy discussions. He then transmitted more than 1,000 pages of this material, some classified up to...

The lies told by the man who killed Henry Nowak have been exposed in newly obtained police body-worn video from the night of his death, released following a request by the BBC. Vickrum Digwa was jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years for the murder of the 18-year-old Southampton university student after stabbing him multiple times last December. The new footage shows Digwa's repeated and insistent "wicked lies" to officers about having been "racially attacked" and his false claims that Henry was "obviously drunk". It also backs an assertion by the Nowak family that Digwa was "never handcuffed",...

The Democratic Socialists of America‘s shocking wins in New York‘s primaries not only solidified its growing power among the Democratic base but also fueled speculation that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) could mount a successful run for higher office. Two DSA-aligned candidates, backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, took down incumbent Democrats Tuesday night in a similar manner to Ocasio-Cortez’s defeat of 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley during the 2018 midterm elections. Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander defeated incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman...

Four years ago today, Roe v. Wade died, predeceased by over 65 million preborn children. On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, overturning the ruling that had mandated legal abortion in all 50 states. Within weeks, near-total abortion bans had gone into effect in Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. An additional four states — Georgia, Iowa, Florida, and South Carolina — now have six-week “heartbeat” bans on the books. Twenty-eight states ban abortion at later stages. All these laws were impossible...

Next Tuesday, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. — missing from action for more than three months due to an unspecified medical condition — is scheduled to make his return to his official duties in Congress. Later that same day, he’ll be returning to the campaign fundraising circuit, too. According to an invitation shared with POLITICO, a reception in support of Kean, a top Democratic target this fall, has been scheduled for the evening of June 30. Few other details are known about the fundraiser; Kean’s spokespeople declined to comment, though they did not deny the event’s existence. Kean also has at...

Sir Keir Starmer is locked in a stand-off with his home secretary Shabana Mahmood after the prime minister refused to allow her to immediately sack her junior minister. Mahmood has demanded the dismissal of Mike Tapp, minister for migration and citizenship, after he wrote an unauthorised article calling for overseas care workers to be exempt from tough new UK immigration controls. Tapp wrote in The Times that it was his “strong belief” that migrant care workers should not have to wait longer to seek permanent settlement in the UK. Mahmood proposed last year that migrants would have to spend a...

A small plane crashes into a 109-story skyscraper in Beijing, sending debris down the building's side. Local reports say the pilot Liu Junhua was conducting a solo flight in the local airspace, took off from Shifosi Airport at 17:30, and at 17:40 prepared to return for landing. While joining the westbound route for Runway 18, the aircraft did not join the approach, deviated from the local airspace and continued flying on a constant heading of 270 degrees. VIDEO AT LINK..................

At 4:14 a.m., Russia’s Voronezh missile production plant was engulfed in flames. This facility was described as a key link in the production chain for Kh-101 cruise missiles and Iskander-K missile systems — weapons Russia has used to threaten Ukrainian cities from hundreds of miles away. But in this operation, Ukraine did not wait for those missiles to be launched. Instead, the strike targeted the place where they were being assembled, stored, tested, and prepared. According to the scenario covered in this video, the operation began with two F-16s, electronic decoys, and 16 low-flying FP1 drones. While Russian air-defense systems...

The murder case of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf has renewed attention once more after the conviction of the accused killer, Karmelo Anthony. The tragedy occurred in April 2025 during a Texas high school track meet, where Anthony fatally stabbed Metcalf. A jury has sentenced the 19-year-old killer 35 years in prison. He will be considered for parole eligibility only after serving half of his term. In the meantime, a mob group demanding the release of the convicted murderer has been arrested in Texas after engaging in harassment and assault of a woman. On June 21, an altercation broke out in the...

In 2008 Joe Biden was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with oversight jurisdiction of the U.S State Dept. Foreign Service and the passport office, along with and all foreign policy nominations etc. In 2008 John Brennan was working for the Obama campaign when someone from his outside government group, The Analysis Corporation, “hacked” into the state dept database to access the passport files and State Dept records of Barack Obama. John O. Brennan, Obama’s then top terrorism and intelligence adviser, was the owner of The Analysis Corp. The company was cited in March 2008 for penetrating the files...

Ann Blyth, the actress of Hollywood’s Golden Age whose breakout came in 1945’s Mildred Pierce, has died. She was 98. The Academy Award nominee “died peacefully of natural causes” on Wednesday, according to KABC’s George Pennacchio, who noted her passing comes two months before her 99th birthday. Born Aug. 16, 1927 in Mount Kisko, New York, Blyth began performing on children’s radio shows at age 6, before landing her first Broadway role in Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine in 1941. While touring with the show in Los Angeles, she landed a contract with Universal Studios. -snip Blyth is survived...

On Thursday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) responded to Sen. Chris Murphy’s (D-CT) proposal to raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour by saying that “I’m delighted that Sen. Murphy is talking about this and I think the voting record of a lot of us, the Democrats that had led on this before is we’re willing to do it, it was $15, plus inflation adjustments.” Co-host Joe Mathieu asked, “I want to ask you, quickly, with our small amount of time remaining here, Congressman, if you think raising the minimum wage would help. …...

As readers may recall, in recent years, after announcing a rare bit of activity from yours truly, I have generally observed that I am engaging in such against the advice of my doctors. So it was that I spent over a month in Ukraine, venturing hither and yon and trying to stay one step ahead of the bombs and drones. I was there to research a personal project, but did not manage to complete my work, and was planning to return in late summer. I understand that, in a world where Victoria Nuland and Lindsey Graham lob darts at the...

New York City Democratic socialist mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, a DSA-backed candidate who has made no secret of his contempt for federal immigration enforcement, vowed Thursday to defy a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling, declaring that New York would "do everything that we can" to keep Haitian and Syrian TPS recipients in the country despite the Court's decision. The remarks came just hours after the Court ruled that the Trump administration can move forward with ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti and Syria, holding that most statutory challenges to those decisions cannot be heard in federal court. As RedState reported...

The Swedish EV brand, which is majority-owned by China’s Geely, was authorization by the Commerce Department authorization under the connected vehicles rule. The U.S. Commerce Department won’t allow Polestar to sell vehicles in the United States beginning with its 2027 model year, in the latest restriction targeting connected vehicle technology tied to China. Polestar, a Sweden-based electric vehicle maker majority-owned by Chinese conglomerate Geely Holding, said Thursday it would not appeal the decision. The denial falls under the Connected Vehicles Rule, which bans the import and sale of vehicles featuring certain connected technologies, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular connectivity, and certain...

A major World Cup controversy is brewing as Iran accuses the United States of politicizing football ahead of the tournament. Iranian officials claim Team Melli faces strict travel restrictions, allowing players to enter the U.S. only on match days and requiring immediate departure afterward. Iran also says several federation officials, administrators, media personnel, and support staff were denied visas despite all players receiving approval. Tehran argues the measures create an unfair competitive environment and violate the principles of equal treatment in international sport. Iranian authorities have vowed to raise the issue with FIFA, insisting politics should not interfere with the...