Free Republic

The author of a new book about William Shakespeare is claiming that the works of the famed playwright were actually written by a black, Jewish woman. The book, The Real Shakespeare: Emilia Bassano Willoughby by Irene Coslet, argues that Shakespeare was actually Emilia Bassano, a dark-skinned Jewish woman who was an English poet during the Elizabethan period. The Amazon description for the book, which says it is set to be released on March 30, questions if Shakespeare was indeed “a white man from Stratford.” “Debate still rages over the identity of the most beloved poet of all time and ‘father’...

Two juveniles have been arrested after investigators accused them of sparking a devastating six-alarm blaze that tore through an empty Pennsylvania factory before leaping across the street and destroying houses, leaving dozens of people homeless. The two youths, whose names have not been released due to their young ages, are being held on charges including arson, conspiracy, recklessly endangering another person and causing a catastrophe. The arrests came two days after the massive inferno erupted in Allentown, sending towering flames and thick black smoke into the night sky as more than 100 firefighters battled to stop the blaze from swallowing...

A Florida police officer is winning nationwide praise for his message to an illegal alien p*dophile that he busted earlier this week. On Thursday, the Jacksonville Police Department arrested a 34-year-old Mexican illegal alien named Jose Malagon after he used an online site to chat with two different people who he thought were teenage girls and solicited them for sex. But unbeknownst to Malagon, the people at the other end of the line were Jacksonville police detectives. The Jacksonville Police Department's US Marshals Task Force then found Malagon in Neptune Beach, where he initially resisted arrest. Once they had him...

Key Takeaways: Lithuania and Bulgaria were the only countries in this dataset where more native-born citizens returned than left in 2024. Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and most other countries recorded net losses of native-born residents, highlighting a broader shift in where Europeans choose to live and work.

Shabana Mahmood is preparing to launch a controversial new refugee sponsorship scheme that could see more than 10,000 people resettled in Britain – with households expected to help house and support arrivals. The Labour Government is facing fresh criticism after unveiling plans to bring thousands more refugees into Britain under a new sponsorship programme inspired by the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce the policy next week as part of a sweeping Immigration and Asylum Bill, creating new “safe and legal” routes for refugees from some of the world’s biggest conflict zones. Under the...

In an effort to reduce fraud via mail-in ballots, President Trump has directed Postmaster General David Steiner to refuse to deliver mailed ballots in states that refuse to submit voter registration data to the federal government. During a Senate hearing testimony, Steiner pointed out that "a super-majority of registered voters want ballots to be cast only by US citizens. The only way to fulfill this mandate is to verify that every person who casts a ballot is a citizen. Folks who vote in-person can easily show a photo ID that verifies they are a person registered to vote. Folks who...

The Communist Party USA has condemned the recent police shooting that killed 1-year-old Kohen Kartier Wiley in Mississippi, saying it stands with those demanding answers and justice for his family. In a statement dated June 23, the party said that “under no circumstances” should theft result in someone being killed. The statement came in response to the death of Kohen, who was killed on June 14 during an officer-involved shooting outside the Walmart on U.S. Highway 51 in Senatobia. A statement from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation that was carried by local media said officers with the Senatobia Police Department...

Podgorica, Montenegro — An Iranian national who is wanted by the United States for mass hacking attacks that caused $3.4 billion in damage was arrested in Montenegro, police in the Balkan country said late Thursday.The 39-year-old man, who holds both the Iranian and Turkish citizenship, is wanted by a federal court in New York on multiple charges including conspiracy to commit computer ⁠fraud, hacking, and identity ⁠theft, a statement said. Police said they located the man in the coastal Montenegrin resort town of Kotor, where he was arrested Thursday by request of the U.S. and the FBI, Montenegrin police added."Since...

The United States is sending hundreds of personnel, two warships, fixed and rotary-winged aircraft, and search and rescue teams to Venezuela in the wake of Wednesday’s earthquake that killed more than 500 people. The first arrivals, with a Marine Corps general leading them, reached Caracas Thursday night. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Jarrard, who previously commanded the 4th Marine Division, arrived in Caracas on Thursday. The exact number of military personnel deploying hasn’t been disclosed, but is in the hundreds and is pulled from multiple branches. Rotary-wing aircraft stationed in the region are flying in assistance teams. Marine Corps...

SNIP The leading candidate to win Nancy Pelosi’s seat in Congress was chased away from the city’s Pride March on Friday by an angry mob — a day after footage surfaced of pro-Palestinian agitator berating him inside a restaurant. A person filming Wiener walking through a park is initially heard complimenting the candidate, who is gay, on his actions on “trans issues” before launching into a blistering attack. “You’ve been terrible, you’ve been terrible on Gaza,” the person is heard yelling. “You do not belong here anymore, Scott. And it breaks my f—ing heart. It breaks my heart. It breaks...

Wiener caused anger in Jewish community after flip-flopping on the issue amid pressure from pro-Palestinian groups as he campaigns for CongressScott Wiener, the California lawmaker who earlier this month announced that he believed Israel had committed “genocide” in Gaza, is stepping down as a leader of the state legislature’s Jewish caucus. Wiener, a state senator from San Francisco, has been a co-chair of the caucus since 2023. He is currently running for Congress. In a statement released Thursday, he attributed his resignation from the caucus’ leadership position to both his campaign and the backlash over his Israel comments. He will...

Supporters welcomed the agreement as a step toward curtailing Iran’s influence within Lebanon, but others took to the streets, calling it a capitulation. After Israel and Lebanon signed a preliminary agreement in Washington on Friday aimed at establishing a lasting peace between them, the reaction in Lebanon was immediate and sharply divided.Supporters of the U.S.-brokered deal said it was a move to curtail Iranian influence in Lebanon, setting out a pathway for the disarmament of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which Israel is at war with. They also said it asserts Lebanese sovereignty over the country’s internal security.Others, not least...

Plum Island homeowners recently received a notice from the Town of Newbury warning that it had "become aware of the use of devices and materials intended to deter" protected shorebirds from using local beach and dune systems. The letter listed "mylar streamers, flags, [and] reflective materials" as examples of such devices. The letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, goes on to caution that "activities intended to deter protected shorebirds from utilizing suitable habitat may be viewed as harassment or disruption of normal feeding, nesting, or migratory behavior," which is prohibited under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts, and "carry...

Iran launched a drone assault targeting Bahrain while a ship in the Strait of Hormuz separately came under attack Saturday in Tehran's likely response to overnight airstrikes by the United States. The U.S. had launched airstrikes overnight in response to an Iranian drone attack on a container ship trying to leave the strait Thursday, continuing a string of attacks that have shaken the war's uneasy ceasefire. Iran has insisted that ships must obey its orders and warned it will start charging fees for transit through the strait. However, ships have been increasingly trying to leave the Gulf in recent days....

Normal Americans are gearing up to celebrate our country’s 250th birthday with friends and family. The bitter lunatics who despise this country are already rejoicing for, shall we say, different reasons. Zohran Mamdani had a great week. All three of the terrorist-adjacent, anti-capitalist zealots he endorsed for Congress won their primaries against establishment-backed incumbents or their chosen successors. They won by reiterating the woke nonsense normal Democrats have spent the last several years trying to disavow, and assailing their opponents as fair-weather communists insufficiently devoted to Israel’s destruction. Mamdani’s candidates—Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, and Darializa Avila Chevalier—ran up huge margins...

WikiLeaks@wikileaksProminent US war hawk John Bolton has pled guilty to violating the Espionage Act after previously demanding execution for whistleblowers Edward Snowden & Chelsea Manning and 176 years in prison for publisher Julian Assange.As part of a plea agreement, Bolton admitted to unlawfully retaining sensitive national security information. He now faces up to 5 years in prison, up to 3 years of supervised release, a $2.25 million fine, forfeiture of his pension, and is due to be sentenced on 28 October.June 26, 2026

The world’s largest encyclopedia was overrun by bias and censorship—and pushed me out when I tried to fix it. Twenty-five years ago, I co-founded Wikipedia, arguably the most important encyclopedia in human history. On Monday, I was indefinitely banned from the site. The story of what happened to me is, in many ways, the story of our censorious times, in which independent thinking is seen as a threat rather than a virtue, and punished as such. Let me back up. In early 2000, the internet was a very different place than it is today. It was much freer—tools of censorship...

An Australian man has been arrested over the murder of a teenage girl whose naked body was found inside a suitcase alongside a railway line in Thailand. The 46-year-old man, from Ballarat, Victoria, was arrested for the murder of 17-year-old Thai girl Tunchanok Donhomla as he allegedly tried to board a plane at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok on Friday evening, local media reports. His arms and neck were allegedly covered in scratch marks at the time of his arrest. According to local media, the man allegedly picked up the teenager from the Beach Road vice strip in Pattaya...

Marxist-driven Democrats swept New York City’s Tuesday elections, prompting Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to declare a democratic socialist mandate in the Big Apple. Communists are feeling their oats over the wins, which are seen as shots over the bow of Democratic leadership. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are both from New York, and socialist voters were seen shouting “you’re next” at a television screen showing Jeffries on Tuesday night. At the same time, so-called “centrist” House Democrats are reportedly preparing “for war” if the NYC congressional candidates win in November, which is highly likely....

ransomnote: The following x.com thread contains twelve posts.Richard Nixon Foundation@nixonfoundation1/ Here's what so many people get wrong about Richard Nixon and Watergate. Richard Nixon Foundation@nixonfoundation·20h2/ First - the context. Nixon entered office with the deck stacked against him.He was the first president since 1849 to take office with both Houses of Congress controlled by the opposing party.The permanent bureaucracy, media, and political elite were all aligned against him. Richard Nixon Foundation@nixonfoundation·20h3/ Washington was in chaos.The Vietnam War split the nation. Between 1967–72, D.C. was rocked by massive protests - some with over a million people.The White House was literally barricaded...