Free Republic

The American flag: To some, it’s Old Glory. To others, it’s a MAGA hat on a stick. To fly or not to fly an American flag? That was never a question for Bruce Watson, who has put his national pride on display for years — and nudges neighbors in his small New England town to do the same. “I’m very proud of our flag,” the writer said. “It’s the symbol of ‘We, the People.’” But as the polarized nation marks its 250th birthday, Watson, 72, worries his Stars and Stripes may now need an asterisk. “If we do fly the...

Archaeologists have uncovered six previously unknown Bronze Age mining sites in Extremadura in southwestern Spain. The discoveries were made during a February survey led by researchers from the Maritime Encounters program at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. These sites could help answer a long-standing question about where the metal used in Scandinavian Bronze Age artifacts originally came from.Fieldwork took place from February 9 to 16 in the region surrounding Cabeza del Buey in the province of Badajoz. The project was carried out in partnership with the Universidad de Sevilla and specialists from the Museo Arqueológico Provincial de Badajoz.Researchers documented...

Vladimir Putin has admitted Russia is facing fuel shortages as Ukraine steps up its long-range drone campaign, with repeated strikes setting oil refineries ablaze and forcing multiple regions to introduce unprecedented petrol rationing. Speaking to Russian state television late on Sunday, the Russian president acknowledged for the first time that Ukrainian attacks on energy infrastructure were affecting domestic fuel supplies. “Of course, they create problems, that’s obvious,” Putin said. “Right now we’re observing a certain shortage, but it’s not critical.” Putin said Moscow would seek to ease the shortages by boosting fuel imports, while redoubling efforts to protect refineries from...

During the Biden years, Kash Patel accused Jan. 6 provocateur Ray Epps of being a federal asset. Referring to the fact that Epps was taken off the FBI’s Most Wanted list in early 2021, Patel said there was only two ways someone could get off that list—either they died or they’re working for the government. Now that he’s FBI director, Patel has gone silent on Epps. But a New Jersey investigative journalist is trying to force disclosure with a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed Friday in federal court.Miller filed his lawsuit after the FBI denied him those records on...

A Paris official has said she holds the US partially responsible for the record-breaking heatwave in France. The comments were made as part of a scathing rebuke to American tourists, immigrants and expats who have been criticising France for its lack of air conditioning across the country. Over the past week, the transatlantic discourse online has also been heating up, with some Americans – many living in desert and tropical climes in the southern US – mocking the French and Western Europeans for not being able to withstand temperatures to which they are accustomed to every year. “Dear American journalists...

Waving religious flags and holding signs calling for justice, Shia Muslims gathered and walked on Ford Road in Dearborn in a colorful display Sunday, June 28, that marked Ashura, a holiday recalling the death of a leader whose message resonates today with the faithful. The procession started at Fordson High School, led by a group of young men who held by red flags that read "Ashura," referring to the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram, when a revered leader who is the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, Imam Hussain, died in battle against an unjust ruler. Most of the...

In the first centuries of the Common Era, far from the Baltic coast where amber naturally occurs, communities in Masovia were producing large quantities of amber jewellery -- leaving behind traces of a craft that has only gradually come to light.Archaeologists have identified as many as 10 ancient amber workshops across five settlements. In some of them, they uncovered up to 20,000 amber fragments, along with decorative beads and pendants, pointing to production on a significant scale...At the time, much of present-day Poland was inhabited by communities of the Przeworsk Culture. Known for their advanced craftsmanship, they developed large-scale iron...

Not long ago, I stood with others on the lawn of the Kootenai County Courthouse, watching the experts from Dobson Chimney and Masonry carefully remove a time capsule that was placed in the building’s cornerstone when it was dedicated in 1926. As we waited, I looked around to see what other bits of history from a century ago surrounded me. Across Government Way, I could see the old Roosevelt School. That had certainly been there in 1926. A block away, I could see the Hamilton House, the home of Coeur d’Alene’s second mayor. That had been there too. I knew...

Five adults killed, several others injured. Both suspects arrested. 45 kilometers from Hamburg.

America’s ruling class has performed another miracle. They took the most basic truths in human civilization ... crime needs punishment, borders need enforcement, schools should teach, welfare should be temporary, families matter, merit matters, and taxpayers should not be looted by professional parasites ... and somehow rebranded all of that as “extremism.” Incredible work, really. Apparently, a “compassionate” society is one where the violent repeat offender gets another chance, the victim gets a candlelight vigil, the taxpayer gets the bill, the schoolkid gets passed along illiterate, the fraudster gets a grant, the NGO gets another contract, the illegal alien gets...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) vowed that “Anthony Fauci will answer to the American people” in an X post as he ramps up his investigation into the former top health official’s role in the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said his investigation into COVID-19 origins has been blocked in the past but is now moving forward with broader access to records. Paul suggested that newly reviewed evidence and a subpoena for testimony will force answers to long-running questions about the pandemic and government-funded research.

Among the latest departures is Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe and Africa, who is stepping down after about 18 months. Donahue previously oversaw the final phase of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan under the Biden administration.

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It's summer, which means the weather is hot again. In Europe, which is in the grip of a heatwave, the BBC says some 1,300 people have died from the rising temps. Despite that, Europeans remain reluctant to consider air conditioning. Sure, there are some areas where people are fighting over air conditioning units, but the climate change hysteria has been so ingrained in the culture that many people would rather drop dead than plug in an air conditioning unit that uses an infinitesimal amount of energy. In Germany, a public broadcaster is waging an 'anti-AC campaign' telling people air conditioning...

A shooting at a youth welfare facility in northern Germany on Monday left six people dead, police said. The suspected shooter was arrested. Five people – four women and one man – died at the scene of the shooting in Stade, police said. A sixth, also an adult, died later at a hospital. Police said several people were wounded, some of them seriously, German news agency dpa reported, but they did not give a specific figure or information on the victims’ identity. Police said the shooting took place in the facility on Dankersstrasse, a street south of the town center....

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that states can continue counting mail-in ballots sent by, and received within, five days of Election Day - delivering a staggering blow to President Donald Trump on one of his biggest fixations. The high court ruled 5-4 to allow state voting laws that permit the counting of the mail-in ballots to remain in place. Republicans argued it conflicted with federal legislation. 'The federal election-day statutes do not prevent Mississippi from counting absentee ballots postmarked by election day but received up to five days thereafter; nothing in the federal election-day statutes requires ballots to be...

A man who had strangled his girlfriend to death later died while trying to dump her body in the woods. Daniel Robbins, 44, of Georgia, killed his girlfriend Jessica Folds, 47, of Alabama sometime in early June. "He died of a heart attack while doing it," 5th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Mike Segrest said, according to Al.com. "Their bodies were right there together." Robbins and Folds had been in a relationship prior to her death. The couple was found together on June 10 at about 12:20 p.m. after Chambers County sheriff's deputies were called to a wooded area along County...

WASHINGTON — Rejecting a Republican National Committee challenge, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that elections officials may count mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day if they were postmarked beforehand. The court, divided 5-4, held that the Mississippi law challenged by the RNC does not unlawfully conflict with the federal law that sets Election Day in early November. The ruling, authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is a setback for President Donald Trump, who has frequently criticized mail-in voting, claiming without offering evidence that it is rife with fraud. Two of the court’s conservatives were joined by the three liberals...

China is so CASHLESS that even beggars use WeChat QR code when they beg for money.

Supreme Court refuses to review E. Jean Carroll’s $5M sex abuse, defamation verdict vs. Trump WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up President Trump’s appeal of the $5 million sexual abuse and defamation verdict that followed a lawsuit by former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. Now Trump will have no choice but to pony up the $5 million to the 82-year-old, who has repeatedly claimed that the president sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room during the mid-1990s.