Free Republic

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said ⁠Britain ⁠had been "failed by its leadership for ⁠a long time," adding that he hoped the country's next prime minister ​could deliver the structural change voters were seeking after years of political turmoil. In an interview with the Sunday ‌Times newspaper, Vance said frequent changes ‌of government pointed to deeper problems in British politics. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced last month ⁠he would ⁠step down after two years in office, paving the way for Britain's ​seventh prime minister in a decade. Lawmaker Andy Burnham is widely expected to succeed Starmer after emerging as the...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued on Saturday his July Fourth address that he teased a day earlier —and nearly all eight minutes of it was spent talking about US President Donald Trump. Newsom’s office had shared some excerpts of the speech ahead of time he tries to grow his national brand in advance of a likely bid for the White House. The speech at that point seemed to focus on election policy to combat narratives from Trump that California’s elections were rigged. Instead, the governor also went on multiple asides personally attacking the president.

Collector Xiao Neng says he has spent at least US$1 million (S$1.3 million) on Ralph Lauren clothing over the past four to five years, building a wardrobe so large that he now sells pieces of it in two vintage stores that he opened in downtown Shanghai. The 23-year-old is part of a growing group of Chinese superfans helping fuel a resurgence for the American brand, which reported a 50 per cent sales jump in the country last quarter, even as the broader luxury market remains subdued by weak consumer confidence, a prolonged property downturn and concerns about jobs and income...

Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, is facing hit-and-run charges after allegedly smashing his convertible into a parked car in Napa County before driving off. Napa County Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of a hit-and-run on the 6700 block of Yount Street in Yountville, on July 3 around 2:30 p.m., according to a press release. A witness who called 911 pointed officials in the direction of a northbound vehicle seen colliding with the rear of a parked car on the shoulder, causing major damage. The collision also pushed the parked car’s right tire up onto the curb. The witness said the vehicle...

With another finals season in the books, prohibited AI assistance continues to be a problem at universities. It may not come as a surprise that students attempt to cheat using AI. What may surprise some is the ease of access to complex cheating tools that the AI era has given to students. When presented with the harsh reality of a technological arms race between individual tech-savvy students and the bloated college bureaucracy, the need for a return to more traditional testing methods becomes apparent. Most universities use Learning Management Systems (LMSs) like Canvas and Blackboard to administer and collect assignments...

The walls of Jerusalem's Old City and the Chords Bridge were illuminated in red, white and blue Saturday night as the city celebrated the 250th anniversary of American independence and honored the enduring US-Israel partnership. Video of display. Jerusalem marked the 250th anniversary of American independence on Saturday night by illuminating the walls of the Old City and the city's iconic Chords Bridge in the red, white and blue colors of the U.S. flag. The tribute, organized by the Jerusalem Municipality, was intended as a symbol of friendship and appreciation for the longstanding relationship between Israel and the United States,...

Paul Pelosi, 86, the husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is under investigation for allegedly being involved in a hit-and-run crash in Yountville, according to the Napa County sheriff's office. Authorities said Pelosi was driving a brown convertible when he crashed into an unoccupied parked car in Yountville at about 2;30 p.m. Friday. The parked car sustained major rear-end damage. Witness says driver took off after hitting parked car What they're saying: A witness told deputies the driver who caused the crash briefly stopped and then drove away. Deputies soon saw a CHP patrol vehicle parked behind a brown convertible...

Suspected Fed group Patriot Front is in Washington, DC, today for another demonstration on the 250th anniversary of American Independence. The group was seen gathering outside of Washington Union Station this morning, chanting “Life, Liberty, Victory” and “Reclaim America!” The group was wearing khaki pants, navy blue shirts, green hats, combat boots, and white face masks to conceal their identities. Via Mitchell Miller on X: They were also seen marching away from the train station, carrying various flags, including American flags and Confederate flags. Some flew the American flag upside down, a signal of distress. The Southern Poverty Law Center...

The July 4th 1776 Declaration of Independence wasn't the first important Declaration that Jefferson was involved in. A year earlier, July 6th 1775, the Second Continental Congress had him write what amounts to a Declaration of War, which somehow never gets any attention.

Explanation: On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled,...

An appeals court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration can reinstall interpretive panels that critics say whitewash the history of slavery at the site of President George Washington’s home in Philadelphia.The signs would be in the same area where the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. A message seeking comment was left Friday with the National Park Service.The new educational panels were designed to replace ones put up in 2010 that told the story of how nine slaves lived in the home along with George and Martha Washington in the 1790s, when Philadelphia was briefly the...

President Trump’s bond with likely New York lawmaker Anthony Constantino is already set — in bronze. Constantino, who got Trump’s endorsement to fill the seat of retiring upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), gifted a $250,000 bronze statue capturing his defiant fist-pump moments after surviving the 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., the president’s latest financial disclosure reveals. Having won the Republican primary in last month’s election, Constantino is likely headed to Washington to represent the Republican-leaning district. His vote will be vital if Republicans manage to keep the House they hold by a narrow margin. Called “The Defiance Moment,” the...

A British criminal court on Friday handed down multi-year prison terms to two Romanian citizens found guilty of knifing an anti-regime broadcaster outside his residence, a targeted assault the presiding judge explicitly attributed to the directives of the Iranian government, The Associated Press reported. Pouria Zeraati, a prominent host for the London-headquartered, opposition-affiliated network Iran International, survived being stabbed in the thigh during the March 2024 ambush outside his suburban Wimbledon home. Zeraati later left the UK and moved to Israel, saying he feels “much safer" in the Jewish state. Following a jury trial last month, a 21-year-old and a...

Iranian security officials have rejected Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s request to attend the burial of his slain father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, because they fear Israel will kill the son or track him back to his hiding spot, The New York Times reported Saturday. Mojtaba Khamenei seeks to attend his father’s July 9 burial in Mashhad and perform funeral rites, but has so far been refused, the Times said, citing two unnamed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members and a person involved with planning the multi-day funeral that began on Saturday. Khamenei has not been seen in public since he was...

The SSPX Crisis is not an AbstractionI have tried to stay out of the tribal warfare surrounding the SSPX because I do not belong to anyone’s faction. I just want to be left alone to practice the orthodox Faith. I am a convert, but I am not an uninformed one. Before entering the Catholic Church, I studied Catholic theology, Church history, papal authority, canon law, Vatican II, Tradition, and the Magisterium. I read the Summa cover to cover. I have continued studying ever since. I understand why the consecration of bishops without a papal mandate is treated as an extraordinarily...

By Dr. John BergsmaWe are currently in Cycle A of the Lectionary, reading through the Gospel of Matthew. This Sunday we find Jesus more or less in the middle of his earthly ministry (Matthew 11), and the Readings are marked by a strong theme of the restoration of the world-wide Kingdom of David. 1. Our First Reading is Zechariah 9:9-10: Thus says the LORD: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an...

Cities pull out all the stops despite a scorching heat wave, with historic re-enactments, concerts and dazzling fireworksTwo-and-a-half centuries after adopting the Declaration of Independence, America is marking its semiquincentennial with a coast-to-coast spectacle.Scorching temperatures dampened some of the July 4 weekend fun. A heat dome that brought sweltering conditions to much of the country this past week forced some schedule changes and cancellations Saturday. Temperatures were expected to hit nearly 100 degrees in several major East Coast cities, with officials warning people to stay hydrated and limit activity outdoors.Some festivities, including Philadelphia’s Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade, were canceled...

The United States of America is a miracle.We speak of the American “experiment” as if the outcome is uncertain. That’s because it is. It always has been. There is a civic usefulness in reminding ourselves of the absolute audacity of the Founders. We tend to picture them in frock coats and knee-high breeches. Maybe we should picture them in lab coats. They were mad scientists.Like all brilliant minds they had far-reaching imaginations. They conjured into being that which others couldn’t conceive—first in conversation and debate, then with quill pen and parchment, finally with musket and grapeshot.Not every hypothesis panned out....

Canonical Analysis: The 2026 DDF Decree on the SSPXBy the Canon of Shaftesbury, a judicial vicar in a major archdiocese.The question is whether the Decree and Explanatory Note issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) on July 2, 2026 actually accomplished what many have said, namely, the excommunication of six bishops, over seven hundred priests, and an unspecified number of the faithful. The short answer, reading the documents against the Code of Canon Law, is that they did not.The Decree itself names six individuals: four newly consecrated bishops, the principal consecrator (Bishop de Galarreta), and a...

Short 1:25 AI video of what the July 4 250th celebration in DC would have looked like under President Kammy.