Free Republic

The preliminary hearing in the Tyler Robinson trial has been going on this week in a Utah courtroom. Robinson is accused of assassinating Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University (UVU) on September 10, 2025. Erika Kirk and Charlie Kirk's parents, Kathryn and Robert, were able to face Robinson in court during the hearings. Throughout the week, the prosecution has laid out a very clear case that Tyler Robinson is the man responsible for the murder of Charlie Kirk, including video and DNA evidence linking Robinson to the crime.Robinson turned himself in to the authorities at 9...

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — Wally Funk, an aviation pioneer who was the oldest woman to launch into space, has died. She was 87.Funk died Wednesday at her apartment in an assisted living facility in the Dallas and Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, Texas, Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O’Dell said Thursday. O’Dell, who described herself as Funk’s caregiver, said she was by Funk’s side. Funk had fallen a couple of times recently and had an infection in her leg.“It took its toll,” O’Dell said in a phone interview. Funk was one of 13 female pilots who went through the same tests...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday terminated the last three members of the Election Assistance ‌Commission, the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide, according to one person familiar with the decision and two other people briefed on the terminations. The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission were forced out of the commission on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ​two Democratic appointees were fired via an email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, according to two people familiar with the ​terminations. The fourth commissioner departed the commission in...

Eight years after Vatican-China deal, persecution of faithful Catholics intensifiesThe Vatican's secret deal with China has empowered the Chinese Communist Party's war on religious freedom that Rome needs to address.“Nobody has any illusion about the Chinese Communists Party’s determination to eliminate all religion.”~Bishop James E. Walsh, Maryknoll Missionary to China, 1948, imprisoned for 12 years by the CCP.(Elizabeth Yore) — The Patriotic Chinese Catholic Association was established in 1957 by the authority of Mao Zedong, and under the control of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the CCP with the goal to bring Catholicism into alignment...

U.S. — According to sources, the Democrat Party quietly revised their process for vetting prospective candidates by first asking them if they've ever raped anyone. Following the surprise implosion of would-be senator Graham Platner, Democrats reportedly added a new question to the typical questionnaire they give every prospective candidate: Have you ever raped anyone? "Forgetting to ask about the rape thing is really coming back to bite us," said Ken Martin, head of the Democratic National Committee. "It always catches us off guard. I really think adding a brief screening to see if potential candidates have committed felonious sexual assault...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. John Wayne ~ Why I Love America Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24 (NIV) ----

Los Angeles Unified is facing “severe” signs of insolvency, with county officials projecting a $231-million cash shortfall by late 2027. County education authorities have appointed a fiscal expert and have given the school board 45 days to fix its budget or risk outside control. Costly union contracts, stalled cuts and steep enrollment declines helped drive the troubles. The Los Angeles Unified School District faces “severe” indications that it will be insolvent by November 2027 — falling $231 million into the red and unable to make payroll — county analysts have concluded, setting up a 45-day deadline for the school board...

Newport Beach’s Balboa Peninsula, long infamous as “Zooport,” saw its wild July 4 tradition spiral into chaos this year, with a viral TikTok takeover and more than 400 arrests. Residents say crowds of mostly out-of-towners left them trapped in their homes and shuttering bars early, reigniting anger over what they say is lax enforcement. City leaders now face pressure to revive past holiday crackdowns — from checkpoints to curfews — as Newport wrestles with balancing coastal access, tourism revenue and neighborhood safety. The Balboa Peninsula has a long and sometimes infamous history as a party beach. A generation ago, drunken...

What THIS PASTOR said...

Dramatic new bodycam footage captured the moment heroic NYPD cops plucked a distraught woman off steel cables high above the Brooklyn Bridge, saving her from sure death. “I just wanna talk,” one cop is heard telling the woman after she climbed high atop the East River span shortly before 7:40 p.m. on Wednesday. “What’s happening today? “I wanna help you, that’s why I’m up here right now,” the officer said. “I genuinely care, I do. It’s a permanent solution to a temporary problem, it really is. I don’t know what you’re going through but I want to understand. We have...

Trillionaire Elon Musk aims to have rockets blast off from Earth before the end of 2026, sending the first materials to the moon and Mars to start building colonies. The world’s first trillionaire is then planning to send robots to prepare the infrastructure needed for humans to survive. Musk said recently he has shifted Space X’s focus as it is closer and “much faster to complete a moon city,” with a timeline of getting it established in the next 10 years. However, he is optimistic he can also start sending material to the red planet within seven years too. This...

KEY TAKEAWAYS Silver Enables the Design: A 5-micrometer silver-carbon layer suppresses dendrites and allows Samsung's compact "anode-less" architecture. Performance Leap: The technology targets 900 Wh/L, 600-mile range, and 9-minute fast charging, roughly double current lithium-ion density. 2027 Timeline: Mass production is targeted for 2027, signaling a potential new role for silver in the EV supply chain. ‍ The electric vehicle (EV) industry is approaching a generational transition. While current lithium-ion technology has enabled the first wave of mass adoption, manufacturers are actively seeking solutions to persistent challenges regarding energy density, charging speed, and safety. Among the leading candidates for the...

"You . . . are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:5). Spiritual sacrifices are acts of praise and worship offered to God through Jesus Christ. The primary mission of a Hebrew priest was to offer acceptable sacrifices to God. That's why God gave detailed instructions regarding the kinds of sacrifices He required. For example, if a lamb was offered, it had to be perfect—without deformity or blemish. Then it had to be sacrificed in a prescribed manner. It was a serious...

Can Kyiv ever win? It has become something of a seasonal ritual. Every summer, Brussels launches a fresh propaganda offensive on Ukraine — and this year is no different. “The tide is turning”, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared on social media a few weeks ago, claiming that Ukraine, with European and Nato help, has seized the initiative, while Russia has been forced onto the defensive. The same phrase has since been echoed verbatim by politicians and commentators across the transatlantic ecosystem, in what is clearly a coordinated narrative push. Meanwhile, we are told that the Russian economy is...

You’ve spent years building a body of work. Your methods, your frameworks, your unique perspective. So when you use AI to write new content in different formats, the last thing you want is for it to undermine everything you’ve created. But that’s exactly what happens when large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok insert their telltale phrases into your writing.Large language models change fast. The giveaway signs of ChatGPT-generated content from 2023 are mostly gone. Lengthy introductions, ethical consideration paragraphs, words like “delve” and “landscape” have been trained out or flagged by savvy users. Even the signs that...

Is Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman preparing for a political divorce from the Democratic Party - or is he simply becoming Washington’s most unpredictable Democrat? The speculation exploded after Fetterman and Republican Senator Dave McCormick joined forces on a rare bipartisan fundraising operation that has stunned political insiders. The unusual partnership allows the two Pennsylvania senators — one Democrat and one Republican — to work together on fundraising efforts and promote areas where they have found common ground, including bipartisan initiatives focused on Pennsylvania issues. Their cooperation has included public appearances supporting youth mentorship efforts, discussions about economic issues affecting the...

For many public colleges and universities in California, keeping their campuses safe includes owning military-grade weaponry: AR-15s, stun grenades designed to cause temporary blindness and sonic weapons that resonate so loudly they are known in the armed forces as the voice of God. According to California state law, campus police can only own military equipment if the college believes there is no other way to uphold civilian safety. That law, which passed in 2021, also requires police to make all their equipment dealings exceedingly clear to the public. However, not every college follows every part of the law, according to...

I admit that this surprised me too. No matter how much one distrusts media narratives, they shape our perceptions until something breaks the bubble and makes you question the basic assumptions that inform your worldview. What choice do we have? We can't go down every rabbit hole to ferret out the truth. We have to pick and choose our battles, after all. So it's good to have a reminder to remain skeptical in all things, especially when some interest or political agenda is involved. A case in point: the story we are told about crime rates in the United States...

The Trump administration, led by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, is ridding America's roadways of noncitizen truck drivers. But the death toll continues to rise amid legal and blue state pushback. Flags are flying at half staff in the state of Pennsylvania in honor of Michael Pahira Jr., a state trooper killed after a tractor-trailer struck him on the morning of July 1. Pahira, a 20-year veteran of the force, was conducting a safety check of another commercial truck on the shoulder of 1-80 when Michael Bon, an illegal immigrant from Haiti, crashed into Pahira’s vehicle then hit the truck he...

~Favorite Clothes Song's~ oe Cocker - You Can Leave Your Hat On *Video*