Free Republic

An unhinged Washington woman was busted for vandalizing a memorial statue for fishermen after mistaking its mooring rope for a noose. Cara Munoz, 34, recorded herself haranguing city workers cleaning spray paint from the “Safe Return” memorial at Zuanich Point Park in Bellingham Monday afternoon, which features a bronze fisherman holding a mooring line. A hysterical Munoz, who uses she/they pronouns on her Instagram, berated the workers cleaning off the graffiti from the statue honoring local fishermen who died or disappeared. “Hmmm, can we actually see what’s hiding behind this guy? You sure f–king can’t, nope! You can’t because it’s...

Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is supercharging an already massive US investment spree – pledging an additional $100 billion to meet surging AI demand. The move brings TSMC’s investment in the US to $265 billion and comes as the company posted second-quarter earnings that blew past market expectations Thursday. TSMC, which supplies powerful chips that are critical for tech giants like Apple and Nvidia, boosted its global capital spending plan for 2025 to between $60 billion and $64 billion. That record level marks an increase of about 7% to 14% from its previous forecast. Still, TSMC’s US-listed shares slipped...

Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan, asserting that this week’s good inflation news wasn’t good enough, called Thursday for “modestly” higher interest rates to win a battle the central bank has been losing for the past five years. A voting member this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, Logan insisted that inflation is still a major problem for U.S. households that demands action from policymakers. While other Fed officials have expressed a preference for higher rates if inflation metrics don’t improve, Logan’s is the most specific call for a hike. “I currently believe modestly higher interest rates would...

Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, engaged in sexual relationships with at least two House staffers and his “very flirtatious” habits with others may come back to haunt him, The Post has learned. The 46-year-old lawmaker admitted to the two relationships — both with aides to Texas Democrats — to one source while a second person said they had recently learned of the romantic entanglements. A third source confirmed one of the dalliances, both of which are said to have been consensual and occurred during Gallego’s decade representing Phoenix in the House. The relationships are part...

Democrat Texas candidate Bobby Pulido said molesting kids is “not necessarily rape,” after he brought a sex offender to a middle school, according to social media posts uncovered by the Daily Caller. Pulido brought his longtime friend, convicted child sex offender Frankie Caballero, to perform at a benefit concert at a Texas middle school in 2016, according to an Axios report. Nothing like the vibes in South Texas! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/K7GMMlFZjd — Bobby Pulido for Texas (@PulidoForTexas) June 13, 2026 Unearthed posts on Twitter, now known as X, show Pulido explaining why he believed it was appropriate to bring Caballero to...

Wisconsin Democrat gubernatorial candidates Francesca Hong, Mandela Barnes, and Kelda Roys each indicated that they would veto any anti-Sharia legislation that reached their desks as governor during a forum co-hosted by two Muslim civic organizations. The Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance and Wisconsin Muslim Civic Foundation co-hosted a “Governor Forum,” which the event’s website described as “bringing together Wisconsin’s Muslim community and allies for an evening of civic dialogue, accountability, and engagement.” Community members could attend the event for free and submit questions for the gubernatorial candidates. In a video provided exclusively to Breitbart News, the event host said, “Sharia means...

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said he'd leave the Democratic Party if it becomes the "anti-Israel party," though he signaled he had no plans to imminently depart the caucus. Why it matters: Republicans currently hold a narrow Senate majority, but with midterm elections looming, Fetterman's comments could be a blow to Democrats should they flip four seats in November and regain control. Fetterman acknowledged the Democrats' difficult Senate math when speaking Wednesday at The Hill Nation Summit: "And if we flip those four seats, then I would be 51, and ... watch what I do." He continued, "I'm the guy that...

Unaccountable ‘mission’ directors could bring a Ben & Jerry’s-style meltdown without helping humanity. As OpenAI and Anthropic head toward initial public offerings, investors may be surprised to learn who controls each of these companies. It isn’t their CEOs or investors. Rather, both companies are controlled by “mission” directors, who may own little or no equity, who aren’t accountable to investors and whose missions allow—or require—them to sacrifice stockholder profits for the benefit of humanity. They pose a risk to investors, especially at OpenAI, and it isn’t clear they’ll help benefit humanity. The only other company to use such directors is...

The British government on Thursday urged FIFA to investigate Argentina’s team after players posed with a banner claiming sovereignty over the contested Falkland Islands. Argentina beat England 2-1 in a World Cup semifinal on Wednesday in Atlanta. During post-match celebrations, Argentine players held a banner handed over by fans in the stands, reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” — “The Malvinas are Argentine.” Argentina refers to the Falkland Islands as Islas Malvinas. They were invaded in 1982 under orders from Argentina’s then-military dictatorship, triggering a 10-week war won by Britain. U.K. Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the players’ behavior was “entirely...

DOHA — With the U.S. blockade of the important waterway back on amid renewed hostilities in Iran, President Donald Trump announced that he would secure the Strait of Hormuz by posting an old man who asks you three questions before you may pass. The old man, who was reportedly discovered by U.S. military officials as he guarded a rickety bridge over a chasm in rural Britain known as the Gorge of Eternal Peril, will now be stationed on a dinghy in the Strait of Hormuz, where he will bar the passage of any vessel unless its crew can answer...

A Florida beach erupted into chaos Wednesday when an ultra-low-altitude Blue Angels flyover sent tents, chairs and umbrellas flying into the air — leaving spectators on the shoreline stunned as the jet engines roared just feet above their heads, wild video shows. The “Breakfast with the Blues” annual flyover — part of the Pensacola Beach Air Show — sent sunbathers into a frenzy as the specialized US Navy jets flew terrifyingly close to the shore — stirring up clouds of sand and sending beach gear airborne, WEAR News reported. Tents, beach chairs and umbrellas were tossed around by the thrust...

According to preliminary information, the two boats left Myanmar's western state of Rakhine in late June carrying mostly Rohingya passengers, including some who had traveled from refugee camps across the border in Bangladesh, according to a statement from the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. One boat, believed to have been carrying around 250 people, lost contact shortly after departure. A second boat, reportedly carrying 280 people, is believed to have sunk off Myanmar's Ayeyarwady coast on July 8. The Rohingya, who have in recent years fled both Myanmar and Bangladesh's squalid refugee camps...

Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), a retiring Republican who has become one of the most vocal critics of the Trump administration in his party, delivered harsh words for President Trump’s top-priority voter ID legislation on the Senate floor Thursday morning, saying he would stall it if the legislation came again to the Senate. “If I see a reconciliation bill come from the House with another failed attempt to confuse this election, I will use every device I have available to slow down the wheels of government until people cop a clue and do the math,” Tillis said, nearly shouting, on the...

The US Geological Survey detected a magnitude 3.3 quake at 9.20am ET Thursday morning right along the Yellowstone River inside the Wyoming park. The minor quake's epicenter was recorded just seven miles from the Yellowstone caldera, the bowl-shaped volcanic depression within the famous national park. Last year, scientists discovered tens of thousands of previously unrecorded earthquakes which could be hinting that Yellowstone's supervolcano is building up to an eruption. An international research team used AI to listen to 15 years of Yellowstone recordings and discovered 86,000 tiny earthquakes that human experts had missed. That was about ten times the number...

The WNBA wasn’t going to suspend Alyssa Thomas after landing her fist on Caitlin Clark’s throat until the NBA got involved. According to the Sports Business Journal, NBA commissioner Adam Silver had to implore WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to suspend Thomas. A WNBA spokesperson told SBJ the report was “absolutely false.” Thomas was ultimately suspended one game and assessed a Flagrant 2 penalty while getting fined $1,000 for “recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area.” According to the report, Engelbert originally thought no foul called on the play originally made a suspension after the fact too steep...

Be Careful What You Write Online: ‘Dark Triad’ Traits Are Detectable, Facebook Study ShowsIn a Nutshell *A new study found machine learning can estimate where people fall on the Dark Triad traits (narcissism, *Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) from Facebook posts. *No single model proved reliably better or worse than the others on systematic prediction errors (bias); the gaps between models on that measure were small and statistically negligible. *Words people use in social media posts, especially language tied to perception, action, and emotional tone, were consistently among the strongest signals linking text to Dark Triad traits. Every time someone fires off...

People living with HIV are about twice as likely as their HIV-negative peers to develop herpes zoster—better known as shingles—but vaccination can close the gap, according to a Canadian study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra has opened up a commanding lead over Republican Steve Hilton just weeks after the pair advanced from California’s primary, according to a new poll. The survey from the Public Policy Institute of California found Becerra leading Hilton by 25 percentage points, with 61% of likely voters backing the former health secretary compared to 36% for the ex-Fox News host turned Republican candidate. The results mark a dramatic shift from California’s June 2 blanket primary, when Becerra finished first with about 28.1% of the vote and Hilton followed closely behind with roughly 24.7% Support remained overwhelmingly...

Third Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated medical professor’s case after judge threw out defamation claims A federal appeals court reinstated a medical professor’s defamation and civil rights retaliation case against the University of Pittsburgh last week over an article he wrote criticizing affirmative action. “I have devoted my career to caring for patients, training the next generation of physicians, and contributing to scholarship within my field. When I published this article, I was doing the same thing,” Dr. Norman Wang said in a statement after the ruling. In its July 7 opinion, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals decided that...

Why many traditional Catholics believe the SSPX is answering Our Lady’s callOur Lady in Fatima, Akita, La Salette, and Good Success foretold the confusion, division, and moral collapse now visible in the Vatican's standoff with the SSPX.In moments of confusion and division within the Church, many faithful Catholics turn to the messages Our Lady has given over the centuries.These private revelations – approved ones like Fatima, Akita, La Salette, and Good Success – are not articles of faith, but they have offered comfort and warning to generations facing crisis. Today, as tensions between the Vatican and the Society of Saint...