Free Republic

As hundreds of military veterans campaign across countless U.S. states between now and November, new polling shows that Americans trust the candidates more than the military institution itself.A Gallup poll conducted in partnership with the cross-partisan veteran organization With Honor and released July 30 found that 77% of 1,001 adults across all 50 states trust people with military experience to perform well in office, with 70% having a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in military veterans in such roles. Just 18% responded that they have some confidence, and 10% reported very little confidence.The poll shows that appreciation...

…Allagash tipsters and genealogical records confirm that Troy Jackson’s longtime significant other, Lana Pelletier — his high school sweetheart and the mother of his two adult sons, Chace and Camden — is, in fact, his second cousin by blood. Jackson and Pelletier share the same great-grandparents: Thomas Pelletier and Edith Thibodeau. Thomas and Edith’s daughter Albertine was Troy’s grandmother; their son Louis Sr. was Lana’s grandfather. That makes Troy and Lana second cousins on the Pelletier line.… First cousins share a pair of grandparents. They inherit, on average, about 12.5 percent of their DNA from the same recent ancestors. That...

Why my Jewish New Yorker friends support Zohran Mamdani What my friends’ support for Mamdani revealed about Jewish identity – comment “Maybe you can never see the bubble you’re in until it bursts.” Reflecting on friendship, Jewish identity, and the widening distance between Israel and parts of American Jewry.By HANNAH BROWN JULY 28, 2026 22:45 Updated: JULY 29, 2026 11:18It has been widely reported that about a third of New York’s Jews voted for Zohran Mamdani, which didn’t surprise me, because most of my oldest and closest friends in New York are in that 33%.Their choice to vote for him...

Labour has stormed to a decisive victory in the Greater Manchester mayoral byelection, seizing back areas that recently fell to Reform UK and the Greens. Labour’s Bev Craig, the Manchester city council leader, will now succeed Andy Burnham and hold one of the most powerful political positions outside Westminster. Labour won 47% of the vote, with Reform UK way behind on 21% and Greens in third on 12%. The contest took place under the supplementary voting system, meaning that as no candidate achieved more than 50% then voters’ second preferences were counted. When voters’ second choices were counted and other...

HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) — Advocates warn that tens of thousands of migrant children who came to the United States alone could lose legal representation in immigration court and increase their risk of deportation as the Trump administration allows a contract with legal services providers to expire.Friday marks the last day of a contract under which the federal government pays for legal services for children who enter the U.S. without a parent or guardian. The government contracts out those services to a network of nearly 100 legal groups across the country that provide services to roughly 20,000 children.The Trump administration did...

The United States and Israel are planning what would be one of the harshest bombing campaigns to date against energy infrastructure targets in Iran, multiple sources told CBS News, with strikes possible throughout the weekend. There was some discussion about trying to conclude by the time financial markets open Monday because of concern about how the bombings will affect the U.S. and global economy, but an end point wasn't locked in. The Israelis have been notified and are coordinating with the United States, according to multiple U.S. sources. The president has yet to give the final go orders for the...

The Clarksville City Council has approved the issuance of billions of dollars of bonds to support a data center currently under construction. On Thursday, the council unanimously approved two ordinances for taxable industrial development revenue bonds. The first ordinance was for up to $50 billion in industrial bonds to Hatchbo LLC, and the second ordinance was for up to $5 billion in industrial bonds to SF ARK1 LLC, which is Serverfarm. Serverfarm, the company behind the future data center, says its $6.6 billion investment includes the major mechanical and electrical systems needed to support long-term operations.

U.S. President Donald Trump declined to provide Ukraine with 300 Patriot interceptor missiles that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had requested to defend the country against Russian attacks this winter, The Atlantic reported on July 30. Instead, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump offered Kyiv a license to produce its own interceptors domestically — though large-scale production could reportedly take years. The Atlantic's report did not specify exactly when Zelenskyy made the request to Trump. According to an analysis by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the war in Iran has depleted U.S. Patriot interceptor...

New details were released Friday, including the identities of both suspects and the victim connected to a violent kidnapping that ended with the deaths of the victim and one of the suspects in Chino Hills late Wednesday night. Investigators said 60-year-old Shukur Aikebaer stepped outside his home in the 2100 block of Monteverde Drive around 10:15 p.m. to inspect the home’s electrical panel after service to the residence was interrupted. That’s when the two suspects, identified as 67-year-old Zhengfeng Bo and 66-year-old Jianquan Bo, allegedly shot and kidnapped Aikebaer, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities said the...

Widely circulated video showed thousands of Moroccans storming a Spanish outpost in North Africa. The White House condemned Spain as weak on immigration. ROME — The sudden arrival of a massive group of migrants at a Spanish exclave in North Africa triggered a fresh wave of political attacks against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on both sides of the Atlantic, as voices from the right in Spain, Germany, Italy and France, with the White House joining in, lashed out against Europe’s leading liberal in office. Spanish officials said nearly 50,000 migrants rushed the Spanish territory over the past 24 hours, swimming...

Nearly six months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, investigators released the full contents of a ransom note and a follow up investigators believe may contain clues that someone familiar with the alleged kidnappers may recognize. Law enforcement is urging the public to look at the linguistic patterns of the notes. Authorities said the messages feature “distinctive patterns of word choice, syntax, and phraseology” that reflect the writer’s unique style that people who knew them could recognize. The notes could also provide insight into the author’s mindset, motives and how their...

US President Donald Trump says he is considering withdrawing Todd Blanche's nomination to be attorney general as his confirmation appears stalled in the Senate. Blanche, who has been acting in the role since April, needs the support of all Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation to advance. However, two senators - John Cornyn from Texas and North Carolina's Thom Tillis, whose terms both expire in January - are withholding theirs over the status of a controversial fund to compensate Trump allies. "I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd's name, if they do not do the right...

I've about had it with the Senate emotionalism. Judiciary is a MAJOR committee assignment. We need hard chargers, with good legal minds, not Sociology & Rehabilitation Counseling degrees. We see every day the results of Jeff Flake, Thom Tillis, John Cornyn, and yes, Lindsey Graham. Vote for Ralph Norman to get Lindsey Graham's sister OUT of the US Senate and OFF the Judiciary Committee!

Explanation: The Dark Doodad Nebula drifts through southern skies, a tantalizing target for binoculars toward the small constellation Musca, The Fly. A dusty interstellar cloud, it's seen against rich starfields just south of the Coalsack Nebula and the Southern Cross. Stretching for about 3 degrees across this telescopic field of view, the Dark Doodad is punctuated near its southern tip (upper right) by yellowish globular star cluster NGC 4372. Of course NGC 4372 roams the halo of our Milky Way galaxy, a background object some 20,000 light-years away and only by chance along our line-of-sight to the Dark Doodad. About...

When President Donald Trump ordered an early morning raid to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and brought him to the United States to face trial on narco-terrorism charges, the warnings came fast. House Armed Services Committee ranking Democratic member Adam Smith cautioned that United States military intervention always “ends badly,” citing Iraq and Libya as examples. Representative Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, drew the parallel directly. “This is exactly the euphoria we felt in 2002 when our military took down the Taliban in Afghanistan,” Himes said, “in 2003 when our military took out...

They’re using courts and legislative tricks to block citizen initiatives. We often hear we’re living in a new progressive era, not unlike the one 120 years ago when popular reforms took on trusts and entrenched power. But then why are Democrats and their union allies subverting citizen initiatives that challenge their monopoly power and ability to raise taxes willy-nilly? The latest example comes from Washington state, where Democratic Attorney General Nick Brown has tried to mislead voters about a voter initiative that seeks to overturn Democrats’ imposition of an income tax. Washington’s constitution prohibits graduated taxes on intangible property, which...

Archaeologists have identified the oldest known library on the Iberian Peninsula inside a Roman villa in southern Spain, overturning decades of belief that the room was a sanctuary dedicated to the Roman god Mithras.The discovery was made at the Roman villa of Fuente Álamo in Puente Genil, in Spain's Córdoba province. Researchers concluded the room served as a space for reading, study, and preserving written works, making it the westernmost known library in the Roman Empire and one of its best-preserved private examples.The room contains several architectural features typical of Roman libraries, including an apse, rectangular niches that likely held...

A Canadian grandmother was euthanized, despite having reaffirmed her opposition to it two months prior. Now, her family is speaking out. Key Takeaways: * Brigitte "GG" Stegemann had been living in a care home for two years; her granddaughter, also named Brigitte, had legal power of attorney and was routinely contacted for medical decisions. * Five months before her death, Stegemann was diagnosed with untreatable Stage IV stomach cancer. * After three months, Stegemann was asked about Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD), which she said she ardently opposed due to her Christian faith. * Staff reportedly had discussions with her...

An F-35B aircraft crashed at Miramar Air Base in San Diego Friday morning, sending up a plume of black smoke. Emergency crews have responded to the area, which occurred on the base’s flight line around 10 a.m. Friday, a military official told The California Post. The F-35 was assigned to 3rd Marine Air Wing, Marine Air Group 11. The military classified it as a “Class A mishap,” which means the incident resulted in death, permanent disability, aircraft loss, or equipment damage of $2.5 million or more, according to Fox 5 San Diego. The official said the aircraft had a pilot,...

The real news about the muslim invasion of Spain in the last couple of days. The communist government of spain denies that there is a problem. The news reports that it is women and children. But, see for yourself. It is almost all military age men shouting allah akbar. And now cars are burning in the streets. Italy closed it's border with Spain. The EU is frantic trying to excuse all of it.