Free Republic

Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that California’s statewide minimum wage will increase to $17.40 per hour beginning January 1, 2027. The rate is higher than any current statewide minimum wage in the nation and nearly two-and-a-half times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. The increase is already automatic under California law, which adjusts the minimum wage annually to keep pace with inflation. Newsom, who is expected to run for president in 2028, contrasted himself against President Trump in announcing the increase. “For years, Donald Trump and Republicans have blocked efforts to raise the federal minimum wage while handing...

The request from a senior officer at the US military command carrying out President Donald Trump’s war with Iran came in an email: We need ideas. “We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran,” an officer in US Central Command’s intelligence branch wrote in a message sent Wednesday to a broad group of military analysts, according to a source familiar with the message. A second source also said that a senior US military officer sent the message last week soliciting new ideas for how to deal with Iran. The crowdsourcing-style query, which military officials...

Democrats and (sexual perversion) activist groups say they want to empower parents on their children’s programming, but they also vehemently oppose putting labels on TV and streaming shows that would alert parents to transgender content. Concerned Women for America analyzed the streaming shows on Netflix geared toward young audiences, and found that more than 40% of most children’s programming includes some sort of sexual perversion theme. The Federal Communications Commission sought comment from the general public, asking for suggestions on how the Television Oversight Monitoring Board can update TV ratings to alert parents to content such as the introduction of...

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of Tulsa (IST) announced a press conference in Tulsa to announce the filing of a lawsuit against the City of Broken Arrow. CAIR and IST said the lawsuit is in response to the City of Broken Arrow denying a rezoning request for a proposed mosque. The press conference is set to be held on August 3 at 1 p.m. at the Islamic Society of Tulsa. The speakers will be representatives from IST and the CAIR Legal Defense Fund (CAIR LDF). This lawsuit and press conference comes...

The invasion of Ceuta, Spain, by Moroccans was a state-on-state conflict. In America, the enemy is within. The invasion last week of the Spanish city of Ceuta by some 60,000 Moroccans, mostly young military-age men, was a useful demonstration of how mass migration and indeed entire populations can be weaponized and deployed in what amounts to hybrid warfare against sovereign nations. In this particular case, the reason for the deployment likely has to do with the Moroccan state’s longstanding irredentist claims in North Africa, which include the coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla—the plazas de soberanía along the North African...

I have a question, and I promise I'm asking it in good faith, with a smile on my face and my hands raised in the universal gesture of "I genuinely just want to understand." Here it is: why does defining the word "woman" appear to be the single hardest pop quiz in professional sports right now? Because this week, not one, not two, but three WNBA head coaches were asked some version of the same basic question—should biological males compete in women's sports—and all three responded like I'd asked them to derive the Riemann hypothesis on a napkin. Indiana Fever...

As the Democratic National Committee (DNC) shouldered significant debt and fell behind its GOP equivalent, Democratic leadership decided to use its physical headquarters as collateral for a $15 million loan, according to public records. The loan, first reported by NOTUS news outlet, was taken out in 2025 as the DNC struggled to keep pace with the Republican National Committee’s fundraising efforts ahead of the midterm elections. While taking out loans ahead of high-stakes races is common, and using property as collateral to do so is not unheard of, the line of credit secured by the DNC was the largest ever...

A Mexican drug lord ordered a hitman to kill a beauty influencer because she had broken up with his son, authorities have claimed. Valeria Marquez was live streaming to her followers from inside her beauty salon, Blossom the Beauty Lounge, in Zapopan, the western Mexican state of Jalisco, when a motorbike-riding gunman opened fire last May. Prosecutors are now accusing Ramon Angel Alvarez Ayala, a senior figure in the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) - considered to be one of Mexico's most powerful criminal organisations, of ordering her murder, as well as a local mayor's. Ayala - more commonly known...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Saturday that communist Cuba has spent decades burrowing agents into the highest levels of the U.S. government, calling the island nation an unmatched threat to American security despite its tiny size and crumbling economy. “A failed state 90 miles from our shores that happens to be aligned with adversaries to the United States is a national security threat to our country,” Rubio told “My View with Lara Trump” on Fox News. Rubio’s remarks came days after the State Department released a 100-page report accusing Havana of running influence operations across American universities, activist groups...

Such a deal... "The whites could keep everything that they had and in exchange the blacks would have free housing and electricity and water forever. What that has economically done is locked the most of the black population into the townships." " it is a huge disincentive and people stay where they are. So, as a result, based on whose numbers you're using, South Africa [snorts] today has an unemployment rate somewhere between 35 and 55%. And it's been like that since the '90s. They also have some of the highest crime rates in the world because people will steal...

The streets of Iran are near a breaking point over public executions, economic collapse and a war that’s been raging on for more than five months, anti-regime figures in Tehran told The Post. “A revolution can happen any day now — people want revenge,” a protest leader said, referring to the regime’s brutal January crackdown that President Trump said killed 52,000 people. An independent journalist active in the Iranian underground said that preparations are already being made for the next uprising, and that activists from all walks of life are determined to make a final, decisive blow against the regime....

A terrifying scene unfolded over Greece on Sunday as two firefighting helicopters collided in midair while crews battled a fierce wildfire west of Athens. The frightening crash was captured on video obtained by Kefalonia Press, showing the kind of split second disaster that turns an already dangerous emergency into a nightmare in the sky. In the footage, one helicopter appears to clip the rotor of another aircraft. Moments later, flames erupt and one of the helicopters plunges toward the ground. The helicopters had been leased by the local fire department to fight a blaze in Psatha, a coastal area west...

The EU is an oligarchy governed by a small self-perpetuating ruling class that sees “the people” as impediments to its technocratic program. long, long time ago—27 years, to be exact—my boss (the inimitable Mark Melcher) and I predicted that the European Monetary Union would be the death of the EU. The Euro, we wrote for our clients at a now-defunct big brokerage house, would be a disaster and would destroy everything that the post-war Europeans had spent the previous several decades working to build. Specifically, we wrote: Psst! You wanna know a secret? The Euro, and the mess it represents,...

Key points * Your body needs a small amount of sodium to work properly, but too much sodium is bad for your health. * While sodium has many forms, most sodium we consume is from salt. * Most Americans consume too much sodium. * Most sodium comes from processed and restaurant foods. ============================================================= Health risks Eating too much sodium can increase your blood pressure and your risk for heart disease and stroke. Together, heart disease and stroke kill more Americans each year than any other cause. Most people eat too much sodium Your body needs a small amount of sodium...

Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(II).First readingJeremiah 28:1-17Jeremiah and the lying prophet HananiahAt the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, a Gibeonite, spoke as follows to Jeremiah in the Temple of the Lord in the presence of the priests and of all the people. ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says this, “I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. In two years’ time I will bring back all the vessels of the Temple of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar king...

James Carville has been a Democrat activist for his entire adult life. He is now threatening to leave the party if Hasan Piker is a force in the party. He has already suggested he’d leave over any of the communists. He sounds like Bill Maher, who doesn’t want to be in a communist party. “I am NOT going to be in the same party as Hasan Piker! I can tell you that right now!” Carville said during an interview on Fox. “If he becomes a force within the Democratic Party, I’m out of here! I have no intention of ever...

In November, the suburbs of New York City will be the pivotal arena for whether the Democratic Socialists of America cement their takeover of the entire state from their New York City stronghold. The decisive issue is not crime, deteriorating quality of life, or high taxes, but one that is arousing significant suburban anxiety: the DSA’s vendetta against the American Dream of homeownership. Residents of Westchester and Nassau counties, which abut the northern Bronx and eastern Queens, and of whom 80% own their homes, are watching with increasing unease Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s mounting attacks on the city’s homeowners, and logically...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem🇮🇱 (8/3/26)[Prayer]Personalities1 Samuel 28:1-2 28 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army.” 2 David said, “Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do.” Achish replied, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.________________________God Bless America.ML/LTOS

(NewsNation) — Major Pharmaceuticals is voluntarily recalling a popular thyroid medication, federal regulators announced this month. The Levothyroxine Sodium Tablets were recalled because they are subpotent, meaning they are not fully effective, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said. The medication is used to treat hypothyroidism and goiter, among other conditions, according to the Mayo Clinic. The recall was designated a Class II on July 17, meaning the tablets may cause temporary adverse health consequences, the FDA said. Major Pharmaceuticals packaged and distributed the recalled medication nationwide, and Cardinal Health also distributed some of it. The recalled tablets were packaged...