Free Republic

What does it say when an organization has to call an all-hands meeting to define the word "woman"? Especially when the organization literally has that word in its title? And what does it say about the organization when it fails to do so? The Women's National Basketball Association held a league-wide meeting yesterday to address the issue of eligibility restrictions. Its charter makes clear that only "women" can compete in the league, a term which, up until a hot second ago, everyone understood perfectly. And after everyone cogitated for the entire day on what the word "women" means, the league...

#Hugh Laurie #Sophie Cunningham #Graham Linehan Hollywood Loses Their Minds After Hugh Laurie Says This... | 5:40 JosiahRises | 494K subscribers | 372,676 views | August 11, 2026

A Massachusetts teenager who allegedly used ChatGPT for searches about 'killing his family' before murdering his mother and brother flashed a wide-eyed stare in court, as prosecutors claimed he spent $2,000 on cereal bars following the murders. Arjun Aravind, 17, was arraigned in Concord District Court on Thursday after being accused of killing his mother Sudha Venkatesan, 45, and his younger brother, Siddharth Aravind, 14, inside their $1 million home in Acton two days prior. Aravind, who had his hands and ankles cuffed, glanced around the courtroom at times, with his dark, wavy hair partly obscuring his face. A police...

On the eve of surrendering herself at San Francisco’s Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant St., Wynd Kaufmyn was a flurry of activity: Tailoring an old pair of jeans while chatting with reporters about her upcoming incarceration, stopping to pick up coffee and doughnuts for her official send-off at the courthouse Friday morning, and preparing for dinner with friends at one of her favorite restaurants, Ben ‘N Nick’s in Oakland. It was, after all, her 69th birthday.

WASHINGTON - Authorities have taken into custody the suspect accused of vandalizing the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, where bubbles filled a fountain and "Clean hands dirty $" was written in red paint. In a post on X, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro identified the suspect as Melissa L. Farris. Pirro called the vandalism "a despicable attack on a sacred monument" and said her office is filing two felony charges, Depredation Against Property of the United States and Destruction of Veterans’ Memorials, offenses that carry penalties of up to ten years in prison. She said Farris is now...

On Monday, at a get out the vote event in Sun Prairie, a blue-leaning suburb of Madison, Hong was confronted over her past views. “You know, I was actually trying to become a sports journalist when I first went to college. So I learned then you have some hot takes, sometimes bad takes on Twitter, and I let my feelings out into the world,” Hot takes, huh? Like Stephen A. Smith spouting off about the Cowboys? Or your friend who likes Nickelback? The hot takes fired off by Hong earlier in her thirties — the ones she’s halfheartedly walked back...

Trump's policies are already delivering lower inflation and improving purchasing power for American workers — a recovery he portrayed as remarkable given the damage he said the administration inherited. Bessent's interview came as new federal data showed prescription drug costs saw their biggest decline in 60 years after President Trump made lowering prices a national priority. Bessent said Americans have legitimate reasons to remain frustrated after years of elevated prices. "People should be upset," Bessent said, arguing the Biden years left households facing a substantial loss of purchasing power, with working Americans hit especially hard by higher costs for automobiles,...

Air India pilots were due to undergo mandatory drug screening from Thursday, after a plane captain involved in a mid-air plunge last week tested positive for use of marijuana. Existing rules require airlines to randomly test at least 10% of their flight crew for psychoactive substances each year. But AFP reported it had seen an internal memo following the mid-air drama on a flight from Thailand to New Delhi. It said: “We have decided to undertake a full screening of all Group pilots for any substances or medications that are not permitted under prevailing regulations. Testing is mandatory and will...

What is it with Democrats and their fake supporters, fake accents, fake backgrounds, fake accomplishments? Is it because they think voters are that shallow and stupid? Or because they don’t want anyone to know how incredibly out of touch they are with regular Americans? This week, to cite just the most recent example, a group of “Republicans for Talarico” disbanded after it turned out that they were actually just a bunch of lifelong Democrats in disguise, but not before MS NOW gave them some free airtime. “The people that [Talarico] had come out and say that they were on his...

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the top US priority in the Iran war was keeping oil and gasoline prices low for Americans, with preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon ranking second.The remarks contrasted with President Donald Trump's repeated framing of the fight: that entering the war had the sole objective of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, even if that meant short-term economic sacrifices for Americans.Vance's comments also underscored the growing reality that the war now centers on control of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has forced to the top of the negotiating agenda. "I...

The British Telegraph reported that US officials are investigating suspicions that funds originating from a network linked to China reached organizations involved in pro-Palestinian protests in the UK. According to the report, American lawmakers investigating allegations of covert Chinese support for the left-wing organization Code Pink are examining the group's activities in the UK as part of a broader inquiry into foreign interference. Code Pink has encouraged activists to participate in large pro-Palestinian marches and organized demonstrations outside the British Ministry of Defence and at the London offices of a weapons manufacturer. The investigation is focusing on businessman Neville Roy...

Everyone expected Starship Flight 14 to attempt the first ship catch in history. Then a government filing showed up, and buried inside it is one sentence that changes the entire mission. Bigger than anything SpaceX has announced out loud. And it comes with a solid date. Meanwhile, a strange piece of hardware just rolled through the Port of Brownsville toward Starbase. Almost nobody noticed it. It might be telling us the truth about SpaceX's new Starship launch pad. SpaceX's New Plan For The First Ever Ship Catch | 21:51 What about it!? | 662K subscribers | 25,662 views | August...

14 August 2026Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest, Martyr on Friday of week 19 in Ordinary Time Saint Maximilian Kolbe Church, Toms River, NJ Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Red. Year: A(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingEzekiel 16:1-15,60,63I clothed you with my own splendour but you made yourself a prostituteThe word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her filthy crimes. Say, “The Lord says this: By origin and birth you belong to the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite....

Somewhere out there is my favorite of all time. Sure, I can say the same for maybe 200 more. I’m talking specifically about my Meyer Lansky column, the one where Jews of all kinds, rose up to be counted. Lansky was first among equals so far as Murder Inc. In a world of gangsters dominated by Italian Americans, the Jewish mob was no slouch. As the saying goes, they loved their mothers. These Jews were tough, and they were styled right here in America. Meanwhile, over in Germany, Hitler and his goons had begun to popularize the Nazis…early and mid...

Weeks before Americans begin voting in the midterm elections, the Trump administration wants to change the rules for voting by mail before the courts have even decided whether the president has the authority to do so. Two federal courts have already concluded that key parts of President Trump’s mail-ballot executive order cannot take effect while the litigation proceeds. Now, the administration is asking the Supreme Court to set those rulings aside and allow the order to take effect anyway. If it succeeds, the rules governing how millions of Americans vote by mail could change just weeks before Election Day. And...

This is the first photograph that was ever taken of me. A few hours after I was born on March 31st, 1974. A lot of people over the years have remarked that I was the brightest and most alert baby that they had ever seen. That they had never beheld a newborn who had a smile like that. One person told me that even then it was like I was plotting mischief upon an unsuspecting world. Keep that photo in mind while I openly ponder some recent developments. A few days ago Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed legislation that radically...

The United States Department of Justice has released a formal Office of Legal Counsel memorandum opinion clarifying that law-abiding Americans may carry constitutionally protected firearms into publicly accessible post offices for self-defense without violating federal criminal law. The opinion, dated August 12, 2026, and authored by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lanora C. Pettit, interprets 18 U.S.C. § 930(a), the longstanding prohibition on possessing firearms or other dangerous weapons in federal facilities, as not reaching ordinary self-defense carry in post offices open to the public. Section 930(a) makes it a federal crime to knowingly possess a firearm in a federal...

LAWRENCE, Mass. — Lawrence Mayor Brian DePeña has been arrested on wire fraud and money laundering charges. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts, DePeña allegedly obtained more than $1.5 million in COVID small-business loans and used the money for personal and political expenses. DePeña, 61, is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. According to federal prosecutors, DePena used the money to pay personal tax debts, fund his mayoral campaign and pay off more than $880,000 in high-interest mortgages on properties he owned in Lawrence. The charges center on Economic Injury Disaster...

It’s not what AOC wants you to think it is. Readers familiar with Dr. Seuss’s classic, The Cat in the Hat, will remember the twin chaos agents Thing 1 and Thing 2. “‘These Things are good Things,’” the Cat reassures the children whose mother has inexplicably left them under the supervision of a fish. “‘They are tame. Oh, so tame! / They have come here to play.’” The Things briefly feign innocence, then quickly reveal themselves to be marauding imps, knocking over nightstands and ruining the linens. “I do not like the way that they play!” says the son of...

From 2015 to 2017, El-Sayed ran the Detroit Health Department. That put him in charge of the city’s Animal Care and Control operation during some of its ugliest years. According to records obtained by the Daily Mail, nearly 4,680 dogs and cats were euthanized while he held that post. In 2015 alone, the shelter killed 1,988 dogs and 272 cats. That was more than a quarter of every dog put down in the entire county that year. The live-release rate sat at a miserable 20 percent. Four out of five animals that walked through those doors never walked out.A former...