Free Republic

We are less than three months from the midterm elections, and for all the billions of dollars that will be spent convincing Americans otherwise, the choice facing voters is remarkably straightforward. Do Americans want government guided by common sense? Or by crazy, woke ideas that have endlessly proven to make our lives worse? If they prefer the former, they can let Republicans continue driving American prosperity. If they prefer the latter, they can give Democrats the wheel. The individual issues may change: crime, immigration, abortion, elections, education. But the throughline remains remarkably consistent. Vile ideas that would have once been...

Ahmed al-Sharaa – Montage Image Wiki Commons A former al-Qaida terrorist is now sitting on a treasure trove of nuclear material that can be weaponized. A United Nations team has excavated a ‘previously undisclosed site’ in Syria and found several tons of nuclear material from the days of the Bashar al-Assad rule. The agreed plan was for the International Atomic Energy Agency to remove the material from Syria – but that’s not what’s going to happen, anymore. Syria is now holding the nuclear material, and refuses the handover, saying ‘it will remain under IAEA safeguards for peaceful civilian use’. The...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is defending its prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey, saying “there is no serious dispute" that a social media post of seashells he made last year could be understood as a threat against President Donald Trump. Prosecutors also called into question Comey's account that he had found the seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47” while walking on a beach in North Carolina and suggested that his May 2025 post on Instagram was a thinly veiled attempt to sell copies of a forthcoming novel about a social media personality whose words have...

ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard’s health was ailing for more than a year before his death on Monday. As far back as March 2005, the rock band announced on Instagram that Beard was temporarily stepping away from their Elevation tour to “attend a health issue requiring his focus in the near term.” “He is looking forward to a speedy recovery,” the band noted at the time. He was noticeably absent for the band’s The Big One! tour, which started in March, and fans on Reddit noted in May that he hadn’t appeared onstage. ZZ Top later made headlines when they...

Red Bull confirmed the driver change on Wednesday following earlier reports that Isack Hadjar would be unable to compete at Zandvoort, with Lawson stepping up from Racing Bulls to partner Max Verstappen. Both Red Bull and Racing Bulls announced the reshuffle through brief statements, with Yuki Tsunoda returning to the sister team to fill Lawson’s vacant seat alongside Arvid Lindblad. Red Bull confirmed Hadjar sustained the injury during Formula 1’s summer shutdown, although it provided no further details on how it occurred or the extent of the damage. “Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, Isack Hadjar, has sustained a wrist injury...

American workers' wages are once again failing to keep up with inflation — a painful financial déjà vu of the pandemic years. The repeat situation may feel even more acute given that many workers are still catching up from the 2021-2022 inflationary bout, when companies gave workers only moderate pay raises that fell short of four-decade-high price increases, according to new economic research. From February 2021 to June 2022, real wages — or the purchasing power of the average American's paycheck — fell by more than 4%, according to the paper from the University of Chicago and ADP researchers. That...

Harvard University has agreed to pay a $53 million settlement after its former morgue manager stole and sold body parts donated for scientific research, with a court reportedly approving the plan on Tuesday. Cedric Lodge, who managed the morgue at the prestigious Harvard Medical School before being fired in 2023, was sentenced to eight years in prison in December after pleading guilty to trafficking stolen remains. Investigators said Lodge and his wife took body parts from the school "without the knowledge or permission of his employer, the donor, or the donor's family" and shipped them to buyers in other states...

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is cutting illegal immigrants off from getting kickbacks from four major refundable tax credit programs – in a move that could save taxpayers an estimated $3 billion. The Treasury Department and IRS unveiled new rules on Wednesday to tighten the requirements for the adoption, child, American opportunity, and earned income tax credits so that only US citizens, US nationals, and qualified aliens can get them. “Under President Trump, the days of illegal aliens collecting taxpayer-funded benefits are over. The federal law is clear, and Treasury is enforcing it,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a...

Senator Darline Graham’s (R-SC) shocking debate fail has gone viral — with observers on both sides roasting the senator’s stunning lack of command on key issues. The defining moment in Graham’s debate with Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) came when co-moderator Greta Van Susteren asked: “Are Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States? And if so, why or how?” “I’m just gonna be honest here,” Graham replied. “I’m not, on national security- I’m not that informed on national security, so- but I do support the military. My brother was in the Air Force for 33...

The Treasury Department on Wednesday said it will more than double the size of its government debt repurchases, sending yields sharply lower. With fixed income markets under pressure and yields surging to levels not seen in nearly 20 years, the announcement targets a sensitive part of the Treasury market. Under the accelerated buyback, Treasury will target the 10- to 20- year and 20- to 30-year portion of the market, which has seen a buyers’ strike since late June. The government will “at least double” the maximum size of its buyback operations, from $2 billion to “at least” $4 billion, according...

With all precincts reported but still some ballots left to count, Democrats appear to have flipped a conservative state House district north of Pittsburgh. The latest: Democrat Brandon Dukes led by 88 votes against Republican Scott Timko on Tuesday night with over 99% of the votes counted, according to the Associated Press. Provisional and overseas ballots still need to be counted. AP had not called the race as of early Wednesday morning. Why it matters: The apparent flip doesn’t impact Democrats' narrow majority in the state House, but it boosts the party’s momentum heading into the midterms, where Dems are...

Apparent human skeletal remains, including a jaw with the teeth still attached, were found at Lake Mead on Sunday, officials said, as water levels sink to new lows amid a drought and scorching heat in the West. "On Aug. 16, the Lake Mead Interagency Communications Center received a report of potential human remains at Boulder Beach," the National Park Service said in a statement. "National Park Service rangers and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded to the scene. The incident remains under investigation, and no additional information is available at this time." The bones were discovered by a woman...

Far-left State Rep. Angie Nixon handed the progressive movement a surprise win against deep-pocketed Alex Vindman in Florida’s Democratic Senate primary Tuesday night. With nearly all precincts reporting, Nixon had handily defeated Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and a top witness in President Trump’s 2019 impeachment, by 12 points, 56% to 44%. Nixon’s victory over Vindman despite his name recognition and being vastly overspent in Florida’s Democratic Senate primary came as surprise precisely because of where it happened. Progressives or those aligned with the democratic socialist movement have racked up primary victories elsewhere this cycle, but almost all of...

Our new report on the size, scope and cost of illegal immigration in NJ is now out. We’ve found a state so hopelessly compromised that we’ve officially requested federal intervention from the DOJ, DHS and House Judiciary Committee. A staggering 8.2B is being spent every single year on 737,000 illegal invaders in New Jersey. And it’s costing each of you $1,700 a year! If you rent, you can add another $1,000 annually onto that figure from illegals driving up housing costs. What’s even crazier is this is all despite an overall drop in illegals due to deportations and self deportations!...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem🇮🇱 (8/19/26)[Prayer]Personalities2 Samuel 6:1-23 The Ark Brought to Jerusalem 6 David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. 2 He and all his men went to Baalah[a] in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name,[b] the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding...

19 August 2026 Wednesday of week 20 in Ordinary Time St. John Eudes Church, Chatsworth, CA Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(II).First readingEzekiel 34:1-11An oracle against bad and selfish shepherdsThe word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘“Shepherds, the Lord says this: Trouble for the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shepherds ought to feed their flock, yet you have fed on milk, you have dressed yourselves in wool, you have sacrificed the fattest sheep, but failed to feed the flock....

Take a good look at the beach in Ceuta before all hell breaks loose. Blue Mediterranean water, swaying palm trees, lovely stretches of sand… it was the kind of place where you’d throw down a towel, order an ice-cold spritz, and wonder why you don’t live there. Now look at it… VIDEO AT LINK................... After more than 70,000 Moroccan migrants stormed the beaches at the end of July, thousands were left stranded in Ceuta. Now, they’ve turned the once-gorgeous beach into a shanty town, complete with cardboard houses, old blankets, tents, clothes strewn everywhere, and garbage all over the place,...

When it comes to investigating and exposing voter fraud in Michigan, Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf is arguably the most committed law enforcement official in the state. This evening, after speaking with a whistleblower who works at the Michigan Secretary of State’s office, he dropped a major bombshell that should make every United States Senator who’s been resisting the idea of signing on to the SAVE Act, which would require every voter to prove their citizenship, think twice. MI SOS Jocelyn Benson and Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf Here’s a quick summary of Sheriff Dar Leaf explaining how non-citizens are...

If you’ve been wondering whether Flock cameras are tracking your movements, there’s a way to find out. Wonder if you’ve been Flocked? Wonder if your neighborhood has been Flocked? What the Flock am I talking about? Flock cameras are those new, souped-up Big Brother “traffic” cameras that have been breeding like ants all over the country. They are very good at capturing your license plate and other identifying information: SNIP You may be wondering where these Flock cameras are in your neighborhood and whether they’ve captured you. Happily, there are very easy ways to check. First, the map. Below is...

Sometimes it's those with the least that give the most. Jesus used a widow's offering to teach a lesson of giving from the heart. Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them; "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put...