Free Republic

One of the many reasons that Dolly Parton was so loved by so many is that she was truly apolitical. She didn't speak out on issues, didn't endorse candidates, and simply lived her life and helped people. Of course, someone was going to politicize her death, and you'll not be shocked to learn it was Abdul El-Sayed. Abdul probably had no idea who Dolly Parton was until about five minutes before he decided to use her death to boost his campaign. But — hoo boy – did that backfire on him. Dolly Parton also used her wealth to help people...

Well, that was rough news. When a beloved public figure ascends to "National Treasure" status, we often put any thoughts of that person's mortality on the back burner. Dolly Parton was even more than a national treasure, an otherworldly American original who was respected and adored by almost everyone. If she ever had any detractors, they were smart enough to keep their opinions to themselves. We'd known that Dolly had been ailing, but she wasn't the kind to make a big deal out of anything negative. I think that most people assumed that she'd bounce back and return to the...

A Trump administration effort aimed at discouraging Americans on food stamps from using the government nutritional aid to buy soda is having an impact, a new study shows. Recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits cut their sugary drink purchases by more than 12% from January to June of this year after new state-level restrictions on what people can buy with food stamps took effect, according to a working paper released this week by economic and public health experts at the University of Chicago, MIT and Stanford University. That reduction in purchases is equivalent to a person buying 34 fewer...

The highly anticipated Michigan Democratic Senate primary was close. Moderate Democrat Haley Stevens lost by a slim margin to progressive, democratic socialist-leaning candidate Abdul El-Sayed. After multiple prominent DSA and DSA-adjacent victories across the country, it is worth examining this movement that is gaining traction in America, especially among my university-aged peers. With El-Sayed winning over 60% of Washtenaw County’s vote (home of Ann Arbor), the DSA has clearly made a splash with young minds on the University of Michigan’s campus. It is no coincidence that El-Sayed swept my college town of Ann Arbor, where far-Left progressivism is encouraged as...

It's hard to believe that Tim Walz was almost a heartbeat away from the presidency. In addition to his incompetent leadership in Minnesota, where he oversaw rising crime, protected illegal aliens (even pardoning a sex offender), and allowed billions in fraud in the state's welfare programs, he's just a mean, dishonest little man. This is the guy who cheered a crash of Tesla stocks, too, forgetting that Tesla employs a lot of working-class Americans. The pettiness runs deep, and so does his willingness to lie if it means smearing President Trump. And that's what Walz did recently. With wildfires raging...

At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped when armed men attacked a once-peaceful community near Haiti’s capital earlier this week, the United Nations said Tuesday. It is believed to be one of the largest mass kidnappings in Haiti in recent years, and one gang leader is threatening to kill the hostages if authorities kill any gang members as they try to secure the community nestled in the hills above Port-au-Prince. Sunday’s attack on Kenscoff pierced the belief that security in the troubled Caribbean country was improving. “This is a major political and security test, for...

Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China have developed a new photoresponsive hydrogel whose 3D shape can effectively expand, change, or even be rewritten into an entirely different configuration depending on where light strikes it. In experiments reported in Nature Communications, the material expanded more than 80,000% within 40 seconds and could be repeatedly programmed into helices, twists, and hybrid structures. Researchers also used its light-controlled motion to lift objects and drive a miniature rotary system, pointing toward possible applications in smart materials and soft robotics. The ability to program the material after it has already been...

US President Donald Trump has sent Congress a proposed agreement with Saudi Arabia on civil nuclear energy while insisting the pact will only be approved if the kingdom normalizes relations with Israel, a US administration official told Reuters on Tuesday. The agreement, which was reached in July and would allow US companies to export civilian nuclear technology to the kingdom, was sent to Congress on Monday, according to the US official, who declined to be identified. The Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Advertisement It was unclear how Trump expects sending the nuclear...

In a tradition dating back more than 300 years, towering pyres have been lit every July in Northern Ireland to mark the Battle of the Boyne, which effectively cemented Protestant rule. They’re held in loyalist neighborhoods – communities that strongly support the union with the United Kingdom – and often carry a political message, with effigies of the pope, the Republic of Ireland’s flag and other symbols of Catholicism and Irish nationalism being burned in the past. But this year, in the village of Moygashel, County Tyrone, the flames found a new target. A replica mosque, with a figure holding...

A teenage Muslim schoolgirl in India has been denied the right to wear her hijab to school after a High Court ruled she had failed to prove that wearing the headscarf constitutes an “essential religious practice” of Islam. The ruling was issued by the Allahabad High Court in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and has renewed debate over religious freedom, Muslim women’s rights and school dress codes in India. According to a consensus of Islamic scholars, hijab is obligatory on Muslim females once they reach puberty. The case was brought by Sukaina Rizvi, who is 15 or 16,...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is determined to put the “fear of God” into the so-called “bond vigilantes” who have been dumping US Treasurys and sending interest rates soaring, according to a private sector economist with knowledge of his thinking. Bessent is particularly worried that institutional investors will continue to sell long-dated Treasury bonds in a trade that will send prices lower – and yields on the all-important 10-year bond surging to 5%, according to Wall Street executives who deal with him regularly. That, in turn, could snuff out economic growth as the midterm elections approach since it’s the 10-year Treasury...

The people who live and breathe politics often talk as if the upcoming election is the most important election of all time. As they see it, we are in an unprecedented historical moment and the choices we make today will determine the fate of the nation. I understand their perspective and a younger version of me occasionally slipped into that mindset. However, far from being unprecedented, the core challenge facing America today was described more than 2,000 years ago by an ancient Greek philosopher. Plato, a student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, imagined prisoners chained inside a dark cave,...

Lawmakers say the Medi-Cal program needs $10 million to pay for gender-affirming care for minors after the Trump administration cut funding. Parents of transgender children say the state should have prepared sooner to prevent gaps in care.

Gemini doesn't love me. If you don't show me pi to 100,000, then you don't love me. That’s a lot of pressure on a number! If my affection were measured in digits of π, I’d certainly owe you a very long string. Here are the first 100 digits of π to start things off: π≈3.1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679 If I tried to output all 100,000 digits at once, it would actually break the chat window's character limit and take up about 100 kilobytes of text—which might be a bit much even for true devotion!...

Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman might want to trade in his black hoodie for an elephant badge if he wants to keep his seat in the Senate: New polling suggests that he could find friendlier terrain on the Republican side of the aisle than among the Democrats who elected him. According to a shocking poll from The New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Siena College, Fetterman has become a complete outcast in his own party. The survey reveals Fetterman is underwater at a brutal -41 approval rating with Democrats, while boasting a staggering +52 favorability rating with Republicans. The...

Panamanian authorities have a 1994 bombing’s suspected Iranian-backed Hezbollah mastermind in custody, with a trial ensuing soon. For more than three decades, the mystery of who blew Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 out of the Panama sky, killing all 21 aboard, including 12 top Jewish businessmen and three U.S. citizens, remained unsolved and mostly forgotten by the outside world. The small commuter plane to Panama City exploded July 19, 1994, shortly after takeoff from Colon, leaving only one body in the wreckage, not positively identified for years: a Middle Eastern male thought to have carried the bomb aboard. But now...

The Chucky mask-wearing sicko who is accused of terrorizing Philadelphia citizens, including a female jogger, was captured in Las Vegas following a two-week-long manhunt. VIDEOS AT LINK.......... Zymire Hughes, 22, was found hiding out in an apartment complex in the southeast section of Sin City around 8 p.m. on Tuesday by members of the US Marshals Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force, officials announced. Hughes was arrested on an out-of-state warrant for the alleged aggravated assault of a 40-year-old woman on Aug. 12, officials announced. “Tonight the fear that one man brought to the Philadelphia community comes to an end,” US...

Remember the reluctant MAGA converts who assured us Donald Trump would moderate his tone and pivot to pragmatism after the election(s)? Well, he didn't do any of that. They failed to account for the fact that Trump will never change. Whether they like it or not, Democrats are in the same boat. Rosy-eyed party elites have convinced themselves that their voters and candidates will readily discard the "woke" nonsense that normal Americans cringe at. Bless their hearts, the poor things. "They're never going to change," writes Patrick Ruffini, a veteran pollster whose firm, Echelon Insights, recently assessed the willingness of...

Nurse N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas has won the Democratic Senate primary runoff in Oklahoma, NBC News projects, securing another win for the party’s democratic socialist wing. Thomas, a 31-year-old member of the Chickasaw Nation, defeated attorney and minister Jim Priest, 70, in the contest, despite being drastically outspent. The two advanced to a runoff after neither clinched a majority of the vote in the initial June primary. Thomas will face GOP Rep. Kevin Hern, who will be heavily favored this fall to win the open seat to replace former Sen. Markwayne Mullin, now the secretary of homeland security. Oklahoma is a...

The General Services Administration (GSA) has uncovered more than $13 billion in suspected fraud involving federal contractors. snip The review covers COVID-19 spending, the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, contractor eligibility, bid rigging, cybersecurity-related false claims, bribery, and other potential contractor misconduct. The GSA cited two cases to show how procurement fraud affects taxpayers and legitimate federal contractors. One involved $73 million in suspected fraud tied to federal contracts reserved for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses and other eligible small businesses. Broadway Electric Inc., Cornerstone Contracting Inc., CEO John Oehler, and President Christian Blake agreed to pay $21.3 million to resolve...