Free Republic

Tributes have poured out from around the globe. It's true — Dolly really was one of the last universally beloved stars. Nobody had a bad word to say about her. One of the reasons she was so treasured was because she was almost entirely apolitical, at least in public. She essentially never got involved in political or cultural disputes. She was just a great entertainer and a good woman. Yet the Washington Post attempted to recruit her as a soldier in one of the most contentious disputes of our time: "Dolly Parton's lack of children demonstrated that the world could...

Dolly Parton‘s reps have revealed her cause of death. The iconic singer died after a “brief battle” with cancer at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, her reps said Tuesday. “Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched. Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand,” the statement from her reps to People magazine read.

A California school bus ride home turned into a scene out of a third-world country Monday when furious parents smashed their way onto a Calaveras Unified bus and children started climbing out the windows because the driver refused to let the kids off. The wild scene unfolded along Highway 49 near Russell Road in Calaveras County after students were held on the stopped bus for about an hour. According to KCRA 3, the trouble began when a student reportedly tried to climb out a window before the bus had come to a stop. The driver then pulled over, contacted law...

Santa Monica is putting more cops on the streets after a summer of violence hit the tourist hotspot — including two shootings in just two days. **SNIP** Saturday, a knife-wielding man was shot and killed near the Santa Monica Pier after he allegedly charged toward officers. The following day, a person was shot in the leg during an attempted robbery. The violence comes after a string of deadly incidents that has put the normally tourist-packed city on edge. In mid-July, a man was fatally shot in a parking lot near the Pier. Police responding around midnight found an adult male...

Western media are reporting that CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow, Russia, to warn his Russian counterpart Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), about striking back against Baltic states. {CITATION} However, that’s only half of the story.Director Ratcliffe wasn’t simply telling Naryshkin not to hit back; he was telling Naryshkin that European NATO provocations against the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad (between Poland and Lithuania) were not ‘fully’ sanctioned by the United States. {CITATION Aug 18}EU NATO members have been conducting provocative military operations and psychological warfare via NATO exercises all around Kaliningrad. They have been getting...

Southern California drivers dreaming of a cheap new car may soon have another pint-sized option to consider, if Mexico’s bargain electric vehicles ever make their way across the border. Mexico has unveiled Olinia, a new homegrown electric vehicle brand built around tiny, affordable EVs designed for short trips, small businesses and urban deliveries, according to Marketplace. The Olinia lineup is part of Mexico’s broader effort to develop its own electric vehicle industry rather than simply serve as a manufacturing base for global automakers. President Claudia Sheinbaum has promoted the project as evidence that Mexico can develop its own technology and...

Newspaper artist Howard Brodie enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942, soon joining the combat artist program. He was sent by Yank magazine to capture his impressions of the war with a pencil during the Guadalcanal campaign and then the fighting in Europe. One observer of his work wrote, “By capturing emotions on the field with fluid lines and attention to detail, Brodie’s work is honest and at times, harrowing, but this honesty established him as one of the top news artists of his time. In February 1945, he had been assigned by Yank to accompany K Company, 406th Regiment,...

President Donald Trump knows exactly what Democrats plan to run against this November: Orange Man Bad. So President Trump made a decision that has some political professionals reaching for the smelling salts. MAGA Inc. has roughly $400 million in its political war chest, and Trump wants part of it used for national advertising that tells voters what his administration has actually accomplished. The strategy is almost embarrassingly logical. Democrats plan to make congressional races a referendum on Trump. He's accepting the invitation. From The Atlantic:

After completing final assembly, the aircraft recently made its way to Aircraft Final Finishes, where it will receive its paint and finishes, including the stealth coating that helps reduce its radar signature.

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the U.S. Navy has cleared all remaining mines from international waters in the Strait of Hormuz, while warning Iran that any attempt to deploy new mines will draw an immediate military response. Iran placed mines in the strategically critical waterway during its ongoing conflict with the United States and Israel, disrupting maritime traffic through one of the world’s most important energy corridors. “I have just been informed by the United States Navy that all mines have been removed and/or detonated from within the International Waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on Truth...

An ultra-exclusive Hamptons yacht club catering to the wealthy and well-connected was forced to suspend its members-only restaurant service for multiple days after several of its kitchen staff were booted from the country over visa issues, The Post has learned. The swanky oceanfront Devon Yacht Club in Amagansett — which reportedly charges around $100,000 in initiation fees — canceled its Wednesday night dinner service after it lost its foreign cooks, according to a letter sent to members the same day. “The H2B visa approval for our cooks is still not resolved,” the letter obtained by The Post stated, referring to...

It’s a dirty trick. The people who spent fifty years overturning old assumptions now accuse anyone who objects of being a radical. The accusation is repeated so often that it has almost become accepted without examination. But conservatism, properly understood, isn’t a radical philosophy. It’s almost the opposite. It’s an argument for restraint, continuity, ordered liberty, and respect for institutions that have survived because, more often than not, they contain wisdom we didn’t invent. There’s nothing radical about believing parents should have the principal role in raising their children. There’s nothing radical about believing men and women are different, that...

This is one of those posts that this editor was about to scroll by, thinking it was clickbait. The government-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was instructing its writers, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, not to call them terrorist attacks? Are they being sensitive to their "newcomers," hoping there's no Norm Macdonald-style backlash? This is an opinion column written by The Toronto Sun's Brian Lilley, and he says he's seen the memo. Rage bait, right? Even Hasan Piker, who believes America deserved 9/11, would agree it was a successful terrorist attack. Lilley writes: This week,...

Assuming the ridiculous gushing over a Cambridge conman was not a national Monty Python sketch arranged for tourists, the Jason Arday affair reminded me of one of the most peculiar things about Britain: They’re more woke than the U.S. Which is weird, because the Mother Country still has a monarchy that rules over tens of millions of white subjects. The closest we have to that in America is the NAACP. According to the 2021 census, the U.K. is 2.5% black, but more than half of all its TV advertisements feature black people. (That’s even more lopsided than their representation...

MOSCOW, Aug ‌27 (Reuters) - Russia warned on ​Thursday that it ​could strike British military targets inside and outside Ukraine in response to Ukrainian attacks on targets inside Russia using long-range British cruise missiles. The warning, delivered by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova at a news briefing ‌in Moscow, has been made before but without such rhetorical force or urgency. Zakharova said that London was ⁠just "one step away" from becoming legally complicit — in Moscow's eyes — for what she called "terrorism" against Russian civilians and warned of "inevitable catastrophic consequences" unless Britain changed course. Her ‌reference to...

Three officials working in the U.S. Secret Service communications office were placed on administrative leave and stripped of their security clearances Monday, pending an investigation reportedly involving the CIA and FBI. While the Secret Service has not officially disclosed the names of the individuals or the specific nature of the allegations, multiple reports indicate the probe involves leaked classified or sensitive information to the media. According to RealClearPolitics reporter Susan Crabtree, controversial Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi is among the three officials placed on leave. Guglielmi and the other officials were reportedly escorted out of their offices in Washington D.C....

His Grace Is Sufficient for Me - Song Devotional SONG DEVOTIONAL Beloved, Almighty God's wondrous grace is more than enough and abundantly sufficient for every season of this pilgrim life. From the day He is always with us until the day we see Him face to face. His wondrous grace faithfully carries us all along our pilgrim journey, showing us His ETERNAL compassion and security. Through times of joy and seasons of trial, our Heavenly Father is at work in our hearts and, like a potter shaping clay, He lovingly is continually molding us into the image of His dear,...

IBERIA PARISH, La. (KLFY)– The Port of Iberia is already seeing interest from companies looking to position themselves near SpaceX’s newly announced project in Vermilion Parish, and port leaders believe that could translate into new investment and jobs across Acadiana. Port of Iberia Executive Director Craig Romero said companies from across the country have been contacting the port for roughly a year, even before the SpaceX project was officially announced. “We’ve had a number of companies from all parts of the United States call, big companies that are calling, inquiring during the last 12 months,” Romero said. “They just want...

The Oklahoma Democrat Senate candidate is a weird duck. To be fair, all Democrats are weird, but this one is particularly strange. She is making a 'Burn Book' and putting Markwayne Mullin in it. Girl, get a grip. You aren't a teenager. VIDEOS AND REPLIES AT LINK...............

A bipartisan six-member delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana on August 25, two days after Kazakhstan elected the first members of its new unicameral Kurultai. Tokayev called the timing symbolic and proposed closer dialogue between Congress and the new legislature. The delegation was led by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith and included Greg Murphy, Carol Miller, Ronny Jackson, Wesley Bell, and Ed Case. Smith said President Donald Trump had called him at 2 a.m., several hours before the meeting. Trump sent his regards, expressed appreciation for his relationship with...