Free Republic

Regardless of why Putin might have held off on this for so long, he’s now arguably motivated at least in part by the tantalizing possibility of reaching big-ticket resource deals with the US after the conflict ends, the details of which his and Trump’s envoys have been negotiating for over a year already. The New York Times cited allegedly intercepted Russian communications to report that Russia plans to obliterate Ukraine’s power, heating, and water systems this winter. While their claim can’t be confirmed, it aligns with Putin mildly “escalating to de-escalate” over the summer in response to Zelensky’s strike campaign,...

In an interview on "The Benny Show" with Benny Johnson, Mike Benz argues that USAID played a broad role in shaping Brazil’s political and institutional landscape. MIKE BENZ: What's happening in Brazil was a full-on Truman show. You had the media funded by USAID. You had the universities funded by USAID. You had the staffers of the Supreme Court and the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), the election court, USAID. You had all the constitutional law advocates funded by USAID. You had the LGBT activists funded by USAID. It's full spectrum. If you were to walk down a city block in...

Hundreds of Palestinians reportedly marched in Gaza City on Saturday, chanting against #Hamas after activist Iyad Abu Jendeya was detained following social media posts accusing businessmen and Hamas-linked figures of corruption. Independent journalists and activists said protesters gathered near Ahli Hospital, where they believed Abu Jendeya was being held. The corruption allegations and circumstances surrounding his detention have not been independently verified.

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem🇮🇱 (10/6/26)[Prayer]Personalities Psalm 44[a]For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.[b]1 We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago. 2 With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our ancestors; you crushed the peoples and made our ancestors flourish. 3 It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you...

...Afederally funded project recruiting landlords to house refugees kept operating after the Trump administration suspended its State Department award—with support from another federal agency. The project, Refugee Housing Solutions, is run by Church World Service. It recruits property owners and connects them with ReHome, an online platform matching refugees and other newcomers with rentals.... Its own suspension announcement⁠ explains how the operation continued: work funded by the State Department stopped, while services supported by the Department of Health and Human Services remained. One federal funding stream was suspended. Another kept the project running. The housing arrangements can include substantial financial...

August Hanning, the man who once led Germany's spy service, is now under investigation for passing on state secrets. Police have arrested the former head of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency, August Hanning, on suspicion of espionage, the federal prosecutor's office announced Tuesday. Hanning served as the agency's chief from December 1998 to November 2005 before moving to the Federal Interior Ministry, where he worked as state secretary until November 2009. According to a statement from the prosecutor's office, the 80-year-old faces charges including espionage, disclosure of state secrets, attempted treason and working as a secret service agent. It did...

J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision of a declining Gondor offers a warning for the troubled West—but also a message of hope that renewal remains possible. The Despair and Hope of J. R. R. TolkienThe novelist J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973) repeatedly insisted that his epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings, written from 1937 to 1949, was not allegorical. But some scholars have argued otherwise, detecting contemporary, 20th-century influences in his storytelling. Tolkien fought at the nightmarish Battle of the Somme in World War I. He witnessed the slaughter of the youth of Europe in the trenches that lived with him the...

2008 EU (then including the UK) nominal GDP was larger than the US, not “similar sized.” Common figures from IMF/World Bank-sourced compilations: EU ≈ $19.3 trillion vs. US ≈ $14.8 trillion (EU roughly 130% of US). Other series show EU around $16.3–16.4 trillion vs. US ~$14.8 trillion. In either case the EU was clearly bigger, boosted by a strong euro (near all-time highs vs. the dollar) and enlargement.​ Visualcapitalist “Similar sized” is therefore inaccurate for nominal GDP in USD. (Euro-area-only comparisons were closer in some contemporaneous accounts, but the statement refers to the EU.) 2025–2026 US nominal GDP is in...

"Abdi Nur Salah and his co-conspirators used taxpayer money meant to support hungry children to buy themselves a life of luxury," an FBI official said. Abdi Nur Salah, a former aide to Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, was sentenced last week to nearly three years in federal prison for his role in Minnesota’s sprawling Feeding Our Future scandal. The scandal takes its name from the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which sponsored meal sites throughout the state where free food for children was purportedly served. In reality, the defendants submitted fraudulent claims for reimbursement from the federal government for meals that...

My September 29 post asked whether we could deem as “definitively falsified” the hypothesis that human-caused global warming was leading to “more and more severe” hurricanes. The cited basis for the question was that, despite the endlessly repeated prediction of “more and more severe” hurricanes, as of that date not a single hurricane had yet formed this season in the North Atlantic basin. This represented a record-low rate of hurricane formation in this region since the satellite era, and comprehensive hurricane data, began in 1966. (Since that post, five more days have passed, and there is still no hurricane in...

U.S. — With unrest drawing attention around the globe and the November midterm elections coming up soon, Democrats made it a point to blame President Donald Trump's cuts to USAID for slowing the communist takeover of the West. Though the party's plan to overrun the western world with a deadly combination of leftist politics and Islamic conquest remained alive, Democrats stressed that it had been severely hampered by drastically reduced funding for USAID programs. "We're still trying, but it's making it much more difficult," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. "Trump has gutted USAID funding for so many causes throughout...

WOODSTOCK, ME — Shouts of "BOOOO!" could be heard coming from a cabin in the woods as a man later identified as podcast host Tucker Carlson became increasingly frustrated while watching Indiana Jones defeat the Nazis, neighbors said. Following a failed debate against Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Carlson chose to unwind with a viewing of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, a film he remembered enjoying as a 20-year-old. But that was then. Now, his eyes having been opened to the plight of Nazis, he found himself thinking of how much better off the world would have been if the Nazis...

An Afghan refugee who killed a dog walker and attacked two other people in a "frenzy of violence" has been given an indefinite hospital order and recommended for deportation. Dawood Safi, 28, stabbed Wayne Broadhurst, 49, in the street during a series of knife attacks which began at Safi's home in Uxbridge, west London, on 27 October 2025, Southwark Crown Court heard. Safi, who was having paranoid delusions and hearing voices, attacked his landlord Shahzad Farrukh minutes before killing Broadhurst, and also stabbed a 14-year-old boy. The 28-year-old admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. Mrs Justice Cutts, who told...

Agents tracked Melania and Barron Trump's travel and monitored Susie Wiles' calls as part of the Jack Smith investigation =================================================================== The Biden-era FBI tracked Trump family travel, including the First Lady and Barron Trump, and surveilled future White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles' phone as federal officials worked the classified documents investigation reaching deep into Trump's inner circle, newly declassified records show. Documents released Monday by the White House detail "Plasmic Echo," the probe later led by special counsel Jack Smith into whether Trump improperly retained classified documents after leaving office. The declassified documents show agents tracked the first...

The Biden administration did attempt to prosecute parents federally for the crime of disagreeing with school boards in 2020 and 2021, says a new report from the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DoJ) Weaponization Working Group. As America begins to vote early before the November 3 midterm election, this is worth recalling -- and, indeed, getting more details on, as it shows how far some are willing to go to criminalize and thereby control free citizens. The Weaponization Working Group came about after President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14147 to bring accountability and to hopefully prevent this from happening again....

The Pentagon announced Monday that Nidal Hasan, who was sentenced to death for the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, will be executed by firing squad, marking the first U.S. military execution in more than 60 years. The shooting left 13 people dead and wounded 32 others. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the execution, and it was approved by President Donald Trump. The time and place of the execution have not yet been announced, but Army policy outlines that executions must happen within 150 days of the president approving it,...

On Sunday, 4 October, Dmitry Medvedev threatened Armenia, saying that it “could transform into a second Ukraine”. This refers to the Armenians’ aspirations for closer ties with the European Union, which do not please Russia, as it wishes to keep Armenia within its sphere of influence. On Sunday, 4 October, Dmitry Medvedev gave an interview to Iranian state television. In it, he stated that the West is testing the “strength of the relationship” connecting Armenia and Russia, warning Yerevan against changing its political course. “The current Armenian authorities have decided to change direction. I am certain that this will not...

A Runbeck Election Services error sent more than 3,100 Maricopa County ballots six days early, but officials say they remain valid and will be securely stored unopened if returned before processing begins. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Runbeck Election Services mailed more than 3,100 Maricopa County ballots six days early. The Recorder’s Office said the ballots are correct and valid and were delivered to the proper voters. Prematurely returned ballots will remain unopened in secure storage until regular processing begins. The county planned to inspect Runbeck’s process starting Monday following the unauthorized mailing. ============================================================================ A vendor error sent more than...

The Pentagon announced Monday that Nidal Hasan, who was sentenced to death for the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, will be executed by firing squad, marking the first U.S. military execution in more than 60 years. The shooting left 13 people dead and wounded 32 others. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the execution, and it was approved by President Donald Trump. The time and place of the execution have not yet been announced, but Army policy outlines that executions must happen within 150 days of the president approving it,...

So, admit it, you'd get a kick out of listening to "Little Duece Coup". Here it is.1978, Wheatland CA, rice-fields country--driving on Hwy 99, you have to close your windows because of pesticides in the rice paddies-- north of Sacramento, south of Marysville-Yuba City; Hancock Gas Station. (Hwy 99, Tule fog, "Death Alley", UC Davis Med Center Sacramento had the #1 trauma E.R. in the world in the late 1970s, until it was defunded, E.R. Surgeons as skilled as "battlefield" trauma surgeons in Beirut, Lebanon or Northern Ireland.)I can't find a photo, but the station had a standard, baked-enamel gas...