Free Republic

The national retail average for a regular gallon of gas was $4.457 on Monday. That's a 1-cent increase from Sunday, according to the American Automobile Association, and 35 cents more than last Monday. At this time last year, a gallon of gas was $1.29 cheaper. The surging prices seemed to stabilize or even decrease for about two weeks, following a temporary ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran that has been indefinitely extended. However, the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route where roughly a fifth of the world's oil passes, has effectively remained closed or extremely limited to passage...

0:00Number 5 Z flying 175 runway two 0. Clear for take. 0:1818 secondsTruck one in company LaGuardia Tower. Truck one in company. Truck one and company LaGuardia Tower. 0:2424 secondsRequesting to cross four at Delta. Truck one and company cross for Delta. 0:3030 secondsTruck one and company crossing for Delta. Frontier 4195. Just stop there, please. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Truck one. Stop. 0:3838 secondsStop. Stop. Stop. Truck one. Stop. Stop. Truck one. Stop. 0:4848 seconds2603. Go around. Runway heading 2000. CH 646. J 646. I see you collide with vehicle. 0:5555 secondsJust hold position. I know you can't move....

Washington — Pentagon officials have made detailed preparations for deploying U.S. ground forces into Iran, multiple sources briefed on the discussions told CBS News. Senior military commanders have submitted specific requests aimed at preparing for such an option as President Trump weighs moves in the U.S.-Israel-led conflict with Iran, the sources said. Mr. Trump has been deliberating whether to position ground forces in the region, sources said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. It was unclear under what circumstances he would authorize the use of troops on the ground."No, I'm not putting troops anywhere,"...

@Acyn Boebert: I am so tired of spending money elsewhere. I am tired of the industrial war complex getting all of our hard earned tax dollars. I have folks in Colorado who can't afford to live. We need America first policies right now.

https://x.com/kevinnbass/status/2025133451242766572 Kevin Bass@kevinnbassTHE BILL GATES FILES.Over the past day, I have read some of the most insane things I have read in my life.I cannot believe it.Gates said he had "several meetings" with Jeffrey Epstein.The documents show at least 205 dates with meetings or dinners and at least 93 of Epstein's daily schedules with Gates on them.Gates said it was about philanthropy. At least 122 documents mention dollar amounts -- investment funds, hush payments, fund structures, reimbursements.Gates said it wasn't deep. Epstein's assistant Lesley Groff has at least 141 documents coordinating Gates logistics.Gates' own scheduler Larry Cohen has at least...

While acknowledging that the United States government has not carried out its mission on immigration "perfectly" in Minneapolis, border czar Tom Homan said***that immigration officials "are not surrendering the president's mission and immigration enforcement."Those efforts, he said, will involve making arrests while focusing enforcement on known public safety threats. "We will conduct targeted enforcement operations," Homan said during a press conference in Minneapolis on Thursday, describing a strategy he said ICE and CBP have used "for decades" by identifying specific suspects in advance through criminal and immigration records. *** "ICE is enforcing the laws enacted by Congress," said Homan.However, he...

President Donald Trump's sudden pivot on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files was not an impulsive gamble but a tactical move to end a months-long drama that has consumed the White House and Congress. In a sudden shift, Trump said Sunday night that 'House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files.' But White House insiders have told the Daily Mail that the move by Trump wasn't a U-turn, but a calculated move to expose senior Democrats and his critics who had links to Epstein. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday: 'We have nothing to do with Epstein....

Republicans are turning the heat back up on the Trump administration for its handling of the Epstein files. Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie torched FBI Director Kash Patel over the weekend after he caught the bureau chief off guard on information that Patel should have already been privy to. “I told Director Kash Patel that the FBI has names of 20 men to whom Jeffrey Epstein trafficked women and girls,” Massie wrote on X. “This basic fact seemed to surprise him. Why? “Is the FBI withholding those names to protect the President’s rich and powerful friends?” Massie continued, before demanding that...

President Trump’s claim that some of the Epstein files are ‘made up’ by Democrats and the FBI makes a lot more sense now. When President Trump first started ranting, really out of nowhere, about the so-called “Epstein files” being “made up” by his Democrat predecessors, as well as former F.B.I. Director James Comey, it was bizarre and suspiciously defensive. It’s now a lot less weird and a lot less suspicious. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday on a “leather-bound book” containing, among other things, a doodle of a naked woman’s body framing an odd “typewritten” note, both supposedly penned by...

A lone Republican has risked President Donald Trump's ire after voting with Democrats in a bid to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna pushed an amendment to upcoming crypto legislation that would have forced Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all Epstein-related documents. Bondi would have to share the files on a 'publicly accessible website' within 30 days of passage. However, the effort was foiled, failing five to seven, during a Monday night vote by the House Rules Committee, a group of lawmakers that generally sign off on legislation before it gets a final vote on...