Free Republic

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced his plan to open a $30 million city-run grocery store in the heart of New York City. While that may seem like a lot of money, this isn't your average Kroger. Take a look at the following list of amazing features the new taxpayer-funded grocery store will have: 1. Choice of two different brands of products: Have your pick between carrots or potatoes. 2. A mandatory 3-hour wait time at the register to ensure fairness across all lines: Finally, justice for all. 3. All the cashiers will be ex-cons out on work release: Checkout has never...

Meet Japanese pensioners desperate to be put in prison. It’s a retirement plan with a difference, as seniors commit petty crimes to get into jail seeking shelter, safety and regular meals. But what does it say about Japan’s justice and welfare systems?

It's Friday! That means it is time to post silly things!

I met with two guys from Paris last week. They suggested in the Loop across the street from the James R. Thompson Center. I hadn’t been in the Loop for a couple of years but followed @CWBChicago on X for the latest on shootings, street takeovers, and general mayhem. I emailed back that no one meets in the Loop anymore by choice. Let’s meet at the Firehouse Grill in Evanston. Due to previous commitments they couldn’t switch. Not wanting to screw around with parking I took an Uber. Twenty minutes early, with time to kill, oops, an unfortunate choice of...

Screens run new cars now. Whether we like it or not, every dashboard has a giant tablet in the middle and another screen where the gauges used to be. Some of them blend into the dash like they belong. Others stick out like someone glued an iPad to the top. Either way, they run almost everything in the cabin. It wasn’t always like this. But like most tech trends, the shift happened eventually, and for reasons no one really asked for. Suddenly your radio, your AC, and even simple stuff like the headlight switch lives somewhere inside a maze of...

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is open through Iran's "coordinated route." President Donald Trump appeared to respond on Truth Social, writing, "IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE. THANK YOU!" "THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS AND FULL PASSAGE, BUT THE NAVAL BLOCKADE WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE. THIS PROCESS SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF...

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Friday announced that the Strait of Hormuz is now “completely open” for all ships — so long as the Israel-Lebanon cease-fire remains in place. “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran,” he said in a post to X. The cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon went into place on Friday and is scheduled...

Hiya kids! Hiya, Hiya!Good Morning Crypto-FReepers.I see some of the same old faces out there.But that's OK - I like you anyway.Today's quote is a bit naughty.I can't wait to see the clues you come up with.Hope it makes you laugh.Ha Ha Ha!I'll be good - I will, (like heck) I will. Ha ha ha. TKRW XDIDIMDX: VFDO UPK'XD PJDX WFD FSZZ UPK MDNSO WP ASEL KA RADDY. - EFBXZDR I. REFKZG__ HAL'S CRYPTOGRAM HELPER

@nicksortor JUST IN—IT’S OFFICIAL: Conservatives have BLOCKED an attempt to RAM THROUGH a 5 year extension of FISA in the dead of night, extending it by only 2 weeks @timburchett, @laurenboebert, and @RepThomasMassie are out here celebrating a win against the deep state

New court motions for Robinson's trial, show lab reports not only deemed findings INCONCLUSIVE, they also say that the BULLET fragment COULD BELONG TO MANY MAKES/MODELS OF GUNS.

NEW YORK, NY — Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that the city was going to spend a whopping $30 million on his city-run supermarket, with the project expected to take three years to build. Still, he urged the citizens of New York not to wait for his experiment with Communism but to go ahead and get in line for bread now. "Remember, we're not using evil capitalism for this," Mamdani told the press. "We're going to give goods like bread at a reasonable price. We just have to know how many people want that, so if everyone lined up now for...

Identical twins Nathan and Nick Roberts, the former a dedicated MAGA supporter and the latter a Democratic Indianapolis city council member, demonstrated that profound political disagreement need not fracture personal relationships during a candid appearance on The Unknowns, hosted by Charlie Stone.

Caitlyn Jenner says he now regrets accepting Glamour Magazine’s “Woman of the Year Award.” He still, however, wants biological men to have access to women’s bathrooms. “Here I am fighting the battle to keep biological men out of women’s sports because it’s not right… And I want to protect women,” Jenner admitted to Tomi Lahren on Tuesday. “I started thinking what a hypocrite I am, trying to keep biological men out of women’s sports, but I’m a biological man, and they gave me Glamour’s Woman of the Year Award.” Jenner added he doesn’t regret transitioning to a woman but that...

ZRC RPWRCJ XKZCJ SKJA, VB ZB VTCKA, BU VBHPKEPVZ EPZCJKZIJC PV X.R. KIGCF, K VBJZ BU WIZECVV APTEPFW. -- WCBJWC BJXCEE Clue: Change X to W

US rapper Kanye West has announced the postponement of a forthcoming concert in Marseille, France, "until further notice". The announcement comes a week after this summer's Wireless Festival in London - which West had been scheduled to headline - was cancelled following the UK government's decision to block him from entering the country. French media reported that Interior Minister Laurent Nunez was looking to ban the 11 June gig. An unnamed source, said to be close to Nunez, was cited as telling the AFP news agency that the minister was "highly determined" to ban the event.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a highly unusual public apology to a colleague Wednesday, saying her criticism of Justice Brett Kavanaugh for his writing in an earlier immigration case was unfair. “At a recent appearance at the University of Kansas School of Law, I referred to a disagreement with one of my colleagues in a prior case, but I made remarks that were inappropriate,” Sotomayor said in a statement. “I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague.” Sotomayor’s statement followed remarks she made last week in Kansas in which she criticized Kavanaugh for his concurring opinion in a...

Still trying to get rid of the gophers in my yard. I read there are scents they don't like, makes 'em leave so I'm making a natural pest repellent spray infused with peppermint to ward off the gophers. I thought I'd put it up here for anyone else with this problem to try. Not expensive, doesn't hurt pets. Hope it works. Surprisingly this recipe says to mix with distilled water and VODKA!? They will either leave or hang out at the patio trying to hook up with loose gopher chicks 🦫 If I hear them singing Muskrat Love tonight I'll...

According to a U.S. Central Command social media post, six merchant vessels turned around in compliance with the U.S. blockade once it went into effect Monday morning. CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins declined to provide USNI News with the names of the six ships.The Strait of Hormuz continues to be a point of contention in the ongoing war between Iran and the U.S. Iran wants control of the waterway as part of the agreement between the two countries. International maritime law treats the Strait of Hormuz as an international passage open to all, while Iran argues it is made up...

From fake news websites to staged political protests and bogus medical conditions, asylum seekers and the advisers helping them are using an array of fabricated evidence to bolster their fake claims. It all amounts to a sham industry, which includes charging migrants for advice on how to pose as gay to claim asylum, as exposed by the first part of our undercover investigation into the immigration system. Other techniques include paying to write articles in atheist magazines and hiring someone to pretend to be a same-sex partner. At an office off the busy Mile End Road, in east London, on...

But now the Democrat from New York is feeling buoyed by his party’s unity in the latest government funding fight, as well as by President Donald Trump’s worsening political standing, and he’s brimming with confidence about Democrats’ odds of retaking the Senate, seeing as many as eight seats in play in November.