Free Republic

The Mother Road, as author John Steinbeck dubbed it, has evolved over the years from an escape for poor farmers fleeing the devastating dust storms of the 1930s to perhaps the quintessential American road trip that’s still delivering kicks. Although there have been faster and more direct routes between Chicago and Santa Monica for some time, Route 66’s neon still burns brightly and its vintage signs beckon travelers to restored motor lodges, classic diners and roadside attractions.Each stop turns the wheels of the imagination, leaving travelers to contemplate what life was like for the people and communities that have made...

LAKE JACKSON, TX — After nearly nine days without a fully functioning toilet, the crew of NASA's Artemis II mission changed course from splashing down off the coast of California and instead headed straight for a Buc-ee's. Artemis pilot Victor Glover hit the throttle as a billboard "327 miles to Buc-ee's" flashed by, with the crew still crossing their legs uncomfortably. "I see the sign! 'Your throne awaits.' Hang in there, crew," Glover could be heard shouting over the communication channel as he prepared for touchdown. "Our cheeks are about to be sitting on the nicest toilets on this marble...

The United States is said to be considering conducting limited ground operations in the Iran war. Among the potential operations reportedly under consideration are efforts to seize the islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, Larak, and Kharg in the Persian Gulf.There are serious questions surrounding the feasibility of these potential actions. But like with the air war, even if ground operations succeed tactically, it is highly unlikely they will bring about the strategic effects the administration seeks. Limited ground operations are unlikely to compel the Iranian regime to agree to an immediate ceasefire or an initial...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Wednesday that the strait was open. He then put the onus on other countries to ensure the flow of traffic.“It’s time for the rest of the world to step up and ensure that [the strait] stays open after President Trump and the War Department brought Iran to the place where they’re voluntarily opening it right now, as was announced last night,” Hegseth said during a Wednesday Pentagon press briefing.Iran said Thursday there are now two routes – both controlled by Tehran – that ships could use due to the presence of mines in the...

“I think you should get your a– to the draft. I don’t think it’s asking too much for you to get on a private jet, fly to Pittsburgh with all of your family and be there so when your name gets called, you walk out on that stage, YOU DAP WITH THE AKWARD COMMISSIONER, YOU HUG HIM, you rock the Raider jersey and you say, ‘I am proud to be in the NFL.’”

The Iranian regime is once again proving why it cannot be trusted. Despite a delicate ceasefire agreement, Iran is already backsliding, attempting to choke off the world’s oil supply and reportedly shaking down tankers for “tolls” in the Strait of Hormuz. The Gateway Pundit reported on Wednesday that Fars News Agency, the official propaganda arm directly linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported that tanker traffic is now “suspended” after Israel continued hammering Hezbollah. PBS journalist Elizabeth Landers confirmed that President Trump told her directly: Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon is NOT part of the ceasefire deal.

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As Australia wakes up to the Iran War reality we still need fossil fuel, King Charles chooses now to push his climate obsession. The letter from King Charles; ... Bad timing Charlie. Greens have been noticeably pulling back their usual Net Zero rhetoric in the last few weeks, in the face of Aussie fury at wholly inadequate preparation for Iran war fuel shortages. People are asking questions like whether political Net Zero obsession led to our refineries being closed, forcing our green Prime Minister to try to defend his non-existent record of keeping refineries open. The obvious question, will the...

A simple experiment in a child’s swimming pool allows you to visualize the angular momentum of rotating waves. Beautifully done.

While preparing to write today’s stories for NRL News Today, I ran across “Please Laugh About My Abortion With Me” which ran in 2022. And while Alison Leiby wasn’t kidding, I wondered what the audience’s response was to her one-woman “comedy.” Prior to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe, Alison Leiby tells us that “When I started performing the show at a tiny theater in Queens and at bars around the city, there were a lot of bombs and uncomfortable silences. Just saying the word ‘abortion’ can quiet a room. I saw crossed arms and scowls when I would...

As the ceasefire began, Tehran was already reshaping the terms of the agreement to its advantage rather than adhering to its spirit. On Wednesday, Tehran only allowed 12 cargo tankers to pass through the strait. This sharply contrasts with pre-conflict levels, when more than 100 vessels could transit the strategic waterway daily. With Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad on Friday for direct negotiations with Iran

"Award him a life-saving award! He saved his own life! And he deserves it…."

Savannah Guthrie’s ailing 84-year-old mom likely suffered a fatal medical episode during her kidnapping — and her greedy captors were forced to dump her body because she was no longer “of value” to them once dead, according to a cold-case expert. The kidnappers likely “underestimated” how fragile Nancy Guthrie’s health was when they carried out their sickening money grab, Brian Martin, an Indiana detective who specializes in cold cases, told NewsNation’s Brian Entin. That left them forced to scrap their ransom plan and get rid of her body when things went “sideways” with the “Today” show host’s mom, who had...

Today we’re announcing Project Glasswing1, a new initiative that brings together Amazon Web Services, Anthropic, Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Google, JPMorganChase, the Linux Foundation, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Palo Alto Networks in an effort to secure the world’s most critical software. We formed Project Glasswing because of capabilities we’ve observed in a new frontier model trained by Anthropic that we believe could reshape cybersecurity. Claude Mythos2 Preview is a general-purpose, unreleased frontier model that reveals a stark fact: AI models have reached a level of coding capability where they can surpass all but the most skilled humans at finding and exploiting...

Michael Avenatti, the famous creepy porn lawyer, has been released from prison and is now living in a halfway house. Someone needs to call Brian Stelter and the rest of the crew at CNN. They’re his biggest fans, after all. It’s kind of amazing that he hasn’t already been featured in an interview on the far left network. It’s also stunning to think that before he was brought down by his own corruption, liberals on cable news were promoting this guy as a potential candidate for president. Stormy Daniels’ disgraced ex-lawyer and anti-Trump superstar Michael Avenatti moved to halfway house...

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Hollywood Decline: Sony Pictures Set to Lay Off Hundreds Signage for Sony Group Corp. displayed at the CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show in YokohamKiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images Warner Todd Huston8 Apr 2026140 3:25 Sony Pictures Entertainment is reportedly set to lay off hundreds of employees across its TV, film, and corporate offices as Hollywood continues to contract. According to Variety, one of the top layoffs will be that of Colin Davis, EVP of Comedy Development. Sources tell the paper that the layoffs are not “cost driven” but are “targeted and strategic” and are an effort to reorganize for...

Good news?

The dark side of the moon has long been the subject of myth and speculation. What mysteries lie beyond the known lunar surface in that dark realm beyond our telescopes? Now, The Babylon Bee can reveal what the crew of the Artemis II mission discovered on the other side of the moon: Rocks: Lots and lots of rocks. A Starbucks: Man, they really are everywhere. 1,000,000,000 Mylar birthday balloons: So that's where they all end up. A Somali daycare: The owner says it has a huge client base and is totally legit. A Shohei Ohtani home run ball: Not...

They should have stuck to chicken breasts. Eight Chick-fil-A staffers say they’ve been fired for jiggling their chests for a TikTok video seen by more than 7 million people — including their bosses. The uniformed workers took it in turns to shake their chests to a mashup of “Wanna Mingle x Top of the Cars” in a clip shared last month, including a male staffer who also turned around to twerk. Their cheeky dance moves for the viral trend, under the title “my CFA crew better than yours,” quickly racked up nearly 7.5 million views — but also got the...