Free Republic

A tree-mendous freeze. Forecasters are warning that expected subzero temperatures could cause trees to explode as a brutal cold snap is expected to wallop most of the country in the coming days. Trees may split and burst across the Midwest and Northern Plains Friday and Saturday as a bitter Arctic blast from Canada sends temperatures plunging to roughly 20 degrees below zero, according to social media meteorologist Max Velocity. “EXPLODING TREES are possible in the Midwest and Northern Plains on Friday and Saturday, as temperatures are forecasted to fall 20 degrees BELOW zero!” the YouTuber, who has about 1.55 million...

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a potential White House hopeful for 2028, said on Wednesday that he wants a mandatory retirement age of 75 for the president and people holding office in other branches of government. “You’re 75 years old: done,” Emanuel, a Democrat, said at a Center for American Progress event. “And that would be in the legislative branch, it’d be in the executive branch — including the Cabinet — and it’d also be in the Supreme Court, and all the federal courts.” Emanuel, 66, acknowledged that he would be affected by this proposal if he happens to be...

A state of emergency was declared in several states ahead of a massive winter storm that could bring more than a foot of snow to much of the country. More than 200 million people across parts of 30 states now face winter storm warnings from Friday through Sunday. Meteorologists were expected to issue more within the next couple of days and upgrade some to winter storm warnings as the storm approaches. When the blizzard hits, temperatures are expected to plunge as much as 30 degrees below normal in the Dakotas and Michigan, with the wind chill falling between 35 and...

Rather than teach the three R’s, public schools are more likely to instruct students to believe the liberal narrative rather than their lying eyes regarding the timely demise of Renee Good. Forty-seven miles from Minneapolis, via the New York Post… Becker High School social studies teacher Dr. Heather Abrahamson grew increasingly agitated as she insisted that ICE agent Jonathan Ross used unnecessary deadly force against Good, 37, according to Libs of TikTok, which posted the clip and identified Abrahamson in a Tuesday X post. In addition to informing students that Ross had a duty to let a leftist maniac run...

SEATTLE — A 12-year-old boy accused of attacking a woman with a screwdriver and attempting to steal her purse in Seattle’s Central District appeared in juvenile court for the first time Tuesday afternoon. The boy was arrested Jan. 17 after police said he assaulted a 43-year-old woman outside an Amazon Fresh store near 23rd Avenue South and South Jackson Street. Officers were called to the scene around 6:50 p.m. following reports of a robbery and found the woman injured. According to a Seattle police report, the boy, who was wearing a hot pink ski mask, struck the woman multiple times...

Leftist activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, who helped organize a disruptive protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday, received more than $1 million in total compensation over a six-year period while leading a nonprofit focused on anti-poverty efforts. According to tax filings reported by Fox News, Armstrong served as executive director of the Wayfinder Foundation, a Minneapolis-based organization dedicated to community activism from 2019 to 2024. During that period, the foundation reported approximately $5.24 million in total revenue. Armstrong's compensation included about $936,395 in salary, plus $201,313 in additional benefits such as health coverage, plan contributions, and deferred...

As states enact bans on abortion following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood is expanding its vasectomy sales, citing a surge in demand for permanent birth control options nationwide. Planned Parenthood of Michigan has resumed offering vasectomies at its Irwin/Martin health center in Grand Rapids, with plans to expand to other locations this year. The move comes after the pro-abortion organization halted the service about a decade ago, but officials say renewed interest spiked after the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which shifted abortion to the states. “The demand is real and present,”...

Somali colonists have stolen as much as $9 billion from US taxpayers in Minnesota alone. That is only the tip of the iceberg. Combining open borders with the welfare state has predictably produced the largest looting spree the world has ever seen. Consider Afghans. Via Breitbart: Census data shows that almost all Afghan households with children are on publicly funded welfare — similar to that of Somali immigrant households with children in Minnesota, where 81 percent of such households are on at least one form of welfare. Eighty-five percent of Afghan households with children are on welfare. The more offspring...

San Francisco's beloved mall will finally shut its doors after years of harrowing decline and fears of crime and homelessness. San Francisco Centre, formerly known as the Westfield Mall, will permanently close on January 26, an employee for the disgraced shopping center's lone remaining store told the San Francisco Chronicle. The iconic mall began spiraling downward with the rest of the Democrat run city after the COVID-19 pandemic. Rumors of the closure have circulated for months as sprawling homeless encampments deterred tourists and locals alike. As downtown foot traffic decreased, the mall saw fewer and fewer customers. Its flagship Nordstrom...

A federal agent opened fire after an illegal alien from El Salvador tried to run him over with a vehicle during an immigration operation in Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday morning. The illegal alien was not struck with gunfire and tried taking off on foot. Federal law enforcement agents eventually apprehended the illegal. A Border Patrol agent was injured. Per the DHS: At 7:05AM PST, DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Compton, California, to arrest a violent criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, William Eduardo Moran Carballo, who is involved in a human smuggling operation and...

A reporter for NewsNation traveled to the state of Maine and uncovered more possible fraud. He highlighted one particular building that is supposedly home to ten Somali-owned home healthcare companies, yet when he interviewed the landlord, he said that there is never anyone there. He then interviews a local newspaper reporter who points out various locations that are also supposedly home healthcare companies, which just so happen to be next door to businesses that can wire money to Somalia. This is all so shady. From NewsNation: Maine building houses 10 health care firms; landlord rarely sees anyone Office buildings across...

Radical left anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota surrounded Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino at a Speedway gas station on Wednesday as enforcement operations and unrest continue in Minneapolis. For weeks, leftists have been encouraged by Minnesota officials to riot against ICE, prompting a federal investigation into Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and other far-left Minnesota officials. During a stop at the gas station, where rabid anti-ICE demonstrators followed Bovino, one person dumped a bag of chips on him, and the crowd followed him, screaming and honking air horns. WATCH: Leftists Throw Food at Border Commander...

I believe the greatest threat to our nation isn't the Islamo-commie animals currently raping their way across Western Europe, murdering their way through Niger, or fleecing our treasury in God-knows-how-many of our states. Rather, it's a group of "unindicted domestic terrorists" who are just AWFL: Affluent White Liberal Women. These are the harpies who make all of the above possible. (snip) Now that we know what an AWFL are, let's talk about how to identify them: #1) They are usually wildly unattractive. Check out this communist skank—who isn't completely physically offensive (we will get to those gorgons in a minute)—but...

Donald Trump has ordered ICE agents to begin rounding up Somali migrants in Maine as part of the administration's latest immigration crackdown. Federal agents are sweeping through the state's two largest cities, Portland and Lewiston, as the Department of Homeland Security announced 'Operation Catch of the Day' on Wednesday. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin announced that agents had arrested multiple individuals on the first day of the operation. Local officials in Maine's two biggest cities are warning residents that ICE will begin ramping up its enforcement operations in the next few days. Meanwhile, the US attorney’s office in Maine warned...

Canadian military chiefs have wargamed a US invasion and concluded that they would be overpowered in only two days. Canada’s resistance would rely upon insurgency tactics similar to those deployed by the Mujahideen in Afghanistan in the fight against the Soviet Union, according to reports. Under the plans, which officials stressed were precautionary and hypothetical, forces would use asymmetric tactics whereby a weaker army attempts to counter a dominant force. Canada would rely on drone warfare and would also request assistance from European allies, namely the former imperial powers Britain and France. (snip) Canadian military positions on land and at...

Or Chris or John What is the total number of subscribers to Free Republic? Meaning, those with an ID and posting privilege.

A San Jose police officer was shot and taken to the hospital Wednesday following a pursuit involving a carjacking suspect, according to authorities. A suspect is dead, and a San Jose police sergeant was taken to the hospital Wednesday following a multi-county pursuit, according to a police source with direct knowledge. CHP said a green Corvette was carjacked in San Jose at around 2:37 p.m. Officers later found the vehicle and initiated a pursuit. The suspect arrived in Hollister, where the city's police department said he abandoned the vehicle on Westside Boulevard, armed with a firearm. Police report the suspect...

In a social media announcement posted Wednesday, Tucson Pride’s Board of Directors said the organization has made the “difficult decision to close Tucson Pride as an organization" and therefore is also canceling the Tucson Pride Festival scheduled for Feb. 21, 2026. The Facebook post, attributed to the newly appointed board, said the decision came after “thoughtful discussion and careful consideration.” The statement thanked volunteers, sponsors, artists and activists and highlighted Tucson Pride’s role in the community “since 1977,” calling it a space of “visibility, advocacy, celebration, and resilience for nearly five decades.”

Shoppers are being warned to avoid certain cans of Genova Yellowfin Tuna that were mistakenly sent to stores across nine states, even though the products were recalled last year. The products are linked to a recall issued in February 2025 by Tri-Union Seafoods, which discovered a manufacturing defect affecting the "easy open" pull-tab lids on some cans. The defect could cause the cans to "leak, or worse, be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning," according to a Monday announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ingesting Clostridium botulinum bacteria can lead to botulism,...

A Democratic Virginia lawmaker is backing a bill that would ban the state from verifying a nonprofit’s eligibility to provide and receive federal taxpayer benefits, a move that comes as scrutiny over the misuse of taxpayer funds continues to intensify. The introduction of House Bill 1369 by Virginia Democratic state Del. Jessica Anderson came in the wake of a massive fraud scandal involving nonprofits in Minnesota and amid pressure by the Trump administration for states to enact better oversight of how taxpayer money is spent. "No state agency responsible for the administration of federal funds shall impose a requirement on...