Free Republic

California Forever, a controversial project with aspirations to expand Solano County by up to 400,000 residents, was dealt a blow last week as a $3 billion contract went to Texas instead. California Forever first became known to the public in 2024, when reports surfaced that a shadowy group of billionaires had purchased 65,000 largely rural acres around Suisun City and Rio Vista, making it the largest landowner in Solano County. The group announced it planned to build a new city with its acquisitions, but the idea was widely unpopular in the county. Amid dire polling numbers, California Forever pulled a...

The US military says it’s launching strikes on Iranian targets in response to Tehran’s attack on American forces a day earlier. US Central Command said the strikes are “a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attack” and that they began Wednesday evening, in a post on social media. It’s a further escalation after a period of calm, with the U.S. saying it had intercepted strikes from Iran a day earlier and carried out separate strikes alongside Saudi Arabia on Tehran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq.

Willie Nelson urged Americans to think again when it comes to building the future. Nelson, 93, encouraged followers to “fight against data centers invading our land” in a social media plea shared Tuesday. The country music legend reflected on being able to see “stars at night” in his Texas hometown, but that light pollution and “water thieving” were imminent in a looming industrial climate. “I grew up in Abbott, and I still have a home there with farmed land where I can still see stars at night,” Nelson told his followers. “And now our community, like many others, needs to...

New York City business leaders aren’t inclined to go to war with Zohran Mamdani – but his latest stunt surrounding the controversial pied-à-terre tax is forcing them to reconsider, On The Money has learned. This week, our Marxist mayor released the names of taxpayers who are being subjected to his idiotic levy on owners of apartments worth $5 million or more that are not their primary residences. It’s idiotic partly because these wealthy out-of-state residents don’t use our services, but nevertheless already pay plenty of state and city taxes – the lion’s share in fact. They might decide to buy...

Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters have blockaded two trendy blocks in downtown Madison, Wisconsin a week after armed serial felon Corey Ruiz was shot and killed by police — erecting barricades similar to the infamous 2020 “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) in Seattle And the city of Madison — home to the state capitol and the University of Wisconsin — is helping them by providing portable toilets and other resources. Neighbors have had enough, telling WMTV 15 News they feel “trapped” by the rapidly expanding protest zone. “I feel the protest has turned into a very disrespectful occupation focused...

THE ORIGIN “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2” publication — which was used repeatedly by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab leak theory — was prompted by Dr. Fauci to push the preferred narrative that COVID-19 originated naturally. 1. The virus possesses a biological characteristic that is not found in nature. 2. Data shows that all COVID-19 cases stem from a single introduction into humans. This runs contrary to previous pandemics where there were multiple spillover events. 3. Wuhan is home to China’s foremost SARS research lab, which has a history of conducting gain-of-function research (gene altering...

The Ukraine war has evolved into an innovation contest since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Faced with a larger adversary that it can’t match tank for tank or aircraft for aircraft, Kyiv has compensated with ingenuity—adapting commercial tech for military purposes, pioneering new applications for drones, and refining battlefield tactics for maximum effect. The result has been a conflict in which information is as crucial as firepower. Ukraine is now exploiting that advantage in a new way. This summer, President Volodymyr Zelensky launched an online platform called TrophyLab, a digital repository devoted to the analysis of captured Russian military equipment....

We went undercover inside smoke shops and bodegas across New York City to answer a simple question: Would retailers accept taxpayer-funded EBT benefits to pay for alcohol or drugs? Store after store attempted to process EBT cards for kratom, a psychoactive substance that is not eligible for purchase with SNAP or EBT benefits. One clerk attempted to process the purchase as “EBT Cash.” Another processed it as “EBT Food”, treating kratom as if it were groceries. Federal law 7 CFR 278 and 7 U.S.C 2012 prohibits retailers from accepting SNAP or EBT benefits for non-food items, including drugs, alcohol, and...

As the war with Iran has continued, some are finding that the stress is bringing back old anxieties.A 4-year-old child began having behavioral problems when his father left for war.A wife whose husband works in Army intelligence is already dealing with heightened anxiety, even though he hasn’t been deployed yet.A woman found this year that she is struggling to cope with the news of conflicts at home and abroad, nearly 20 years after she lost her fiancé in combat.More than 80 percent of military families have reported elevated stress from the war with Iran, driven by safety concerns, deployment changes,...

🚨 JUST NOW: Sen. Rand Paul says he's working on a plan to BYPASS Senate Democrats and go DIRECTLY to the DOJ with Contempt of Congress findings for Fauci This would BLOCK Democrats from filibustering Fauci's contempt charge, and put it IMMEDIATELY in the hands of the DOJ THIS IS THE WAY! 🔥

Archaeologists have discovered ancient food remains at an excavation site near the traditional location associated with the Ark of the Covenant. Near East Archaeological Society's Scott Stripling breaks down the discovery. Archaeologist explains unusual find near site where Ark of Covenant was once kept | ChicagoLIVE | 13:29 FOX 32 Chicago | 475K subscribers | 19,114 views | July 23, 2026

While talking to a British reporter, Elon Musk made what I thought was an extremely important point about the “far-right”: Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10 This 'journalist' tries to paint me as 'far-right' and racist. Elon shuts her, and the entire mainstream media, down in the most glorious way. “You support not just the populist-right, but the far-right. Very fringe parties in some countries,” the reporter stated. “No, I support the normal people. What you call far-right, falsely…” Musk replied. “Falsely… you think is the normal person?” she asked. “Okay, yes. Literally, if you go back 10 or 15 years, those...

Cody Peterson is a farmer and property owner in North Dakota.My family has been farming in North Dakota for generations. Like most farmers, we have lived and worked through droughts, floods and price swings that would make a Wall Street trader’s head spin. Now the government is adding an obstacle that threatens my ability to work my land. In the 1960s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service came to landowners across the Midwest, including the farmer who previously owned my land, with a deal. The government wanted an easement on part of the property to protect wetlands that provide habitats...

It takes a lot of extreme pretzel twisting to write in detail about Anthony Fauci's diary yet somehow skip the famous journalist who figures very prominently in that same diary who worked with Fauci to both cover up for him while also working to attack his opponents. And that journalist is Jack Tapper who, amazingly, appears not once is CNN's story on Fauci's diary published by CNN on Tuesday, "Diary entries, a subpoena and an anticipated clash: Dr. Anthony Fauci and Rand Paul’s long-running battle returns to the Hill."CNN reporters Sarah Owermohle and Adam Cancryn had the unenviable task of...

Soren Aldaco, an emerging leader in the “detransitioner” movement, began identifying as transgender at age 11. Growing up in Texas, she’d gone down “a rabbit hole of websites and niche online forums” trying to figure out who she was. As a teen, deeply distressed and diagnosed with a variety of mental illnesses, she became fixated on the idea that hormone treatment and surgeries might provide some relief.At age 17 her stepmother took her to a nurse practitioner the family had met at a support group. He prescribed testosterone and estrogen blockers 30 minutes later. At age 19, she underwent “top...

What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas. Former firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene officially tied the knot with her fiancé, MAGA reporter Brian Glenn, in a private ceremony in Sin City Tuesday. “Last night, surrounded by our families, [Brian Glenn] and I said ‘I do,'” Greene posted on X with pictures of the two during the ceremony. Greene and Glenn first crossed paths during a rally for President Trump in 2022, according to the Washington Post. They later divorced from their spouses at the time and started dating about a year thereafter. The two MAGA lovebirds got engaged...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Science has declined to answer any questions to avoid incriminating itself for crimes it may have committed. Upon being brought in for a Congressional hearing over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Science stated that it was advised by its attorneys to not answer questions so as to not to provide damaging witness against itself. "Science has elected to exercise its fifth amendment right to not provide testimony that may be used against it in criminal proceedings," said Science's attorney Jay Varner. "This decision should in no way be taken as an admission of guilt by Science....

The idea of the commencement speaker always seemed silly to me. They wait till the last moments of your education to bring in someone to inspire you. I would think it would be better to bring in someone on the FIRST day of school to get your head straight and on the path to success. What would you tell a student on the first day of school?

At least 13 people have been killed in southwestern Japan after a magnitude-7.1 earthquake, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Wednesday, as rescuers searched for people trapped in collapsed buildings, including a shopping mall. “Even now, there are people waiting to be rescued, and this is a race against time. We will marshal all available resources on the ground to save and rescue as many people as possible,” Takaichi told reporters in Tokyo. The quake struck Tuesday afternoon in Kumamoto prefecture on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu at a relatively shallow depth of 6 miles, prompting tsunami warnings and evacuation...

Explanation: Solar System bodies make deep space exploration more fuel efficient! Today’s video shows the Psyche spacecraft gaining speed and changing its trajectory with minimal fuel spent due to a gravity assist from Mars in May 2026. Mars has an average orbital speed of almost 87,000 km/h (54,000 mph) around the Sun. Its orbital motion and its gravity allowed Mars to pull Psyche along with it, increasing the spacecraft’s speed. Gravity assists have been used since 1959’s Luna 3 mission to allow for spacecraft (the Voyagers, Cassini) to reach farther than they could with fuel alone. This assist helped the...