Free Republic

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar's account of fleeing Somalia's civil war as a child offers a timeline of her early life, family history and eventual resettlement in the United States, including a recollection of how officials recorded relatives' birth dates during the refugee screening process. The Minnesota Democrat's 2020 memoir, This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey From Refugee to Congresswoman, describes a childhood disrupted by fighting in Mogadishu and a journey that took the family through Somalia and Kenya before they were eventually resettled in the United States. Omar has faced a wave of scrutiny from MAGA hard-liners and...

FWIW, based on a few years worth of studying voter registration and other data---which led me to be dead on in 2024 six months out with "Trump 312 EVs with 1.5% of the pop vote) and in 2016, before the election, with "Trump will win with between 300 and 320 EVs" (final 304), and yes, I missed in 2018 on the House---here goes: *Rs hold the senate at 52. Possible ceiling of 54. Paxton, Collins, AK seat, OH all holds. I think Rodgers wins in MI, Whatley loses NC. My long-shots are Sununu with NH and Tafoya in MN. Either...

Former President Barack Obama took to the campaign trail over the weekend to rejuvenate Democratic voters and take aim at President Donald Trump. He offered a snarky remark about Trump’s renovations to the White House that, like many of the criticisms Obama makes, didn’t really make any sense. The 44th president blasted Trump for installing gilded architectural modifications and decorations, making a senseless comment connecting Saddam Hussein and the Cheesecake Factory. As humorless as it actually was, it does present the president with a wonderful opportunity: Trump should work a shift at Cheesecake Factory. “What’s with the gold?” said Obama....

The head of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has issued a further warning on how Artificial Intelligence will likely lead to mass unemployment, revealing just the four occupations he believes will survive the imminent AI expansion. In a recent interview, Gates revealed that while AI will create “true abundance”, the next two decades will be “as tumultuous a period as there’s been in human history.” Gates's bold new claim comes with '20-year warning' Discussing the prospect of AI superseding the workforce in the years to come, Gates offered his 20-year warning on the Decoder podcast, having already disclosed which sectors were most...

A group of 13 killer whales gave passengers aboard a Southern California whale watching boat an unforgettable experience over the weekend, swimming directly up to the vessel in a rare close encounter. The orcas were spotted Saturday, Oct. 24, by a crew with Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari, based in Dana Point... ...... The whales exhibited a behavior known as “mugging,” which occurs when whales or dolphins voluntarily approach a boat and linger nearby, sometimes circling the vessel or appearing to investigate it. Despite the name, the behavior is not considered aggressive. ...... The whales belong to the...

Mass demonstrations, when IRGC came out to play, they encountered armed resistance. Pahlavi circulating contact info to civil servants and military, urging next steps to be taken towards revolution. Some technical difficulty. Targeted drone attack in Tehran building, result and intended victim not yet known. Ayatoilets trying to gaslight and demonizing Pahlavi. He has plans that he's made known for reconstructing Iran after revolution. He's pro-western, pro-democracy and pro-free markets. Li'l Lulu stole election in Brazil, very similar to the Brandonistas' theft, and Bolsonaro Jr. has skedaddled and asked for asylum in America to avoid arrest like they did his...

Explanation: Sometimes it's night on the ground but day in the air. As the Earth rotates to eclipse the Sun, sunset rises up from the ground. Therefore, at sunset on the ground, sunlight still shines on clouds above. Under usual circumstances, a pretty sunset might be visible, but unusual noctilucent clouds float so high up they can be seen well after dark. Normally too dim to be seen, they may become visible just after sunset during the summer when illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon. Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds and are known more technically as polar mesospheric...

Fool's Ball, Week Ate, Pigskin Pickem ThreadYour home for all things Fool's Ball! In Memoriam Danny Lee (BENDER2)

The U.S. Consumer Confidence Index rose to 91.7 in October 2026, up from a revised 84.2 in September 2026, according to The Conference Board. October 2026 Index Breakdown Headline Index: 91.7 (an increase of 7.5 points from September). Present Situation Index: Increased to 120.4, reflecting stronger consumer assessments of current business and labor-market conditions. Expectations Index: Increased by 6.9 points to 72.6, driven by reduced pessimism regarding short-term business, income, and job outlooks. Key Drivers: Easing retail gasoline prices helped lift consumer sentiment after three consecutive monthly declines. 

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the US, but its target population is changing. While rates have steadily decreased for more than a decade in adults over 65, cases among another population are suddenly exploding. Now, scientists are racing to understand why this shift is happening — and why these new cases are so aggressive. You may have seen that colorectal cancer is rising among people younger than 50. However, new research reveals that this increase is most dramatic among a younger population within that group: kids aged 10 to young adults in their early...

We have a week to go before the pivotal midterm election that will determine control of Congress and the fate of President Trump's agenda for the remainder of his term. Speaker Mike Johnson has announced another campaign blitz, where he will visit 13 states and 21 districts between now and November 3. This blitz comes on the heels of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson overseeing historic fundraising for House races, raising more than $30 million in the third quarter and more than $156 million for the cycle. Coupled with what the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), a Johnson-endorsed PAC, has...

Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba, is one of the most lethal infections in the world. Scientists at UC San Diego have isolated a molecule that could help us fight back. Credit iStock/Gilnature. =================================================================== Key Takeaways Brain-eating amoeba (primary amoebic meningoencephalitis) is nearly always fatal and progresses so rapidly that current treatments are often too slow or too toxic to be effective. UC San Diego researchers discovered a marine-derived molecule that kills the parasite faster and more selectively than current treatments. Findings could lay the foundation for future treatments that fundamentally improve survival rates, especially when combined with existing therapies. =======================================================================...

A history refresh and if-then logic to counter the demoralization campaigns on the upcoming midterm elections. The struggle sessions will continue until morale improves. After a year of infighting within the right in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, we cannot allow history to repeat with the CCCP and the CCP. The Bolsheviks under Lenin destroyed the White Russians under Pyotr Wrangel because they were unified and their opposition was not. The Communists under Mao destroyed the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-Shek because they were unified and their opposition was not. Will America share the same fate? Demoralization campaigns have intensified...

American who lives and grew up in Los Angeles just took a 5 day trip Miami, Florida She says she can’t believe how clean it is there, how there are no homeless and how much less expensive it is “I didn't realize just how dirty and gross and expensive LA actually is just because I'm used to it. I live here, I live in it. I saw 2 unhoused people the entire time I was in Miami. The whole week I saw 2 unhoused people, and we went to a bunch of different parts in Miami. And the cost of...

After preparing five victims of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre for burial, members of Pittsburgh’s New Community Chevra Kadisha stood in a circle and held hands. They had gathered like this before, taking a moment after their work to process what they had done. This time, they were caring for people murdered in their own community. Volunteers from outside Pittsburgh had come to help. David Zimmer, a longtime member, remembered one visitor bringing a custom from another chevra kadisha. “He passed around a piece of chocolate,” Zimmer recalled, “so that there should be something sweet.” Eight years later, NCCK...

President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday to ban the term “artificial intelligence” after lashing out at The Wall Street Journal in a Truth Social post. Trump posted to his social media platform complaining that the the news organization had yet to adopt his preferred term, “super intelligence:” When will The Wall Street Journal start calling Artificial Intelligence (AI), a very bad and inaccurate name, SI (Super Intelligence), the name which virtually everyone else is using, or soon will be. In short order, we will be officially BANNING the term, “AI/Artificial Intelligence,” in all relevant documents, and everything else, due to its...

In the 2011 film Moneyball, Brad Pitt portrays Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, who listens as his scouts enthusiastically praise an up-and-coming baseball player. Beane, unimpressed, asks a simple question. “If he’s a good hitter, why doesn’t he hit good?” This question should be asked about America’s elite universities, particularly in light of the ongoing Cornell Seven controversy. If these institutions are, as some describe them, bastions of rape culture, misogyny, and the institutional protection of sexual predators, why do so many young women desperately want to attend them? And why are their parents willing to spend or borrow...

LOLOLOLOLOL. We really love Abdul El-Sayed ... Jewish safety depends on a real multiracial democracy. This is a major belief of the Left. They think that allowing one people group to be the majority will lead to racism, which will lead to racial nationalism, which will lead to Hitler. Everyone must therefore be crammed into the same geographic area, ethnic tensions and all, in order to guarantee mutually assured destruction. This man wants to live in a country where, ... the majority can't just decide that the minority doesn't deserve the same freedoms. What's funny is that he's describing a...

‘The person they picked on was about as vulnerable as they come’ ↗ Dementia patient kidnapped so investors could steal his home, authorities sayDementia patient kidnapped so investors could steal his home, authorities say HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Two real estate investors, plus a realtor and a notary, are all accused in a scheme to defraud a dementia patient out of his Hollywood home. Investigators said the realtor kidnapped the victim and dumped him in Miami Gardens as part of the scam. Leer en español According to a news release from the office of Broward County Property Appraiser Marty Kiar, the...

BREAKING: Flávio Bolsonaro has reportedly FLED Brazil in anticipation of communist dictator Lula persecuting him after the outcome of the rigged election He crossed the border into Argentina and took a private flight to the US. Democracy is dead.