Free Republic

Staying quiet is riskier than speaking up, Ukrainian officials say, as President Trump goes further than ever in prioritizing Russia’s interests.Ukraine has been here before with President Trump. But this time, as the American leader plays down Russian violence and makes it harder for Kyiv to respond, Ukrainian leaders have taken a different tack. They have punched back.A senior Ukrainian official likened it to a last chance to sound an alarm as a tsunami approaches. Even before the latest blowup with Mr. Trump, things were looking difficult for Ukraine. Daily strikes were ravaging its energy infrastructure and economy. Ukrainian air...

French President Emmanuel Macron pressed ahead with a trip to the Arabian Gulf as violent riots rocked France, fueling fresh criticism of his leadership as his government struggled to contain the unrest. What began weeks earlier as purportedly student-led demonstrations over classroom conditions escalated into widespread riots involving a range of political and ideological factions across France over the weekend. Images and videos posted to social media on Saturday and Sunday showed groups of men waving foreign flags while engaging in acts of destruction on the streets of France's major cities. A Fox News Digital investigation found that communist organizations,...

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

PARIS — The nation of France has thrown its support behind the American conservative movement, graciously spending the past week filming a massive campaign ad for the Republican Party. With midterms just over two weeks away, the entire nation of France took it upon itself to film a sprawling attack ad, demonstrating with incredible realism the dangers of voting Democrat. "Wow. Thanks, France," said Republican Senate candidate Jon Husted. "This must have cost billions of dollars to film. We really didn't expect this level of support from the French. Honestly, you didn't have to go so far as burning...

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told Republican lawmakers that former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White are ineligible to play in the league because they are "both men," responding to a congressional inquiry without supplying the definition of "women" that lawmakers had requested. "With respect to your questions regarding eligibility, only women are eligible to play in the WNBA and the individuals you cite in your letter are both men," Engelbert wrote in the Oct. 16 response. The letter, which is dated Oct. 16, was provided to OutKick by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), which represents Freedom. The...

Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York, is giving roughly $80 million to help Democrats in the midterms as the flood of spending in the sprint to Election Day begins to come into focus. The first of two campaign finance filing deadlines this week will also provide a look at the Trump political operation’s big spending to help Republicans battle significant headwinds in midterm races. Mr. Bloomberg is particularly focused on ensuring a sizable Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, the chamber that Democrats are most hopeful of flipping. We already know some details about what...

Jessica Valenti, the abortion industry’s ever-reliable cheerleader, was positively giddy yesterday. On October 14, she breathlessly unveiled a new University of Pittsburgh study on her Abortion, Every Day Substack, claiming that Americans will happily vote for abortion ballot measures even when they contain no limits on how late in pregnancy an abortion may occur. Apparently, we’re supposed to believe that voters have suddenly abandoned their longstanding opposition to late abortions. Not for a minute. The study, “Is the Viability Limit Necessary to Win Back Abortion Rights?: An Empirical Study,” comes from University of Pittsburgh researchers Greer Donley, Dana Loll, and...

Halloween is more than just a great opportunity to score Snickers bars from your kids' baskets. It's also the chance to deck out your lawn in a way that strikes terror into the hearts of any liberal who walks by! Here are 10 decorations you can put up to scare the living daylights out of your liberal neighbors: 1. Clarence Thomas inflatable: Simply plug him in and enjoy the shrieks of horror. 2. Biology textbook: Opened to the chapter that covers human genders... terrifying. 3. Graph showing minimal impact of climate change: Noooo! 4. Giant U.S. Constitution: With a spotlight...

On Mondays, it is a habit of mine to retrace examples of both the best and the worst in human behavior. I will happily write about the best later today. First, however, an example of the depths to which the human heart can sink. Now, to be sure, the willingness of pro-abortionists to say almost anything is not news to pro-lifers. But looking back, a 776-word-long New York Times op-ed by Susan Heath was unusually cavalier/ blunt/heartless, even by their lowly standards. Thinking about the “attacks on a woman’s right to choose,” Heath told her readers, “It wasn’t always like...

Many of the documents show Murthy's office preparing to release a formal advisory on misinformation on July 14, 2021. "They're killing people," Biden said two days later, on July 16, 2021, bringing the weight of the White House down on companies to restrict speech. In the view of Murthy's team, censoring social media was not a temporary emergency measure, the documents indicate. It was part and parcel of public health. The government censored memes, jokes and even factual information it did not like. "The Surgeon General wants us to remove true information about side effects," a Meta employee wrote on...

Social Security Corrects Tens of Millions of Files in the Social Security Number Database Improving the Integrity of Vital Records Baltimore, MD—The Social Security Administration (SSA) today announced substantial progress in its ongoing effort to strengthen the accuracy and integrity of the Social Security Number (SSN) database. This work represents the most comprehensive SSN record clean‑up in the agency’s 91-year history. “The Social Security Number database is our country’s books and records. The database’s accuracy is essential to maintaining integrity of government services for citizens. Accurate SSN records prevent fraud across federal programs and support the proper administration of benefits,”...

On the left is Madeleine McCann, and Eugenea Collins, who claims to be the missing girl, is on the right. Family of Madeleine McCann/ Eugenea Collins / Facebook An American woman from Arkansas is claiming that she is the real Madeleine McCann, a British girl who disappeared in 2007 while on a family vacation in Portugal. Eugenea Collins, 22, began posting her claims on Instagram in September 2024 with the username TheOfficialMadeleineMcCann, and the account features numerous side-by-side photos of Collins and McCann. In her most recent post, Collins shared an ancestry DNA test that shows she is 68 per...

Update! We're about to "Maduro" Castro. I didn't know I was voting for this, but it is in fact what I voted for. Florida's top prosecutor announced an arrest warrant Monday for former Cuban president Raul Castro under state murder charges that echo a federal indictment unveiled earlier this year. Raul Castro, 95, is wanted on murder charges connected to the February 24, 1996, shooting down of two civilian aircraft from 'Brothers to the Rescue,' an organization assisting Cubans fleeing to Florida by sea. 'Raul Castro ordered the murder of four Floridians in cold blood, and Florida will never stop...

One moment he was refusing the COVID vaccine, the next, Marine Cruz Marquis suddenly found himself placed in a “penal platoon” for his commitment to individual liberty. “This isn’t a story about me,” Marquis told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an exclusive interview. “This isn’t a story about any particular individuals who defied a government order. In my mind, this is about a slice of life, a slice of what the state was able to do and what they were able to get away with during the pandemic. This story, though it may be reported, is just the tip...

Bikers for Trump Alaska has endorsed Republican Bernadette Wilson for governor, adding another grassroots group to her roster of supporters as Alaska enters the final stretch before the Nov. 3 election. The endorsement follows President Donald Trump’s backing of Wilson at his Oct. 13 rally in Wasilla. Trump’s endorsement placed the president squarely behind Wilson in Alaska’s contest for governor. He said he had asked Dave Bronson to suspend his campaign and that Bronson agreed to suspend, but then went back on his word. Bikers for Trump is a national political organization composed primarily of motorcycle enthusiasts who support Trump....

Residents of Alberta voted on Monday to remain part of Canada, rejecting a campaign to try to separate the oil-rich western province from the rest of the country. Voters in a referendum endorsed remaining in Canada over the option of holding a second vote on whether to secede. With just over a third of votes counted, 76 percent of voters chose to remain part of Canada with 23 percent seeking another vote. Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed the result. “Albertans chose Canada,” he said in a statement. “All Canadians will move forward together with renewed purpose and high ambition.” In...

Richard Riehle, a prolific character actor best known for memorable turns in Office Space, Bridesmaids, Glory, and Casino, has died, Variety reports. He was 78. A cause of death was not immediately available. Riehle worked extensively across film and television, amassing more than 400 credits during his career, according to IMDB (with the database noting he has 10 additional upcoming projects). Though he scored his first screen roles in the Seventies, Riehle spent the early part of his career doing regional theater around the U.S., especially in the Pacific Northwest. It wasn’t until the late 1980s that his onscreen career...

"To each according to his needs, from each according to his ability." It ends in bankruptcy every time! When immigration enforcement ramped up in Minneapolis earlier this year, owner Dylan Alverson rebranded the restaurant as "Post Modern Times." He took prices off the menu and declared he would feed anyone who walked in the door, whether they could pay or not. Well, almost anyone. Federal agents were explicitly unwelcome. The stunt made national news. Donations poured in from around the world. For six months, the restaurant operated as a pay-what-you-can (or pay-nothing-at-all) sanctuary in Minneapolis. But as it turns out,...

Here is what happened to me when I told Britain’s truth for American Thinker. .......SNIP..... I used to regard such climates of fear as distant foreign realities. That distance narrowed hugely when I found myself facing anonymous reporting and ideological scrutiny here at home. I never expected to encounter the pressures of self-censorship, or the prospect of anonymous informants, in my own country — least of all within England’s university-led teacher-training. It is this kind of pressure that makes the language of V for Vendetta resonate beyond fiction. Where British subjects once held the freedom to object, to think and...

You cannot make this up. A viral video from the chaotic streets of Milan captures a liberal Italian woman furiously lecturing police officers for using force against third-world migrant rioters. “What are you doing?! Why are you grabbing them by force like that?” she said. She demands they treat the thugs “like civilians” and simply “ask them for ID.” Seconds later, one of the very rioters she was defending throws an explosive. The clip, posted by Matt Van Swol, shows the woman in the midst of the weekend’s violent unrest, arguing with officers in riot gear as the crowd surges...