Free Republic

Last week, I wrote about what I believe is one of the most significant developments in Bitcoin’s history — and possibly one of the most underappreciated risks in modern finance. The Trump administration has now formally approved a framework that allows Bitcoin to be offered as an investment option in select 401(k) retirement plans, while at the same time stablecoins are making up an increasingly larger bid for U.S. Treasuries, both of which are weaving crypto the furthest it’s ever been to the U.S. economy. That’s not just “more adoption.” It’s the infiltration of Bitcoin into the cornerstone of American...

First responders from multiple agencies responded Thursday to the Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois, after a helicopter crashed on a barge.

Evidence outlined in a Pentagon contractor report suggests that financial subversion carried out by unknown parties, such as terrorists or hostile nations, contributed to the 2008 economic crash by covertly using vulnerabilities in the U.S. financial system. The unclassified 2009 report “Economic Warfare: Risks and Responses” by financial analyst Kevin D. Freeman, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times, states that “a three-phased attack was planned and is in the process against the United States economy.” While economic analysts and a final report from the federal government's Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission blame the crash on such economic...

Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Thousands of frozen hot dogs spilled across Interstate-83 in Pennsylvania, closing the busy highway in both directions after a multi-vehicle collision. State police and four separate fire departments responded to the crash this week at an exit in Shrewsbury, Pa., the Shrewsbury Volunteer Fire Company confirmed on Facebook.

The goggles were discussed Friday at the NTSB's third and final day of public testimony over the fatal midair crash, which killed 67 people.The pilots of a U.S. Army helicopter that collided with a passenger jet over Washington in January would've had difficulty spotting the plane while wearing night vision goggles, experts told the National Transportation Safety Board on Friday. The Army goggles would have made it difficult to see the plane's colored lights, which might have helped the Black Hawk determine the plane's direction. The goggles also limited the pilots' peripheral vision as they flew near Ronald Reagan Washington...

A Miami jury decided that Elon Musk’s car company Tesla was partly responsible for a deadly crash in Florida involving its Autopilot driver assist technology and must pay the victims more than $200 million in punitive damages. The federal jury held that Tesla bore significant responsibility because its technology failed and that not all the blame can be put on a reckless driver, even one who admitted he was distracted by his cell phone before hitting a young couple out gazing at the stars. The decision comes as Musk seeks to convince Americans his cars are safe enough to drive...

Bangladesh F7 jet crash LIVE: At least 19 people, including the pilot, have died and dozens others are injured after a Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft, a Chinese-made F7 BJI jet, crashed into a school and college campus on Monday. Bangladesh's fire service and security personnel conduct a search and rescue operation after an Air Force training jet crashed into a school in Dhaka on July 21 Bangladesh's fire service and security personnel conduct a search and rescue operation after an Air Force training jet crashed into a school in Dhaka on July 21 Bangladesh Air Force F7 jet crash...

A pair of switches that control the fuel supply to the engines were set to "cutoff" moments before the crash of Air India Flight 171, according to a preliminary report from India's Air Accident Investigation Bureau released early Saturday in India. A total of 260 people were killed when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after it took off from Ahmedabad last month. Indian investigators determined the jet was properly configured and lifted off normally. But three seconds after takeoff, the engines' fuel switches were cut off. It's not clear why. According to the report, data from the flight recorders...

Fourteen people were injured after a skydiving plane crashed at the Cross Keys Airport in Williamstown, N.J. The Federal Aviation Administration said that the plane went off the end of the runway while departing the airport on Wednesday evening, WPVI reported. The small airport is in a populated area with neighborhoods, stores, restaurants, movie theaters, and churches. The pilot reported engine trouble before the plane crashed into a tree near the runway, investigators said. Andrew Halter with Gloucester County Emergency Management said that rescue crews found extensive damage to the plane and many victims covered in jet fuel when they...

The U.S. private sector lost 33,000 jobs in June, according to new data from payroll-processing firm ADP, marking a sharp reversal from expectations of continued employment growth and raising fresh concerns about the labor market’s trajectory. Economists surveyed by Econoday had forecast a gain of 103,000 jobs for the month. Instead, the report released Wednesday morning showed the first monthly decline in private-sector employment since January 2021. Manufacturing, which had been a weak spot in the labor market, added a solid 15,000 jobs. Construction added 9,000 jobs. Natural resources and mining, which includes oil and natural gas extraction, added 8,000...

One person is reported injured after a wind turbine blade broke loose from a truck and crashed into traffic on Interstate 70 in Maryland. It happened early Monday morning in Washington County, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) confirmed to Fox News Digital. "At approximately 5:30 a.m., a tractor trailer traveling westbound on I-70 was pulling a wind turbine blade that struck the guardrail causing the blade to go partially into the eastbound lanes," a statement said. "The blade was then clipped by a tractor trailer traveling eastbound." The crash resulted in the closure of all westbound lanes of I-70...

A New Jersey man has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s Tesla, alleging that the EV giant’s design defects led to a fatal crash on the Garden State Parkway that claimed the lives of his parents and teenage sister. New York Daily News reports that Max Dryerman, a 19-year-old resident of New Jersey, is seeking damages from Tesla following a tragic accident on September 14, 2024, which resulted in the deaths of his 54-year-old parents and 17-year-old sister. The family was traveling in a 2024 Tesla Model S on the Garden State Parkway in Woodbridge when the vehicle veered off...

In little over a week, Russia lost its second fighter jet, Su-30, to an uncanny crash when it was carrying out a massive aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities and battling in the Kherson region. On October 23, an apartment building in Irkutsk, Siberia, was struck by a Russian Sukhoi Su-30SM Flanker multi-role fighter, killing both crew members and starting a massive fire on the ground. Su-30 is a two-seat, twin-engine, highly agile fighter aircraft produced by Sukhoi Aviation Corporation of Russia. The Su-30s are manufactured at the neighboring Irkutsk Aviation Plant, where the jet is reported to have just taken...

Pete Buttigieg is clearly laying the groundwork for a 2028 presidential run, even going so far as to grow a beard in what looks like a transparent rebranding effort. And frankly, it’s no wonder he thinks he needs a makeover; his time as Transportation Secretary was a train wreck — sometimes literally. His four years in the Biden administration were a nonstop showcase of incompetence and misplaced priorities. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single transportation crisis he didn’t bungle. Now, we've got one more. Do you remember how the Democrats and the media tried to blame Trump for January's...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson 🚨BREAKING: ‘Mass casualty event’ after a ferry strikes sandbar in Clearwater, Florida. From AZ Intel 8:37 PM · Apr 27, 2025

The Black Hawk was 15 seconds away from crossing paths with the jet. Warrant Officer Eaves then turned his attention to Captain Lobach. He told her he believed that air traffic control wanted them to turn left, toward the east river bank,” the Times reported. “Turning left would have opened up more space between the helicopter and Flight 5342, which was heading for Runway 33 at an altitude of roughly 300 feet. She did not turn left,” the report stated.

Long Island Rep. Laura Gillen is urging the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to hold an emergency hearing on the nationwide “surge” in deadly traffic accidents — after an unsettling investigation revealed that a serious car crash occurs every seven minutes on Long Island. “The failure to secure our roads has led to thousands of lives being cut short, families being ripped apart, and a terrible void being left in too many communities,” Gillen wrote in her letter compelling the committee to take action. The Democratic lawmaker’s campaign comes after an investigation by Newsday revealed that Long Island drivers get...

Police have charged the driver they say caused a wrong-way, head-on collision that killed two people Sunday evening on the Parkway East near Downtown Pittsburgh. Pedro Olan Morales, 56, from Charlotte, N.C., has been charged with aggravated assault by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, accidents involving injury or death while not licensed, and multiple traffic violations in connection with the crash, according to Pennsylvania State Police. He is confined to Allegheny County Jail with bail denied. Morales was in a gray 2010 Chevy Silverado with Ohio license plates near the Allegheny County Jail about 7:30 p.m. when his...

The anti-Trump media are pounding the drums, trying to drive people into a panic by contending that Trump’s tariffs are a Smoot-Hawley moment combined with a 1929-style stock market crash. It is, they suggest, a perfect storm of Trump-created economic devastation. What they’re not telling people—indeed, what they may not know themselves—is that the situation is different, both as regards the stock market and what happened with the Smoot-Hawley tariffs. I’ll start with the latter first. First, as Van A. Mobley explains with great clarity, it’s dishonest to compare Trump’s tariffs to the Smoot-Hawley Act. The difference is that, in...

A helicopter carrying a family of tourists from Spain crashed into the Hudson River Thursday afternoon – killing all six passengers on board, according to fire officials and sources.Rescue efforts are underway after witnesses saw the Bell 206 chopper “split in half” before it went down near Pier 40 on West Houston Street and West Street around 3:15 p.m., the New York City Fire Department told The Post. Sources told The Post all six people on board were killed, which included two adults, three children and the pilot.