Free Republic

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Friday the U.S. should prepare for a “hard slap” if it dares challenge Tehran, after President Donald Trump warned of possible military action against the Islamic republic. “The Americans should know threats will get them nowhere when confronting Iran,” Khamenei said in his live annual televised speech marking Nowruz, the Persian New Year. AFP reports he said Americans “and others should know that if they do anything malign to the Iranian nation, they will get a hard slap.” The warning echoes a long standing Iranian opposition to everything the U.S. is involved in...

CNN political analyst Scott Jennings and Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell got into a heated debate on Monday over billionaire Elon Musk’s widely-debated gesture during an inaugural event for President Trump last week. “I don’t understand why this guy keeps getting the benefit of the doubt, whether or not he believes this stuff, personally,” Rampell said while appearing on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip. “We’ve moved on from Trump derangement syndrome to Elon derangement syndrome,” Jennings quipped in response. “So, he has a long record of supporting the Jewish people, number one. Number two, anybody who is asserting this thing...

Outgoing left-wing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Thursday that American consumers will pay more if and when President Donald Trump moves to apply sweeping tariffs on products from north of the border. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier in the day he still plans to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico at 25 percent rates starting as soon as Feb. 1. Trump previously threatened to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he took office but the tariffs weren’t applied on day one, as Breitbart News reported. The president is seeking assurances...

President Joe Biden said Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the “elites” calling on him to drop out of the presidential race should challenge him at the Democratic National Convention. Biden said, “I was one of the few people out there publicly saying before the 2022 election there will be no red wave, there will be no red wave. I’ve been all over the country. I didn’t believe it at all. Then in 2023, key elections, I went into those races, not every one of them, but a lot of them, saying we were going to win. We won those.”...

A TikTok boat jumping challenge that sees people jump from the rear of the vessels while moving at high speed has been blamed for four deaths in Alabama. The challenge, which has been popularized on TikTok, involves individuals engaging in dangerous water activities. Those participating in the challenge launch themselves from the rear of a boat and into the wake behind it, as the boat continues to move. Now, officials in Alabama have said the new fad has claimed the lives of four people, after they broke their necks instantly. Officials said in the last six months, they had to...

Parents say the app’s algorithm showed their children deadly challenges TikTok is facing multiple lawsuits from parents who say their children died of strangulation attempting the “blackout challenge,” after the app showed them videos of other people trying it. One suit filed against the company in June alleges that at least seven specific children died last year while attempting the challenge, which the complaint says “encourages users to choke themselves with belts, purse strings, or anything similar until passing out.” All the children who reportedly died were under 15 years old. We’re not going to get into the distressing details...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowed Tuesday to hold a vote on legislation forming a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, daring Republicans to oppose an effort that has bipartisan support in both houses of Congress. “Republicans can let their constituents know, are they on the side of truth [or] want to cover up for the insurrectionists and for Donald Trump?” Schumer asked at a weekly press conference.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) on Tuesday night said there is growing support in the Senate to deny President Barack Obama the funding he needs to executive his immigration plans, and said Obama’s veto of that legislation would not be supported by the American people. Sessions said on the Mark Levin Show that Republicans will be looking to pass a government funding bill that prevents Obama from using any money to implement an amnesty program for millions of illegal immigrants. Sessions admitted that passage of this language might have to wait until next year, when Republicans take over the Senate.

GOP dares Pelosi: Sign on the line By Josephine Hearn U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) gestures as she speaks during a taping of 'Meet the Press' at the NBC studios in Washington, DC May 7, 2006. NO SALES NO ARCHIVES REUTERS/Alex Wong/Meet the Press Freshman Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry (N.C.) wants to help House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — well, sort of. McHenry has prepared an ethics complaint for Pelosi to file against a fellow Democratic lawmaker, Rep. William Jefferson (La.), who is under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly having received more than $450,000...

Those who couldn't make it to beautiful Bryant Park yesterday on a gorgeous September day to show their support for those who are living in horrendous conditions and giving their lives in Iraq to save our sorry behinds now have a wonderful stroke of good luck: another chance to redeem themselves. The Cindy Sheehan show is scheduled for both 6:30 p.m. (their website) and 8 p.m. (their press release) at St. John the Divine, Amsterdam Avenue at 112th St. (Take the 1 train to 110th Street and Broadway, or take the B or C to 110th Street and Central Park...

<p>The California state prison system provides a poignant example of how a government agency became dominated by a special interest.</p> <p>Over the past 20 years, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) has held the state's correctional system in an ever-tightening grip. The union's control of state criminal justice policy has produced mismanagement and abuse that waste tax dollars and compromise the public interest.</p>