Free Republic

Significant milestones over the next few weeks could shuffle the status quo. For now, both sides remain dug in as the closure heads into a fifth week.Senate Republicans were confident that the call on Monday from the largest federal employees union for an end to the government shutdown would finally nudge labor-allied Senate Democrats to move toward resolving the stalemate entering its fifth week.Democrats were instead mostly unmoved.Their bet was that news on Wednesday of soaring health care premiums because of expiring Obamacare tax credits might finally persuade Republicans to negotiate on extending the subsidies. That didn’t pan out either;...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth moved into a home at Fort McNair traditionally reserved for the Army’s vice chief of staff. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others also now live in military housing.Quarters 8 at Fort McNair in Washington, situated along the Anacostia River, has traditionally been the home of the Army’s vice chief of staff. But at the beginning of President Trump’s second term, it was vacant.The general promoted to the vice chief’s position had opted to remain on a different base nearby, across the Potomac. That provided an opening for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to claim it.As Mr....

ICE is planningg a shadow deportation network in Texas. A proposal outlines a 24/7 transport operation run by armed contractors—turning Texas into the logistical backbone of an industrialized deportation machine.wired.com/story…

White House officials, at the start of the shutdown, were certain the Trump administration was better positioned to battle the left during a funding lapse.In early October, several Trump administration officials had a friendly pool going of how long the shutdown would last. The White House, at the time, was confident Democrats would quickly fold. No one guessed more than 10 days. The account, relayed by a person close to the White House granted anonymity to discuss internal thinking, underscores just how much the administration miscalculated the Democrats’ will to keep the government closed even amid furloughs and imperiled social...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — At the Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia’s Old City, more and more young people are seeking respite from a clamorous technological age in the silent worship of a centuries-old faith.Like other Quaker houses of worship, it follows values of simplicity and equality. There’s no clergy, pulpit or altar. No statues of saints, no stained-glass windows. No one sings or chants, burns incense or lights candles. They simply sit in silence in 200-year-old wooden pews — and wait for a message from God to move through them until they speak.“This feels different in that it’s so simple....

Opposition lawmakers and civil society activists say Ukraine’s leadership is using lawfare to intimidate opponents and silence critics. As Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, then head of Ukraine’s state-owned national power company Ukrenergo, was scrambling to keep the lights on.Somehow, he succeeded and continued to do so every year, earning the respect of energy executives worldwide by ensuring the country was able to withstand Russian missile and drone strikes on its power grid and avoid catastrophic blackouts — until he was abruptly forced to resign in 2024, that is.Kudrytskyi’s dismissal was...

The U.S. has deployed troops and anti-ship missiles into the northern Philippines as part of almost continuous, joint war drills throughout the country. One goal is to block the Bashi Channel and deny Chinese warships access to the Pacific Ocean if Beijing launches an attack on Taiwan. As a former Philippine military chief told Reuters: You can’t invade Taiwan if you don’t control the northern Philippines.BATANES, Philippines - Marilyn Hubalde still remembers the first time she heard the thunderous chop of military helicopters swooping over this northernmost outpost of the Philippines, less than 90 miles from Taiwan. It was April...

The elections on Tuesday hardly seem to be top of mind for President Trump.He has spent the last week crisscrossing Asia, talking trade, nuclear weapons and rare earths, and is headed to Florida this weekend. He has not appeared in person in any of the major states hosting elections, like New Jersey or California, to pump up his party’s candidate or cause. In Virginia, where a weak Republican candidate for governor is lagging behind an impervious-looking Democrat, he’s offered only a tepid endorsement late in the campaign.(This has not, of course, stopped Democrats from talking about him, either in California,...

Documents show Maduro drafted letter asking Russia for missiles, radars and upgraded aircraft as U.S. forces amass in the Caribbean.Amid a buildup of American forces in the Caribbean, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is reaching out to Russia, China and Iran to enhance its worn military capabilities and solicit assistance — requesting defensive radars, aircraft repairs and potentially missiles — according to internal U.S. government documents obtained by The Washington Post. The requests to Moscow were made in the form of a letter meant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and was intended to be delivered during a visit to the Russian...

In deep Big Papi voice: Daa ... Doyers lose!After being outlasted in Game 3 at Dodger Stadium — a marathon of a watch that is tied for the longest game in World Series history — the Toronto Blue Jays are now one victory away from the franchise’s first championship since 1993 (they also won it in 1992). The series, which stands at 3-2 in their favor, will now resume in Canada.Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who walked through the playoffs like Thanos with all the Infinity Stones, have struggled to get hits from its very expensive lineup. They were so...

The Snapanese, a normally reliable Democratic constituency that depends on what the vernacular refers to as food stamps, may ‘Pearl Harbor’ progressives after their month-long recalcitrance on re-opening the government.The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides an average of more than $350 per recipient household a month. The welfare program pays for milk, eggs, apples, and other groceries at the supermarket, which frees up funds, for those so inclined, for scratch tickets, neck tattoos, and meth pipes. (RELATED: The Spectacle Ep. 292: SNAP, Riots, and the Price of Dependency)In the United States, the Snapanese outnumber Asians, LGBTQers, and Californians to...

The AWS crash was a warning shot: our hyperconnected world runs on fragile code, overworked defenders, and blind trust—and one real cyberattack could bring it all down. We are just concluding Cybersecurity Awareness Month, though this year’s reminder felt more like a warning flare than a celebration. The message is clear, however. Our digital infrastructure is hanging by a thread, and we just got a glimpse of how thin that thread really is.Just weeks ago, the world’s largest cloud provider, Amazon Web Services, suffered a massive outage that paralyzed everything from retail transactions to smart-home devices. The failure was traced...

President Trump indicated Friday he would fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) if given “the appropriate legal direction” after a federal judge ordered officials to spend an emergency fund for the program. SNAP benefits are set to lapse Saturday amid the ongoing government shutdown, and Trump administration officials have been adamant that they would not tap the emergency fund for the program.“Our Government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available, and now two Courts have issued conflicting opinions on what we can and cannot do,” Trump posted on...

Key PointsA new twin-engine, carrier-capable jet trainer developed by Hongdu Aviation was spotted during flight tests in China.The aircraft features reinforced landing gear, twin vertical stabilizers, and structural adaptations for naval aviation.China has conducted the maiden flight of a new jet trainer aircraft, as shown in recently published images circulating on Chinese social media.The prototype aircraft was spotted during pre-flight preparations and later airborne, marking its debut in the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s expanding aviation program.The jet, produced by Hongdu Aviation Industry Group (HAIG), features design elements tailored for naval operations, including twin engines, a reinforced landing gear system, and...

Key PointsUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Shahed drones now pose a greater challenge than ballistic missiles, requiring the use of interceptors, F-16s, and helicopters.The Armed Forces are deploying helicopters and modified civilian aircraft to intercept drones and preserve limited missile defense stockpiles.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Iranian-designed Shahed drones now pose a more persistent and unpredictable threat than ballistic missiles, forcing the Armed Forces to use a wide range of countermeasures under increasingly difficult operational conditions.“Shaheds have now become more dangerous in some cases than ballistic missiles,” Zelenskyy said during a press briefing, according to Suspilne. “We can shoot down...

While many of the largest tech companies race to build massive data centers for their artificial intelligence ambitions, Apple is taking a more modest approach. In its fiscal 2025, which ended in September, Apple spent $12.72 billion on capital expenditures. Compared to Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon, Apple’s barely spending at all. Apple’s different approach to AI hasn’t hurt its hardware sales yet. CEO Tim Cook told CNBC Thursday that consumer response to the company’s iPhone 17 models was “off the chart.” While many of the largest tech companies race to build massive data centers for their artificial intelligence...

In the publication’s 70th anniversary issue, the magazine undercut its own important legacy by attacking one of the right’s biggest icons.National Review is turning 70. The legacy of that publication is hard to sum up, but suffice it to say, its impact on American politics has been enormous, and it’s one I certainly feel personally. I worked there for a couple of years, and I was very grateful for the job and the experience it gave me. My tenure at NR only overlapped with the last few months of William F. Buckley’s life, though I had met him once earlier...

Thune last week dismissed the possibility of nuking the filibuster as a “bad idea," but on Thursday night President Donald Trump urged the Senate to use the tactic. Senate Majority Leader John Thune's office on Friday indicated that the leader's position has not changed on whether to use the nuclear option to bypass the filibuster and end the government shutdown, despite pressure from the White House.Thune last week dismissed the possibility of nuking the filibuster as a “bad idea," but on Thursday night President Donald Trump urged the Senate to use the tactic, which would circumvent Democratic opposition to...

Islamic No-Go Zones in AmericaThe story about the ‘terrorist’ raid in Dearborn, Michigan, is still developing but there’s an interesting footnote to it that should really be the lead.Normally the FBI coordinates with local authorities if it’s planning a raid and major arrests in a city.Not so much in Dearborn, a city with a governing body that is infamously not only Muslim, but Islamists, and openly supportive of Islamic terrorism to such an extent that a Wall Street Journal editorial called it ‘America’s Jihadist Capital’.FBI Director Kash Patel says a “potential terrorist attack,” allegedly targeting Halloween weekend in Michigan, was...

The South African government has criticised the US's decision to prioritise refugee applications from white Afrikaners, saying claims of a white genocide have been widely discredited and lack reliable evidence.It highlighted an open letter published by prominent members of the Afrikaner community earlier this week rejecting the narrative, with some signatories calling the relocation scheme racist.The limited number of white South African Afrikaners signing up to relocate to the US was indication that they were not being persecuted, it added.On Thursday, the administration of US President Donald Trump announced its lowest refugee annual cap on record - to just 7,500.The...