Free Republic

Seven former and one current Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MTBA) employees have been charged with a federal superseding indictment alleging that they falsified records and reports and then fraudulently collected overtime pay. The MTBA, although it collects fares, is heavily subsidized by tax dollars. According to the Department of Justice, defendants Brian Pfaffinger, Ronald Gamble, Magda Trinh, Jensen Vatel, Nathalie Mendes, Danny Barbosa, and Matthew Leonard have been charged with various crimes, including conspiring to commit wire fraud, falsifying records, and wire fraud. The defendants were all former Red Line Maintenance of Way employees, per the DOJ. Pfaffinger, Gamble, Vatel,...

YouTube's recommendation recipe might be getting a rather unexpected new ingredient.TL;DR -The UK is considering rules that would make trusted broadcasters, such as the BBC, easier to find on YouTube and TikTok during major news events and emergencies. -YouTube warns the proposal could force it to recommend certain news channels over creators’ videos, potentially reducing creators’ reach and making recommendations feel less personalized. -The proposal is still under consultation, with creators and the public able to submit feedback until August 31 before any final decision is made. YouTube’s recommendations are a big reason why many creators grow in the first...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. For First Responders, Law Enforcement, and The Watchmen On The Wall, both Spiritual and Secular. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. "(1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

AAmong the greatest early accomplishments of the second Trump Administration was the shuttering of USAID. It’s great in part because it’s saving billions previously supposedly spent on trans camel surgeries in the third-world, but also because it has shut down innumerable Democrat NGOs and non-profits, including the Democrat National Committee, which, within a month, went broke and had to borrow millions just to keep the lights on. It seems USAID’s money—taxpayer money—wasn’t just spent on bizarre, leftist boondoggles overseas. It largely funded the Democrat Party and their cronies in America. Smart, that Trump guy. A recent, tear-drenched New York Times...

HISTORY LESSON ON YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CARD: Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older ones) didn’t know this. It’s easy to check out, if you don’t believe it. Be sure and show it to your family and friends. They need a little history lesson on what’s what and it doesn’t matter whether you are Democrat or Republican. Facts are FACTS. Up until the 1980's, Social Security cards expressly stated the number and card were not to be used for identification purposes. Since nearly everyone in the United States now has a number, it became convenient to...

A Democrat congressional candidate from Hawaii allegedly pulled a gun on officials after storming a government building — swiftly landing him in handcuffs. Kirill Basin, 40, allegedly threatened two Maui County workers during the terrifying incident at around 9:30 a.m. on Friday before fleeing the building in Wailuku, Civil Beat reported. The longshot candidate for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District was arrested at his home around 12:30 p.m. on a terrorist threatening in the first degree charge. Basin bizarrely claimed in an Instagram post on Thursday the day before his arrest that cops had tortured him for 14 hours. “This is...

The Supreme Court will be releasing Opinions from the October 2025 this morning at 10:00.Scotusblog will be liveblogging the release and we will be following along.There are 33 decisions pending for this term and we expect all opinions will be released by June 30th. You can find a list of the cases here. Note: The word "held" after the case name indicates the Opinion has already been released. The word "Issues" indicates the questions to be be resolved by the Court.There are several big cases on which we are awaiting decisions. Trump v Slaughter.(1) Whether the statutory removal protections for...

Has anyone noticed how quiet it is? Nothing from Tom Hanks, Stephen King, Ellen Degenerate, etc. Nothing from Eric Stalwall, Mitch McConnell, AOC, Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Hunter Biden, etc. Does this prove the earth is flat and these people fell off or the rumor is true-they are in GITMO!

The Rio Rancho Police Department announced that the driver of a tractor-trailer that struck and killed a sergeant with the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office in February may face charges. In a Wednesday news release, RRPD said investigators have developed probable cause against Miguel Orlando Perez for charges of careless driving and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle after his semi crashed into 52-year-old Sgt. Michael Schlattman. Both charges are misdemeanors, and final charging decisions will be made by the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office, according to a news release from Jayme Gonzales, spokesperson for BCSO. The DA’s Office received...

PAINESVILLE, Ohio — A Lake County jury on Thursday found a Painesville man guilty on multiple charges stemming from a 2025 fatal shooting that police said “deeply shook” the community. Avion Gaines was convicted in connection with the death of 20-year-old Wyllyam Sheffey Jr., according to a news release from the Painesville Police Department. Gaines was found guilty of complicity to aggravated murder, complicity to murder, murder, and multiple counts of complicity to felonious assault, with several firearm specifications. He was also convicted on multiple counts of kidnapping. Sheffey was fatally shot June 7, 2025, and found in the driver’s...

While the idea sounds like a technothriller plot, it’s actually a mix of public business strategy and some very real intelligence-community roots. It wasn't so much a "sneak" way to map the world as it was an open—if often overlooked—part of Niantic’s business model. Here’s the breakdown of how the game connects to global mapping: ### 1. The CIA Connection (The Roots) The theory that Pokémon GO is a front for the CIA stems from the background of Niantic’s CEO, **John Hanke**. * **Keyhole Inc.:** Before Niantic, Hanke founded Keyhole Inc., a geospatial data company. * **In-Q-Tel:** Keyhole was funded...

The Brief Jonathan Dupiton was sentenced to seven years in prison for a $3.8 million unemployment fraud scheme. The Atlanta podcaster used stolen identities to file hundreds of false claims during the pandemic. Dupiton was living in a halfway house for a previous fraud conviction when the new crimes began. An Atlanta podcaster has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison after being convicted of using stolen identities to obtain millions of dollars in unemployment insurance benefits. [snip] Prosecutors say that in 2020, Dupiton was completing a federal sentence at a halfway house for a previous fraud conviction targeting...

The Supreme Court will be issuing Opinions for cases from the October 2025 term this morning at 10.Scotusblog will be live-blogging the Opinion releases and we will be following along.A list of cases for this term can be found at the link just below.2025 Term71 cases were granted cert for the 2025 term and there are 39 cases remaining for which we are awaiting decisions.One case of interest is the Voting Rights case since it is the only remaining case pending from the October sitting.Louisiana v. Callais Issue(s): Whether Louisiana’s intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the...

A quiet western Massachusetts town is being torn apart by a proposed 50% property tax hike — with neighbors stealing yard signs from one another and some residents warning they could be forced to sell their homes. Residents of South Hadley, Mass., head to the polls Tuesday to vote on proposals to close the local budget gap. One would raise $11 million for the town and hike average property tax bills by about $1,700 per year, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. The more modest proposal would generate a cool $9 million, increasing average property tax bills by roughly $1,400....

The Senate filibuster is often romanticized as a noble safeguard of minority rights, a procedural guardrail that forces consensus and slows the passions of majorities. Yet the actual history of the filibuster—its accidental creation, its use by factional minorities, and its long record of blocking popular and essential legislation—tells a very different story. From the beginning, the filibuster has been less a principled protection of deliberation than a tool for thwarting the democratic process, empowering small groups of senators to override the will of the electorate and frustrate the functioning of representative government. Its history demonstrates not a tradition worth...

This thread is about EO 14247. I just got my tax returns back and I am told that all of my 2026 estimated taxes for Federal and State must be electronic. That is, they must be sucked out of an account by ACH transfer. No more mailing of checks. However, the government will graciously accept my mailed in check for what is due on the return itself. I checked with CoPilot, and it said that EO 14247 of March 25, 2025 mandates that all payments to the Federal Government (including estimated taxes) must be electronic via a portal (IRS.Gov/Payments, I...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. Finally, brothers, rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness". (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

Katelin Holloway and Ben Ramirez thought they had found their forever home when they purchased a spacious North Beach property for $4.75 million in 2021 — a four-story residence with five bedrooms, sweeping skyline views and room for their growing family. Instead, the couple is now facing the possibility that the house must be carved back into four separate apartments after city officials determined the building was improperly converted from a multi-unit property years before they bought it, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. SNIP According to city officials and tenant advocates, the building had previously been altered from a...

"President Donald Trump announced on Saturday, March 7 that the United States now formally and 'legally' recognizes the current Venezuelan government with Delcy Rodríguez as the leader."