Free Republic

AI quick bio of MoushAli entering Hell. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei arrives at Hell's bureaucratic reception for his final "admissions interview." A smug demon admissions officer, BeelzeBob, reviews his lifetime "achievements" in a twisted, ironic style — leading to a shocking punchline twist about who he really served. Unique AI-generated reconstruction highlights the suffering of the Iranian people under decades of theocratic rule: mass repression, proxy wars, morality police terror, forced hijab, rigged elections, brutal crackdowns on protests, and the human cost of endless conflict. Blending dark humor, hellish bureaucracy aesthetics, and political commentary — perfect for fans of history, Iranian...

I don't think many people saw this one coming, but it makes sense in a perverse way. Events in the Middle East have conspired to create a situation in which Ukraine has become an indispensable ally and munitions supplier to Gulf Arab states. Nobody in the world has as much experience fighting Iranian drones as does Ukraine, and they have become extraordinarily proficient at destroying them before they do any damage, and at a price that cannot be beat. The Gulf states, having blown through an awful lot of their anti-air magazines, are having to quickly learn how to defend...

When Vladimir Putin has been asked to justify his war for control over Ukraine, his answer is typically that Ukraine and Russia have always been one country. And there is some truth to that. The Russian state traces its roots back to something called the Kievan Rus in the 9th century, with its capital at Kyiv. In the period prior to the 20th century, there were times when parts of today’s Ukraine were controlled by other states (like Poland or Lithuania), but never a time when Ukraine was a fully independent country separate from Russia. And yet somehow a tremendous...

Science in Poland reports that a medieval document has been recovered at a large residential structure at the site of Old Dongola in Sudan by a team of researchers from the University of Warsaw. The text, written in Arabic on paper, is an order issued by King Qashqash, a ruler thought by some to be a legendary figure known only from mention in a nineteenth-century work. The building where the document was found also contained textiles made of cotton, linen, and silk; objects made of ivory and rhino horn; amulets; and more than 20 letters and administrative and legal documents....

La Brújula Verde reports that work along the route of a passenger train uncovered an altar, or momoztli, in central Mexico near the site of Tula, the ancient Toltec capital. The momoztli has been dated to between A.D. 900 and 1150. Archaeologist Víctor Francisco Heredia Guillén of Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History said that the structure had at least three tiers. The first tier is a stone base thought to be made of andesite, a type of volcanic rock. These blocks are each about four inches long. The next tier consists of slabs made of the same material,...

Lefties turned out in droves for Sunday’s “Tax the Rich” rally featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders in The Bronx — but Mayor Zohran Mamdani refused to show face as he walks a tightrope with Gov. Hochul over taxes. At least 1,000 people filled Lehman College’s sprawling performing arts center, where Sanders (I-Vt.) spent nearly an hour pushing his own proposal targeting the wealthy. “A few years ago, it was estimated that Elon Musk, the wealthiest man alive, paid an effective tax rate of less than 3.3%, while the average truck driver in America paid an effective tax rate of 8.4%,” Bernie...

Uncle Sam needs you to help crush the billion-dollar financial fraud gangs. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is launching a new program on Monday that will reward tipsters with up to 30% of the fines imposed on criminals who are trying to bleed US taxpayers dry, The Post has learned. The program includes tips for Medicaid and Medicare rip-offs — and given that fraud in those two programs tops some $70 billion per year according to one estimate, whistleblowers could be in for some big payouts. Other forms of financial crimes are also included. The move comes after Bessent visited Minnesota...

Here's what you'll learn when you read this story:The Inca quipu was a complex system of knotted cords, encoded numerical records and possibly even a full logosyllabic language.New research demonstrates that the quipu's hierarchical structure can function as a versatile modern computer data structure.The researchers built working spreadsheets, file systems, and encryption tools powered by quipu data, rivaling conventional computing methods.

Uganda’s military chief has warned the African country’s armed forces could enter the Iran war on Israel’s side after issuing a series of statements on social media that went viral this week. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba — son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni — who is considered to be his likely successor, has spent this week making a barrage of posts on X in support of Israel. "We stand with Israel because we are Christians," he wrote, adding in another post, "Uganda is the David that was forgotten and neglected by the world. We will defeat the giant, Goliath." Kainerugaba began...

In Preston Sturges' posthumous memoir Sturges by Sturges, finished by his widow Sandy and published in 1990, the director recounts an outlandish story from his childhood that would end up inspiring one of the most chaotic sequences in his 1942 screwball masterpiece The Palm Beach Story. His mother, a socially and culturally ambitious woman who was friends with dancer Isadora Duncan and had an affair with satanist Aleister Crowley, had brought him to Dresden while she worked on an operetta and the two of them (plus maid) were heading back to Paris in a train compartment stuffed with masses of...

According to a ZME Science report, three oak barrels were discovered during a water and sewage system project in the center of the city of Skien in southeastern Norway. The seventeenth-century barrels were surrounded by lime deposits, which helped to preserve them, and a large wooden rammer used by builders. Compacted lime was found in the bottom of the barrels and demolition debris was found on top of them. Slaked lime, an ingredient in mortar, was probably stored here. Workers may have buried the barrels to keep the lime chemically stable and prevent it from freezing during the winter. "The...

WASHINGTON - The 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is 100 days away, and there are events scheduled across the U.S. in celebration. What we know: America250 has announced America's Block Party, kicking off on July 3 and 4 in five cities across the country: New York, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Fort Campbell and Charleston. In New York City, the Times Square Ball will drop on July 3 at 11:59 p.m. ET in a custom America250 design. It's the first time in 120 years that the ball will drop outside New Year's Eve. Los Angeles will host...

Ancient Egyptians may have left behind a cryptic clue to a hidden second Sphinx, carved directly into stone more than 3,000 years ago.The Dream Stele, positioned between the paws of the Great Sphinx, appears to depict two sphinx figures, hinting that the legendary monument may once have had a twin.Now, Italian researchers who, in 2025, claimed to have uncovered massive underground structures beneath the Giza Plateau believe they have identified the second guardian buried deep beneath the sands.Filippo Biondi revealed the discovery on Thursday while speaking on the Matt Beall Limitless podcast, explaining that lines drawn from the pyramids to...

One study by Texas A&M in the late 1980s suggests the masses are from shipwrecks or piles of ballast stones from Spanish or French vessels. Man says he's found evidence of ancient civilization in St. Bernard | 4:35WWLTV | 631K subscribers | 30,266 views | March 2, 2022

According to a statement released by the University of Oxford, domesticated dogs were spread across Europe and Anatolia and living with hunter-gatherers by 14,000 years ago. Researchers led by Lachie Scarsbrook and Greger Larson of the University of Oxford analyzed genomes taken from dog remains recovered at Upper Paleolithic sites, including Pınarbaşı in Turkey and Gough's Cave in England, and two Mesolithic sites in Serbia. These dog genomes were then compared with the genomes of more than 1,000 ancient and modern dogs and wolves from around the world. "Not only has this discovery pushed back the earliest direct evidence of...

Far-left “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) violated federal election and House ethics rules by misusing nearly $19,000 in campaign cash last year on a shrink who specializes in controversial ketamine therapy, a bombshell new complaint claims. DC-based National Legal and Policy Center filed a joint complaint Friday with the Federal Elections Commission and the Office of Congressional Conduct, demanding both enforcement agencies probe Ocasio-Cortez, her congressional campaign committee and its treasurer, Frank Llewellyn. The government watchdog group want authorities to determine whether the money paid to Boston-based Dr. Brian Boyle was fraudulently documented in official filings as “leadership training and...

Egyptian archaeologists recently unearthed the remnants of a Christian monastic site from the 5th century — some 400 years after the time of Jesus Christ. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities wrote in a translated statement on March 23 that a building was recently found in the Qallaya area in Egypt’s Beheira Governorate. The structure, likely a guesthouse used to host visitors, is a remnant of the “early beginnings of Coptic monasticism,” the release said. Previous buildings have also been found at the site, and the newly discovered structure had 13 multipurpose rooms used for “hospitality and teaching …...

Vice President JD Vance says the war with Iran will continue “for a little while longer” until the US and Israel can “neuter” the Islamic Republic. “The president’s going to keep at it for a little while longer to ensure that once we leave, we don’t have to do this again for a very, very long time,” Vance told podcaster Benny Johnson. “This country is threatening us in all these ways. They’re still trying to build a nuclear weapon. We need to neuter them for a very, very long time, and that’s the purpose. Vance said the goal of the...

The bow and arrow were first used in western North America some 1,400 years ago, according to a statement released by PNAS Nexus. Briggs Buchanan of the University of Tulsa and his colleagues radiocarbon dated 136 weapons made of organic materials, which were recovered from glacial ice patches, dry caves, and rock shelters where they had been preserved. The researchers determined that the bow appeared in a single place, then spread rapidly across North America through cultural transmission networks. In northern British Columbia and Alberta, people adopted the bow and arrow, but continued to use the atlatl to throw darts...

"No Kings," a decentralized protest movement that crystallized in opposition to President Donald Trump's second term, will hold thousands of events on Saturday morning, according to Sarah Parker, an organizer for one of the events in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The protests mark the most recent development for the amorphous group, which has prompted similar events in the past. "Tomorrow we’re going to have over 3,500 events across the country," Parker said. "I think it’s important to be out in the streets at this moment in time to save our country. The events will be overwhelmingly peaceful and there are going to...