Free Republic

Disgraced ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell’s zombie congressional campaign has dwindled to just over $11,000 after he coughed up another $50,000 to celebrity defense attorney Sara Azari and refunded nearly $190,000 to donors following his epic career collapse following sexual assault allegations. The details were documented this week in new federal campaign filings and come as California ethics investigators continue probing more than $300,000 in payments made to Azari from Swalwell’s failed gubernatorial campaign — raising fresh questions about the disgraced Democrat’s mounting legal bills as his political career continues to unravel. Swalwell’s federal campaign filings, which list him as treasurer, paint...

Former CNN host and independent journalist Don Lemon claimed in a new interview that he’s “serious” about possibly running for president in the 2028 election — and insisted he’d be a “really good” commander-in-chief. Lemon made the eyebrow-raising declaration on “Can’t Be Censored” podcast hosted by Karman Wong and Travis Dhanraj, insisting that everyone wants to know if he has White House aspirations. “Do you have political ambition? Is that true?” Dhanraj asked on Wednesday’s show. “No, but people keep asking me if I’m running for president,” Lemon answered. “And I don’t know. I might. I’m serious. I don’t know....

They raised a stink. City Council members overwhelmingly voted Thursday to give themselves an 18% raise — a shamelessly self-serving move that comes after months of thwarted attempts to pass a fat pay hike. A veto-proof 42-6 vote approved the measure to inflate council salaries to $175,500, as well as hike Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pay to $305,800 a year, backdated to January — the start of new terms in office and the first day on the job for some lawmakers. The nay votes all came from Republicans and conservative Democrats, including Councilman Phil Wong (D-Queens), who said he pushed for...

For fresh proof of how little New York authorities care about social-services fraud, consider the curious case of adult daycares in Flushing. Dr. Mehmet Oz, who oversees the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, puts out that within a one-mile radius in the Queens neighborhood, a full 64 Social Adult Day Care centers operate, with thousands upon thousands of supposed elderly enrollees. This reeks: Over the past three years, such New York senior centers have generated $2.5 billion in billings, with $2.1 billion of that coming from Flushing. Flushing’s Medicaid-eligible senior population grew by 20% from 2018 to 2024, yet...

The $450 million Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opened its doors on July 4th. And for the first time, a major institution went accurate about who Roosevelt really was. Glenn Beck says that's actually the problem. Because when you read what TR wrote in his own hand — to Charles Davenport at Cold Spring Harbor on January 3rd, 1913 — the museum isn't making Roosevelt look like a progressive. Roosevelt was a progressive. And that's what the exhibit is hiding.

Who were the Barbary Pirates? For over 300 years, the Barbary Pirates terrorized coastal Europe -- striking as far north as Iceland and as close to home as Ireland, England, Spain, and Italy. Men, women, and children vanished from beaches in the dead of night. Some estimates suggest more than a million Europeans were captured and sold into slavery. Yet today, few people are aware of this forgotten slave trade. In this documentary, join Kevin Hicks as he uncovers who the Barbary Pirates really were, how they built a slave-trading empire that the most powerful nations of the time struggled...

World Snake Day slithers into focus every July 16, aiming to shed light on the incredible diversity and ecological importance of over 3,500 snake species. This global observance challenges negative perceptions and encourages a deeper understanding of these often-misunderstood reptiles. Learn to appreciate their role in ecosystems, support conservation initiatives, and share facts to help protect them.>>>History of World Snake Day The English word ‘snake’ comes from the Old English word ‘snaca.’ The reptile is thought to have come from terrestrial lizards that existed around 174.1 million to 163.5 million years ago. In fact, Eophis underwoodi, the oldest fossil snake,...

A groundbreaking mission that explored Pluto and distant solar system objects in unprecedented detail has awakened from its longest sleep ever — and it’s 5.9 billion miles (9.5 billion kilometers) from Earth. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft went into a planned hibernation mode on August 7, 2025, and woke up on June 23 using commands stored on its main computer. The mission’s flight controllers at the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, confirmed that New Horizons is in great shape and ready to transmit a stream of science data gathered during hibernation from its location in the region...

A brazen open-air crack market allegedly run by the West Coast Crips just 1.5 miles from San Diego’s Petco Park has been shut down after federal prosecutors charged 30 suspected gang members and associates in a sweeping drug crackdown. The indictment, unsealed Wednesday, accuses the gang of turning the corner of 2900 Imperial Ave. into a bustling daytime drug bazaar, where customers allegedly lined up with cash to buy crack cocaine while wholesale suppliers kept street dealers stocked. Prosecutors say the operation funneled cocaine base across East Village, downtown, Logan Heights, Sherman Heights and other San Diego neighborhoods. Authorities estimate...

JPMorgan Chase will inject $24 million into Philadelphia’s maritime manufacturing sector, CEO Jamie Dimon said on Wednesday, marking the bank’s latest move to rebuild domestic industrial capacity deemed critical to national defense. The funding package, which includes $18 million in loans and investments alongside $6 million in philanthropic grants, will be deployed at the historic Philadelphia Navy Yard. A primary focus is accelerating the construction of a new submarine manufacturing and assembly facility operated by Rhoads Industries, which is expected to generate 450 permanent jobs. The capital will also expand credit access for up to 100 local maritime small businesses...

Bret Weinstein said something that won’t leave my head: For the first time in 300,000 years of human evolution, we removed the cost from the single biggest reward nature ever invented — sex and pair-bonding. Reliable birth control + abortion = you can now cash the evolutionary lottery ticket without paying the 20-year mortgage of pregnancy, diapers, sleepless nights, and college funds. Result? An entire generation of 18–35-year-olds walking around with the energy, libido, hormones, and protective instincts that evolution spent millions of years calibrating for child-rearing… but with zero actual children. That energy didn’t disappear. It got redirected. Heather...

The head of one the country’s top medical schools sparked outrage during a tense House hearing after refusing to say that only women can get pregnant. Dr. Sam Hawgood, chancellor of the University of California San Francisco, was pressed by Washington lawmakers Tuesday over the school’s guidelines against using the term “pregnant women,” while testifying about the impact of DEI initiatives in medical schools. “Doctor Hawgood, you see UCSF’s Classroom Guide, titled ‘Framework for Gender and Sex Concepts in Teaching,’ advises against using the term ‘pregnant women,'” Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois said. “Instead, it says to use ‘pregnant people.’...

Tim Walz offered a baffling response on Tuesday to the Trump administration deporting an illegal migrant convicted of raping a 10-year-old girl who was pardoned by the Minnesota governor last month. “Did that make us any safer? Did that make the children that are left behind any more stable,” Walz asked – days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed that he revoked the legal status of Tou Lue Vang, a 42-year-old from Laos. “Did it improve the idea that we can’t all be judged by our worst day? And I want to be very clear, these are horrific crimes....

Several Democrats have either been arrested, detained or charged under the Trump administration due to the White House’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin has condemned their treatment, arguing lawmakers are being assaulted without reason. “Elected officials are being arrested for doing their jobs,” Martin wrote in a Wednesday statement on social platform X. “Once again, the Trump administration is silencing people who disagree with them in broad daylight.” Here are Democrats who have been recently apprehended by law enforcement: NYC Comptroller Brad Lander Sen. Alex Padilla Rep. LaMonica McIver Judge Hannah Dugan Newark Mayor...

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of a major Golden Horde era structure at the site of the Zhantai tract in northern Kazakhstan, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.Researchers and students from Margulan University are continuing a scientific expedition to locate and study archaeological sites from the Golden Horde period. The expedition's route passes through the left-bank Irtysh region, Lake Kyzylkak, and the valleys of the Olenti, Shiderty, and Sileti rivers, spanning the Pavlodar, North Kazakhstan, and Akmola regions.The Zhantai tract has emerged as one of the expedition's most significant discoveries. During the initial stage of...

I think it's time to admit that TDS and SSRIs have driven the liberal women to actual insanity. pic.twitter.com/cgE1DBILGB— Davy Jones (@itsNTBmedia) July 15, 2026WE HAVE REACHED NEW LEVELS OF CRAZY. Safe Return is a memorial in Bellingham, Washington, for the commercial fishermen who have lost their lives at sea. It was erected at a public ceremony in 1999, six years after four fishermen died in the sinking of Lady of Good Voyage in the Bering Strait. The statue is holding a rope because - and I'll say this VERY SLOWLY for the liberal women in the back - because...

A leftist Canadian woman allegedly slapped a teen who was wearing President Trump-branded clothing on the Jersey Shore over the Fourth of July weekend — before she was arrested and detained by immigration officials. Kaitlyn E. Tracey, 33, allegedly recorded herself confronting a group of four girls on the Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk when she became violent on July 3, according to court documents obtained by NJ.com. Tracey took issue with two of the beachgoers — who are minors — wearing “patriotic colored” sweatpants with the words “Trump” and “ICE” before she struck one of them across the face and...

Ancient mathematical texts discovered at the Maya city of Xultun in Guatemala have revealed the name of a Maya astronomer for the first time, offering rare evidence of the scholars behind one of the ancient world’s most advanced systems of mathematics and astronomy. Researchers reconstructed and transcribed dozens of tiny inscriptions found on the plaster walls of a small building at the site. Their work uncovered a unique mathematical formula and identified its author, marking the first known case of a Classic Maya mathematician-astronomer being directly credited for his work. The findings were published in the journal Antiquity. Wall writings...

The day after Pervez Siddiqui’s adult day care center was raided by the FBI last year, the pharmacist headed to a fundraiser for Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the home of the top adviser on Medicaid affairs in the Pakistani-American community. Ijaz Ahmad, 50, a Pakistani-American cardiologist and healthcare entrepreneur with a sprawling home in Nassau County, advises his fellow countrymen on setting up community healthcare facilities, which rake in tens of millions in Medicaid cash. He also introduces them to the city’s most powerful lawmakers at his 10,000 square foot residence in Old Westbury, according to a source in the...

Here Maine goes again. The state’s new far-left contender for the Democratic Party’s US Senate nomination is a faux populist with a wicked reactionary streak. Until five minutes ago, his immigrant-hating, anti-abortion platform was so extreme it would spook even the staunchest Republican. He’s a local pol so desperate to make it in the big leagues that he’s cosplaying as a progressive working man unafraid to get his hands dirty. He is Troy Jackson, fifth-generation Maine logger and wannabe US senator, and he’s got the Bernie Sanders seal of approval to replace accused rapist Graham Platner on the Democrats’ midterm...