Free Republic

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued an ultimatum to Iran Wednesday, urging the nation to give up its enriched uranium — or President Trump will launch another “Operation Midnight Hammer” to seize it. While the two-week cease-fire deal between the US and Iran does not address the nearly 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium in Tehran’s possession, Hegseth told reporters on Wednesday that the US will secure the atomic material no matter what. “We’ll get it. We’ll take it, we’ll take it out,” Hegseth said of the enriched uranium, vowing to complete one of President Trump’s main goals of the...

SummaryEver since the early years of the twentieth century, with the largely accidental discovery and subsequent raising (mostly from the Aegean sea bed) of a significant number of wrecks whose main cargo was works of art, researchers in the field of Greco-Roman archaeology have concentrated their most enthusiastic efforts on stylistic studies of these artefacts, while at the same time attempting to establish exactly when the ships transporting them sank. That these shipments of beautifully crafted masterpieces (mainly bronzes), coming from the Eastern Aegean, were destined for Rome, a city rapidly emerging into the historical spotlight, has always been and...

Joe Biden and his wife Jill ventured out in Santa Monica, Calif., amid his battle with cancer, Page Six is told. Spies spotted the former first couple at celeb favorite Giorgio Baldi with Scott Miller, the former Ambassador to Switzerland, and his husband, LGBTQ+ activist Tim Gill. Fellow diners told us that Joe — who was diagnosed in May 2025 with an aggressive form of stage 4 prostate cancer that has metastasized to his bones — was quiet for much of the dinner, but piped up to sing “Happy Birthday” to guests celebrating at a neighboring table. “Jill did most...

Let the Stones Speak The earliest evidence of a grouping of iron blooms has been discovered in a shipwreck off the Carmel coast. A recent study announcing the discovery was published in NPJ Heritage. According to the researchers, the analysis of the ancient cargo "provides unique and unprecedented insight into early bloom production, handling and maritime transport during the Iron Age" -- around 2,600 years ago, the time of the biblical King Josiah. On today's program, host Brent Nagtegaal interviews lead author Prof. Tsilla Eshel of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures, University of Haifa, about the discovery. Israeli...

A former San Francisco human rights boss accused of squandering city funds to pay for personal projects and her son’s tuition is still collecting a taxpayer-backed check as she faces a battery of criminal charges in court. Sheryl Davis — 57-year-old former head of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission who resigned in September 2024 after she was accused of conflicts of interest — is receiving a retirement benefit of $4,952.23 per month, according to the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement system. Davis was hired in 2018 to lead the troubled Human Rights Commission and earned close to $340,000 in total...

A genetic study of Neanderthal remains recovered from Denisova Cave in Siberia's Altai Mountains revealed that two individuals who lived 10,000 years apart belonged to closely related lineages linked to each other by a common ancestor, according to a Live Science report. The first individual, known as D17, was male and lived about 110,000 years ago. The second genome belonged to a female, known as D5, who lived about 120,000 years ago. "It is likely that Denisova Cave was part of a broader landscape used repeatedly by these Neanderthal populations over time, rather than a site occupied by a single...

There are many, many, many rock 'n' roll songs about drinking — call it an occupational hazard. And if you narrow things down further, there's quite a lot of songs that have to do specifically with beer. In honor of National Beer Day (April 7), we've compiled a list of 25 songs either written about drinking beer or at the very least mentioning it. Cheers! 1. "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers," ZZ Top From: Tres Hombres (1973) "Beer drinkers and hell raisers, yeah / Baby, don't you want to come with me?" 2. "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," George...

One of the most famous stories from the Gospels is the account of Jesus wisely saving a supposedly adulterous woman from being stoned to death. One of the most captivating moments in this passage is when Jesus writes in the sand, but we are left to wonder what he wrote and why, sparking centuries of curiosity and debate. This raises an intriguing question: what are some of the interpretations of this mysterious act? The story of Jesus writing in the sand First of all, it helps to understand exactly what happens in this story. It appears at the very beginning...

Full Grok question: "If the United States must be blamed for slavery before the U.S. did not even exist in the year 1776, don't Americans get the privilege of taking the credit for abolitionism that existed prior to 1776 since Britain did not do that?" --- Yes, by that exact same logic of retroactive national attribution, Americans (specifically, the colonists who formed the United States) get full credit for the early abolitionist movements that predated 1776—movements Britain itself did not pursue or enact at the time, and which Britain actively hindered in the colonies. The premise is straightforward and consistent:...

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government... Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools...

St. Paul, MINN. – From Times Square to here in Minnesota's state capital, communist and socialist activists at the nationwide "No Kings" protests escalated their anti-America campaign and openly called for a nationwide economic strike on May 1, an international communist holiday known as May Day, as key Democratic activists joined their call. At the rally here in St. Paul, organizers, speakers and activists distributed communist literature, waved flags from socialist governments and revolutionary movements, and urged demonstrators to transform the day's protests into a nationwide shutdown of work, school and commerce. By early Sunday, Press TV, the propaganda arm...

President Trump expressed optimism Wednesday that the Iran war cease-fire agreement will usher in a “Golden Age” in the Middle East. “A big day for World Peace!” Trump wrote on Truth Social following the two-week cease-fire announcement. “Iran wants it to happen, they’ve had enough! Likewise, so has everyone else!” The commander in chief said the US “will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz” and “loading up with supplies of all kinds, just ‘hangin’ around’ in order to make sure that everything goes well.” Trump indicated he felt “confident” the reopening of the key waterway,...

Advocacy groups in California are pushing for a $30 minimum wage in Oakland despite research suggesting the policy showed "negative outcomes" across the Golden State. It was reported on March 30 that One Fair Wage is launching a ballot initiative in Alameda County and the city of Oakland as local officials consider an increase in their minimum wage to $30 an hour. The initiative — which would appear on the Nov. 3 ballot this year — plans to increase the minimum wage in both the city and county. One Fair Wage is part of a coalition of community organizations that...

California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell's, D-Calif., campaign broke their silence on allegations circulated by Cheyenne Hunt, a former Capitol Hill staffer and a political media personality, fiercely denying any sexual misconduct towards former staffers or interns. "This false, outrageous rumor is being spread 27 days before an election begins by flailing opponents who have sadly teamed up with MAGA conspiracy theorists because they know Eric Swalwell is the frontrunner in this race," Micah Beasley, a spokesperson for Swalwell, told the New York Post. Hunt, who now runs a youth political engagement group called Gen-Z for Change, a left-leaning group,...

The A-10 Warthog has a new maritime role in targeting boats in the war in Iran that could extend the life of the aircraft, which the U.S. Air Force had been attempting to retire for years. Despite the Air Force trying to phase out the A-10, Congress has resisted its efforts and blocked attempts to reduce the number of these aircraft. A-10s have been used in the U.S. military campaign against Iran, as the Pentagon sees a need for an aircraft that can loiter and deliver accurate fire against small boats and coastal threats. During a Pentagon briefing last month,...

Democratic strategist James Carville got blunt about why the Democratic Party remains unpopular on Monday, telling MS NOW host Ari Melber it was because they haven't won elections. Melber noted polling published this month by CNN/SSRS that found just 28% of Americans have a favorable view of the Democratic Party, compared to 32% who have a favorable view of the Republican Party. Melber asked Carville whether this was troubling as the party looks to take back Congress in November. "No," Carville responded. "The reason that people don't like the Democratic Party is the same reason I don't like it right...

One popular theory about the location of the Battle of Badon is that it took place at Liddington Castle. Does the evidence really support this theory? Caleb Howells examines the geographical and archaeological evidence surrounding Liddington Castle as a potential location for this historic clash. By analyzing place-name etymology and existing scholarly arguments, the investigation weighs the strategic suitability of the site against the lack of physical habitation remains from the period and conflicting traditional accounts. Was the Battle of Mount Badon at Liddington Castle? | 7:43 Caleb Howells | 12.8K subscribers | 1,382 views | April 7, 2026

A terrifying attack on an Indianapolis city councilman’s home has ignited fears that mounting opposition to the data centers that power artificial intelligence is taking an increasingly violent turn. Ron Gibson, who is serving his third term on the Indianapolis City-County Council, said someone fired 13 shots into his front door early Monday – and left a handwritten note that said “NO DATA CENTERS”. That was just days after Gibson attended a Metropolitan Development Commission meeting to support a data center project, one the developer said would be used at least in part for AI, in a local neighborhood —...

The disgraced relative of an Iranian warlord being deported from California has reached out to her former LA love interest from an ICE detention center to beg for help. Married Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, 47, niece of terror mastermind Gen. Qasem Soleimani – former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who was taken out in a deadly 2020 U.S. air strike – frantically called Maziar Aflaki, 68, on Monday from the facility in Pearsall, Texas. But on hearing her voice, retiree Aflaki declined to accept the call, claiming years of harassment and abuse at the hands of Afshar. He told the...

California governor candidate Eric Swalwell has broken his silence about online rumors that have swirled for days alleging inappropriate contact with female staffers. The East Bay congressman and Democratic frontrunner in the governor’s race slammed the allegations as a fake rumor designed to derail his candidacy weeks before voting begins in the June 2 primary election. “This false, outrageous rumor is being spread 27 days before an election begins by flailing opponents who have sadly teamed up with MAGA conspiracy theorists because they know Eric Swalwell is the frontrunner in this race,” said Micah Beasley, Swalwell spokesperson, in a statement....