Free Republic 4th Qtr 2025 Fundraising Target: $81,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $73,651
90%  
Woo hoo!! And now only $59 to reach 91%!! Thank you all very much!! God bless.

History (General/Chat)

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • Last Rites: John Huston, James Joyce and The Dead

    12/28/2025 2:53:21 PM PST · by Twotone · 43 replies
    SteynonLine ^ | December 27, 2025 | Rick McGinnis
    John Huston was dying when he made The Dead, his last movie, in early 1987. It's the kind of thing that the mordant Huston would have found amusing, but the details of filming, as recalled in Jeffrey Meyer's biography John Huston: Courage and Art, are a grim read. "Huston," he writes, "was a dead man walking, or wheeling, attached to a tall green rocket of oxygen that shot air into his failing lungs and enable him to breathe." He would have preferred to shoot on location, as he always did from the moment he freed himself from the Hollywood backlot,...
  • What is wrong with climate change?

    12/28/2025 2:27:41 PM PST · by Whatever Works · 39 replies
    self ^ | December 26, 2025 | Self
    We often think about human-induced climate change as something that will happen in the future, but it is happening now. Ecosystems and people in the United States and around the world are affected by the ongoing process of climate change today. Climate change affects the environment in many different ways, including rising temperatures, sea level rise, drought, flooding, and more. These events affect things that we depend upon and value, like water, energy, transportation, wildlife, agriculture, ecosystems, and human health.
  • Monkey Closets: a History of Public Restrooms [20:16]

    12/28/2025 8:38:34 AM PST · by SunkenCiv · 10 replies
    YouTube ^ | September 15, 2025 | The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered
    Pecunia non olet: Money Does Not Stink atqui ex lotio est: yet it comes from urine Monkey Closets: a History of Public Restrooms | 20:16 The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered | 1.61M subscribers | 99,506 views | September 15, 2025
  • Americans will get 'gigantic' tax refund next year, Treasury Secretary says

    12/28/2025 4:32:24 AM PST · by Libloather · 34 replies
    Fox Business ^ | 12/27/25 | Rachel Wolf
    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted that Americans will see "gigantic" refund checks in the upcoming filing season, thanks to tax cuts in President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Bessent, who also serves as the acting commissioner of the IRS, made the remark during an appearance on the "All-In Podcast." The treasury secretary told the hosts that the tax provisions in the act, which Trump signed in July, applied retroactively to the beginning of the year, and because most workers did not change their withholdings, many can expect sizable refunds in 2026. "I can see that we’re gonna...
  • Maine Suspends Payments to Somali Charity after $1M in Fraud Uncovered by Audits

    12/28/2025 3:53:17 AM PST · by Libloather · 16 replies
    Breitbart ^ | 12/25/25 | Warner Todd Huston
    Officials in Maine have suspended state Medicaid payments to a Somali-run charity after more than a million dollars in possible fraud was discovered in several audits of the charity’s services. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has cancelled MaineCare payments to Gateway Community Services after the audits found that the charity over billed the state for $1,068,598 from March 2021 through December 2022. The cash was supposedly to cover the costs of “interpreting services” to Somali migrants, the Bangor Daily News reported. This same organization has been under investigation before. Gateway reportedly overbilled for more than $600,000...
  • Turkey's Island of 400 Ancient Shipwrecks | The SpeciaList | BBC [4:04]

    12/27/2025 7:28:14 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 7 replies
    YouTube ^ | November 24, 2024 | BBC Global
    From the island of Kekova, off the southern coast of Turkey, renowned underwater archaeologist Hakan Öniz takes viewers on a journey through the underwater wonders of Turkey. Turkey's Island of 400 Ancient Shipwrecks The SpeciaList | BBC | 4:04 BBC Global | 717K subscribers | 32,063 views | November 24, 2024
  • Trump boasts tariffs creating ‘GREAT WEALTH’ as he predicts ‘pricing’ will decide 2026 midterm elections

    12/27/2025 3:39:20 PM PST · by Libloather · 38 replies
    NY Post ^ | 12/27/25 | Geoff Earle
    President Trump championed his import tariffs Saturday as an economic game changer — while predicting the upcoming midterm elections will hinge on “pricing.” The tariffs have brought in more than $200 billion this year, according to the Customs and Border Protection agency, but face the potential of being struck down by the Supreme Court. “Tariffs are creating GREAT WEALTH, and unprecedented National Security for the USA. Trade deficit has been cut by 60%, totally unheard of. 4.3% GDP, and going way up. No inflation!!! We are respected as a Country again,” Trump wrote Saturday morning on Truth Social. Trump has...
  • Zohran Mamdani’s rent-stabilized Astoria apartment renting for 35% more than socialist lawmaker paid: ‘hypocrisy

    12/27/2025 5:01:38 AM PST · by Libloather · 6 replies
    NY Post ^ | 12/27/25 | Gabrielle Fahmy, Rich Calder, Shane Galvin, Jennifer Bain
    That’s one hell of a markup. Whoever moves into NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s rent-stabilized apartment in Queens will be shelling out an extra $800 — or 35% — more per month than what the socialist “nepo baby” did, The Post has learned. The Astoria apartment — which has quietly attracted interest from potential tenants for the past few weeks — is now commanding $3,100 per month while still remaining rent stabilized, sources said. Mamdani — who’ll be moving into Gracie Mansion with his “aloof” artist wife Rama Duwaji sometime after being sworn in Jan. 1 — caught a break during...
  • Murder in the skies: How an ex-Olympian crashed a full flight to SFO

    12/27/2025 3:19:58 AM PST · by DFG · 30 replies
    sfgate ^ | 12/26/2025 | Katie Dowd
    As Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 made its final approach to SFO, all seemed well. May 7, 1964, had dawned cloudy, but as the two pilots navigated the short flight from Stockton, they’d had no trouble. Behind them, 41 passengers and a flight attendant prepared for landing. At 6:47 a.m., as the plane glided toward San Ramon, an air traffic controller made contact to let them know their transmission wasn’t coming through clearly. A moment later, what sounded like a scream ripped through the airwaves. “Skipper’s shot,” someone was shouting. “We’ve been shot.” The air traffic controller asked the pilot...
  • Here are the blue states ‘blocking’ Trump’s popular tax cut provisions

    12/27/2025 2:48:29 AM PST · by Libloather · 29 replies
    NY Post ^ | 12/26/25 | Josh Christenson
    WASHINGTON — Just eight states are on track to allow their residents to cash in fully on popular tax cuts from President Trump’s marquee legislation in 2026, experts told The Post, with several blue states unwilling to give workers an additional break. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act exempted federal taxes on tipped wages and overtime pay, but hard-working residents will still have to pay state taxes on that income — unless local elected leaders step up. Democratic strongholds like New York, Illinois and California have so far declined to extend state-level tax breaks, Reuters first reported, citing billions of...
  • LA Mayor Karen Bass calls it ‘sad’ that Hispanics are joining Border Patrol – suggests they’re desperate for money

    12/27/2025 2:27:01 AM PST · by Libloather · 49 replies
    NY Post ^ | 12/26/25 | Victor Nava
    Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass expressed disappointment and concern Friday with Hispanics joining Border Patrol – arguing they’re only doing it for the paycheck. “Well, in a way, I think it’s sad,” Bass said of a CNN report on Border Patrol’s new recruits, many of which are Hispanic. “I think that those Border Patrol agents are going to have a difficult time when they’re out in the field and they see what actually happens in real life separate from their training,” the mayor told “The Situation Room” host Wolf Blitzer. The report Bass was asked to respond to included...
  • Indicted Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick ripped for editing $109K diamond ring out of online post

    12/27/2025 2:01:58 AM PST · by Libloather · 13 replies
    NY Post ^ | 12/26/25 | David Propper
    Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was slapped with a savage community note on X after a $109,000, 3-carat yellow diamond ring she’s accused of buying with ill-gotten FEMA funds was conspicuously edited out of a photo. Eagle-eyed X sleuths noticed the pricey, square-cut bauble was missing from a Christmas post from the South Florida Democrat, which bore her official congressional portrait — and a naked left ring finger. “This portrait of Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick has been altered to remove a ring off of her left hand that she bought using $109K of stolen FEMA funds,” the community note said. The three-term congresswoman,...
  • Mystery of the Roman Amphora in Rio de Janeiro Bay [2:38]

    12/26/2025 7:38:34 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 16 replies
    YouTube ^ | August 7, 2021 | James Lynch Explorer
    Roman Amphora were discovered in 1975 buried in the sediment deep in the bay of Rio de Janeiro. Renowned scientists Sir Robert Marx, Dr. Harold Edgerton, Dr. Elizabet Will and I believe the Romans may have arrived in the New World over a thousand years before Columbus, and we are out to prove it. Mystery of the Roman Amphora in Rio de Janeiro Bay | 2:38 | 802 subscribers | 1,056 views | August 7, 2021 Bay of Jars Robert Marx [YouTube search]
  • Tiny ‘Survivor’ island with 18K population to welcome Trump’s deportees — for $7.5 million

    12/26/2025 4:06:12 PM PST · by Libloather · 16 replies
    NY Post ^ | 12/26/25 | Steven Nelson
    WASHINGTON — The tiny Pacific nation of Palau — a former filming location for “Survivor” — has agreed to take up to 75 third-country deportees from the United States who don’t have a criminal record — in exchange for a $7.5 million grant to support the roughly 18,000-person island chain. The $100,000 per-deportee fee, announced on Christmas Eve by Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr. and the US embassy in Koror, introduces one of the most favorable venues yet for deportees if their recalcitrant homelands — such as China, Cuba, Russia or Iran — won’t take them. “Palau and the United...
  • Ilhan Omar's New Filing Reveals Net Worth Skyrocketed By 3,500 Percent In One Year

    12/26/2025 3:41:11 PM PST · by Libloather · 47 replies
    IBTimes ^ | 12/23/25 | Maybelyn B. Paden
    Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is facing a fresh wave of scrutiny following the release of her 2024 financial disclosure form, which reveals a staggering leap in her household's reported wealth. The 43-year-old Democratic lawmaker, a prominent member of the so-called 'Squad', has seen her and her husband Tim Mynett's combined fortune skyrocket by as much as 3,500 per cent since the end of 2023. Despite earning a standard congressional salary of less than $175,000 (£138,000) a year, Omar's latest filings suggest a net worth that could reach as high as $30 million. The sudden windfall has reignited long-standing accusations regarding...
  • New motion seeks former Colorado Clerk Tina Peters' release, challenging state after Trump's pardon

    12/26/2025 1:41:37 PM PST · by Libloather · 17 replies
    Fox News ^ | 12/26/25 | Preston Mizell
    Attorneys representing Tina Peters filed a motion seeking to have the former Colorado county clerk released from jail and for an appellate court to recognize a pardon recently issued by President Donald Trump. Tina Peters, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump earlier this month, spent her Christmas in a Colorado prison after being convicted in October 2024 as the state resists the pressure from Trump. The motion, obtained by Fox News Digital, was filed Dec. 23 and outlined why Peters should be released. "There is no question that the Pardon forgave federal offenses," the motion states. "However, the Pardon...
  • James Bradley: Domino Theory and media lies for imperialist wars, from Vietnam to Venezuela

    12/26/2025 11:26:14 AM PST · by Glad2bnuts · 19 replies
    strategic-culture.su ^ | 12-25-2005 | Finian Cunningham
    Interview James Bradley: Domino Theory and media lies for imperialist wars, from Vietnam to Venezuela Finian Cunningham December 25, 2025 © Photo: Public domain Best-selling American author James Bradley talks about his latest book, Precious Freedom. Join us on Telegram, Twitter, and VK. Contact us: info@strategic-culture.su James Bradley, author of Precious Freedom Finian Cunningham, author of Killing Democracy Best-selling American author James Bradley talks about his latest book, Precious Freedom, and how the genocidal war against Vietnam (1965-75) was enabled by the U.S. media’s false propaganda of the “Domino Theory.” The theory was that Vietnam was falling under Soviet and...
  • 5 of the Most Brutal Winters in History

    12/26/2025 10:32:30 AM PST · by Diana in Wisconsin · 75 replies
    Mental Floss ^ | December 26, 2025 | Mental Floss Staff
    In the years preceding the advent of central heating and high-precision weather forecasting, winter brought with it a definite sense of unease and danger. Whereas today a tough winter might just mean spending a bit more time inside, for years, a brutal winter could bring with it death, disease, and total isolation. Whether it be through cataclysmic volcanic winters or historically unprecedented blizzards, these devastating winters had far greater consequences than mere travel delays and hours spent shoveling snow. The Great Frost of 1709 Known as Le Grand Hiver (the Great Winter) in France, the Great Frost was a winter...
  • The Bloodlands of Africa - We look away from Sudan’s fierce civil war against Islamist militias at our peril

    12/26/2025 8:40:08 AM PST · by MtnClimber · 14 replies
    Tablet ^ | 5 Nov, 2025 | Bernard-Henri Lévy
    Of all the wars I have covered over the past 50 years, this is one of the fiercest and, to be sure, the most forgotten. “Do you know,” says Suliman, former attaché at the Sudanese embassy in France, who joined the army as soon as the fighting began, in April 2023, and will accompany me for a large part of my reporting, “that this war—the fourth the country has known since its independence—has already produced 12 million displaced people and 150,000 civilian victims?” We are in the arrivals hall of Port Sudan International Airport, 20 kilometers south of the city,...
  • Minnesota mayors say constituents 'scared' as fraud crisis leaves questions unanswered

    12/26/2025 3:03:20 AM PST · by Libloather · 33 replies
    Fox News ^ | 12/24/25 | Taylor Penley
    Two of the nearly 100 Minnesota mayors demanding answers about the state’s unfolding fraud crisis described a climate of relentless uncertainty that has left some constituents "scared" about what lies ahead. "My community is reaching out to me because they're not getting answers from DHS, from other legislators, and they're scared. There's so much unknown… and, as a mayor, we are the front line. We try to help them," South St. Paul Mayor Jimmy Francis said on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday. So far, that help has involved putting concerned constituents in contact with county officials to find the answers they...