Free Republic

Zo’s busting the budget. Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s inaugural, record-breaking nearly $126 billion budget passed late Tuesday — growing city spending by more than $10 billion from last year despite his past dire warnings about the Big Apple’s financial situation. The under-the-wire vote by the City Council came just hours before a Wednesday deadline and after frantic last-minute attempts to drum up votes for a spending deal that disappointed lefties and moderates alike. The budget, which includes no significant cuts, ballooned from last year’s roughly $116 billion spending plan, for an approximate 8.5% increase. It passed 45-6, largely on party lines....

Insurgent socialist candidate Melat Kiros defeated longtime Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) Tuesday in Colorado’s 1st District House primary, marking the latest blow to the establishment wing of the Democratic Party. Kiros came out on top of the incumbent, 49.3% to 43.5%, by the time the Associated Press called the race late Tuesday. Kiros’s win in the solidly blue district follows a string of victories by socialist and far-left candidates over incumbent and establishment-backed Democrats in New York in June, and it’s expected to tilt the political makeup of the House Democratic caucus even further to the left after the midterm...

Excavators of Tel Hadid recently released the discovery of a unique seal stamp from the seventh century b.c.e., the time of Assyrian domination of the Levant. It is not the first find from this remarkable site that gives us a better understanding of the people who were moved into Israel during the Assyrian period...The first thing to stand out about the small oval seal (less than 2 centimeters at its widest) is its unique material. Made out of the inner shell of a nacreous mollusk, also known as mother-of-pearl because of its role in the creation of pearls, it is...

The Socialists aren't just taking over New York. This happened in Colorado. A 29-year-old Democratic Socialist ousted a longtime Democrat incumbent in Colorado's 1st District in Tuesday night's House primary. Far-left candidate Melat Kiros defeated 15-time incumbent Democrat Rep. Diana DeGette on Tuesday night. Kiros, who was born in Ethiopia, was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). 🚨 It's crunch time in Colorado 🚨 We have just ONE more day to send @MelatKirosCO to Congress! We made 110k calls on Friday, but we're not done yet... Join us tonight @ 6 PM MT/8 PM ET to break Friday's...

The yen hit a fresh 40-year low against the dollar in Asia on Wednesday morning, keeping traders on high alert for possible currency intervention by the Japanese government. Ongoing expectations for a gradual pace of interest-rate increases by the Bank of Japan, combined with growing prospects for the Federal Reserve to raise the Fed funds rate this year, are pressuring the yen lower and the dollar higher. The dollar's fresh 40-year high against the yen is "leaving markets on watch for stronger verbal warnings or outright intervention from Japanese authorities," said Taylor Nugent, senior economist at National Australia Bank, in...

June 30 (Reuters) - Gold edged higher from ‌a near seven-month low on Tuesday but remained on track for its worst quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2013, as the dollar remained firm amid expectations of U.S. interest rate hikes. Spot gold inched up 0.4% at $4,031.29 per ​ounce, as of 1150 GMT, after touching its lowest level since November 2025 earlier in the ​session. U.S. gold futures for August delivery lost 0.2% to $4,045.30/oz. "The failure to sustain ⁠gains (for gold) highlights the current fragile sentiment, where traders continue to sell into strength rather than buy ​into weakness,...

When Americans think of the beverage that fueled the American Revolution, they usually picture black tea — but it turns out that green tea was just as popular. The Founding Fathers and their contemporaries drank both types of tea, Bruce Richardson, the Kentucky-based founder of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas, told Fox News Digital. British subjects “were as likely to be drinking green tea as black tea, whether you were in Jane Austen [era] England … or you were in colonial Boston,” he added. “There were five teas, all from China, because that was the only country that was exporting tea,”...

Amelia Earhart’s disappearance in the summer of 1937 has remained one of aviation’s greatest mysteries for nearly 90 years. Since then, explorers and researchers have searched land, reef, lagoon, and deep ocean for any trace of the plane she flew with navigator Fred Noonan. One team has spent years looking west of Howland Island. Its newest lead comes from a strange place for a deep-ocean search: the airwaves. In 2020, the deep-sea exploration and historical research organization Nauticos procured and restored a radio system identical to the one that Earhart and Noonan used on their final flight: a Western Electric...

Dig explores whether the legendary figure Achilles has roots in late Bronze Age history. The video analyzes linguistic clues, Mycenaean-era records, and parallels between the epic hero and a renegade figure known from historical Hittite diplomatic texts, examining how oral traditions may have synthesized real events into myth. The Real Man Behind Achilles? | 26:08 Dig. | 37.8K subscribers | 32,790 views | June 19, 2026 00:00 Achilles Impact 00:57 Academic consensus? 02:15 Proto-Indo European background 05:03 Linear B and Etymology 08:13 Konstantinos Kopanias 09:19 A Biography of Achilles 15:36 A Biography of Piyamaradu 23:17 To [sic] similar to be...

NewsVCNews/X As Muslim college professor Loay Alnaji is set to be sentenced on June 30 for fatally assaulting a Jewish man, Paul Kessler, in November 2023, bodycam footage from the day of the attack exclusively shared with RedState contradicts the narrative his attorney has set. Alnaji, one of the leaders of a pro-Hamas contingent protesting against Israel in Thousand Oaks, California, on November 5, 2023, crossed two major thoroughfares to confront Kessler, who'd had the audacity to stand on a corner opposite Alnaji's group and wave an Israeli flag. As words were exchanged, Kessler took out his phone to video...

The Justice Department has launched an investigation into Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) related to luxury outings and family trips paid for with campaign donations, The Post confirmed. The DOJ probe into possible campaign finance violations by the potential 2028 Democratic presidential, first reported by Axios, stems from a whistleblower complaint out of Southern California. News of the investigation surfaced just hours after the Senate Ethics Committee rejected a complaint filed against the Arizona Democrat accusing him of campaign finance violations and sexual misconduct. “[President] Trump is targeting Senator Gallego while the most weaponized Department of Justice in history is turning...

The discovery of an Anglo-Saxon tool in Kent could reveal more about where Britain's "iconic archaeological treasures" were made, according to experts. A small copper-alloy die stamp was found by metal detectorist Stephen Newbury near Lynsted, which has officially been declared as treasure by a coroner for being of significant historical interest, Kent County Council (KCC) said.The sixth or seventh century item is believed to have been used to create decorative metal foils for military equipment such as helmets. It is the only confirmed example of its kind found in Britain, according to analysis from KCC and the British Museum,...

Even though it’s been nearly 250 years since the Continental Congress declared independence from Britain, the study of the American Revolution is far from over. For decades, archaeologists have dug at Revolutionary War battlefields across the country, yielding fascinating artifacts. From southern sites to northern battlefields, these places are still sharing secrets — and shedding new light on our country’s founding. As America celebrates its 250th, below are a few Revolutionary War battlefields that are still revealing new discoveries. 1. Bunker Hill One of the earliest military engagements of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought in...

The personal relationship between Jefferson and Adams had soured under the weight of political rivalry—exacerbated by the brutal campaign of 1800. For years after the election, the two men remained estranged. The physician and mutual friend Benjamin Rush played a pivotal role in bringing the two former friends back together. Encouraged by Rush, Jefferson and Adams began corresponding in 1812, initiating a remarkable exchange of letters that spanned 14 years and addressed topics ranging from politics and philosophy to their reflections on aging and legacy. Through this correspondence, Jefferson and Adams confronted their differences—both political and personal—with candor and a...

Archaeologists have uncovered six previously unknown Bronze Age mining sites in Extremadura in southwestern Spain. The discoveries were made during a February survey led by researchers from the Maritime Encounters program at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. These sites could help answer a long-standing question about where the metal used in Scandinavian Bronze Age artifacts originally came from.Fieldwork took place from February 9 to 16 in the region surrounding Cabeza del Buey in the province of Badajoz. The project was carried out in partnership with the Universidad de Sevilla and specialists from the Museo Arqueológico Provincial de Badajoz.Researchers documented...

In the first centuries of the Common Era, far from the Baltic coast where amber naturally occurs, communities in Masovia were producing large quantities of amber jewellery -- leaving behind traces of a craft that has only gradually come to light.Archaeologists have identified as many as 10 ancient amber workshops across five settlements. In some of them, they uncovered up to 20,000 amber fragments, along with decorative beads and pendants, pointing to production on a significant scale...At the time, much of present-day Poland was inhabited by communities of the Przeworsk Culture. Known for their advanced craftsmanship, they developed large-scale iron...

According to the video, British Prime Minister Anthony Eden ordered the original British copy of the Protocol of Sèvres—a secret agreement made with France and Israel to justify military intervention in the Suez Canal—shredded because he was "terrified of its existence" and aware on some level that his actions were "indefensible." (11:15 - 11:43) Summarise the video This video details the Suez Crisis of 1956, a pivotal event that marked the decline of the British Empire and the rise of the United States as a global financial power. It explores how Gamal Abdul Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal (6:15-7:30)...

GREEN BAY (WLUK) -- For the second time in 2026, the city of Green Bay has accidently sent duplicate ballots to some voters across the city. The city of Green Bay announced early Sunday evening that residents across the city have started to receive their mail-in ballots for the August primary election. However, some of the residents who received one of the 5,084 total ballots also received an additional ballot. The city says its staff became aware of the issue on Saturday that some voters in wards 11a, 12a, 37a, 44-47 and part of ward 43 received a duplicate ballot....

IntroductionThe Coercive Acts not only sparked outrage among the common people whom Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816) derided as members of the mob; they also inflamed the indignation of Americans who occupied positions of power and influence. One such person was Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), a member of Virginia's House of Burgesses who helped write a May 1774 resolution designating a day of fasting and prayer to show solidarity with the people of Massachusetts. Soon after, Lord Dunmore (1730–1809), the royal governor, showed his solidarity with Parliament by dissolving the House of Burgesses. As the elected members of that body prepared to regroup...

A blue-collar Democrat running to keep her seat in rural Washington has a secret drug-fueled past filled with kinky fetish parties, nudism and an alleged fondness for nitrous oxide “whippets.” Before Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez took control of Washington’s Trump-friendly 3rd Congressional District outside Portland, she was a budding college politician who presided over a “Latex Fetish Ball,” drugged-up nude frolics and even an LSD giveaway, according to social media posts unearthed by The California Post. Ex-roomies further have alleged that the Dem rising star was once an avid “dumpster diver” who offered spoiled avocados in exchange for rent while...