Free Republic

"The Falling Man" is the most controversial photograph to have emerged from the September 11, 2001 attack on New York City's World Trade Center. Taken by Richard Drew of the Associated Press - and visible at this link - the photo shows a man falling headfirst along the side of the soon-to-be-demolished 110-floor North Tower, momentarily captured in an incongruously serene pose that belies the utter surrounding chaos and his imminent demise. When the photo ran in the New York Times and other papers across the country the following day, many readers complained and accused the publications of exploiting the...

A faction of hardliners inside Tehran took advantage of the country’s phantom supreme leader to launch the summer attacks in the Strait of Hormuz that derailed a peace deal with the US, according to a new report. After the US and Iran agreed to the Memorandum of Understanding in June, Iranian moderates led by President Masoud Pezeshkian believed the cease-fire would create a pathway to permanently end the war. Those hopes, however, were dashed when Iran attacked three vessels sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, an attack greenlit not by Tehran’s army, but by its newly appointed paramilitary chief, Hossein...

This New York pol has a secret BDSM past. Chris Gallant, 37, the Democratic nominee running against Long Island Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) was previously involved in a very different kind of campaign: selling toys as a model for a fetish sex shop, The Post can reveal. Gallant appeared in multiple pics for “Mr. S Leather,” a San Francisco-based purveyor of leather-daddy supplies, wearing collars, leather straps, neoprene, bondage gear, and more. These images of Gallant are no longer on the store’s site, but are still accessible in internet archives, which show they were online between 2011 and 2020. “The...

Democratic Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego appeared on CNN this morning and said the next Democratic President should destroy all remnants of Trump, including the beautification of Washington, DC, once he leaves the White House. Trump has undertaken various projects to beautify DC, including cleaning the vandalism and restoring statues and monuments across the city, fixing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and building a White House Ballroom and a "Triumphal Arch." The Department of the Interior is preparing to break ground on the Arch on Columbia Island, where it will overlook the Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial across the...

Of all Jewish observances, the commemoration of the ninth day of the month of Av is the saddest—and one that reflects the passage of sadness through time. On this day, Tisha B’Av, Jews mourn not only the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome in 70 C.E., but also the even more ancient destruction by Babylon in 586 B.C.E. It was therefore all the more striking that this year, mere days before Tisha B’Av, Israelis unearthed a remnant of that earlier event. The Times of Israel reported: Archaeologists have discovered wooden beams believed to have been burned during the destruction of the...

Two far-left Mayor Zohran Mamdani-backed House hopefuls are plotting a socialist push in DC even before being elected — and it could cost the Big Apple more than $215 million in crucial anti-terror funds, sources say. Leading Democratic Socialists of America candidates Darializa Avila-Chevalier and Claire Valdez have hatched a scheme with congressional “Squad” members to vote down the Department of Homeland Security budget next year as they try to help create a powerful bloc of socialists in office in the nation’s capital, according to insiders. The anti-DHS plan would come at a cost to the local radicals’ de facto...

An American diplomat working at the US Embassy in London was detained and back to the US in a secret operation after authorities allegedly found child porn on his devices, according to a report. The unidentified diplomat is alleged to have received the twisted material from his US-based brother, leading to a raid by US Marines on his London apartment late last month, the UK Sun reported. Now, UK officials and authorities are expressing outrage, who say that the US had no legal authority to seize him, according to the the Sun. On Aug. 24, a day before the dawn...

Former Sarasota, Florida, second grade student Krystal Davis remembers a wave of confusion washing over her and her classmates on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, after a suited man whispered into the ear of the president of the United States, who was seated just in front of the students. Then-President George W. Bush was visiting Emma E. Booker Elementary School and had been listening intently to the children in Mrs. Sandra Daniels' second-grade class flexing their reading skills, when the look of admiration on his face suddenly gave way to an expression of concern. Chief of Staff Andrew Card...

Chutz-POW! A host of rabbis recently participated in a five-day “summer camp” featuring extensive firearms training as Jewish leaders from across the US prepared for the High Holidays. The pilot program, run by Los Angeles-based Jewish security organization Magen Am USA, brought together 20 Chabad Hasidic rabbis from 12 states for an intensive crash course designed to help them respond to potential threats at their synagogues and in their communities. The program, which also included emergency medicine and security training, took place in August in Los Angeles. It came as Jewish communities across California and the country grapple with heightened...

The Supreme Court will no longer hear an oral argument for a case centered on bond rights for noncitizens detained for lengthy periods, ruling the case moot after New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul pardoned a lawfully present Dominican citizen, who pleaded guilty to second-degree assault. Hochul pardoned Keisy Guerrero Mariano, who is identified in court documents as "Keisy GM," in late August, effectively killing the Trump administration's appeal to the Supreme Court arguing that noncitizens, including those with green card status, do not have a legal right to a bond hearing for a prolonged detention if they have committed...

In this video, Ed Barnhart explores the rise of Etowah, its six earthen pyramids, large plaza, homes, palisade walls, and the natural resources that helped support a thriving ancient city. He also looks at the remarkable artwork and trade networks found atEtowah, including copper and ceremonial objects connected to the wider Mississippian world. From its origins and periods of growth to its decline, conflicts, and eventual encounters with Spanish explorers, Ed examines the story of one of the most fascinating ancient cities of North America. Pyramids of Georgia | 15:48 Archaeologist Ed Barnhart | 41.7K subscribers 25,598 views | September...

Students returned to school this week, leaving nearly every non-student to experience some sort of sympathetic response in kind. For many of us, it took years to stop considering the real start of the year the first week in September, and having children of your own only nudged us back into that old rut again for a further two decades. And then there are those people who remember high school and college fondly – even as, in that dread phrase, the "best years of their lives." Years ago the Huffington Post ran a story where the author recalled meeting a...

Three Unfinished Roman Megaprojects | 12:20 toldinstone | 648K subscribers | 13,841 views | September 12, 2026

A watchdog group that filed a complaint against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is demanding the House Ethics panel obtain her financial documents rather than sweeping a high-profile inquiry of her under the rug. The 11th hour push comes after a congressional panel voted to dismiss an investigation of Omar’s staggering gains in disclosed wealth that she blamed on an oversight. Paul Kamenar of the National Legal and Policy Center called it “stunning” that the Office of Congressional Conduct voted 5-1 to recommend the House Ethics Committee dismiss a probe of Omar, after Omar’s office cited the “overwhelming” vote. “From day...

This image of the Neptune system, captured by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in 2022, reveals stunning views of the planet’s rings—which have not been seen with this clarity in more than three decades—along with the planet’s inner moons. Credit: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Naomi Rowe-Gurney (NASA-GSFC) Neptune’s tiny moons may be ancient wreckage, preserving material exposed when a catastrophic event shattered much larger icy worlds. In 1989, Voyager 2 discovered six previously unknown moons around Neptune. Five of them are tiny satellites that travel just beyond the planet’s...

At Ground Zero, after the last living person was pulled out, the search dogs stopped eating. So the police did something nobody had written down in any manual.They climbed into the rubble, lay down, and pretended to be alive. More than 300 dogs worked the World Trade Center site. They came from every corner of the country, on trucks and in cargo holds, with handlers who had been trained to do one thing. Find people who are still breathing under the ground. That is what a search and rescue dog is built for. Not bodies. Life. They are trained on...

Former Vice President Kamala Harris accused Republicans of “cheating” during an interview Thursday and said she was working to “stop the madness” by helping Democrats win the midterm elections. “Midterms, midterms, midterms, full-time occupying my thoughts, my mind and my work,” Harris said. “We have to win these midterms. These — these folks are cheating. They’re redrawing lines. They’re trying to make it more difficult for people to vote so they won’t vote because they are afraid of the power of the people. “And, so, I’m spending full-time working on doing everything I can to help people restore some balance...

Dia Dhaoibh, a chairde! Thanks for joining me for another video. I really enjoyed exploring Slane, co. Meath this month and finding a few spots there. Please as always leave any feedback or suggestions I love to hear from ye all. Go raibh míle maith agaibh as féachaint, agus slán go fóill. Exploring Medieval Slane-Finding a Hidden Hermitage, Castles & Church Ruins. | 34:44 Jane Ní hEaghra | 6K subscribers | 205,353 views | September 2, 2026

At 10:45 a.m. on September 11, 2001, a Coast Guard lieutenant named Mike Day keyed a radio in New York Harbor and said the only sentence that mattered. “All available boats. This is the United States Coast Guard. Anyone wanting to help with the evacuation of Lower Manhattan, report to Governors Island.” The boats were already coming. The bridges were closed. The tunnels were closed. The subways were dead. South of the towers, hundreds of thousands of people had nowhere left to walk. Some jumped into the Hudson. Some stood on seawalls that were never meant to be docks and...

Texas Senate Race Future Ad Reservations Per AdImpact 🔴 Republicans: $33.5 million 🔵 Democrats: $4.7 million