Free Republic

A California pedophile imprisoned for a horrific string of sex crimes could soon walk free after being granted parole under a controversial law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Gregory Lee Vogelsang, 57, has been granted early release thanks to a 2020 law that offers parole to “elderly” convicts 50 and older who have served 20 or more years in prison. Vogelsang molested several children in the ’90s in the Sacramento area before being convicted on dozens of felony counts, including a lewd act on a child, kidnapping a child to commit a lewd act, and lewd act on a...

Iran’s new Supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei released his first statement Thursday vowing to use the “lever” of closing the Strait of Hormuz to international energy shipping — after reports circulated that he was in a coma and had his leg amputated after being severely injured in the US-Israeli strikes that killed his father and other family members. The lengthy message was read out on Iranian state TV by an anchor as an image of Khamenei was displayed on screen, a break from tradition. No explanation was given for why the 56-year-old did not appear in the flesh, with experts suggesting...

Rep. Eric Swalwell’s claims about living in a rented California home have raised “red flags” among members of the state Democratic Party after multiple neighbors at his supposed home of nine years have never seen or met him. The Democrat frontrunner for Governor claims he’s lived since 2017 with another family in a 1,350-square-foot Livermore home owned by the sister-in-law of his political mentor, Tim Sbranti. But five neighbors failed to identify Swalwell on Wednesday when The Post showed them a picture of the congressman and identified him by name. “I’ve never seen him,” said Gita Prusty, who noted she’s...

For around 700 years, Native people of the American Great Plains hunted bison at a site in central Montana that archaeologists call Bergstrom. Then, around 1,100 years ago, humans abandoned the site even though bison remained abundant in the area, according to a statement released by Frontiers. "The Bergstrom site presented a puzzle," paleoecologist John Wendt of New Mexico State University said. "Why would hunters stop using a site that had worked for so long?" In 2019, Wendt's team began digging and investigating three-foot-by-three-foot excavation pits to try to better understand the Bergstrom site's use and eventual disuse. Researchers collected...

The Trump administration is suing California over a de facto fuel economy rule that it believes the state is using to an enact a pseudo electric vehicle mandate, the California Post has learned. The Department of Justice filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), arguing that the Golden State is violating federal law by forcing state-specific mileage requirements on car manufacturers through the state’s Advanced Clean Cars proposal. “California is using unlawful policies from the last administration to create exorbitant costs for their citizens — this Department of Justice is proud to stand...

The 2026 Oscars have been placed on high alert following the FBI’s warning about a potential “surprise attack” from Iran. This year’s Oscars ceremony is due to take place on Sunday evening in Los Angeles, and is expected to be attended by an array of Hollywood A-listers including Timothée Chalamet, Rose Byrne, Kate Hudson, Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman. According to an alert reported by ABC News, the FBI notified law enforcement across California in recent days that Iran could potentially retaliate for American military actions by launching drones toward the West Coast. “We want everybody to feel safe and...

Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a statue of Alexander Hamilton in White Springs near the Suwannee River as part of America’s upcoming 250th birthday during a press conference in Hamilton County this week. Hamilton was a founding father and the first Secretary of the Treasury under President George Washington from 1789 to 1795. Hamilton also founded the Federalist Party, America's first political party, in 1791. He is also on the $10 bill. While attending King's College (now Columbia University) around 1774, Hamilton became a vocal writer for the American cause against the British crown. Hamilton would later join the Revolutionary War...

Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was a no-show at his own succession rally in Tehran — and observers speculate that he’s either wounded or hiding out in fear. As thousands gathered on Monday to celebrate Khamenei’s appointment as the country’s new supreme leader, the nepo-baby mullah was represented by a mere portrait — one that was half the size of dad Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s. The portrait of the dead leader took up the center of the stage, according to state media footage of the event. “It’s either he’s out cold in a hospital, or he’s scared and hiding...

The war began March 19, 2003, with an overwhelming show of American military might, described by the unforgettable phrase “shock and awe.” Within weeks, the United States achieved the primary objective of Operation Iraqi Freedom, as the military operation was called, ousting the regime of dictator Saddam Hussein. Yet the military campaign that began so auspiciously ended up deeply dividing Americans and alienating key U.S. allies. As Americans looked back on the war four years ago, 62% said it was not worth fighting. … In a pivotal moment in the Iraq debate, Powell presented what he described as “facts and...

According to a statement released by Saarland University, repeated lines, notches, dots, and crosses etched on Paleolithic artifacts some 40,000 years ago exhibit the same level of complexity and information density as proto-cuneiform script, which emerged around 3000 B.C. Linguist Christian Bentz of Saarland University and archaeologist Ewa Dutkiewicz of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin used computers to analyze the statistical properties of more than 3,000 signs on 260 Paleolithic artifacts. “We hypothesized that the early proto-cuneiform script would be more similar to the writing systems of today, especially due to their relative proximity in time,”...

According to a statement released by the University of Gdansk, evaluation of the remains of people who lived in what is now north-central Poland between 4100 and 1230 B.C. has revealed how their diets changed from the Neolithic period to the Bronze Age. Using radiocarbon dating, DNA analysis, and stable isotope measurements of carbon and nitrogen, a team led by Łukasz Pospieszny of the University of Gdansk suggests that Corded Ware communities of the late Neolithic period herded their animals in forests and wet river valleys. After several hundred years, however, their diet began to resemble that of nearby farmers,...

Abraham Lincoln is thought of by many as not only the greatest American statesman but as a great conservative. He was neither. Understanding this is a necessary condition for any genuinely American conservatism. When Lincoln took office, the American polity was regarded as a compact between sovereign states which had created a central government as their agent, hedging it in by a doctrine of enumerated powers. Since the compact between the states was voluntary, secession was considered an option by public leaders in every section of the Union during Hie antebellum period. Given this tradition—deeply rooted in the Declaration of...

According to a statement released by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the Romans extracted gold from alluvial deposits in the Eastern Pyrenees. Using optically stimulated luminescence dating techniques, Oriol Olesti Vila of the UAB and Jorge Sanjurjo-Sánchez of the University of A Coruña dated two samples of fill from the remains of an ancient hydraulic structure on the Segre River to the third and fourth centuries A.D. The researchers explained that Roman miners would have eroded gold deposits from the riverbanks with water, and then washed them, either by channeling water through the sediments or flooding the sediments with...

MIAMI — President Trump said Monday that he’s brought prices down so much that Democrats have stopped using the word “affordability.” “They also gave us very high prices and then they said the word, ‘affordability.’ That’s first time I ever heard it,” Trump said at the annual House Republican retreat in Miami. “My first day in office, they said, ‘affordability,’ They’re the ones that caused the problem,” he continued. “But we’re really bringing down prices big. “Do you notice you don’t hear that word anymore? … They don’t say it anymore because we brought down prices so much.” Trump said...

A story of how our national anthem came to be. I was asked by someone to put a video together for this audio and upload it, so here it is. I was never expecting it to get so many views. Yes, I'm aware some info isn't exactly right. Please stop sending complaints. Like I said before, I was asked to upload it here. You can look up the accurate story if want the precise info. Here's a link to one of many sources for info on the true story: https://tinyurl.com/yb6laets Hope you enjoy the message of this video though. God...

The FBI revealed on Monday that federal agents were searching a Pennsylvania storage facility in connection with their investigation into the ISIS-inspired botched bombing outside Gracie Mansion. The feds were “conducting a court authorized search” of the storage facility in Langhorne, the same borough where Emir Balat — one of the alleged bomb hurlers — lived with his parents. “The FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, along with our partners at the NYPD, will continue pursuing all leads and tips,” the FBI’s New York office said in a Monday night X post announcing the search. Investigators reportedly found more...

James Edwards, chief cashier for Leeds Transport Company in the 1950s, put aside any fake or foreign coins he found when gathering fares from the city's bus and tram drivers, before passing them to his grandson Peter.Peter, now 77, kept the coins safe for more than 70 years and has now discovered one of the collection is so old that Jesus hadn't even been born when it was minted.He found that the small coin was made in the 1st Century BC by the Carthaginians, an ancient Mediterranean civilisation with Phoenician roots, in Cádiz, Spain.On one side it bears the face...

“Country Joe” McDonald, who fronted the band Country Joe and the Fish and became an emblem of the 1960s antiwar counterculture through a prominent appearance at the Woodstock festival, died Saturday at age 84. The singer, born Joseph Allen McDonald, died of Parkinson’s in Berkeley, according to a statement on the group’s social media and reported sources close to his wife. McDonald’s best known song was “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag,” a Vietnam protest song he performed at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. The performance included the infamous call-and-response “Fish Cheer,” which had the audience spelling out the F-word at McDonald’s behest. Born on...

Islam has traditionally played an important role in the life of Chechen society. It has been a part of its ethnic identity for more than two centuries, and at critical times of national history it was a powerful source of social mobilization.Islamization of ChechnyaThe religion of the Muslims started to spread in the region in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was promoted by missionaries from the neighboring Dagestan (especially Kumyks), as well as through contacts of lowland Chechens with neighboring Kabardinians, Nogays, and Crimean Tatars. In Ichkeria – the mountainous region in south-eastern Chechnya – and in Ingushetia (where...

A little over 2 minute video...very sweet.