Free Republic

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed a controversial bill, officially titled “Privacy for immigration support services providers,” which expands the state’s current “Safe at Home” program. Critics have argued that the bill prevents journalists, such as the viral fraud reporting released by independent journalist Nick Shirley. The legislation builds on the Safe at Home program, which has operated since 1999. That program allows eligible individuals — including survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, elder abuse and certain “health care workers” providing abortions or sex change procedures — to use a substitute mailing address administered by the...

Artificial intelligence data centers have been a hot topic in Utah this summer, and reforms could be on the way. Gov. Spencer Cox told reporters at his Aug. 20 monthly news conference to expect efforts to change the approval process and additional regulation for data centers when lawmakers return to Capitol Hill in January. Central to that move toward reform, he said, was the contentious Stratos Project in Box Elder County, which experienced incredible public pushback earlier this year. “The process was not good, and the MIDA process, especially,” he said. “I think we need major reform when it comes...

(Aug. 22, 2026) — INTRODUCTION The recent SCOTUS decision in Trump v. Barbara – holding, among other things, that if born here on U.S. soil, the child of an illegal alien or a foreigner unlawfully present here is nonetheless a U.S. citizen – continues to produce fallout. While technically not radioactive, the fallout is nonetheless unhealthy to the continued wellbeing of the Republic. If you doubt that, just read the dissenting opinions of Justices Thomas and Alito and the partial dissent of Justice Kavanaugh. Your humble servant has addressed the decision and the shortcomings of the majority opinion here. The...

https://x.com/BenghaziNotes/status/2090849855371665574Benghazi Notes@BenghaziNotesIn June of 2020, the US Justice Dept released documents that revealed Obama White House officials including@brhodes and @jakejsullivan joking about who was the bigger liar at the expense of the families of the #Benghazi fallen. Ben Rhodes wrote "At least you’re only a liar. Could be worse – we’re liars and also allegedly leakers. So you’ve got that going for you, which is something." (1/3)Benghazi Notes@BenghaziNotes·Aug 21In response to @brhodes joking at the expense of Americans who perished in #Benghazi, @jakejsullivan said "We’re only lying footsoldiers [sic]. You’re lying masterminds. That’s cooler.”Another Obama WH official added: "There should...

RealRobert @Real_RobN·1h Here it is The one-third of the $40 trillion U.S. national debt has been identified. The Federal Reserve CONFIRMS: The U.S. Congress has built the single largest racket empire on the planet: U.S. NGOs have combined assets totaling $14.2 trillion of your tax money. “India’s and Japan’s GDPs are each just over $4 trillion, Germany’s is $5 trillion, and together they total about $13.5 trillion. Guess what? The combined assets of U.S. NGOs equal $14.2 trillion of your tax money—and that of your children, grandchildren, and great-great-great-great-grandchildren.” In other words, the root of all corruption—the racket—is the U.S....

"A total of nine people have been killed in eight Fairfax County homicide cases so far in 2026. Reporting shows that half of the suspects in theses cases are in the U.S. illegally."

BEIJING — Chinese humanoid robots broke records set by humans, including beating Usain Bolt’s 100-meter sprint world record, on the opening day of the Olympics-like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday. More than 2,000 humanoid robots were participating in the event, the organizer said. The five-day games, now in its second year, are a spectacle demonstrating China’s rapid progress in advanced robotics as the technology race with the U.S. heats up, with 51 events and more than 1,000 competitions taking place including running, table tennis and soccer. The games, which are taking place in the National Speed Skating...

A software engineer trying to control his DJI ROMO robot vacuum with a PlayStation controller accidentally discovered access to roughly 7,000 devices across 24 countries. So, you know one drone can look in your backyard, But a robot vacuum can go throughout your entire house, right? And if that robot vacuum has cameras, a microphone, room mapping, cloud connectivity and a backend that treats authorization like a side quest. Congratulations, man. You didn't just buy a vacuum cleaner You bought a rolling surveillance package with a mop. Wow. And I just want to get on this thing. Why the hell...

A missing US Attorney found dead in an office at a federal building in San Diego killed himself, the California Post has learned. Local police discovered Acting US Attorney Andrew Haden, 48, dead inside an office at the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building Wednesday. Sources familiar with the case told The Post that Haden hanged himself.

oodrow Wilson holds a distinction no other American president has: he earned a Ph.D., completing his doctorate in political science and history at Johns Hopkins University in 1886. That same year, he wrote an essay called “The Study of Administration,” later published in the inaugural volume of Political Science Quarterly. Historians widely credit this essay as the founding document of public administration as a formal academic field, and Wilson himself as the father of that discipline.Wilson’s central argument was that government should be split into two separate domains: politics, where elected officials set broad goals and policy direction, and administration,...

A Whitby father who got a two-year house arrest and three years of probation for firing at armed home intruders who shot his son won’t face a longer sentence after it was upheld. Last week, the Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the Crown’s appeal of the length of the man’s sentence, which they argued as “demonstrably unfit.” A panel of three Ontario Court of Appeal judges, however, stated they saw “no error” in the sentence. “Nor do we find that the sentence was manifestly unfit,” the appeal judges added. The appeal decision, published online earlier this week, detailed the...

The Constitution’s stated goals are in the Preamble: a more perfect Union, justice, domestic tranquility, common defense, general welfare, and the blessings of liberty for living and for posterity. If those are the ends you actually love, the consistent opposites are what undermine them: Disunion and factionalism that treat the country as a temporary alliance of tribes rather than a single people under one law. Injustice—unequal application of law, corruption of courts, or rule by status instead of by rules. Disorder that the government fails to suppress: endemic crime, riots, or private violence that makes ordinary life insecure. Weakness or...

This week: deep thoughts.

Transport for London has clarified that comedian Ricky Gervais never submitted controversial advertisements for his vodka brand featuring references to stab vests for approval to run in the city's transport network. The clarification came after Gervais posted images of the advertisements on social media on October 31, 2025, claiming they had been rejected by authorities.

A man dressed as the iconic “Star Wars” villain Darth Vader on Wednesday appeared to defend the use of Flock cameras before the San Diego City Council, assuring that “this is what the emperor needs.” The man approached the podium to address the Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee meeting, with the character’s signature breathing audible to the council chamber’s microphone. The council addressed him as “Darth Vader.” “This is what the emperor needs. This technology will help us find the rebel scum and the hidden base on Hoth,” the man said, referring to the ice planet from “The Empire...

https://x.com/MelissaRedpill/status/2090215457005391960 Brian Cates - Political Columnist & Pundit repostedMelissa Redpill@MelissaRedpill·23hHUUUGESomething big is about to happen with deportations in America. You should be ready for this…I just spoke with a senior DHS official. They shared deportation numbers with me that frankly stunned me.+27,000 deportations. Last week.+3,600 a day average.Tracking for 1.4 million deportations across the calendar year.+69,000 illegals are in DHS jails waiting to be deported at this moment.And you haven’t heard a blip about it in the corporate press. Why? My DHS source says “stealth tactics.”“We’re everywhere in every major city. We tell no one. Plain clothes. Beat up old...

In the second century A.D., Roman emperor Hadrian commissioned a temple dedicated to the gods. To this day, the Pantheon still possesses the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. How do these ancient Roman concrete structures withstand the test of time? Well, superior engineering for one. For example, skilled artisans used lighter aggregates higher in the Pantheon's dome. Roman seawalls owe their extreme longevity in part to their “self-healing” capacity. Exposure to seawater facilitated the continued growth of crystalline structures in the concrete. Researchers have also focused on volcanic ash as a secret to the durability of Roman concrete...

After most of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus’ top legislative goals failed this year, Rep. Rachel Williams, who heads the hard-line conservative group, told reporters they needed “reinforcements in Cheyenne.” On Tuesday, the caucus failed to reach that goal, instead losing majority control in the House and backsliding in the Senate. The caucus, which officially formed in 2020, won majority control of the House for the first time in 2024. But when most of its top legislative goals fizzled in the 2026 budget session, the group’s leadership blamed the failure on lacking a supermajority in the House and insufficient support in...

Earlier this year, shortly after it was announced that the publisher Simon & Schuster had bought the rights to Jason Arday’s memoir, the then professor of sociology of education at Cambridge University gave an interview to The Bookseller. “I always wanted to be a person who flew close to the sun,” Arday mused. “But sometimes I wonder: did I fly too close?” On the evidence of his book – due to be published in the UK on August 27 – and all that has emerged about Arday in recent weeks, the answer is probably yes. Titled Great and Unfortunate Things,...

South Carolina’s Sen. Darline Graham (R) defended her headline-making debate performance — in which she blurted out “I’m not that informed on national security” — by insisting she was just “being honest.” Graham, 62, was appointed to finish out her brother Lindsey Graham’s term after the elder’s sudden July 11 death at age 71, and is running for a shot at the full term this fall after being endorsed by President Donald Trump. While Lindsey Graham was a well-known foreign policy hawk who spent decades in Congress, his sister tried to backpedal during a Wednesday appearance on Fox News’ Hannity,...