Free Republic

Bret Weinstein said something that won’t leave my head: For the first time in 300,000 years of human evolution, we removed the cost from the single biggest reward nature ever invented — sex and pair-bonding. Reliable birth control + abortion = you can now cash the evolutionary lottery ticket without paying the 20-year mortgage of pregnancy, diapers, sleepless nights, and college funds. Result? An entire generation of 18–35-year-olds walking around with the energy, libido, hormones, and protective instincts that evolution spent millions of years calibrating for child-rearing… but with zero actual children. That energy didn’t disappear. It got redirected. Heather...

Dr. Naomi Wolf. 8 NYT Bestsellers. DPhil, Poetry. reposted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent @SecScottBessent·11h As America commemorates 250 years of independence, the @usmint will begin striking this new $1 gold coin to honor the enduring legacy of liberty and a lasting symbol of patriotism. Featuring President Trump, it celebrates the strength of American values, and the promise of a nation dedicated to preserving freedom for all.

https://x.com/PrometheanActn/status/2076728881831178400Promethean Action@PrometheanActn·7hThe FBI asked the NYT not to publish Air Force One's classified defense details.They ran it anyway.Trump already told you why: "They go after the big names." Lincoln. McKinley. Now him. What do all three have in common? TRANSCRIPT BEGINS~~~Susan Kokinda: The FBI asked them not to do it, but they did it anyway.Just before the President departed Ankara, the New York Times leaked classified information about Air Force One's self-defense capabilities, and they ran it at a momment of renewed hostilities with Iran, and renewed threats to the President.On July 11, the Department of Justice issued subpoenas to...

A special police team has begun investigating the killing of a provincial leader of an anti-migrant group in South Africa. Police confirmed that Andile Mvuyelwa Somgxada, the Gauteng province leader of March and March, was shot outside his home east of Johannesburg earlier this month and died several days later in hospital. ... Immigration - especially undocumented migration - has become a highly contentious political issue in South Africa, with protesters accusing them of placing pressure on public services, as well as being involved in crime. March and March had set an unofficial deadline of 30 June for all migrants...

Although Russia has not directly intervened in the US-Israeli war with Iran, the conflict has underscored the nature and extent of its strategic partnership with the Islamic Republic. Moscow has provided Tehran with satellite targeting data for strikes on US forces as well as delivered advanced fiber-optic drone technology. It has amplified Iran’s propaganda campaign against the West, while benefiting from the war’s spillover effects. The Russia-Iran axis poses a real threat to the US and its allies; it demands a coherent and resolute response. Why It Matters for the US Russia is arming Iran. Russia has a long history...

SINGAPORE—U.S. Coast Guard ships previously deployed in the Middle East are now operating out of Singapore and the Philippines to help challenge China’s assertion of power in the Pacific.The six 154-foot fast-response cutters are part of the Coast Guard’s reimagined “expeditionary cutter squadron,” which can be sent anywhere in the world. Their first deployment is the western Pacific, where tensions have run high for years as China escalated what is called a gray-zone campaign to project control around Taiwan and the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

China is not just building replicas of US warships. Satellite images analysed by The Telegraph reveal it is also building models of fighter jets, naval bases and Taiwanese presidential buildings. Beijing has been using these models to test its ever-growing stockpile of long-range weapons and new AI systems as it prepares to take control of Taiwan – a top priority of Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.The accuracy of the replicas “signals a highly specific focus on potential adversaries rather than generic capability building”....SNIPChina’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has also built to-scale models of Taiwan’s presidential office and key government buildings...

He has a long memory. A notorious rogue Nepalese elephant has stalked resident Shanichara Bote for years, killing four of his family members 14 years apart — including two even after they all moved miles away to try to escape the homicidal pachyderm. Bote’s nightmare began in December 2012, when Dhurbe — an infamous killer elephant whose human death toll is now up to 25 — fatally trampled the man’s parents in the Nepalese town of Madi near Chitwan National Park, the Kathmandu Post said. The grief-stricken son packed up and moved himself and the rest of his family to...

The space between stars just got a little sweeter. Astronomers have detected a type of sugar in space that's also found in raspberries and self-tanners. The sugar, called erythrulose, lurks in what's called the interstellar medium: thin clouds of gas and dust littered between stars. Sugar does more than sweeten tea and powder doughnuts. Different varieties fuel our cells and even make up DNA. Scientists are itching to know how sugars form because they're a key ingredient for life as we know it. Using two dish-shaped radio telescopes in Spain, researchers collected data from a large gas cloud near the...

President Donald Trump took back his 20% fee on all cargo transported through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, some twenty-four hours after first making the surprise announcement. In yet another yo-yo move of his tariff and trade policy, Trump claimed that he will replace the transit fee on the Strait with “trade and investment deals” for individual countries using the key energy hub. “Oil is flowing like never before, thanks to the awesome Power of the United States Military. A special salute to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, and Commander...

Missouri-based AR-15 manufacturer CMMG put law enforcement on notice in states that ban guns, making clear the company will only sell to them if they make “public and written statements” refusing to enforce “unconstitutional restrictions.”

I haven't been here in a long time because something changed with the front resolution or whatever and now it's super tiny and even though I have my settings on maximum font and display there is no way to comfortably browse this site anymore but I miss it so I'm reaching out to find out if anything can be done.

Tennessee has the worst quality of life in the country, according to CNBC, which gave the Volunteer State an F for quality of life in its annual ranking of the best states for businesses. Why it matters: State leaders often pride themselves on making Tennessee as business-friendly as possible, but CNBC's closely watched rankings highlight some reasons businesses might stay away. How it works: Multiple variables were considered when scoring states on their quality of life, including crime rates, the availability of affordable child care and paid leave policies. CNBC also considered "inclusiveness in state laws, including protections against discrimination...

Just one of many JD Vance memes making the rounds. AI generated but pretty funny.

Updates from Iran

Roger Stone repostedVoices of WW2@VoicesofWW2·Jul 12On this day in 1944, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. died in his sleep in a stone farmhouse in Normandy. He was 56 years old, and he had spent almost his entire adult life trying to be worthy of a famous last name.He was the eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt. In the First World War he went to France and was gassed and badly wounded at Soissons leading his men. That same summer his younger brother Quentin, a pilot, was shot down and killed over France. Ted came home with lungs and a leg that never...

CNBC’s ranking of the 10 worst states to live in 2026—all of them Republican-led—has drawn criticism from conservatives. The broadcaster gave each state a Quality of Life score based on factors including crime rates, air quality, healthcare access, worker protections and civil rights laws. The Quality of Life category was one of 10 in the outlet’s annual America’s Top States for Business study. Tennessee was ranked the worst state to live in after receiving a score of just 64 out of 290. CNBC noted that Tennessee had one of the highest violent-crime rates in the nation, citing FBI statistics, as...

I clicked on my bookmark for Free Republic. The splash page came up. And then in dawned on me: Free Republic is 30 years old this year!

U.S. Navy reposted U.S. Central Command @CENTCOM·3h Yesterday, using multiple one-way attack surface drones, CENTCOM forces successfully struck a submarine and ship maintenance facility in Iran. Three Corsair unmanned surface vessels hit the port at Bandar Abbas Naval Base, marking the first time American forces have employed sea drones in combat operations. Last night’s strikes degraded Iran’s ability to continue attacking commercial shipping. July 13, 2026

Stand-up comedian Margaret Cho posted a video on her Instagram mocking the death of South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and expressing her hope that another prominent Republican will die next. The 57-year-old celeb said in the video, “Bye, Lindsey Graham … bye, Lindsey! From the closet to the coffin, real seamless,” referencing rumors that the senator was secretly gay. “Um, also, yeah Mitch McConnell,” she went on. “So, it’s Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham … it does happen in threes. Hope!” Cho is believed to be indicating that the third “death” would be President Trump. ... Even people who commented...