Free Republic

Eight years ago, in the aftermath of yet another river flood in the Texas Hill Country, officials in Kerr County debated whether more needed to be done to build a warning system along the banks of the Guadalupe River. A series of summer camps along the river were often packed with children. For years, local officials kept them safe with a word-of-mouth system: When floodwaters started raging, upriver camp leaders warned those downriver of the water surge coming their way. .... In the end, little was done. When catastrophic floodwaters surged through Kerr County last week, there were no sirens...

A newly analyzed inscription found in Sinai, Egypt, has stirred new debate among scholars after a language researcher claimed it may include the words, “This is from Moses.” The carving, located near an ancient turquoise mine in the south-central region of the peninsula, was photographed using high-resolution imaging technology that brought faded markings into clearer view. The markings belong to a group of rock-cut writings known as Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions. These early alphabetic characters were first documented in 1904 and are believed to date back to around 1800 BCE. The particular panel under review, labeled Sinai 357 and located across from...

An active shooter reportedly tried to kill Border Patrol agents near an annex facility in McAllen, TX. Three law enforcement sources told Fox News’ Bill Melugin that the gunman attempted to ambush Border Patrol agents as they arrived at the facility. “Local police and federal agents returned fire, killing him,” Melugin wrote in a post on X. “I’m told this was a purposeful ambush/attack against federal agents and a press conference is planned for later this morning. No federal agents injured. Im told a McAllen police officer may have been shot, but is in stable condition.” This incident comes days...

Yeah, they literally call it "the swastika sword" and decided to have @Idubbbz pose with it while wearing Palestine colors around his neck in a video addressed to a Jew.These are the "good guys." https://t.co/kvcX4m8iV4— SirD (@Sir_Dammed) April 25, 2025

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s early March interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, in which she claimed she uncovered a “truckload” of evidence related to Jeffrey Epstein, took on new meaning this weekend after the DOJ and FBI publicly concluded the so-called “Epstein Files” do not exist. Axios exclusively reported on the DOJ and FBI’s findings on Sunday night, calling it the “first time Trump’s administration has officially contradicted conspiracy theories” that convicted sex offender Epstein was killed in order to keep secret his list of ultra-powerful clients, who many believe he later blackmailed for personal gain. Hannity confronted Bondi...

<p>U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday said the Jeffrey Epstein client list is "sitting on my desk right now" and she is reviewing the JFK and MLK files as well after President Donald Trump's earlier directives.</p><p>"It's sitting on my desk right now to review," Bondi told 'America Reports' host John Roberts on Friday. "That's been a directive by President Trump."</p>

A police officer was shot outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Texas late Friday night and several armed people were taken into custody, the authorities said.The shooting took place outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.The detention center, which is about 28 miles south of Fort Worth, holds people who are awaiting deportation or are accused of violating immigration laws.Around 11 p.m. on the Fourth of July, officers from the Alvarado Police Department responded to a call about a suspicious person outside the detention center and saw...

I find Suchet's reading so engaging; I feet like I am listening to someone who was there when events unfolded. :DI created this thread to store any observations or comments made by those of us listening David Suchet's narration of the Bible. Prior threads of this series are listed in post #1 below. This week's book is available in a few different formats. Below the video image, I linked Bible Gateway's convenient hub offering David Suchet and many others providing audio readings of the books of the bible.Here is the YOUTUBE link for the book of Romans.NIV BIBLE | Romans...

Great work by @USOPM which has cut its annual spend on federal contracts by 50%—from $484M to $242M—while improving both the quality and scope of its services.On January 20, 2025, OPM had 444 active contracts, and has since taken action on 191 contracts via terminations, descoping and non-renewals.Key savings highlights include:- $12M saved by internalizing retirement-related projects, culminating in the fully digital http://retire.opm.gov-$5.9M saved via restructuring the IT helpdesk and implementing efficiency measures. As a result, the average ticket backlog dropped by 30%.- $39M saved by restructuring two underutilized IT contractsJul 6, 2025·200.3K Views

Neurological injuries from vaccination have been documented since the smallpox vaccine over two centuries ago, with severe injuries reported throughout medical literature. The medical profession concealed these injuries, believing public vaccination benefits justified hiding information that might create vaccine hesitancy.Historical injuries like spreading paralysis mirror current “one in a million” vaccine injuries, but toxicity documentation was erased to preserve the “safe and effective” narrative.In the past, these injuries were widely reported, but now research into them is widely censored. Many of these forgotten reports are critical for understanding modern “inexplicable” conditions like autism, A Midwestern Doctor writes.The Hidden Tragedy of...

Hans Braunfisch wants Americans to invest in Ukrainian startups, but there's a problem: there's no clear path for individual investors to put money into the more than 26,000 Ukrainian startups out there.The former PwC consultant plans to change that with Pravo Venture, a platform streamlining foreign investment for Ukrainian startups. Think of it like a meeting point for Ukrainian companies and U.S. investors accredited by the Securities and Exchange Commission who want to support the country with capital instead of aid.While co-heading PwC's Ukraine Taskforce, Braunfisch attempted to persuade clients to invest in Ukraine’s entrepreneurs to help its economic recovery....

BlackRock, a U.S. investment firm, suspended work on a multibillion-dollar Ukraine recovery fund following U.S. President Donald Trump's election victory, prompting France to work on a replacement, Bloomberg reported on July 5.The plan nearly secured the initial support of institutions backed by the governments of Germany, Italy, and Poland, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.Kyiv has sought to secure investment in Ukraine's reconstruction as Russia's war continues to destroy infrastructure across the country.BlackRock halted its search for institutional investors in January, causing the planned funding that sought to secure $500 million from governments, development grants, and investment banks, and...

There are two subjects on which I am extremely well versed: Barack Obama’s phony Connecticut Social Security number and anchor babies. I was schooled in both while working as a licensed private investigator, which I have done for more than thirty years. One of my long-time clients is a company in Taiwan. For four years, I collected, with written permission, the medical records of more than eighty Chinese women who arrived in California to give birth. Most of these women hired companies in China for $30,000, which arranged for help in getting tourist visas, arranging for living accommodations, and a...

We’ve got a story for you—and it’s a cautionary tale about what happens when diversity quotas and outsourcing take priority over excellence and good old-fashioned common sense. No, this didn’t happen in the US, but it absolutely matters here. Because this is the kind of foreign labor we’re importing, and that should concern every single American. In India, seven engineers were just suspended after designing a $2.3 million bridge with a deadly 90-degree turn. This structural disaster has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. The project took over a decade to finish and was meant to improve transportation for...

Chaos erupted at an ICE detention facility in Portland, Oregon after hundreds of protesters attempted to storm holding cells.Demonstrators were seen being tackled to the ground as officers deployed smoke bombs and tear gas to try and control the crowd yesterday.Dramatic footage posted on X by independent journalist Katie Daviscourt shows flares lighting up the night sky, as protesters clash with officers in riot gear who appeared to fire rubber bullets into the crowd.The demonstration occurred on the 28th day that protesters have been occupying the ICE facility in protest over Donald Trump's immigration policies.Daviscourt confirmed the protest was declared...

The quintessential ice cream flavour is under threat, and many other dessert staples along with it, according to climate change researchers at the University of Costa Rica and Belgium's KU Leuven university. Increasing climate extremes are changing the habitats of wild vanilla species — primarily found in the tropical regions of Central America — and their mainly animal pollinators, the researchers say. This, in turn, is putting global production of vanilla at risk. In some regions, the plants may find more favourable conditions, but the insects that pollinate them may no longer find suitable habitats, according to the study published...

Zohran Mamdani: "… we firmly believe in... seizing the means of production..." Skip to 10:05

Brawls, assaults, drunken fights, boots on the grounds and fans in hands just might have Carnival Cruise Line saying, "Enough is enough!" And some Black passengers are returning the favor, cancelling their existing reservations or cancelling the cruise line all together because they deem their new rules are racist. But some argue, "Are the new policies racist, or just restrictive?" The discourse began after Carnival — who has the most allegations of serious crimes committed at sea than any other cruise line sailing from North America, per the FBI — implemented new rules. According to reports, as of June 1,...

Can the usual suspects please knock it off on Independence Day?

An Italian socialite has been charged with murder after she was allegedly caught on camera repeatedly running over a mugger for snatching her bags. Cinzia Dal Pino, 65, is accused of killing Nourdine Mezgoui, a 52-year-old Moroccan national, in the Italian seaside resort of Viareggio after he stole her bag, L’Unione Sarda reported. Video shows Mezgoui walking along the sidewalk when a vehicle suddenly appears to deliberately veer into him. The SUV then reverses and runs over Mezgoui three times as he lies on the sidewalk. The driver, who prosecutors say is Dal Pino, then gets out of the car...