Free Republic

Many of you haven't heard what Afghanistan is like, and it shows. snip InfantryDort, one of the largest veteran accounts on X, decided to use the moment to share, in detail, what things American troops saw when they were in Afghanistan to help Americans understand, perhaps once and for all, that not all cultures, practices, and beliefs are equal.

Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren blasted Netflix's planned acquisition of Warner Bros. and HBO on Friday, saying the deal "looks like an anti-monopoly nightmare." Warner Bros. Discovery announced Friday it has agreed to sell its streaming and studios assets to Netflix in a deal valued at $82.7 billion, setting the stage for one of the most sweeping and consequential mergers in modern Hollywood history. "A Netflix-Warner Bros. would create one massive media giant with control of close to half of the streaming market — threatening to force Americans into higher subscription prices and fewer choices over what and how they...

Legal conservatives find themselves in an unusual position: originalism has reached unprecedented acceptance within the judiciary and the bar. A majority of Supreme Court justices—including at least one appointed by a Democratic president—identify as originalists, or at least strive toward originalism. Guided by the original understanding of those who ratified the Constitution and the Reconstruction Amendments, the High Court has overruled Roe v. Wade, ended the use of race in higher education, and recognized the individual right to own firearms. But some find these successes disorienting. Originalism’s victories have triggered an important debate among conservatives. Some wonder if originalism is...

Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands announced their withdrawals Thursday from next year’s Eurovision Song Contest after organizers decided that Israel will be allowed to compete. Organizers of the pop music spectacle, which draws millions of viewers globally, met earlier Thursday to discuss Israel’s participation, amid calls for the country to be excluded over the war in Gaza and threats from some members to boycott. An independent United Nations inquiry concluded in September that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and that the country’s top leaders have incited genocide. The Israeli government has maintained it is conducting the...

A suspect has been charged in the Friday stabbing on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to police. Oscar Solarzano, 33, has been charged with five counts including attempted first degree murder, assault with deadly weapon serious injury and carrying concealed weapon, according to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department. The male victim was found with a stab wound just before 5 p.m. near North Brevard Street and East 22nd Street, where the train appeared to have stopped between stations, Charlotte ABC affiliate WSOC reported. The victim was transported to Novant Health Presbyterian with serious injuries but is...

“ A man in a bulletproof vest with a firearm was detained on Friday night after police said he appeared to be following a congressman along a Christmas parade route. The unidentified man was detained and questioned by officers after exhibiting concerning behavior at the Stuart parade, according to the Martin County Sheriff's Office. Congressman Brian Mast attended the parade, and his personnel alerted the sheriff's department and Stuart Police to the man's 'alarming behavior.'”

With its officials facing personal liability for violating "clearly established" rights, University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine throws in the towel while still falsely claiming COVID vaccines can stop infection and transmission. A year and a half after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals knocked down the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine's original and revised COVID-19 vaccine mandates for discriminating against students and employees seeking religious exemptions, the school has paid an "historic" settlement to the 18 plaintiffs, their lawyers said this week. The $10.3 million settlement in damages, tuition, and attorney’s fees is one of...

As you walk down a particular hallway on the seventh floor of the Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C., you'll find a line of photographic portraits of all the people from years past who have led the Public Health Corps at the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Only one of those portraits is of a transgender person: Adm. Rachel Levine, who served for four years as President Biden's assistant secretary for health. She was the first transgender person to win Senate confirmation, and her portrait has been displayed in the hallway since soon after she was confirmed in 2021....

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved Boeing’s long-planned acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems two decades after it was spun off, according to The Seattle Times. The decision was issued on Wednesday and allows the $4.7 billion all-stock merger to proceed under conditions designed to preserve competition in both the commercial and defense aviation sectors. In a July 2024 news release, Boeing emphasized that the transaction is intended to improve manufacturing consistency and support the company’s engineering workforce. Boeing’s total assumption of Spirit’s debt brings the transaction value to about $8.3 billion. In its complaint released earlier this month, the FTC...

The numbers out of Minnesota are staggering: Three separate plots to bilk welfare programs. Fifty-nine federal convictions. More than $1 billion stolen from taxpayers. Of 86 people charged so far, all but eight are of Somali descent. The scandal has seized headlines and put Gov. Tim Walz, seeking a third term, on the defensive. It’s huge, brazen and entangled with the seamy politics of migration and assimilation. President Trump has weighed in with characteristic subtlety: “We don’t want them in our country,” he said of Somali-born Rep. Ilhan Omar and “her friends” during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting. “Let them go back...

Free days at the U.S. National Parks have been changed to no longer include Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, just weeks after the Trump administration announced it would be raising fees for visitors who are not American citizens or permanent residents. June 14, which is both Flag Day and President Trump's birthday, will be included, according to a list shared by the NPS. Previously, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth were deemed fee-free days by the Biden administration. Most of the free days are patriotic in nature, including Presidents' Day (February 16), Memorial Day (May 25), Independence...

The reason is that free speech on X, particularly around mass migration, has exposed Europe’s civilizational suicide. Today, the European Commission fined Elon Musk’s X €140 million for, it says, breaking laws requiring social media transparency. Specifically, said the Commission, which is the executive branch of the European Union, X broke the law by making its blue checkmarks available to anyone, failing to make its advertising repository transparent, and failing to provide researchers with special access to its data. “Today’s decision has nothing to do with content moderation,” insisted the Commission’s spokesperson. In truth, the Commission’s fine has everything to...

WASHINGTON (AP) — After the arrest of a man charged with placing two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties on Jan. 5, 2021, the warning from the Trump administration was clear: If you come to the nation’s capital to attack citizens and institutions of democracy, you will be held accountable. Yet Justice Department leaders who announced the arrest were silent about the violence that had taken place when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol and clashed with police one day after those bombs were discovered. It was the latest example of the...

Sir Keir Starmer will host Volodymyr Zelensky at Downing Street on Monday in a hastily arranged summit on the progress of peace talks. The Prime Minister will be joined in London by Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor. The trio of European leaders are attempting to ensure Ukraine is not “betrayed” during the US-led peace process with Russia, a possibility Mr Macron alluded to in a leaked phone call earlier this week. The meeting comes as top Ukrainian officials have been holding talks in Miami with Mr Trump’s chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner....

The balloons, which in some cases are reported to have weighed up to 50–60 kilograms and can fly just over a mile, have repeatedly forced the airport in the capital Vilnius to close during the autumn. Lithuania claims that the balloons are deliberately sent to disrupt Lithuanian airspace and thus constitute an attack on civil aviation, and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen threatened this week to target Belarus with sanctions after what she calls “hybrid attacks.” At the end of October, Lithuania closed the border with Belarus. Ruginiene said at the time that intruding balloons would be shot down....

Pickup truck enthusiasts rejoiced this week after President Donald Trump moved to roll back auto regulations, paving the way for smaller, cheaper cars and trucks, including the storied Toyota Hilux Champ.“We’re officially terminating Joe Biden’s ridiculously burdensome, horrible actually, CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards that impose expensive restrictions and all sorts of problems,” Trump said at an Oval Office press conference Wednesday. Addressing the ease of restrictions, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy affirmed, “He gave me the directive to clear the regulations on this, which we have, and so if Toyota or any other company wants to make smaller, more...

The White House tore into Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday after he claimed the Trump administration refused to meet with him Friday during a visit to Washington aimed at securing more wildfire recovery aid. More than $7 billion in federal funds have been issued to California since January, when the Palisades and Eaton fires torched thousands of acres of land and high-priced homes, but the Golden State governor wants a lot more. Newsom formally requested an additional $34 billion from Congress earlier this week – down from his initial $40 billion ask in February – and met with...

Let’s review some of the evidence about the January 6 bombs the FBI had for years.*1300, DNC Headquarters. A DC Metro police car and Secret Service vehicle are parked at the DNC, mere feet from the pipe bomb left there supposedly 17 hour earlier. Kamala Harris is inside the building. A man wearing a backpack is seen on video approaching each vehicle and speaking with those inside. He was later identified as a Capital police officer. They get out of their vehicles and stand there, chatting. Another Secret Service agent is standing within 10 feet of the very visible, Hollywood-issue...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a law requiring K-12 schools to provide gender-neutral bathrooms by July 2026.

"Exactly," the senior Russian security official commented on Musk’s post on XMOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev supported Elon Musk’s call to abolish the European Union and return sovereignty to individual countries. "Exactly," the senior Russian security official commented on Musk’s post on X. Earlier on Saturday, the US billionaire entrepreneur posted on his social media: "The EU should be abolished and sovereignty returned to individual countries, so that governments can better represent their people.".