Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The results of four command investigations related to serious mishaps during the Harry S. Truman carrier strike group’s recent deployment point to inadequate training and poor performance by ship crews as well as their commanders, according to newly released Navy investigation reports.The reports, which were heavily redacted for public consumption, paint a picture of strike group sailors and officers who erred in their judgment and failed to communicate properly while under exceedingly high pressure and operational tempo as the strike group was conducting operations to counter Houthi rebel attacks in and around the Red Sea.The investigations released today...

CNN anchor Jake Tapper was ripped by critics Thursday after he wrongly referred to accused DC pipe-bomber Brian Cole Jr. as “a white man.”Tapper made the cringeworthy gaffe while discussing the arrest of Cole, who is black, during his opening segment on “The Lead.” His “white man” comment came at 5:01 p.m., around the time CNN was the first outlet to publish a photo of Cole’s face that originated from the suspect’s mother’s Instagram account. Cole’s father is also black and once enlisted the services of Ben Crump, an attorney best known for his racial discrimination cases. Viewers were stunned...

.... She was subsequently placed into a patrol vehicle but was released a short time later, according to the Miami Herald. "During a traffic stop, a U.S. citizen, who was driving her illegal alien boyfriend's car, refused to comply with repeated lawfully given orders by law enforcement to identify herself. She was removed from the vehicle and briefly held while her identity was confirmed. She was promptly released...

Italy is one of the few EU countries not to have compulsory sex education in schools despite evidence showing that comprehensive relationship and sex education helps to prevent violence against women and girls. The bill, which the lower house of parliament has passed, allows the teaching of sex education in middle schools, so for children aged 11-14, but only with written parental consent. The bill, which the senate would have to pass before it became law, is in line with the current procedures in high schools. Sex education is banned in primary schools. Opposition parties, which had called for sex...

When Xpeng unveiled its Next Gen Iron humanoid recently, the robot glided across the stage with movement so fluid that the crowd froze. Many viewers thought they saw an actor in a suit. Clips spread online within hours, and people everywhere claimed the same thing: it looked too human to be a machine. The reaction spread fast, so Xpeng's CEO He Xiaopeng returned to the stage one day later with a plan to settle the argument. He cut into Iron's leg to show its internal machinery. It felt theatrical but also necessary to end the rumor that a human controlled...

The Taliban forced a 13-year-old boy to carry out a public execution, with 80,000 people packing a sports stadium to watch the young teen shoot the man who murdered 13 members of his family. Video shared online shows thousands of cheering people packing into the stadium in the eastern city of Khost on Tuesday for the sick spectacle that the United Nations condemned as “inhumane” and “contrary to international law.” The young boy was made to shoot the murderer, named Mangal, in a Sharia-law “retaliation punishment” known as Qisas, which is akin to an “eye for an eye.”

Neuralink is working on tech to • Give sight to people born blind. • Restore hearing for the deaf. • Help those with spine injuries walk again • Let paralyzed people control devices with thoughts. • Help amputees use advanced robotic limbs. Here is how the implant is done:

The official Rapid Response 47 White House team responded to her post, writing: “Why did you marry your brother.” Trump has repeated this debunked allegation before, writing on Thanksgiving: “Ilhan Omar, always wrapped in her swaddling hijab, and who probably came into the U.S.A. illegally in that you are not allowed to marry your brother, does nothing but hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how ‘badly’ she is treated, when her place of origin is a decadent, backward, and crime ridden nation, which is essentially not even a country for lack of Government, Military, Police, schools, etc.” Omar...

NEW YORK — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday predicted that the administration still will be able to implement its tariff agenda regardless of whether it prevails in a pending case before the Supreme Court. Repeating assertions he had made prior to the high court hearing a month ago, Bessent cited several sections of 1962 Trade Act that give the president sweeping powers over import duties. “We can recreate the exact tariff structure with [sections] 301, with 232, with 122,” he said during an onstage interview at The New York Times DealBook Summit. Asked by host Andrew Ross Sorkin —...

Federal authorities arrested the CEO of a Fresno-based home health care company at San Francisco International Airport as he attempted to board a flight to Nigeria, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Thursday that it had made dozens of arrests in New Orleans just one day after launching Operation Catahoula Crunch, the latest federal immigration operation cracking down on criminal illegal immigrants. "Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens harming them, their families or their neighbors," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "In just 24 hours on the ground, our law enforcement officers have arrested violent criminals with rap sheets that include homicide, kidnapping, child abuse, robbery, theft and assault." [snip] The men, all with criminal histories,...

An analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly known as Obamacare, has unveiled massive fraud that could be costing American taxpayers billions of dollars, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report released on Dec. 3. Under the program, the federal government pays credits to health insurance companies, called advance premium tax credit (APTC), on behalf of eligible Obamacare participants to reduce their monthly premium payments. In plan year 2024, almost $124 billion in such credits is estimated to have been paid out to insurance companies, accounting for around 19.5 million enrollees. The GAO report...

Federal authorities on Wednesday arrested an Afghan national on suspicion of providing support to the ISIS terrorist group, the third such arrest in a week, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement.Jaan Shah Safi was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Waynesboro, Virginia. Safi is an “illegal alien terrorist who entered the U.S. on Sept. 8, 2021, in Philadelphia” under President Joe Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome program, the statement said.He had applied for Temporary Protected Status, but his application was terminated once DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ended TPS for Afghans.The TPS was terminated in May...

The ‘cement-coated’ YKJ-1000 could prove ‘formidably competitive’ internationally if sold at the relatively cheap price of US$99,000Chinese aerospace firm Lingkong Tianxing unveiled a hypersonic glide missile last week that has a range of up to 1,300 km (800 miles) and a top speed of Mach 7. The YKJ-1000 has been nicknamed the “cement-coated” missile for its use of civilian-grade materials such as foamed concrete in its heat-resistant coating. According to slides widely circulated online, the unit production cost of this missile, already in mass production after successful combat trials, may be as low as 700,000 yuan (around US$99,000). A single...

When 200 federal agents raided dozens of Minnesota homes and businesses on Jan. 20, 2022, policy analyst Bill Glahn took notice. So did a lot of other people—at first.Aimee Bock (C), founder and executive director of the nonprofit organization Feeding Our Future, arrives at the Minneapolis federal courthouse with her attorney, Ken Udoibok (R) in Minneapolis on March 19, 2025. Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via APAn initial blast of news coverage trumpeted an emerging multimillion-dollar welfare-fraud scandal. Then “it just vanished from the radar” of most media outlets and public consciousness, Glahn told The Epoch Times. “The stories just dried...

Image released by FBIThis morning Ed wrote about the arrest of a suspect in the January 6 pipe bomb case. His name is Brian Cole Jr. and when Ed Morrisey covered the story there wasn't much information about who he was or what might have motivated him. Later in the day we're starting to get a pretty clear picture. In fact, let's start with a picture.Accused DC pipe-bomber Brian Cole Jr.’s face unmasked for first time after arrest in resurfaced photo https://t.co/nPU5GLtwZn pic.twitter.com/4ozgPNS2g7— New York Post (@nypost) December 4, 2025The NY Post explained where the photo came from:Cole’s mother shared...

The minority Liberal government has struck a deal with Bloc Québécois to “eliminate long-standing Criminal Code safeguards for freedom of expression and religious freedom in exchange for the Bloc supporting Bill C-9,” according to the National Post. Currently, the law exempts hateful or antisemitic speech if it based in good faith on the interpretation of a religious text, but that immunity is set to be removed. Additionally, the Liberals are expected to back off plans to eliminate the need for a provincial attorney general’s sign-off to pursue a hate-propaganda prosecution. The removal of the religious exception clause is being driven...

Democrats and the media have been trying to whip up a story about the Trump administration taking out drug boats. They thought they had something with a story from the Washington Post that claimed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered a second strike on a drug boat when there were survivors in the water. I reported how Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) made troubling comments about the military "may help save us from this president and his lame people like Hegseth" because their "commitment is to the Constitution and obviously not to Trump." He was saying that in response to questions...

Podcast host Candace Owens' predictable response to the invitation by "The Charlie Kirk Show" producer Blake Neff over her numerous "evil" accusations surrounding Kirk's assassination has prompted accusations of "cowardice" and more.As RedState reported on Wednesday, Neff posted a video on X calling out Owens for her "reckless disregard for the truth" and the "evil" lies he said she's made about the killing of the late co-founder of Turning Point USA, which even includes Owens suggesting Kirk's friends and organizations allegedly knew and approved of his murder.READ MORE: Gauntlet Thrown: The Charlie Kirk Show Dissects Candace Owens' 'Evil Lies' About...

"Hansen-Mueller Co., a major Nebraska grain dealer operating nine elevators and four port terminals across the Midwest, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 17, 2025, leaving farmers, cooperatives, and agribusinesses across 34 states facing unpaid claims totaling millions of dollars. CEO Josh Hansen stated the court-supervised process would facilitate "an orderly sale of our assets for the benefit of our creditors, employees, and all stakeholders." The filing exposed vulnerabilities in rural supply chains and raised urgent questions about recovery prospects for thousands of Creditors." (Full story at link)