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Forum: News/Activism

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  • Nearly 600 Voice of America employees fired

    05/16/2025 1:05:47 PM PDT · by CFW · 33 replies
    Just the News ^ | 5/16/25 | Natalia Mittelstadt
    The Trump administration has fired nearly 600 Voice of America employees as the president is working to overhaul the agency. The employees who were notified this week are mostly contractors, The New York Times reported. The 600 equals about one-third of the agency's staff. Those fired were told their last day of work will be May 30, which also will be the deadline to return badges, credentials, and other VOA property, The Hill reported. The firings follow U.S. Agency for Global Media senior adviser Kari Lake's announcement last week that One America News Network will provide news-feed services to the...
  • California board game company moves to get products out of China with tariffs set to drop

    05/16/2025 1:05:18 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 7 replies
    CBS News ^ | May 13, 2025 | Steve Large
    A Northern California businessman is making moves to get his company's products out of China and to the U.S. now that import tariffs are set to drop to 30% starting Wednesday. Price Johnson is the COO of Cephalofair Games. The company makes board games, including Gloomhaven and Frosthaven. The recent Trump administration trade deal to pause 145% tariffs and bring them down to 30% for the next 90 days has Johnson making moves to get his product out of a Shanghai warehouse and back to the US. "I'm talking to my freight partners. Half of them are telling me, 'I'm...
  • Republicans Push to End Immigrant Benefits in Democratic States

    05/16/2025 1:03:20 PM PDT · by E. Pluribus Unum · 13 replies
    The New York Times ^ | May 16, 2025, 3:39 p.m. ET | Laurel Rosenhall and Jenna Russell
    For years, Democratic state leaders believed their immigrant programs were free from federal interference. But Republicans in Washington are now threatening to penalize states that continue them.
  • The Real Reason Yale Professors Are Leaving Trump’s America

    05/16/2025 1:02:26 PM PDT · by Rummyfan · 21 replies
    The American Spectator ^ | 15 May 2025 | Aubrey Harris
    Elite panic equates patriotism with fascism. We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S.,” a Wednesday New York Times headline read. Sure, plenty of well-known Democrats (mostly from Hollywood and the media) vowed to leave the U.S. in the event of a second Trump presidency: Sharon Stone, Cher, Barbra Streisand, Raven-Symoné, Whoopi Goldberg, Elon Musk’s gender-confused son Xavier Wilson, and even Cardi B rank among those who’ve at least hinted at that kind of radical action. But few of them have actually done anything about it. But even the New York Times knows that nobody takes the vague premonitions of...
  • Weight Loss Drugs Have "No End Game" Amid Lack of Data on Long-Term Use, Former FDA Commissioner Warns

    05/16/2025 1:01:55 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 6 replies
    CBS News ^ | 5/14 | Sara Moniuszko
    HealthWatch Weight loss drugs have "no end game" amid lack of data on long-term use, former FDA commissioner warns healthwatch By Edited By May 13, 2025 / 1:03 PM EDT / CBS News Weight loss drugs have transformed how Americans lose weight, including former commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Dr. David Kessler. But, Kessler warns there are unknowns about long-term use of the drugs and how to get people off them. "There is no end game," he said on "CBS Mornings Plus" Tuesday. "FDA allowed these medicines out without a long-term strategy." Kessler faced unexpected weight gain...
  • FBI Director Kash Patel says the agency is leaving its DC HQ

    05/16/2025 1:00:37 PM PDT · by The_Media_never_lie · 38 replies
    WTOP News ^ | 5/16/25 | Grace Newton
    The FBI Headquarters is leaving the J. Edgar Hoover Building on Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C., according to the bureau’s director, Kash Patel. Patel, who made the announcement in a short clip Friday on Fox’s Mornings with Maria, called the building “unsafe for our workforce.” The move would transfer 1,500 employees to various locations across the country.
  • Trump suspends asylum system, leaving immigrants to face an uncertain future

    05/16/2025 12:59:14 PM PDT · by E. Pluribus Unum · 24 replies
    AP News ^ | Updated 1:55 PM CDT, May 16, 2025 | TIM SULLIVAN
    They arrive at the U.S. border from around the world: Eritrea, Guatemala, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ghana, Uzbekistan and so many other countries.They come for asylum, insisting they face persecution for their religion, or sexuality or for supporting the wrong politicians. For generations, they had been given the chance to make their case to U.S. authorities.Not anymore.“They didn’t give us an ICE officer to talk to. They didn’t give us an interview. No one asked me what happened,” said a Russian election worker who sought asylum in the U.S. after he said he was caught with video recordings he made of vote...
  • Trump rejects ex-FBI director Comey's explanation of "8647" post

    05/16/2025 12:53:57 PM PDT · by E. Pluribus Unum · 28 replies
    Reuters ^ | May 16, 20252:11 PM CDT | Reuters
    WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump accused James Comey on Friday of calling for his assassination in a coded post on social media, rejecting the former FBI director's explanation that he was not aware of any violent connotation.U.S. law enforcement officials are investigating an Instagram photo posted by Comey of the number 8647 formed by seashells with the comment, "Cool shell formation on my beach walk."The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here.In U.S. slang, the number 86 can be used as a verb meaning...
  • The Trump Administrations' Latest Move Is Sure to Anger the Branch Covidians

    05/16/2025 11:44:23 AM PDT · by lightman · 19 replies
    Townhall.com ^ | 16 May A.D. 2025 | Jeff Charles
    The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will no longer recommend the COVID-19 vaccine to minors and pregnant women, a significant departure from government policy during the pandemic. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will remove the recommendations when it enacts new policies for approving vaccinations. The exact timing of the announcement wasn’t clear, the people said, though it was expected in the coming days. The CDC currently recommends that everyone six months and older, including pregnant women, receive Covid vaccines. It wasn’t clear if the department is planning to remove...
  • $40,000 SALT offer discussed with megabill holdouts

    05/16/2025 11:09:11 AM PDT · by DFG · 33 replies
    Politico ^ | 05/16/2025 | Meredith Lee Hill and Rachael Bade
    House GOP leaders discussed a new, heightened state-and-local-tax deduction with a group of Republican holdouts as they race to salvage their party-line megabill from ruin. A $40,000 cap on the key deduction for individuals and $80,000 cap for joint filers was part of a list of items GOP leaders raised overnight as they scrambled to shore up ultraconservative votes, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the private conversations. The SALT cap increase is one of the biggest hangups in the bill, which is filled with President Donald Trump’s domestic policy priorities. A band of SALT Republicans are publicly...
  • Trump Calls on GOP Lawmakers to Rally Behind ‘The One Big Beautiful Bill’

    05/16/2025 11:08:42 AM PDT · by ChicagoConservative27 · 28 replies
    Breitbart ^ | 05/16/2025 | Nick Gilbertson
    President Donald Trump is calling on Republican lawmakers to support “The One Big Beautiful Bill” that would cut taxes and stop illegal aliens from receiving Medicaid. Trump took to Truth Social to urge Republicans to galvanize behind the bill. “Republicans MUST UNITE behind, ‘THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!’ Not only does it cut Taxes for ALL Americans, but it will kick millions of Illegal Aliens off of Medicaid to PROTECT it for those who are the ones in real need,” he wrote. “The Country will suffer greatly without this Legislation, with their Taxes going up 65%. It will be blamed...
  • ICE Barbie Kristi Noem is backing insane reality TV show where immigrants compete for fast-tracked citizenship

    05/16/2025 11:07:13 AM PDT · by DFG · 41 replies
    UK Daily Mail ^ | 05/15/2025 | Shawn Cohen
    She's been called 'ICE Barbie' for treating her Cabinet position like a TV production, but now Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is pushing for an actual reality show pitting immigrants against each other 'for the honor of fast-tracking their way to U.S. citizenship'. It may sound like a joke, but the idea is for real and is outlined in a 35-page program pitch put together in coordination with the DHS secretary, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. Noem is even offering up officials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to tally votes for the made-for-TV contest. The pitch comes from Rob...
  • Dear FRiends, Our fundraiser has fallen behind. Please keep those donations coming in and let's get this FReepathon moving again! Thank you all very much! God bless.

    05/16/2025 10:58:00 AM PDT · by Jim Robinson
    Dear FRiends, We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. This means no spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers. And because we are not a 501C, we have preserved our God-given, constitutionally protected right to free speech without government intervention. If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today: Click here: to donate by Credit CardOr here: to donate by PayPalOr by mail to: Free Republic, LLC...
  • 11 inmates escape New Orleans jail, considered "armed and dangerous"

    05/16/2025 10:56:25 AM PDT · by CFW · 30 replies
    CBS News ^ | 5/16/25 | Cara Tabachnick
    Eleven inmates considered "armed and dangerous" escaped a New Orleans jail Friday morning, the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office said. The inmates were discovered missing during a routine headcount conducted at 8:30 a.m. at the Orleans Parish Jail, according to the sheriff's office. They are believed to have escaped sometime just after midnight. New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said one inmate has since been apprehended in downtown New Orleans through facial recognition, caught by a surveillance camera. Louisiana State Police identified the escapee as Kendall Myles and said Myles tried to flee on foot before being apprehended "without further incident."...
  • Trump wants a twin-engined F-35. Experts say it’s ‘not feasible.’

    05/16/2025 10:48:36 AM PDT · by Fish Speaker · 61 replies
    Breaking Defense ^ | May 15, 2025 at 3:01 PM | Valerie Insinna and Michael Marrow
    WASHINGTON — In keeping with his penchant for shocking the defense industry, President Donald Trump today seemingly revealed plans to develop a twin-engine version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter known as the F-55, as well as an upgraded “F-22 Super.”But former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said he was “mystified by Trump’s comments,” and analysts said that what the president described would be a highly challenging engineering endeavor on par with creating a clean-sheet aircraft. They also questioned the wisdom of spending scarce budget dollars on a twin-engine advanced F-35 when the newly announced F-47 is already planned to...
  • Report: Melania Trump Statue in Slovenia Vanishes After Being Sawed Off at Ankles

    05/16/2025 10:38:35 AM PDT · by ChicagoConservative27 · 26 replies
    Breitbart ^ | 05/16/2025 | Amy Furr
    A bronze statue of First Lady Melania Trump has apparently disappeared from her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia. Local media said the statue was sawed off at the ankles and carried away from the area, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Friday, noting police are investigating and trying to find those responsible. “The original wooden statue was torched in July 2020. The rustic figure was cut from the trunk of a linden tree, showing her in a pale blue dress like the one she wore at Trump’s presidential inauguration in 2017. The replica bronze statue has no obvious resemblance with the...
  • House Budget Committee rejects Trump agenda bill in major setback for GOP leaders

    05/16/2025 10:38:03 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 28 replies
    CNBC ^ | May 16, 2025 | Staff
    WASHINGTON — The GOP-led House Budget Committee voted to reject a sweeping package for President Donald Trump’s agenda on Friday, dealing an embarrassing setback for Republican leaders. The vote in the Budget Committee was 16-21, with five conservative hard-liners joining all Democrats in voting against the multitrillion-dollar legislation. After the vote tally was read, Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, the committee chair, adjourned the hearing and told members they would not be meeting again this weekend. Negotiations with the GOP holdouts will continue in the coming days and Republicans on the panel will try to regroup as soon as Monday. Republican...
  • BREAKING: President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful” Bill FAILS in Committee After Five House Republicans Vote NO – Largest Tax Increase in American History Looms

    05/16/2025 10:27:40 AM PDT · by bitt · 84 replies
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com ^ | May. 16, 2025 | Cullen Linebarger
    The Trump agenda suffered a major setback today after a handful of Republicans voted a key bill delivering it down in committee. Now, the largest tax increase in American history looms unless the GOP does an about-face. As The Gateway Pundit reported, the House Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee—led by Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO)—previously released the text of a monumental new tax reform package titled “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill.” The bill, strongly backed by President Donald Trump, is aimed at delivering historic cuts to American families, workers, and small businesses. The 389-page bill includes a long list...
  • USAID: Hungary Claims U.S. and EU Gave over $63 Million to Anti-Orbán Media in Bid to Topple Government

    05/16/2025 10:00:19 AM PDT · by bimboeruption · 16 replies
    Breitbart ^ | 5-16-25 | Kurt Zindulka
    The head of Budapest’s Office for the Protection of Sovereignty claimed that tens of millions of dollars from the United States and the European Union have funded left-leaning media institutions over the past three years, with the intent of overthrowing the conservative government of Viktor Orbán in Hungary. Supposedly independent media outlets in Hungary have been propped up by money from the now-axed United States Agency for International Development (USAID), other State Department programmes, as well as from the European Commission, Tamás Lánczi said this week. The top man at the Office for the Protection of Sovereignty said that the...
  • US Attorney Alina Habba and the DOJ are set to announce CHARGES against Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver

    05/16/2025 9:46:35 AM PDT · by Vendome · 39 replies
    EricLDaugh via X ^ | May 16, 2025 | Eric Dougherty
    JUST IN: US Attorney Alina Habba and the DOJ are set to announce CHARGES against Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver after she stormed the New Jersey ICE facility and threw hands with law enforcement - NJ Globe NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.