Free Republic

Largest tax cut for American workers aims to cement blue-collar boom and make life affordable againThe same issues that drove the Founders to declare independence from the Crown in 1776 drove 77 million Americans to the polls in 2024: heavy taxes, weak leadership, and an overreaching government numb to the needs of its citizens. President Trump won in a landslide victory by offering powerful solutions to each of these problems. He is the American people's declaration of independence from business as usual in Washington.The president seeks to serve "the forgotten men and women of America." And the One Big, Beautiful...

Why young men don’t read — and publishing doesn’t care.A quiet crisis is consuming the world of literature, and no one seems to care.Male writers are vanishing — not by fluke or market whim, but by design, denial, and quiet cultural disdain. Fewer men are reading fiction, and fewer men are publishing novels. (RELATED: Male Novel Readers Are Not Fiction)Men are reading less because the literary world no longer offers them mirrors.This isn’t a lament for some patriarchal golden age, where men smoked pipes, quoted Hemingway, and felt vaguely superior just for owning hardcovers. It’s a warning. The decline of...

Workers are anxious that artificial intelligence could wipe out their jobs as layoffs continue and employers are cautious about hiring. Tech executives, economists and other experts say that AI could automate mundane and tedious tasks and also create new roles. Tech companies that are cutting jobs and leaning more on artificial intelligence are also disrupting themselves.Amazon’s Chief Executive Andy Jassy said last month that he expects the e-commerce giant will shrink its workforce as employees “get efficiency gains from using AI extensively.”At Salesforce, a software company that helps businesses manage customer relationships, Chief Executive Marc Benioff said last week that...

Meteorologists knew there was some risk of overnight flooding. Then four months of rainfall came down in only four hours.Meteorologists had cautioned there was potential for flooding across Central Texas in the overnight hours late Thursday and early Friday morning. But there was little indication of just how torrential and unrelenting the downpours would become in the predawn hours, killing at least 27 people, many of them children at camp. Radar and precipitation data and National Weather Service warnings show the floods were the result of extraordinary atmospheric conditions that sent intense plumes of Gulf of Mexico moisture into parts...

Only 11 days after President Trump was inaugurated for a second term, his administration began a purge of the F.B.I. that now threatens some of the bureau’s most important missions. His appointees ousted eight of its most experienced managers, including the division heads overseeing national security, cybersecurity and criminal investigations. Several had worked on prosecutions of Jan. 6 rioters or had assisted in the various investigations of Mr. Trump, and Emil Bove, then the acting deputy attorney general, said they could not be trusted to carry out the president’s agenda.That was just the beginning. Over the past five months, many...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Tehrangeles” in West Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran. This cultural enclave, also known as Little Persia, is where Iranian Muslims, Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and Bahai have peacefully coexisted for decades. But the recent war between Israel and Iran — a bloody, 12-day conflict paused by a fragile ceasefire — has brought up religious tensions and political debates that rarely surface in this culturally harmonious environment. To complicate matters, the U.S. — an ally of Israel — bombed Iran during the war.Many Iranian Jews in the diaspora have viewed the onset...

LONDON (AP) — More than 20 people were arrested Saturday on suspicion of terrorism offenses after protesters gathered in central London in support of Palestine Action. The protest in Parliament Square came hours after the pro-Palestinian activist group was banned in Britain under anti-terrorism laws. A small group of protesters stood beneath a statue of Mahatma Gandhi and held placards reading, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” Police surrounded them and several people were taken away. One woman seen lying on the ground in handcuffs was carried by officers to a police van. “Palestine Action is a proscribed group...

July 5 (Reuters) - Founded by a University of Texas football coach, Camp Mystic where raging floodwaters swept away dozens of girls - killing several and leaving many others missing - was established along the banks of the Guadalupe River in central Texas hill country nearly a century ago "to provide young girls with a wholesome Christian atmosphere. Here are some facts and background about the camp: The camp, located about 85 miles northwest of San Antonio, has operated nearly continuously since its founding in 1926 by E.J. "Doc" Stewart, who coached the Texas Longhorns football squad from 1923-1926 and,...

Let me just state this right up front. Farmers in America, particularly ones that employ several to more than a hundred workers, are not unsophisticated country bumpkins. There will be no whining in this essay along the lines of “Oh, the poor farmer! He does not know how to fill out online federal forms for income tax withholding, immigration, etc.” That’s farm animal excrement! Farmers EFT their own quarterly income tax payments, so they can certainly make payments for their workers’ withholding.President Trump has listened to the sad stories of loving employers and their willing wage workers providing our food...

Hamas announced on Friday that it had “submitted a positive response” to a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel in Gaza, opening the path toward a deal to halt the conflict after months of failed efforts. Hamas has “submitted a positive response to the mediators, and the movement is fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework,” the group said in a statement. Israel had previously accepted the US-sponsored framework, which means the two sides are now expected to enter final, detailed negotiations before a ceasefire agreement is officially reached....

Glancing upwards only to spot a drone hovering over their gardens last week was the last straw for residents of Welford Place SW19, whose homes overlook the much lauded All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC). While the eye in the sky probably belongs to an accredited broadcaster scouting out local colour ahead of the annual championships, the intrusion felt all too typical of the approach that the Wimbledon high command itself takes to its near neighbours. The annual championships may charm a world audience with its cultivated celebration of grass court tennis, strawberries and a nostalgic evocation of English fair...

Police officers in Germany now have to fear if their collegaues have been bought and their lives are in danger.. Criminal organizations, drug trafficking, money laundering and corruption – a new documentary by German public broadcaster ZDF has revealed serious irregularities in the relationship between the German state and organized crime, writes Mandiner news portal. “Kriminelle Clans in Deutschland” shows that criminal networks not only control large cities, but have also established their influence nationwide, right up to state institutions. Accumulating huge wealth illegally, they have built a tight network that includes law enforcement agencies. “It is a murderous and...

“Germany is considering purchasing up to 2,500 armored fighting vehicles and as many as 1,000 battle tanks as part of a joint European effort to create new NATO brigades to deter Russia, according to people familiar with the matter. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has asked Germany to contribute as many as seven combat brigades to the alliance within the next decade. The fighting vehicles and tanks, if approved, would equip these forces, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.” “The order under consideration by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and the Bundeswehr’s top generals would include as...

President Donald Trump signed a landmark bill on Thursday, July 4, 2025, that prohibits federal Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood and other abortion companies The measure defunds Big Abortion for one year, marking a significant victory for pro-life advocates who have long sought to end taxpayer support for the nation’s largest abortion business. Pro-life leaders hailed the signing as a historic step toward protecting unborn lives, calling it a sweeping legislative victory that marks a turning point for pro-life policy in America.“President Trump has once again delivered on his promise to protect the most vulnerable among us,” said Carol Tobias,...

"Political control and the concealment of information are hallmarks of totalitarian ideologies," wrote Marine Le Pen in response to the amendment, which cites the murders of Thomas and Lola.. When reality does not mesh with the “narrative,” the left’s standard tactic is to turn to censorship, and the French left is no different. The French Greens and other left-wing parties now want to make sure that news stories are not used for ideological purposes by the “far right,” claiming that certain media outlets are causing a “moral panic” around immigration due to migrant murders. According to a parliamentary amendment tabled...

A disabled Portland resident announced she is suing the city for refusing to take action against the ongoing Antifa occupation outside the ICE office, saying that community members have been "trapped in nightly torture" for nearly a month due to ongoing violence and noise disturbances stemming from the unlawful occupation. Cloud, who was recently featured in a viral video confronting Antifa for blasting a makeshift sonic weapon during quiet hours, told The Post Millennial in a statement on Friday that the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) has failed to uphold their oath in protecting the community from black clad agitators who...

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Poland will introduce temporary border controls with Germany and Lithuania from Monday amid growing tensions over irregular migration, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, has said. The decision, made after a government meeting with the Polish border guard on Tuesday, comes in response to growing domestic political pressure and far-right backed protests at Poland’s border crossings with Germany over the weekend. In remarks at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, Tusk blamed Germany for the move, accusing it of a policy shift resulting in “effectively refusing entry … to migrants who are heading to Germany to apply for asylum...

Global Affairs says dozens of Canadians being held by U.S. immigration authoritiesRelatives of Canadians detained by ICE in the United States say they're furious and frustrated by the treatment of their loved ones and the battles they're having to fight for even the most basic information. Global Affairs Canada said it's aware of roughly 55 Canadians in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, though it said that the numbers can fluctuate. Cynthia Olivera — born in Mississauga, Ont., but living in Los Angeles — was arrested last month when she and her husband went to an immigration office to complete...

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Dutch and German intelligence agencies have gathered evidence of widespread Russian use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including dropping a choking agent from drones to drive soldiers out of trenches so they can be shot, they said on Friday. Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for tougher sanctions against Moscow. "The main conclusion is that we can confirm Russia is intensifying its use of chemical weapons," he told Reuters. "This intensification is concerning because it is part of a trend we have been observing for several years now, where Russia's use of chemical weapons in...