Free Republic

U.S. intelligence has circulated to President Trump and to a small circle around him that Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had misgivings about his son replacing him, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News. The analysis showed the elder Khamenei was wary of his son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, ever taking power because he was perceived as not very bright, and was viewed as unqualified to be leader, according to sources. The information gathered also indicated that the father was aware that his son had issues in his personal life, according to sources within the administration, the...

The origins of the Roman Catholic Church are not found in Peter preaching at Pentecost, Paul writing to the churches, or the apostles planting local assemblies under the authority of Jesus Christ. The New Testament church began in the first century as a spiritual body of born-again believers saved by grace through faith. The Roman Catholic system, as a centralized, hierarchical, sacramental, state-favored religious institution, began taking recognizable shape in the 4th century, when professing Christianity was forcibly joined to the power structure of the Roman Empire in what can only be described as a hostile corporate takeover. Cue the...

A thorough reexamination of scientific data has revealed that the rate of sea-level rise is accelerating, and the primary driver might not be what you think. While melting glaciers and shrinking ice sheets are commonly understood to contribute to sea levels creeping higher, the slow and steady expansion of our oceans often goes unseen. Yet this phenomenon is the main cause leading to higher sea levels around the world, research shows. As water in the ocean gets warmer, it expands in space – a process known as thermal expansion – meaning seawater occupies more volume. This expansion of water is...

Executive summaryCNN published an investigation into online communities likened to an "online rape academy" that document and trade techniques for drugging and sexually assaulting partners, prompting widespread alarm and viral claims that "62 million men attended" the academy — a figure that has been misrepresented on social media [1] [2]. Fact-checkers clarified that the 62 million number cited by CNN represented total visits to a pornographic website in a single month, not the number of users enrolled in or explicitly participating in the abusive chats [2] [3]. 1. What CNN actually reported CNN's As Equals series described months of reporting...

The Tisza leader campaigned as ‘Orbán 2.0,’ but days into office, he launched a Tusk-style parliamentary coup, purging conservatives, shutting down state media, and surrendering to Brussels on migration and foreign policy. Hungary’s new Prime Minister Peter Magyar stands next to Anita Orban, incoming Minister of Foreign Affairs, during the swearing-in ceremony for the cabinet at the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest on May 12, 2026. Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP. How do you win electorally having lost culturally? For Brussels, when it came to Hungary, that was the challenge. For years, now-former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán proved quite the maverick—at...

The U.S.-brokered alliance designed to counter Iran in the Middle East is showing signs of strain amid tensions between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, an analyst says, as the possibility of a broader conflict with Tehran intensified Sunday. The friction first surfaced May 13 after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he held a "historic breakthrough" meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a "secret visit" to Al Ain near the Oman border. The UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a swift denial following the announcement. Sachs, a senior fellow at the institute, said...

A stunning new poll by The Heartland Institute’s Glenn C. Haskins Emerging Issues Center and Rasmussen Reports reveals that 51% of young Americans who are likely to vote in the next presidential election would like to see a democratic socialist in the Oval Office. The survey found that nearly three-in-10 young Americans who voted for President Trump in 2024 would prefer a democratic socialist win the presidency in 2028. Those earning less than $100,000 per year and those earning $200,000 or more also voiced strong support for a democratic socialist in the White House whereas the only income cohort to...

It's vitriolic because it just encourages the asinine behaviors and reactions in those whose default setting is to be reductive of people,' he added.

Senators Elizabeth Warren (D, Massachusetts) and Josh Hawley (R, Missouri) introduced the Break Up Big Medicine Act, legislation aimed at prohibiting the joint ownership of health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), providers, and wholesalers to reduce health care costs and restore competition... The legislation comes amid growing concerns about consolidation in the health care industry. In the US, 3 PBMs currently manage 80% of prescription drug claims, 2 and 3 wholesalers control 98% of prescription drug distribution... These entities are often vertically integrated, meaning a single parent company can own every component of the health care supply chain, from the...

In the summer of 1905, two men held a private conversation in Tokyo that the world wouldn't find out about for nearly two decades. No treaty was signed. No announcement was made. But in that room, the United States quietly handed an entire nation over to colonial rule — and set in motion a chain of events that would end at Pearl Harbor forty years later. This is the story of the Taft-Katsura Agreement, the secret deal that validated Japanese imperial ambition at the exact moment it needed validation most. We cover the Meiji Restoration and Japan's transformation from feudal...

Raise your hand if someone close to you – friend, relative, co-worker – has been personally touched by divorce. Sadly, I’ve been able to raise my hand for all three at certain points of my life, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you can as well. Perhaps you’ve even been divorced yourself. The prevalence of divorce in our culture is likely why so few say anything against it. Afraid of stepping on toes, we dance around the topic, telling divorcees that they’re “so brave” for separating from their partner, or that they did the right thing to get out and...

In 1420, the mightiest military force in all of Christendom rode to war. The death of Czech reformist preacher Jan Hus, an early precursor to Martin Luther, had sparked a religious revolt in the lands of Bohemia. Masses of Czech peasants grabbed their pitchforks, forming armed bands that promised to defend their faith and their homeland. To call these people suicidal would have been an understatement: they were now at war not merely against the Holy Roman Empire, but against Christendom itself. As the Emperor Sigismund gathered his forces, Pope Martin V asked every Christian knight to fight the heretics....

Loopy Tucker being tucker (Video)

The 53-second clip, titled 'One Vengeance for All,' was released by Iranian news outlet Fars News Agency, which is closely tied to the country's state broadcasting network. The video unfolds as a dark montage of historical and modern conflict imagery framed to portray American and Western actions as sources of global suffering. It opens with scenes referencing violence against Native American populations before shifting to the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II. Scenes resembling the Vietnam War follow, alongside footage referencing recent conflicts in Gaza, Yemen and an Iranian school reportedly struck by an American...

In 2008, Californians voted on what they were told would be a modern transportation system — a sleek, high-speed rail line connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco in under three hours, financed in part by private investment, delivered at a defined cost, and built within a reasonable timeframe. Eighteen years later, all that has been delivered is one of the largest eminent domain land grabs in modern history. No serious person disputes that infrastructure requires land. But the power of eminent domain is not merely an administrative tool. It is among the most formidable powers government possesses: the authority to...

The official story is real — but incomplete. Operation Epic Fury’s stated goals — eliminating Iran’s nuclear program, destroying its missile arsenal, degrading its proxy networks, and annihilating its navy — are all legitimate grievances rooted in 47 years of Iranian hostility toward the United States. But they are the surface layer of a much deeper strategic play.

Jeffrey Epstein secretly stashed computers, photographs, and other items in storage units scattered across the US — and paid private detectives to move the material around as investigators closed in on him, according to a new report. Financial records and emails reviewed by the Telegraph revealed that the dead pedophile rented at least six storage lockers nationwide, some starting in 2003, and paid for them until 2019, the year he died by suicide in lockup. The units were used to house items from Epstein’s homes, including computers and CDs from his private Caribbean island, Little Saint James, the outlet reported....

More than 240 million gallons of raw sewage has spilled into the Potomac River since a pipe burst last month, and the lackluster response of the DC Water Board is raising questions about the competency of those in charge.Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes was appointed as Chair of the DC Water Board by the Democratic Mayor of Washington D.C. Muriel Bowser, despite lacking expertise in wastewater management or engineering.Though Morris-Hughes has an extensive background in administering federally-funded workforce programs, that experience has done little to mitigate the effects of what may be the largest sewage spill in U.S. history.

Richard Feynman’s physics reveals why aliens cannot reach Earth. From the absolute limit of the Speed of Light to the Fermi Paradox, discover why Interstellar Travel is impossible and why we are truly alone in the universe. …

Think back to February 2020. If you were paying close attention, you might have noticed a few people talking about a virus spreading overseas. But most of us weren't paying close attention. The stock market was doing great, your kids were in school, you were going to restaurants and shaking hands and planning trips. If someone told you they were stockpiling toilet paper you would have thought they'd been spending too much time on a weird corner of the internet. Then, over the course of about three weeks, the entire world changed. Your office closed, your kids came home, and...