Free Republic

The government of Japan this week extended the application of nine laws related to spousal rights and responsibilities to same-sex couples, a significant, if limited, victory in the country’s slow march towards marriage equality. The Japanese constitution currently defines marriage as “mutual consent between both sexes.” It does not recognize same-sex unions. Three of eight of Japan’s regional high courts in the last few years have ruled that the government’s failure to grant legal recognition to same-sex couples is unconstitutional. In its Tuesday announcement, the government said it will consider same-sex couples to be in “de facto marriages” under the...

Trump administration sends memo to Congress declaring 'non-international armed conflict' with drug cartels The Trump administration sent a memo to Congress on Thursday saying that the United States is now "in a non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels, which administration officials have designated as "terrorist organizations." "The President directed these actions consistent with his responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to his constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive to conduct foreign relations," the memo states. The notification to congressional lawmakers came...

A notice calls the people the U.S. military recently killed on suspicion of drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea “unlawful combatants.”President Trump has decided that the United States is engaged in a formal “armed conflict” with drug cartels his team has labeled terrorist organizations and that suspected smugglers for such groups are “unlawful combatants,” the administration said in a confidential notice to Congress this week. The notice was sent to several congressional committees and obtained by The New York Times. It adds new detail to the administration’s thinly articulated legal rationale for why three U.S. military strikes the president ordered...

President Donald J Trump has sent troops to Portland to handle domestic terrorists who are attacking immigration facilities, he posted on Truth Social. “At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” The White House confirmed the post. "At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, @Sec_Noem, I am...

The Trump Department of War is drawing up plans for kinetic operations against drug traffickers inside Venezuela, according to a thinly sourced NBC News story. Those strikes could begin in a "matter of weeks." The strikes would be primarily carried out by drones and would target drug cartel members and leadership, as well as drug labs.Putting aside the brittleness of the story, there are some considerations that move it from the "totally freakin unlikely" category to "slightly plausible." First, a disclaimer. The U.S. military has plans for just about any contingency. This dates back to at least the 1930s, when...

Tucker Carlson @TuckerCarlson The first of our five-part series on 9/11. Enjoy.

A first for Finnish figure skating Two young skaters are set to make history on the ice. Emma Aalto, 19, from Finland, and Millie Colling, 20, from England, will soon become Finland’s first same-sex ice dancing team to compete in a national qualifier. Their entry marks a major turning point for Finnish figure skating, opening the door for greater inclusivity in a sport that has long relied on traditional male-female pairings. The rule change that made it possible Until earlier this year, Finnish rules stated that an ice dancing team had to consist of a man and a woman. That...

Daily Wire hosts Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh stood firm in their defense of free speech and conservative values after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, even as some unhinged leftists called for more political commentators to be targeted. Shapiro and Walsh dedicated their shows on Thursday to honoring the legacy of Kirk, who was killed while speaking to students at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. During their shows, both Shapiro and Walsh also told their followers that despite concerns of more violence against conservatives, they would never back down and continue to stand “up for what America is and what...

A new poll conducted by Leger360 between August 29 and 31, 2025, is causing controversy in the world of U.S. politics, as it projects that California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is the frontrunner for the 2028 presidential election. The results of the survey, which were shared on social media, pitted Newsom against potential GOP candidates, including Vice President JD Vance, former President Donald Trump, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The California governor narrowly leads the president by a score of 48 percent to 44 percent, 47 percent to Vance’s 46 percent, and 49 percent to Rubio’s 44 percent....

Armed Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets buzzed a US Warship in a “show of force” on Thursday after the US military blew up a Tren de Aragua drug trafficking vessel. CBS News reported: Two armed Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew over the USS Jason Dunham on Thursday, according to multiple Defense Department officials who described the action as a “show of force.” The Dunham, an Aegis guided-missile destroyer, is among a flotilla of U.S. warships dispatched to the region in recent weeks that the Pentagon says have been deployed to target criminal organizations and narco-terrorism. CBS News was unable to determine...

President Donald Trump has ordered the creation of new federal and military “specialized units,” framed as a move to ensure public safety in Washington, D.C., and beyond. In the order signed on Monday, he directed federal agencies and the Pentagon to hire, train, and equip rapid-response forces for deployment in the capital, “other cities,” and, potentially, “nationwide.”The order, titled “Additional Measures to Address the Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia,” builds on Executive Order 14333 of August 11, which first declared a “crime emergency.”Trump justified the latest move by claiming that “rampant violence and disorder” threaten the federal government...

A Jewish legal advocacy group hailed a legal breakthrough in court battles against antisemitism after a US federal judge last week equated the Israeli flag with “the Jewish race.” The judge’s decision sets a new legal standard that can be used to protect Jews targeted in anti-Zionist attacks, said the National Jewish Advocacy Center, a nonprofit that represented the plaintiff. Pro-Israel Jewish activist Kimmara Sumrall filed the lawsuit in a federal district court in Washington, DC, last month. Sumrall alleged that she was attacked at a pro-Israel demonstration in Washington in November 2024 while wearing an Israeli flag tied around...

“You essentially define the AI equivalent of drives and instincts found in humans and animals,” LeCun explained in a LinkedIn post. “So in addition to drives for things like empathy and subservience to people, you have a large number of low-level rules like ‘don’t run over humans’ or ‘don’t swing your arm if holding a knife near people.'”

Michelle Obama has been married to former President Barack Obama for more than 30 years, but she wasn’t so sure about him at first. On a recent episode of her IMO podcast, which she cohosts with her brother Craig Robinson, Michelle explained how she met her husband. She also revealed that she thought he was “kind of weird.” (snip) “I was on the Harvard recruiting team,” she said. “So I knew of him, this Barack Obama.” But while others around her seemed super impressed by Barack, Michelle remained skeptical. “Everybody was abuzz about him, right?” she continued. “All the partners...

I once considered pitching publishers a book called 101 Things That Are Now Suddenly Gay, cataloguing the increasing number of completely non-gay things that fanatical homos now claim are gay after all, from ball bearings to hovercraft, upon no rational basis whatsoever. Yet I have already been beaten to it by a temporary daily series from the pages of lefty U.K. newspaper The Guardian to celebrate this summer’s annual Gay Pride Month(s). This was called “My Unexpected Pride Icon” and was basically my old proposed book in short serial form—but taken seriously, not as a rainbow-mocking joke. ...

South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace on Monday officially announced her 2026 bid for governor of the state. Mace announced her much-expected run on a campaign website that reads: “Nancy Mace for Governor,” with a video of several media clips compiled together, in addition to President Trump calling her a fighter, saying that “when she sets her sight on something, she’s tough.” On Sunday evening, Mace posted on social media that on Monday that she would make a "Big Announcement," making her bid almost certain. She enters a crowded and competitive GOP primary field for the seat of Republican Gov....

For 150 years, Presidents, Administrations, and White House Staff have longed for a large event space on the White House complex that can hold substantially more guests than currently allowed. President Donald J. Trump has expressed his commitment to solving this problem on behalf of future Administrations and the American people. The White House is one of the most beautiful and historic buildings in the world, yet the White House is currently unable to host major functions honoring world leaders and other countries without having to install a large and unsightly tent approximately 100 yards away from the main building...

Billionaire mogul David Geffen has rubbished his estranged boytoy husband's explosive claims that he's a sex and drug-crazed abuser. Geffen, 82, branded 32 year-old Donovan Michaels' divorce filing allegations 'false and pathetic'. Donovan Michaels, 32, alleges that his billionaire beau Geffen, 82, forced him to take drugs, subjected him to abusive sex and controlled his every move, according to the latest lawsuit in their messy divorce battle. ... The pair met in 2016 on SeekingArrangements.com, a dating website often used by rich people looking for younger partners. Geffen, a movie and music producer worth about $9 billion, allegedly paid Michaels...

-snip- Trump is a ‘realist’ Yet despite prominent figures within Mr Trump’s coalition warning against overseas military action, congressional Republicans warned that it was not always those who shouted loudest whose opinions carried weight with Mr Trump. “With this president, you are not going to win your policy debate in the media. The idea of loud people leading him is wrong,” a congressional source told The Telegraph. They added that Mr Trump is a “realist and a pragmatist”, which functions as an “ideological difference” from those on the isolationist wing of his party. Another insider added: “Trump can be hawkish...

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, President Donald Trump addressed ongoing discussions about Jeffrey Epstein, labeling them as a “hoax” perpetuated by his former supporters and the media. Trump criticized these supporters for being misled by what he described as the “Lunatic Left” and stated that he no longer desires their backing.Trump falsely compared the Epstein discussions to previous events he deemed as scams, including the Steele Dossier and the Russia investigation, asserting that these narratives are part of a pattern used by Democrats to distract from their failures.“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey...