Free Republic

We’ve spent many an article bringing you the foibles of California. Gov. Gavin Newsom and his Democrat supermajority (there are currently 90 Democrats running Sacramento's legislature, with only 30 Republicans) have brought high taxes, crime, homelessness, rampant illegal immigration, and (in)affordability. These are just a few of the issues they have faceplanted on, turning the state that was not so long ago a place where people once dreamed of living into a laughingstock. heir latest boneheaded proposition is to further tax billionaires, who already pay a massive share of the state's revenue. Whether or not you like really, really rich...

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar denounced a surge of federal agents to Minneapolis targeting Somalis and other immigrants after a fraud scheme in the state, saying the Trump administration has sown "confusion and chaos." "It's not necessary in a moment when we are trying to deal with a serious problem that needs serious people to be able to address it," Omar said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." The Minneapolis area now has one of the largest concentrations of Department of Homeland Security agents in any American city in recent years. There are more than 2,400 federal agents, more...

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar denounced a surge of federal agents to Minneapolis targeting Somalis and other immigrants after a fraud scheme in the state, saying the Trump administration has sown "confusion and chaos.""It's not necessary in a moment when we are trying to deal with a serious problem that needs serious people to be able to address it," Omar said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."The Minneapolis area now has one of the largest concentrations of Department of Homeland Security agents in any American city in recent years. There are more than 2,400 federal agents, more than double...

The Government has urged online watchdog Ofcom to use its powers to block access to X, formerly Twitter, in a dramatic escalation in tensions with the tech billionaire Elon Musk. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall issued a statement telling the regulator that it had the “full support” of ministers to use its powers to block UK users from gaining access to the social media site.

The conservative commentator wrote the 37-year-old mother likely has different immigration views from him, “But that shouldn’t matter. Her death is a tragedy, regardless of her partisan affiliations, ideological beliefs, or who pulled the trigger. A woman got shot in the face.” He compared the conservatives’ response to the left-wing reaction to Charlie Kirk’s killing, arguing Americans have become desensitized to home-turf violence because American leaders are “normalizing bloodshed.”

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Violent rioters favoring monarchy vandalized public and private properties in a number of cities across Iran on Thursday night, inflicting injuries on ordinary people and security forces. The violent unrest that erupted in a number of Iranian cities on Thursday night caused damages to the government buildings, private shops, and even mosques. The rioters backing monarchy vandalized public properties, blocked streets, attacked the administrative buildings and Police stations, and injured a number of security and law enforcement forces. In remarks on Friday morning, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said the vandals have destroyed...

Gene Simmons recently attempted to dispel the "mythology" surrounding Kiss' biggest hit, "Beth," claiming drummer Peter Criss "had nothing to do with that song" despite singing it and receiving a writing credit on the track. In a new interview with Professor of Rock, Simmons detailed the origins of "Beth," which appeared on the band's fourth album, Destroyer, and peaked at a career-high No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. How 'Beth' Started With a Clunkier Title Simmons said that during a limousine ride through Michigan, Criss hummed him a primitive version of the song, which at the time had the...

President Donald Trump said drug “cartels are running Mexico,” and suggested the U.S. military could start land strikes against them there.

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Two people were shot by federal agents in Southeast Portland on Thursday afternoon, according to police. At 2:18 p.m., Portland police officers responded to the 10200 block of Southeast Main Street on a report of a shooting. Officers confirmed that federal agents had been involved in a shooting, PPB said. The FBI office in Portland confirmed that the two agents involved in the shooting were working for Border Patrol on X/Twitter. But a short time later they deleted that statement. There’s no word on the condition of the people who were shot.

The grieving wife of a woman shot dead by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota broke down in tears and blamed herself for the tragedy. Harrowing footage from the scene showed the unidentified woman in tears over the shooting death of 37-year-old poet Renee Nicole Good, as she admitted encouraging Good to confront agents. 'I made her come down here, it’s my fault,' she could be heard saying at one point, through tears. 'They just shot my wife.' Witnesses have claimed Good and her wife were acting as legal observers and filming the protest when she was shot three...

ICE shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota after an attempted car ramming..

Danish soldiers will be required to shoot first and ask questions later if the United States invades Greenland, under the army’s rules of engagement.On Wednesday, the Danish defence ministry confirmed the existence of a 1952 rule requiring soldiers to “immediately” counter-attack invading forces without awaiting orders.The defence ministry also said that the rule “remains in force” when asked about its status by Berlingske, a centre-Right Danish newspaper.This week, Donald Trump, the US president, has repeated his intention to annex the Nato territory of Greenland, which he views as essential to US national security, including by military force if necessary.

A preschool teacher was arrested on camera as she finished a TV interview about Donald Trump’s raid on Venezuela to seize Nicolás Maduro... Jessica Plichta, 22, said she was the only person arrested among roughly 200 demonstrators at an anti-war protest in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, hours after Maduro was detained in Caracas... In the broadcast footage, two officers could be seen approaching from behind as she wrapped her interview with WZZM, the city’s ABC affiliate, then escorted her away as she told them, “I am not resisting arrest.” WZZM said an officer cited “obstructing a roadway and failure...

ICE detained a man who has been living in the U.S. since he was a baby, remanding him into federal custody after a routine appointment with immigration officials. Chong Leng Vue, 45, was brought to the U.S. as a baby from a refugee camp in Thailand. His family was one of many that fled Laos during the Secret War and was granted asylum in the U.S.

Aldrich Ames, the most murderous turncoat in the history of the Central Intelligence Agency, whose betrayal in working for the Soviet Union went undetected for almost a decade, died on Monday. He was 84 and had been a federal prisoner, serving life without parole, since 1994.

Now might be the moment to get a table at Tatiana — because everyone has been stranded in paradise by the Venezuela crisis. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy closed down airspace around the South American nation Saturday night amid the jaw-dropping operation to seize president Nicolás Maduro, meaning that the commercial flights and private jets that were meant to ferry movie stars, moguls and mega-millionaires back to reality after their New Year’s celebrations were grounded. We’re told Queen Latifah, Mike Tyson, Ming Lee Simmons, Natalie Portman and party pacha Richie Akiva were among those beached in St. Barts and the...

Many environment and climate-related stories hit the headlines in 2025. Here at home, we had the record-breaking Storm Éowyn, one of the most powerful and widespread wind events to hit Ireland since the so-called “Night of the Big Wind” in 1839. Globally we had confirmation that average temperatures throughout the past three years exceeded 1.5°C of warming, and each of the past three years was either the hottest, the second hottest or the third hottest year on record. […] But one story is head and shoulders above all others when it comes to the most consequential environment event of 2025....

The Bolivarian regime seems to be eating itself, now. Monday night erupted in heavy firefights in Caracas, more specifically in areas of Miraflores, where the presidential palace is located. This comes a mere hours after the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, was formally sworn in. Rumors have been circulating that Maduro’s right-hand man, Diosdado Cabello, was planning a coup d’état against Rodríguez. Apparently, her first decisions were not to the liking of the generals of the highly ideological Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela. Diosdado controls many of the ‘colectivos of Venezuela’, far-left, heavily armed paramilitary groups operating independently of the Government.

As the world, including Canada, tries to make sense of the U.S. capturing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, some Hamilton demonstrators are denouncing the military intervention. "We think the U.S. has no right under international law to invade another country to kidnap and forcibly remove the head of state," said Ken Stone, a member of the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network. Stone was joined by about two dozen protesters on Monday, standing outside the government of Canada building on Bay Street in Hamilton, chanting and holding signs that read, "Hands off Venezuela" and "No war on Venezuela." The...

A woman was arrested live on camera in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while talking to a local newscast about protesting the U.S. government’s sudden takeover of Venezuela. Jessica Plichta helped Grand Rapids Opponents of War organize the turnout Saturday, which inspired dozens of locals to march through snowy city streets. But in a bizarre turn of events, Plichta’s decision to exercise her First Amendment rights ended when local authorities handcuffed her on the sidewalk while she was live on air. “We have to apply pressure at all points that we can, this is not just a foreign issue,” Plichta said before...