Free Republic

Cheap bikes are nice, but free is even cheaper than cheap. Residents of the asylum seekers’ center in Dronten will soon be able to purchase a cheap bicycle. A workshop for bicycle maintenance will also be available. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) hopes that this will reduce the number of bicycle thefts in the area… The police will deliver part of the 150 bicycles. These are specimens that were once seized and for which no one has reported. The COA is still looking for the remainder. “We fix up the bicycles and make them available...

The free-for-all America has witnessed at the southern border (5 million “encounters” and 1.5 million gotaways) has been ongoing for the last 30 months. Many books will be written about the series of policy decisions (and plain ol’ gross negligence) that led to the daily chaos. Indeed, the storylines are limitless, given the width and depth of this travesty. But there are specific subplots worthy of special consideration by those attempting to fully understand how we ended up here. Herein follows seven of those storylines: 1. On the heels of the scheduled lapse of the Title 42 pandemic health restriction,...

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against an MS-13 gang member who had recently been released from prison on parole, charged with murdering an Uber Eats driver in a case that police have called “demonic.”

With the Biden administration preparing to end Title 42 on Thursday, and Texas bracing for the coming onslaught, several border security measures were approved in a meeting of the Texas House that lasted until nearly 2 a.m. The centerpiece bill, however, was defeated after House Speaker Dade Phelan sustained a point of order on the bill, sending it back to committee past the deadline for bills to be considered.

The vote triggers Paxton’s immediate suspension from office pending the outcome of a trial in the state Senate.

Defying a last-minute appeal by former President Donald Trump, the Texas House voted overwhelmingly Saturday to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, temporarily removing him from office over allegations of misconduct that included bribery and abuse of office. The vote to adopt the 20 articles of impeachment was 121-23. The stunning vote came two days after an investigative committee unveiled the articles — and two days before the close of a biennial legislative session that saw significant right-wing victories, including a ban on transgender health care for minors and new restrictions on public universities' diversity efforts. The vote revealed substantial divisions...

"I think they decided they thought I was going to lose my election to Bush, and they became very disturbed when I won," he says."And they concocted this plan, I think months and months ago, maybe right after my reelection, thinking that the voters just were not smart enough to figure this out. They’re going to fix it."Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) argued establishment Republicans are moving forward with an “illegal impeachment” against him for exposing their corruption. Paxton joined Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Newsmax Friday to break down how the Texas RINOs (Republican in Name Only) have...

China’s new ambassador to the United States called on “fellow compatriots” and “Chinese students” in the U.S. to work with the Chinese Embassy, according to two open letters published by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tuesday. On his first day in office, Ambassador Xie Feng asked for the “support” of Chinese “compatriots” in the U.S., and also urged “Chinese students” in the U.S. to “serve the motherland,” according to two open letters written in English on the Chinese Embassy’s website. Xie called on both groups to serve as “bridges” between the U.S. and China to improve flailing bilateral relations. “Blood...

In 2023, we are just now entering the deadliest phase of the opioid crisis. Driven by a powerful synthetic opioid known as fentanyl, this is not just another chapter in the pharmaceutical and over-prescription scandal. During the last three years, prescription opioids were dispensed at the lowest levels in nearly 15 years, while overdose deaths have skyrocketed to record levels. In 2021, the United States hit a grim new milestone of 107,000 drug overdose deaths, with fentanyl accounting for nearly 70% of those deaths. Like so many other states, Minnesota, where I served as sheriff of its largest county, was...

Ahead of Gov. Ron DeSantis' anticipated announcement this week, a GOP mega-donor is throwing his support toward the Florida Republican instead of former President Donald Trump. Point Bridge Capital founder Hal Lambert explained in a FOX Business exclusive interview why he believes it's "time [for the Republican Party] to move on" to younger leadership. "There's a number of reasons," Lambert said on "Cavuto: Coast to Coast" on Tuesday. "One, Donald Trump can only serve one term. He'll effectively be a lame duck almost on day one, if he were to win. But I don't think he can win the general...

Amid growing concerns of security risks to members of Congress, more than 50 senators have been issued satellite phones for emergency communication, people familiar with the measures told CBS News. The devices are part of a series of new security measures being offered to senators by the Senate Sergeant at Arms, who took over shortly after the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The satellite phone technology has been offered to all 100 senators. CBS News has learned at least 50 have accepted the phones, which Senate administrative staff recommend senators keep in close proximity during their...

The influx of Chinese migrants crossing the southern border continued through April, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. Border Patrol encountered 3,182 migrants from China at the U.S.-Mexico border in April alone, according to CBP data. Chinese migrants often pay hefty smuggling fees to reach the U.S., where they have been found with large sums of U.S. currency, according to Border Patrol agents who recently spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation. In total, Border Patrol has encountered 9,711 Chinese migrants at the southern border between October 2022 and April, marking an already roughly 393% increase compared...

Thomas Haldenwang...the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency...said anti-government extremists consciously use wedge issues to stoke fear and gain new followers. These include migration - where far-right actors have perpetuated the myth of a "great replacement" - but also government measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic and combat climate change.

A top GOP donor who previously backed Donald Trump has announced that he will be supporting Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Election. Hal Lambert, founder and CEO of Texas-based Point Bridge Capital, said he wants to "do a lot to help DeSantis win" amid strong speculation the Florida governor will confirm his presidential campaign in the coming days. Lambert, who set up an exchange-traded fund named after the former president's Make America Great Again 2016 campaign slogan, MAGA ETF, and previously served on Trump's inaugural committee in 2016, told the New York Post that he decided to back DeSantis after...

Advanced money-laundering techniques and clandestine precursor imports combine to stoke the opioid crisis – can the US stem the flow? For a few days in April, news sites across Latin America were running Instagram photos of a glamorous blond woman enjoying trips around the world. There were pictures of Ana Gabriela Rubio Zea, 32, posing in a blue dress and Yves Saint Laurent handbag outside San Miguel de Allende, ice skating in a miniskirt in Central Park and laughing in the Forbidden City. The social media images were then followed by more recent photos: Rubio, in a sweatshirt and jeans,...

Last December, Officer Courtney Bannick was on the job for the Tavares, Fla., police department when she came into contact with a powder she believed was street fentanyl. The footage from another officer's body camera shows Bannick appearing to lose consciousness before being lowered to the ground by other cops. "I was light-headed a little bit," Bannick later told WKMG, a local television station. "I was choking, I couldn't breathe." Other officers can be heard on the tape describing Bannick's medical condition as an overdose. They administered Narcan, a medication that reverses opioid poisoning. "She's breathing," a cop says. "Stay...

The United States is being invaded ! This is my perspective and opinion from a Latino grandfather military veteran.

Former President Donald Trump, a Republican, has opened up a clear lead over President Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the 2024 race for the White House, a Washington Post and ABC News poll shows.The poll shows 49 percent of respondents said they would definitely or probably vote for Trump against Biden, or that they lean towards voting for Trump, whereas Biden in such a scenario only nets 42 percent.### The fact Trump has such a commanding lead over Biden just about a week after Biden announced his reelection campaign is a remarkable turn of events for the former president. Not...

A town which once prided itself as being the “most hippie” in Washington has taken drastic action to outlaw drugs, after state-wide decriminalization led to spiking crime and child overdose deaths. The proudly liberal city of 92,000 has been pushed to its limit, with the fire department responding to 223 overdoses — 2.5 calls per day — between January and April 12, according to Cascadia Daily. Among the dead are two teenagers and a five year old, who had overdosed on fentanyl in March and was found dead by police with foam coming from her mouth. Overdoses have become so...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is introducing wristband monitors to lessen the stigma associated with tracking illegal migrants released into the U.S. interior, according to an internal document and two U.S. officials who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation. ICE said in the unreleased statement that the program will be tested in a “limited” capacity in Denver as part of its Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program, which uses ankle monitors, cellphones and phone applications to track illegal immigrants released into the country. The two officials told the DCNF that the new technology was introduced to appease organizations like the...