Free Republic

IDAHO FALLS — Stakeholders with the Grand Teton Council and other local community leaders gathered Wednesday to discuss ways of increasing membership for the Scouting program after a massive drop in numbers five years ago. The Grand Teton Council is part of Scouting America, formerly the Boy Scouts of America, and covers eastern Idaho and parts of western Wyoming. Since 2019, the Grand Teton Council and Scouting America have struggled to maintain and grow their membership after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stopped using the organization in lieu of starting its own youth program. “We lost 95%...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A female Army Ranger for the first time competed in the annual Best Ranger Competition, and her two-soldier team finished the grueling three-day event over the weekend and came in 14th overall. First Lt. Gabrielle White, and her teammate, Capt. Seth Deltenre, were among the 16 teams that made it through the final events, where Ranger teams compete for accolades as the best of the elite military force. All together, 52 teams competed and all of the others were made up of only male soldiers. The two Rangers on the winning team were 1st Lt. Griff Hokanson...

The transgender movement and their allies are angry that their agenda across the country is losing ground. Their full-court strategy – reiterated on this past Monday’s “Transgender Day of Visibility” – is to claim as loudly as possible that they are being attacked. Americans have had enough of the transgender agenda, particularly targeting children. We’re all familiar with the trans outrages, including: - Radical gender ideology in nearly every grade - Transgender-themed library books and other material - Secret transgender “counseling” of confused children - Organized school events (GLSEN, GSA, etc.) in schools pushing “gender” propaganda - Children encouraged to...

For almost 20 years, U.S. air travelers have been restricted to carrying liquids in 3.4-ounce (100 ml) containers, neatly packed inside a quart-size clear plastic bag - but new TSA technology is set to revolutionize this. The rule was actually a counter-terrorism measure aimed at thwarting attacks using liquid explosives, with 100 ml being the maximum quantity that could explode within an aircraft cabin without causing catastrophic damage. It helped minimize the risk of dangerous substances slipping through security checks unnoticed. However, new computed tomography (CT) scanners capable of analyzing the contents of bottles are currently being installed in America's...

Attorney Alan Dershowitz said on Newsmax Friday that the Central Park Five may come to regret filing a defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, calling the case both legally tenuous and politically risky for the plaintiffs. A federal judge refused to dismiss a defamation lawsuit against Trump filed by the exonerated Central Park Five over his past public remarks. Appearing on “The Record With Greta Van Susteren,” Dershowitz said that the Central Park Five men were not completely innocent and that new scrutiny could expose details they’d rather keep buried. “This is going to be a very hard case for...

Twelve students who participated in a violent antisemitic protest at Stanford University in 2024 have been charged with felonies, according to a Thursday announcement. The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced that the protesters were charged for "breaking into a Stanford University campus building last year, barricading themselves inside, and vandalizing administrative offices." Many protesters across the nation continue to face penalties for the violent and destructive anti-Israel demonstrations that swept college campuses since the start of Hamas' war on Israel, as investigations have revealed administrators allowed and at times supported pro-Hamas events. "Dissent is American. Vandalism is criminal,"...

The Pentagon announced Wednesday Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield was fired from her position as U.S. representative to NATO’s military committee “due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead.” Chatfield, one of only a few female three-star officers in the Navy and the first woman to lead the Naval War College, served in Afghanistan as a helicopter pilot. In her most recent position, she was assigned to the alliance’s nuclear planning group, acting as a liaison between military and political leadership. Texas congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a persistent critic of the Trump administration, said Chatfield wasn’t fired because...

‘I, Pencil’ defined free trade — Trump’s tariffs are writing the sequel The president’s plan to restore American manufacturing isn’t nostalgia — it’s strategy. Supply lines are now battlegrounds, and Trump wants America to be ready.On Sept. 17, 2024, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in the hands and pockets of alleged Hezbollah operatives across Lebanon and Syria. Intelligence sources believe the Israeli government carried out the operation in retaliation for the terrorist attacks committed on Oct. 7, 2023.Israeli agents reportedly intercepted the devices — manufactured overseas — and modified their batteries to include small amounts of explosives. However...

A Roadmap to IndependenceThe Trump Administration is focusing on recovering self-reliance.The most powerful nation in history has spent the last three decades outsourcing its strength. Factories have been shuttered, energy dependence was reinstated, domestic bureaucracies have continued to grow, and bad trade deals were signed with rivals—all moves that have weakened America’s sovereignty. The Trump Administration is reversing this decline not only through rhetoric but also through action (which, admittedly, can be confusing at times).The common thread weaved through President Trump’s current efforts is self-reliance. It’s evident in the concessions the Trump Administration is seeking from partners and adversaries alike....

I was raised to respect the Austrian School of economics. From the hardliners at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and Reason to the more moderate libertarians like Milton Friedman and President Reagan, the conservatives of my generation (I’m 62) knew several things with absolute certainty:· Taxation is Theft.· The most important goal of our Founding Fathers was limiting the size and scope of government.· The Invisible Hand of the Free Market delivers the best results for the consumer.At the same time, however, we recognized certain other fundamental truths of government:· Government is instituted to protect society from external enemies...

NCRI conducted a nationally representative survey of more than 1,200 U.S. adults, weighted to reflect national census demographics. The findings were stark: Some 38% of respondents said it would be at least "somewhat justified" to murder Donald Trump, and 31% said the same about Elon Musk. When counting only left-leaning respondents, justification for killing Trump rose to 55% and Musk to 48%.

[C]hildren holding fake Kalashnikov and AK-47 rifles were seen on the streets of the Mother City during the annual Quds Day protest on 28 March, which is held on the last Friday of Ramadan. Wearing headbands and keffiyehs in the style of Palestinian terrorists, the children played at being “terrorists”, crouching on one knee to aim at their targets. About 500 people took to the streets for the protest, with a multitude of Hezbollah flags and images of assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. African National Congress (ANC) leader of the opposition in the Western Cape Provincial Legislature and ANC Western...

California state lawmakers have rejected a change to state policies that would have required male student athletes identifying as transgender to compete on sports teams consistent with their sex.On April 1, Democratic lawmakers on the state Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism rejected two bills introduced by Republican lawmakers—AB 89 and AB 844. Democrats hold a supermajority on the committee.AB 89 would have required the California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports, to follow rules banning male students from playing on girls’ sports teams at school.AB 844 would have effectively repealed the 2013 California School Success and...

Margaret Sanger promoted birth control as the path to eliminating minorities and the disabled to clean up the gene pool. Planned Parenthood, her legacy, jumped on abortion as a means to accomplish this goal. That isn't hyperbole. It is just a fact. Mike Wallace called her a hero. The entire Democratic Party turned her into a saint and has poured tens of billions into Planned Parenthood to accomplish that goal. And now Colorado Democrats are openly justifying their plan to subsidize abortions for the poor because, well, poor kids are expensive to the state. 2/ Let me break down what's...

The nation’s LGBTQ research field is collapsing. In recent weeks, academics who focus on improving the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans have been subjected to waves of grant cancellations from the National Institutes of Health. More than 270 grants totaling at least $125 million of unspent funds have been eliminated, though the true sum is likely much greater, researchers told NBC News. Cancellation letters obtained by NBC News often vaguely state that the research in question no longer suits NIH priorities.

Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the holiest site in Christianity Proof of an ancient garden, consistent with biblical scripture, has emerged at the holiest site in Christianity — and an archaeologist says "many surprises" from the site are in the works. Archaeologists excavating the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the ancient church in Jerusalem situated where Jesus Christ was crucified and buried, recently found evidence of ancient olive trees and grapevines. The specimens date back roughly 2,000 years. The discovery echoes the New Testament verse John 19:41, "Now in the place where he was crucified there was a...

Trade should work for America, not rule it Ideological free trade has failed. It’s time America puts its citizens first, just like every other serious country on Earth.This week, Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, announced his organization’s support for President Trump’s trade policy. That includes backing Trump’s use of tariff threats to secure better trade deals with foreign nations.The announcement reflects a broader shift underway at Heritage. Once a pillar of the conservative establishment, the think tank has moved toward a more populist, "America First" approach that challenges the traditional Republican consensus on trade.Predictably, critics from the...

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) launched a marathon speech on the Senate floor Tuesday evening to protest Trump administration policies and vowed to speak for "as long as I am physically able to." The big picture: Booker said in video posted to media ahead of his speech that began at 7pm ET that he was heading to the Senate floor because President Trump and Elon Musk "have shown a complete disregard for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the...

While numerous federal district court judges have issued ill-conceived restraining orders against the administration, I have long believed that it will prevail in its efforts to place control of the state in the hands of the elected executive, away from the deep state bureaucracy and its black-robed judicial allies. As the litigation of these matters proceeds, I think my belief will be justified. We will return to a constitutional republican form of government. For a day-to-day look at the progress of these multiple cases, I urge you to go to X and follow Professor Margot Cleveland, who is (bless...

The amount of water stored on lands across Earth’s continents has declined at such staggering levels that changes are likely irreversible while humans are alive, a study published Thursday found. The losses in soil moisture — a result of the planet’s climate conditions and prolonged droughts — already pose issues for farming, irrigation systems and critical water resources for humans. But it also affects sea-level rise and Earth’s rotation — datasets the research team used to better track water storage for decades longer than previous studies. “What we were looking for was evidence of changing hydrology around the world,” said...