Free Republic

A welder miraculously walked away after his car exploded in a quiet New Jersey suburb on Monday morning — waking up residents to debris flying into their homes, according to authorities. A 28-year-old man was inside his vehicle on Congressional Lane in Totowa, about 20 miles from Manhattan, around 5:30 a.m. when it was suddenly blown apart, the Totowa Police Department said in a statement. The man was able to escape from the wrecked vehicle on his own and was taken to a local hospital for treatment and observation, cops said. The victim, who is a welder, was alert and...

A father and his 22-year-old son were killed when their small plane apparently flew into a developing storm on their way home from a St. Louis Cardinals game, with investigators saying the aircraft appeared to make a last-minute turn before spiraling down into a rural Illinois tree line. The pilot, 48, and his son took off from St. Louis Regional Airport in Bethalto late Thursday and were headed to Siloam Springs Municipal Airport in Arkansas when the plane crashed near Waterloo, Illinois, the Monroe County Sheriff's Department in Illinois said in a press release. The father and son have been...

A huge fire tore through a bar in Thailand's capital Bangkok late on Sunday, killing at least 28 people and leaving 25 critically injured. The blaze started near the stage of the bar in the popular Chatuchak district, then spread rapidly, cutting power and engulfing the room with smoke, eyewitnesses say. Footage posted online shows panicked customers screaming as they fled – some with their clothes on fire – through the flame-enveloped front door of Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao. Firefighters, who arrived at the scene just after midnight, quickly extinguished the fire. They found the bodies of most of...

Beware: The Chinese Communist Party is plainly exploiting the opaque ownership structure of multinational tech companies to fund far-left political subversion across America. Shanghai-based Maoist tech millionaire Neville Roy Singham is a notorious funder of outfits like the crypto-communist People’s Forum, which organizes radical protest-riots in support of Hamas terrorism and protecting the butchers who control Iran; his wife co-leads extremist Code Pink while his niece is a big player in the Democratic Socialists of America and a prominent adviser to Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The Singhams got crazy-rich in the tech industry, but you have to wonder if Beijing staged...

A massive bull bison tossed a tourist into the air, seriously injuring him, in a heart-pounding caught-on-camera attack at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Video shows the unidentified man being thrown 8 feet in the air like a ragdoll by the wild bison at the Bridge Bay Campground Friday, Cowboy State Daily reported. The tourist was walking with his grandson when the powerful herbivore attacked. Video shows the man running around a copse of pines to try to escape the bull, which was giving itself a dust bath moments earlier. The bison suddenly charged the two tourists, and then viciously...

An in-depth look at the construction of Rome's Pantheon and its famous concrete dome. Why hasn't the Pantheon's dome collapsed? | 13:33 toldinstone | 628K subscribers | 662,909 views | June 23, 2023Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:28 The purpose of the Pantheon 1:16 The design 1:58 Roman concrete 2:32 Quarries, contractors, and workforce 4:02 Foundations 4:44 Building the walls 5:41 Relieving arches and buttresses 6:35 Masterworks 8:08 Building the dome 9:51 The portico 10:54 Decoration 12:32 Insane Emperors, Sunken Cities, and Earthquake Machines

A European professional basketball player was fatally shot and two people wounded when gunfire erupted Friday night at a packed Harlem basketball tournament, cops and witnesses said. Kinu Rochford, a standout at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, was struck twice in the head at around 10:30 p.m. at the Kingdome Basketball Tournament in the Martin Luther King Jr. Towers on Lenox Avenue, police said. Rochford, 35, who was playing in the tournament, was shot while watching between games, according to cops. Witnesses said Rochford was struck the second time when he was already on the ground bleeding. Cops have...

This video explores the spectacular remains of the Roman mines at Las Médulas, Spain. The Roman Gold Mine that Ate Mountains | 9:09 toldinstone | 21,693 views | July 10, 2026

The European auto industry is a case study on how short-sighted trade policy goals, results in consequences. Previously, German auto companies like Volkswagen entered into trade agreements with China and began manufacturing their vehicles with immediate financial success in the market. However, it did not take long for Chinese auto companies to reverse the engineering and begin to deliver the same quality vehicles at much lower prices. The Chinese then stop purchasing the Volkswagen vehicles and purchase the cheaper version, while simultaneously begin exporting those same vehicles into the home market from where the technology originated. Today, with a double-digit...

The internet is making sure the U.S. won’t exit the World Cup quietly, and Ryanair was the latest player to join the banter. The American dream of winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup was crushed in a 1-4 loss to Belgium, marking the team’s heaviest defeat since 1990. As the pomp and fanfare quickly fizzled out, memes mocking the U.S. team came pouring in, with Ryanair unabashedly joining the fun. The internet is making sure the U.S. won’t exit the World Cup quietly, and Ryanair was the latest player to join the banter The Irish airline has seemingly made a...

The simplest, dumbest, most replaceable part on any vehicle since 1912, now gated behind a manufacturer login, a subscription, and a per-flash token. If you own a modern pickup truck, you do not own a battery. You own the authorization to use a battery. And when that battery dies, the dealer will tell you the part costs $250, the programming fee costs another $150, and the labor is booked at $200 an hour. In this investigation, we are going to expose the battery management scam, the gateway module lockout, and the AGM monopoly that turned the cheapest part on your...

A Ryainair passenger was partially sucked out of a window on Friday morning. The plane took off from Thessaloniki, Greece, on Friday morning en route to Germany when a 61-year-old passenger was sucked out of a broken window. Passengers had to pull the man back into the plane. The passenger is currently hospitalized. Oxygen masks dropped down in the cabin as the plane returned to Greece and safely landed. “Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (10 July) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after takeoff when a passenger window dislodged inflight. The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to...

A black bear consumed the body of a person whose remains were found by officers in Mesa County, according to the sheriff's office. Investigators with the Mesa County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of potential human remains found near the Wild Rose Picnic Area off of Lands End Road on the Grand Mesa, according to a sheriff's office news release July 9. When investigators arrived, they found the remains scattered and scavenged and determined the deceased had been consumed by a "bear and likely other wildlife." Investigators confirmed the remains were human, prompting a death investigation ... Witnesses who...

Kia America is recalling almost 463,000 Telluride midsize crossover SUVs from the 2020-2024 model years that could catch fire while being driven or parked, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says. The front power seat motor may overheat due to a stuck power seat slide knob or an improper repair during a prior recall, and the result could be a fire while the vehicles are being driven or parked, the agency says. As a result, the NHTSA is advising owners of the affected Tellurides to park outdoors and away from structures until the latest recall repair is done. Dealers will...

Under provisions of HB 4948, which Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law on Friday, the state will introduce the “Intelligent Speed Assistance Program,” designed to replace license suspension with a different alternative for drivers. According to the text of the law, the program will require drivers who have committed two qualifying speeding or reckless driving offenses within a 12-month period to install a speed-limiting device on their vehicles, which will prevent them from exceeding the speed limit. Persons enrolled in the program will pay all costs associated with enrollment and participation, with exceptions for low-income Virginia and Washington have...

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — Wally Funk, an aviation pioneer who was the oldest woman to launch into space, has died. She was 87.Funk died Wednesday at her apartment in an assisted living facility in the Dallas and Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, Texas, Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O’Dell said Thursday. O’Dell, who described herself as Funk’s caregiver, said she was by Funk’s side. Funk had fallen a couple of times recently and had an infection in her leg.“It took its toll,” O’Dell said in a phone interview. Funk was one of 13 female pilots who went through the same tests...

Trillionaire Elon Musk aims to have rockets blast off from Earth before the end of 2026, sending the first materials to the moon and Mars to start building colonies. The world’s first trillionaire is then planning to send robots to prepare the infrastructure needed for humans to survive. Musk said recently he has shifted Space X’s focus as it is closer and “much faster to complete a moon city,” with a timeline of getting it established in the next 10 years. However, he is optimistic he can also start sending material to the red planet within seven years too. This...

I'm not a Florida resident, but I'm curious who y'all are supporting.I haven't seen much discussion here about this race...

A seasonal railway conductor for Tennessee's Incline Railway at Lookout Mountain has been fired after making now-viral comments, wishing riders a happy Independence Day, which triggered some passengers. The conductor, identified as Jack Peterson, is clearly fed up with mass migration policies that are ruining our country. He hilariously told passengers on the Fourth of July, "To the very, very few Americans in here, happy Independence Day." He continued, "To the rest of you, welcome to the greatest country on the face of the planet, and if you disagree, you can leave." It is unclear how many foreigners were on...

A student pilot was forced to land her plane alone after her instructor 'jumped' from the aircraft during their flight in Argentina. The 22-year-old had been training with her instructor, Leandro Bertazzo, 42, in a Cessna C-150 when he evacuated the aircraft. Although investigators are looking into the reasons behind his sudden death, the student, who is believed to have a pilot's licence but few flying hours under her belt, has claimed he opened the plane's window and jumped. Despite watching Mr Bertazzo plunge to his death, she still managed to land the Cessna C-150 safely and unaided at Coronel...