Free Republic

Explanation: Even if you live with your head in the clouds, you won’t find a jellyfish like this one very often. The featured image shows a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida on March 4. The launch happened 52 minutes before sunrise, and the second stage rocket exhaust plume was high enough in the sky to catch the light of the rising sun, while the photographer was still in the dark. This combination of light and shadow, possible at dawn or dusk, makes the exhaust, mostly water vapor and carbon dioxide, appear as a glowing cloud....

The new White House task force will withhold government funding for state and local benefits programs if their anti-fraud controls are viewed as lacking. IT MODERNIZATION The White House is kicking off President Donald Trump’s “war on fraud” with a focus on federally-funded benefits like housing, food and cash assistance programs. Among the tactics that a new anti-fraud task force will be pursuing is withholding government funding to state and local jurisdictions whose anti-fraud controls for benefits are deemed inadequate and increasing data-sharing between states and the federal government, according to the Monday executive order establishing the task force. Both...

Ayn Rand was a Russian-born writer who immigrated to the United States in 1926, worked as a screenwriter and playwright and wrote several novels expressing an individualistic philosophy she called “objectivism.” Rand’s novels and outspoken ideology were subjects of academic and media debate from the onset of her literary career, but controversy soared with the 1957 publication of her 1,168-page “Atlas Shrugged.” The novel describes a revolt by business executives, inventors, artists and other accomplished Americans who opposed suffocating taxes and regulations. Rand likens the rebels to Atlas, a figure of Greek mythology who holds the world on his shoulders....

Prominent Democrat lawyer David Boies, best known for representing Al Gore in Bush v. Gore after the contested 2000 election, riled many of his fellow Democrats by recently writing a Wall Street Journal op-ed, "Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America," with the subtitle of "Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on the merits."Needless to say this set many liberals on edge, including a highly irked Isaac Chotiner of the New Yorker. He doesn't tolerate dissent from the Democrat party line well. Earlier, Politico found an anonymous Democrat strategist to...

The pair met in the Oval Office and fielded questions from reporters, one of whom asked why Washington had not informed Tokyo of its plans to attack Iran. "We went in very hard. We didn't tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise," he said. "Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor."

Iran executed a 19-year-old champion wrestler in a public hanging Thursday along with two other people who were arrested during the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters in January. Saleh Mohammadi, a rising star from Qom, was allegedly tortured to confess to the capital crime of waging war against God, with the teen executed without a fair trial, according to human rights groups. “His execution was a blatant political murder, part of the Islamic Republic’s pattern of targeting athletes to crush dissent and terrorize society,” Nima Far, a human rights activist and Iranian combat athlete, told Fox News. Mohammadi, along with...

Please pay attention. This is about the Minab girls’ school and there is new information.@owenjonesjourno has a pattern. He “platforms” a few safe voices, then smears anyone who does not fit his narrative as liars or “pro war.”Now he calls British Iranians who share Minab… pic.twitter.com/uvLrFLsBVy— Kusha (@kusha_alagband) March 18, 2026

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says he will keep serving as head of the central bank if his nominated successor, Kevin Warsh, is not confirmed by the time his term is up in May, as dictated by the law. Separately, Powell said he will not leave his Board of Governors position, which technically extends until early 2028, until the Department of Justice investigation of him is “well and truly over with transparency and finality.” Powell said during his Wednesday press conference that he would serve as “chair pro tem” if Warsh, President Donald Trump’s pick to take over the role,...

An Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field was coordinated with the Trump administration in advance, according to three Israeli officials, despite President Trump’s initial assertion in a social media post that the United States “knew nothing about” it. “The United States knew nothing about this particular attack,” Mr. Trump wrote in the social media post late Wednesday, saying that Israel had “violently lashed out.” A day later, Mr. Trump appeared to have changed course. Speaking to reporters Thursday at the White House, Mr. Trump implied that he had spoken about the strike ahead of time with Prime Minister...

Hollywood, the most sublime dream factory ever known to humanity, has died. Official reports don’t include an exact time of death, but the end came after years on life support, sustained by a legion of CGI-enhanced superheroes. Once rollicking and reckless, full of glamour, danger, and suspense, Hollywood spent two decades withering into a cosmetically altered, politically correct corpse. Its one surviving older relative, opera, could not be reached for comment. Its only child, television, and two grandchildren, video gaming and little TikTok, were distracted by family quarrels, and did not attend the funeral. Hollywood was born in late August...

Acting on direction from the White House, the Pentagon and the Navy are devising a plan to escort merchant ships and tankers through the narrow passage. In the past, mines have been a primary weapon to restrict transit through the waterway, but during the current conflict, Iran is choosing projectiles to control the waterway.Still the U.S. is striking Iran’s mine layers Caine said. “We’ve made it a priority to target Iran’s minelaying enterprise, their mine layers, the naval bases and depots, in addition to the missiles that could influence the straits,” Caine said. “And [U.S. Central Command] continues to attack...

Why doesn’t failed MSNBC host Joy Reid leave the U.S., as so many haters of President Donald Trump and his America-First policies have vowed to do? On Monday, she expressed her paranoid, fantasy-driven, and hysterical hatred and contempt for the United States during the second Trump administration, and compared the U.S. unfavorably to the Islamic Republic of Iran. So why not move to Tehran, Joy? It’s likely that real estate there is quite inexpensive these days. Reid started out by claiming a moral equivalency between the Islamic Republic, which has murdered tens of thousands of its own citizens over the...

SAN FRANCISCO — A mystery man known as “John Doe” has been charged with identity theft and passport fraud, and refuses to give up his true identity even though it means he’ll be kept behind bars indefinitely, court records show. Doe, whose name and age are unknown to authorities, is charged with stealing the identity of a Puerto Rican native who claimed to have lost important documents and identification papers 15 years ago, court records show. On March 10, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Cisneros used Doe’s refusal to identify himself as the basis for determining that he is a potential...

A video of Theo Von, speaking his mind regarding the government of Israel.

The hottest job on the market right now is being the Iranian Ayatollah, but why is everyone suddenly buzzing about it? Here are just eight of the most incredible perks that come with being the new Supreme Leader: Neat hat that can easily hide a bag of Cheetos: Very few jobs out there right now offering Cheeto hats. Free pagers: People will literally just give them to you. Job is secure even if you lose your legs: How many careers can say that? Can issue fatwas against anyone who annoys you: Telemarketer calls during dinner -- fatwa. Falafel truck...

California Democrats were warned to get their act together months ago. Back off, consolidate, pick a front-runner or risk splitting the vote. They ignored the advice. Now the numbers are in and the results are brutal. A new UC Berkeley-LA Times poll shows the 2026 race for governor is a total mess for Democrats. Support is scattered across a crowded field while Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco have quietly pulled ahead. The data tells the story. Not a single Democrat tops 13% while the GOP contenders sit in the high teens. 16% of voters remain undecided leaving the door...

British pedophile pop star Gary Glitter, whose 1972 glam-rock hit “Rock and Roll Part 2” soundtracks the iconic staircase scene in the movie “The Joker,” is now a frail shadow of his former self — and insiders claim he’s likely to die behind bars. Once a chart-topper during the 1970s glam scene, Glitter became more known for his decades-long trail of sex crimes involving young girls, child abuse images and convictions across multiple countries — turning the idol into one of Britain’s most reviled offenders. The 81-year-old is “on his last legs,” barely able to move, almost completely deaf and...

When asked by a reporter about why the U.S. didn't share their Iran war plans with Japan, President Donald Trump said it was necessary for the element of surprise. The president followed this with a joke, saying, "Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Ok, why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?"

Kick up your recliner chairs because you’re not going to believe this one! TIME magazine is out with a new report prophesying that climate change threatens to make us all lazy slobs! “Scientists Warn of Health Risks As Climate Change Reduces Physical Activity,” read the knee-slapper headline from TIME reporter Simmone Shah. Shah waved around a new wacky study published in Lancet Global Health to foam at the mouth over how “rising global temperatures due to climate change could lead millions of people to be less physically active” and will supposedly lead to an increase of half a million deaths...

Well, good morning. Yesterday at Do Air Force Base, President Trump, the chairman, and I stood in solemn silence as heroes came home. Flag draped caskets. We honored them. We grieved with their families and we listened. What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength, and through unbreakable resolve was the same from family after family. They said, "Finish this. Honor their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done." My response along with that of the president was simple. Of course, we will finish this. We will honor their sacrifice. Their sacrifice only steals...