Free Republic

I’ve got some fantastic news. We don’t need to worry about that Fort Knox gold audit anymore. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent assured us all the gold is there. His comments came during an interview on Fox News. Host Jesse Watters asked the Treasury Secretary point-blank, “Have you visited Fort Knox?” "I haven't. People on my staff have. The treasurer has been to Fort Knox, and I'm happy to say all gold is present and accounted for." There you have it. The fox guarding the henhouse says the hens are all accounted for. Case closed! Or maybe not. Consider this: would...

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the clerical regime in Tehran and its proxies have committed a range of attacks against Americans. This memorandum provides select documentation of these assaults. While the list is not comprehensive, it demonstrates that Tehran continues to pose a threat to U.S. forces in the Middle East, the American homeland, and Americans residing across the globe. November 1979-January 1981: Iranian students — with the backing of Tehran — take 66 Americans hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. April 1983: A suicide car bombing kills 63 people, including 17 Americans, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut....

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Russia is preparing to bring an additional 30,000 North Korean troops into its war against Ukraine, a move that would dramatically expand Pyongyang's direct involvement in the conflict if confirmed. "We also see Russia's cooperation with North Korea. Russia wants to bring in another 30,000 North Korean troops," Zelensky said in his nightly video address, according to Reuters. He added that preparations to receive the troops had been underway since June in Russia's Voronezh region. The claim comes nearly two years after North Korea first sent troops to support Moscow under a growing...

GS1, the non-profit that controls barcode standards for virtually every major retailer on earth, is pushing a first-of-its-kind global transition to 2D barcodes -- and the deadline is 2027. The technical upgrade is straightforward enough. The catch is that until checkout systems catch up, brands have to carry both barcodes simultaneously. That's a packaging redesign problem, a timing problem, and -- because 2D barcodes are essentially live URLs -- a software problem. One that a fast-growing ecosystem of platforms and compliance providers is already lining up to solve. We got into this story by trying to buy a barcode for...

Barry Levinson's 1982 film Diner is set in Baltimore at the end of 1959, in the final days of what had been a momentous year, and just before what would be a pivotal decade. The year had begun with the success of the Cuban revolution and its recognition by both the US and Soviet governments, and Barry Gordy's founding of Motown. Pope John XXIII announced the Second Vatican Council and Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash in Iowa. Later in the year China abolished the Tibetan government and replaced the Dalai Lama, NASA...

A new deal that would see the United States invest in Saudi Arabia‘s civilian nuclear capabilities has sparked concerns within Israel that the Kingdom could ultimately weaponize its program amid deepening unrest in the Middle East. Israel has never publicly confirmed nor denied the existence of its own nuclear arsenal, though it has long been attested to by former top figures in both Israel and the U.S. Last year, as U.S.-Saudi discussions of potential nuclear collaboration picked up steam shortly before the 12-Day War between Israel and Iran, current and former Israeli officials told Newsweek such a move could spark...

What brings Democratic congressional nominee Brad Lander, Republican Rep. Mike Lawler and the majority of New York’s downstate congressional delegation together? A niche labor protest over the Trump administration’s attempt to move federal workers out of New York City. The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 98, representing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New York District and North Atlantic Division employees, rallied outside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan on Thursday, protesting the proposed relocation of their offices to New Jersey. New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Lander were among those who joined in person,...

ISTANBUL—The conflict between the U.S. and Iran is escalating just as the two warring parties are running up against the limits of what they can achieve through military force.The conflict widened this week after Iranian-allied militants in Yemen began striking ships transiting a key Red Sea chokepoint, helping drive oil prices above $100 a barrel for the first time in two months on Thursday.The U.S., meanwhile, has escalated its bombing campaign in Iran in recent days, striking throughout the country during the most intense period of fighting since President Trump and Israel began bombing Iran in late February.Trump and other...

Yemen's Houthi rebels claim to have attacked the port city of Jazan, Saudi Arabia with ballistic missiles. Saudi authorities have not confirmed the strike, but a Saudi civil defense alert was issued for Jazan on early Saturday and bystander videos purporting to show fire damage are circulating on social media. NASA FIRMS fire monitoring data shows five substantial thermal anomalies - infrared signatures not present in previous time periods - located in the eastern half of the Jazan refinery, all within the last 3-6 hours. FIRMS infrared detections may stem from natural or routine events, like flaring, but the new...

"It's really you," a Ukrainian woman says in surprise as Boris Johnson takes off his woolly hat to reveal that unmistakable shock of hair. The former prime minister is on an unannounced trip to Ukraine to report on the war and make the case for increased British support. There is a surprise for viewers, too, because Johnson has made a sober, no-frills documentary – Boris Johnson: Into Ukraine's Kill Zone (Channel 5) – with a serious purpose. He has done this at no small risk to his safety. During his first night on the front line, he is awoken by...

The Army has warned that a House-approved defense measure aimed at restricting certain foreign-made components in commercial data centers built on War Department land could jeopardize more than $1.3 billion in planned private investment as the Pentagon expands its data center footprint. The provision, sponsored by Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., was added to the House Armed Services Committee's version of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act before the bill passed the House this week. If enacted, the measure would bar companies leasing War Department land from installing or operating data center equipment containing certain printed circuit boards, advanced semiconductors,...

Democratic Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke was indicted by a grand jury on charges of criminal conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery and falsifying candidate committee reports stemming from a bribe she allegedly took as a state lawmaker in 2022. The indictment alleges that local businessman and lobbyist Tobi Solidum offered Luke a $35,000 bribe connected to a COVID-19 testing contract a company he recommended had with the state. Solidum was also indicted as part of the state attorney general’s probe, along with former state representative Ryan Yamane, Hawaii’s Transportation Department official Ford Fuchigami, and Leo Asunción, a former official for...

Explanation: The Seas of Tranquility and Serenity are calm today. They're calm most every day though, since they are actually lunar maria, ancient lava flows filling in large impact basins on the Moon. Also known by Latin names Mare Tranquillitatis (right) and Mare Serenitatis, the smooth dark lunar "seas" are in stark contrast to the bright cratered lunar highlands surrounding them in this telescopic view. Of course their names are based on the historical, pre-telescopic designations of lunar maria. Easily visible to the unaided eye, the broad features on the Moon's near side were imagined to be like the expansive...

US intelligence briefings cited by The New York Times on Friday indicate that Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, displays a far greater willingness to build nuclear weaponry than his father who preceded him. His father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died in joint US-Israeli airstrikes during the opening phase of the war, had maintained a long-standing fatwa (religious decree) against weaponization. While American analysts previously maintained that Tehran sought the threshold capacity to assemble a device, many considered the former leader's religious reluctance genuine. The younger Khamenei has avoided explicit public calls for a nuclear arsenal, noted The New...

A newly-uncovered Biden White House memo from the administration's final days revealed plans that could have expanded Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to more than 3 million noncitizens while acknowledging that previous court challenges had blocked many of President Donald Trump's efforts to end the protections. TPS is meant for foreign populations experiencing crises like political unrest or natural disasters, and while Trump has tried to end the "temporary" provisions for Haitians, Nepalese, Salvadorans and Sudanese people, lawsuits from pro-migrant advocates have halted most attempts. "My investigation uncovered that the Lame Duck Biden White House tried to keep millions of illegal...

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday rebuffed mounting pressure from Jewish community leaders urging him to apologize for past anti-Israel statements. The refusal followed Thursday’s attack on the Upper West Side where a man wearing a kippah was stabbed on the fast day of Tisha B’Av by an attacker who yelled “Allahu Akbar" during the stabbing. On Friday, the suspected stabber, 51-year-old Raul Morales, was charged with attempted murder as a hate crime, attempted murder, assault as a hate crime, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the NYPD. Mamdani has long come under fire for...

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a South Dakota law that prohibits abortion advertising. Key Takeaways: * A federal judge has blocked a South Dakota law prohibiting abortion advertising. * The law was passed earlier this year in response to advertisements placed within the state by Mayday Health, despite the state's law protecting preborn children from abortion. * Mayday Health sued South Dakota over its law, leading to the preliminary injunction. The Backstory: In December 2025, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley issued a cease and desist letter to Mayday Health, which had placed ads for the abortion pill...

Dan Abrams verbally pummeled Texas Senate candidate James Talarico (D) for branding two police officers murderers, even though they were acquitted in the case the liberal lawmaker cited. The Mediaite founder criticized Talarico and even suggested the cops should sue him on the Thursday episode of his SiriusXM radio show. Abrams was responding to comments Talarico made at a town hall event where he was asked about reparations for Black Americans and a crime bill; Talarico answered by pointing to his involvement with a high-profile local case where a Black man died after being tased by police. “I had a...

Is VP Vance the front man in a coup d’état? Once upon a time––in 2017, according to VP JD Vance––a state senator from Ohio met an already-arrived conservative commentator and they had what is commonly known as chemistry. They connected. They liked each other. They agreed about major issues, except for one. The state senator––that would be Mr. Vance––loathed President Trump and spared no invective to describe him as “America’s Hitler” and “Unfit for our nation’s highest office,” and “Trump is cultural heroin,” and "I'm a Never Trump guy…" But the conservative commentator––that would be Tucker Carlson––touted POTUS 45 relentlessly...

By Dr. John BergsmaWhen I was a kid, the phrase “Get wise!” was a provocative taunt—essentially, a way to start a fight. It meant something like: “I invite you to act like a smart aleck, so I will have an excuse to assault you physically.” My elementary school career was a bit rough. But what does it really mean to “Get wise” or “Gain wisdom”? The Readings for this Sunday’s Mass teach us about this issue. During this part of Ordinary Time in Year A, the Church is pursuing a lectio continua (continuous reading, i.e. reading in order) of both...