Free Republic

US special forces spent four months conducting a secret mine-clearing mission in the Strait of Hormuz in an attempt to open up the waterway, the Financial Times reported Sunday. Iran has said it placed mines in international and Omani waters following the outbreak of the war. The International Maritime Organization estimated in June that roughly 80 mines had been deployed along important shipping routes. The covert operation was carried out amid ongoing exchanges of strikes between the US and Iran in and around the Strait, according to people familiar with the mission. Navy SEAL divers worked with unmanned vessels, robots,...

ST. LOUIS – A former general manager of Lombardo’s Restaurant in St. Louis has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit, saying he was fired after sharing thoughts about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last year in a Facebook post. Michael Mormino, an Edwardsville, Illinois resident, formally filed the lawsuit on Monday. He says he worked for Lombardo’s for 15 years and had been promoted to general manager of company’s airport location. According to the lawsuit, on Sept. 10, 2025, the same day that Kirk was fatally shot in Utah, Mormino shared the following remarks on his personal Facebook page:...

“Rich Dad Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki — the self-help guru who has made a fortune preaching the secrets of financial success — has amassed a staggering $1.2 billion in debt tied to his sprawling real-estate investments, according to a report. The 79-year-old scribe has repeatedly touted the eye-popping figure while arguing that borrowing money to buy income-producing assets is a strategy used by the wealthy. “So, I’m a billion two in debt,” he told the “Get Rich Education” podcast over the summer. He added that people “[s]hould not do what I do, right?” “But I studied it since 1974…...

BEL AIRE, Kan. (KAKE) — A 21-year-old woman has been charged with multiple felonies after she allegedly shot at a group of girls who had just egged her house in Bel Aire over the weekend. Sedgwick County court records show Ericya Burns is charged with criminal discharge of a firearm and four counts of aggravated assault. Her first court appearance was held Thursday afternoon. Officers with the Bel Aire Police Department responded at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday to the report of a possible drive-by shooting in the 5300 block of North Lycee Street. They located and collected several spent shell...

Retirement tax planning requires decisions today based on tax rates, investment returns and personal circumstances that may not become clear for decades. The wrong Roth conversion can create an unnecessary tax bill, while waiting too long can leave retirees trapped by required withdrawals and higher lifetime taxes.The Problem Hiding Inside Traditional Retirement AccountsTraditional IRAs and 401(k)s offer an attractive bargain during a worker’s highest-earning years: contribute pretax dollars today and defer the tax until retirement.For disciplined savers, that bargain can eventually become complicated.Decades of contributions and investment gains can produce an account large enough to generate substantial required minimum distributions,...

2:16 Video shows Port Orange police station shooting that killed 71-year-old woman WESH 2 News is your home for Florida breaking news and weather. For your latest Florida news and weather visit: https://www.wesh.com/ WARNING: GRAPHIC...........

The Air Force said last week that its M18 service pistol is "safe, reliable, and functional" following a review of tens of thousands of the firearms. The findings came as part of the final review in a large-scale inspection of the gun ordered last year after an airman was killed by a bullet fired from a M18. Last July, Airman Brayden Lovan, 21, with the 90th Security Forces Group was shot and killed at F.E. Warren Air Base. The shooting was initially reported as an accidental discharge. Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the United States' intercontinental ballistic missile...

Technology is supposed to make life easier. Unfortunately, it also has a remarkable ability to convince us to spend hundreds of dollars replacing devices that were working perfectly well—or buying gadgets we barely need in the first place. That problem has become especially noticeable in 2026. Smartphones have swallowed entire categories of consumer electronics, while competition has made other products so inexpensive that paying premium prices often delivers surprisingly little extra value. A recent Yahoo Shopping examination of outdated tech purchases highlighted several categories where consumers may be spending far more than necessary. That does not mean every expensive gadget...

The FReeper Canteen Presents...Happy Labor Day! September 7, 2026 HISTORYLabor Day is a national legal holiday that is over 100 years old. Over the years, it has evolved from a purely labor union celebration into a general "last fling of summer" festival. It grew out of a celebration and parade in honor of the working class by the Knights of Labor in 1882 in New York. In 1884, the Knights held a large parade in New York City celebrating the working class. The parade was held on the first Monday in September. The Knights passed a resolution to hold all...

A new YouGov survey on the September 11, 2001 attacks explores how Americans see the impact of the attacks 25 years later, including whether Sept. 11 should be a national holiday, how Muslims are treated compared to people of other religions, and whether the War on Terror has been worth the cost.About half (51%) of Americans think Sept. 11 should be a national holiday to commemorate those who died in the 2001 attacks. 26% say it should not be a national holiday. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say it should be a national holiday (62% vs. 43%).27% of...

The Israeli government is running advertisements on a popular podcast hosted by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), raising questions about whether the staunchly pro-Israel lawmaker is indirectly receiving campaign funding from a foreign country. Radio and podcast giant iHeartMedia has syndicated Cruz’s show, “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” since 2022. Because of lobbying-related restrictions, the company cannot legally pay the senator for ad revenue. But, it turns out, that’s not the only way to ensure the money benefits Cruz. Under an unusual licensing deal, iHeartMedia agreed to donate revenue “associated with (the show’s) advertising sales” to the Truth and Courage PAC, a...

Patrick Havas was arrested after an armed incident at the Canfield Fair involving Ohio governor candidate Amy Acton and several volunteers. Patrick Havas was arrested after an armed incident at the Canfield Fair involving Ohio governor candidate Amy Acton and several volunteers. (Mahoning County Jail) Patrick Havas has been identified as the man arrested after an armed incident involving Ohio Democratic governor candidate Amy Acton at the Canfield Fair on Sunday, September 6. According to WFMJ, Havas entered the Mahoning County Democratic Party tent and pushed toward the front, where Acton was visiting. Two people were knocked over during the...

The headlines announcing Mark Ruffalo’s latest line of defense against claims of antisemitism were striking. More than 170 Jewish artists had rallied around the actor, denouncing an “outrageous smear campaign” and rejecting accusations that his rhetoric about the Ellison family and the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger trafficked in antisemitic themes. Read the names and the letter itself, and a different picture emerges. There are recognizable Hollywood figures among the signatories, including Joel Coen, Tony Kushner, Hannah Einbinder, Ilana Glazer and others. Of the 177 signatories, fewer than half are entertainment figures. The list also contains a significant collection of anti-Israel...

* The curls were cute. The system wasn’t. * A black box waited off-camera. * Stardom came with a price tag. =========================================================== Most people remember Shirley Temple as the adorable childhood star during Hollywood’s heyday. The Dimples. Tap shoes. Bouncy ringlets. That heartwarming little smile. On the Good Ship Lollipop. She became the kind of child star whose image was so relentlessly cheerful that it eventually hardened into American nostalgia. Forever America’s sweetheart. Which is precisely why the story about the ominous “black box” sounds practically unbelievable the first time you hear it. A TikTok video explains that when Temple...

A compound called TOFA helped obese mice lose 18% of their body weight without eating less, while preserving lean tissue and improving blood sugar and liver fat.Medicines such as semaglutide and tirzepatide have changed how doctors treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. They copy signals from gut hormones, including GLP-1, that reduce hunger. These drugs can help people lose weight, but they can also cause nausea and other digestive problems. Some people may lose lean tissue, including muscle, which could create health problems over time. Obesity often appears with high blood sugar and excess liver fat. Researchers at the University...

A San Diego sheriff’s K-9 was brutally stabbed in the face by a suspected burglar in Escondido Saturday. The Sheriff’s K-9 Unit team was assisting the Escondido Police Department with an ongoing burglary at a business just before 12:30 a.m. The suspect, 35-year-old Eric Rodriguez, held a large stick and threw objects at responding Escondido police officers. Cops tried to de-escalate the situation, but Rodriguez ignored all warnings and refused to comply, authorities said. Officers then deployed the sheriff’s K-9 — a six-year-old Belgian Malinois named Nike — to apprehend the suspect, but Rodriguez responded by mercilessly stabbing Nike several...

California is paying tens of millions of dollars for illegal immigrants to attend college — infuriating Golden State natives struggling to pay their tuition. California provides illegal migrant students with state-funded grants and other financial aid, while thousands can also benefit from in-state tuition rates, waivers for community college fees and subsidized loans. Approximately 102,000 illegal migrants were attending California colleges and universities as of 2023, the largest share of any state in the US. The staggering benefits come as many middle-class California families struggle to qualify for substantial financial aid while facing college costs that can easily run above...

Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s family has called for D4vd to get the death penalty — on the eve of what would have been her 16th birthday. In an exclusive statement to the California Post, her parents said it would be the “perfect” punishment for the locked up singer, who is accused of killing and dismembering her last year. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman is currently weighing whether to pursue the death penalty or life imprisonment for the performer, whose real name is David Burke, ahead of his trial later this year. Celeste would have been turning 16 on Monday,...

The United Nations has decided that Britain has not grovelled enough. After years of toppled statues, boarded-up war memorials and official lectures about “colonialism,” a UN human-rights committee now wants the country that ended the Atlantic slave trade to fill its public squares with statues of “people of African descent,” The globalist body also suggests Britain should rewrite what children are taught, and treat historic slavery as a live brief for migration policy and hate-speech enforcement. This comes in the form of formal “reparatory justice” guidance from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, published six months after...

Multiple people are injured after an armed man lunged at Democrat Ohio Gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton at a campaign event at the Canfield Fair near Youngstown. “While attending the Canfield Fair, an armed individual lunged at Dr. Acton, injuring multiple people,” Acton’s campaign said. “Dr. Acton and Eric are grateful for the swift and decisive action of law enforcement and are praying for the recovery of those injured. This kind of violence has no place in Ohio. Dr. Acton will always stand up to the chaos, hate and vitriol that pits us against one another,” Acton’s campaign said in a...