Free Republic

Board Finds ‘No Basis’ to Remove Officer Involved in USS Fitzgerald Collision from Navy A board of inquiry moved not to separate from service a sailor who the Navy had previously charged with negligent homicide for his role in the 2017 fatal collision of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62), USNI News has learned. On Friday, a board found “no basis” to separate Lt. Irian Woodley from the Navy for cause, Woodley’s lawyer, Lt. Cmdr. Justin McEwen, confirmed to USNI News when contacted on Friday. The board was made up of three surface warfare officers and was based in Japan. “The findings were...

On July 1, 1942, the U.S.S. Wasp, an aircraft carrier holding 71 planes, 2,247 sailors and a journalist, sailed from San Diego to the western Pacific to join the battle against the Japanese. On board was a naval officer named Lt. Cmdr. John Joseph Shea. Two days before he left San Diego, Shea wrote his 5-year-old son a letter.

Matins, Hours, Typica and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts for Clean Wednesday. (English & Church Slavonic- Appx 4:20 hrs)

H.R. 1, the “For the People Act,” which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on a party-line vote, should be renamed the, “For the Career Democratic Politicians Act.” This bill would take power away from the states, help elect Democrats, and protect career politicians. Yet that’s not the conclusion one would draw by reading the “news.” Here’s the first line in the New York Times story about the passage of H.R. 1, “The House passed the Democrats’ showcase anti-corruption and voting rights legislation on Friday, an expansive measure that aims to dismantle barriers to the ballot box, end big money...

Did you know that unlike searching on DuckDuckGo, when you search on Google, they keep your search history forever? That means they know every search you’ve ever done on Google. That alone is pretty scary, but it’s just the shallow end of the very deep pool of data that they try to collect on people. What most people don’t realize is that even if you don’t use any Google products directly, they’re still trying to track as much as they can about you. Google trackers have been found on 75% of the top million websites. This means they're also trying...

Meghan McCain attacked “Aunt Becky’s husband” for dissing Arizona State University in the sweeping college bribery scam. The daughter of late Arizona Sen. John McCain took to Twitter to defend her family’s think tank, the McCain Institute for International Leadership, which has a partnership with ASU. “To Aunt Becky’s husband who talked s–t about ASU – The @McCainInstitute for International Leadership does incredible work w/ students in cooperation with ASU and I guarantee those students involved will go on to do great things in the world and didn’t have to lie to get there…,” Meghan, 34, wrote on Tuesday, hours...

Wars are rarely kind to the wide-ranging pursuit of the truth. The same goes for culture wars, including the war over fraternities. Harvard University’s recent decision to penalize students who join “final clubs” and other single-sex social organizations is one front in that war. In sober moments, opponents of all-male social organizations concede that they have “positive qualities.” But they demonize them anyway: “the influence of these organizations on campus life and in shaping mindsets,” says one Harvard committee, “is impossible to escape.” No time for nuance when one seeks to break and control the violence of frat boys. Similarly,...

UK: Returning Islamic State jihadis join a “jihadi union” demanding their “right” to return So now Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists are forming a “union,” called “the Unity Project,” in order to “bring some rights back to some of the people who have either lost their citizenship or lost their passports.” Rights in accordance with the Islamic State? Who could blame them for trying this, in light of ongoing Leftist and media efforts to treat these jihadis as if they were law-abiding citizens? The ISIS “union” is, of course, a cynical ploy to “dupe the public into believing that these individuals...

“Islamophobia expert” who became an Islamic State jihadist is arrested in Syria “Swedish-Norwegian ‘Islamophobia’ expert turned Islamic State jihadist Michael Skråmo has been arrested by Kurdish forces in Syria, with sources claiming Norway wants to prosecute the extremist.” Skråmo went through the jihadist ranks. As an “Islamophobia expert,” he was a stealth jihadist, and then advanced to the ranks of violent jihad. An “Islamophobia expert” serves as a Sharia police officer who works against the freedom of speech, attempting to shut down any speech that is considered to insult Islam or discuss the Islamic texts that are used to justify...

TAMPA (WFLA) - A photo of a giant wolf rescued by a sanctuary in Naples is going viral on social media. "Yuki" was dropped off at a kill shelter at 8 months old, that's when the sanctuary stepped in to provide a home for the big guy and he has been with the shelter since 2008. Yuki is one of the highest content wolfdogs at the sanctuary where he is currently staying. “His DNA testing came back as 87.5 percent Gray Wolf, 8.6 percent Siberian Husky, and 3.9 percent German Shepherd.” The photo has attracted a lot of much-needed attention,...

A previously unseen police report released in 2016 claimed Michael Jackson had a huge collection of images showing porn, animal torture and S&M sex at his Neverland Ranch A stash of disturbing and borderline illegal pornographic images were found in Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch before his death.The Thriller singer, who 10 years after his death from a drug overdose faces fresh claims of sexual abuse and assault against underage boys, collected grim images of nude and partially clothed teenagers at his vast home. Allegations made against him in the Channel 4 documentary Leaving Neverland focus on two of his alleged...

Several hundred people were received into the holy Orthodox Church by the Mystery of Baptism in India recently, including 47 Protestant pastors who have been telling their communities about the true faith. A missionary team, consisting of Fr. Athanasius Kone of the Holy Theotokos of Iveron Russian Orthodox Church in Hawaii, Papa Ephraim, formerly of St. Anthony’s Monastery in Arizona and currently of St. Nilus Skete in Alaska, Fr. George Maximov of Moscow, Sister Paraskevi of St. Nilus Skete, and Sister Ioanna and Anastasia from Moscow, spent about two weeks in India, preaching and teaching about holy Orthodoxy and baptizing...

The South Carolina megachurch pastor who drew criticism when he bought his wife a $200,000 Lamborghini as an anniversary present last December, denied cheating on her in a national television appearance. Seated next to his wife, Aventer, John Gray answered a question from one of the hosts of “The Real” about having an affair. “The answer is no. I didn’t,” video posted on YouTube shows Gray saying on the talk show that aired Monday. He also denied fathering a child as a result of an affair, saying “There’s no baby, none of that.” Gray, whose Relentless Church is based out...

Actor William H. Macy may have avoided being charged over the college admissions scandal because the allegedly incriminating emails were sent by his wife. Desperate Housewives actress Felicity Huffman is among 50 people who have been accused of paying bribes to get their children into America's top colleges. Huffman wrote an email about making a 'charitable contribution' of $15,000 to get their first daughter's SAT answers corrected, court documents show. Although the FBI allegedly recorded Macy discussing doing the same for his second daughter, Georgia Grace, the couple ultimately decided against doing so. In the same phone call Macy was...

Every year during Lent we invite into our churches a great pastor, St. Andrew of Crete, and listen while he leads us in a meditation on sin and repentance. That is, we listen while his Great Canon is chanted, and in response we reply over and over again, “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me!” Some things in this long poetic work might strike some moderns as a bit jarring, if not downright pathological—all this self-flagellation over our sins, this torrent of anguish and self-abhorrence. Is all this really necessary? Is it even healthy? A quick and...

An attorney for Michael Cohen on Tuesday attempted to clarify the former Trump lawyer’s congressional testimony regarding whether he sought a presidential pardon, maintaining that his client never “personally” requested one.

A former New Jersey priest who had been "credibly accused" of sexually abusing minors was found dead in his Nevada home, and police are treating it as a homicide. The body of John Capparelli was found Saturday morning by police conducting a welfare check at his home in Henderson, about 15 miles south of Las Vegas. The Clark County Coroner's Office said Capparelli, 70, died from a single gunshot wound to the neck. His body was found in the kitchen, a spokesperson said. Police said they did not have a suspect at this time. Capparelli's name appeared on a list...

A jury found him guilty of holding women in Manatee County against their will, giving them drugs and forcing them to prostitute themselves. A man has been convicted of holding women against their will and forcing them to prostitute themselves in Manatee County. According to the office of Ed Brodsky, state attorney for the 12th Judicial Circuit, a jury on March 8 found Juan Cruz Jr., 43, guilty of two counts of human trafficking and four counts of deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution. Throughout 2017, Cruz offered several women who were homeless and addicted to heroin a place...

Be at peace for I have calmed the seas for you and I AM The waters you walk upon now of holiness for I have made you righteous as I AM for I have overcome the world and their lies hold no water before your Creator and GOD ! Mark 4:39 And He got up and [sternly] rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still (muzzled)!” And the wind died down [as if it had grown weary] and there was [at once] a great calm [a perfect peacefulness].

The legal cloud of Jussie Smollett's indictment hangs over "Empire" as the series returns with new episodes Wednesday, raising questions as to whether that uncertainty and off-screen drama will derail the Fox primetime soap -- or perversely, temporarily spur interest in it. . . . The network has already announced that the actor will be left out of the last two episodes to "avoid further disruption on set," although it's unclear how his absence will be explained. That means the seventh hour in this latest run could wind up being his character's last on the series. The program has yet...