Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Cdl. Zen: Pope ‘Shutting Down’ Work of Predecessors in China Says Francis has 'low respect' for John Paul II, Benedict XVI HONG KONG (ChurchMilitant.com) - In a recent interview with New Bloom, Cdl. Joseph Zen discussed the worsening plight of the underground Catholic Church in China and described how Pope Francis is "shutting down" the work of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.  After providing some historical background on the relationship between the Vatican and Communist China, Cdl. Zen talked about the situation coming to a head under Pope Francis' pontificate and deteriorating in the wake of the surreptitious 2018 Vatican-China...

Oh my. Adam Schiff gave an interview to The New Yorker in which he had some really nasty things to say about Donald Trump.  One stands out in particular: “The President doesn’t give a s**t about what’s good for our country, what’s good for Ukraine. It’s all about what’s in it for him personally and for his reëlection campaign.” Doesn't care about what's good for our country? Seriously? The data says otherwise. Jim Geraghty:Turning our attention to the American economy, you’ve heard about the low unemployment rate. What you may not have heard is that the workforce participation rate for...

Humans are exposed to far more hormone-disrupting chemicals than previously thought, according to a new study. In a study published today, Dr Hunt reveals the new tool shows the 'safe' limit of BPA stipulated by the US Food and Drug Administration is flawed. In fact, it is 44 times higher than what Dr Hunt considers safe. 'What it comes down to is that the conclusions federal agencies have come to about how to regulate BPA may have been based on inaccurate measurements.' She discovered the way that the BPAs - sometimes referred to as 'gender-bending chemicals - interfered with the...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) has a plan for public education, and it starts with parents. "If you think your public school is not working, then go help your public school," she told the National Education Association (NEA) as she touted her stance against charters. "Go help get more resources for [your public school]. Volunteer at your public school. Help get the teachers and school bus drivers and cafeteria workers and the custodial staff and the support staff, help get them some support so they can do the work that needs to be done. You don't like the building? You think...

An on-duty NYPD officer suffered injuries Thursday after chomping on a razor blade stuffed inside a steak sandwich he’d just bought from a Queens deli, sources told The Post. The nasty surprise was tucked inside the hero he’d purchased around 4:30 p.m. from Bon Appetit Specialty Food Store on Beach 129th Street in Belle Harbor. The 24-year veteran, who was in plainclothes at the time and assigned to the critical response command in the counter-terrorism bureau, suffered a small cut in his mouth and was treated at Nassau University Medical Center. The NYPD is investigating how the razor blade ended...

A federal appeals court on Thursday lifted several injunctions that were blocking the Trump administration’s rule restricting immigration eligibility for individuals deemed likely to become public charges. “Public charge” denotes immigrants who are likely to require government assistance, such as food stamps or Medicaid. The Trump administration had moved to restrict the number of new immigrants who would require such assistance, but several courts blocked the rule in October before it could take effect. In its 2-1 decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed preliminary injunctions against the administration’s rule from federal courts in Washington and California. The rule...

Republican Representative Doug Collins asked the panel’s Democratic chairman, Jerrold Nadler, to issue subpoenas for all their requested witnesses except Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. The Judiciary Committee’s next hearing will be on Monday.

Rush Limbaugh: ‘Pelosi Invokes Her Catholicism on Everything but Abortion’ She snapped at the reporter, “As a Catholic, I resent your using the word hate in a sentence that addresses me.” ... He (Limbaugh) said he wanted to “remind” the speaker that abortion is the killing of unborn children — and that the church is firmly against it. “Pelosi invokes her Catholicism on everything but abortion,” he aptly noted on “Fox & Friends.”Related: Pro-Abortion Democrats: Are They Now the ‘Deathocrats’?He also said, “If you wonder what hate is, it’s on parade in this impeachment” situation against Trump that House Democrats...

Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Integration, Olena Zerkal, said that the American New York Times quoted her interview as a significant detachment from the context, resulting in active media speculation that hurt Ukraine and the US. The Mirror has published an open letter to newspaper editor asking for a revised version of the interview and the letter itself. However, the New York Times does not want to correct the text and adheres to the author's version. "During the interview, I made it very clear that at the end of July we did not know why the process...

Please FReep this IF you agree and help me get the signatures I need to move this petition forward. I just returned from a trip to Albuquerque, NM, and they are covered up in homeless people --- some of which are freezing to death on the streets in their harsh winter. They were put on buses and shipped there. https://www.newmexiconewsport.com/are-other-states-sending-their-homeless-to-abq/ I have heard of this happening in other places as well.

This is the last Count Vlad music posting for a while -- at least till after Christmas. In the spirit of Christmas, Count Vlad has done an original gospel song. He heard the line "Roll back the stone Lord Jesus" spoken by the minister in church and was inspired to use it in a gospel song. For everybody's information the Count does not hang upside down with the bats in the Church belfry. Nor is the Count a typical Vampire. He drinks the blood of Jesus (the Eucharist) and has eternal life that way. You might call him a Christian...

The actual pageant is on Sunday, Dec. 8th at 7PM ET on the Fox Network (LIVE) hosted by Steve Harvey. Tonight is the PRELIMINARY Competition, where contestants will be wearing their native costumes and gowns. Live from the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Downtown Atlanta.

How do you get machines to perform better? Tell them they could croak at any minute. In a new paper from the University of Southern California, scientists say that “in a dynamic and unpredictable world, an intelligent agent should hold its own meta-goal of self-preservation.” This idea invokes the design concept of a survival game, where a finite number of resources is given to a set number of players and they must find an equilibrium or eliminate their competitors. The gorgeous 2018 card game Shipwreck Arcana is a great example of a cooperative survival game: To win, at least one...

There are different types of flu viruses, and the one causing illnesses in most parts of the country is a surprise. It’s a version that normally doesn’t abound until March or April. That virus generally isn’t as dangerous to older people — good news, since most flu hospitalizations and deaths each winter occur in the elderly. However, such viruses can be hard on children and people younger than 50. Louisiana was the first state to really get hit hard, with doctors there saying they began seeing large numbers of flu-like illnesses in October. In both of the previous two flu...

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday put a temporary hold on a court ruling that would require records held by Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp to be handed over to Democratic-led congressional panels. Trump's lawyers asked the high court to put a hold a Dec. 3 ruling by Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals directing the two banks to comply with April subpoenas by the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee and Intelligence Committee for the financial records.

Harvey Weinstein hobbled into court in Manhattan on Friday for a hearing on his sexual assault case where prosecutors claimed he had violated bail conditions by 'mishandling' his electronic ankle monitor. The 67-year-old looked frailer than at his last appearance, clinging on to one of his aides as he made his way into the courthouse while another carried a cane. The decline in his health is down to Type 2 diabetes and a spine condition, both of which have been exasperated by his ongoing legal woes, according to sources cited by Page Six. Weinstein will go to trial in January...

Prices for prescription drugs edged down by 1% last year, a rare result driven by declines for generics and slow, low growth in the cost of brand-name medications, the government said Thursday. Though modest, it was the first such price drop in 45 years, according to nonpartisan economic experts at the federal Department of Health and Human Services, who deliver an annual report on the nation’s health care spending.

Did Obama-Appointed Ukraine Ambassador Intervene to Help Anti-Trump Ukraine Group? Judicial Watch Sues for Key Docs Of Deep State Official At Center of Latest Coup Attack on Trump Court Tells FBI It Can’t Hide Records about FBI-Clinton Lawyer Meeting on Russia Did Obama-Appointed Ukraine Ambassador Intervene to Help Anti-Trump Ukraine Group? As the coup abuse against President Trump accelerates, Judicial Watch focuses on the real Ukraine collusion scandal. We just sued the State Department for documents related to a reported “untouchables list” given by former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch to Ukraine Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko in late...

The burdensome costs of medical care, prescription drugs and health insurance have become dominant issues in the 2020 presidential campaign. But a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services shows the nation remains in a period of relatively slow growth in health spending. Health spending in the United States rose by 4.6 percent to $3.6 trillion in 2018 — accounting for 17.7 percent of the economy — compared to a growth rate of 4.2 percent in 2017. Federal officials said the slight acceleration was largely the result of reinstating a tax on health insurers that the Affordable...

Texas will be much cleaner after this upcoming weekend as Scott Presler, conservative activist and environmental steward, returns to Harris County. Over the last year, the 31-year-old spearheaded initiatives to cleanup cities and empower communities across the United States including Chicago, Baltimore, and Los Angeles. He now plans to tackle our very own city of Houston this Saturday. In a phone call with the Houston Courant, Scott’s enthusiasm was earnest, “I used to live in Galveston and League City and have roots in the greater Houston area. We want to go into the areas that have been neglected and show...