Free Republic

Sheinbaum, 61, is poised to make history as Mexico’s first female president and first Jewish head of state. Polls a week before Mexico’s election show her enjoying a wide lead over the next candidate, the conservative entrepreneur Xóchitl Gálvez. Still, after nearly a quarter-century in the public eye, she remains an enigma, known mainly as the low-key protégé of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the charismatic leader known as AMLO. AMLO doesn’t speak English and dislikes traveling abroad. Sheinbaum did postdoctoral research at the University of California at Berkeley; her sister and daughter live in the United States. The president,...

Last week's episode of the New Heights podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce received quite a bit of attention (even for arguably the most famous siblings in sports right now). There has been some backlash to both brothers from a portion of the population who believe they should have thrown their weight behind Butker wholeheartedly. Jason spoke out towards that audience on Monday morning via his X (formerly Twitter) account. Specifically against those who are calling his wife, Kylie, a "homemaker" and because of that he should support Butker. The tweet is below, along with a full transcription: “Responding to...

It seems to be taken for granted in many portions of Scripture that over the course of seeking to live faithful lives God's people will meet opposition, sometimes fierce opposition. The letter of 1 Peter presupposes such things—and if we accept the traditional dating and authorship of the epistle than the man who wrote the book was himself killed for his faith not long after writing. Likewise, the book of Daniel simply takes the reality of opposition for granted, showing us examples in the text of how faithful followers of God are threatened with fire, lions, and other forms of...

If there was any Chiefs teammate who would refer to kicker Harrison Butker as “Harry,” then you knew it was tight end Travis Kelce, right? Kelce let that tidbit be known in the latest episode of the New Heights podcast. Butker was a topic of conversation for Kelce and his brother Jason, the podcast co-host. “I probably might be the only person that calls him Harry,” Travis Kelce said as his brother laughed. “I’ve known him for eight-plus years and I cherish him as a teammate…He’s treated family that I’ve introduced to him with nothing but respect and kindness. And...

Pentecost, a radiant jewel in the liturgical crown of the Catholic Church, illuminates our faith with the fiery descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and disciples gathered in Jerusalem. Celebrated fifty days after Easter, Pentecost ignites our hearts with the timeless message of Divine empowerment, unity, and evangelization. The Acts of the Apostles transports us to that momentous day when the apostles, previously cloistered in fear, were filled with heavenly courage as tongues of fire settled upon them. The Holy Spirit, in His boundless wisdom and grace, bestowed upon them the gift of tongues, enabling them to proclaim...

In James 1:27, the apostle James gives us insight into what pleases God: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (NASB). The word for “undefiled” is translated “faultless” in the NIV. When interpreting any verse in the Bible, including James 1:27, we should always look at its context to get an idea of what the verse means within the surrounding verses. In this case, we can look at what comes immediately before James 1:27 and get some...

“As a founding institution and sponsor of Benedictine College, the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica find it necessary to respond to the controversial remarks of Harrison Butker as commencement speaker,” the statement on their website said. “The sisters of Mount St. Scholastica do not believe that Harrison Butker’s comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested.” Currently, the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica contain more than 80 women “devoted to a communal life of prayer, work and hospitality,” according to their...

A new report from British bank Barclay’s says that Swift, who has just kicked off the European leg of her wildly popular tour (revamped to include the top tracks from her latest release, The Tortured Poets Department) will bring around 997 million pounds ($1.26 billion) into the U.K. economy thanks to fans spending an average of 848 pounds to see her live. The “Swiftonomics” report also said that attending one of Swift’s 15 U.K. tour dates is expected to be more than 12 times the average cost of a U.K. night out (67 pounds) and even higher than the cost...

Boeing violated a 2021 settlement that protected it from criminal charges tied to the fatal 737 Max crashes, opening the company up to potential U.S. prosecution, the Department of Justice said Tuesday. Federal prosecutors said in a court filing in Texas they are still determining “how it will proceed in this matter” and that Boeing will have 30 days to respond. In January 2021, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle a conspiracy charge with the Justice Department. After a roughly two-year probe, the DOJ accused the company of concealing information about its Max plane that had been involved...

The Mirage Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, and its instantly recognizable volcano, is soon shutting down after more than three decades in business. The 3,000-room resort will cease operations on July 17 as it undergoes a three-year renovation that wipes away any markings of the Mirage and its tropical theme. Opened in 1989 by casino mogul Steve Wynn, the Mirage ushered in a era of luxe resorts for the Strip and was the first resort to have a sidewalk attraction with its volcano, prompting the Bellagio and Venetian to imitate the Mirage with its dancing fountains and...

It will soon be Barron Trump’s time to step into the political spotlight. Trump, former President Donald Trump’s youngest child, who will graduate from high school next week and has largely been kept out of the political spotlight, was picked by the Republican Party of Florida on Wednesday night as one of the state’s at-large delegates to the Republican National Convention, according to a list of delegates obtained by NBC News. “We have a great delegation of grassroots leaders, elected officials and even Trump family members,” Florida GOP chairman Evan Power said. “Florida is continuing to have a great convention...

"Your church has no right to exist, as it has connections with America and other Western countries," Russian authorities told the deacon of the Pentecostal church in Nova Kakhovka, Oleksandr Prokopchuk. They arrested him and his 19-year-old son. Both were later found dead in a forest. In occupied Sloviansk four members of the Evangelical Church of the Transformation were accused of being American spies because some U.S. dollars were found in their pockets. They were subsequently shot and killed. Evangelicals are targeted by the Russians disproportionally... Protestants were the victims of 34 percent of the reported persecution events...Baptists made up...

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday filed a lawsuit against multiple pregnancy resource centers and a pro-life group over what the prosecutor alleged were misleading statements about abortion pill reversal. James said in the filing that the defendants — the group Heartbeat International and 11 crisis pregnancy centers affiliated with the nonprofit — have engaged in “repeated and persistent misleading and/or false claims” regarding the medical procedure of abortion pill reversal. The abortion pill is a two-step procedure in which a pregnant woman first ingests the drug mifepristone, which cuts off the unborn baby’s supply of the hormone...

Given the current state of things, I felt compelled to start a prayer thread for President Trump today as the attacks against him right now are particularly vicious. If he can't be brought down legally, then the forces that be seek to break him down mentally, physically, and spiritually -- not to mention his wife and family, and all his millions, nay, billions of supporters around the world. The fact he is still standing at all right now is nothing short of miraculous. Mr. Trump is NO saint nor prophet, but he is a vessel in need of the Savior,...

Should you stick to the Center for Disease Control and American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommended plan for baby’s shots or go for a modified schedule? Check out what two doctors have to say and decide for yourself. There’s a demand for alternative schedules. Many new parents feel overwhelmed by the number of vaccines given to young babies today; 24 doses are given in the first year alone. When parents realize the medical establishment is trying to push unnecessary vaccines on them, they begin to question the entire process. The result is that parents simply want to vaccinate more carefully, and...

Elon Musk is chiding Boeing on social media for employing "too many" non-technical managers amid a wave of ongoing layoffs at his own company, Tesla. Musk fired off his thoughts on X this week, responding to reporting on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which is set to make a launch attempt on Monday evening after years of delays and setbacks. In 2014, NASA granted Boeing $4.2 billion and Musk's SpaceX $2.6 billion to develop a commercial crew system that could transport astronauts to the International Space Station. Despite working with a little more than half of the money that Boeing received, SpaceX...

In September 1943, as the tide of the Second World War was turning in the Soviet Union’s favour, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin called a meeting at the Kremlin. Alongside the foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the head of the secret police Vsevolod Merkulov were three men in Stalin’s office for the first time: Metropolitan Sergius, Metropolitan Aleksey, and Metropolitan Nikolay, three of the few Orthodox Church hierarchs left in the Soviet Union. The fact of such a meeting taking place is naturally surprising. Even those who know little about the Soviet Union are familiar with its anti-religious policies, especially...

It’s been said that when we talk to God, we’re ‘praying’, but when he talks to us, we’re crazy. Personally, I think it’s far crazier for us to pray without expecting God to speak back. Since the beginning of time, God has been a communicating being. When we choose to follow him, God gives us the Holy Spirit who speaks to us wherever we are. The challenge is learning to discern God’s voice above the others we hear. Although he longs to reveal himself in a personal way, human frailty means we can get it wrong. The good news is...

Barren women dominate the biblical narrative, and by no means are these women perfect. Sarai, Abraham’s wife, displayed unbelief, impatience, anger, and disrespect after waiting a lifetime for children. Rebekah, the wife of Isaac, waited twenty years to have a son. Leah and Rachel, sisters, married to Jacob, spent years in competition and felt deep envy towards one another. Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, was taunted for years by Peninnah and experienced depression. Elizabeth, wife of Zachariah, and Samson’s mother, wife to Manoah, both stood firm in their faith even when their husbands doubted God’s plans. The Shunammite woman begged...

Every semester, the largest classroom at Northwestern University in Chicago is filled with hundreds of students who are eager to take a course devoted to Russian literature. The answer as to why comes down to the who. That says something not only about the class, but about the professor who happens to be my guest today. Professor Gary Saul Morson, welcome to Thinking in Public. Gary Saul Morson:Oh, it’s my pleasure to be here. Albert Mohler: Professor, I just want to tell you right up front, this was one of the most significant reading experiences I have had in a...