Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] How to Write Your Own Encyclical This past summer, what is now called the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family was “reconstituted” with an abruptness and thoroughness that scandalized over forty international scholars, who objected to the firing of several distinguished professors. It was a real purge—a term for which German has many equivalents such as Saüberung and Reinigung, but which Italian invariably would call epurazione.  The Institute retains the name “John Paul II,” but that only serves now as an ironic reminder that it has distanced itself from the theology, philosophy, and prophetic...

Earlier this month, during a bipartisan meeting in Kiev, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) delivered a pointed message to Ukraine's new president, Volodymyr Zelensky. While choosing his words carefully, Murphy made clear - by his own account - that Ukraine currently enjoyed bipartisan support for its U.S. aid but that could be jeopardized if the new president acquiesced to requests by President Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to investigate past corruption allegations involving Americans, including former Vice President Joe Biden's family. ... The implied message did not require an interpreter for Zelensky to understand: Investigate the Ukraine dealings of Joe Biden and...

Sylvie,* now 32, told a federal jury that a few years earlier she had been given an “assignment” that involved Keith Raniere, 59, the highest-ranking member of purported self-help group NXIVM. Sylvie said her friend and slave master Monica Duran gave the instruction. “She said that I needed to ask him to take my picture, and [said] to go along with whatever else was going to happen in that meeting,” Sylvie said. “But she didn't tell me what.” So Sylvie walked alone to meet Raniere, who, she told the court, led her to a bed with dirty white sheets and...

Eating meat could be made illegal like smoking in pubs, says top barrister Eating meat could become illegal in the future due to the damage caused to the environment, says a leading barrister calling for a new ecocide law. Michael Mansfield QC says new legislation is needed to criminalise the wilful destruction of nature, which he described as a crime against humanity. There are plenty of things that were once commonplace that are now illegal such as smoking inside. We know that because the UN has told us so. The organisation's director, Juliet Gellatley, said: Thirty years ago people didn't...

A few days ago, the Frank Report reviewed the timeline in the Jessie Smollett case – and the reasons why Cook County Circuit Court Judge Michael P. Toomin appointed Dan Webb to serve as a Special Prosecutor in the matter. Dan Webb As we noted at the time, Webb was appointed to investigate allegations that Jussie Smollett staged a fake racist, anti-gay attack against himself – and to determine why the Cook County State Attorney’s Office dismissed all the charges on which he had been indicted. So, what kinds of charges could Smollett be facing as a result of Dan...

I have a handgun I'd like to sell to get a different model. Since so many websites are anti-gun (e.g.: Craigslist) what other options are there? I'm not a dealer, so Gun Broker isn't the best option with fees, FFL to FFL transfers plus I have approximately 1,000 rounds I'd like to sell as well. Thought about flea markets but not sure I can just walk into one and sell or trade. My goal is to stay in state to avoid the FFL to FFL transfers but want to do it legally. What are my options or what am I...

"I think it has been very clear to many of the people who have been creating the kind of movement that is exciting generations, that we want somebody who really has a plan that is going to tackle a lot of the systematic challenges that we have, and he doesn't."

Watch here, starts at reporters Q.

[Catholic Caucus] Papal Standards – and Questions We know that Pope Francis is a believer in the value of criticism from his extensive remarks on the plane ride back from his recent apostolic visit to Africa. He said: “First of all, criticism always helps, always. When someone receives criticism, that person needs to do a self-critique right away and say: is this true or not? To what point? And I always benefit from criticism. Sometimes it makes you angry. . . . But there are advantages.”He wants critics to come forward with their arguments and be ready for a dialogue...

By now, Shaun King should be used to the drama. After all, the accusations King has faced are legion. People have accused him of not being black, of being a government operative inserted to dismantle the movement, of being an egomaniac who centers himself in the movement, a plagiarist who co-opts the work of black women, a bully who uses his influence and large following to silence those who question him, a fraud who starts multiple activism ventures that never come to fruition—and the biggest most frequent accusation: a thief who benefits financially from the fundraisers he promotes. The activist,...

Donald Trump didn’t learn anything from 2016. Not only has he still not acknowledged Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. Not only has he still not admitted his campaign’s multiple contacts with Russian operatives. Not only does he disagree with fellow Republicans who say: “We can’t allow foreign interference in an American election ever again.” Trump welcomed foreign influence in 2016 and now he’s doing his best to make it happen again, in 2020. This time with a different country. Not Russia, but Ukraine. There’s a lot we still don’t know, but we know enough to be alarmed. Here’s...

Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s grandmother, Muftia Tlaib, expressed her disdain for America in an interview with USA Today, revealing what she really felt about the country.“Even if I get an invitation from Trump to travel to the U.S., I won’t go,” she said.“Even if my husband returns from the grave and tells me to go, I refuse,” she continued.“I don’t like it there,” she added, according to USAToday.

China’s top technology hub Hangzhou plans to assign government officials to work with 100 private companies including e-commerce giant Alibaba, according to state media reports, in a move likely to raise concerns over the growing role of the state. The step underscores how Chinese government and party authorities are growing more deeply integrated into the private sector, as its economy sputters amid an intensifying trade war with the United States. The city of Hangzhou, home to Alibaba, will designate government officials to work with 100 local companies in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the local government said on its website.

Looking for Schism in All the Wrong Places Pope Francis boldly declared last week that he’s unafraid of “pseudo-schismatics”: a clique of (mostly American) rigorist prelates and journalists whom Francis regards as a kind of loyal opposition to his papacy. But why should he have been afraid to begin with? A pseudo-schismatic is, by definition, not a schismatic. Pontiffs need no more fear pseudo-schismatics than exorcists need fear little boys who dress up as Harry Potter for Halloween—or, as the Holy Father might call them, pseudo-sorcerers.Or maybe I’ve misinterpreted him. Francis could have meant to call them wannabe schismatics. Maybe...

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the woman who says she was recruited as an underage “sex slave” for Jeffrey Epstein and trafficked to other powerful men within his orbit, revealed in her first on-camera interview that she was allegedly trained to find the “youngest-looking” girls for the wealthy financier. It all started when she was 16 and working as a locker attendant at Mar-a-Lago, she told Dateline NBC’s Savannah Guthrie in an interview that aired Friday night. “I get approached by this beautiful, well-spoken, well-mannered woman with an English accent," Giuffre said. "She told me her name was Ghislaine Maxwell, and she...

A Florida lawyer whose work for WikiLeaks landed him before the Mueller Commission and a small group of supporters of President Donald Trump just dropped on social media a humorous pro-MAGA video on the riffs of the 1970s disco anthem YMCA. Released about noon Monday, the video starts in the same fashion of The Village People's original song with vintage views of the Manhattan's old YMCA building -except that in his version, the real neon sign was replaced with MAGA. In the parody by the fake band The American People, the faces of the original singers dressed to look like...

Abstract Wind energy has emerged as a promising alternative to fossil fuels, yet the impacts of wind facilities on wildlife remain unclear. Prior studies estimate between 10,000 and 573,000 fatal bird collisions with U.S. wind turbines annually; however, these studies do not differentiate between turbines with a monopole tower and those with a lattice tower, the former of which now comprise the vast majority of all U.S. wind turbines and the latter of which are largely being de-commissioned. We systematically derived an estimate of bird mortality for U.S. monopole turbines by applying inclusion criteria to compiled studies, identifying correlates of...

The Trump administration is reportedly considering another plan to divert billions in dollars in military funding to pay for more border wall construction. The White House is once again (FY 2020) looking to divert $3.6 billion in military funds to pay for more wall construction on the U.S.-Mexico border, according senior administration officials who spoke to the Washington Post... If the administration does not get the $5 billion in wall funding it requested via the Department of Homeland Security budget, officials are reportedly ready to once again reallocate money from the Pentagon construction budget. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives remains...

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The Bureau of Land Management is moving its headquarters to an office building in Colorado that also houses oil and gas organizations, drawing criticism from environmental groups. The building’s other tenants include two oil and gas companies as well as a state oil and gas association. The BLM regulates oil and gas leases and development on the land it oversees. The Denver Post reports representatives of environmental groups are concerned about the close association between oil and gas interests and the agency.

Published on Sep 23, 2019 Trump Considers Releasing Ukraine Transcript Causing Speculation About "4D Chess." Republican Trump allies have added to the choir of Democrats calling for transparency in Trump's dealings with Ukraine amid the Joe Biden and Hunter Biden scandal. But if it was the case that Trump abused his power to go after political rivals why would they entertain the idea of releasing the call transcript. Why would Trump even admit to the call when it turns out the "whistleblower" wasn't even actually a whistleblower. The news stories have begun shifting to Biden and what he was accused...