Free Republic

NEW YORK—On Sept. 23 before the opening of this year’s 74th UN General Assembly, Polish President Andrzej Duda met with President Donald Trump. During the meeting both presidents signed the Joint Declaration on Advancing Defense Cooperation. The declaration builds on the premises of the prior agreement on defense cooperation between the United States and Poland, signed in June this year, that establishes a U.S. military presence on Polish territory of approximately 4,500 military personnel. This enduring presence will grow by about 1,000 additional U.S. military personnel in the near-term according to the declaration signed in June. The agreement was signed...

Whether it’s the Green New Deal, in which climate change abatement is only one of several radical proposals, or the general brainwashing of the younger generations about the impending end of the world, the absence of rational analysis and the willful ignorance of facts is counterproductive. Rather than promoting a feasible approach to dealing with climate change, the magnitude of which remains uncertain, the focus is on unfeasible approaches and unachievable goals. Leaders from around the world will be at it in earnest this week during the United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019. Many approaches to climate change are analogous...

[Catholic Caucus] Marx Admits: Vatican’s Opposition Against "Synodal Way" Was A Bluff There is "no stop sign from Rome” against the "Synodal Way”, said Cardinal Marx, the President of the German Bishops on 23 September at the beginning of their Plenary Assembly in Fulda. In early September, Cardinal Marc Ouellet still gave the impression that the Vatican had reservations against this de-facto synod. Now, Marx gave the all-clear, saying that on 20 September he had "constructive talks" with Francis and Ouellet. For Marx "constructive" means, "I made it clear that I see certain things differently." At least Marx agreed to...

America's best cities to live Drugmakers lobby hard to preserve their pricing power Click to expand President Trump confirmed Tuesday that he withheld military aid from Ukraine, saying he did so over his concerns that the United States was contributing more to Ukraine than European countries were. “My complaint has always been, and I’d withhold again and I’ll continue to withhold until such time as Europe and other nations contribute to Ukraine because they’re not doing it,” Trump told reporters at the United Nations General Assembly. Trump was responding to reporting by The Washington Post that Trump told his acting...

Over the next 10-15 years, 29% of all voters believe it is at least somewhat likely that the earth will become uninhabitable and humanity will be wiped out. A ScottRasmussen.com national survey found that 71% disagree and find it unlikely.The totals include 10% who consider it Very Likely and 37% who say Not at All Likely.There is a dramatic difference by age on this question. Half (51%) of voters under 35 believe it is at least somewhat likely humanity will be wiped out in the next decade or so. Only 12% of senior citizens agree (and only 4% of seniors...

Spain's Supreme Court has ruled that the remains of dictator Francisco Franco should be exhumed. It backed the Socialist government's plan to move the remains from a state mausoleum to a less controversial site. An appeal by Franco's family against the exhumation and proposing an alternative site was rejected. The issue has divided opinion in Spain, which remains haunted by the Franco era. He won the 1930s civil war and went on to rule Spain until 1975.

Well, the days of Scott Walker running the state are long gone. That’s regrettable. Former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, his real name is Robert Francis, went nuclear on the gun control issue. He wants to outright confiscate firearms, specifically so-called assault weapons. Why? Well, to liberals, they’re scary looking. That’s about it. He wants to confiscate the private property of law-abiding Americans. It’s illegal. It’s not going to happen at the federal level anytime soon because a) Bob isn’t going to be president let alone the 2020 Democratic nominee, and b) it’s a losing issue. What can happen though are...

Okay, so Hunter Biden was peddling influence to a Ukrainian company at the rate of $50,000 a month. And the only influence he could possibly have been peddling was that of his father, who at the time was the sitting Vice-President of the United States. But hey, why should that be a problem for Joe Biden? That was Alisyn Camerota's apparent logic on CNN this morning. On New Day, foreign policy expert Ian Bremmer said Joe Biden does have a Ukraine problem. Bremmer said the $50,000/month that Hunter Biden was paid by a Ukrainian company was "clearly to be selling...

It's been interesting an entertaining to observe as the issue of world climate has evolved from global warming to climate change to climate catastrophe. Everyone with a brain recognizes that this is simply socialism in drag. It is a vehicle meant for wealth transfer and really nothing more. The constant drumbeat is not without consequence, however. Children are said to be suffering, and one of the messengers of doom is another child. Few have been more vociferous about "climate change" than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who uses it as a disguise for her true socialist ambitions. She now professes herself to be...

How a North American group is building public support for those who seek to leave, or have left, the Muslim faith. For the past few days, the hashtag #AwesomeWithoutAllah is trending on Twitter. Ex-Muslims across the world are celebrating leaving Islam and sharing with ‘twitterati’ their happiness on being free from the shackles of Sharia and acquiring newfound freedoms which they could only imagine before. On all the backlash that the 'Awesome without Allah' campaign is getting, EXMNA executive director Sarah Haider said she was 'amused by the many "omg it's the end of timess!!!" comments by believers in...

[Catholic Caucus] Irish Bishop Backs Female Priests as Diocese Votes to Ordain Women Bp. John Fleming refused to permit traditionalists Latin Mass in diocese of Killala KILLALA, Ireland (ChurchMilitant.com) - An Irish bishop has committed himself to a specially devised delegation process for ordaining female priests after 69% of Catholics in his diocese voted in favor of the ordination of women. Bp. John Fleming of Killala The vote was part of a "listening process" initiated by Bp. John Fleming of the Killala diocese in north Mayo and west Sligo, after an analysis of clergy numbers indicated that the 22 parishes of the diocese...

DALLAS - The second day of testimony in the murder trial for former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger started out with audio and video evidence from the night she shot her upstairs neighbor. Guyger is charged with murder for the death of 26-year-old Botham Jean in September of Jean last year. She claims the shooting was accidental. She told police she went into Jean’s apartment thinking it was her own and shot him because she thought he was an intruder. The state’s first witness Tuesday morning was the 911 call taker who received Guyger’s call. Guyger listened and occasionally wiped...

A new generation of educated Muslims is starting to question the fundamentals of their faith The Economist narrated the story of an American Muslim boy of Somali descent, Mahad Olad, whose immigrant parents tricked him into going on a holiday with them to Kenya where they had made arrangements for him to go to a seminary to ‘restore’ his failing faith in Islam. He had no idea about his parents’ plans until he landed in Kenya. As soon as he stepped off the plane on a family holiday to Kenya, Mahad Olad knew something was wrong. His mother, a ‘very...

The entire American left -- the mainstream media, the environmentalist movement and Democratic politicians in particular -- are celebrating the involvement of teenagers and even younger children in protesting the world's "inaction" with regard to global warming. And not just the American left, of course. The left throughout the world is celebrating. A 16-year-old Swedish girl whose contempt for adults is breathtaking is an international hero. Congressional Democrats invited her to testify in Congress, and the United Nations has likewise invited her. The mayor and city council of New York City further politicized their city's public schools by allowing students...

The decline of American mining and production of critical minerals in recent decades is a self-inflicted wound that could imperil our economy and national security. Data from the latest federal geological survey showed the United States has become 99% dependent on imports for at least 20 critical and strategic minerals, not including each of the rare earth minerals, even though we were No.1 in mining output across the world as recently as 1990. Uranium is a perfect case in point. In Western states such as Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nebraska and Texas, the United States has massive domestic...

A top leader of the La Luz Del Mundo religious organization was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, production of child pornography, forcible rape of a minor and other felonies, California prosecutors said Tuesday. Naasón Joaquín García and co-defendants Alondra Ocampo, Azalea Rangel Melendez and Susana Medina Oaxaca — all of whom are affiliated with La Luz Del Mundo — are alleged to have committed 26 felonies in Los Angeles County between 2015 and 2018. “García and his co-defendants allegedly coerced victims into performing sexual acts by telling them that if they went against any of his desires or wishes...

Posted on September 23, 2019September 23, 2019 by Msgr. Charles Pope Strong Words from St. Augustine to those Who Would Be Shepherds St. Augustine, reflecting on a text from Ezekiel, has some strong words for those who would be shepherds, be they bishops, priests, or deacons. Let’s examine two important observations he made during a longer sermon delivered to the priests and people of Hippo.He begins with a lament over the failure of many shepherds to teach the truth:After the Lord had shown what wicked shepherds esteem, he also spoke about what they neglect. The defects of the sheep...

Lawmakers pressed for full disclosure of a whistleblower's complaint about President Trump as Democratic calls for impeachment intensified over his conversation with Ukraine's leader. Democrats, and some Republicans, urged the White House to be forthcoming amid the reports the president pressured Ukraine's leader to help investigate political rival Joe Biden. Trump's call to the foreign leader raised questions about whether the president improperly used his office to pressure another country as a way of helping his own reelection prospects. Trump has sought, without evidence, to implicate Biden and his son Hunter in the kind of corruption that has long plagued...

GROSSE TETE, La. - A woman bit a camel in defense after she reportedly went into its truck stop zoo enclosure to get her dog. The Advocate reported Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office officials said the woman's husband threw dog treats under Caspar the camel's fence Wednesday night at a Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana. The dog went under the fence to get the treats inside Caspar's enclosure, where he is kept as an attraction, The Associated Press reported. According to police documents obtained by The Advocate, Gloria Lancaster, 68, and Edmond Lancaster, 73, from Milton, Florida, let their...

US, 18 other nations tell UN: ‘There is no international right to an abortion’ NEW YORK, September 23, 2109 (LifeSiteNews) — The United States delivered a joint statement at the United Nations General Assembly today asserting “there is no international right to an abortion” and repudiating the use of ambiguous terms signaling abortion “rights” in UN documents. The statement also declared that the family is “the foundational institution of society and thus should be supported and strengthened” and affirmed the “protective role of the family” when it comes to sex education of children. U.S. Secretary for Health and Human...