Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Burke Says Vatican’s Instruction on Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Should Be RescindedThe former prefect of the Apostolic Signatura calls it ‘a direct violation of universal Church law.’For Cardinal Burke and other canonists and priests contacted by the Register, the most serious element of the letter concerns its imposition of concelebration upon priests who wish to offer Mass in the basilica — a change, they say, that pertains not only to the basilica but the universal Church, as St. Peter’s is the spiritual home for all Catholics and, they say, should be a model of liturgical discipline....

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration is stockpiling tens of millions of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine whose authorization in the U.S. remains uncertain, frustrating U.S. allies who say those doses should be used now to save lives overseas.The standoff is part of a growing global debate over who should have access to hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine that pharmaceutical companies are churning out in the U.S. Besides generating ill will, Biden’s insistence on an excess supply for America is potentially creating new openings for geopolitical rivals Russia and China.A two-dose vaccine from AstraZeneca has received emergency...

The massive space telescope, featuring a 21 foot mirror, and a tennis court-sized protective cage, is far too large to stick inside a plane. Instead, NASA will have to ship the massive mirror right through the Panama Canal for its eventual launch in French Guiana — and NASA is worried that the journey could attract robbers. The shipping time and location will be hush-hush to ward off any extremely ambitious thieves. All we know is that it will sail off in late summer. It’s an especially harrowing sea passage for a project that has been going on for over two...

With my Plane Finder app, I've been tracking aircraft flying directly over my home in Newtown, CT at about 35,000 feet on average. Under about 30,000 feet there are no contrails but right around 29,500 feet seems to be the magic altitude number for contrails. I've had some planes sprout contrails right over my home just as they reached that height. Most of them coming from Boston and heading to Florida, usually Ft Meyers but sometimes Naples and Tampa. A few headed to Charlotte, NC. One was on its way to Houston. Even though six miles overhead, you can make...

Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? (Proverbs 1:20-22)Wisdom cries out in the streets. There are many ways in which she does this, but one way Wisdom cries out, is in popular current culture and events. I believe that if anyone has ears to hear, they will perceive and perhaps even be able to interpret...

Incredible, any rotary-wing aviators here?Homemade Helicopter by 102 year old Boeing Engineer

Cold fusion: A potential energy gamechanger Think it's a failure, a joke? Think again. Big investors are positioning themselves, Japan & US in the lead By JONATHAN TENNENBAUM NOVEMBER 14, 2019 'Triple tracks' claimed as evidence for neutron emission from palladium deuteride. Photo: US Government, public domain This is the first of three installments. A desktop-sized nuclear reactor that generates energy without radioactivity – it sounds too good to be true. Indeed, the discovery of a novel form of nuclear energy called “cold fusion,” proclaimed in 1989 by the chemists Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, has long been dismissed by...

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) said she was “excited” to sign into law a bill that would prohibit transgender females (biological males) from participating in real women’s sports in the state’s public schools, its school districts, and in its colleges. The legislation (HB1217) passed the South Dakota Senate (20-15) on Monday and is now on Gov. Noem’s desk. Noem tweeted on Monday, “In South Dakota we’re celebrating #InternationalWomensDay by defending women’s sports! I’m excited to sign this bill very soon.” The bill states that an athletic team or sport in the public schools must be designated a “male team”...

The dogged pursuit of equal results between racial groups across all venues of human endeavor is a formula for tyranny and more racism.For those who emphasize identity, groups are fundamental building blocks of society. Groups matter—their culture and heritage, the music they listen to, the food they eat, the books they read, the stories they tell their children. All these things matter, and they all vary significantly across groups.On the other hand, group-egalitarians claim that, absent injustice, we should have equal representation of groups in every human enterprise. But how can that be? If groups matter, some people are going...

The Idaho Falls District 91 School Board of Trustees meeting became heated Tuesday afternoon during a discussion on masks. The board spoke about bringing all students back to school five days a week rather than the current schedule of meeting in-person Monday through Thursday. The topic then turned to masks. “The CDC is recommending that all phases of schools reopening, no matter what the community transmission is like, (is) to continue masking so you can stay in school,” Board of Trustees Chair Lara Hill said. “If our goal is to educate our children in our district and keep them in...

People may have lost some interest in politics after The Year That Was, but they’ve lost more of it at CNN than at its competitors. Variety reports that all of the Big Three cable news networks have seen significant declines over the last three months, although Fox News Channel has managed to hold the decline down to single digits. CNN, however, has seen their prime-time viewership drop dramatically over the last three months, and Variety chalks that up to the disappearance of CNN’s favorite prime-time punching bag (via Twitchy):Our prediction that audiences would perk up for President Trump’s second impeachment...

Open letter to the Mayor of Radenac who " reflects " on a possible reception of "migrants". Subject : refusal to accept illegal immigrants Mr. Mayor, Although geographically far from Brittany, because I am Provençal, I feel in solidarity with all French people, especially in the face of current events: the migratory invasion. It is for this reason that I take the liberty of writing to you to dissuade you from welcoming Syrian “migrants” - and not Syrians - to your village.

The Witch Hunt continues against Trump supporters. Now, it’s the US Army targeting General Michael Flynn over the phony “emoluments” clause. The Washington Post reported: The Defense Department’s internal watchdog has concluded a long-delayed investigation into Michael Flynn, defense officials said Friday, sending its findings to the Army in a case that could bring tens of thousands of dollars in financial penalties for President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser. The investigation focuses on Flynn’s acceptance of money from Russian and Turkish interests before joining the Trump administration, a potential violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause. With few exceptions, U.S....

American schools are cultivating ignorance in children. The goal of public education no longer is to teach; it is to indoctrinate students with a radical left-wing agenda. Academic achievement is not required or even desirable. Want proof? Look no further than the "ethnomathematics" curriculum spreading like wildfire. "Apparently, one example of 'white supremacy' in math is teachers asking students to 'show their work' when solving math problems," observes Jarrett Stepman with the Daily Signal. "According to class materials, this requirement reinforces 'worship of the written word as well as paternalism.' Students are encouraged to make TikTok videos rather than bow...

Now they're canceling cartoons. They're cartoons, people! But that's what leftists do and have done for over a century. It began with Woodrow Wilson's desire to rewrite the Constitution. His reasoning was that it was a fine document for its time, but was no longer applicable to the concerns of the day. You could say he was the father of modern-day cancel culture. Frankly, Wilson is the father of everything that's wrong with America at present, but I digress. Since then, the left has evolved, or devolved, into what we see today, a movement bent on asserting that all past...

Some well-regarded Christian leaders found good in Biden’s speech last night. It made me wonder if I had done the right thing by attacking it so vehemently. You may have wondered, too. So, let me explain some important things to you. I have total respect for those leaders. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ—many of them are far more visible and influential than I am. Their attempt to find something good in what Biden said is commendable, but I must disagree with the idea that there was good in what Biden said. I only hope the family of...

Can lawmakers bring home the bacon without it being pork? It’s a question that’s vexing Republicans as they consider whether to join a Democratic push to revive earmarks, the much-maligned practice where lawmakers direct federal spending to a specific project or institution back home. Examples include a new bridge, community library or university research program. Earmarking was linked to corruption in the 2000s, leading to an outcry and their banishment in both the House and Senate. But many in Congress say the ban has gone too far, ceding the “power of the purse” to party leaders and the executive branch...

According to the Russian media report, Russia is ready for negotiations with Turkey on the possible delivery of Su-35 and Su-57 fighter aircraft, if it receives the corresponding request. “As for Ankara’s potential plans of purchasing Russian Su-35 and Su-57 fighters, it should be noted that the Turkish side has been informed about their technical specifications in full. If there is a request from Turkey for these planes, we are ready for negotiations on this issue,” the spokesperson for Russia’s Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation Valeria Reshetnikova said on Friday Turkey has expressed an interest in Russian fighter...

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Maywa Montenegro de Wit joined the UC Santa Cruz faculty this past July, amidst the global coronavirus pandemic, and that experience has guided her work in some important new directions. Montenegro de Wit’s research focuses on the intersection of agroecology, food sovereignty, and biotechnology. But this past year, she undertook a new project to document the role of the food system in the pandemic and explore how lessons from the abolition movement could position agroecology to bring about transformative change.

Sri Lanka on Saturday announced plans to ban the wearing of burqas and said it would close more than 1,000 Islamic schools known as madrassas, citing national security. Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara said he signed a paper on Friday seeking the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to ban burqas — outer garments that cover the body and face worn by some Muslim women. “The burqa has a direct impact on national security,” Weerasekara told a ceremony at a Buddhist temple on Saturday, without elaborating. “In our early days, we had a lot of Muslim friends, but Muslim...