Free Republic

LGBTQ blessings service kicks off Pride month for CatholicsLess than three months after the Vatican issued a decree forbidding priests from blessing same-sex unions, nearly two dozen U.S. Catholic leaders and organizations kicked off the celebration of Pride month with a blessings service for LGBTQ Catholics. "God is inviting you to draw near and that God desires a deep and intimate relationship with all of you," Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky, told the virtual participants of the Catholic Pride Blessing on June 1. "May God, the source of life and love, fill you with the joy of knowing your...

Welcome to The Bicycle Thread. A monthly PING List for bicycle enthusiasts to share experiences, information and ideas.

President Joe Biden and his administration have courted Sen. Lisa Murkowski, with some success. But their recent move on Arctic drilling puts the Alaska Republican in a tough spot heading into reelection.

Pentagon Clears China's Biggest Drone Manufacturer to build for US Government — The Pentagon approved two drone models made by China’s Da Jiang Innovations. These models are recommended for use by government entities and forces working with US services – AmericideAs US Pipelines Are Shut Down New Pipeline Could Make Iran King of World Trade — Iran will soon be able to export its own oil even while blocking the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian National Oil Co. has begun pumping oil through the Goreh-Jask pipeline. It has the potential to increase Iran’s oil exports by about 50 percent. -...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Tuesday that Israel will request $1 billion from the U.S. to replenish its Iron Dome missile defense system and other military supplies after an 11-day war with militants in the Gaza Strip.

Your sustainment is in Me, Come to the Garden of plenty, Gethsemane is here and now for you, Enter into the promises I have for you to view, Hear My waters speak, My presence is your treat, Come stand in My waterfall, It's here for one and all, Feel the mist and droplets spray, My morning dew for you all day, Enjoy The rays from The Father and Son, Come and Abide in Kingdom come, Its all here for you right now, Shedding your flesh is how, Arrive to the place you should always be, Just you and Me, Hebrews...

Approximately one-fifth of Americans who purchased guns last year were first-time buyers, according to new preliminary data from Northeastern University and the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. The data also showed increases in the overall number of gun buyers and the total number of gun owners in the U.S. Of the first-time buyers recorded in 2020, half were women, a fifth were Black and a fifth were Hispanic, according to The New York Times, which reported on the new data. Last year's first-time buyers were less likely than usual to be male and white, the Times noted. The newspaper did...

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) claims she will match campaign donations "dollar-for-dollar." Since she is wealthy enough to fund her own campaign without donations this seems a way of demonstrating her own financial commitment to her reelection. The problem is, her promise is false. Campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show no matching contributions from her. Pelosi insists that her promise is not false, that her contribution "is an in-kind donation consisting my day-to-day work in Congress. Yes, I do receive as salary as a member of Congress, but this salary is far below the value...

New email disclosures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) have shown how National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Dr. Anthony Fauci colluded with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to implement Orwellian thought control from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. During one exchange in Feb. 2020, Zuckerberg asked Fauci about the best ways he could help with the synthesizing and mass distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, offering to throw money and resources to the project through his foundation. “I was glad to hear your statement that the covid-19 vaccine will be ready for human trials in...

An unexpected discovery by an Iowa State University researcher suggests that the first humans may have arrived in North America more than 30,000 years ago – nearly 20,000 years earlier than originally thought. Andrew Somerville, an assistant professor of anthropology in world languages and cultures, says he and his colleagues made the discovery while studying the origins of agriculture in the Tehuacan Valley in Mexico. As part of that work, they wanted to establish a date for the earliest human occupation of the Coxcatlan Cave in the valley, so they obtained radiocarbon dates for several rabbit and deer bones that...

...the authors of a new article in Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, have some potentially upsetting news for local food aficionados: 'Local food' cannot simply be equated with 'sustainable food'; in most cases, it neither can ensure food security nor does it necessarily have a lower carbon footprint. For the environmental sustainability of food systems, many more factors matter than just transportation, not least consumers’ dietary choices … In terms of economic sustainability, selling via short supply chains [those with few intermediaries between farmer and consumer] into local markets can benefit certain farmers, while for other producers it...

[Catholic Caucus] Disaster looms if Pope Francis restricts the traditional MassAt a time when Catholics are leaving the Church by the thousands, and young people especially are deserting the faith, traditionalist parishes are seeing explosive growth, marked in particular by an influx of young families. So why would any Catholic prelate, intent on evangelization, want to interfere with the growth of traditional Catholicism?June 2, 2021 (CatholicCulture.org) – The rumors are true. My sources in Rome — too many and too reliable to be doubted — confirm that a document is circulating at the Vatican which, if given papal approval, would...

Earlier this year, the Wikipedia page on GamerGate, the anti-corruption movement in gaming, saw extensive updates about the “legacy” of the movement and associated controversies. These edits pushed claims that GamerGate, which Wikipedia labels a “harassment campaign” due to a years-long effort by left-wing editors, helped Donald Trump become President in 2016 and that the movement even contributed to what the page called an “attempted coup” at the Capitol on January 6.

Kristian Andersen – the head of the Andersen Lab at Scripps Research Institute in California – told Dr. Fauci in late January 2020 that “unusual features” of the COVID-19 virus led him to believe it was “potentially engineered.” The bombshell release from Dr. Fauci’s e-mails goes to disprove the political and media establishment’s claims that lab-leak or bio-weapon concerns were “conspiracy theories.” In fact, Andersen is a government-funded scientists backed by Fauci’s own colleagues at the National Institutes for Health (NIH). He wrote, on Friday, January 31, 2020 at 10:32 PM: “On a phylogenetic tree the virus looks totally normal...

The World Health Organization (WHO) has authorized a Covid-19 vaccine made by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac for emergency use. The decision will allow CoronaVac to be used in WHO's vaccine-sharing program, COVAX, which seeks to provide equitable global access to immunizations. It is the second Chinese vaccine to be given WHO authorization after Sinopharm was greenlit in early May. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news briefing Tuesday that CoronaVac was "found to be safe, effective, and quality-assured following two doses of the inactivated vaccine." WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) has recommended the vaccine...

Legendary Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski will retire following the upcoming 2021-22 college basketball season, according to Stadium's Jeff Goodman. Krzyzewski, who turned 74 in February and is famously known as "Coach K," has led the Duke to five NCAA Tournament victories, 12 Final Four appearances and 27 combined ACC titles in tournament and regular-season competition since taking over the program ahead of the 1980-81 season.

Burwell, also the former Director of President Barack Obama’s Office of Management and Budget, emailed the National Institue of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director on February 4th, 2020 inquiring about the necessity of wearing a mask for a forthcoming trip and advice on the direction of a donation to China from investor Ray Dalio. The following day, Fauci’s response included a declaration that “I do not recommend that you wear a mask,” adding that the “typical mask you buy in the drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus.”

PHOENIX - Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2022 while denouncing the Republican-controlled state Senate’s ongoing audit of the 2020 presidential election. Hobbs said in a statement she was running for governor "to deliver transparency, accountability, and results for Arizonans" and would work as governor to "put aside our differences and work to solve the serious problems facing Arizona." The Arizona Senate’s audit of election results in Maricopa County was launched as supporters of former President Donald Trump suggested without evidence that the election was stolen, giving President Joe Biden...

It’s like something out of a Bond movie. The doctor who thanked Dr. Fauci for dismissing the Wuhan lab leak theory is the same guy who gave $600k to the lab, “investigated” it for the WHO and then acted as a Facebook fact checker censoring info on the Wuhan lab leak theory. You couldn’t make this up.