Free Republic

Spain brought Catholicism, civilisation and freedom to Americas, says Isabel Díaz AyusoThe right wing president of the Madrid region has taken issue with the pope’s recent apology for the church’s “very painful errors” in Mexico, and said Spanish conquistadors brought Catholicism, civilisation and freedom to Latin America. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, touted as a possible future leader of Spain’s conservative People’s Party, has a history of provocative pronouncements. The latest came during a visit to the US on Tuesday, a day after Pope Francis – the first Latin American pontiff – sent a message to Mexican bishops to mark the bicentenary...

The Senate parliamentarian has nixed Democrats back-up plan for getting immigration reform into a sweeping spending bill, handing them a second huge loss in less than 10 days.Democrats had pitched parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough on legalizing millions of illegal invaders by making a change to the date. But MacDonough told Democrats that the option was a non-starter, according to a copy of the guidance obtained by The Hill. Democrats are pursuing other back-up plans with the Senate referee, according to a source familiar with Democrats’ strategy. Changing the registry date is a “weighty policy change and our analysis of this issue...

Democratic leadership in the House blocked a GOP-led measure to sanction trade between the Taliban and China, with the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee citing opposition to any move that could anger the Afghan terror group, according to congressional sources briefed on the matter. House Republicans tried to attach an amendment to the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act, the sprawling annual defense-funding bill, that would sanction any person or business that attempts to work with the Taliban to purchase rare earth minerals, a lucrative natural resource coveted by China and used to power most modern electronics. The...

Ok. PSDA stands for Patient Self Determination Act. Here is sec 102 of that act: § 489.102 Requirements for providers. (a) Hospitals, critical access hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, home health agencies, providers of home health care (and for Medicaid purposes, providers of personal care services), hospices, and religious nonmedical health care institutions must maintain written policies and procedures concerning advance directives with respect to all adult individuals receiving medical care, or patient care in the case of a patient in a religious nonmedical health care institution, by or through the provider and are required to: (1) Provide written...

President Joe Biden has not apologized to border patrol officials after he accused them of hitting Haitian migrants with straps as they worked to secure the border while riding horses. “It was horrible to see what you saw, to see people treated like they did,” Biden said last week. “Horses running them over, people being strapped. It’s outrageous. I promise you those people will pay.” Biden accused the agents of hitting migrants even though there was no available evidence to back up his statement. A photographer who took images even told Texas media that the images were “misconstrued” and that...

Furious Democrats seethe daily about Republican hostage-taking on the debt limit. They’re still insisting that the ceiling be suspended through regular order, and that Republicans help them do it. Instead of these fruitless, if understandable, attempts to shame Republicans for their hypocrisy and recklessness, Democrats could take this opportunity to remove a weaponized debt ceiling from Republicans’ arsenal for good..... “I’d be glad to see us get rid of the debt limit,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told TPM. “It serves no purpose to restrict spending, it just creates opportunities for political gamesmanship and threats to our economy. It’s time to...

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) took Pentagon leaders to task over the botched Afghanistan withdrawal during a House Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday. He blasted Gen. Milley for speaking to journalist Bob Woodward for his book Peril: “You spent more time with Bob Woodward on this book than you spent analyzing the very likely prospect that the Afghan government was going to fall immediately to the Taliban.” He also blasted Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, noting that he oversaw the Pentagon program in 2015 meant to train a force of Syrian rebels that produced only four or five fighters. “It just seems...

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) on Tuesday asked Gen. Mark Milley why he had not resigned over the deadly evacuation from Afghanistan. “Why haven’t you resigned?” Cotton asked Milley, citing Milley’s comments that President Biden did not consult the general until August 25 about moving the evacuation deadline past the Taliban-enforced deadline of August 31. “General Milley, I can only conclude that your advice about staying in Afghanistan was rejected,” Cotton said. “I’m shocked to learn that your advice wasn’t sought until August 25th on staying past the August 31 deadline.” “I understand that you’re the principal military adviser, but you...

Health systems suffering from relaxed restrictions, says national association The Canadian Medical Association is calling for lockdowns in Alberta and Saskatchewan to protect their "crumbling" health-care systems. Both western provinces are setting hospitalization records for COVID-19, with intensive care capacity running slim. Dr. Katherine Smart, president of the national association, is urging the federal and provincial governments to take immediate action. The association is calling for short, controlled lockdowns, often called "firebreakers" or "circuit-breakers", which would close schools and non-essential businesses...

The mayor of a US town named Uranus has unveiled a new neon mural wall celebrating its location on Route 66. Located in Missouri, the unincorporated town has a population of 25. The neon light installation measures 6m high and 16m wide. It features icons from towns also located on Route 66 including the Blue Swallow Motel in New Mexico, Cadillac Ranch in Texas and the Blue Whale of Catoosa in Oklahoma.... Other popular attractions in the town include the Fudge Factory and the General Store, but Mayor Baker said there's more work to be done and the town will...

Several mainstream news outlets are reporting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has declared that 23 species have gone extinct. Actually, 12 of them already had been declared extinct. Of the 11, 8 never existed in the U.S., three were never species but rather subspecies of still very-much-surviving species, and six are fraudulently identified as "species." The most egregious example is the Pinta Island Giant Tortoise, the supposed last of which was Lonesome George who died in 2012. Lonesome George was the only known Pinta Island Giant Tortoise since he was discovered in 1971. There are still plenty of...

Soon after The Daily Wire published an investigation that was unflattering to Democratic politician Terry McAuliffe and the Fairfax County Public Schools, FCPS filed legal action against the story’s source: the mother of a special-ed parent who relayed records that the school system provided to her under public records laws. It also sued another mother of a special-needs student who runs a blog that published portions of the records. The documents are billing records showing how FCPS paid Hunton Andrews Kurth, a law firm that hired now-Virginia gubernatorial candidate McAuliffe as a top advisor, to do much of what parents...

MIAMI, FL- The mayor of Miami apparently has no sense of humor. Mayor Francis Suarez came out upset and angry about mobile billboards driving around the city which are taking potshots at Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo, whose term in that position has proven interesting to say the least since he arrived in the city earlier this year, Miami Watch wrote on Substack. In an email sent from his personal account, Suarez described the billboards as “pathetic.” “This is beyond any bounds of decency and pathetic,” Suarez wailed in the message. On Monday, there was a rather contentious city commission...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Chinook Alert! Chinooks of 25th Combat aviation brigade support 1-27 Gimlets in the execution of IPACC. (Photo by Chief Warrant Officer Gideon Battis) Canteen Mission StatementShowing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Hey! Hey! It’s Fat Albert! Fat Albert, a C-130 Hercules aircraft assigned to the U.S. Navy, flies during the 2021 Air Show at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Sept. 25, 2021.The air show is MCAS Cherry Point and...

I think others may have this problem. Perhaps together we may devise a way to solve this. In short, I mailed our federal tax forms, 1040 for 2020 on May 17, 2021. To date, the IRS site tells me they have not processed our forms. Then, the paragraph reads: "The due date has passed. If you've already filed, processing usually takes 21 days (electronic returns) or six weeks (paper returns).If you still need to file, submit your tax return along with any payment due as soon as possible to minimize potential penalties and interest. If you’ve been affected by a...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—During his booster shot ceremony Monday, President Biden was ordered to stop taking questions by a man holding a shepherd's crook just behind the curtain. But Biden disregarded the order and answered one question from a reporter who asked when we could get back to normal. "We'll be back to normal when, heck, I don't know, third—three... three point... three point five million billiion trillion, uh, 3.5 trillion people are vaccinated," Biden said as the doctor leaned in to give him his booster shot. He suddenly appeared much more lucid. "Say, that's a great head of hair, lady. Herbal...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a broad spectrum from respiratory and nasopharyngeal symptoms, cerebrovascular diseases, impaired consciousness, and skeletal muscle injury. Emerging evidence has indicated the neural spread of this novel coronavirus. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological, sensorimotor disorder, but highly under diagnosis disorder. Restless anal syndrome as restless legs syndrome variant associated with COVID-19 has been previously not published.

NASA has tested the functions of Lucy, the agency’s first spacecraft to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, filled it with fuel, and is preparing to pack it into a capsule for launch Saturday, October 16, 2021. Named after characters in Greek mythology, these asteroids circle the Sun in two swarms, with one group leading ahead of Jupiter in its path, the other trailing behind it. Lucy will be the first spacecraft to visit these asteroids. By studying these asteroids up close, scientists hope to hone their theories on how our solar system’s planets formed 4.5 billion years ago and why they...

The prosecutor in the case of a British woman's murder told a London jury Wednesday that the police officer who kidnapped, raped, and killed his victim had made a fraudulent, premeditated arrest under the guise of lockdown enforcement. Sarah Everard, who was walking home from a friend's house in defiance of lockdown regulations... went missing March 3 while walking home from a dinner at a friend's home. Her burned body was found a week later in the woods outside of London. Everard's death triggered protests against gender-based violence and police brutality in London. During a vigil held for Everard, British...

On Wednesday, Mike Pompeo, who served as both CIA Director and Secretary of State during the Trump administration, disputed Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley’s testimony in front of lawmakers this week, saying that Milley’s claims were not accurate. Pompeo made the remarks during an interview on SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” with host Megyn Kelly in response to Milley’s claim that he briefed Pompeo, then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller about his call with China. Pompeo had the following exchange with Kelly: POMPEO: You know, I think the disconnect here,...