Free Republic

On Good Friday every year,* Christians around the world commemorate the death by crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, rabbi, prophet, Son of God, Son of Man, messiah, and all-around trouble-maker. The truth is that very little is known of Jesus’ life and teachings from verifiable accounts, but this has not stopped generation after generation of Christians from telling his story, beginning with Jesus’ semi-official biographers, the evangelists of the New Testament. Almost everything we know about the life and teachings of the physical human being Jesus are in those writings, which do not portray him always in compatible ways, and...

TOKYO -- Japan "does not intend to withdraw" from oil and liquefied natural gas development projects in Russia, trade minister Koichi Hagiuda told reporters on Friday....

Quantum technology, which makes use of the surprising and often counterintuitive properties of the subatomic universe, is revolutionizing the way information is gathered, stored, shared and analyzed. The commercial and scientific potential of the quantum revolution is vast, but it is in national security that quantum technology is making the biggest waves. National governments are by far the heaviest investors in quantum research and development. Quantum technology promises breakthroughs in weapons, communications, sensing and computing technology that could change the world's balance of military power. The potential for strategic advantage has spurred a major increase in funding and research and...

The Yale Law School professor who attempted to keep order as protesters disrupted a panel on free speech urged her colleagues in a Thursday letter to recognize the disruption as a "blatant violation of Yale’s Free Expression policy," a statement that contradicts conclusions reached by the law school's dean. "This is an important moment," Professor Kate Stith said in a memo to all tenured faculty at the law school. "Any formal determination that the March protest at Yale Law School did not violate Yale’s policy on Free Expression would set a terrible precedent at Yale and elsewhere." The memo came...

Vatican defends hasty rollout of revolutionary laity reformThe new apostolic constitution is said to uphold Pope Francis' stance of focusing more on the rank-and-file people of God. Vatican officials on Monday defended the last-minute rollout of Pope Francis’ reform of the Holy See bureaucracy while also painting it as one of the most consequential moves of his pontificate since it recognizes that any believer, male or female, can head a Vatican office.The new apostolic constitution "Praedicate Evanglium," or "Proclaiming the Gospel," was released Saturday after nine years of work with no advance warning and only in Italian. It replaces the...

Use of disinfectants by pregnant women may be a risk factor for asthma and eczema in their children, finds a population study. Exposure to disinfectants in the workplace has been linked to asthma and dermatitis previously in the workers exposed, but few studies have looked at pregnancy and the subsequent development of allergic disease in children. The odds of children having asthma or eczema were significantly higher if their mothers used disinfectant one to six times a week compared with the odds in children of mothers who never used disinfectants. There was an exposure-dependent relationship between prenatal exposure to disinfectants...

On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks said that Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases “never” work and he is “guardedly skeptical” that President Joe Biden’s plan to release from the SPR “is going to do much” to lower gas prices.

A flood of families are canceling their Disney memberships — from amusement parks to Disney+ streaming — over the woke entertainment company’s leftist, LGBTQIA+ agenda, with one parent noting, “Walt would turn over in his grave” if he saw what Disney has become. Loyal Disney consumers and saying the company has gotten out of control with its wokeness in recent years and now they believe there’s a left-wing political agenda in virtually every facet of the company — from its movies, streaming service shows, to its theme parks and other offerings from its entertainment and media conglomerate. Last year, Disney...

In October of 2020, all of you signed on to a letter, carefully timed to impact the impending Presidential election, which effectively branded the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop as fraudulent. While carefully wording your comments – so as to avoid making any hard judgments – you stated that your national security experience made you “deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case” and noted, “If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this.” Your intervention...

Obese mice that were fed a high-fat diet and that received prednisone one time per week had improved exercise endurance, got stronger, increased their lean body mass and lost weight, reports a new study. The mice also had increased muscle metabolism. The once-weekly prednisone promoted nutrient uptake into the muscles. Investigators also found these mice had increased adiponectin levels, a fat-derived hormone that appears to play an important role in protecting against diabetes and insulin resistance. The scientists also showed mice that were already obese from eating a high-fat diet also had benefit after once-weekly prednisone, experiencing increased strength, running...

PEORIA (Heart of Illinois ABC) - Chaos at the Peoria Chuck E. Cheese where food, drinks, and punches were thrown. Police said one adult and one juvenile were arrested at that location and the night before 6 people were arrested at another fight at the Landmark Recreation Center. Residents said the fighting concerned them and made them rethink where and when they came out. “I find that I wouldn’t go to the mall at night time cause I know there was a lot of fights there too,” Mapleton resident Lisa Sweet said. “We want to go places with our families...

The future of Sino-American relations hangs on Generation Z -- those born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s. Not only will this generation be spearheading policymaking in Beijing and Washington in three to four decades' time, more importantly, the attitudes, behaviors and decisions undertaken by this generation make them vital stakeholders in an increasingly acrimonious relationship dominated by talk of diplomatic boycotts and economic decoupling. There are two trends worth noting about Gen Z on both sides of the Pacific. First, American zoomers are comparatively more positive about China than their Chinese peers feel about the U.S. Yan...

The article in the link is provided yo give a definition of the term "shareholder right to written consent." Here are the first few paragraphs: Shareholder Action by Written Consent Shareholder action by written consent refers to corporate shareholders' right to act by written consent instead of a meeting.3 min read 1. Meetings Versus Consent 2. How Does Shareholder Action by Written Consent Work? 3. Written Consent Proposals Shareholder action by written consent refers to corporate shareholders' right to act by written consent instead of a meeting. This type of consent avoids some of the negative characteristics of shareholder meetings....

Vladimir Putin has lost another colonel during fierce fighting in Ukraine as paratrooper Lt Col Vitaly Slabtsov, 43, was killed in action and has been buried with full military honoursLt Colonel Vitaly Slabtsov, 43, was killed in action in UkraineVladimir Putin has lost another colonel during fierce fighting in Ukraine, which serves as further proof that the Russian leader's war isn't going according to plan.Lt Col Vitaly Slabtsov, 43, was an elite paratrooper buried with full military honours, say reports.The body of the commander was placed in a closed coffin with a Russian flag draped over it, indicating he had...

The Consumers Building, 220 S State St., (left), and the Century Building (right), 202 S. State St., would be demolished by the federal government as part of a security plan for the neighboring Dirksen Federal Building The buildings’ demolition would create an economic and pedestrian dead zone on State Street. And it would be a shameful waste of some really good Chicago architecture. So why would the U.S. General Services Administration now raise a hind leg to this legacy by wrecking the Century and Consumers buildings, two early 20th Century skyscrapers at 202 and 220 S. State Street? The Berghoff...

Multiple Disney employees admitted their own personal missions to deluge 5- to 9-year-olds with as much of their own sexual ideology as possible. Disney isn’t just grooming children with radical sexual propaganda — now they’re bragging about it. On the heels of Florida’s new Parental Rights in Education law, which bars educators from instructing kindergarten through third-grade students about sexual ideology, multiple executives and employees from the Walt Disney Company admitted their own personal missions to deluge 5- to 9-year-olds with as much of their own sexual ideology as possible. One Disney executive boasted about her “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” and...

Buried Bombshell: Tennis World Rocked as FIFTEEN “Fully Vaccinated” Players Unable to Finish Miami Open Tennis fans are upset and the sporting world is reeling after an unprecedented number of players either withdrew or retired from the Miami Open this week. A total of 15 players were unable to finish, including the male and female favorites to win. The tennis world reacted with shock after favorites Paula Badosa and Jannik Sinner had to retire during the quarterfinals of the Miami Open. Badosa, soon to be the number three in the world, became unwell during her match against Jessica Pegula and...

The United States Senate on Tuesday voted to advance Lisa Cook’s nomination by President Biden to the Federal Reserve Board after a committee deadlocked on her nomination earlier this month. Cook is currently an Executive Committee member of the regional Chicago Federal Reserve Bank Board of Directors. As a member of the national Federal Reserve Board, she would have key influence on the Fed’s monetary policy, which is supposed to be about price stability, i.e., controlling inflation. In 2020, you may recall that the Chicago Fed bowed to the cancel mob in a particularly egregious manner by cutting ties...

The Obama portraits are finally here, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH) is planning a full afternoon of fun activities on Sunday, April 3, to celebrate their arrival. In 2018, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., debuted “The Obama Portraits,” an exhibit with works by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald portraying former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The portraits have since gone on tour in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles and Atlanta. And now, it’s Houston’s turn. The afternoon will begin with remarks from U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and...

As Russia continues its bloody assault on Ukraine and China cracks down on dissent in its own country, Americans can see just how lucky we are to have freedom and democracy in our land. But some, who escaped repressive regimes to come to our shores, fear the US is now heading in the same dangerous direction as the countries they left behind. Having survived authoritarianism, they see ominous signs here — groupthink, cancel culture and young Americans favoring socialism just as much as capitalism. Four foreign-born Americans shared their concerns as a warning to fellow citizens. “Hear our voices,” said...