Free Republic

April 25th 2022 Saint Mark, Evangelist St. Andrew's church, Antwerp - Photograph by Ad Meskens Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Red First reading1 Peter 5:5-14 ©My son, Mark, sends you greetingsAll wrap yourselves in humility to be servants of each other, because God refuses the proud and will always favour the humble. Bow down, then, before the power of God now, and he will raise you up on the appointed day; unload all your worries on to him, since he is looking after you. Be calm but vigilant, because your enemy the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking...

Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime," from the 1980 album Remain in Light

“Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen” (Proverbs 25:6-7).

'Where is the world outrage and international news coverage?' Palestinian rioters smashed and burned Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, Israel on Saturday, April 9, 2022. (Photo courtesy Samaria Regional Council) Just two weeks ago, while the attention of many in America was focused on skyrocketing inflation and the war in Ukraine, a vicious attack took place on the resting place of one of the most famous figures in the Bible. The tomb of Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob and great-grandson of Abraham who was betrayed by his brothers before rising to the No. 2 position in the world in Egypt,...

When Trump was president and there was a problem, he would rush to solve it, consulting with industry leaders and the best & brightest in the nation to comprehend the issue, then create a plan, and then act on the plan. China screwing Americans over on trade? We can fix that. Tariffs. Cartels overrunning the border? No problem. Build a wall, and get the president of Mexico to have their soldiers patrol the area on top of our troops and Border Patrol. Stagnant economy? Not to worry. We can cut strangling regulations and taxes and set the economy on fire....

Over the last 16 tortuous months of the Biden presidency, it’s become clear that the Democrats are running on empty. They are not even trying to reset their electorally poisonous policies. Politically this means they are heading for annihilation at the midterms. Yet they appear curiously relaxed, as if winning elections is no longer a priority.

A second unconfirmed blaze was reported at a military base in the area where a military unit of the 120th arsenal of the Main Rocket is located The giant fire at the Druzhba oil depot in Bryansk was seen from the entire city The oil storage depot is likely to be vital for supplying Russia's troops in their surge to take control of the Donbas Bryansk region borders Ukraine and the city is some 240 miles from Moscow. Residents were being evacuated from homes in the vicinity of the burning oil depot Russia was hit today by a major fire...

'Life, Liberty & Levin' host Mark Levin breaks down what it means for someone to believe in 'America First.'

Kazakh authorities have not openly supported Russia’s invasion and are making moves that could, at least to a certain extent, distance Nur-Sultan from the Kremlin. Ever since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his “special military operation” in Ukraine, Kazakhstan has tried to cling to a neutral stance. Although Nur-Sultan is a member of the Moscow-led Eurasian Union, as well as its Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the energy-rich Central Asian nation has supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and openly stressed that it does not intend to recognize the Russia-backed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. On the other hand, Kazakhstan did not...

DRIVERS have called for EV owners to pay their equal share of tax, claiming that electric vehicles still "pollute". British motorists have been demanding further changes to make roads more equal by introducing a form of car tax for electric vehicle owners. Some of them claimed that electric vehicles “still pollute” as fuel is used to “generate the energy for a charger to charge a battery”. The government unveiled some changes to car tax on April 1. This included the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) increase with drivers suffering from higher annual costs. Company car tax, known as Benefit-in-Kind (BIK) has...

Separated by geography and language, there's not much that might seem to connect India's five dwindling Jewish communities – except praying in Hebrew, and food. ...Kolkata is home to the Baghdadi Jews, who were once abundant enough to warrant five synagogues; now there aren't enough for a minyan (minimum [10] male Jews required for liturgical purposes). Magen David and the smaller Beth El Synagogue were both classified as protected monuments and renovated by the Archaeological Survey of India in 2017. ...The story of disappearing Jewish populations finds echoes elsewhere in India. Jews are believed to have first arrived in India...

A third of healthcare workers took sick leave after being vaccinated against COVID-19, a German study has found. Little information is available, however, on the incidence of side-effects in healthcare workers. This is important because, if it leads to them taking time off, it could put already under-pressure healthcare systems under extra strain. To find out more, Dr. Alexander Gabel evaluated healthcare workers given at least one dose of the four following COVID-19 vaccines: BioNTech/Pfizer (Comirnaty), Moderna (Spikevax), Oxford/AstraZeneca (VaxZevria) and Janssen. 588 healthcare workers (32.72%) took sick leave overall, amounting to 1,777 sick days. Average length of sick leave...

NPR is coming under fire after it released a gushing review over a twisted horror novel written by a transgender author which gleefully depicts JK Rowling's violent death in a fire. Gretchen Felker-Martin's novel, Manhunt, has sparked fury over scenes in which 'terfs' (so-called trans-exclusionary radical feminists) including Rowling, meet grisly ends. And now NPR - which has come under fire for its increasingly woke and biased content - has found itself in hot water over journalist Liam McBain's favorable write-up. 'To be upfront, Manhunt is not for everyone,' his review begins. 'It is gory, and brutal, and sickened me...

Of late, China has raised security concerns in the Indian Ocean region with strategic military sales like submarines to Bangladesh and Pakistan. China contends to be a key defense exporter to many Asian and Southeast Asian countries in India’s neighborhood. Many of these countries, who are unable to acquire expensive military technology from other reliable sources, procure seemingly inexpensive weapons and systems from the Chinese market. To this effect, the Bangladesh military imported two Type-035G submarines of 1970s vintage and Type-053H frigates from China, with its import dependence on Chinese hardware touching nearing 85 percent. Myanmar, after the military coup...

Putin has deployed Iskander-M mobile battlefield missile launchers within 40 miles of the Ukrainian border, Ukraine's military has said. The mobile system's two ballistic missiles have a range of up to 300 miles and can carry conventional or nuclear warheads. 'Then enemy has increased the number of troops in the Belgorod region by transferring and concentrating additional units,' the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in its daily morning update. According to available information, Iskander-M launchers have been deployed 60 km from the border with Ukraine,' it said, without providing more detail on the location of the systems. Belgorod is a city...

The Biden administration has proposed a technical—but critical—change to U.S. patent policy that could have been drafted in Beijing. In fact, a Chinese front organization has formally endorsed the proposal, which will gut protection for an especially important type of American patents. Last December, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, along with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, issued the Draft Policy Statement on Licensing Negotiations and Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject to Voluntary F/RAND Commitments. The Draft Policy, according to the Justice Department, would lead to "widespread and efficient...

In Chicago, on just one evening this week, there were three people injured and one person killed in multiple shootings. Sadly, that wasn’t a big enough number to make the headlines outside of the Windy City because it’s really just a typical night out on the town. An increasing amount of criticism has been leveled against the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) because the trains and buses have become some of the most dangerous places to be, particularly after dark. Now, as CBS Chicago reports, the CTA is answering the call for action. But their latest response has been to announce...

Russian tanks with Ukrainian flags moved in the direction of Molodetske on the outskirts of the village of Hrozove in the occupied Kherson region, and then fired on the houses of civilians. Source: Operational Command "Pivden" (South) Quote: "The tanks of the occupiers, flying Ukrainian flags, went to the outskirts of the village of Hrozove, Kherson region. This demonstration column moved in the direction of the village of Molodetske. The enemy is trying to simulate the presence of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the occupied territories. And then, from the same tanks, they fire on the occupied...

Democrat (Socialist) Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) has always been a “favorite” left-wing gift that keeps on giving. From her silly Fauxcahontas nonsense to her blistering attacks on billionaires to cancellation of student debt and every other mass wealth-redistribution scheme she can concoct, the clueless “intellectual” is little more than a walking-talking, in-kind campaign contribution to the Republican Party.So, Warren being Warren, she’s upset with her own party over a reality even she can see: Democrats are going to get their asses handed to them in the November, midterm elections.But here’s where it gets beautiful. Lizzie isn’t concerned because voters continue...

L.A. County’s Department of Health released a report Friday showing that deaths among the homeless shot up 56 percent during the pandemic’s first year, tallying a staggering 1,988 deaths. COVID was not the main cause for the spike, however—drug overdoses were.Los Angeles has seen a dramatic rise in homelessness in recent years, with the population growing by 50 percent from 2015 to 2020, to a total of 66,436. Tents crowd sidewalks and dilapidated RVs cluster beneath overpasses.The biggest congregations are downtown, where tent cities stretch for block after block in a dystopian scene, making it nearly impossible to enter local...