Free Republic

Lourdes Grobet, the multifaceted Mexican artist who immortalized lucha libre legends with her camera lens, has died at 81. Over four decades, she carried out experiments in video, performance, and photography that explored the social reality of Mexico’s working class of the 20th century. Her most lauded images feature heroes and villains of the spectacular sport of lucha libre in humble settings: beside the stovetop, retouching makeup, or nursing children. Over the weekend fellow artists and fans from Mexico and beyond praised Grobet’s curious, rebellious vein of photography. “She leaves behind an extraordinary body of work about social class and...

Lily Safra, a major art collector who bought what was at one point the most expensive sculpture in the world, has died of pancreatic cancer at 87. News of her death was first reported by the Edmond J. Safra Foundation, where she served as chair. Safra, who was featured in ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list each year between 2004 and 2018, accrued her wealth and status via several high-profile marriages, the fourth and final of which was to the banker Edmond Safra. He founded the Republic National Bank of New York, which sold to HSBC before his death in 1999....

Andrew Wiggins made his first All-Star team this year and was a crucial part of the Golden State Warriors' run to the NBA title, but he still regrets one thing he did this season. "I still wish I didn't get [vaccinated], to be honest with you," Wiggins told FanSided. At the start of the season, Wiggins said he was torn over the decision to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Had Wiggins not gotten vaccinated, he would've been in the same boat as Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving in only being able to play in some of his team's games due to...

“‘I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matthew 8:11–12). Jesus’ words to the Jews in Capernaum shattered their proud spiritual worldview, contradicting everything the rabbis had taught about salvation. Their apocryphal literature pictured a great heavenly feast in which only Jews would be present in the end. Jesus, however, drastically revised that scene and declared...

[Catholic Caucus] “To go back is to go forward, to be propelled by the river of the great Tradition”: Archbishop Aguer against Papal Progressivism Progressivism, which established itself a decade ago in Rome, decries a kind of reverse populism.The populist handbook indicates that one must win the trust and adhesion of young people. But it happens that young people nowadays are suspicious of deviations and progressive adventures; they prefer and love Tradition. Rome, then, scourges them by scornfully branding them as ones who would "go back to the past"; they look "back" and long to get "behind" [what came...

I want this to encourage those who need an answer to prayer, who need help in a time of trouble and who are ready and willing to move God’s heart according to his Word. First, lay hold of this covenant promise in the book of Psalms. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1, NKJV). The phrase ‘very present’ means always available and immediate. Faith must rest in the assurance that God’s Spirit is abiding in you at all hours of the day and night. Because he took up a habitation in you, he...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has bequeathed a healthy legacy to the virus-beleaguered nation. He showed the way to a post-shutdown America. He’s a prime reason millions of Americans got their jobs back. He had the courage to break with the spell of Dr. Anthony Fauci who demanded a society of shut-ins. The Republican governor decreed that Florida was a free and open state. The COVID-19 disease would no longer rule, no longer destroy businesses, create drug addicts and disrupt school children. The DeSantis Declaration of Freedom was all the bolder because it came in late 2020, early 2021, bumping up...

No one has ever accused Joe Biden of being a genius—evil or otherwise. But, at least as of this morning, the same cannot be said of Ron DeSantis. On today's Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle, with Claire McCaskill concurring, conferred the "evil genius" sobriquet upon the Florida governor.Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

[Catholic Caucus] Corrupt Cardinal, Corrupt PontificateThe hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church is partially responsible for why bishops, including the pope, are not investigated or accountable to any external oversight body. As a consequence, one should not be surprised that only 7 out of 150 bishops credibly accused of abusing minors or vulnerable adults have actually been laicized. In the United States, with less than 200 dioceses, “more than 130 U.S. bishops” have been accused of “failing to adequately respond to sexual misconduct in their dioceses.”The question of holding bishops accountable who engage in or cover up abuse has become...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to travel to the Middle East this week, a rare trip abroad intended to signal that the protracted and costly war in Ukraine hasn’t diminished Moscow’s place on the world stage. In only his second trip outside Russia since the country invaded Ukraine in February, Mr. Putin is set to travel to Tehran on Tuesday, where he will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. The visit reflects the importance Mr. Putin places in maintaining the leverage Russia gained from years of military and diplomatic intervention in the Middle East.

(snip) At least part of Trump’s reported interest in getting in the race before the 2022 midterms are over is to stake his claim and dare anyone else to challenge him. McConnell knows this – and is working to counteract it. Whether any major candidates – DeSantis, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence – ultimately jump in is, of course, outside of the control of both Trump and McConnell. And whether anyone who does run can actually beat Trump is a question no one can answer right now. The Point: McConnell clearly prefers someone other than...

United Nations announces Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum and UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres have signed an agreement to ‘accelerate’ Agenda 2030 https://twitter.com/CaelorumAngelus/status/1549123326244798466

WMAL's Annual Free Speech Forum has been announced. It'll take place on Saturday, October 1, 2022 at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. Tickets go on sale this Friday, July 22nd at Noon. Last year they sold out within 5 hours, so get your tickets soon!

Mike Pence is looking more and more like a 2024 presidential candidate every day. That includes an Aug. 17 appearance at the Politics & Eggs series at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College. 2020 was packed with presidential hopefuls who hit up the traditional breakfast that serves as an appetizer to the first-in-the-nation primary. The breakfast guests included Deval Patrick, he stopped there, Andrew Yang, Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Seth Moulton, Bill Weld, Kamala Harris … you get the picture.

'This repeal will uniformly recognize all marriages within the Navajo Nation'Same-sex marriage is recognized across the United States, but that’s not the case on the Navajo Nation, where the Diné LGBTQ and two-spirit communities are fighting to get the same recognition on their homeland. Lawmakers on the Navajo Nation are considering a bill that would repeal a ban on same-sex marriage, expand spousal rights to same-sex couples and strengthen families. In 2005, the Navajo Nation implemented the Diné Marriage Act, which states that marriage between persons of the same sex is void and prohibited. “This legislation corrects that history and...

Importantly, the Cornell University-funded study found that both natural immunity and vaccines offer “strong and durable protection” against Covid-related hospitalization and death. While it’s true that immunization wanes, new scientific research from The New England Journal of Medicine suggests natural immunity lasts longer than immunity acquired from vaccines. The study, a case–control analysis based on data from Qatar collected from December 23, 2021 through February 21, 2022, involved millions of people, including 1,306,862 who received at least two doses of the Pfizer vaccine (BNT162b2) and 893,671 people who received at least two doses of the Moderna vaccine (mRNA-1273), as well...

Caius Julius Caesar Germanicus, known to history as Caligula, ruled as the Emperor of Rome from A.D. 37 to 41. For those who are unaware, Caligula, the great grandson of Rome’s first emperor, the brilliant Augustus Caesar, squandered the enormous wealth of the Roman State, declared himself to be a god, appointed his favorite racehorse to serve in the Roman Senate, and according to some sources, considered deifying the animal. After a little less than four years in office, Caligula was removed. Rome’s citizens, as well as its legions, were spared the indignity of having to worship a dead horse....

My wife and I went to see Elvis…again…I am seldom moved by a motion picture but this one is special. First let me lead with the fact that I am 75 years old. Elvis was a big part of my youth and life. His career span 23 years, a relative short time for the impact he made. He’s been dead for forty five years and as far as I know no single artist has even gotten close to his success. The Beatles and Stones have but I said single artist. I was seven years old when he started out, I...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a heroic protest at the Supreme Court, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spent the better part of three hours sitting in an invisible police car with her wrists bound by invisible handcuffs, waiting to be taken to an invisible jail. "After being threatened with an invisible gun, I was thrown on the ground by invisible police!" shouted Ocasio-Cortez as she flipped her hair for the camera. "They've kept me stuffed in this invisible squad car for hours, the fascists! When I get out of the invisible slammer, I'm going to make them pay - every last invisible one...

The House passed a bill that would provide protection for same-sex and interracial marriage under federal law, with Democratic lawmakers saying the recent Supreme Court ruling ending abortion rights could endanger other precedents. The 267-157 vote on the Respect for Marriage Act comes the same week the chamber is also set to vote on the Right to Contraception Act. Both pieces of legislation would enshrine into law rights not enumerated in the Constitution but that the court has recognized in recent decades. Senate Democrats haven’t said if they will schedule votes on the House bills. With these votes, Democrats are...