Free Republic

The nation of Andorra will be the 33rd country to recognize marriage rights for same-sex couples. Lawmakers in the tiny nation – which has a population of about 77,000 and is smaller than the city of Chicago in land mass – voted unanimously to allow same-sex couples access to civil marriage. “Today we vote for a law for all, which includes us all, a law of a modern country that ensures the free development of citizenship and bases its success on the most important nucleus of organization, the family, with all its diversity,” said Carles Enseñat, president of the Democratic...

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday the Archdiocese of Indianapolis acted within the law when it fired a long-time counselor because she is in a same-sex marriage. The Chicago-based Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the former counselor was employed as a minister at the Catholic faith-based Roncalli High School, and she was expected to support the school’s religious mission and follow church teachings in her personal life to remain employed. The Catholic Church does not support gay marriage. The court affirmed a district court’s year-old decision in a 27-page ruling and barred discrimination, retaliation and hostile work environment claims...

European Union policymakers have started to prepare the public for siege conditions this winter if gas supplies from Russia are completely cut, an effort to demonstrate diplomatic resolve as well as avoid panic later in the year. In recent weeks, officials from Germany and other EU member states have begun to talk openly and urgently about the need for immediate reductions in consumption in advance of the peak winter heating season. They have also started to plan publicly for compulsory allocation, including rationing and prioritization among industrial users, as well as sharing among member states in the event there is...

Every time Abdou's mother hears of a homophobic attack in the streets of Senegal's capital Dakar, she locks him in her bedroom. Abdou -- who, like other LGBTQ people AFP interviewed, asked not to be identified by his real name -- is used to hiding. He has been concealing his sexuality most of his life. But lately the 20-year-old has felt even more in danger. "The situation is becoming more and more serious," said the soft-spoken unemployed tailor. "Before they would say you were gay, but they didn't hit you. Today you are beaten and it's posted on social media."...

The Biden administration has signed contracts indicating over $500 million could be spent to house illegal alien migrant children at a luxury private school campus in Greensboro, North Carolina for the next five years (with an additional five-year option). The site is the 100-acre former American Hebrew Academy that closed in 2019 but was saved with millions of dollars in loans from a Chinese company that effectively took over the school. The campus has been renamed the Greensboro Piedmont Academy Influx Care Facility for UC. UC stands for unaccompanied children, meaning Biden is incentivizing families to send their children alone...

There is no one in the Democrat party or Democrat media axis fit to shine this man’s boots. Meet Ron Desantis. Born on September 14, 1978, in Jacksonville, Florida. [1] He is of Italian descent. 2] His family moved to Orlando, Florida, before relocating to Dunedin, Florida, when he was six years old. [3] In 1991, he was a member of the Little League team from Dunedin National that made it to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. [4] After graduating from Dunedin High School in 1997, he attended Yale University. He was Captain of Yale varsity baseball...

Editor's Note: We received the Bishop Burbidge's press release and the following letter in our inbox simultaneously. We are reproducing both here in order to put a face to the Catholics who are being persecuted by the Woke Church of Francis and Co. MJMYour Excellency, Though I am certain you will never read or see this email I must express my sadness and anger regarding your cowardly decision to suppress the traditional Mass in your diocese. I have been a long term member of Holy Trinity parish in Gainesville, VA. Our 12:30 Mass attendance ranges from 500-700 people every Sunday....

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s been more than a year in the making and has seen plenty of ups and downs. Now, a Democratic economic package focused on climate and health care faces hurdles but seems headed toward party-line passage by Congress next month. Approval would let President Joe Biden and his party claim a triumph on top priorities as November’s elections approach. They have not forgotten that they came close to approving a far grander version of the bill last year, only to see Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., one of their most conservative and contrarian members, torpedo it at the...

The damaging revelations of the Jan. 6 committee hearings are fueling skepticism among Senate Republicans that former President Trump can win the GOP nomination in 2024 or even run for another term in the White House. One Republican senator, who requested anonymity to comment on the former president, said the “cascade” of embarrassing details about Trump’s conduct in the weeks before Jan. 6, 2021, and during the attack on the U.S. Capitol will seriously damage his political viability ahead of the 2024 election.

The Netherlands has been in the throes of a pitched battle between the government and its farmers. The government there declared that it wanted to reduce nitrogen oxide and ammonia, which come from the waste of livestock. This decision was based on climate dogma and not on what is actually practical for the farmers and the Netherlands as a whole. The farmers’ first salvo was on June 22, when 40,000 of them clogged the roadways to form a protest convoy. Then the Dutch farmers took to their tractors and trucks and parked them outside supermarkets and other stores that sell...

The corrupt Biden gang is creating a division in the U.S. Postal Service for handling delivering and returning mail-in ballots during elections. What could possibly go wrong? The USPS was in the middle of corruption and suspected criminal activities in the 2020 Election. In one instance a USPS contractor reported dropping off a trailer full of tens of thousands of ballots from New York to Pennsylvania. After a thorough investigation was done, and crimes were identified, US AG Bill Barr screamed at the messenger of this event and told them to drop it. To this day we haven’t seen a...

In many parts of the world, entomophagy, or eating bugs is commonplace. Insects are actually the most abundant protein source on the planet, and many of them boast dense concentrations of nutrients like omega 3s. If two billion people can invite insects to the dinner table, it shouldn't be too much of a stretch for you to include edible bugs in your emergency-survival diet

Individuals with diabetes display a substantially increased risk of disease in left-sided heart valves compared to controls without diabetes. The statistical analyses also indicate that valvular heart disease can be prevented by lowering blood pressure and reducing other risk factors even more than current treatment targets. Since the pressure is highest on the left side of the heart, valve disease most often affects these two valves. This may have two effects: The valves lose their suppleness and may no longer close or open sufficiently, and regurgitation (leakage) occurs, impairing the heart's pumping capacity. Other research has shown that diabetes may...

Even as Democrats work to deliver the biggest-ever U.S. climate investment in a new spending package, many officials and activists overseas described the deal as falling short of the nation’s obligation to help other countries and galvanize global action to avert dangerous warming. The Inflation Reduction Act would be a major boost for climate-friendly efforts inside the United States — a shift of unprecedented proportions. But it would do little to support vulnerable nations around the world that have been pleading for years that wealthy nations help them prepare for a warming world. It also wouldn’t cut America’s carbon emissions...

If good policy makes for good politics, the reverse is also true. Senate Republicans proved that in spades this week, as their lust for home-state handouts paved a runway for President Biden’s long-sought climate, tax and healthcare agenda. Seventeen Republicans on Wednesday helped Democrats pass a $280 billion subsidy blowout for the semiconductor industry. The bill is an embarrassing stew of accountability-free corporate welfare and government spending. This is the priority Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in June vowed to hold hostage so long as Democrats still had the Biden reconciliation agenda—formerly Build Back Better—on the table. Instead, encouraged that...

Attorney General Eric Schmitt is in good standing to receive a Trump endorsement. Vicky Hartzler has received key endorsements from U.S. Senator Josh Hawley. With a 50/50 Senate balance, Republican voters must choose the path of least resistance and ensure that Eric Greitens doesn’t become the nominee.

Those who are habitually inclined to consume burgers, fries and soda may think twice about their dietary choices following scientists' latest findings about high-fat, high-fructose diets. A team discovered that a high-fat diet can increase fructose metabolism in the small intestine, leading to release of a fructose-specific metabolite called glycerate into circulation. Circulating glycerate can subsequently cause damage of the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells, increasing the risk of glucose tolerance disorders, such as Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Past research has shown that fructose produces deleterious effects in the liver. However, additional research has shown that these effects are normally...

VIDEOAlexa seems to be rather shy about defining a recession. If you ask her to define "recession," she will give you a definition for the act of receding. And when you narrow the question down to asking her to define "economic recession," Alexa takes refuge by citing the highly biased Wikipedia definition of recession which notably leaves out a certain definition which has been generally accepted...until now.

As the Democratic Party faces a rout in the midterm elections, the 82-year-old lawmaker is desperate to exploit the tentative Taiwan visit at her final moment of being the House Speaker to narrow the gap with Republicans in the elections and influence the US' Taiwan policy, the expert said. Pelosi is in the presidential line of succession, thus the administration takes extra care of her security when she travels overseas, the White House said on Tuesday, according to CNN. If Biden fails to pressure Pelosi to remove the trip to the island from the itinerary, it will only show that...