Free Republic

"There is something irregular about their menstrual cycles...concerning...The vaccine shouldn't be interfering with that...It has to be affecting something hormonal..."

A massive spy balloon from China is flying over the continental U.S., government officials said Thursday. "The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is flying over the continental United States right now," Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters. "NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) continues to track and monitor it closely."

"Rejoice in the Lord" (Phil. 3:1). Happiness is related to circumstances; joy is a gift from God. Not long ago it was common to see bumper stickers proclaiming every conceivable source for happiness. One said, "Happiness is being married." Another countered, "Happiness is being single." One cynical sticker read, "Happiness is impossible!" For most people happiness is possible but it's also fickle, shallow, and fleeting. As the word itself implies, happiness is associated with happenings, happenstance, luck, and fortune. If circumstances are favorable, you're happy. If not, you're unhappy. Christian joy, however, is directly related to God and is the...

For the last six years, tourists at London's Tate Modern who wandered up to the 10th story could catch a glimpse of one of the gallery's more unusual attractions: the luxury apartments across the way. Now that unofficial exhibit may be soon closing. After a years-long legal battle, Britain's Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the gallery had violated privacy and nuisance laws. The case has been sent back to a lower court to determine the appropriate remedy, which may include both an injunction and damages in favor of the apartment residents. Lord George Leggatt, who penned the 3-2 majority...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Thousands of frustrated Texans shivered in their homes Thursday after more than a day without power, including many in the state capital, as an icy winter storm that has been blamed for at least 10 traffic deaths lingered across much of the southern U.S. Even as temperatures finally pushed above freezing in Austin — and were expected to climb past 50 degrees (10 Celsius) on Friday — the relief will be just in time for an Arctic front to drop from Canada and threaten northern states. New England in particular is forecast to see the coldest...

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. "And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way." Matthew, Chapter 2 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from...

Even Abortion Freedom Has Become a Matter of Contention. Two Bishops in a DuelIt could very well come as a stunner that a bishop would see the need to speak out in defense of a doctrine that at first glance is beyond dispute, within the Church: the inviolability of every new human life from its conception. The bishop is Domenico Sorrentino (in the photo), age 74, head of the dioceses of Assisi, Nocera Umbra, Gualdo Tadino, and Foligno, former secretary of the Vatican’s congregation for divine worship. He has done so with a two-page article in the historic Catholic magazine...

WORLD — Worship leaders worldwide were left stunned today after word began to spread that the Lord now regrets including the command "Sing unto the Lord a new song" in His Word after hearing the new songs Christians are currently singing. "God Almighty had really hoped the songwriters he had gifted in the creative arts would do better than they have," said spokesangel Gabriel in a statement to reporters. "I mean, we understand we're definitely spoiled with the truly astounding and unspeakably beautiful music we are blessed with in Heaven, but here on earth…‘Good, Good Father?' Really? We don't need...

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Russian Wagner Group fighters are being killed in fierce fighting between government forces and rebels in the Central African Republic, as the sanction-hit Kremlin looks to extend its reach in mineral- and gold-rich countries. Mercenary fighters for the notorious "private military company" that took on a prominent role in the ongoing war in Ukraine have "sustained heavy casualties" in renewed violence over goldmines in the African nation, according to British newspaper The Guardian. Wagner mercenaries have tried to gain control over commodities such as gold and diamonds in CAR, helping dodge the economic impact of sanctions over Ukraine. It is...

Luke 2:22-40 Friends, today’s Gospel tells the story of the presentation of Jesus in the temple. The temple was, in practically a literal sense, the dwelling place of the Lord. In the temple, divinity and humanity embraced, and the human race was brought back online with God. But the sins of the nation had, according to the prophet Ezekiel, caused the glory of the Lord to depart from the temple. Therefore, one of the deepest aspirations of Israel’s people was to reestablish the temple as the place of right praise so that the glory of the Lord might return. When...

Harvard University is forcing out the school's so-called misinformation expert who has led the university's research into issues such as "media manipulation" and "adversarial media movements," the Harvard Crimson reported. Harvard Kennedy School dean Douglas Elmendorf informed Joan Donovan, a noted expert on disinformation surrounding the coronavirus, white supremacy, and critical race theory, that she must leave the Ivy League school by the summer of 2024, according to the Crimson. Donovan, who joined the school in 2019, is no longer allowed to fundraise, and the school instated a hiring freeze for her projects. The Crimson pointed to "tensions" between the...

Russia’s barbaric war on Ukraine—and before that on Syria, Libya, Georgia, and Chechnya—has exposed the Russian Federation’s viciously imperial character to the entire world. Its aggression also is catalyzing a long-overdue conversation about Russia’s interior empire, given Moscow’s dominion over many indigenous non-Russian nations, and the brutal extent to which the Kremlin has taken to suppress their national self-expression and self-determination.Serious and controversial discussions are now underway about reckoning with Russia’s fundamental imperialism and the need to “decolonize” Russia for it to become a viable stakeholder in European security and stability. As the successor to the Soviet Union, which cloaked...

The White House and the CIA have responded to a report that CIA Director, William Burns, offered Russian President Vladimir Putin a fifth of Ukraine's territory to end the ongoing war as part of a peace plan drawn up on behalf of President Joe Biden. A CIA official told Newsweek that claims in the report from Swiss-German newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) that Burns took a secret trip to Moscow in January and that there was a peace proposal put forward by the director on behalf of the White House were "completely false." Last month, Burns traveled in secret to...

Forty-fifth President Donald Trump changed his iconic profile picture on Monday afternoon from the profile picture he has used for nearly 8 years to a new, powerful painting of his face with an American flag design.

El Salvador has doubled its prison capacity after opening a 40,000-person facility this week in an effort to further crack down on the country's gang violence problem.

The Biden administration on Thursday marked the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by urging expansion of the provisions guaranteed by the law and inviting former President Clinton, who signed it in 1993, to speak at the White House. President Biden was also joined by Vice President Harris to commemorate the signing of the FMLA in the White House’s East Room. The law requires certain employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if employees are sick, have a new child in their household or are taking care of a sick family member, without...

The shadow that has hung over the Ukraine war is the fear that it could lead to a direct clash between Washington and Moscow. Given that both sides have large arsenals of nuclear weapons, conflict could lead to Armageddon. Compounding things is the fact that Biden cannot stop talking about nuclear war. Given his mental condition, this suggests that he is often in earshot of the decision makers, who may be seriously discussing the possible use of nuclear weapons. The dynamic of the war thus far has been Washington poking Moscow hoping for a response, which it can use to...

On Tuesday, Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) published a piece in the Wall Street Journal explaining his reasoning for supporting former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination. The article, titled “Trump’s Best Foreign Policy? Not Starting Any Wars,” emphasized the 45th president’s foreign policy chops.Vance, who rose to prominence with his hit book “Hillbilly Elegy” in 2016, won the endorsement of President Trump during his run for Senate last year. Vance is seemingly returning the favor as the Republican contest for the presidency begins to take shape, as reported by Breitbart.“A few days before America’s 2022 midterm elections, Ukraine’s...

A Mississippi woman who married a man 61 years her senior says she’s ready to start a family with her new husband — despite the fact he’s a decade older than her own grandpa. Miracle Pogue, 24, met hubby Charles, 85, while working at a laundromat in Starkville in 2019, with the pair forming a friendship that turned romantic a year later. SNIP Miracle told Kennedy News of the moment she learned about her husband’s advanced age, saying: “I found out in conversation when we asked each other our date of birth and he said he was born in 1937.”...