Free Republic

Explanation: Gliding through the outer Solar System, in 1989 the Voyager 2 spacecraft looked toward the Sun to find this view of most distant planet Neptune and its moon Triton together in a crescent phase. The elegant image of ice-giant planet and largest moon was taken from behind just after Voyager's closest approach. It could not have been taken from Earth because the most distant planet never shows a crescent phase to sunward eyes. Heading for the heliopause and beyond, the spacecraft's parting vantage point also robs Neptune of its familiar blue hue.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — More than 70 California law enforcement agencies are violating state law by sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with out-of-state agencies, putting out-of-state abortion seekers at risk, according to a trio of civil rights groups. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union chapters for both Northern and Southern California sent letters to 71 agencies — including the Folsom Police Department — giving them a June 15 deadline to stop sharing license plate data with states that criminalize abortion. On Friday, the Twitter account for Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, which was not listed in...

Former President Donald Trump is boasting a strong lead in South Carolina’s Republican primary race, but Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley are also gaining steam — less than a week after Scott told Breitbart News that it is absolutely not a two-man race — the latest National Research Inc. poll found.The survey, commissioned by American Greatness, showed Trump with a strong 25-point lead against his closest competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.Trump has 43 percent support, followed by DeSantis with 18 percent support.However, both Scott and Haley are experiencing an uptick in the polls, as...

Bo Young Lee, head of Uber’s diversity, equity and inclusion, is now suspended after questionable "Karen" workshops. Ana Kasparian discusses on The Young Turks.

Taking the real historic phenomena of fasting girls who claimed they could survive without food that were reported throughout Ireland after the Great Irish Famine, an adaptation of a novel “The Wonder” is available on Netflix. The brief plot summary is an English nurse, Mrs. Elizabeth Wright, played by Florence Pugh, is hired to watch over a fasting girl, Anna O’Donnell, in Ireland. Mrs. Wright was with Florence Nightingale at Scutari during the Crimea War. An Irish reporter for the Daily Telegraph, Mr. William Bryne, shows up at the village to do his own investigating. The story has the typical...

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressed optimism Saturday about sealing a deal to raise the federal debt ceiling before the nation reaches its borrowing limit June 5. “I feel closer to an agreement now than I did a long time before,” he told reporters as he arrived at the US Capitol Saturday morning, after a marathon negotiation session that ended at 2:30 am, hinting that the final language could be completed within hours.

Group of Seven (G7) nation officials will meet next week to consider problems posed by generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT, Japan said on Friday. Leaders of the G7, which includes the United States, European Union and Japan, last week agreed to create an intergovernmental forum called the “Hiroshima AI process” to debate issues around fast-growing AI tools. G7 government officials will hold the first working-level AI meeting on May 30 and consider issues such as intellectual property protection, disinformation and how the technology should be governed, Japan’s communications minister, Takeaki Matsumoto, said. The meeting comes as tech regulators...

Garland Nixon: How hohos and other Europeans got sucked into the neocon scheeme...

Two California high school athletes are facing attacks by anti-transgender activists, including Caitlyn Jenner, after qualifying for next week’s California Interscholastic Federation State Track & Field Championships. Last weekend, Sonoma Academy junior Athena Ryan, who is reportedly trans, placed second in the 1600-meter run at the North Coast Meet of Champions of California finals. Members of the anti-trans group Women Are Real showed up to the meet in Dublin, California to protest Ryan’s participation, holding a banner that read “Protect Female Sports.” The group later posted video showing protesters being escorted out of the event by a security guard. Video...

Vice President Harris told graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point that they are entering an “increasingly unsettled world” in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and with continued threats around the world. Harris said in her commencement address to the West Point graduates that the world has changed significantly since they began as students at the academy. She noted that the pandemic caused the deaths of millions and “upended” life for many more, the U.S. ended its longest war in Afghanistan and Russia launched the first major European ground war since World War II with its invasion...

VIDEODespite the fact that we have been warned that the debt ceiling situation could lead to the existential crises of a default, Congressman Jerry Nadler is pleasantly sleeping through it all. Is he sleeping any more deeply than Joe Biden who has taken a lid from Friday afternoon until Tuesday rather than actually negotiate on the debt despite the Janet Yellen default zero hour that is rapidly approaching? And what voices is Nadler hearing in his dreams?

Pentecost Vigil Readings: Gen. 11:1-9 (Babel); Ex. 19:3-8a; 16-20b (Sinai); Ez. 37:1-14 (dry bones); Joel 3:1-5 (old men will dream, dreams…); Romans 8:22-27 (Spirit prays for us); John 7:37-39 (rivers of living water).The Readings for the Mass of the Pentecost pick up, as it were, where the Readings for the Vigil left off.First Reading: Acts 2:1-111When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. 2And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. 3Then there appeared to them tongues as...

Target announced earlier this week that the company was removing some LGBTQ-themed items from shelves and moving displays intended to honor Pride month to the back of the store in response to a public backlash from the right. But what happened at Target goes far beyond just some people calling for a boycott.

[Catholic Caucus] Pentin: Chartres’ Record Number of Pilgrims Is a ‘Stunning Testimony to the TLM’s Popularity This article is from EdwardPentin.co.ok: More pilgrims than ever will be participating in the traditional Chartres pilgrimage this year — so many that, despite Traditionis Custodes and Pope Francis’ restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass, for the first time the organizers had to close registrations ten days early.Over 16,000 pilgrims will be walking the route from St Sulpice Church in Paris to Notre-Dame Cathedral in Chartres over the Pentecost weekend, May 27-29 — a distance of about 60 miles.The traditional and deeply historic pilgrimage...

The vice president did not mention Afghanistan in the five words she devoted to the topic. But she took the time to warn the cadets that “an accelerating climate crisis” is one of the “biggest challenges the military will face during their careers.” Afghanistan was swiftly reconquered by the Taliban after the United States withdrew in 2021, ending a 20-year campaign. The House Oversight Committee is currently investigating the debacle.

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Condemn Pope Francis for “Anti-Catholic” Campaign Against NunsSr. Tequila Nastypants, Mother Superior of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, came out swinging at a press event last evening, criticizing Pope Francis for his attacks on conservative religious orders in the Catholic Church:Yeah, we poke filthy fun at nuns, and prance around in outrageous costumes doing obscene, sacrilegious things. But Pope Francis has sent in henchmen to interrogate sincere, traditional nuns. Then he closed down their communities, seized their facilities, and essentially turned them out on the street to fend for themselves. We’d never do that. It’s just...

Ted Williams' dramatic final home run! Last game, last at bat. The original film September 28, 1960.

In the recesses of the internet where some of Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters stoke conspiracies and plot his return to the White House, suspected con artists have been mining their disappointment over the last presidential election for gold. They’ve been peddling “Trump Bucks,” which are emblazoned with photos of the former president, and advertising them online as a kind of golden ticket that will help propel Trump’s 2024 bid and make the “real patriots” who support him rich when cashed in. John Amann told NBC News he bought $2,200 worth of Trump Bucks and other items over the past...

Ukraine is ready to launch its long-expected counter-offensive against Russian forces, one of the country's most senior security officials has told the BBC. Oleksiy Danilov would not name a date but said an assault to retake territory from President Vladimir Putin's occupying forces could begin "tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week". He warned that Ukraine's government had "no right to make a mistake" on the decision because this was an "historic opportunity" that "we cannot lose". As secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, Mr Danilov is at the heart of President Volodymyr Zelensky's...

Zero healthy individuals under the age of 50 have died of COVID-19 in Israel, according to newly released data.“Zero deceased of 18–49 years of age with no underlying morbidities,” the Israel Ministry of Health (MOH) said in response to a formal request from an attorney.Officials noted that the statement only applies to COVID-19 deaths where the MOH conducted an epidemiological investigation and had received information about the underlying diseases.“Zero is a very, very clear number, and cannot be subject to interpretation,” Yoav Yehezkelli, a specialist in internal medicine and medical management, and former lecturer in the Department of Emergency and...