Free Republic

Matthew 23:27-32Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus judges the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. He says, “On the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.”One of the greatest dangers in the spiritual life is to fall into the trap of auto-salvation, the conviction that one can save oneself through heroic moral effort. The principal problem with such a strategy is that it results in the strengthening of the very egotism that one hopes to overcome. What Jesus so vehemently critiqued in the Pharisees was just this kind of egotism: “You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear...

The Muslim call to prayer will ring out more freely in New York City under guidelines announced Tuesday by Mayor Eric Adams, which he said should foster a spirit of inclusivity. Under the new rules, Adams said, mosques will not need a special permit to publicly broadcast the Islamic call to prayer, or adhan, on Fridays and at sundown during the holy month of Ramadan. Friday is the traditional Islamic holy day, and Muslims break their fast at sunset during Ramadan. The police department’s community affairs bureau will work with mosques to communicate the new guidelines and ensure that devices...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, end of sex trafficking, agribusiness, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears...

Are you looking for the finest tactical knives of 2023? If so, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve done the research and put together a comprehensive list of the top tactical knives that the market has to offer. Whether you’re looking to buy a self-defense knife for yourself or a loved one, or you’re in the market for a knife for everyday carry, there’s sure to be something that fits the bill. From folding pocket knives to fixed-blade knives, we’ve researched the top knives in each category so that you can make an informed decision. We’ll explain the features...

"BREAKING VICTORY! Turns out EVERYTHING isn’t a Machine Gun… ATF and DOJ take ANOTHER LOSS! Turns out that everything under the sun isn't a machine gun! Let's discuss people!"--->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27Ch7Zvqotc

a report from 404 Media, written by cybersecurity journalist Joseph Cox: In the mid-afternoon one Saturday earlier this month, the target got on the New York subway. I knew what station they entered the subway at and at what specific time. They then entered another station a few hours later. If I had kept monitoring this person, I would have figured out the subway station they often start a journey at, which is near where they live. I would also know what specific time this person may go to the subway each day. During all this monitoring, I wasn't anywhere...

Beekeeper Michael Barber woke up on Wednesday morning to several calls from police looking for help after five million bees fell off a truck in Canada.The hives were being transported when the straps holding them in place came loose, allowing them to slip free. Mr Barber said he arrived to "a pretty crazy cloud of bees" who were "very angry, confused and homeless". Drivers were told to keep their windows up and pedestrians to stay away. The scene in Burlington, Ontario was unlike anything Mr Barber has experienced in his 11-year career. "It was something else," he told the...

Erratic climate conditions - including the driest August in more than a century - have sent food prices spiralling above 11% in India, which is a major player in global agri-trade. Just as tomato prices begin cooling down, onions have gotten dearer by a quarter since June in the domestic market. And pulses which go into making the humble dal (lentil soup) are now around 20% more expensive than at the beginning of the year. India's got a "curry problem", some economists say, as the cost of a regular vegetarian meal jumped by a third in the month of July...

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Tuesday that American companies have complained to her that China has become “uninvestable” as the level of risk associated with doing business there has spiked amid factors such as changes to counterespionage laws and raids on foreign firms. U.S. companies doing business in China face a host of new challenges, including “exorbitant fines without any explanation” and “revisions to the counterespionage law, which are unclear and sending shockwaves through the U.S. community.” One example of seemingly arbitrary crackdowns U.S. companies face in China was a recent ban by Beijing of American chipmaker Micron Technology...

Imagine the biggest market for a physical product you can. Are you thinking of mobile phones? Cars? Property?They are all chunky markets but in the coming decades a new product will be rolled out that will dwarf those giants, says Geordie Rose, the chief executive of Sanctuary AI. The Vancouver-based firm is developing a humanoid robot called Phoenix which, when complete, will understand what we want, understand the way the world works and have the skills to carry out our commands. "The long term total addressable market is the biggest one that's ever existed in the history of business and...

LAHAINA, Maui, Hawaii––Eighteen days of animal rescuers battling bureaucracy to retrieve surviving animals from inside the Lahaina burn zone, leveled by wildfire on August 8, 2023, ended abruptly when Maui County announced that, “As of 3:30 pm on Saturday, August 26, 2023, Maui County officials have permitted the Maui Humane Society to access the Lahaina burn zone in a coordinated search and rescue effort to find lost animals.” "Enter Adam Karp The story behind the story of rescuers finally gaining access to the Lahaina burn zone appears to have begun with a posting to the Action for the Animals of...

Lou Dobbs talking about corrupt elections, left wing chokehold on the government, cancel culture, immigration, Obama withholding birth certificate just to be divisive, and more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aQimuyoF14

Lucinda Hart spoke out after controversy erupted over At Home With The Furys where the boxer lets his children turn the air blueA mum who lets her kids swear has backed the Fury family’s attitude to bad language - saying there are “bigger issues to worry about”. Boxer Tyson Fury and his wife Paris have come in for criticism on social media after their reality show ‘At Home With The Furys’ aired. The Netflix programme follows the family as they go about their daily lives - and has revealed that the couple’s young kids are prone to using bad words....

Nebraska volleyball's outdoor match against Omaha was attended by 92,003 setting a new world record for attendance at a women's sporting event. The Nebraska Athletic Department had history on its mind when it announced the one-of-a-kind event in February. Husker volleyball coach John Cook and Gov. Jim Pillen wore cowboy hats as they stood aside Athletic Director Trev Alberts and spilled the details of Volleyball Day in Nebraska. “We’re going to do this once,” Alberts said. “And I want to hope that the number is large enough that nobody dares even try to attack our all-time record.” One time was...

Jimmy Appudurai-Chua, who moved from his home country of Singapore to London then Cornwall, once knocked The Beatles off the number one spot in the music charts and mixed with some of the biggest names in the rock worldA much-loved and successful blues 'legend' musician who mixed with some of the biggest names in the rock world - including Eric Clapton and Bryan Adams - has died aged 76. Jimmy Appudurai-Chua, former lead guitarist of blues rock band The Straydogs, died on Tuesday (August 29) from what is only being reported as ill health. Jimmy, who lived in Torpoint, Cornwall,...

Her actions were 'wrong and unacceptable'A Monmouthshire councillor has resigned after linking the actions of rival politicians to the Holocaust. Labour councillor for Cantref ward Sara Burch, who was the cabinet member for inclusive and active communities, has apologised for a post on social media regarding secretary of state for Wales David TC Davies and the leader of the independent group on the council Frances Taylor. Retweeting a post commemorating the murders of half a million Roma and Sinti people Ms Burch wrote: "Shameful that on this day @Frances4Magor and @DavidTCDavies were whipping up anti-traveller feeling in advance of consultation...

Update from Ukraine | Ukrainian Army Broke through Surovikin Line | Ruzzia Lost half of the planes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD8qOP37RCU The summary of the situation of Russian re-invasion to Ukraine covering the recent developments on the battlefield, as of 30th August 2023 – 22:00 (Kyiv time).. https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-553-summary/ [two summaries per week, released on Wednesday and Sunday] *** Great interactive maps with viewer controlled Map magnification tool to use for each Front! https://militaryland.net/maps/

Thrift stores can be great places to find budget-friendly large frames. But a trip to a Savers location in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 2017 yielded much more for one bargain hunter, with a $4 painting now estimated to be worth as much as $250,000. According to Bonhams auction house, the artwork was actually an oil panel illustration by the artist Newell Convers Wyeth, father of the more-famous Andrew Wyeth. The painting was one of four cover illustrations for a 1939 edition of the Helen Hunt Jackson novel Ramona. The dramatic scene portrays the novel’s title character—a half-Scottish, half–Native American orphan...

The court proceedings against a British organized crime operation known as OCG Square, whose members are accused of stealing over $5 million worth of goods over two years and 22 separate heists has begun in Northampton, the Northhamptonshire Telegraph reported Tuesday. The gang’s alleged crime spree ran from April 2019 through September 2021 and, though the majority of the thefts were in Corby, North Northamptonshire, OCG Square is accused of stealing “high value” goods, including works of art, Range Rovers, luxury clothes, solar panels, and hundreds of thousands of face masks and antiseptic wipes businesses across the UK. British Museum...

WASHINGTON — A senior Justice Department official’s contact with lawyers for both Hunter Biden and IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley shows that DOJ headquarters — not Delaware US attorney David Weiss — controlled the federal investigation of the first son, Shapley’s legal team said Wednesday. Shapley’s lawyers revealed their contacts with associate deputy attorney general Bradley Weinsheimer after his role as a conduit for Hunter Biden’s legal team in the final stretch of the tax fraud investigation by Weiss’s office was noted in a recent report.