Free Republic

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’” Matthew 11:16–17What does Jesus mean when He says “We played the flute for you…” and “we sang a dirge…?” The Church Fathers clearly identify this “flute” and “dirge” as the word of God that has been preached by the prophets of old. So many came before Jesus to prepare the way,...

One of Google's billionaire founders is the latest tech giant to cozy up to Donald Trump, dining with the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago home on Thursday night, according to multiple sources. It is a remarkable turnaround for Sergey Brin, who described Trump's 2016 win as 'deeply offensive.' But it shows how the online aristocracy is having to set aside their worries to grapple with a new reality. Details of his visit emerged hours after Facebook's parent company Meta and Amazon revealed they were giving $1million to Trump's inauguration fund. All of them are playing catch-up as Elon Musk, the richest...

After an extremely annoying weekend that involved seeing a stand-up comedy set where this Gen-Z kid performed a whole routine around “screw that guy, he deserved to die,” narrowly beating a team called “More CEO Murders Please” at bar trivia, and witnessing an Instagram yoga chick account called “thisbadasslife” offer safe harbor to the shooter (before we knew his identity) while spreading her legs wide on a terrace, I decided I had to say something. Our compass was broken. It was up to me to correct it. So I took to Facebook and posted, “Anyone making excuses for the UnitedHealthcare...

The United States Treasury Department expedited a $20 billion aid package to Ukraine as part of the 50 billion G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) Loans initiative. The establishment wants to offload these funds as quickly as possible to deter Donald Trump from reversing course and withholding aid. The funds were sent to the questionable World Bank and derived from frozen Russian assets. Will the funds be used for humanitarian aid? No one knows. Joe Biden would have had to call upon Congress to agree to send military aid, although he initially wanted to split the $20 BILLION down the line...

San Francisco 49ers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell refused to enter Thursday’s game against the Rams, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. Campbell was spotted heading into the locker room during the third quarter of the 12-6 home loss. When reporters asked Shanahan about this, he replied, “He said he didn’t want to play today.”The coach clarified that this conversation happened in the third quarter, when Campbell was asked to come in for Dre Greenlaw, who was dealing with Achilles fatigue and subbed out of the game. Shanahan added that this was the first time in his career that a player had...

In recent months, mysterious drone sightings have been sparking a surge of public outrage and fear across the globe. Whether it’s a small quadcopter hovering over a suburban neighborhood or a larger, more advanced drone seen near sensitive government facilities, these incidents are causing widespread alarm. The phenomenon, dubbed Drone Derangement Syndrome (DDS), refers to the irrational and often heightened fear that drones are being used for surveillance, control, or even sinister political and military objectives. As sightings increase, so does the intensity of public paranoia—leading many to question the government’s ability or willingness to address the problem. People are...

Citing his clash of values with incoming President Trump, FBI Director Christopher Wray announced he will vacate his position effective January 20 of next year. "I will dedicate the remaining 40 days and nights of my tenure to bolstering the agency for its coming four years of resistance against the changes that Trump intends to inflict on it," Wray said. "The loyal men, women, and trans agents who have worked so diligently to suppress our domestic enemies will be ensconced in civil service jobs that will give them effective lifetime jobs where they can continue the work of silencing misinformation,...

Is Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., having his Joni Ernst moment? It sure seems like it. On Wednesday, the Hoosier State’s senior senator told CNN mouthpiece Manu Raju he’s still undecided as to whether he will support Pete Hegseth’s nomination to become the next secretary of defense. The comments came after the two veterans met to discuss Hegseth’s potential promotion earlier that day. “I haven’t decided yet, as I’ve shared with him and happy to share with others…We had a good meeting. It was an extensive conversation, and he answered the questions I asked,” Young reportedly said. “We had a very...

VIDEOThe press swarming around Senator John Fetterman because he (GASP!) actually spoke to Pete Hegseth reminded me of the scenes of the press in "The Right Stuff" sounding like "root weevils" as the Chuck Yeager character described them. Watch the shock of the media thinking it is something incredible that a Democrat senator would want to speak to one of President Trump's nominees. Funny how there was NO such press concern when the utterly incompetent Lloyd Austin of triple Covid mask infamy was also nominated to be Defense Secretary.

The State of California, which is suffering from massive budget deficits, will spend $1.4 billion to expand a network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to assist drivers of the cars that Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to require by 2035. As Breitbart News noted earlier this week, Newsom’s EV mandate is in trouble, with sales falling far below targets. In addition, as the Los Angeles Times reported, Newsom is raising eyebrows by continuing to propose new spending — even though the state is suffering under massive budget deficits, despite lavish coronavirus relief from the federal government under President Joe Biden’s...

Luigi Mangione is officially the “suspect” in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, but he is plainly the culprit, and public discussion has moved on to his motives. Why would a young man possessed of intellectual gifts, friends, family, good looks, a winning personality and, apparently, lots of money, gun down a man he had never met? This isn’t the kind of question my organization, the National Association of Scholars, normally takes up. We concern ourselves more with academic standards and questions of state and federal policy. But I’ve been nudged several times with questions about Luigi’s academic background....

In a fascinating interview by Alarabia News on Youtube, Errol Musk, Elon Musk’s father, explains how Elon Musk moved from being a Democrat to being a fervent Trump supporter. Errol Musk lives in South Africa, where Elon was born and raised. In the video, Errol says that his son, Elon Musk, changed from a Democrat to a Trump supporter because he is rooted in reality. Errol says he lives in reality, not a leftist utopia. Errol says that in South Africa, he has to be armed all the time.“I live in a sort of real world. I’m not in America....

For many years, I've been describing what my first act would be should I ever be elected President of the United States. Granted that's unlikely in the extreme; as someone once said, "If nominated, I will not run, if elected, I will not serve." I don't want the job, but were I somehow thrust into it, my first act would be this: Visit every office, every agency, every anteroom that contained employees that report to the Executive Branch. I would ask every employee therein, from directors to janitors, two questions: "What is your purpose here?" "What are you doing right...

The Kremlin has appointed Lieutenant General Andrei Ivanayev as commander of the Vostok Battalion group of forces, which is leading the assault in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, according to state affiliated media. The popular Ukrainian military Telegram channel Country Politics, which has more than 290,000 followers, reported Ivanayev's appointment on Friday suggesting it was tied to a visit by Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov to the region. Over the past year, Russian forces have made grueling but steady advances in the Donbas, which President Putin formally annexed as part of Russia in September 2022 though his troops only partially control...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned of the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) and the rise of superintelligence during an appearance at the New York Times DealBook Summit last week. He said AI might perform tasks once exclusive to humans, raising important concerns about economic changes and job displacement. AGI represents a significant step toward achieving "superintelligence," where machines surpass human intellectual capabilities in virtually all fields. Altman said profound economic and societal changes could start as early as next year, Variety reported. The Economic Impact of Superintelligence Altman candidly addressed the disruptive potential of AGI and superintelligent AI and...

Council Bluffs Scanner on FB reported & attributed it to Eppley Airfield authority. What's concerning to me is the drones being spotted are exempt from geofencing. Not sure how difficult it is to block, but it is interesting.

Modern tractors rely on precise GPS coordinates to navigate fields. But with charged particles distorting radio signals from GPS satellites, some of them started acting erratically, stopping abruptly or weaving back and forth. "I would guess 80 percent or more of all farmers in the Midwest use at least basic GPS for something — whether it's auto-steer or yield mapping," John Deere service manager Ethan Smidt told SpaceWeather. "At least 50 percent of all farmers are VERY reliant on GPS and use it on every machine all year long." During particularly violent solar storms, charged particles fill the Earth's ionosphere,...

The California Department of Motor Vehicles issued an apology for an "unacceptable and disturbing" personalized license plate that the agency said displayed hate speech related to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

“God highly exalted Him” (Philippians 2:9). Christ followed the path to glory so that we could follow Him. Because Christ humbled Himself, the Father wonderfully exalted Him. His exaltation includes the elements of both His resurrection and His coronation—His exaltation to the right hand of God. The apostle Peter said Jesus was “raised up again” and “exalted to the right hand of God” (Acts 2:3233).Peter and the other apostles preached, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus. . . . He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant...

DeSantis naming Lara Trump to fill Rubio’s seat wouldn’t be the most corrupt appointment from a governor like Rod Blagojevich did when considering candidates to fill Barack Obama’s seat. Ted Kennedy. Because the younger Kennedy was too young to take up the remainder of the term family patriarch Joseph Kennedy instructed Gov. Foster Furcolo to name a family friend as placeholder. Say what you will about Joe’s tactics, but Teddy won the seat fair and square in the 1962 midterm elections and held it until his death in 2009.