Free Republic

“‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery”; but I say to you that everyonewho looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart’” (Matthew 5:27–28). The seventh commandment protects the sanctity of marriage, and anyone who relies on external righteousness to keep it is prone to break it. Just as anger equals murder, lustful desire equals adultery. In Jesus’ admonition, “looks” indicates intentional and repeated gazing. Therefore He means purposeful looking that arouses lust. In contemporary terms, it condemns a man who sees an X-rated movie, watches...

PYPXWTMEW SROCJ ARHHKOPJJ, ROE OMTMEW SROCJ HRKO, TVC WMV NRO'C ARYP R XRKOTMS SKCAMVC R GKCCGP XRKO. — IKMO GPP

‘If you look at Russia, yes, it’s obviously huge geographically, but the population is about 150 million people, about half the size of the US, and five times smaller than Europe. They’re big, but they’re weak, and they prove their weakness by the fact that they can’t even successfully wage war against a much weaker neighbor. So we have to stop being afraid of Russia or bowing down to Russia. We have to stand up to Russia, we have to protect Ukraine, support Ukraine, and if we do it right, it will all end well. It’s all about peace through...

68 soldiers of the 1st Army Officer School will represent the Vietnam People's Army in the parade marking the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War, taking place on Red Square in Moscow, Russia on May 9. The 80-member delegation from the 1st Army Officer School is scheduled to leave for Russia on April 23. The parade group includes 73 soldiers, including 68 official members and 5 reserve members, along with leaders in charge, training instructors, doctors, interpreters and security guards. The soldiers participating in the parade are aged 19-30 and 1.8 m or taller. These are...

VLADIMIR Putin launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine as soon as the 30-hour Easter Truce was over. He also reportedly flouted the truce period almost 3,000 times with attacks during his own-imposed mini ceasefire. Russia hammered the border regions of Sumy and Kharkiv with aerial bombs soon after the midnight end of the so-called truce. Explosions were also reported in the Mykolaiv, Kherson, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The truce, lasting little over a day, was proposed by Putin from 6pm on Saturday to midnight on Sunday, for what he called "humanitarian considerations". President Zelensky accused...

... What to watch: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said he is staying neutral, rather than banding with leadership to back his Texas colleague. "Both John and Ken are friends of mine," Cruz told reporters on Wednesday. "I have worked closely with both of them. I respect them both and I trust the voters of Texas to make that decision."

Americans are scrambling to obtain a state-issued REAL ID in order to travel by plane ahead of a federal deadline next month, which comes after states from coast to coast changed their laws surrounding driver's licenses to permit illegal immigrants to drive. Americans will need to obtain a REAL ID, which is a federally-compliant driver's license or other identification that meets higher standards than state-issued licenses, in order to easily travel by air, the Department of Homeland Security explains on its website. Only legal U.S. citizens or residents can obtain the identification card, while valid U.S. passports can also still...

After a two-year hiatus, Senate GOP primaries are on the way back. Senate Republicans are bracing for a midterm cycle that could be littered with nasty primary challenges to both incumbents and preferred candidates alike, marking a stark change after party leaders worked hand in glove with President Trump to root them out to help boost their efforts in 2024. Those efforts paid off handsomely last cycle, with Senate Republicans being able to sidestep a number of potential primary landmines en route to a 53-seat majority that is already paying dividends in Trump’s first 100 days. But 2026 is shaping...

Click on link

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chair David Hogg recently gave $100,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) shortly after his plans to shake up the Democratic Party with new leadership angered party insiders. The news, which was first reported by Politico and Axios, was confirmed by Hogg in an X post on Friday, where he asserted that he wasn't "playing nice" by handing the six-figure donation over to the DCCC. "This is not me playing nice. It is demonstrating my commitment to winning back the house and making Hakeem Jeffries the Speaker, which is an absolute imperative," Hogg wrote...

VATICAN CITY, — Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church for the past 12 years, has died at age 88. The head of the Catholic Church died Monday morning at 7:35 a.m. He had been the pope for 12 years, ascending to the head of the papacy on March 13, 2013.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has died...

China has warned countries against striking a broader economic deal with the United States at its expense, ratcheting up its rhetoric in a spiraling trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. The Asian country respects all parties resolving economic and trade differences with the United States through consultation on an equal footing, but it will firmly oppose any party striking a deal at China’s expense, its Commerce Ministry said. Chinese officials “will take countermeasures in a resolute and reciprocal manner” if any country sought such deals, a ministry spokesperson said, addressing a news report that the Trump Administration was...

"The door is closed," said a would-be migrant to the US. Yorman Briceno, who was anticipating applying for asylum in the United States, has found his plans stalled as he waits at a shelter in Ciudad Juarez, near the border crossing at El Paso, Texas. The Trump administration has not only quashed illegal immigration but has put a chill on legal immigration as well. "There's no more hope for entering legally as long as Donald Trump is there," Briceno told The Wall Street Journal, "and anyone telling you otherwise is lying." Border crossings have hit their lowest level since the...

Chinese researchers have successfully detonated a hydrogen-based explosive device in a controlled field test, triggering devastating chemical chain reactions without using any nuclear materials, according to a study published last month. The 2kg (4.4lbs) bomb generated a fireball exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit) for more than two seconds – 15 times longer than equivalent TNT blasts – without using any nuclear materials, it said. Developed by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s (CSSC) 705 Research Institute, a key player in underwater weapon systems, the device uses a magnesium-based solid-state hydrogen storage material. Chinese researchers have successfully detonated a hydrogen-based...

It looks as though trade progress is being made with Japan, as concessions about automobiles were reported on this weekend, signaling that Trump administration could be heading towards a revised agreement with the key ally nation. Japan may loosen auto safety rules for U.S. imports to address President Trump’s concerns over the low number of American cars sold there, Nikkei reports. With differing safety standards between the two countries, Tokyo is eyeing crash test regulations as a possible trade concession, according to Nikkei. During a White House meeting, Trump criticized Japan’s trade surplus and poor U.S. auto sales. Cabinet-level talks...

Four American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) affiliates filed a lawsuit on April 18 asking a federal court to reinstate the legal status of international students who have had their visas revoked. Multiple ACLU affiliates and the law firm Shaheen & Gordon filed a federal class action lawsuit representing more than 100 foreign students in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico who they say had their F-1 student immigration status “unlawfully and abruptly terminated with no specified reason as to why.”The students include several at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design, who had their student...

Inflation risk has been a significant topic of discussion in the mainstream media for the last few years. Such is unsurprising given that inflation spiked following the pandemic in 2020 as consumer spending (demand) was shot into overdrive from stimulus payments and production (supply) was shuttered. To understand why that occurred, we need to revisit “Economics 101.”“In economics, inflation is a general increase in the prices of goods and services. Changes in inflation are a function of fluctuations in actual demand for goods and services (also known as demand shocks, including changes in fiscal or monetary policy or recession), changes...

Is the media serious with this story? They’re trying to do Signalgate 2.0, but this time trying to rope in Secretary of Defense’s Pete Hegseth’s wife? It would appear so. In March, the Wall Street Journal ran with a story in which Hegseth shared sensitive information at a meeting where his wife was allegedly present. We don’t know if this is true because no one would go on the record to confirm it. Now, we have The New York Times trying to rehash the Signal stuff again, based on “four people with knowledge of the chat” (via NYT): Defense Secretary...

Last week, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) scrambled to contain the fallout from his tone-deaf El Salvador stunt that quickly turned into a political fiasco. The Maryland Democrat, who initially grandstanded about his efforts to “rescue” a deported MS-13 gang member, is now in full damage control mode—desperately trying to rewrite the narrative of a trip that backfired spectacularly. Van Hollen even hit the Sunday talk shows to contain the fallout. Curiously insisting to Jonathan Karl of ABC News’s “This Week” that he’s not defending Kilmar Abrego Garcia, but that he’s defending “the rule of law.” Host Jonathan Karl pressed...