Free Republic

At the foot of Mount Sinai -- where Moses is believed to have heard the voice of God -- stands one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world. For nearly 1,500 years, the monks of St. Catherine’s Monastery have kept watch over sacred ground, stewarding the faith through centuries of empire, conquest, and modern upheaval. Their presence a living testimony, not just to history, but to holiness. Now, that sacred presence is under threat. On May 28, 2025, an Egyptian court ruled to transfer ownership of St. Catherine’s Monastery and its assets to the state. Though the government claims...

Sunday 1 June 2025 The Ascension of the Lord Solemnity St. Justin Martyr Catholic Church, St. Louis, MissouriReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: C(I).These readings are for the Vigil Mass on the evening before the feast.These readings are for the day of the feast itself.These readings are for the Vigil Mass on the evening before the feast.First readingActs 1:1-11Jesus was lifted up while they looked onIn my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit,...

A meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul aimed at paving the way for a potential ceasefire is expected to take place at 10:00 GMT, or 1 p.m. local time, at the Ciragan Palace, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said on Sunday. Ukraine's delegation to a second round of peace talks will include its defense minister, deputy foreign minister, as well as several military and intelligence officials, according to an executive order by President Volodymyr Zelensky published on Sunday.

A statement released by KU Leuven revealed that Belgian geneticists and their international colleagues conducted the largest-ever DNA study of remains from a medieval cemetery.In 2019, excavations beneath the main square in Sint-Truiden uncovered 3,000 skeletons buried in a former parish graveyard between the eighth and the eighteenth century. The researchers analyzed the remains of 400 of those individuals, which has provided unprecedented new information about the genetic history of the Low Countries.One of the most surprising results was that in the early Middle Ages, the population of Sint-Truiden was far more genetically diverse than in later periods. The scientists...

President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., he would be “playing right into the hands of the Democrats” if he votes against Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.” “If Senator Rand Paul votes against our Great, Big, Beautiful Bill, he is voting for, along with the Radical Left Democrats, a 68% Tax Increase and, perhaps even more importantly, a first time ever default on US Debt,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday afternoon. “Rand will be playing right into the hands of the Democrats, and the GREAT people of Kentucky will never forgive him! The GROWTH we are experiencing,...

AI is distinct because its developments are not technical in nature; they are profoundly cerebral, cognitive, and intellectual Content creation, once the ultimate refuge for human creativity, is now under threat. AI models can generate articles, marketing copy, and even basic code. The sheer volume of AI-generated content means that fewer human writers will be needed to produce original material.

The mayor of a small city in Georgia and two former election officials have been jailed on felony charges stemming from efforts last November to halt a local election after one of the mayor’s allies was disqualified from a city council race. Camilla Mayor Kelvin Owens was being held at the Mitchell County jail Friday, two days after a grand jury indicted him on a felony charge of election interference and a misdemeanor count of conspiring to commit election fraud. Also jailed were the city’s former elections superintendent, Rhunette Williford; and her former deputy superintendent, Cheryl Ford, who is currently...

WASHINGTON (AP) — With predictions for a busy hurricane season beginning Sunday, experts in storms and disasters are worried about something potentially as chaotic as the swirling winds: Massive cuts to the federal system that forecasts, tracks and responds to hurricanes. Experts are alarmed over the large-scale staff reductions, travel and training restrictions and grant cut-offs since President Donald Trump took office at both the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which prepares for and responds to hurricanes, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which tracks and forecasts them. “My nightmare is a major catastrophic storm hitting an area that is...

KYIV, June 1 (Reuters) - Ukrainian secret services were able to attack strategic bomber aircraft at Russian air bases on Sunday by hiding explosive-laden drones inside the roofs of wooden sheds, according to a Ukrainian security official and images posted online. The sheds were loaded onto trucks that were driven to the perimeter of the air bases. The roof panels of the sheds were lifted off by a remotely-activated mechanism, allowing the drones to fly out and begin their attack, the official said. The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said strikes were conducted on Sunday on four...

@MonitorX99800 Russian President Vladimir Putin calls for an emergency security council meeting. Big russian response, possible nuclear strikes expected in coming hours.

obviously, the effects of woke and DEI upon schools have been legion. ideas of disparate impact and the attribution of all variance to some manner of systematic oppression needful of imposed redress mostly manifesting more as retribution than restitution (when not even the latter would have been warranted or helpful) have paved a path to the sorts of racist structures that would make jim crow blush. it embodies an ingrained ideal of “different and tainted” created by a sort of birthright original sin as oppressor requiring hair shirts and penitence. it’s as hideous as it is unreflective. racism and discrimination...

Where you live can have a big impact on your mental health. Particularly for seniors, it’s important to settle down in a location that promotes happiness. Older adults face a higher risk of mental health problems due to circumstances like the loss of loved ones, loneliness, chronic illness or disability, medications, changes brought on by retirement and other stressors, according to the National Council on Aging. Caring.com, a senior care resource, recently released its Senior Happiness Index, revealing where in the country seniors are happiest based on WalletHub’s state happiness roundup.

The FDA has officially gone rogue. It just approved Moderna’s newest COVID-19 mRNA shot—mNEXSPIKE—without a single placebo-controlled trial, directly contradicting recent public assurances from HHS that “all new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure.” However, this authorization appears to align with their so-called “evidence-based approach to COVID-19 vaccination” published in NEJM —a policy that permits the continuation of mass experimentation on many Americans without clinical proof of benefit: FDA Unveils New Plan to Limit COVID-19 Vaccine Use — Keeps Deadly Program Alive NICOLAS HULSCHER, MPH · According to Moderna: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration...

President Bill Clinton criticized President Trump's actions attacking the rule of law, and predicted that the president would pay a price among those who believe his actions are un-American. "We've never seen anything like this before in my lifetime – somebody that says, 'Whatever I want should be the law of the land. It's my way or the highway.' And most Americans don't agree with that," Clinton said in an interview with "CBS Sunday Morning." "But I like to think that he's paid a price for this, you know, name-calling and throwing his weight around … I think it's made...

Right-wing pundits ripped New Jersey Senator Cory Booker for making a gesture that they likened Nazi salute at the conclusion of a speech Saturday night — and compared it to the move Elon Musk made that was ripped by liberals. The Garden State Democrat made the gesture at a Democratic convention in California — placing his hand over his heart and then gesturing to the crowd with a straight arm and an open hand above shoulder height. Internet influencers were quick to jump on Booker’s salute, and wonder where the outrage is when there was so much criticism by Booker’s...

Archaeologists believe they have rediscovered the lost Byzantine city of Tharais in southern Jordan, according to a Türkiye Today report. The settlement is thought to have been an important religious and trading center along the Roman and Byzantine road network connecting Zoar to central Jordan. The city appears on the famous sixth-century a.d. Madaba Mosaic Map, the oldest surviving map of the Middle East, but its exact location has remained a mystery. Over the past several years, an archaeological project has reexamined historical documents and inscriptions, while conducting field surveys outside of the modern town of El-'Iraq near the southeastern...

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) predicted Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Democrats would win the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections. Jeffries said, “Let me make clear that the House is a separate and co-equal branch of government, the Congress. We don’t work for Donald Trump. We don’t work for the administration. We don’t work for Elon Musk. We work for the American people and we have a responsibility to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch. That’s the constitutional blueprint that was given to us by...

A transgender athlete bested the competition Saturday at the California high school track and field championship to take home gold in the girls high jump and the triple jump at a meet that has stirred controversy and drawn national attention. AB Hernandez competed under a new rule change that may be the first of its kind nationally by a high school sports governing body. California’s governing body changed the rules ahead of the meet to allow more girls to compete and medal in events in which Hernandez competed.

In my Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) training, we were taught a sobering truth: a decision made today could come back to haunt us decades later. If we approved a hazardous chemical or ignored a potential risk, and that action later led to human or environmental harm, we could be held accountable—even if we had moved on to another job or employer. The concept is known as the "long-tail of liability." As I watch the explosive growth of Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models (LLMs), I can't help but draw unsettling parallels. We're rushing forward, unleashing technology into schools, businesses,...

Ukrainian forces have wiped out dozens of Russian military aircraft, including nuclear bombers, in a massive drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s air bases deep inside the country, Kyiv sources are claiming. The mission carried out by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) using first-person-view (FPV) drones hit 41 Russian heavy bombers at four separate airfields thousands of miles from Ukraine, a security source told the Kyiv Independent on Sunday. The drones were reportedly smuggled into the country hidden in trucks. TU-95 “Bear” nuclear bombers, TU-22 “Backfire” fast-attack strike bombers and A-50 “Mainstay” command-and-control jets were among the aircraft that were destroyed...