Free Republic

(The following are transcribed highlights of a sermon given by Texas US Senate candidate James Talarico at the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, TX on 10/22/2023:) There is a cancer on our religion. Until we confess the sin that is Christian Nationalism and exercise it from our churches, our religion can do a lot more damage than a six-pack of Lone Star. There is nothing Christian about Christian Nationalism. It is the worship of power, social power, economic power, political power in the name of Christ, economic power, political power in the name of Christ. They've turned this humble...

NASA is cancelling plans to deploy a space station in ‌lunar orbit and will instead use its components to construct a $20 billion base on the moon’s surface over the next seven years, its new chief Jared Isaacman ​said on Tuesday. Isaacman, who was sworn in at the agency ​in December, made the announcement at the opening of a ⁠day-long event at NASA’s Washington headquarters at which he outlined a ​raft of changes he is making to the agency’s flagship moon program ​Artemis. “It should not really surprise anyone that we are pausing Gateway in its current form and focusing...

Robert Mueller is dead, but his toxic legacy lives on in the destroyed lives of the innocent victims targeted by the Russia collusion probe that bears his name. To understand why President Trump had no kind words for the former FBI director when he died over the weekend at age 81, you have to understand the human toll on the president and dozens of his friends and allies.Who knows whether Mueller, who had Parkinson’s, was in command of all his faculties when he was appointed special counsel at age 72? But the deep state evildoers on his team knew exactly...

The Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act officially passed a vote in the United States on Tuesday. The act, which fundamentally changes the structure of the sport of professional boxing, passed through the House of Representatives with a voice vote and will now head to the Senate. The Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act adds provisions to the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996. That 1996 legislation was later enhanced by the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, colloquially known as the "Ali Act." When enacted in 2000, the Ali Act provided several safeguards for fighters, including protection from coercive tactics...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal says Church cannot “continue to exist” without women’s ordination Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich has said he cannot see how the Catholic Church can endure in the long term if women continue to be excluded from ordained ministry.Speaking at a symposium in Bonn, he said, according to Kath.Ch: “I cannot imagine how a Church can continue to exist in the long term if half of the people of God suffer because they do not have access to ordained ministry.”The Archbishop of Luxembourg made the remarks during a conference examining synodality and curial reform, where he reflected on how his...

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are involved in ongoing peace talks with Iran. The president had originally tapped special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to lead talks with Tehran. However, Iranian officials refused to negotiate with Witkoff and Kushner, according to the Guardian. “We’re in negotiations right now. They’re doing it, along with Marco and JD; we have a number of people doing it,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office. “The other side, I can tell you, they’d like to make a deal....

As a general rule, when the government intervenes in free economic transactions in a market, it distorts that market and makes people worse off. We might not see such negative effects as clearly as we can see the benefits to those whom the government directly helps—the negative effects can be broad and indirect. But such disadvantages are real. Short-term Pell grants are no exception. First, the context: Pell grants provide college students with thousands of dollars per year based on their ability to pay, the cost of university attendance, and the degree to which a student is part-time or full-time....

KINGSLAND, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia judge granted a bond of just $1 for a murder charge faced by a woman accused by police of taking pills to induce an illegal abortion. “I think that charge is extremely problematic,” Superior Court Judge Steven Blackerby said Monday during a bond hearing for Alexia Moore, according to The New York Times. “That is going to be a hard charge to convict upon.” Blackerby set a total $2,001 bond for Moore, who spent nearly three weeks jailed in coastal Camden County. In addition to $1 for the murder charge, the judge ordered $1,000...

A Nevis, Minnesota, man who served as an election judge for Badoura Township during the 2024 election has pleaded guilty to accepting the vote of an unregistered voter, online court records said. The 65-year-old man pleaded guilty to the charge in the incident on Monday. One count of neglect of duty on Election Day will be dropped as part of a plea agreement, according to court documents. An investigator received a copy of an email from Hubbard County Auditor Kay Rave to Attorney Jonathan Frieden on Nov. 7, 2024, two days after the election, the criminal complaint said. The email...

Senator Chris Murphy: "The people we care about most, the undocumented migrants" He actually said that

WASHINGTON (AP) — Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate three shootings by federal officers, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.The lawsuit claims that the federal government reneged on its promise to cooperate with state investigations after the surge of federal law enforcement in Minneapolis, and are seeking a court order demanding that the Trump administration comply. “We are prepared to fight for transparency and accountability that the federal government is desperate to avoid,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty told reporters. The lawsuit marks an...

Iran has agreed to never have nuclear weapons, President Donald Trump said Thursday, signaling that Tehran has met a key U.S. demand to help end the war. The conflict has raised global concerns over nuclear proliferation, as Iran’s nuclear program has been a central issue for the president. “They’ve agreed,” he said. “They will never have a nuclear weapon. They’ve agreed to that.” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

President Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. war in Iran has been won, but that he coudn’t say exactly when it would end. “I think we’re going to end it. I can’t tell you for sure. You know, I don’t like to say this, this war has been won. The only one that likes to keep it going is the fake news,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office following the swearing in of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Trump has repeatedly given contrasting signals about the war, at one moment suggesting talks are taking place that could lead...

Explanation: Is gravity the same over the surface of the Earth? No -- in some places you will feel slightly heavier than others. The featured Earth map video shows in colors and exaggerated highs and lows where the gravitational field of Earth is relatively strong and weak. A low spot, where you would feel slightly lighter, can be seen just off the coast of India, in blue, while a relative high occurs in the mountains of Chile in South America. The cause of these irregularities does not always follow present surface features. Scientists hypothesize that other important factors lie in...

Declassified intelligence showed that Chinese signals-intelligence collection facilities had been operating in Cuba since at least 2019. "China and Cuba are negotiating to establish a new joint military training facility on the island, sparking alarm in Washington that it could lead to the stationing of Chinese troops and other security and intelligence operations just 100 miles off Florida's coast." — The Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2023. President Donald Trump acted before the Chinese could base missiles in Cuba.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama has advice for young women starting their careers: Don’t try to dismantle a broken system until you have clout that commands authority. Sadly, that means waiting until you’re older and established in your career to make those changes. Her new book chronicles the evolution of her personal style as First Lady and after leaving the White House. Specifically, the book delves into how fashion played a key role in establishing Obama’s credibility—a rubric all professional women are judged by, sadly. In her talk with Cooper, Obama reflected on how fashion choices are more consequential for...

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said that a legal theory supported by the Republican National Committee in a case related to mail-in ballots “imperils a lot of different things.” Jackson noted during oral arguments in the case on Monday that election practices have changed over time, which she said undermines the idea that there was ever a consistent practice across all states. “It's been changing throughout the course in a way that undermines the notion that there was one consistent practice first of all, or that Congress's law, the meaning of Election Day in the federal statutes, somehow was...

Saudi Arabia's leader has urged Donald Trump to deploy ground troops in Iran and believes the war is a 'historic opportunity' for regime change. Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) urged Trump in several calls over the past week to keep fighting Iran, attempting to persuade the President that the job could not be left half finished, sources told the New York Times. The pressure comes as Trump announced a five-day halt to US strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure while Washington pursued back-channel talks with Tehran through intermediaries, signaling he may be looking for a way out. The Saudi Crown Prince made...

I’m trying to locate an article concerning President Trump in his first term waiting with a widower whose wife was killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The plane was delayed a couple of hours, and the president stayed with the husband to receive his wife’s casket. It was a very nice and favorable piece in which the President showed a great deal of compassion, which is why I cannot locate it via the usual search engines. Can anyone help me locate this story, please?

(snip) I've been at both ends of the spectrum, financially. Becoming a millionaire is definitely not as simple as pulling yourself up and just doing the hard work. There's so much else that factors in — including a lot of luck. I got lucky. It makes me mad when people say, "Well, I did it, so you can."(snip) People should be able to get wealthy — there's nothing wrong with that. The thing is, just pay your fair share of taxes. That's the bottom line.(snip) It's just a healthier way of structuring society than holding people down and taxing people...