Free Republic

ATHENS – Fraudulent messages promising safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for cryptocurrency have been sent to some shipping firms with vessels stranded west of the waterway, said Greek maritime risk management firm Marisks. The US has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran has lifted and then reimposed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed before war broke out in the Middle East. Amid ceasefire talks, Tehran, which controls the choke point, has proposed tolls on vessels to safely transit. Marisks on...

AXIOM released this statement after I published the video: "Axiom Space is delivering the most advanced spacesuit ever built for human lunar exploration -- and we're doing it with the urgency the Artemis campaign demands. To date, we've logged more than 950 hours of crewed pressurized testing, completed the first thermal vacuum test of the pressure garment, and delivered over 1,300 products toward critical design review, which we're on track to complete this year. We remain confident in our path to a 2027 demonstration and to supporting America's return to the lunar surface in 2028. "We appreciate the OIG's continued...

Democrats approved a new congressional map in Virginia on Tuesday, the latest skirmish in a redistricting arms race that will help determine which party wins control of Congress in the midterm elections. Leading up to the Virginia vote, Republicans had amassed a cushion of newly drawn Republican seats through gerrymanders in Texas, North Carolina, Missouri and Ohio. Democrats countered with a gerrymander of their own in California, and courts in Utah gave Democrats an unexpected new district in the deeply red Western state. That meant that going into Tuesday night, there were between eight and nine new Republican-leaning districts, and...

How the modern trend of "centering" alien characters over human ones has helped destroy one of Hollywood's most durable sci-fi franchises In the wake of the cancellation of yet another ridiculous “Star Trek” property, this time the hilariously cringe-inducing “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,” sane audiences are once again asking the question “why can’t anyone get ‘Star Trek’ right?” The answer may be as simple as this… it’s because the studio’s leadership, as well as the creatives so far tasked with bringing new “Star Trek” stories to life, do not understand what “Star Trek” is, they only know what they wish...

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) advised the next Democratic president to focus on passing universal healthcare, a policy measure that has been hotly debated within the party in recent years. “We have to figure out, once we move in a progressive way, once we see a Barack Obama win, once we see a Congress win, it has to be about not holding power for the sake of holding power, it has to be about passing things,” Walz said on MS NOW’s “The Weeknight.” “And for this — I —Donald Trump has encouraged me, when we take power back, I’ll tell...

Female IDF reservists were forced to guard violent Nukhba terrorists at the Sde Teiman base and detention center in the days following October 7, 2023, despite repeated sexual harassment, according to a Monday KAN News report. "We would serve them food, cuff them, be with them for long hours, and during this time, they would masturbate in front of us, blow us kisses, and try to undress. Their gazes were degrading, stripping. It was unbearable,” one reservist told KAN News's Carmela Menashe. “I didn’t enlist in the IDF for this,” one of the soldiers, who is refusing to return to...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that his office has filed a lawsuit against ActBlue in Tarrant County, Texas, following a multi-year investigation into the fundraising platform’s compliance with election laws. The lawsuit, filed in Fort Worth, alleges that ActBlue misled both Congress and the public while failing to follow federal and state requirements designed to prevent improper or illegal political donations. During an exchange with commentator Benny Johnson, Paxton confirmed the legal action and outlined the basis for the case. “ I assume you've heard of ActBlue. We just filed a lawsuit this morning in Tarrant County, which is...

Donald Trump’s Truth Social post against Pope Leo is unprecedented in the history of the presidency and papacy. No president has ever made such a statement, even as previous popes urged peace during wartime and opposed specific U.S. interventions. Our Aubrey Harris noted examples going back to Pope Benedict XV and World War I. Others are detailing examples from throughout the 20th century. They’ve continued into this century. In recent times, President George W. Bush felt no compulsion to publicly denounce Pope John Paul II when the sainted pontiff opposed the U.S. war in Iraq — a war that Donald...

In his funeral oration to the mothers and wives of fallen soldiers, Pericles, the Athenian leader, said: “Like them, remember that prosperity can only be for the free, that freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it.”This line is engraved on war memorials across Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth nations, quoted at dawn services and used in official Anzac Day reflections for almost a century. Instead of honouring what these great soldiers, including our special forces, served and died to defend, in one sentence Anthony Albanese told us plainly: “We can’t go...

Democrats scored a major victory on Tuesday as a congressional redistricting referendum that could give Democrats a significant boost in the battle for the U.S. House of Representatives majority in this year's midterm elections was passed by Virginia voters, the Associated Press reported at 8:49 p.m. ET. The ballot measure gives the Democrat-controlled Virginia legislature — rather than the state's current nonpartisan commission — temporary redistricting power through the 2030 election. It could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in Virginia's congressional delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge. That would give the Democrats four additional left-leaning U.S. House...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinals Reject Hope in Leo XIV on Roman RiteSeveral anonymous cardinals and curial officials told the Substack.com account The Pillar on April 17 that they do not expect any resolution to the question of the Mass in the Roman rite in the near future.Some Catholics had hoped the next extraordinary consistory of cardinals on June 26–27 would address the liturgical issue. Instead, Leo XIV chose to focus on Francis' document Evangelii Gaudium.One Vatican official said that Leo XIV was not very familiar with traditional communities or even the traditional liturgy, and that his primary concern was not liturgy...

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REVEALED: How Leo XIV presents Vatican II as a rupture with the Catholic pastLeo XIV’s presentation of the nature of the Catholic Church is often difficult, and sometimes impossible, to reconcile with what the Church has always taught about herself.Earlier this year, Leo XIV began “a new cycle of catechesis which will be dedicated to Vatican Council II and a rereading of its Documents.” [1] This weekly catechesis, delivered at the Wednesday audiences, will, he said, be a “valuable opportunity to rediscover the beauty and the importance of this ecclesial event.” [2]Between January 14 and February 11, Leo XIV provided...

The Brief Police arrested 34-year-old Gregory Lewis for capital murder after he reportedly confessed to killing his coworker and stealing his vehicle. Thomas King vanished after finishing his shift at a Fort Worth Taco Casa and was later discovered dead in a field. Family members allege King was bullied at work as investigators work to determine the exact motive behind the fatal confrontation. SNIP

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Marx implements Fiducia Supplicans ‘blessings’ for ‘couples of all gender identitiesMarx is calling on priests and full-time staff in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising to implement his ‘blessing’ guidelines for homosexuals, gender-confused people, and the divorced and ‘remarried.’Following Pope Francis’ Fiducia Supplicans, Cardinal Reinhard Marx has introduced heterodox guidelines for the “blessing” of homosexual and other “couples” in sinful relationships in his archdiocese.According to a report by Die Tagespost, Marx has called on priests and full-time staff in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising to implement the controversial guidelines “Segen gibt der Liebe Kraft,” which allows...

Two CIA officers were killed in Mexico in a fiery car crash after meeting with Mexican authorities that busted one of the 'largest ever drug labs' in the nation, according to reports. The officers, who have not been named, died along with the area's chief police investigator and his bodyguard in the state of Chihuahua on Sunday. Mexican officials said the car swerved off the road and exploded when it fell down a ravine. The Americans were initially identified as US embassy officials, however sources told the Washington Post that they worked for the CIA. They reportedly worked with the...

A liberal group is looking to counter the influence of conservative Turning Point USA on college campuses by launching its own club that invites students to fight back against “authoritarianism” and “corporate greed.” More Perfect University (MPUniversity), founded by the liberal media group “More Perfect Union,” made its big launch on Monday, saying students in all 50 states joined MPUniversity in the six days leading up to it. The launch featured a livestream and interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose advisors founded More Perfect Union. “Mainstream media, politicians, and universities are bowing down to the 1%. We’re organizing on...

Virginia prop losing in initial reports

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has ordered an investigation into the role played by two US officials who reportedly worked for the CIA in a counter-narcotics operation in the northern state of Chihuahua. The two died alongside two Mexican officials when their car crashed on their way back from an operation to destroy illegal drug labs, Chihuahua officials said. Sheinbaum said that neither she nor senior members of the federal security team had been informed about any joint US-Mexican operations. The Mexican leader has been adamant that foreign officials can only operate on Mexican soil if given prior clearance at the...

COLORADO, USA — A "mega den" of rattlesnakes in Colorado is becoming active after the winter.Thanks to a livestream that launched Monday, scientists studying the den on a craggy hillside in Colorado are learning more about these enigmatic — and often misunderstood — reptiles.The public can also watch on the Project RattleCam website. The project is a collaboration between California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, snake removal company Central Coast Snake Services and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.As the camera launched Monday, snake researchers said it is still a bit cold at the den, so you can expect...