Free Republic

Ken Paxton, the Trump-endorsed and MAGA-backed insurgent, ousted Senator John Cornyn in a runoff on Tuesday, becoming the second primary challenger to knock out an incumbent Republican senator in less than two weeks in a raw display of President Trump’s powerful hold on the party base. The contest was the most expensive primary in American history — and Mr. Paxton prevailed despite being outspent on advertising by pro-Cornyn forces by roughly $80 million. Now, Republicans are bracing for a potentially competitive general election in Texas, where Democrats have not won statewide in a generation. Democratic donors nationwide have swooned for...

Project management software company ClickUp laid off 22% of its workforce, replacing hundreds of employees with roughly 3,000 internal AI agents in what CEO Zeb Evans called “a full embrace of AI-driven productivity.” Evans announced the cuts on X, framing them not as a cost-cutting measure but as a structural transformation. Remaining employees now direct AI agents to handle complex tasks and review their output rather than performing the work themselves. Evans described his goal as turning ClickUp into a “100x org.”The company, last valued at $4 billion in 2021, recently deployed the 3,000 AI agents across internal operations. Evans...

Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, May 25, warning that artificial intelligence (AI) and other technological advances pose moral challenges that could reshape humanity’s understanding of truth, work, relationships, and human dignity.“Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together,” the encyclical, subtitled “On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” opens.Pope Leo signed the encyclical May 15, the 135th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum,...

Maureen Galindo losing badly!

The Cheyenne Police Department says a man living under a bridge in a city park armed himself with a 5-foot stick, clubbed a police K-9, and took multiple swings at four officers in waist-deep water. The bizarre showdown unfolded Friday near Martin Luther King Jr. Park, where officers were dispatched after getting reports of a man believed to be experiencing some sort of “psychosis." Police say city compliance workers were trying to clean beneath the bridge, but the man refused to leave the area. He identified himself as Casey Donavin Ragnarok Lothrar Ott, wrote Cheyenne Police Officer Noah Rodgers in...

In one of his first rallies since winning President Donald Trump’s endorsement in his Senate race, Ken Paxton told the crowd he wanted to try something new. The Democratic nominee, James Talarico, Paxton said, would be the “most radical US senator from Texas, maybe in the whole country, ever, so I wanted to test a few nicknames tonight and see if you can help me.” The suggestions from the audience started flowing as Paxton passed the mic around. “Low-T Talarico.” “Tofu Talarico.” “Tala-freak-o.” “Soy boy!” a man yelled out unprompted. The food references came from an already burgeoning Republican talking...

Rep. Christian Menefee (D-Texas) is projected to defeat Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) in a Democratic primary runoff for the Houston-based 18th Congressional District, according to Decision Desk HQ. Menefee, the 37-old-lawmaker who won a special election to fill the remainder of the late Rep. Sylvester Turner’s (D-Texas) seat in January, is almost certain to win the general election this fall in a district that Cook Political Report rates as solidly Democratic. Neither Menefee nor Green, the 78-year-old who’s served in the House for over two decades, pushed past the 50 percent support needed in the March 3 primary to avoid...

Dr. John Gordon, a reproductive endocrinologist, has been a man of faith for years. When he began to have doubts, they were not about his God, but his life’s work... As co-director of a fertility clinic in suburban Washington, D.C., Gordon grew troubled over helping create surplus embryos, which would often languish in storage or be discarded. With the expansion of genetic testing, couples could choose the sex of their baby. They could screen out painful or fatal diseases, but also milder impairments like hearing loss. “It’s too morally problematic,” Gordon thought. “I don’t know where you draw the line.”...

Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon didn't completely back down from her assertion a small player can't lead his team to the NBA championship now that Jalen Brunson has taken the New York Knicks to the NBA Finals. Hammon made her initial comments on ESPN in December 2023, saying the Knicks couldn't win the championship if the 6-foot-2 Brunson was their best player. "If your best player is small, you're not winning," Hammon said at the time. Those comments have generated some buzz after Brunson received the Larry Bird Trophy for MVP of the Eastern Conference finals after the Knicks...

Abraham Enriquez, who is in the runoff for Texas’s 19th Congressional District, said his campaign is rooted in faith, coalition building, and bringing West Texas values to Washington. “I’ve had the honor of organizing and creating an organization, not based out in DC, not based out in Austin, based out right here in West Texas, that today has grown into one of the largest organizations that has brought in over a million new evangelical Christians into the Republican coalition. That organization has also been a partner to the Domestic Policy Council of the White House, both Trump Administration One and...

There’s an ancient, almost surely apocryphal story about a dog food company executive convening a big sales meeting. A very short version has the exec running through all of the company’s advantages: the best sales team, the best advertising, the best packaging, etc. He then irately asks, “So why aren’t we selling more dog food?” After a long silence, a small voice from the back ventures a guess: “Maybe the dogs don’t like it.” The story is a cliché, but a useful one in business and politics. For instance, the prelaunch internal name for Netflix was “Kibble,” a reminder that...

A cold war has broken out between Silicon Valley and the Vatican, as they accuse one another of jeopardizing humanity’s future. In a Monday encyclical letter, Pope Leo XIV warned mankind is facing the “risk of being misled by deceitful goals” in the age of AI and called on regulators to stand up to its creators. The 42,000 word manifesto comes after Peter Thiel has repeatedly argued in a global speaking tour — including in Rome, right outside Vatican City — that a powerful figure trying to stymy technological progress will turn out to be the antichrist predicted by the...

The city’s s worst “super speeders” will be forced to install speed-limiting devices on their cars, under a new state law passed Tuesday. The measure, approved as part of the state’s budget, will require drivers with 16 or more speed camera violations in a year to install a speed-limiting device that uses GPS technology to keep drivers from going faster than posted speed limits. The new law is set to take effect about one year from the date Gov. Kathy Hochul signs the budget — and will apply only to violations that occur after that. “New York is putting these...

The 'Star Trek' icon also performed a song called "Rage" during the wildly entertaining conversation, held Wednesday at the Saban Theatre in Los Angeles.William Shatner and Neil deGrasse Tyson regaled an enthusiastic crowd with stories of everything from our understanding quantum physics to Shatner‘s space flight to the meaning of the universe on Wednesday night during a conversation dubbed “The Universe Is Absurd!” at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. The event was actually the second of a two-night event wherein the close friends ribbed each other and shared personal anecdotes of their adventures together, including their 2024 trip to...

Brazilian Senator and presidential contender Flavio Bolsonaro met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the ​White House on Tuesday as he looks to move past a scandal ‌that has dented his popularity with voters ahead of Brazil's election later this year. The encounter took place in the Oval Office and was closed to the press, but the senator spoke to ​journalists at a press conference in Washington after the meeting. The senator, the ​eldest son of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, said Trump asked him ⁠about his father, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for his ​involvement in...

Democratic socialist Councilwoman Shahana Hanif lashed out against a pair of Muslim organizers of a massive pro-Israel protest at Gracie Mansion on Tuesday night, seething that she prays they go to hell. Hanif, best known for her frequent anti-Israel remarks, raged in a post on X that she hopes the organizers are condemned “to Jahannam” – the Islamic equivalent of hell. The lefty Brooklyn lawmaker reposted two advertisements for the “Protest Zohran Mamdani” demonstration that specifically featured Muslim speakers. The protest, held a block away from Gracie Mansion, was presented by EndJewHatred. Anila Ali, the president of the American Muslim...

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The Paris Mint said that it would soon start selling solid-gold coins for investment, the first since it quit making Napoleons and Louis a century ago. Four versions of the new Marianne coins will go on sale 16 June, ranging from one-tenth of an ounce (3.1 grams) to a full ounce (31.1 grams). One side will feature the symbolic Marianne face representing the French republic, while the other will show a map of the nation's territories, the Mint said. They will compete on the global market with South African Krugerrands, Canadian Maple Leafs or American Gold Eagles. The goal is...

26 May 2026 Saint Philip Neri, Priest on Tuesday of week 8 in Ordinary Time Chiesa Nuova, Rome. Chapel of St. Philip Neri. The saint's body rests in a crystal urn below the altar. Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst reading1 Peter 1:10-16Put your trust in the grace that is coming to youIt was this salvation that the prophets were looking and searching so hard for; their prophecies were about the grace which was to come to you. The Spirit of Christ which was in them...

Race called!