Free Republic

"Colorado and California are moving towards exempting open-source operating systems and software distributions from proposed operating-system-level age verification laws, offering a significant regulatory win for the Linux and broader open-source ecosystem. Colorado’s bill, which has already reached its “Final Act” stage, explicitly excludes software distributed under licences that allow users to copy, redistribute, and modify software without platform-imposed technical or contractual restrictions. The law is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2028." Snip... "The proposed California language states that an “operating system provider” does not include entities distributing software under licences permitting users to “copy, redistribute, and modify” the...

Russia is stuck on the Ukrainian battlefield and lashing out with massive strikes on Kyiv. The growing fear in European capitals is that President Vladimir Putin will try next to reshuffle the cards by expanding the conflict to Europe. In recent weeks, Russia has made increasingly bellicose statements against the Baltic states. It has threatened to bomb “decision-making centers” in Latvia after accusing the country of hosting Ukrainian drone operators, an allegation denied by the Latvian authorities. Air-raid alarms were sounded in Lithuania last week, forcing the government into a bunker, after suspected Russian drones approached its airspace from Belarus....

Gingrich said the impeachment of Bill Clinton argued that the proceedings became overly focused on sex instead of perjury and obstruction of justice. Gingrich said the effort was undermined because it became publicly associated with Monica Lewinsky rather than the broader legal issues surrounding sworn testimony in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. Ken Starr's investigation later expanded to include allegations surrounding Clinton's relationship with Lewinsky and testimony tied to the Paula Jones lawsuit. The findings led House Republicans to impeach Clinton making him the second president in U.S. history to be impeached. "Is he allowed to commit felonies?'" Gingrich...

On a warm night last May, Nikhil Somwanshi sent his roommate a WhatsApp message asking him to tell his family that what was about to happen next was an accident. The message triggered a frantic search for the 24-year-old machine-learning engineer in southeast Bengaluru Somwanshi was a star student from a small village in the farm-dotted countryside. 9mths earlier he’d landed a coveted job at Ola Krutrim, an artificial intelligence startup worth $1 billion. Getting a job at Krutrim was a big deal for Somwanshi and his community. Banners went up in his village, congratulating him. He sent funds from...

The United Methodist Church’s experience with the disaffiliations of a number of its congregations has received widespread coverage in church media and in some secular media outlets. Because the polity of the UMC differs from that of many other denominations, this chapter in our denomination’s history may be confusing to those with different approaches to the ways congregations and whole denominations govern themselves. Some may find it helpful to learn of the steps that led to the disaffiliation process, what its effect has been upon the denomination and what it may hold for the future of the denomination in the...

Judge Andrew Napolitano praises Latin Mass, calls Pope Leo XIV ‘Francis II’Napolitano said at an event honoring Fr. John Perricone that the Latin Mass that he attends is like ‘another religion’ compared to the ‘American watered-down Protestantized Mass.’Judge Andrew Napolitano delighted the audience gathered to celebrate Fr. John Anthony Perricone’s 50 years as a priest when he called Vatican II “dangerous and pernicious” and “nonsense” while extolling the Traditional Latin Mass.Napolitano also unapologetically referred to Pope Leo XIV as “Pope Francis II.”The former judge and Fox News personality began by recounting the time that he addressed a massive gathering of...

Cognizant could be heading toward one of the biggest tech layoffs of the year, following cuts at companies like Amazon and Oracle. Reports suggest the IT services firm may reduce between 12,000 and 15,000 jobs globally, although the company has not confirmed a final number. From a US perspective, the move reflects a wider shift in how large tech and consulting companies are restructuring their workforce as clients rethink spending. While Cognizant is headquartered in the United States, most of its employees are based in India, where over 250,000 people make up the company’s largest workforce hub out of a...

Donald Trump has officially sunk 'disloyal' Texas Senator John Cornyn, but his high-stakes gambit to oust a veteran Republican will almost certainly cost the party. Top Republicans think the Texas tab could top $200 million. The worst-case cost for the GOP? The prized red state Senate seat falling into Democratic hands in six months. Cornyn's resounding double-digit defeat to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in Tuesday evening's runoff demonstrates Trump's enduring stranglehold on the GOP. But his decision to punish a well-funded incumbent and instead throw his weight behind a scandal-plagued nominee now presents fresh problems for the party. The...

A thong-wearing, 79-year-old Florida man was arrested for allegedly “consistently” exposing himself and making lewd gestures around his apartment complex — and argued to police that it was his “right to walk around naked.” Tyrone James Causey was charged with five counts of indecent exposure at his Hollywood, Fla., apartment on May 22 after neighbors called police, saying they were “increasingly concerned and frustrated with his continued behavior,” Local 10 News reported. Causey wasted no time showing police what neighbors were talking about — answering the door wearing nothing but a “G-string thong” and claiming he had “a right to...

The numbers don’t lie. Democrats are staring down the barrel of another midterm cycle where their secular base simply isn’t big enough to win in the places that matter. So they’ve decided to stop pretending and start poaching. Not with policy changes or soul-searching. With collars. With Bibles. With men and women who once stood in pulpits now running for Congress and statewide office as proud Democrats. Progressive faith networks like Vote Common Good are tracking roughly 30 white Christian clergy (mostly from mainline Protestant denominations) seeking Democrat nominations this cycle. That’s no coincidence. It’s a deliberate surge aimed straight...

Ghana has welcomed Pope Leo XIV's apology for the Catholic Church's historic role in slavery, describing it as an "act of moral courage" that was important in the global pursuit of "truth, human dignity and justice". The Pope issued the clearest apology yet for the Church's involvement in legitimising slavery and its delay in condemning it for centuries. The apology was published on Monday in the Pope's first major teaching document of his papacy, which also focused on the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI). Ghana was a major hub for the transatlantic slave trade when millions of people were captured...

Masses of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia threw pebbles at a large pillar in a symbolic ritual on Wednesday, one of the final days of the Hajj as Muslims around the world started celebrating the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. Pilgrims in Mina, Saudi Arabia, at the annual Islamic pilgrimage chanted “Allahu akbar,” or God is great, while throwing pebbles in a ritual seen as a symbolic stoning of the devil. The act also is seen as a symbol of rejecting evil and a commemoration of the Prophet Ibrahim’s rejection of temptation when the devil tried to dissuade him from submitting...

Judge Nicholas Rowland told the boys: 'None of you need to go to prison today.' He said the boys are 'very young', had low intelligence, a 'limited understanding of consent' and were susceptible to 'peer pressure'. The judge also praised the boys for their conduct during the trial, saying 'I think of you as very young and none of you have been in any big trouble before. 'You have all done very well with the restrictions put in place throughout the trial. (The second boy) and (the third boy) your problems are quite bad.'

1.Debt & Trade426.Nuclear Nations543.Climate42.False Christs318.Ecumenism435.Date Settings33.Occult319.Globalism536.Volcanoes44.Satanism320.Tribulation Temple337.Earthquakes35.Unemployment421.Anti-Semitism538.Wild Weather46.Inflation522.Israel539.Civil Rights47.Interest Rates5+123.Gog (Russia)540.Famine48.The Economy424.Persia (Iran)541.Drought39.Oil Supply/Price5+125.False Prophet442.Plagues310.Financial Unrest527.Global Turmoil544.Food Supply311.Leadership528.Arms Proliferation545.Floods312.Drug Abuse329.Liberalism513.Apostasy430.Peace Process314.Supernatural331.Kings of the East315.Moral Standards532.Mark of the Beast516.Anti-Christian333.Beast Government417.Crime Rate534.The Antichrist5Previous Years2025High1882024High1882023High1892022High1852025Low1762024Low1802023Low1812022Low176The Rapture Index has two functions: one is to factor together a number of related end time components into a cohesive indicator, and the other is to standardize those components to eliminate the wide variance that currently exists with prophecy reporting.The Rapture Index is by no means meant to predict the rapture, however, the index is designed to measure the type of activity that could act as a precursor...

An Australian drone show descended into chaos when technical failures caused nearly 90 drones to plummet into the waters of Darling Harbour in Sydney on Monday night. According to news reports citing drone operator SkyMagic, 89 drones landed in the water due to an “unforeseen change in the radio frequency.” “This anomaly caused a number of drones in the fleet to enact failsafe landing procedures in response to compromised positional accuracy,” SkyMagic said in a statement. The failsafe involved some of the drones forming a cluster before descending. “No vehicle escaped the safety boundary of the show parameters, and the...

In 2020, journalist Matthew Yglesias insisted we use increased immigration to grow the U.S. population to one billion. Our current 343-million number is insufficient to compete with a future China and India, his theory goes. Yet before we MACA — “Make America China Already!” — we should first ask a question: “What’s So Bad About a Stable Population?”

Artificial intelligence revolution is meant to bring unprecedented efficiency and boundless productivity for the tech landscape by cutting the costs. But the promise of revolution is currently hitting a stark fiscal reality marked by unexpected AI-related costs, leading to the burning of budget tech companies designed for 2026 year. Of all the companies, Uber and Microsoft are grappling with AI budget overruns. For instance, Microsoft recently has decided to rescind its internal Claude code license along with its Experiences and Devices division ending access by June 30, 2026. The decision to cancel the pilot has been taken only after 6...

27 May 2026 Wednesday of week 8 in Ordinary Time St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish, TorontoReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(II).First reading1 Peter 1:18-25You were ransomed by the precious blood of Christ, the spotless lambRemember, the ransom that was paid to free you from the useless way of life your ancestors handed down was not paid in anything corruptible, neither in silver nor gold, but in the precious blood of a lamb without spot or stain, namely Christ; who, though known since before the world was made, has been revealed only in our time, the end of the...

Texas redistricting claimed a longtime Democratic incumbent Tuesday, as Rep. Christian Menefee defeated Rep. Al Green in a Houston-area runoff that forced two sitting House Democrats into the same race. Rep. Al Green, one of Congress’ most vocal Trump antagonists, lost his Democratic runoff Tuesday to fellow Texas Rep. Christian Menefee after redistricting scrambled Houston-area congressional lines. Green has been among President Donald Trump's fiercest critics in Congress, pursuing impeachment charges on multiple occasions against him during both of Trump's terms. Green has been kicked out of Trump's State of the Union addresses multiple times as well for standing up...

Take a look at why Zohran Mamdani and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won their elections, and then look at Texas Senate candidate James Talarico. undit Bill O’Reilly recently said he was “surprised” that ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo lost to Zohran Mamdani in the 2025 New York City mayoral race. “I thought,” he told Cuomo during a May 14 discussion, “you were going to wax them [your competitors].” Do you know when I realized Mamdani would win? The very first time I saw him on TV. No, it wasn’t that Mamdani was promising to rob Peter blind to pay Paul and then...