Free Republic

The Letter That Changed the Church: Cardinal Bea, John XXIII & the Vatican II RevolutionIn 1960 Cardinal Augustin Bea brought a letter before Pope John XXIII, who swiftly aprroved it. The letter placed Cardinal Bea at the head of a new Pontifical Commission, giving him a powerful platform for advancing ecumenism. The result was an ecumenical movement that would profoundly shape Vatican II and the Church that followed, and ultimately serve the Church’s enemies.“The Council is Cardinal Bea’s Council!” (Fr. Yves Congar, My Journal of the Council, November 22, 1962 entry)In his Augustin Bea: The Cardinal of Unity, Cardinal Bea’s...

In the expansive grasslands of Inner Mongolia, farmers are picking plump potatoes alongside new neighbours: huge, rectangular blocks that will fuel China's AI platforms. Ulanqab, with its steppes and volcanoes, is an unlikely digital frontier. For years, it has been China's official "potato capital". But now its fields have also become construction sites for a slew of data centres, as Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping meet to discuss AI safety among other things. Hundreds of workers in yellow helmets carry heavy equipment into the building site as welding sparks fly off metal scaffolding. Above them huge cranes...

President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly preparing to institute a 90-day ban on diesel exports amid soaring prices, despite Energy Secretary Chris Wright saying such a move would not bring down prices. Wright, in fact, warned a ban could actually make the situation worse in the long run. Politico reported on the upcoming ban on Wednesday, citing “five people familiar with the discussions” inside the administration. “The blunt tool ​of banning diesel exports definitely doesn’t work,” Reuters reported Wright saying on Wednesday while at an event hosted by the Economist in New York. “If you can’t ⁠export the diesel that...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City mother will spend 13 years in prison after pleading guilty in the 2024 death of her 1-month-old daughter. Mariah Thomas pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death. A Jackson County judge sentenced her to 13 years in prison, with credit for time she has already served. The case goes back to February 2024. Kansas City police were called to a home near 41st Street and Forest Avenue after getting a report of a baby who wasn't breathing. Emergency crews tried to save the 1-month-old girl, but...

Imagine you are the parent of a 13-year-old daughter in the Commonwealth of Virginia. You love and care for your child and you and your spouse work two jobs to provide for your family. Life is busy, with work, school, sports, and other recreation. You are an involved and caring parent, but family time is curtailed and, after all, no family is perfect. Occasionally something goes awry and you face a challenge you didn’t expect — this time it’s the fact that your daughter was pregnant. Was. You only know this because you have taken her to the emergency room...

The milestone makes it possible for a single standard computer processor to find, fix and decode computer errors as they happen, as it runs continuously in the background. The successful test stands to alleviate a significant industry bottleneck in which previous systems became easily overwhelmed in fixing errors, leading to delays.

A statement from the referees' union added: "A male head coach committed two deliberate acts of physical abuse and sexism against a female official - squeezing her hand and refusing to let go after being told to stop three times."This physical intimidation was compounded by a demeaning, sexist remark to the official: 'Don't forget, this is a man's game.'

Fool's Ball, Week Three, Pigskin Pickem ThreadYour home for all things Fool's Ball! In Memoriam Danny Lee (BENDER2)

Milwaukee County Executive and Wisconsin Democrat gubernatorial candidate David Crowley has attacked beer gardens in the past, claiming they are systemically racist. In a post on X from December 2021, Crowley responded to a post from Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) about how Crowley had said, “it’s important to understand that the way we fund parks is just not sustainable.” Crowley, who defeated socialist Francesca Hong in Wisconsin’s Democrat gubernatorial primary, has repeatedly increased taxes while serving as Milwaukee County Executive. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, while Crowley “takes credit for ‘the largest property tax cut’ in the county’s history,”...

[Catholic Caucus] Rupnik victims publish open letter to Pope Leo ahead of Lourdes visitFive women who have accused disgraced Fr. Marko Rupnik of sexual abuse condemned the Vatican’s ‘violence of silence and abandonment’ and called for transparency and a fair trial.Five alleged sex abuse victims of Father Marko Rupnik have published an open letter to Pope Leo XIV saying that the continued “deathly silence” from the Vatican surrounding Rupnik’s case adds to the violence against them. Timed to coincide with the pope’s upcoming trip to Lourdes, the signatories contrasted Monsignor Jean-Marc Micas, bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes’, move to permanently...

A federal agent assigned to Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation of Donald Trump said prosecutors kept him in the dark that phone data he was gathering under grand jury subpoenas belonged to members of Congress and that he would have had reservations about doing so if he had been told, according to explosive testimony released Tuesday night by the House Judiciary Committee. Retired Justice Department Inspector General Special Agent Brian Burnett was quoted in the transcript as saying that during his decades working at the DOJ's watchdog, he never once was asked to collect congressional phone data and did not...

Why do we love the idea of a good king in fantasy but choose a constitutional republic in real life? Nick Freitas sits down with Jeremy Boreing to explore the appeal of monarchy, the limits of representative government, and whether a powerful ruler can create a free and virtuous society. From King Arthur and the stories we tell to America’s founding principles, they examine the tension between freedom, responsibility, and the desire for strong leadership. The conversation also turns to a larger question: Can a nation preserve its freedom through politics alone, or must its people and cultural institutions take...

It's harvest time in California wine country, but many growers are struggling to sell their grapes as changing drinking habits have caused demand to plunge. The decline is forcing some growers to tear out vineyards that their families have grown for generations. Wine sales have decreased by more than 20% over a five-year period, causing prices paid for grapes to drop and prompting California growers to take roughly a quarter of the state's vineyards out of production. Many growers are having to decide whether to harvest at a loss, leave grapes on the vine or replace vineyards with crops more...

The Trump administration is planning to welcome up to 17,500 additional White Afrikaners from South Africa as refugees over the next 12 months, according to a notice sent to Congress on Tuesday and obtained by CBS News. The State Department informed congressional officials that the Trump administration is planning to allocate 17,500 refugee spots for fiscal year 2027, and that they will "primarily" go to Afrikaners, who President Trump has claimed are being oppressed for being White. Fiscal year 2027 starts in October. While the second Trump administration has effectively shut down the U.S. refugee resettlement program for most people...

It's 2026 and I think I've found the most woke video to ever exist. This lady discovered that cotton fields still exist, and obviously the existence of this crop is racist towards black Americans. "Okay, when I didn't think they did cotton fields anymore. Y'all check this out. Y'all see that? There is literally a cotton field. Do y'all see that? Isn't that crazy?" How in the world do people like this exist?

President Donald Trump and Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, met face to face for the first time Tuesda evening, publicly cementing a rapidly expanding relationship between Washington and Caracas that recent polling suggests is deeply unpopular among Venezuelans. Trump received Rodríguez at the Lotte New York Palace during a reception for foreign leaders attending the General Assembly. The meeting was held behind closed doors and without press access, but both governments released photographs showing Trump and Rodríguez together. Rodríguez later described the encounter as “historic” and said they discussed strengthening relations and cooperation in energy, mining and security. “We held...

Hayden Panettiere allegedly previously overdosed and secretly entered rehab weeks before her drug-related death at an Airbnb in Greenville, South Carolina, on Aug. 16. On Wednesday, Page Six obtained a more detailed report by the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, which stated that either Brian or Zach Hickerson (the name was redacted) claimed Panettiere had “a long history of drug, alcohol and nitrous oxide abuse” and that he “has had to administer Narcan to the decedent before.” Narcan is an emergency medication used to reverse opioid overdoses. One of the two brothers also claimed the actress “was in a drug rehab...

A woke activist who branded herself as a black Palestinian crusader has apologized after being exposed as a white Jewish woman. Hannah Gann, 34, a teacher with the Philadelphia School District, rose to prominence as an outspoken Palestinian-American activist who campaigned in the aftermath of the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel. She allegedly used makeup to darken her skin, appeared to alter her accent, and donned keffiyeh scarves at protests as she railed against racism and Zionism in demonstrations across Philadelphia. But Gann has now been revealed to have lied about her identity for years, as she admitted she...

Based on its popular Ranger series, this beefy number parked outside the front door of Ford's Dagenham plant can carry a load of two tonnes, tow up to four tonnes and is also shouldering the hopes of the 2,000-strong workforce that still makes engines here. Inside the factory, the three-litre diesel engines that will power this camo-painted beast drift down a production line that has seen output cut from 90,000 engines a year to about half that over the last decade. Ford is hoping that a pivot towards military vehicles can help fill the void created by what the company's...

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District announced last year Sacramento electricity ratepayers would be under a new rate system that charges residential users higher rates between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. — just in time for everyone to arrive home after work and begin evening family rituals: homework on computers, dinner, television, stereo, baths, laundry, and dishwasher after dinner.”