Free Republic

Any of you ‘ gavones ’ miss Rush? At the noon hour, for decades, I would tune in on my Walkman, just to find some sanity. I literally choose my train runs to give a few minutes to listen in. How I miss those moments when that fuzzy little fuzzball would keep meon the straight and narrow. May the good Lord keep and protect his kind soul.

We’re told that most Muslims oppose Islamic terrorism and that it’s only a tiny fringe of radicals and extremists who practice “radical Islamic terrorism” (as opposed to‘moderate Islamic terrorism’ in which the moderate participants moderately detonate bombs, moderately stab civilians and moderately ram cars into pedestrians) and that their actions don’t reflect Islam. Even those who correctly identify the roots of Islamic terrorism in the Koran and Islamic teachings still firmly insist that most Muslims oppose terrorism and only a minority support it. Is that really true? The answer is that it depends on which Islamic terrorism we’re talking about....

Is Rome Minimizing Our Lady? The Crisis of Marian Devotion Why are traditional Marian titles being minimized precisely when the Church needs Our Lady more than ever? From Coredemptrix and Mediatrix to Don Bosco’s famous vision of the Two Pillars, this powerful reflection calls Catholics back to the Mother of God, and warns against a Marian minimalism that risks forgetting how profoundly Our Lady belongs to the story of our salvation. On this feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church recounts the unique role of our Lady in salvation history: the one chosen by God to...

(LifeSiteNews) — Top feminist Gloria Steinem who died this week at age 92 may have been very different from her carefully cultivated public persona. While she earned her reputation as the unrivaled leader of the feminist and pro-abortion movements, the connections that lay behind her public career perhaps tell a more complex tale. There is no question that Steinem was once employed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). She herself divulged her association with the spy agency in her 2015 memoir. “She knew she was working for the CIA and said so herself,” LifeSite CEO John-Henry Westen noted in a...

MOST PEOPLE believe humans are different. The reason is that Homo sapiens has evolved to be conscious. Many animals feel pain and pleasure; some appear to be self-aware. But the human mind’s unique potential to exhibit a sense of self marks out every member of the species for special treatment. In his encyclical in May, Pope Leo upheld this insight by drawing a line between humanity and its growing army of bots. Artificial-intelligence systems, he said, do not undergo experiences or feel joy or pain. He is not alone. Many people feel that to confer personhood on AIs would be...

US President Donald Trump urges Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices as the cost of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and said he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory. The comments underscore the growing political risk for Trump as higher fuel prices collide with his campaign promise to lower energy costs, with Democrats already seeking to make the economic fallout from the Iran war an issue heading into the November midterm elections. In a speech in Garden City, Trump says Americans who had to “pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline”...

The forensic evidence was bloody and grim. Thick clotted blood scored the bruised face of the corpse, from a multitude of deep, needle-sharp wounds.More dried blood could be seen on the arms, feet and ankles, blood that had oozed from brutal injuries that punched through the bones.These details, pieced together by successive teams of experts in criminal pathology, are captured in the oldest piece of murder evidence in the world: the Shroud of Turin.The dead man, powerfully built and naked, must have suffered intense agonies... but he did not bleed to death.Neither was he killed by the deep stab wound...

Painting depicting Odysseus and his crew at their ship (Odysseus tied to the mast), while Sirens are around them. John William Waterhouse, Ulysses and the Sirens (1891). Did this voyage take Odysseus to America? Credit: Public Domain For centuries, scholars and enthusiasts have debated where Odysseus truly traveled during his legendary journey back to Ithaca. Among the most intriguing theories is the notion that the hero ventured beyond the Mediterranean, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and reached the shores of what is now known as America. But what evidence supports this extraordinary claim, and does it truly align with Homer’s descriptions...

The definitional lines between globalization and globalism have long been blurred. For its part, globalization is best defined as a process or series of processes that integrate the world economically, politically and socially. Globalism’s critical role But what is globalism? Quite often, the term is used synonymously with the word “globalization,” as if the two words were interchangeable. To be sure, the word “globalist” has come to be a battle cry — primarily on the political right, but is also one on the political left. The “globalist” charge is alternatively (ab)used to describe either the creation of some imaginary and...

The ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes the Cynic (also known as Diogenes of Sinope) could have been the first anarchist, or the first absurdist, or the first satirist, or the first naturalist — depending on the reader’s point of view. By today’s standards, Diogenes was a homeless man by choice whose life goal was the search for wisdom. His unique approach to life had absolutely nothing to do with society’s norms and rules — either now or back in ancient times. He found the shelter he needed inside an enormous ceramic pot, rejecting all comforts and luxuries — yet his observations...

Elliot Page showed off his ripped body in a Monday Instagram post dedicated to his New York-based boxing coach, Nolan Hanson. The shirtless “Odyssey” actor wore red shorts and white sneakers, giving a thumbs up to the camera while posing with Hanson after a gym session. Page also posted two videos of him throwing jabs and uppercuts at Hanson in the boxing ring.

There has long been a worry that Russian escalation or miscalculation might see the Ukraine war widen into a broader European one. But what if it’s Kyiv, not Moscow, that starts this process? The flashpoint is Belarus. Minsk’s dictatorial leader, Alexander Lukashenko, is beholden to Vladimir Putin, but not a helpless vassal. On the one hand, he has refused to join Putin’s war directly, saying that he won’t allow Belarusians to become ‘mincemeat.’ On the other, he has been willing to let Russian troops use facilities in his country, and fly drones and missiles through his airspace. There is growing...

The plot to attack the White House’s UFC Freedom 250 event Sunday involved at least 12 suspects across the US who adhered to an “accelerationist” ideology and hoped to bring down American capitalism, according to federal law enforcement sources. The FBI foiled their plans by infiltrating a Signal chat group planning the explosive attack — with a parent of one kid in the messaging platform reporting it to the police, sources told The Post. The suspects are in at least four states — California, Ohio, Missouri and Nebraska. They were plotting to gather in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to launch an explosive...

Is this Chinese takeover the new reality? Or, can a coordinated effort by the U.S. and its allies challenge China’s hegemony in the region? The Iran war and the fight for control of the Strait of Hormuz—through which vital oil cargo from Gulf countries feeds the global economy—is a reminder that America must not forget the South China Sea, another strategic region where China, a greater threat than Iran, has gained alarming control over many decades. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has blatantly seized key points in the region and built a fortified military presence by constructing artificial islands on...

The biggest World Cup tournament in history has arrived in North America, and soccer fans across the globe are buzzing with excitement for the opening matches and star-studded ceremonies on Thursday and Friday. From Mexico City to New York to Toronto, millions of spectators draped in their country's colors will gather to watch as 48 national soccer teams compete at the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup. It's the first time the tournament will use the newly expanded field, up from the previous 32-team format that had been in place since 1998. It's also the first time three nations are hosting...

Canada is calling on the United States and Mexico to renew the free trade agreement between the countries for another 16 years just as U.S. President Donald Trump revives talk of making Canada the 51st state. Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's minister for U.S. trade, sent a letter Tuesday to United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Mexico's Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard conveying Canada's recommendation. "The Agreement is highly beneficial to each of our countries and to the integrated North American economy," LeBlanc wrote. The letter comes ahead of the scheduled July review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, the...

The filibuster, not any candidate, is what Republican voters are rejecting across the country There is no question that President Donald Trump is the most powerful person in the Republican Party, but it is equally clear that he was not the reason for four-term Texas Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, getting trounced in his primary Tuesday night. That was all the voters.When Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Cornyn late last week, the die was already cast. The president, not surprisingly, just wanted his name associated with the win, and that is something that Senate Majority Leader John Thune,...

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun declared on Monday that Israel’s complete military withdrawal from southern Lebanon is a “non-negotiable" prerequisite, even as Beirut finalizes preparations for a new round of US-mediated diplomatic talks with Jerusalem. According to a report by the pan-Arab, London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Aoun used the anniversary of Israel’s historical withdrawal from the region in 2000 to sharply criticize ongoing Israeli counter-terror operations against Hezbollah. “This year, the anniversary of the liberation comes as Lebanon is weighed down by a painful reality," Aoun asserted in an official statement. “Israeli attacks have not stopped, and our dear southern villages...

Yes, the United States effectively inherited the existing institution of slavery in the territory acquired through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France (which had briefly reacquired it from Spain in 1800). The U.S. did not introduce slavery there as a new practice; it was already well-established under prior colonial rule, and the transfer preserved the property rights of slaveholders. Historical Context of Slavery in the Louisiana Territory * French origins: France introduced chattel slavery to the Louisiana colony starting in the early 1700s, importing enslaved Africans (beginning around 1710) to support plantation agriculture, alongside some raids on Native American...

In recent days, a disturbing video and photos have circulated widely on social media showing two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers in southern Lebanon destroying a statue of Christ on the cross. The soldiers reportedly tore the statue down and smashed it with a hammer while another filmed the act. The incident occurred in the Christian village of Debel during routine operations against Hezbollah terrorists. As a Christian who has followed the Israel-Hezbollah conflict online, I found the images as shocking and indefensible as anyone else.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) itself confirmed the event in an official statement released shortly...