Free Republic

It should be clear to all Americans by now that the word the left loves to spew indiscriminately -- racism -- often now means nothing, absolutely nothing. That word is meant to be an accusation of the worst order, an epithet that is supposed to destroy all those so charged. But now it's used so frequently, it has no meaning at all. It's like the f-word, overused and merely a sign of one's lack of a wider vocabulary. Like the overused f-word, calling someone a 'racist' is a sign of sloppy, uncritical thinking. The word "racist" now means nothing more...

President Trump’s delay on implementing announced tariff increases on Chinese goods that would be on many Christmas shopping lists sparked a stock market bump yesterday. But, while domestic considerations (i.e., his re-election) are important, the move must be seen in the broader context of a staredown with President Xi.  Even though China is a dictatorship, XI’s hold on his job is not something he can take for granted. Xi has grabbed power, purging some of his enemies and ending limits on his tenure, which makes him personally responsible for the serious ill-effects of his tariff war with Trump and...

Tweet Bishop J. Strickland @Bishopoftyler I urge every faithful Catholic to join me in praying this Novena daily until October 6. Pray the intention “that all bishops guard the deposit of faith” May Our Blessed Mother intercede for her Son’s Bride. Novena Prayer to the Sacred Heart | EWTN (link: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/novena-prayer-to-the-sacred-heart-311) ewtn.com/catholicism/de… Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus O my Jesus, you have said: 'Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. ' Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the...

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's candid May 6 speech at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Finland startled many in his well-heeled audience. The Arctic Council consists of eight countries that control some Arctic territory (U.S., Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Russia) and six Arctic indigenous groups. Greenland is a Danish possession; the island has an immense Arctic Exclusive Economic Zone. Formed in 1996 after the Cold War lapsed, Arctic Council nations regarded the Arctic as a "low tension" area. A recent NATO study called it a "zone of depoliticized cooperation." Until 2010 or so, that condition held....

FULL HEADLINE: Eleventh Circuit grants immunity to officer who shot a child lying on the ground, while trying to shoot a harmless dog The Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Corbitt v. Vickers, handed down last week, constitutes one of the most grotesque and indefensible applications of the qualified immunity I’ve ever seen. The case involves a claim of excessive force against Michael Vickers, a deputy sheriff in Coffee County, Georgia, who shot a ten-year-old child lying on the ground, while repeatedly attempting to shoot a pet dog that wasn’t posing any threat. Without even deciding the constitutional question, a majority of...

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., threatened Tuesday to use billions of dollars in aid to Israel as “leverage” to combat what he called “racism” from the Jewish state’s government, while going so far as to compare America's Israel alliance to its relationship with Saudi Arabia. Sanders, one of the leading candidates in the Democratic presidential primary race and an increasingly vocal critic of the Netanyahu government, said during a New Hampshire town hall event that the U.S. should take a broader view of the Middle East – and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular – and not always side with Israel.

On Aug. 12, The New York Times published what The New York Times does best: a smear of conservatives in which they're attached to a national travesty. This time the headline was "How the El Paso Killer Echoed the Incendiary Words of Conservative Media Stars." The online article was illustrated with quotes from Rush Limbaugh, "Hannity," Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Boris Epshteyn of the Sinclair TV stations. In the newspaper, it was on page one, front and center under the shorter headline "How the El Paso Gunman Echoed the Words of Right-Wing Pundits." It is part of a series...

Gay penguins Skipper and Ping have been given the chance to be parents after taking in an abandoned egg at the Berlin Zoo. The pair, two male emperor penguins — both 10 years old — had longed to be dads for quite some time as they showed “immediate baby fever” as soon as they arrived to the zoo in April

Cuomo: "Drawing a moral equivalency between those espousing hate and those fighting it, because they both resort to violence, emboldens hate, legitizes hateful belief and elevates what should be STAMPED OUT."

[Catholic Caucus] Latin Mass, Church traditions bring boom in vocations for US order of nuns FAIRFIELD, Pennsylvania, August 13, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – In an age where religious professions are in decline, especially in the United States, one order is looking back in time to buck the trend. The Discalced Carmelites have turned from the modern Church’s reforms of the 1960s and embraced ancient traditions – particularly the traditional Latin Mass. Now their order is booming, with multiple at-capacity monasteries dotting the eastern U.S. Since 2000, the Carmelites have been faced with the sort of challenge many religious orders pine...

President Donald Trump has repeatedly refused to accept any responsibility for inciting violence in American communities, dismissing critics who have pointed to his rhetoric as a potential source of inspiration for some citizens acting on even long-held beliefs of bigotry and hate. "I think my rhetoric brings people together," he said last week, four days after a 21-year-old allegedly posted an anti-immigrant screed online and then allegedly opened fire at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing 22 and injuring dozens of others. But a nationwide review conducted by ABC News has identified at least 36 criminal cases where Trump...

Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is doing damage control following a comment at the last Democratic debate that undocumented immigrants should “get in line.” Biden is taking heat from Latino activists who accuse the former vice president of using “Republican talking points” on immigration, according to Politico. “It is unacceptable for a candidate vying to be the Democratic nominee for POTUS to use language like that used by VP Biden when talking about immigration during the second debate,” said Mayra Macías, executive director of Latino Victory. “We immediately reached out to the campaign and were told it was being addressed.”

The Jeffrey Epstein just Got WORSE!

Today’s Cryptogram LPU AQUKUYL XDXUYL RK TRMMUI NRLP VDC SYI PSAARYUKK. RT CDG SQU SLLUYLRHU, CDG NRMM KUU RL. ---LPREP YPSL PSYP Today’s Author You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications. The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW (does not apply to today's cryptogram). Beware, the game is very addictive. If this is your first time, don't be intimidated. PLEASE DO NOT post the answer in general comments, but DO post your time and any tips...

Tuesday during an interview with NPR, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) accused President Donald Trump of winking and nodding “at the white supremacists.” Warren said, “This is a man who, as president of the United States, refers to people in Charlottesville who are white supremacists as “fine people,” a man who says he doesn’t want any more immigrants coming here from “shithole” countries, a man who describes people who flee for their lives from Central America as mounting an invasion on our country, a man who has used racist language and racist imagery over and over and...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Burke: Amazon synod working doc is ‘apostasy’, cannot become Church teaching August 13, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Raymond Burke said that the working document used for the upcoming Pan-Amazon synod organized by the Vatican at the request of Pope Francis amounts to “apostasy.” The Cardinal made this comment when asked in an August 13 Youtube interview whether the working document known as the Instrumentum Laboris for the October 6-27 Synod may become definitive for the Catholic Church. Cardinal Burke replied: “It cannot be. The document is an apostasy. This cannot become the teaching of the Church,...

Developers say local leaders in the Hudson Valley are blocking a housing project in order to keep out Hasidic Jews. In a peaceful corner of the Hudson Valley, a broad expanse of land sits at the ready for hundreds of homes ranging between 2,500 and 3,400 square feet, with views of the surrounding hills. There will be a recreation center and tennis courts, and nearly half of the development’s 117 acres will be kept as open space. But if it were up to town officials, the houses would never be built. They openly fret about the size and density of...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem (Old Testament) 2 Kings 16 Ahaz King of Judah 16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out...

Jeffrey Epstein boasted about having compromising material on “an astonishing number” of rich and famous people, it has been claimed, while his British confidante Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly told friends that she and Epstein were videotaping everyone who visited Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean. The claims come as expectation mounts that his long-term companion Miss Maxwell, 57, could be sought by New York prosecutors for questioning as a potential witness, as they continue their inquiry into Epstein’s activities, after his death.

President Trump golfed with John Daly today and tweeted out a thank you to Daly for the round of golf. What was even better is the tweet that Daly published thanking President Trump for “One of the greatest days of my life!” I’m proud to be an AMERICAN, especially w/this man leading our country! One of the greatest days of my life! Thx you for a great day #potus #dad ….you are the best! Check out Daly’s shorts: