Free Republic

St. Martin of Tours and the Search for Holiness Saint Martin and the Search for Holiness | Régine Pernoud | Prologue to Martin of ToursNovember 11 is now a red-letter day on the French civil calendar: in 1918 that date marked the end of the slaughter that was the First World War. But even before France was called France, that date, the eleventh of November, had been a date on the calendar used throughout Christendom because it commemorated the burial at Tours of the amazing individual whom we call Saint Martin. He was an amazing and even a paradoxical man:...

In response to statements by Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas that he would not demand the “right of return” for PA Arabs to the homes that their grandparents and great-grandparents abandoned in the State of Israel – statements Abbas later reneged on – Hamas has issued its own document on the matter. Even if the PA as a matter of policy were to agree not to demand that nearly all the Jews of Israel be thrown out of their homes to accommodate the descendants of “refugees,” Hamas said it wold never agree to such a plan – and any concessions...

There are at least three options in how conservatives respond to the election results: First, conservatives can take the Tucker Carlson, David Frum, and Bill Kristol approach by nominating even more moderate Republicans and shamelessly pandering to disparate constituent groups, hoping to cobble together a larger coalition than liberals. ...and toward what end? Abandoning core principles can only undermine conservatives' credibility, and liberals will just choose to demonize right-leaning candidates on other issues. Even if the cave and pander strategy is successful, then what is the difference between the parties? What is achieved? A variation on this approach is to...

Jesus Christ 'Should Be Downplayed In School' Schools should downgrade Christianity in assemblies for a more “inclusive” multi-faith approach, say religious education advisors. By Graeme Paton 09 Nov 2012 Teachers should no longer be expected to “accord a special status to Jesus Christ” as part of traditional acts of collective worship for pupils, it was claimed. Guidance sent out to local committees – established to determine RE in communities across England – called for a focus on a “wide range of religious traditions” such as Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. By law, conventional state schools are required to stage daily...

     ~ The FReeper Canteen Remembers ~   ~ Veterans Day 2012 ~   Veterans Day gives Americans the opportunity to celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of all U.S. veterans. However, most Americans confuse this holiday with Memorial Day, reports the Department of Veterans Affairs. What's more, some Americans don't know why we commemorate our Veterans on Nov.11. It's imperative that all Americans know the history of Veterans Day so that we can honor our former service members properly.  Memorial Day honors service members who died in service to their country or as a result of injuries incurred during...

Doug Thompson, who many of us old-timers remember from the Clinton years, is in critical condition after hitting a cow while Doug was riding his motorcycle. Doug was a player in the anti-Clinton campaign with his website Capital Hill Blue. CHB was frequently cited on FreeRepublic during those years. He has since become a big broken-glass Democrat and retired to Floyd County to pursue photography.

Tommy Christopher at Mediaite embarrassed himself in a servile interview with CNN Washington Bureau Chief Sam Feist, who, we’re told, “explained how preparation and perspiration helped deliver the night for his network, and cemented their brand, as they see it: the network you can trust.” Is this an interview, or a commercial? Even Mediaite reported Fox News easily won the night in prime time. CNN only won if you keep counting until 2 am, or about three hours after the election was called and Republicans went to bed or flipped to sports. Then Christopher let Feist claim – against all...

The dream act is a socialist democrat dream come true. And a nightmare for liberty minded Americans. The dream act solves no problems. Amnesty solves no problems. The border will not be enforced and instead will be flung wide open. We do not have jobs for Senator Graham's "eleven million" illegal aliens already here and their offspring nor the other eleven or twelve million he's not counting and their offspring and all their relatives that will be following. We cannot afford the welfare, foodstamps, housing, education, healthcare, EITC, etc, that they demand. And the flood across the borders will be...

Rising carbon dioxide levels at the edge of space are apparently reducing the pull that Earth's atmosphere has on satellites and space junk, researchers say. The findings suggest that manmade increases in carbon dioxide might be having effects on the Earth that are larger than expected, scientists added. In the layers of atmosphere closest to Earth, carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, trapping heat from the sun. Rising levels of carbon dioxide due to human activity are leading to global warming of Earth's surface. However, in the highest reaches of the atmosphere, carbon dioxide can actually have a cooling effect....

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver and the local development authority insist they are following a playbook that could stop a planned Proctor and Gamble "downsizing" from being a total loss for the city. "We are downsizing and restructuring," said plant manager Marian Futrell. The announcement comes just a few years after the launch of two new brands -- the Bounce Bar and Gain in a Bag. "The morale is high, the energy is wonderful, life is good at P&G Augusta," proclaimed Futrell back in 2009. Sources have confirmed to News 12 that Procter and Gamble will be phasing...

Breaking news on Benghazi: the CIA spokesman, presumably at the direction of CIA director David Petraeus, has put out this statement: "No one at any level in the CIA told anybody not to help those in need; claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate. ”

(CHRISTIANPOST) — A Texas megachurch pastor recently claimed that President Barack Obama’s re-election victory would lead to the rise of the Antichrist. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at the First Baptist Church in Dallas, made remarks on Sunday before the election that should Obama win, his victory would lead to the reign of the Antichrist. “I want you to hear me tonight, I am not saying that President Obama is the Antichrist, I am not saying that at all. One reason I know he’s not the Antichrist is the Antichrist is going to have much higher poll numbers when he comes,”...

Ten years ago, a white man from South Africa, one Kim du Toit, wrote an essay titled “Let Africa Sink.” It’s rather famous in the blogosphere in a sort of underground way. His thesis was essentially, we (Western Civilization) cannot save Africa. Life is cheap there. The mortality rate is a result of a perfect storm of natural disaster, human savagery, and unwitting complicity by Europeans that worsens the situation every time they try to help. As a result, death is treated more casually by Africans than by Westerners. I, and I suspect most Africans, am completely inured to reports...

--Season 3, Episode 5 -- Rick struggles after experiencing another loss; Michonne has her suspicions about the Governor, who throws a party for the people of Woodbury, but gives it an unusual twist. -- Nov 11, 2012---9pm.EST.---

Wow--Larry Johnson also talking about this on the No Quarter blog. Jennifer Griffin "not sure" where the Kelley story originated. Developing, I'm sure...

According to ABC, campaign manager Matt Rhoades told Romney: 'We would rather lose with you than win with anyone else.' Colleagues also stood and clapped for Rhoades and Mitt's 'Body Man,' Garrett Jackson who often tweeted behind-the-scenes pictures during his many hours at Romney's side on the campaign trail. The defeat was a stunning blow to the Republican camp who had been confident they would win even in the last few hours of the campaign.

While the staff of the New York Times has been absorbed in hurricane and election coverage, it’s also kept a wary eye on a big story brewing in its own headquarters—the imminent arrival of the new CEO, Mark Thompson, the former director-general of the BBC who starts at the paper on November 12. He does not arrive with the full confidence of the Times’ journalists. “People are going to start paying closer attention, and that probably isn’t good for newsroom morale,” says one Timesman, “because there’s now a widely held sense that this guy’s story doesn’t add up.”

Allen West supporters expressed shock in Fort Pierce on Sunday, but not because the finally tally in St. Lucie County’s Congressional District 18 race showed West gaining 201 more votes — but because it was only based on a “cherry picked” partial recount and the supervisor refused to explain why. Despite the persistent questions over fairness and accuracy, county attorneys, the county canvassing board and Elections Supervisor Gertrude Walker refused to answer questions from the campaigns or the press throughout the entire exercise. When the machine count was finished, elections officials announced the total and immediately had a sheriff’s deputy...

The post-storm housing — a refugee camp on the grounds of the Monmouth Park racetrack – is in lockdown, with security guards at every door, including the showers. No one is allowed to go anywhere without showing their I.D. Even to use the bathroom, “you have to show your badge,” said Amber Decamp, a 22-year-old whose rental was washed away in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The mini city has no cigarettes, no books, no magazines, no board games, no TVs, and no newspapers or radios. On Friday night, in front of the mess hall, which was serving fried chicken and...

Israel will not hesitate to launch a major IDF operation against Gaza-based terrorist factions if necessary, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned on Sunday—after some 100 rockets hit southern Israel in 24 hours. Rockets wounded three people in Sderot during a barrage fired to coincide with the morning commute to work. One man was moderately wounded in his car by shrapnel and flying glass. … Later in the day, a Palestinian rocket scored a direct hit on a Sderot factory. Sderot is too close to the Gaza Strip for the Iron Dome anti-rocket shield to work effectively over it. In the...