Free Republic

BALTIMORE (RNS) A divided Catholic hierarchy on Tuesday (Nov. 13) failed to agree on a statement about the economy after a debate that revealed sharp differences over the kind of social justice issues that were once a hallmark of the bishops’ public profile. The defeat of the document, titled “The Hope of the Gospel in Difficult Economic Times,” followed an hour of unusually intense debate among the 230 bishops gathered here for their annual meeting. It left many of them openly frustrated that the prelates have not made a joint statement about the nation’s economic woes four years after the...

The reason for General David Petraeus’ sudden, forced resignation is as plain as the ass on a goat. Barack Obama wanted to discredit Petraeus, prejudice the American public against him and effectively intimidate the general into silence lest he spill the beans to congress about the Regime’s criminal activities of providing arms, fighters and support to Syrian terror groups from the Chris Stevens-managed, Benghazi mission. Of course, Obama also didn’t want anyone “in-the-know” testifying about his treacherous betrayal of Stevens and 3 other Americans as he deliberately offered them up to al Qaeda killers. A dead Regime operative can never...

The Vatican Secretariat of State has approved the reorganization of the Congregation for Divine Worship. A new office for liturgical music,art and architecture has been establishedThe Secretariat of State agreed on the Congregation's restructuring last 3 September with Benedict XVI's approval: the reorganization of the Congregation of Divine Worship involved the creation of new offices that will become operational as of next year. The main change is the establishment of an office, specifically dedicated to liturgical art and music (which Vatican Insider predicted in a previous article), which will provide guidelines to ensure that hymns sung during mass and the...

A lot of people who were against us "birthers" said the issue was nonsense, and a distraction, and that we should quit wasting time on it because "we have to defeat Barack Obama at the ballot box." As a person who saw how the media swindled us out of the 2008 election, I never took it as a given that we would be ABLE to defeat Obama at the ballot box. Why would the media not do the same thing to us in 2012? Given that the election fraud perpetrated by Democrats had been taken to an entirely new level...

I have been accosted by numerous friends and acquaintances recently, Barack Obama acolytes all, with a smug attitude of superiority concerning the re-election of the President. As though the election was a personal contest between myself and them, and they won. No American citizen is the winner of this election. I have pointed out, especially to my fellow workers, that their choice will bring about a reduced work week for all of us, to 29 hours, due to the onerous regulations of the Obamacare law. We will have less money in our pocket. (1) I have pointed out that we...

I don't want to be insensitive but depending on what he is willing to share with nothing left to lose - talking about his potential vulnerability to becoming a victim of sudden suicide could help inoculate him....

Much ink has been spilt in describing the precise nature of the soul-searching the GOP is undergoing in the wake of getting totally shellacked last Tuesday. There are a plethora of suggestions — of varying degrees of helpfulness — as to how the Republican party can re-brand and re-orient itself; ranging from capitulating on taxes to deciding that gay marriage isn’t a hill to die on. But there’s one easy ideological maneuver that Republicans could make that would simultaneously burnish their stance as the party of freedom and expand their base while alienating the president from his. It is a...

The military wing of Hamas said in a statement that the assassination "has opened the gates of hell". Israel's military said the strike was the "start of targetting Gaza militants", according to AFP. Witnesses say Jabari was travelling in his vehicle in Gaza City when his car exploded. Jabari is the most senior Hamas official to be killed since an Israeli invasion of Gaza four years ago. He has long topped Israel's most-wanted list, the Associated Press reported. Israeli officials had said in recent days that they were considering assassinating top Hamas officials following a wave of heavy rocket fire...

President Obama's re-election team has already been lauded for its mastery of data and organziation, but a feature in today's The New York Times looks at another secret, and more subtle, weapon: Behavioral science. Reporter Benedict Carey talks to some of the members of the campaign's "COBS" team, an informal group of unpaid advisors who shared their knowledge on the latest academic research and theories on how to influence the public's knowledge behavior. Publicly, the group—which it gave itself the name of "consortium of behavioral scientists"—where just friendly volunteers offering advice. None of the social scientists and psychologists who took...

The 2012 election certainly didn’t end as planned for the GOP, which failed to win the presidency and lost seats in both chambers of Congress. Nonetheless, Republicans found a silver lining in the fact that they maintained control of the House, having won at least 233 seats as of Tuesday — 218 are needed for a majority. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) argued on MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show” that the election was a clean sweep for Democrats. He said the GOP wouldn’t have retained control of the House if it wasn’t for questionable redistricting by Republicans. The Brennan Center for Justice...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg may prefer “No Labels” but in his case, many feel “gun grabber” is a pretty fitting one. As part of his misguided crusade to tighten up gun laws nationally, The New York Times reports that Hizzoner sent undercover cops to gun shows in Arizona and found they were violating the law. Image Credit: weaselzippers.us The Obama Administration, The Democrat Political Party, And The UN Will Cancel The 2nd Amendment Do the words LAME Duck mean anything to you? What does international treaty and its application to the laws of a sovereign country mean...

Rush is right! And the GOP-e along with the Morrises, the George Wills, etc, failed in their predictions. Morris admitted he had egg on his face, but I did not see George Will admit this. Maybe he did, but I didn't see it. Are the now obsolete? Are the Krauthammers, the O'Reillys, the Vannitys, Rollins, etc also obsolete? Is Vannity still going to continue having the same ol same ol on his show? And what about the other shows on FOX News? Are they going to continue having RINOS/CINO guests/hosts on their shows? Mitt Romney got fewer votes than McCain...

How long does it take to tell the president that his CIA director is under investigation? Here is the answer Americans are now supposed to believe: longer than it took for the White House to discover that a YouTube video did not inspire the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. In June 2010, President Obama fired Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the U.S. commander in Afghanistan because McChrystal had criticized civilian administration officials in the presence of a writer from Rolling Stone. Obama immediately named Gen. David Petraeus — hero of the Iraq surge — the...

Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe expressed doubt Tuesday evening that President Barack Obama did not know about the investigation into now former CIA Director David Petraeus. “With the close relationship that the president has with Attorney General Holder and the regular FBI briefings he receives, does anyone really believe that Obama was unaware of this investigation until recently?” Inhofe, a senior member of Senate Armed Services Committee and a member of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asked in a statement. On Tuesday, Press Secretary Jay Carney said that the president learned of the “situation regarding General Petraeus on Thursday” and was...

Glenn "aka George III" Beck declares secession ridiculous.

The Daily Telegraph of London, citing an unnamed Republican source, reports it has learned Jill Kelley's financially-challenged twin sister, Natalie Khawam, once dated former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Reached by phone, Crist said: "Consider the source." "Didn't happen," he said. "I may have met her." Crist said he met Jill Kelley and her husband Scott, and retired Gen. David Petreaus and wife Holly for a dinner at Bern's Steak House. He said Jill Kelley had arranged the dinner. Asked what he thought of Jill Kelley, Crist said: "I think she's a delightful person."

EAST CARBON, Carbon County — A Utah coal company owned by a vocal critic of President Barack Obama has laid off 102 miners. The layoffs at the West Ridge Mine are effective immediately, according to UtahAmerican Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Murray Energy Corp. They were announced in a short statement made public Thursday, two days after Obama won re-election. The layoffs are necessary because of the president's "war on coal," the statement said. The slogan is one used frequently during the election by Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray, who was an ardent supporter of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney....

SAS veterans ask PM to intervene over "monstrous" jailing of war hero David Cameron has been urged to intervene to secure the release of a former SAS sniper who was jailed for possessing a pistol given to him as a present by Iraqi soldiers he trained. By Sam Marsden 2:46PM GMT 14 Nov 2012 Four high-profile British special forces veterans have written to the Prime Minister appealing for help to overturn a “monstrous miscarriage of justice” in the case of Sergeant Danny Nightingale. They compared his treatment by the judicial system to that given to Abu Qatada, the extremist cleric...

2 Peter 3:3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” I sincerely think there are thousands upon thousands of us that are drunk on the Kool-Aid that this is a normal time in our lives. Despite the many dark an ominous signs to the contrary, there is something in us that wants to cling to a hope that this world is going to...

CLEVELAND, Ohio — I tried to ignore Shena Hardin. I really did. This region and nation are confronted with far more pressing issues than her brand of recklessness. But as I watched her coolly light up a cigarette on camera Tuesday, before casually hoisting a handwritten sign that properly declared her an "idiot" for failing to stop for a Cleveland school bus, I could only marvel at Hardin's remarkable disinterest and aloofness before the condemning eyes of the public