Free Republic

A (mostly) daily posting for those interested in history and the day to day news, politics and culture of a bygone world; the full edition of the New York Tribune from today's date in 1896 (digitized).

A Picture of the Spiritual Life from Job Msgr. Charles Pope • September 29, 2016 • Consider a verse from the Book of Job that was read in the Liturgy earlier this week (Wednesday of the 26th Week of the Year):God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? (Job 9:3)At first glance, we might read this to mean that we don’t dare talk back to God or resist Him lest He punish us, but this would be a superficial interpretation. The text surely speaks more richly, of the spiritual life and...

President Barack Obama is in Israel for the funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres, pointing out that both he and Peres had “unlikely” lives. “I think our friendship was rooted in the fact that I could somehow see myself in his story, and maybe he could see himself in mine,” he said.

While the media continues to excoriate Donald Trump for allegedly making insensitive remarks about former Ms. Universe Alicia Machado 20-years ago, they continue to conveniently ignore Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s troubling past. In particular, the media is ignoring a 1975 case in which Clinton served as defense attorney to a 41-year old child rapist. As a 27-year old Arkansas lawyer, Hillary Rodham took the case of Thomas Alfred Taylor, a 41-year old man accused of raping 12-year old Kathy Shelton.

The Norwegian government will not go along with a protocol that allows children to lodge complaints over violations of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and three other UN conventions. The government’s decision goes against the advice of numerous Norwegian human rights groups and the demands of its partners in the Liberal Party (Venstre). …

Donald Trump’s campaign is signaling that Bill Clinton’s history of affairs and alleged sexual misconduct – as well as Hillary Clinton’s treatment of the women involved – is now fair game, after his Democratic opponent took the first shot by calling out his own negative comments toward women at Monday’s debate. The Republican nominee took a direct swipe at the former president during a New Hampshire rally on Thursday, in a sign of jabs to come. "The American people have had it with years and decades of Clinton corruption and scandal," Trump said. "And impeachment for lying. … Remember that?"

The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday announced its opposition to the construction of more high-speed TGV routes in France for at least the next 15 years, targeting three planned high speed rail routes in particular. A report into infrastructure financing has advised against pouring money into “projects where the socioeconomic viability is doubtful, the costs are unreasonable and the finance plan is still unknown”. Plans for LGV lines connecting Bordeaux with Toulouse and Dax, Poitiers with Limoges, and Montpellier with Perpignan were singled out as costly and unnecessary. …

PUFFING UP DEMOCRAT VOTER SAMPLES Headlines! PPP declares to all who will listen (not RCP, btw), Clinton Leads in Key Battlegrounds; Seen as Big Debate Winner. Oooh, big news? Trump stalwart Laura Ingraham, strangely, announces the PPP battleground polls just after they come out and for some reason says, "well, Trump isn't destroyed, anyway." Okay, so what's all the fuss about? PPP shows Hillary leading in five key battlegrounds; Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia. Most strikingly, she's up by two points in Florida and North Carolina, two must win states for Trump. Well never fret Trump supporters, cause...

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump took to Twitter early Friday morning to go to war with his latest campaign nemesis: former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. During the debate earlier this week, Democrat Hillary Clinton brought up Trump’s past weight-shaming comments about Machado, who was Miss Venezuela when Trump took over the Miss Universe beauty pageant in 1996. Machado, now a well-known actress in Latin America, says Trump once called her “fat,” “ugly” and “Miss Piggy,” among other things. In tweets posted a little after 5 a.m. on Friday, Trump brought up reports indicating that Machado was once accused of driving...

Please add your best anti-Hillary videos

Solar energy accounted for less than one percent of the total electricity generated in the U.S. during the first six months of 2016, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest Monthly Energy Review. Table 7.2a of the report shows that the U.S. generated a total of 1,951,350 million kilowatthours (kWh) of electricity from January through June of this year. But solar-generated electricity made up only a small fraction of the total.

From Brady Dale writing at Observer.com: A lot of weird stuff has been happening to data inside the internet’s walled gardens. It has been getting shut down by the people who own the sites we all depend on. There’s a protest going on at Facebook over the issue right now. One Turkish journalist is saying that his account has been blocked inside the country, at his government’s request; Palestinian journalists have a similar problem. YouTubers believe that their videos have been getting unfairly de-monetized by mindless robots. A Union Square Ventures and Y Combinator backed startup called Blockstack, just barely...

<p>Hillary Clinton’s campaign has been reluctant to use her scandal-scarred hubby on the campaign trail due to his multiple rumored affairs, a new report says.</p> <p>A book by author Joe Conason reveals the constant concern Clinton advisers had about the former president and lists the names of his rumored lovers, according to The Daily Mail.</p>

WASHINGTON – Using the war in Libya and the conflict in Syria as examples, former Secretary of State Colin Powell cautioned against U.S.-backed regime changes. Touching upon the debate surrounding U.S. immigration from the Middle East, Powell said Muslims should not be “singled out” as threats. “You better be careful because – and I have considerable experience with this – just taking out the regime doesn’t necessarily fix the problem. ...... (snip) “As I have said to my old bosses, President Bush and others, be careful what you do. Remember if you take out a regime you become the new...

A Multnomah County, Oregon, judge had some pretty pointed things to say about who he thought was responsible for a murder, with the murderer standing before him awaiting sentencing. This being Oregon, you've probably guessed that the judge wasn't lecturing the murderer himself. That's right, he blamed the guns for the murder. I'll give you a moment to pick yourself up off the floor. Judge Kenneth Walker doesn't want you to think he's anti-gun, though. He's clearly read the United States Constitution. After all, when he finally finished his rant, he said, "But it is a right of people in...

Many small-business owners and academics aren’t buying into President Obama’s claim that the 5.2 percent rise in household income last year translates into an economic rebound. Truth be told, it could be the opposite...On Sept. 13, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that median household income jumped $2,800 -- slightly more than 5 percent in 2015. While speaking at a rally in Philadelphia for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, President Obama called it a “big deal ... the single biggest one-year increase on record.”..But many Americans see it as a case of “been down so long it looks like up to me.” While...

Stephanie Byron was tasered in June 2015 by Florida cop Michael Wohlers who then baked a cake with icing on top that read 'Sorry I Tased You'. Byron is seeking damages, costs, expenses and reasonable attorney fees. The cop resigned from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office after incident. Court documents say he discharged his taser during 'horseplay'.

NEW YORK (AP) — More sophisticated cameras. Security robots. Customers feeling shaken by recent attacks at U.S. malls may not notice huge changes — but mall operators are testing and putting in place new technologies and other measures to offer people more protection without intruding too much on their shopping time. Mall executives say shoppers have been adamantly opposed to airport security tactics like metal detectors. So they're trying other things, and increasingly using mass notifications that let them send text and email alerts to tenants within seconds in case of a crisis.

DAY 47 – MARY, QUEEN OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY, PRAY FOR US BORN FOR COMBAT Prophet: Bishop Robert Barron says, “A prophet is someone who speaks for God. Their task is to speak God’s word, in season and out (whether that word is popular or not). It means you should be a reader of theology and spirituality that you might, as St. Peter put it, ‘give a reason for the hope that is in you.’ We’re living in a time when religion is under attack. If someone challenged you, could you give a reason for the hope that is...

Prominent Atlanta business executive Diane McIver was accidentally shot and killed as the SUV in which she was riding passed by Piedmont Park in the waning hours of Sunday night, according report issued late Thursday night. The Fulton Daily Report, a publication specializing in news about the legal community, reported that McIver inadvertently killed her. He was on the lookout for carjackers when the shooting occurred, the publication reported. They cited a family spokesman, Bill Crane. Reached by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Crane declined to confirm the account.