Free Republic

HOUSTON (BP)--About 1,500 Southern Baptist disaster relief volunteers are setting up units in Texas and were expected to be operational by the end of the day Tuesday to serve victims of Hurricane Ike. The primary focus of the efforts currently is food preparation, with 39 kitchen units on site in the state. The American Red Cross has asked Southern Baptists to be ready to prepare up to 375,000 hot meals a day, while the Salvation Army has requested 125,000 meals a day, bringing the total to 500,000. In addition to the 39 feeding units, more than 40 other types of...

Dennis Kucinich is currently on the floor of the House presenting his bill to impeach President George W. Bush. C-SPAN, 8:00 PM 9 Jun 2008.

Dr. Weiss spoke exclusively to Catholic Online about his experience in the dramatic events which occurred in Suffolk on Monday. He told of a medical community and facility which, through their response, transformed tragedy into triumph.

Faith & Politics The Compassion Forum Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama face the hard questions on faith and politics. Join Campbell Brown for a 2-hour CNN special event..."The Compassion Forum" --Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.

Update: Despite efforts from Fox News to facilitate this dying girl's wish to have her father at her bedise when she passes, the imovable, cold-hearted, beauraucratic, red tape of the Jucidiary, Bureau Of Prisons and U.S. Attorney are intransigent in their unwillingness to bend the "rules" to allow this to happen.

A little girl fights for her life, and her last wish is to see her father. But that wish may not come true. "They didn't expect her to still be here. She's fighting, day by day, minute by minute," said Vonda Yaeger, mother. 10/11 has followed the story of 10-year-old Jayci Yaeger as she battled brain tumors. Now doctors say she is about to lose that fight. Her last wish is to spend what time she has left with her father, but he is in a federal prison for drug charges. Less than six months ago, Jayci was energetic, fun...

If you make your home in Texas, you can’t escape them. They are everywhere these days, hurriedly promising bounty to all within range of their voices. Even their printed matter is filled with pledges of greater public funding. The Democrat contenders for the Oval Office will GIVE everyone healthcare. They will GIVE everyone a meaningful education. They will GIVE those who are about to lose their homes, protection. They will GIVE those on the border and across the nation security. They will GIVE the illegal alien his or her unearned path to citizenship. The only thing wrong with all these...

This primary season has encouraged some serious soul searching about what it means to be a conservative. The discussion is important, not just as the party selects a nominee, but as we at long last move beyond the Bush era of “compassionate conservatism.” An important part of this discussion began when then-candidate Fred Thompson was asked if, as a Christian and a conservative, he supported President Bush’s global AIDS initiative. Thompson responded: “Christ didn’t tell us to go to the government and pass a bill to get some of these social problems dealt with. He told us to do it.”...

A woman in her late teens died from an acute asthma attack triggered by secondhand cigarette smoke shortly after arriving at her job as a waitress in a bar in Michigan, researchers reported on Friday.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2008 – Many servicemembers who have experienced combat, and their families, are familiar with the term “combat stress.” The effects of combat, however, aren’t limited to those directly connected to the experience. Dr. Joseph Bobrow, a clinical psychologist, addresses representatives of more than 100 troop-support groups on compassion fatigue, Jan. 25, 2008. Bobrow was one of several experts and officials to speak at the Pentagon for the third annual America Supports You National Summit. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Stress can affect anyone who cares for those individuals, Dr. Joseph...

That's very true. As America demonstrates, faith thrives in a free market. In Europe, the established church, whether formal (the Church of England) or informal (as in Catholic Italy and Spain), killed religion as surely as state ownership killed the British car industry. When the Episcopal Church degenerates into wimpsville relativist milquetoast mush, Americans go elsewhere. When the Church of England undergoes similar institutional decline, Britons give up on religion entirely. Instead of a state church, Europe believes in the state as church – the all-powerful beneficent provider of cradle-to-grave welfare. "Freedom requires religion," said Mitt Romney, and, whether or...

On Sunday the October 14th, the Times Argus published an article entitled "Scholar to bring 'Christian Left' message to Vt.", by Mel Huff. The article refers to Biblical scholar Marcus Borg, who teaches religion at Oregon State University. Professor Borg seems to be on a crusade. "We were trying to counter fundamentalist and very conservative Christianity by letting the public know there's another way of looking at this," In short, he is trying to promote the "Christian Left" as an anecdote to "counter the negative impressions of Christianity created by the Christian Right." What are those negative impressions? Borg says...

Supporters of the anti-illegal immigration measure adopted in Prince William County last week have argued that its most important purpose is to send a powerful signal to the county's mostly Latino illegal immigrants that they are no longer welcome. It appears the message has already been received: Terrified that new policies will lead to mass deportations, illegal immigrants and the many legal immigrant relatives and friends who live with them have been moving out of Prince William ever since July, when county supervisors first approved the plan's outline.

Most people would include compassion on the short list of human virtues. At one point, I would have been one of those people. But, no longer is that the case. Like so many other things, it has taken on a far different meaning in recent times. In the past, compassion was extended to the elderly, the abused, the innocent and the infirm. But during the last few decades, it has become an entitlement demanded by members of various voting blocs. In short order, it has been transformed into political currency doled out by political hacks trolling for votes. [more @...

Most people would include compassion on the short list of human virtues. At one point, I would have been one of those people. But, no longer is that the case. Like so many other things, it has taken on a far different meaning in recent times. In the past, compassion was extended to the elderly, the abused, the innocent and the infirm. But during the last few decades, it has become an entitlement demanded by members of various voting blocs. In short order, it has been transformed into political currency doled out by political hacks trolling for votes. But as...

EAST COUNTY: A woman in a car carrying 186 pounds of marijuana stabbed a Border Patrol agent in the leg while trying to get away yesterday, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said. The agent disarmed the woman and detained her until other agents arrived. He was taken to a hospital and later was reported in good condition, a border official said. The incident began about 11:50 a.m., when agents got a tip that people were loading something into the trunk of a Chevrolet Impala near Tierra del Sol, off state Route 94 in Campo. Agents tried to pull...

A man arrested by the Bedford County (VA) Sheriff's Office over the weekend has been charged with two counts of aggravated sexual battery. About 5 p.m. Saturday, officers were called to the Goodwill store on U.S. 221 in Bedford County because a male customer in the store had reportedly fondled two 8-year-old girls. The victims are friends who were visiting the store with relatives. Santos Guzman, 41, was apprehended in the parking lot. Chief Gary Reynolds, a special assistant to the sheriff and the supervisor of Bedford's Child Sexual Offender Registration and Tracking Unit, was off duty but was in...

The collapse of the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis is a tragedy of gargantuan proportions but it was followed by bravery, stories of heroism and miracles also on a grand scale. Top fire fighter, Chief Jim Clark of the Minneapolis Fire Department exclaimed that the first miracle was the low death toll. Clark said, ““We were surprised that we didn’t have more people seriously injured and killed, I think it was something of a miracle.” With upwards of 500 cars crossing the bridge at any given moment that qualifies as a miracle for most of us.

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2007 – An admitted golf “nut,” Jack Farley said he has heard probably every handicap joke there is, having hit the green for the last four decades wearing a prosthetic right leg. Still, nobody cuts him any slack, he said. Jack Farley visits a patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Farley is a peer amputee visitor at the center. His right leg was claimed by a mortar in Vietnam nearly 40 years ago. Farley was fitted for his first prosthesis at Walter Reed and met his wife there while being treated. Photo by...

VRINDAVAN, India (CNN) -- Ostracized by society, India's widows flock to the holy city of Vrindavan waiting to die. They are found on side streets, hunched over with walking canes, their heads shaved and their pain etched by hundreds of deep wrinkles in their faces. Hindu widows are shunned from society when their husbands die, not for religious reasons, but because of tradition -- and because they're seen as a financial drain on their families.

The term "bleeding-heart liberal" has been bandied about for years, in an effort to illustrate the faux or at least hyperbolic sense of compassion attributed to those on the left.  The lefties in America and Europe would like to be known as those who care, unless you happen to be a Bible-following Christian, a conservative or a fetus. The information age has facilitated the dissemination of all things cultural, spiritual and intellectual.  One of the most important developments in the West has been the study and practice of Eastern religions and "ways."  Zen Buddhism, for instance, is thought of by...

Troy Brown  Other Articles by Troy BrownPrinter Friendly Version   Compassion: Small Acts with Great Love April 15, 2007 What is compassion?  Compassion is caring about others around you enough to give all you have for their good.  It is loving others enough to want to help them --whatever their need. Looking around in today's world it seems like the old cliché' is becoming more and more a reality.  "Everybody is out for number one." The concept of caring about people just because they're people seems to be more and more an ideology.  Nowadays, in most cases, it depends...

Biblical Liberation from Liberalism By Michael Medved Wednesday, April 11, 2007 With the arrival of the eight day Passover Festival on Monday night, I was preparing some material for our family-reunion Seder meal (Diane and I will be together with all three of our children, plus my visiting father from Jerusalem) when I stumbled across one of the most important of all verses in the Hebrew Scriptures. Leviticus 19:15 declares: "You shall not commit a perversion of justice: you shall not favor the poor and you shall not honor the great, with righteousness shall you judge your fellow." About fifteen...

This past weekend, a friend of mine attended his 13-year-old son's baseball game. What he saw encapsulates a major reason many of us fear for the future of America and the West. His son's team was winning 24-7 as the game entered the last inning. When he looked up at the scoreboard, he noticed that the score read 0-0. Naturally, he inquired as to what happened -- was the scoreboard perhaps broken? -- and was told that the winning team's coach asked the scoreboard keeper to change the score. He and some of the parents were concerned that the boys...

Sen. Barack Obama, speaking in a fairly impoverished Cleveland, saying he wants "everybody here to pony up five dollars, ten dollars for this campaign. I don't care how poor you are, you've got five dollars." Video Link is here YOU TUBE

REVIEW OF: Who Really Cares: America’s Charity Divide—Who Gives, Who Doesn’t, and Why It Matters by Arthur C. Brooks (Basic Books, 250 pp., $26.00) It’s tempting to say that Arthur Brooks, in his definitive new book on American charitable giving, has shown that there is nothing oxymoronic about the term “compassionate conservative.” That, at least, is the conclusion that critics have drawn from Brooks’s demonstration that conservatives, despite the myth that they lack compassion, give significantly more to charity than liberals do. But in fact Brooks has shown something even more significant: that “compassionate conservative” is not only overly defensive,...

Michael Gerson helped create “compassionate” conservatism. Now he’s attacking the small-government ideal—and inadvertently highlighting America’s need to learn from Europe. In what may be the most aggressive attack on small-government conservatism in years, highly influential former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson writes: “What does antigovernment conservatism offer to inner-city neighborhoods where violence is common and families are rare? Nothing. What achievement would it contribute to racial healing and the unity of our country? No achievement at all. Anti-government conservatism turns out to be a strange kind of idealism—an idealism that strangles mercy.” Gerson’s arguments, though flawed to the core, present a...

Charitable Nation America, the generous. By Jonah Goldberg Americans are better people than Europeans. Hold on, it gets better. Religious Americans are better than non-religious Americans. And religious Americans tend to be politically conservative. This admittedly tendentious rendering of reality is how some on the right are interpreting Who Really Cares? by Arthur Brooks, a professor of public administration at Syracuse University. Brooks doesn’t really deal with what makes one person “better” or “worse” than any other. But it’s fair to say that how much a person gives — of either his money or time — is usually considered an...

He was known as Secret Santa, a mysterious white-haired man wearing a red shirt and cap, who would hand a stranger in need a wad of cash and make a speedy getaway. During the holiday season, he would appear in cities across the country to dispense his largesse... ...It’s a truism that the sight of one stranger helping another in the out-of-the-blue fashion of Secret Santa can move people to tears. Exactly why that might be so has been the subject of study by Jonathan Haidt, a psychologist at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville. He uses the term “elevation”...

Apparently, conservatives care more about the poor and are more generous when giving to the poor. This shatters the age old myth that Liberals are more compassionate towards the poor. It also destroys the cornerstone of the Liberal argument. Republicans work harder, make more money, and donate more of their money to the poor. We also fight all the wars! God Bless America and all that is great about our country! Here is the article: SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse University professor Arthur C. Brooks is about to become the darling of the religious right in America -- and it's making...

“Look on the bright side,” conservative John Derbyshire declared the morning after the GOP’s November nightmare: “The good ship U.S.S. Compassionate Conservatism just took a torpedo in the magazine.” Derbyshire, irritated by the Bush administration’s spending spree, and equating that with compassionate conservatism, just doesn’t get it. Compassionate conservatism, properly understood, is not a cause of the GOP’s downfall. Instead, it’s the ticket to helping the poor, decentralizing social services, and saving Republicans from their traditional identification as green-eyeshade, mean-spirited, royal-purpled people eaters. Let me explain. One of the effective Democratic ads before November 7 quoted North Carolina basketball coaching...

(Mystic-WTNH, Dec. 2, 2006 6:15 PM) _ A trip to Connecticut is a dream come true for a Texas woman. The 64-year-old grandmother has stage four cancer and only has months to live. One of her last wishes was a trip to Mystic Seaport. It's a dream come true for Sharon Wynn. She wished for a visit to Mystic Seaport. The Texas grandmother and great grandmother is losing her battle with breast cancer and only has 5 to 8-months left to live. Today one of her dying wishes is coming true. "This is awesome. I can't even tell you, I...

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP)--A couple of years ago I was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter on the subject of “gay marriage.” Somewhere in the midst of our conversation the discussion turned and the reporter said, “You have to admit that there are places in the Bible where Jesus comes across more like a tax and spend liberal who really wants to help the poor rather than a conservative who wants the disadvantaged to help themselves.” “I don’t know any conservatives that are opposed to helping the poor,” I replied. “We just disagree with liberals on what is the best way...

One of the most pervasive political visions of our time is the vision of liberals as compassionate and conservatives as less caring. It is liberals who advocate "forgiveness" of loans to Third World countries, a "living wage" for the poor and a "safety net" for all. But these are all government policies -- not individual acts of compassion -- and the actual empirical consequences of such policies are of remarkably little interest to those who advocate them. ...snip... A new book, titled "Who Really Cares" by Arthur C. Brooks examines the actual behavior of liberals and conservatives when it comes...

"Big Sister" has finally found Jesus. We're happy for her. She found him where every liberal does. Not in Scripture but in a piece of liberal legislation and open-border advocacy. Shrillary Clinton finds President Bush's immigration policy contrary to what Jesus would have enacted. How does she know? For in her mind, any policy not advanced by liberalism and the Democrat party is necessarily wrong and, therefore, against the wishes of Jesus. Liberals like Shrillary are so sanctimonious that even absent any specific, black on white scriptural citation, they are absolutely sure they are the repository of what Jesus would...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2006 -- When Noel Totten arrived home to find 40 leather-clad motorcyclists pulled up at his house in Bloomington, Minn., he knew why they’d come. Universal Recording artist Rockie Lynne, co-founder of Tribute to the Troops, presents a plaque to Noel Totten Sept. 8 at Totten's home in Bloomington, Minn. About 40 members of the group visited Totten's home to pay their respects for the loss of his brother, Chief Warrant Officer Eric W. Totten, 34, an Army Chinook helicopter pilot who died May 5 when his chopper went down in Afghanistan. Photo by William Moss  '(Click...

September 13, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - Taliban terror leaders who had gathered for a funeral - and were secretly being watched by an eye-in-the-sky American drone - dodged assassination because U.S. rules of engagement bar attacks in cemeteries, according to a shocking report. U.S. intelligence officers in Afghanistan are still fuming about the recent lost opportunity for an easy kill of Taliban honchos packed in tight formation for the burial, NBC News reported.

The gospel of Father Mac By Bella English, Globe Columnist | September 3, 2006 For nearly half a century, the Rev. Bernard McLaughlin has been a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston. Airport passengers knew him as the rapid-tongued priest at Our Lady of the Airways at Logan Airport. Hispanic, Italian, and Asian immigrants knew him from Holy Redeemer in East Boston. The homeless and hungry knew him from Crossroads Shelter, which he founded. Politicians knew him from the state Ethics Commission, for which he was vice chairman. Radio listeners knew him from the talk show he hosted with a...

The U.K. Daily Mirror is not the first paper most think of when it comes to serious breaking news. But the Mirror was the first to break the story of Adolf Hitler doing a little editing of the Bible so he could use the power of the religion he hated to his further his maniacal cause. It’s said that approximately 100,000 Third Reich Bibles were actually published and distributed to thousands of churches in 1941.It’s believed this particular copy, discovered in church offices in Hamburg, is one of the few if not the sole surviving “Deutsch mit Gott – Germans...

Dying deer given CPR By Corey Wicks Staff reporter When it comes to concern for wildlife, people in Joseph put their mouth where their concern is. Literally. Wallowa County Detective Neil Rogers was called to a report of a deer that had been hit by a vehicle Sunday, July 2, in downtown Joseph. When Rogers arrived a crowd of people had gathered in the street and were in the process of pulling the deer out from underneath a trailer, Rogers said. The deer was badly mangled but managed to wake up and stumble past the crowd. It then fell into...

As a freshman during one of his first days on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, Travis James Rowley was told not to use the terms “boyfriend” or “girlfriend” to describe a significant other. Rowley continued to be baffled by his ultra-liberal surroundings as he trudged through a sensitivity training course during his beginning weeks at Brown, while his minority classmates arrived at school a week early to attend what Rowley dubs as “victim-hood training.” This extreme political correctness proved to be the common thread that wove Brown together during Rowley’s four years at the prestigious liberal...

In a stunning act of treachery against the American people, the Senate has set the stage to plunder America’s Social Security system and give the spoils to illegal immigrants. The phony “compassion” of liberalism is on display and the dive-by media and its allies remain silent. According to populist presidential wannabe John McCain (R.-AZ), illegals deserve access to the Social Security funds because they paid taxes. Yet nobody seems to know how much they paid, what percentage of their paychecks was withheld by the government, or how much more they have cost American society than they may have paid into...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Mar. 12, 2006) -- Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment performed a multi-faceted mission near Camp Taqaddum, Iraq, March 12, as they carried out weapons cache sweeps, investigated possible improvised explosive devices and conducted route clearance operations during the daylong operation. Along the way, the Illinois-based National Guard unit took time to interact with the locals, stopping in local villages around the base. The soldiers’ primary mission is to provide base security for the Marines and sailors of the forward-deployed 1st Marine Logistics Group. The 4,200 joint-service members of 1st MLG are part of the 25,000...

by Br. Shane Johnson, LC Other Articles by Br. Shane Johnson, LC The Visionary 01/05/06 He is a pope of surprises. He always seems to be the Benedict we thought we knew, but didn’t. He was the surprisingly endearing father at World Youth Day and the equally endearing grandfather at his recent encounter with young first communicants in Rome. He was a defanged, compassionate German Shepherd at his private heart-to-hearts with dissident theologian Hans Küng and the head of the schismatic Lefebvrite movement, bishop Bernard Fellay. In This Article...A Transcendent HopeLies and SeductionsThe Truth of Peace A Transcendent Hope And so,...

Teen hit by three cars, no one stopped   Family shocked by highway tragedy Alberta girl, 16, killed on Trans-Canada Jan. 4, 2006. 05:21 AM   MORLEY, Alta.—A grieving Alberta family is stunned after learning that their daughter was hit by at least three vehicles on the Trans-Canada Highway but not one driver stopped to help. Brittany Bearspaw, an accomplished 16-year-old with dreams of becoming a lawyer, was killed Sunday morning on the highway near her hometown of Morley, west of Calgary. Police believe she was then run over by more vehicles. "That's the part that really gets to us. How...

Group Calls On Fish and Game Director to Require Compliance With Government-Supported Guidelines For Immediate Release: December 16, 2005 Contact: Karin Robertson 757-622-7382 Concord, N.H. — As part of is campaign to reduce the suffering that fish endure at the end of a hook, PETA is calling on New Hampshire Fish and Game Director Lee Perry to require everyone who applies for a fishing license to adhere to the "Code of Angling Ethics" established by the pro-fishing National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). NMFS’ Code of Angling Ethics lists easy-to-adopt guidelines to reduce the suffering of fish and protect their environment....

Bystanders ignore plight of burning homeless man     Christine Wellstead, an emergency room nurse at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, stands near an alcove outside a Starbucks where she doused a homeless man whose comforter caught fire while he was sleeping. Photograph by : Ian Smith, CanWest News Service         Maurice Bridge, CanWest News Service Published: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 VANCOUVER -- St. Paul's emergency nurse Christine Wellstead has seen some pretty rough things on the job, but nothing has shaken her as much as the callous indifference she witnessed Monday night as bystanders ignored...

In an article two days ago, "Muhammad Ali v. George W. Bush," I castigated President Bush bestowing a prestigious award on former boxer Muhammad Ali and for lavishly praising Ali's beautiful soul, his compassion, and his being a man of peace. I offered some evidence to the contrary and concluded by calling this incident "the nadir of his presidency."The column prompted a fair amount of comment, positive and negative. I'd like to note here two noteworthy responses. One is from Judea Pearl, father of the late Daniel Pearl, murdered by Islamists in Pakistan in 2002: When Danny was in captivity,...

Tory MPP Bob Runciman brandished crack cocaine paraphernalia in the legislature yesterday, demanding to know whether taxpayers are paying for a "harm reduction kit." He asked Premier Dalton McGuinty whether government funds go to a Toronto Health Clinic for these kits. "Do you think it's appropriate that taxpayer dollars are being spent to distribute crack cocaine kits in Toronto, given that half of all homicides in the city, according to Toronto police, are due to gangs fighting over this illegal drug?" Runciman said. McGuinty said the decision rests with the City. The Liberals later handed out a release that said...

CONWAY — Assured that the Maine man discovered at the bottom of an Albany outhouse in June would receive psychiatric treatment, a district court judge accepted a negotiated plea agreement yesterday from Gary Moody, 45. “Anyone who was in the ladies’ toilet is a victim and females at large are victims and they have heightened scrutiny for fear of what they might find there,” Judge Pamela Albee said. “I think Mr. Moody requires treatment.” Moody pleaded no contest in the District Court of Northern Carroll County to criminal trespass, stemming from an incident in which he entered a vault under...