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By now you've probably heard of how Bishop Robert McManus of the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, asked Anna Maria College to rescind its invitation to atheistic humanist Victoria Kennedy to speak at its 2012 Commencement. Now the Catholic Free Press is reporting that Sister Yvette Bellerose, chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, and Jack P. Calareso, president of Anna Maria College, have asked Bishop McManus not to attend the Commencement either. It has been asserted that the Bishop would be a distraction. What of it? No doubt Victoria Kennedy would have been a distraction for students who actually accept the...

The University of Kentucky’s men’s basketball team is heading to Washington D.C. to meet President Barack Obama this Friday...

Rosen V. Romney is an orchestrated DISTRACTION Bill O’Reilly & Charles Krauthammer were discussing the “Buffet Rule” which most everyone knows is the premise for Obama’s tax raising campaign on the wealthy. Republicans know that he is using this admittedly useless endeavor to foment class warfare. Krauthammer did a capable job explaining how 250 years worth of this additional tax would only amount to about one year of the current deficit spending. He explained that this is pure demagoguery (as we all know) and he added that “demagoguery works.” I will add that the reason why these trivial distractions work...

Hundreds marched through the streets of New York City on Wednesday night in memory of and to protest the death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin, in what organizers called the “Million Hoodie March.” The march began in Manhattan’s Union Square, where a rally in support of Martin had taken place. Martin’s father Tracy Martin and mother Sybrina Fulton, in New York for interviews with major media outlets, made an appearance at the rally to thank the crowd for its enthusiasm. ”My heart is in pain,” Fulton said, according to the AP.

Forget slut-shamming. Sir Richard’s Condoms and the ad agency TDA_Boulder are using the Rush Limbaugh/Sandra Fluke flap to encourage the Georgetown law student’s supporters to embrace their inner and outer slut.The effort to mock Limbaugh includes a “Sluts Unite” website and social media campaign, which urge supporters to change their social media avatars to one of their 24 slogan-logos. Popular picks include “In Sluts We Trust,� “Proud Father of a Slut,� “You Can Call Me Slut,” “I Believe In Slut,” and “Pro-Slut.�Naturally, the Boulder, Colo. companies have topped off the campaign with an oath for unified sluts:I believe that sex...

Mitt Romney, whose campaign is preparing a multi-million dollar wave of negative advertising to persuade voters that Rick Santorum should not be president, says he is open to the possibility of choosing Santorum to be his running mate should Romney win the Republican nomination. Romney appeared on Fox News Wednesday morning and was asked, "You and Rick Santorum, we haven't seen you go head-to-head yet…In the big picture, could you see a scenario where you two team up?" "Oh, I think it's always possible to have people come together in our party, whether it's Rick and I, or others in...

FEBRUARY 15, 2012 Romney Races to Defend Michigan State Up for Grabs as Santorum Surges BY JOSEPH B. WHITE AND NEIL KING JR. [Subscriber Content Preview] DETROIT—Amid signs Rick Santorum could win an upset victory in Michigan, Mitt Romney escalated his campaign to win the state's Republican primary by taking on the powerful auto union and reigniting the debate over the federal bailouts of two Detroit auto makers. Mr. Romney, writing in a Detroit News editorial-page column Tuesday, attacked as "crony capitalism on a grand scale" the Obama administration's $81 billion auto-industry bailout nearly three years ago. The salvo comes...

Time for Newt to Do the Honorable Thing By DAVID CATRON on 2.14.12 Gingrich can perform one last service for the GOP, drop out and endorse Santorum. About a week after his surprising victory in the South Carolina primary, Newt Gingrich did an interview with ABC News, most of which he devoted to complaints about the tactics Mitt Romney was using against him in Florida: "We have not been as effective in telling the truth as he has been in running ads… which have had to be pulled because they were so inaccurate." His most notable remark, however, was a...

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, by far the biggest financial backer of Newt Gingrich's presidential bid, is preparing to open his wallet again. But this time, the casino magnate appears to have more than one agenda. In a bit of political chess, Mr. Adelson is ready to not only directly support the former House speaker in the Republican primary, but to use his cash to push Rick Santorum from his position atop the latest national polls, according to people to have discussed the matter with Mr. Adelson. Enlarge Image ADELSON ADELSON Las Vegas Review-Journal/Associated Press Sheldon Adelson, shown with his wife, Miriam,...

Europe is in the midst of a fiscal crisis caused by too much government spending, yet many of the continent’s politicians want the European Central Bank to purchase the dodgy debt of reckless welfare states such as Spain, Italy, Greece, and Portugal in order to prop up these big government policies. So it’s especially noteworthy that economists at the European Central Bank have just produced a study showing that government spending is unambiguously harmful to economic performance. Here is a brief description of the key findings. …we analyse a wide set of 108 countries composed of both developed and emerging...

China-geddon: A China crash will be scarier than Europe Venky Vembu Dec 2, 2011 Say you’re at a railway station, waiting for the slow train to eurogeddon. You’ve been told that the eurozone is in deep trouble with all those piles of debt, that it will fall apart inevitably, dismembering the euro and inflicting pain and misery around the world. Months go by, and although there’s a lot of shunting and hooting, and lots of frenetic activity, the eurogeddon train doesn’t steam in. You begin to grow impatient, and wonder if the train is coming at all. And then in...

One of the top complaints about wealth distributions holds that the vast majority of the people of the country are excluded from the vast majority of its wealth. Considering the "plight" of all of those 20-somethings at the various occupiers, one could be deluded into believing the truth of the 99% mantra. But what if that wasn't true? Considering there are many branches of the group, let's take a look at its main one, occupying near Wall Street, in New York. Seeing how the occupiers are using other people's food and bathrooms and some living in tents (with others still...

Forty two years ago, Oakland mayor-to-be Jean Quan was a U.C. Berkeley student-activist rallying for a movement dubbed the Third World Liberation Front of 1969. That movement would later give birth to the university's Ethnic Studies Department and influence universities across the country to integrate such a unique discipline. The department studies represent the history and experiences of marginalized people, especially people of color. Quan went on to become many things: union organizer, Oakland Board of Education member, Oakland City Council member, Chabot Space & Science Center board chair. As she tells on her own website jeanquan.org, in the beginning...

Two days ago President Obama authorized the deployment to Uganda of approximately 100 combat-equipped U.S. forces to help regional forces “remove from the battlefield” – meaning capture or kill – Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and senior leaders of the LRA. The forces will ultimately go to Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the permission of those countries. The president made this announcement in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Friday afternoon, saying that “deploying these U.S. Armed Forces furthers U.S. national security interests and foreign policy and...

The White House said on Wednesday that senior members of Iran's Quds force participated in the alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, and that the United States would hold Tehran accountable. "It's clear that senior levels of Quds force were engaged in the plotting," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters, saying that Washington would respond by intensifying efforts to isolate Iran. The Quds Force (Persian: نیروی قدس, translit. Niru-ye Qods), (or Qods Force) is a special unit of Iran's Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Revolutionary Guard). It has been described as "tasked with...

New research suggests the continuation of life on Earth depends on massive explosions on the other side of the galaxy. The explosions, gamma-ray bursts thought to occur when two stars collide, can release tons of high-energy gamma-ray radiation into space. Scientists believe they have already played a part in some the planet's extinctions. They say the blasts could be contributing to the depletion of the Earth's ozone layer. Brian Thomas, of Washburn University, in Topeka, Kansas, said: 'We find that a kind of gamma-ray burst — a short gamma-ray burst — is probably more significant than a longer gamma-ray burst....

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- UFO experts in Missouri said strange lights were reported above Kansas City on three consecutive nights. Margie Kay, assistant state director for the Mutual UFO Network, said Kansas City residents reported bright lights and hovering craft in the sky above the city Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night, WDAF-TV, Kansas City, reported. "We do have other reports of very large craft hovering in different areas, and that's quite unusual because normal airplanes do not have that behavior. Helicopters do, but these are not described as helicopters," Kay said.

A plurality (47%) of Likely U.S. Voters believe it is at least somewhat likely that Palin will enter the presidential race, but that includes only 13% who feel it’s Very Likely. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 35% think a Palin bid is unlikely, but just five percent (5%) say it’s Not At All Likely. Eighteen percent (18%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) Only 18% of voters think it would be good for Republicans if Palin entered the race. Sixty percent (60%) say it would be bad for the party, while 11% predict...

A mysterious circle on a grainy scan, this is what scientists are claiming is finally evidence that Earth has been visited by aliens. Researchers have claimed the fuzzy outline is a flying saucer that ended up 300ft down on the ocean floor between Sweden and Finland. They were stunned when sonar scans taken while searching for a century-old wreck showed up the shape against the dirt.

Newt Gingrich vowed on Friday to campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination on his own terms, saying he would do “whatever it takes” to remain in the race despite the exodus a day earlier of nearly his entire senior staff. “There is a fundamental strategic difference between the traditional consulting community and the kind of campaign I want to run,” Mr. Gingrich said. “Now we’ll find out over the next year who’s right.” Even as some prominent Republicans, including Gov. Terry Branstad of Iowa, questioned his viability, Mr. Gingrich made plans to deliver a foreign policy speech in Los...

It has been the contention of this writer since the 1980s that Russia and China are fundamental rivals, regardless of pragmatic alliances. The “fraternal” relations that supposedly existed between two nominally “communist” states beneath the facade of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance did not mitigate the centuries’ long animosity, and this erupted into a “hot war” during the 1960s with the Sino-Soviet border clashes.[1] Indeed, the Sino-Soviet friendship treaty, far from being a display of comradeship, relegated China to the status of a colony.[2] The manner by which China showed it did not intend to renew...

From: Leni Riefenstahl To: Barack Obama und Frau Obama Subject: Politische Kundgebung getarnt als eine Gedenkfeier (Political rally masquerading as a memorial service) It's been two years since I last wrote. Then it was about the Invesco Field Rally in Denver. Now it's about that rally in Tucson. If you don't mind a few harsh words from someone seasoned in such things, no matter that you tried hard, the tragic incident in Tucson was no Reichstag Fire, and while you made as much of it as you could, you need to hone your shtick a bit better in future. I...

BETHESDA, Md. - When candidates are vying for votes it can be hard to get them to agree on issues. But WTOP managed to get all the major candidates in the Maryland governor's race to make the same pledge: Not to distract drivers by waving campaign signs at them. This pledge comes after political volunteers created 10 miles of delays on Interstate 270 last week by waving signs from the Falls Road overpass. Some drivers were furious about the delays. Others believe roadside distractions of any kind are a hazard that can cause crashes. "We would never condone stopping traffic."...

US President Barack Obama lamented Sunday that in the iPad and Xbox era, information had become a diversion that was imposing new strains on democracy...

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Building on a previous post exposing that Harry Reid took the existing House-passed bill, H.R. 3590, entitled the Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009 and replaced the existing bill language, via an amendment, with the Senate’s version of the healthcare bill–creating a new H.R. 3590–the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by Senate). I stand by my assertion that Reid took H.R. 3590–knowing that all bills that raise revenue must originate in the House per the Constitution–as evidenced by the actual bill text dated December 24, 2009 seen here in a screen shot...

With the announcement of Guantanamo detainees being brought to NYC for trial, the news has shifted to that subject. I believe this is an intentional effort to distract the public from Health Care, Cap and Trade, and Global Warming bills. Public opinion clearly is against those actions by congress. Obama is trying to divert attention away from those subjects rather than have them be exposed to the light of day.

The generations following the sin of Adam and Eve proceeded upon a path of moral degeneration. Cain, in a jealous rage, impulsively killed his brother Abel. In the next generation, Tuvel-Kain perfected the crime of Cain through manufacturing weapons. Then, Lemach boasted to his wives of committing pre-meditative murder. Idolatry flourished during the time of Enosh. Organized crime was established by a group of hoodlums called "The sons of El-ohim." Sexual perversion was rampant in Noah's generation. Torah (Biblical) tradition teaches that there are three cardinal sins that a person should choose death rather than be forced to commit. They...

You may think racism means prejudging or discriminating against people because of their race. All right: can you define race? Go on, try it. Or host a party and challenge your guests to come up with an explanation that doesn't start a fight. Is race a biological classification, an ethnic one, a religious one, a geographic one, or what? If the meaning of race is slippery, how precise can this term it feeds - racism - be? And if the definition is what enables us to evaluate the facts, where does all this leave us? Racism today belongs to a...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The leading Judiciary Committee Republican is charging that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is "out of the mainstream" of legal thinking and has a very activist judicial profile.

- see the video - The president proved yesterday he will not tolerate distractions from his hefty political agenda -- at least not those coming from pesky insects. President Obama addressed issues ranging from health care to financial industry reform in a lengthy interview on CNBC on Tuesday, but he was interrupted by a fly persistently buzzing around his head. "Hey! Get out of here," Mr. Obama said. After a few irritated swats, the president zeroed in on the pest and patiently waited for it to land on his hand. He gave it a quick smack and watched it fall...

Continuing the newfound theme of liberals proclaiming Rush Limbaugh the leader of the GOP (more on that here), activist group Americans United for Change has announced it will begin airing a TV ad dedicated, almost solely, to making that claim, calling on Republicans to reject Limbaugh's politics.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is proposing a "truth commission" to investigate abuses of detainees, politically inspired moves at the Justice Department, and whole range of decisions made during the Bush administration. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the primary goal of the commission would be to learn the truth rather than prosecute former officials, but said the inquiry should reach far beyond misdeeds at the Justice Department under Bush to include matters of Iraq prewar intelligence and the Defense Department. Leahy outlined his suggestion for a "truth and reconciliation" commission during a speech at Georgetown...

Do you sing in the car? Or shout at the bonehead on your radio? If so, you could get pulled over. That's one of the potentical consequences of a stupid suggestion this week -- by the self-proclaimed National Safety Council -- that cell phones be banned in cars. They want them done away with. They say that the piecemeal banning of cell phones -- mostly in our most liberal states -- doesn't go far enough. They won't be happy until every cell phone in every car is turned off or broken. Specifically, they say that talking on a cell phone...

Has Harry Reid Ever Read the Constitution? I ask in regard to the 17th amendment. The 17th amendment is one of my least favorite amendments but ignoring it is not an improvement nor is it legal to ignore it. First, for clarity I post how the Constitution directed the election of Senators prior to the 17th amendment. Article. 1, Section. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof , for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. The state legislature would choose the state’s Senators...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Roland Burris said Wednesday he should be able to join the Senate "very shortly," after talking to newly supportive Democratic leaders and working on lingering legal obstacles. Talking to reporters on the second day of a Washington power odyssey that would intimidate many, the 71-year-old Burris declared himself happy and said he was pleased with his meeting with Sens. Harry Reid and Dick Durbin. "My whole interest in this experience is to be prepared" to lead Illinois, Burris said, "and very shortly I will have the opportunity to do that." Burris' legal issues include a pending decision...

The Roland Burris circus took a ludicrous turn today as Harry Reid and Senate Democrats threw the fate of the former Illinois attorney general, who was appointed by disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich to fill the unexpired term of President-elect Barack Obama last week, back to Illinois and the office of Secretary of State Jesse White. It was White who refused to sign off on Burris, rejecting the paperwork on the appointment while making it clear he would not certify any candidate appointed by a governor who tried to to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder. At the same...

Blago's Pick Says He Doesn't Want Confrontation, Will Consult With Lawyers...

LANSING, Mich. – Democratic candidate Barack Obama doesn't want the embattled mayor of Detroit on hand when Obama accepts the party's presidential nomination in Denver.

I wish you all the best. I have tried to post tributes to the Army, info on Obama's horrendous run for office and McCain's slightly less horrible attempt. I wish you all the best but FR is just as likely to exclude people from the deabte as anyone else. They have that right, freedom to cleave to whoever you like is a right I agree with but I am guessing I am not one Jim wants associate with. I wish you all the best but I am bowing out of this forum. Have a great life. God bless u all!

BATAVIA, N.Y. -- Five parents who asked to transfer their children out of Batavia High School classes with a transsexual teacher have been denied, according to city schools Superintendent Richard Stutzman. The written requests did not meet the guidelines set out by the district, Stutzman said Tuesday without providing specifics. "That's all between the school, the teacher, the parents," he said. Other students were allowed to adjust their schedules because their requests were based on changes in their academic programs, Stutzman said. Fall classes began Wednesday in Batavia, 31 miles southwest of Rochester. Diagnosed with a transsexual disorder, the teacher...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate began debate Monday on a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit the desecration of the American flag, the latest in a series of election-year votes pushed by the chamber's Republican leaders. Observers give the flag amendment a better chance of passing than the one to ban same-sex marriages that was defeated earlier this month. That was another vote aimed at mobilizing the GOP's conservative base before November's midterm elections. A vote is expected this week, before the Fourth of July congressional recess. Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, compared the measure to...

If anyone needs further proof - not that anyone does these days - that the Republican leadership in Congress is both desperate and clueless, it's the election-year revival of that mother of all non-issues: flag desecration. The U.S. House passed this tread-worn measure last year, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved it last week. Even though Congress has no shortage of real issues, ranging from the war in Iraq to global warming, clamoring for its attention, the full Senate will begin debate next week on a proposed constitutional amendment to solve a problem that doesn't exist. As if that weren't...

Flag Day 2006 was also the fifty-second anniversary of President Eisenhower signing “Joint Resolution 243,” which added the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. At the Upper Senate Park, organizations like Concerned Women For America (CWA), The Religious Freedom Coalition, Eagle Forum, Ask For America, and The Traditional Values Coalition held a press conference alongside Representative Trent Franks (R-AZ), Representative Todd Akin (R-MO), Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) to urge Congress to pass the Pledge Protection Act. Representative Akin and Senator Kyl are sponsoring the bills in their respective houses that would protect the...

WASHINGTON -- Sometime between now and the Fourth of July, the Senate plans to revisit what over the course of 17 years has become a seasonal rite of patriotism on Capitol Hill: a vote on whether to amend the Constitution to ban protesters from burning the American flag. Each time, the arguments on both sides are passionate. Each time, the support needed to move ahead with an amendment falls short. But this year could be different, as two important trends cross paths. For one, proponents of the amendment appear to have more support than ever in the Senate. They say...

"Things aren't always as they seem" is an old saying with common sense. Wednesday is Flag Day. A week later the U.S. Senate will debate a proposed constitutional amendment that reads, "The Congress shall have the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States." The vote is expected to be close. The House of Representatives has already passed this amendment. The next step would be ratification by two-thirds of the states. All 50 state legislatures have indicated they would support the amendment. Our society has accepted 30-second sound bites for news. On the surface, the...

Only 26 percent of Americans believe that their country is headed in the right direction, according to an Associated Press poll released last week. But surely brighter days are coming, thanks to the farsighted leadership of the U.S. Senate. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), one of the leading candidates for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, apparently believes that what our country really needs at this moment in its history — the thing that's gonna pull us out of our national funk and set us straight again — is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that bans flag burning....

Harris Campaign Calls on Nelson to Defend Sanctity of Marriage For Immediate Release June 6, 2006 Contact:  Chris Ingram   (813) 288-8400 (Tampa, Fla.) - The Katherine Harris for U.S. Senate campaign called on Senator Bill Nelson to support the Marriage Protection Amendment today. "I believe the majority of Americans strongly support the preservation of traditional marriage. We must never undermine the uniqueness of an institution that continues to serve as an essential thread in the fabric of our society. I support the passage of the Marriage Protection amendment being debated in the Senate," Congresswoman Harris said. Campaign spokesman Chris Ingram...

An ABC News poll finds that most Americans oppose gay marriage but markedly fewer — especially those outside George W. Bush's core supporters — would amend the U.S. Constitution to ban it. Opponents, however, are far more likely to call it a make-or-break issue in their vote for Congress — a finding that explains Bush's renewed push for a gay marriage ban. Among all Americans, 58 percent say gay marriage should be illegal, but fewer, 42 percent, say it rises to the level of amending the U.S. Constitution. Among conservative Republicans and evangelical white Protestants, though, opposition to gay marriage...

Governor Mitt Romney has sent this letter to every member of the Senate encouraging them to Vote "Yes" on this landmark peice of legislation--the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA). A few excerpts are below: "Americans are tolerant, generous, and kind people. We all oppose bigotry and disparagement, and we all wish to avoid hurtful disregard of the feelings of others. But the debate over same-sex marriage is not a debate over tolerance. It is a debate about the purpose of the institution of marriage. Attaching the word marriage to the association of same-sex individuals mistakenly presumes that marriage is principally a...