Free Republic

I’m sure in his feeble mind this makes sense. (NewsOK) — White House Press Secretary Jay Carney explained that the number of people dropping out of the work force, which artificially depresses the unemployment rate, can be regarded as an “economic positive.” “A lot of that is due to younger people getting more of an education, which is an economic positive,” Carney said. He had been asked what would happen when people “inevitably” raise the unemployment rating with their return to the work force.

BUCKSPORT — State police say a well-known Maine health care advocate whose body was recovered from the Penobscot River had been under investigation. Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, says an investigation of the Rev. Robert Carlson began last Thursday. He did not give the nature of the investigation. The Bangor Daily News says the allegations came in a letter, turned over by the Katahdin Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, linking Carlson to an incident with an 11-year-old boy in the 1970s. Carlson’s body was found Sunday in the river in Bucksport after his...

DALLAS, November 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a jarringly candid statement made to WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, late term abortionist and Baptist Minister Dr. Curtis Boyd said that when he performs abortions he is "killing," and he has no issues with it whatsoever. "Am I killing? Yes, I am. I know that," Boyd said during a video interview with the news station following the opening of the Southwestern Women's Surgery Center abortion facility. By law, Boyd must have a surgery center in order to abort a child more than 16 weeks along. "We see patients from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and...

A suspected looter in this week’s riots and his mother are being thrown out of their council home. In the first case of its kind, Daniel Sartain-Clarke, 18, and his mother have been served with an eviction notice as council bosses seek to turf them out of their £225,000 taxpayer-subsidised flat. Sartain-Clarke is charged with violent disorder and attempting to steal electronic goods from the Currys store at Clapham Junction, South London, on Monday night.

Malaysia's mainstream media, being entirely government owned, often encodes 'sensitive' matters like 'race' and 'racism' (in actuality religious apartheid and Islamic supremacism) in a curious kind of double-talk, language that seeks to obfuscate reality rather than clarify it. Doublespeak usually characterizes governments which actively discourage critical thought and an informed citizenry. Malaysia and its government are no different. Today's government broadsheet, as usual, prominently figures Prime Minister Najib's latest broadside. Najib's words is full of typically Malaysian double-talk. In the interests of clarification and the truth, it's time to translate Najib's words and see what he really means. From "PM:...

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister has called for the bombing Of Israel. Michael Rubin reports at Commentary Contentions After assuring both Libyans and Turks that Turkey was not involved in airstrikes on Libya, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, of Turkey, said, "We wish that the United Nations had made such resolutions and countries had taken action in the face of incidents in Gaza, Palestine and the other regions This is exactly the problem I thought might arise from President Obama's endorsement of the trendy principle of "Responsibility to Protect". In yesterday's blog, "The Rise of Samantha Power and the risks for...

The alleged killers of the minister found dead inside his own church 'laughed' while watching a news report about the case on television, court documents said. Pastor Clint Dobson, 29, of NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington, was suffocated with a plastic bag and his assistant Judy Elliott, 67, was severely beaten, they said. Steven Nelson, 24, and Anthony Springs, 19, were ‘laughing and making inappropriate comments about Dobson’s death’, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. ‘When confronted about this behaviour (Springs) produced an item he claimed belonged to Dobson,’ it said. They made the comments at a friend’s house in...

MINNEAPOLIS -- An ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church USA was acquitted Monday by a church panel of charges that he violated the church constitution when he legally married his gay partner in California in 2008. The case of the Rev. Erwin Barron, who was associate pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis in the 1990s, is likely to be appealed. It is the first time the divided church, which sidestepped the issue of gay marriage at its national convention last summer in Minneapolis, has dealt with the possible discipline of a gay pastor who legally married a same-sex partner....

ISLAMABAD – Militants gunned down the only Christian in Pakistan's government outside his widowed mother's home Wednesday, the second assassination in two months of a high-profile opponent of laws that impose the death penalty for insulting Islam. Shahbaz Bhatti was aware of the danger he faced, saying in a videotaped message that he had received death threats from al-Qaida and the Taliban. In it, the 42-year-old Roman Catholic said he was "ready to die" for the country's often persecuted Christian and other non-Muslim minorities. The slaying in Islamabad followed the killing of Salman Taseer, a liberal politician who was gunned...

East Oak Cliff pastor Sandy McGill denies burglarizing congregant's house The Dallas pastor facing felony charges of burglarizing a church member's home on Christmas Eve said Monday she had no criminal intent. Sandy McGriff, 52, said she was trying to protect valuables at the home of her longtime friend Serita Agnew and made a horrible mistake. Police accuse McGriff of stealing more than $10,000 worth of fur coats, designer purses and electronics from a home in the 2200 block of Village Way near Kiest Boulevard and Lancaster Road. She was also charged with resisting arrest. McGriff spent most of Christmas...

. . . Germany has pushed for a replacement of the programme, which expires in 2013, and increased economic coordination in the EU — a goal advanced last month when plans it put forward with France to make limited changes to the bloc's treaty and tighten budgetary rules gained approval. France and Germany should maintain their leadership role in Europe, Schaeuble said, especially in order to harmonise its economic policy and bolster stability given current economic uncertainties. These are being worsened by reckless policy in part from the the United States, Schaeuble said, sharpening his criticism of the Federal Reserve's...

French Minister Says Saudis Have Warned Europe, Notably France, Of Al-Qaida Terror Threat U.S. Department of State ELAINE GANLEY Associated Press Writer 3:18 p.m. CDT, October 17, 2010 PARIS (AP) — Saudi intelligence services have warned of a new terror threat from al-Qaida against Europe, particularly in France, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said Sunday. He said the warning of a potential attack by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was received "in the last few hours, few days." European officials were informed that "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was doubtless active or envisioned being active" on the "European continent, notably France,"...

Some OPEC members want oil prices to rise to $100 a barrel to offset the decline in the dollar. The value of the dollar, which has slipped 13% since June against major world currencies, means that the "real price" of oil is about $20 less than current levels, Venezuela's Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said after Thursday's OPEC meeting in Vienna. OPEC, which accounts for 40% of global crude output, left targets unchanged and called for stronger adherence to production quotas, Bloomberg News said. "They're concerned about the dollar because as the dollar weakens, prices go up," Nordine Ait-Laoussine,...

In a SPIEGEL interview, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, 57, discusses the stoning of adulterers, the consequences of Western sanctions against Iran and the risk of a military strike against his country.SPIEGEL: Mr. Foreign Minister, you are the senior diplomat of the Islamic Republic of Iran. You represent a nation that prides itself on a cultural history stretching back more than 2,500 years. Don't you find it shameful that people are stoned to death in your country? Manouchehr Mottaki: You come from a country that murdered millions of people during a tyrannical war, and you want to talk to me...

Berlin - A leading German Social Democrat has written a book with an apocalyptic vision of his country sliding into poverty, stupidity and Muslim domination. Thilo Sarrazin, 65, a former Berlin finance minister and current Bundesbank board member, is already under investigation by a public prosecutor for allegedly inciting racial hatred by blaming immigrants for making Germany "dumber" and calling Muslimchildren "underclass citizens." (Snip) "If Turkish migrants, in the third generation, do not speak correct German then an air of hostility grows around them.

BEIRUT — Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr Wednesday said he would reject any American military assistance to the Lebanese army if it comes with conditions that the weapons not be used against Israel. Murr was commenting on the decision by a US congressman to suspend $100 million of military aid to Lebanon over concerns the weapons could be turned on Israel and that Hezbollah may have influence over the Lebanese army. He stated that those who want to help the Lebanese army but place conditions on how their funds or weapons are used, should keep the money. The defense minister's...

Paul Schenck and his family say grace before dinner at their Manchester Township home in 2007. Schenck will become the first married priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg on Saturday. A former Anglican pastor will become the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg's first married priest when he's ordained Saturday in Springettsbury Township. Paul Schenck, 51, of Manchester Township will be ordained by Bishop Victor Galeone of the Diocese of St. Augustine (Fla.) during a 10 a.m. Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church. Galeone, a longtime friend of Schenck's, will perform the rite because the Diocese of Harrisburg has...

It's the first Catholic ordination in one Pennsylvania community -- and it's one for the history books: St. Joseph's Church in York will be the setting on Saturday for an event sure to go down in local religious history, and perhaps more. Paul Schenck, born into a Jewish family, eventually ordained as a Protestant minister, converting then becoming a Catholic deacon ... plus being married and blessed with many children ... will be ordained a Catholic priest in solemn ceremonies at St. Joseph's on Saturday. This will be the first-ever Catholic ordination in York, and surely, from a ministerial perspective,...

Japan's parliament elected outspoken populist Naoto Kan as prime minister Friday, handing the political veteran the immediate task of rallying his party and reclaiming its mandate for change before elections next month. Kan succeeds Yukio Hatoyama, who stepped down Wednesday after squandering the public's high hopes with broken campaign promises, including moving a U.S. Marine base off Okinawa island, and financial scandals.

TOKYO, June 1 (UPI) -- Embattled Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama announced his decision to step down Wednesday after only eight months in office. The leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, which he helped come to power last September after the August elections, announced his decision at a general assembly of party lawmakers, Kyodo News reported. The prime minister's ruling coalition has seen its public approval ratings plunge in recent months. Things came to a head after the Social Democratic Party, a coalition partner, decided to leave over the government's accord allowing the U.S. Marine base's air station to...

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama may step down within the next 48 hours amid growing public and political resentment at his handling of the relocation of a US Marines Corps base in Okinawa. Japanese Prime MInister Yukio Hatoyama Mr Hatoyama is scheduled to have showdown talks with Ichiro Ozawa, the secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, on Tuesday evening. Mr Ozawa is widely considered to be the party's kingmaker and the meeting may well determine the prime minister's political fate. Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Hatoyama said he was willing to stay on as prime minister, despite growing criticism...

TOKYO - Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama has said he intends to resign, a media report said Wednesday. Public broadcaster NHK said that Hatoyama told his party executives he intended to step down over his broken campaign promise to move a U.S. Marine base off the southern island of Okinawa.

Yishai tells Shas daily that he has clarified this stance to the U.S., and plans to expedite construction in the capital. Interior Minister Eli Yishai declared Thursday that Israel had not agreed to freeze construction in East Jerusalem, adding that American demands to do so would never be met. "There is not and never has been a freeze on construction in Jerusalem, nor will there ever be," said Yishai, whose approval of a 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit in March sparked tension in U.S.-Israeli ties.

Yishai tells Shas daily that he has clarified this stance to the U.S., and plans to expedite construction in the capital. Interior Minister Eli Yishai declared Thursday that Israel had not agreed to freeze construction in East Jerusalem, adding that American demands to do so would never be met. "There is not and never has been a freeze on construction in Jerusalem, nor will there ever be," said Yishai, whose approval of a 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit in March sparked tension in U.S.-Israeli ties.

AFP - A senior minister on Sunday warned that Israel would "liquidate" the Islamist Hamas-run government in Gaza following deadly weekend clashes that killed two Israeli soldiers. "Sooner or later we will liquidate the military regime of the pro-Iranian Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip," Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, from the governing rightwing Likud party, told public radio. "I am not setting a timetable, but we will not tolerate this regime continuing to strengthen itself militarily and providing itself with an arsenal of rockets that threaten our territory," he added.

Islamabad, PAKISTAN - President Obama's plan to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan in July 2011 has emboldened terrorists and increased distrust of U.S. intentions in the region, Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Thursday. "The administration's withdrawal date was music to the ears of the militants and terrorists," Qureshi said in an exclusive interview with The Washington Examiner. "This sends the wrong signal, and you will have chaos and confusion in Afghanistan if this comes to fruition.

J.P. Hale usually stands behind a pulpit, but this week he was standing in front of a police camera as they snapped mug shots. The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office says this week the 73-year-old pastor was arrested and charged with one count of indecent liberties with a child. It’s a class six felony. Thursday afternoon we showed up at Hale’s house to talk to the accused religious leader, but he had been advised by his attorney not to talk. The Pulaski County Sheriff won’t give any details on the alleged crime or when it happened, but Sheriff Jim Davis did...

(IsraelNN.com) British Foreign Minister David Miliband phoned Opposition Head Tzipi Livni Tuesday and expressed “shock” at the arrest warrant that was issued against her by a British court. Livni reportedly told him in reply that she does not see the matter as personal but as something that concerns the entire state of Israel, and the ability to continue to act against threats that Israel and Britain face together.

MAYS LANDING, N.J. - Eugene Robinson said sex was the last thing on his mind as he drove the pretty young woman who had asked for a ride to her motel. "I was waiting for God to send me the one that's supposed to be my Christian wife," he said. "That's what it says in the Bible." Yet within minutes of taking the woman to a cheap motel in neighboring Absecon, the 67-year-old Atlantic City Councilman and Baptist minister was receiving oral sex. "I was so surprised," he testified Wednesday in an Atlantic County courtroom. "I, um, hadn't really had...

DEFENCE Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has resigned from his portfolio. Mr Fitzgibbon resigned after it was revealed that he had instructed an Army general to meet with a US Insurance company, of which his brother Mark is an employee, Sky News reports. Major-General Paul Alexander, who is in charge of defence health services, told a parliamentary committee that staff of a junior minister and defence staff told him to attend the meetings with Mark Fitzgibbon, the chief executive of insurer NIB Health. The resignation comes after revelations of the meeting was made during a Senate Estimates hearing last night. “Having read...

When Steve Olmstead served as a Presbyterian minister in Juneau, he would often finish his duties on Sunday, close up the church and head to Mass with his devout Catholic wife and their children.“I had a place to worship, which a lot of pastors don’t,” Olmstead said in an interview with the Anchor. “It was nice to go to a place and worship where I wasn’t the minister.”The Anchorage Archdiocese’s newest seminarian grew up in a Presbyterian home and always had a strong spiritual life. When Olmstead entered adulthood, he felt called to serve as a youth minister, and was...

Ed Balls, the Children's and Schools Secretary, said the downturn was likely to be the most serious for 100 years, and his comments appeared to raise the prospect of a return to the Far Right politics of the 1930s and the rise of Facism. His warning, in a speech to activists at the weekend, came after a trade union baron warned that far right parties were trying to hijack the campaign for "British jobs for British workers". The row over foreign workers has gathered momentum in recent weeks and Mr Balls seemed to suggest the recession could trigger a return...

This is a transcription of a presentation by Dr. Keller at the 2004 FAIR Conference. The transcription was made from an audio recording of the event. Every effort has been made to transcribe the presentation as completely as possible. The Apostasy by Roger Keller I appreciate being here again with you this year, and thanks to Jack for the introduction. It has been fun to have her in class and to gain perspective from her and what she was talking about really is pretty much what I want to talk about today: How do we approach the topic of the...

After a trial that lasted late into the night Friday, a jury found a minister from Radford guilty of sexually abusing a girl in 2000 when she was 8 years old. Hawthorne Reed Jr., 63, was found guilty on two counts of forcible sodomy and one of aggravated sexual battery. The girl said the events happened in 2000, but she didn't tell anyone until six years later. The Roanoke Times is not identifying the girl because of the nature of the case. She doesn't live in Virginia. Jurors on Friday heard from both Reed and the now-16-year-old girl. She was...

A former youth minister at a Kingston church is accused of molesting at least two teenage girls who belonged to his congregation. Pastor Brian A. Neiswender repeatedly fondled the girls while playing hide and seek in the dark and teaching one-on-one music lessons, according to arrest papers. The 26-year-old Baptist minister surrendered to authorities Wednesday to face charges of indecent assault and corruption of minors in connection with the alleged sex crimes at Christ Community Church, 100 W. Dorrance St. The two girls, now 17 and 18 years old, came forward in February. They said the abuse dates back to...

Minister calls for children to be locked in school to stop them buying junk food Last updated at 16:47pm on 06.07.08   Children's Minister Kevin Brennan has called for secondary school children to be locked inside school grounds during breaks to stop them buying unhealthy food Children should be locked inside school grounds to stop them buying unhealthy food from shops and takeaways, a minister said yesterday.The drastic proposal comes amid new evidence that the Jamie Oliver-inspired drive to ensure school canteens offer more nutritious meals is being shunned by pupils.Children's Minister Kevin Brennan said secondary school children should...

Royden Wood leaves the courthouse with his wife Linda yesterday after being charged with six new counts of sexual assault. (Mike Hensen, Sun Media) Already awaiting sentencing on 12 charges, a former London pastor was back in court yesterday -- charged with six counts of sexual assault.   Royden Wood, former pastor of London's Ambassador Baptist Church, was released after a bail hearing with conditions, a $10,000 deposit and his employer acting as a surety.  Wood declined comment as he left the court, holding his wife's hand and accompanied by his employer, Earl Dunn, owner of a Muskoka-area marina where...

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - District Heights Mayor James L. Walls, also an associate minister at a local church, will keep his jobs, for now, after being charged with soliciting a male prostitute in the District of Columbia early Thursday morning, his colleagues said. The 30-year-old fast-rising black political star — he holds positions with nationwide civic groups and the local NAACP chapter, among others — has been charged with solicitation for lewd and immoral purposes after he allegedly attempted to pick up an undercover District officer who was posing as a male prostitute around 12:30 a.m. at Sixth and F...

Army deserters told fellow soldier they committed the crime, court papers say. Two U.S. Army deserters were arrested Friday and charged with killing the Rev. Mark McCalla, a former Franklin pastor. First-degree murder charges were filed against Stephen C. Wilson, 19, of Cincinnati, and Daniel R. Smith, 22, of Newport News, Va. The men were captured after 9 p.m. Friday in downtown Columbus, according to Sgt. Dana Norman of the Columbus Police Dept. homicide bureau. The men told a fellow soldier they had shot and killed McCalla, according to criminal complaints filed in Wayne County, W.Va., magistrate court. Wilson and...

A Machesney Park minister faces additional counts of sexual assault charges. Jonathon Christopher Powell, 40, was arrested last week after accusations he sexually abused an underage girl. The Winnebago County Sheriff's Department said there could be a second victim. Now, Powell's been charged in that case too. He now faces two more counts of Criminal Sexual Abuse, for a total of four counts in the two cases. Powell is still in jail, with no bond. Detectives tell us Powell was a minister at New Hope Baptist Church in Machesney Park. 13 News has tried contacting the church and has not...

PLAY VIDEO: Former Lay A former Colorado Springs lay pastor at a church, charged with sex assault on a child, was in court Thursday. A preliminary hearing was scheduled, but Jon Moore waived it. The 51-year-old is accused of sexually assaulting a teenager. The allegations span over three years. The two met at Lighthouse Baptist Church near Austin Bluffs and Academy.  On his way into court, we asked Moore about the charges against him. He didn’t want to answer any of our questions.Moore used to work as an assistant to the preacher at Lighthouse Baptist. He’s charged with sex...

The minister who survived a lightning bolt [Rockaway, NJ] -- A fall into Purgatory Chasm couldn't take down the Rev. Matthew McNamara many years ago, and a bolt of lightning that ripped through him from head to toe this week was no match either. "I feel blessed," McNamara said yesterday from his hospital bed at Morristown Memorial Hospital, where he is in good condition and being treated for burns to his head and foot. The Pequannock resident was hit by lightning Monday night as he was readying Camp Marcella, a state-run summer camp for blind and visually impaired children, for...

Obama Tied to More Racists By Sher Zieve As the leftist media valiantly attempts to bury any additional and factual racist-related stories about their presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), new information regarding Obama’s ties to racism and anti-Americanism are still emerging. And just as Obama’s former self-admitted anti-American/anti-white people/anti-Semitic pastor Jeremiah Wright has skulked off the pulpit of the inaptly named “Trinity United Church of Christ”, another apparently racism-preaching minister—Otis Moss—is picking up where Wright left off. And there is, yet, another one—Minister James Meeks. But, let’s begin with Moss. During this year’s Easter sermon, Moss (I will not...

A government minister has warned that inbreeding among immigrants is causing a surge in birth defects - comments likely to spark a new row over the place of Muslims in British society. Phil Woolas, an environment minister, said the culture of arranged marriages between first cousins was the “elephant in the room”. Woolas, a former race relations minister, said: “If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there’ll be a genetic problem.” The minister, whose views were supported by medical experts this weekend, said: “The issue we need to debate is first cousin marriages, whereby a lot...

SCHENECTADY -- To commemorate Tuesday's 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling that affirmed a woman's right to an abortion, clergy blessed this city's new Planned Parenthood clinic in a ceremony dubbed "On Sacred Ground.""Today is more than about the building and about bricks and mortar," Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Linda Scharf said. "It's a blessing to demonstrate the support of the clergy." Since Jan. 22, 1973, when the high court handed down the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision, two sides of the issue have squared off. Opponents have campaigned to overturn unrestricted abortion laws, while proponents have stood firm for...

by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor January 24, 2008 Albany, NY (LifeNews.com) -- In an act that is sure to generate guffaws from the pro-life community, a group of pro-abortion clergy in Schenectady held a ceremony at a local abortion business to bless it and call it "sacred ground." Religious officials who are pro-life call the ceremony sacrilegious by blessing a place that kills the life God creates.

JACKSONVILLE - After 14 years of leading a Jacksonville church, the Rev. Darrell Gilyard had put behind a messy chapter in his life when reports of affairs with church members forced his resignation from a Dallas, Texas-area church. But during the weekend, allegations of sexual misconduct again put a cloud over Gilyard's ministry. Gilyard, 45, took a voluntary paid leave of absence from Shiloh Baptist Church after a mother's report to the sheriff's office that she found obscene text messages on her daughter's cell phone from a phone owned by the preacher. Gilyard, who lives in a gated community and...

A retired pastor from Canada was sentenced to three years in prison today after telling a McHenry County judge he was sexually harassed by the 4-year-old Lake in the Hills girl he pleaded guilty to molesting. Kenneth R. Cooke, 73, appeared to have reasonable chance at a probation sentence given his age, health problems and lack of criminal history heading into his sentencing hearing this afternoon. But the Calgary man who once headed his own ministry likely blew his chance of avoiding prison when he took the witness stand and painted his pre-school age victim as a sexual aggressor. "On...

Manhattan prep school officials and parents aren't the only ones who hope the NYPD tracks down and arrests a defrocked priest accused of molesting a student. His son wants him behind bars, too. "I'd love to see him get caught," Aaron Jacques, 25, the youngest child of school fund-raiser Bruce Jacques, told the Daily News yesterday. "If he really did what they say he did, that would make my day." Bruce Jacques, 57, is on the run after a male student at the Robert Louis Stevenson School on W. 74th St. claimed the ex-priest sexually assaulted by him in Central...

NORTH ANSON -- The Carrabec High School administrator accused of unlawful sexual contact with a minor has stepped down as minister of an evangelical church. Frank "Skip" Gleason, assistant principal and athletic director at Carrabec, resigned Sunday as pastor of Maranatha Assembly on Church Street after accusations against him became public. Meanwhile, supporters of Gleason rallied around him, saying they doubt that the charges are true, but that the publicity has already done irreparable harm to a good man. The alleged abuse of a 15-year-old Carrabec High School student occurred off school grounds, the arresting officer said Monday. Sheriff's Detective...