Free Republic

Despite not being a member of the European Union, Switzerland is under intense pressure from Brussels to raise taxes as companies flee high-tax EU welfare states in favor of more business-friendly Swiss cantons. And if the nation refuses to bow down soon, so-called “eurocrats” are threatening retaliation. The Swiss government has been in discussions with EU bosses for over a year regarding Switzerland’s non-compliance with the “EU Code of Conduct for Business Taxation.” The EU’s goal, according to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, is to eliminate what the supranational regime in Brussels calls “harmful tax practices” — low taxes which attract...

Even casual observers of legendary actor/director/racing enthusiast and professional driver/philanthropist Paul Newman can tell you that amongst his widely varied personal interests, the boy liked his cars... and particularly the fast ones. The late-great movie star also possessed an independent streak that contributed to his aura and celebrity appeal, thus in the wake of initial Hollywood success of the early 1960s -starting with 1963's The Hustler- the free-thinking Newman went and got himself not a new Cadillac convertible, Rolls, or Ferrari... but a cherry-red 1963 VW Beetle Convertible.  He was soon recruited by VW's agency in the US to pose in ads with...

Dear Friend in Christ, In 2011, what if Catholic college students nationwide resolved to spend time in Eucharistic Adoration? With your prayers and support, The Cardinal Newman Society is prepared to launch our fourth year of leading Catholic college students to Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. The Cardinal Newman Society is nearing completion of a powerful new video to lead young people to Eucharistic Adoration . . . and we continue to sponsor the Vatican’s Eucharistic Miracles of the World exhibit on college campuses. This work is essential to our mission of renewing authentic Catholic education.  The Eucharist must be...

Today many people have trouble with the truth i.e. both with a little "t" and a capital "T." When it is spelled with a lower case "t," it represents the dictionary definition: 1. Conformity to fact or actuality.2. A statement proven to be or accepted as true.Spelled with a capital "T," it represents Jesus as He answered the Apostle Thomas in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life."Modern atheists seem to be enjoying the limelight (no pun intended) especially in England as they attack Pope Benedict XVI for the beatification of the famous convert John Henry...

Three Lessons from Newman From Pope Benedict XVI's meditation at the prayer vigil in Hyde Park yesterday evening: Here is the first lesson we can learn from his life: in our day, when an intellectual and moral relativism threatens to sap the very foundations of our society, Newman reminds us that, as men and women made in the image and likeness of God, we were created to know the truth, to find in that truth our ultimate freedom and the fulfilment of our deepest human aspirations. In a word, we are meant to know Christ, who is himself “the way,...

Pope Benedict in England: Basic Things You Need To Know So you just discovered that the Pope is in England. If you're Catholic and you're just tuning in, you're probably wondering about this because it's in all the news. If you're not a Catholic, you're probably also wondering why it's getting so much news coverage. Here's just a little guide to give you some inside baseball. But first a clip of his arrival. . .   Video embedded -- embed http://www.youtube.com/v/MNLI9YwnF2c&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" 1. Popes Have Seldom Visited England The only visit to England by a modern-day Pope was made by John...

LONDON (CNS) -- Catholic officials are investigating claims that a severely deformed baby was born in a perfectly normal condition after the child's mother prayed to Cardinal John Henry Newman for a miracle. Andrea Ambrosi, the Vatican lawyer in charge of Cardinal Newman's cause for canonization, has revealed in a BBC program to be broadcast Sept. 18 that he hopes the inexplicable healing may be the miracle needed to canonize Cardinal Newman as Britain's next saint. Pope Benedict XVI will beatify Cardinal Newman at a huge open-air Mass in Birmingham's Cofton Park Sept. 19, the last day of his four-day...

A WANNABE warlock has revealed plans to open OCCULT centres in Birmingham and Coventry during the Pope’s visit.Former parliamentary candidate Magnus Lynius Shadee also wants to pray at Cardinal Newman’s grave in a move that is sure to infuriate the Vatican.The occultist says the centres are at a secret location near Cofton Park in Birmingham and another venue in Coventry.Shadee, 65, said: “I’ve always intended to open an occult centre in the cities and the Pope’s visit simply brought forward the date. The Vatican will probably be none too happy with the idea though.‘‘I will also visit Cardinal Newman’s grave...

Because there is typically no such thing as a pulpit in the Byzantine Churches, the priest or deacon who is to preach usually stands on the soleas in front of the Royal Doors, without notes or text, and preaches extemporaneously. Likewise, the Evangelion of the Byzantine Liturgikon is an annual one, without cycles for alternate years; and the temptation to drift far from the Scriptures of the day into less appropriate subject matter, rather than explore ever new and deepening mysteries in the passages provided, is often difficult to resist. The purpose of this web site is to present my...

Cardinal John Henry Newman and Pope Benedict XVI. London, England, Mar 16, 2010 / 11:12 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a joint press conference on Tuesday, the U.K. Government and the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Scotland, England and Wales welcomed Pope Benedict's upcoming visit, calling it an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen ties between the country and  the Holy See. The Sept. 16-19 papal visit, which is the first ever to take place in the U.K., was formally announced by Queen Elizabeth II on March 16. The Pope's itinerary includes not only a formal reception by Her Majesty The Queen but...

Vote of Confidence A huge black turnout in November 1992 altered Chicago's electoral landscape—and raised a new political star: a 31-year-old lawyer named Barack Obama. By Gretchen Reynolds A huge black turnout in November 1992 altered Chicago's electoral landscape-and raised a new political star: a 31-year-old lawyer named Barack Obama. In the final, climactic buildup to November's general election, with George Bush gaining ground on Bill Clinton in Illinois and the once-unstoppable campaign of senatorial candidate Carol Moseley Braun embroiled in allegations about her mother's Medicare liability, one of the most important local stories managed to go virtually unreported: The...

Obama’s statement that abortions will not be paid for with federal money is a bold-faced deceptionWashington, DC – President Barack Obama made the statement during last evening’s address on Health Care Reform that before a joint session of Congress that was meant to deceive the American people on the matter of tax-payer funding of abortions. Obama stated, “One more misunderstanding I want to clear up – under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place.” “Every fact-checking organization tells us that this is just not true. The reality is...

Fr. Chavasse, postulator for Cardinal Newman's cause/ John Henry Cardinal Newman Birmingham, Ala., Jul 12, 2009 / 06:27 am (CNA).- The beneficiary of a Vatican-approved miracle attributed to the intercession of Servant of God John Henry Cardinal Newman says an EWTN show inspired him to pray to the saint for the healing of his back injuries that could have paralyzed him. His use of a relic of the cardinal may also be linked to a second miracle.John “Jack” Sullivan had awoken to excruciating pain in June 2000. A CT scan revealed that all or most of the vertebrae and...

Pope Benedict XVI today announced the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman. The declaration means that the Anglican vicar, who shocked Victorian England by converting to Catholicism, will be given the title 'Blessed'. It also puts Newman just one stage away from becoming the first English saint in about 40 years.

Portrait of Cardinal Newman. (CNS) A papal decree announcing the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman is imminent and will most likely be made before the Vatican closes for its summer break in August, the Register has learned. Last month, the Vatican’s medical board concluded a miracle attributed to Cardinal Newman’s intercession was due to inexplicable causes. Deacon John Sullivan, 70, of Marshfield, Mass., was healed of severe back pain in 2001 after praying to the 19th-century English theologian. Deacon Sullivan was prompted to ask for Cardinal Newman’s intercession after watching an EWTN program on Cardinal Newman’s beatification process. Now,...

Conservatives clearly have more than enough reason to worry because all of the praise being heaped on her by New Hampshire Democrats suggests she won't be as reliable as the least dependable of the GOP's current sitting Senators. Newman, after all, endorsed Lynch when he first sought the governorship in 2002 against the sitting governor, Republican Craig Benson. And she has described herself as a "reasonable Republican" - not exactly the kind of self-identification that suggests she has an altogether favorable impression of her own party. Lynch's selection of Newman, who has already indicated she will not seek a full...

J. Bonnie Newman, the woman poised to become New Hampshire's newest senator, has spent 40 years moving among high-profile jobs in politics, academia and the business world. But even for her colleagues and admirers, the precise contours of Newman's personal politics are unclear. Newman, a 63-year-old Republican, has never run for public office, never cast a legislative vote, never outlined a campaign platform. Colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, describe her as a nonideological problem-solver - with a wicked sense of humor and a serious golf habit. They praise her work ethic and her ability to bring together people of differing...

Bonnie Newman announced as the replacement for Senator Gregg.

A forensic archaeologist has raised fresh questions over why no remains were found in the grave of an English cardinal in line to become a saint.It comes just days before artefacts owned by Cardinal John Henry Newman go on display ahead of his possible beatification.Tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets of Birmingham in 1890 as Cardinal John Henry Newman's body was carried eight miles to its final resting place. Some 118 years later the Vatican ordered his remains be dug up. Roman Catholic leaders in Birmingham were asked to exhume his body by the Vatican as part of...

If we learned anything from the mess in Florida in 2000, it’s this: When elections don’t end on Election Day, things get ugly quickly. That is why today, and not the day after Election Day, is the day for Americans of all political stripes to aggressively press for more robust safeguards against vote fraud and for immediate action on the registration-fraud investigations targeting ACORN, the community-organizing enterprise that has been the sometime employer and full-time ally of Barack Obama. ACORN’s voter-registration affiliate, Project Vote, was founded by leftist activist Sandy Newman. When Newman was looking to hire somebody to run...

A retired Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice says that she is "not confident we can get a fair election" in the state come November. Justice Sandra Newman, accompanied by Dauphin County District Attorney Edward Marsico and Pennsylvania Republican State Chairman Robert Gleason, expressed her concerns at a Harrisburg press conference this morning. A thick document replete with photo copies of phony registrations and aerial shots of vacant lots used as "addresses" for "voters" was handed out to journalists. Gleason was even more explicit. "Between March 23rd and October 1st, various groups, including ACORN, submitted over 252,595 registrations to the Philadelphia County...

If you believe Crystal Gail Mangum, the ex-convict stripper still falsely posing as a gang rape victim, you probably believe that the innocuously named ACORN (the acronym for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is a fine association honorably pursuing laudable goals. That's nuts! Mangum is a con artist still lying outrageously and ACORN is a sinister association out to take over America by putting politicians of its choosing, especially Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., in power, by doing whatever it takes, despite the law. ACORN is dangerous. Bowing to ACORN's political power and thuggish tactics resulted in many of...

The grave of the 19th Century Cardinal John Henry Newman did not contain his body, the Catholic Church has revealed.The plot, at the Oratory House, Rednal, near Birmingham, was excavated on Thursday at the Vatican's instruction. His remains were to have been moved to the Birmingham Oratory, in preparation for Newman's anticipated beatification. Newman's body may have decomposed, as his coffin was not lead-lined. Its absence will not affect the progress of his cause in Rome, a spokesman said.In a statement released on Saturday, Peter Jennings from the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory, said: "Brass, wooden and cloth artefacts from...

Paul Newman, 1925-2008 There were two Paul Newmans: He was a star on screen - one of the last real movie stars, a man who, despite himself, brought glamor to every role. Off screen, he was a rather doctrinaire leftie - a lot of celebrities are, of course, at least when mouthing off at awards ceremonies. Newman didn't do a lot of talking the talk, not in public, but he walked the walk in ways few politically-minded celebs do. My National Review colleague Jay Nordlinger once sniffed that Newman, as a movie star, knew jack about how money is really...

UPPER-MIDDLE-CLASS sub- urbs such as Shaker Heights, Ohio, are unpromising incubators for character actors, who are supposed to have ridden the rails or broken broncos or lost teeth in Hell's Kitchen rumbles before finding easier work on the Big Screen. But Paul Newman, who grew up in that Cleveland-area community, was an actor who was all character--and who rode that trait to the very top of the playbill. Imitations of Wayne's drawl or Cagney's snarl or Stewart's affection-ate stutter are accessible to devoted impressionists. But who ever saw even an attempted impersonation of Mr. Newman? Each of his screen portrayals--he...

<p>An unconfirmed report just came in from AD reader Kubrickguy. Newman was battling cancer but must have lost the fight. Long live Paul Newman.</p>

LONDON (CNS) -- Catholic officials have applied for permission to exhume the body of a 19th-century cardinal whose cause for sainthood is expected to soon progress to beatification. They want to transfer the remains of Cardinal John Henry Newman from a grave in a small cemetery in the suburbs of Birmingham, England, to a marble sarcophagus in a church in the city where they can be venerated by pilgrims. A July 14 statement said that the Archdiocese of Birmingham was now in direct contact with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, to obtain the necessary...

FILM legend Paul Newman is suffering from lung cancer, according to U.S. magazine reports. The Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid actor, 83, has been suffering from ill health for many months and in May was forced to pull out of directing a production of John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men. Two U.S. publications quote friends of the actor saying the former chain-smoker has been diagnosed with lung cancer at the New York’s Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre, a few hours drive from his Connecticut home, where he lives his wife Joanne Woodward. A friend of the actor told the National Enquirer:...

Cardinal John Henry Newman Vatican City, Apr 23, 2008 / 03:12 am (CNA).- The Vatican has approved the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, the English convert and theologian who has had immense influence upon English-speaking Catholicism, the Birmingham Mail reports.John Henry Newman was born in 1801.  As an Anglican priest, he led the Oxford Movement that sought to return the Church of England to its Catholic roots.  His conversion to Catholicism in 1845 rocked Victorian England.  After becoming an Oratorian priest, he was involved in the establishment of the Birmingham Oratory.  He died in 1890 and is buried...

Happy Birthday Cardinal Newman, part 3 of 3. The cause of Cardinal Newman’s canonization was opened in 1958 in Birmingham, England, his home diocese, and was introduced in Rome in 1987. One reason for the long preparation was the amount of evidence to be collected and studied. In addition to his published works, some 20,000 letters written by the cardinal have survived. In 1991 the Vatican declared that Cardinal Newman had lived a life of “heroic virtue” which was worthy of imitation, giving him the title "Venerable." Ironically, most of the support for Newman's cause comes from the United States,...

Happy Birthday Cardinal Newman, part 2 of 3. [Our Newman Birthday Celebration (belated) continues, this time with Cardinal Newman's own words (the Biglietto Speech) -- perhaps more prescient now than they were when he spoke them. --PP] For thirty, forty, fifty years I have resisted to the best of my powers the spirit of Liberalism in religion. Never did Holy Church need champions against it more sorely than now, when, alas! it is an error overspreading, as a snare, the whole earth; and on this great occasion, when it is natural for one who is in my place to look...

Happy Birthday Cardinal Newman, part 1 of 3. Our Newman birthday celebration (slightly belated) begins with a homily preached by your PP on the 18th Sunday after Pentecost according to the Byzantine Calendar. The Gospel Lesson for this day is Luke 5: 1-11 (the Miraculous Catch of Fish): Because I was trained in a Roman Catholic seminary (note: I am an Eastern Catholic priest), I was exposed to the writings of Cardinal Newman, and they had a great influence on me. John Henry Newman was born into an Evangelical Christian family, was later ordained a priest of the Church of...

Last Friday, Father Richard John Neuhaus, in a piece about the possibilities of reconverting the nation of England to the ancient faith, made a passing reference to Cardinal Newman’s diffidence about actively seeking Anglican converts to the Catholic Church and specifically cited Newman’s principle: “I am afraid to make hasty converts of educated men lest they should not have counted the cost & should have difficulties after they have entered the Church. . . . The Church must be prepared for converts, as well as converts prepared for the Church.” Taking a snapshot of Newman’s position at any one time...

Cardinal Newman, the Anglican cleric whose conversion to Roman Catholicism scandalised Victorian Britain, appeared closer to sainthood today after his case was backed by a senior Vatican official.   Cardinal Newman The head of the Vatican department that examines the causes of saints said that he would like the Cardinal's beatification - the step before canonisation - to take place very soon. His comments suggest that the Vatican is close to attributing a miracle to Cardinal Newman, which means that the 19th century cleric could be beatified before the end of the year. The controversial theologian and writer of the...

The Vatican is close to attributing a miracle to Cardinal Newman that would pave the way for Britain's most famous convert to Roman Catholicism to become this country's first saint for 40 years.Insiders in Rome believe that the Vatican will announce a decision within months, meaning that the former Anglican whose conversion shocked Victorian England could be beatified as early as next year.The controversial theologian and writer of the hymn Lead Kindly Light, who converted in 1845 and died in 1890, would then be declared "Blessed" and be one step from canonisation, for which a second miracle would be needed....

For nine years I served the Lord Jesus Christ as a United Methodist pastor in New Jersey; for five of those years I had no thought of being anything else. I had a growing church, I was happy in my denomination and pleased with my prospects, and I was satisfied. I believed that denominations were not only inevitable but good. Since Christians would always disagree about their beliefs and practices, having different denominations kept them from fighting. I didn’t believe that visible unity was necessary for the Church, nor doctrinal unity. At the same time I insisted strongly on my...

SSPX in schism? You can believe Fr. Newman... or you can believe the Church South Carolina pastor warns flock SSPX attendance "morally illicit" and "gravely sinful" Brian Mershon Brian Mershon August 7, 2007 Greenville, South Carolina — Noted author and commentator George Weigel's book Letters to a Young Catholic highlights St. Mary's parish, under the direction of Fr. Jay Scott Newman, JCL, as a particularly bright beacon in the continuing wasteland of the post-Vatican II devastation. St. Mary's is a steadily growing parish with lots of young families, and many who are open to life and attempting to lead holy,...

SSPX in schism? You can believe Fr. Newman... or you can believe the Church South Carolina pastor warns flock SSPX attendance "morally illicit" and "gravely sinful" Brian Mershon Brian Mershon August 7, 2007 Greenville, South Carolina — Noted author and commentator George Weigel's book Letters to a Young Catholic highlights St. Mary's parish, under the direction of Fr. Jay Scott Newman, JCL, as a particularly bright beacon in the continuing wasteland of the post-Vatican II devastation. St. Mary's is a steadily growing parish with lots of young families, and many who are open to life and attempting to lead holy,...

LANDIS - A pregnant woman and the baby she was carrying died Tuesday night after a head-on collision with a Jeep driven by a man Kannapolis police were following at the intersection of South Main Street and West First Street. Another infant child in the car did not appear injured, officials said Officials did not release their names. They said the woman was eight months pregnant. Reed Linn, Landis Volunteer Fire Department chief, said the wreck occurred about 5:15 p.m. Linn said that after the wreck, the man was pinned underneath the Jeep. Emergency service workers had to use two...

ASHLAND, Ky. -- It was neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night that kept Charles Fred Miller from his appointed rounds. Miller, a one-time mail carrier in the eastern Kentucky city of Grayson, said it was simply laziness. The 32 year-old pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge related to undelivered mail. He told U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning that he stuffed more than 500 items of undelivered mail into garbage bags in a storage shed behind his house. "I just got lazy," Miller said. A federal grand jury indicted Miller in July on felony counts...

Postal worker caught with thousands of letters Fri Jul 14, 11:14 AM ET BERLIN (Reuters) - A Berlin postal worker who was caught with more than several thousand undelivered letters in his basement has admitted he was overwhelmed by the job but insisted he planned to deliver them soon. Police recently found 90 boxes of post stacked in his basement. The postal worker, 36, identified as Thomas H., told Bild newspaper Friday he was only temporarily storing the post at his house and friends would help with delivery. "There were just too much and I couldn't deliver it all by...

An Encino man pleaded guilty to running a recycling scheme straight out of a "Seinfeld" episode - one that bilked California out of $2.5 million, authorities said Wednesday. Errol Segal, 61, president of Active Recycling, trucked more than 50 million cans and bottles into California from neighboring states and Mexico, then falsified records to bill the state for the California Redemption Value. The company also billed the state for more than 10 million bogus bottles. "This is the largest (recycling scheme) my office has done in a long, long time, if ever," Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Garringer said. "We're talking...

From A Letter Addressed to the Rev. E. B. Pusey, D.D. on Occasion of his Eirenicon Pages 31-62 As regards the Blessed Virgin then, I shall postpone the question of devotion for a while, and inquire first into the doctrine of the undivided Church (to use your controversial phrase), on the subject of her prerogatives.1.What is the great rudimental teaching of Antiquity from its earliest date concerning her? By "rudimental teaching," I mean the primâ facie view of her person and office, the broad outline laid down of her, the aspect under which she comes to us, in the writings...

For the two Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices up for re-election this year, the foe is public perception, not a candidate of the opposition party. Justices Russell M. Nigro and Sandra Schultz Newman are fighting for new 10-year terms because of rising anger toward the court, stirred largely by a pay raise that state lawmakers gave themselves in the middle of the night last summer. (snip) "There is a serious disconnect in Pennsylvania between our elected officials" and the people, said Russ Diamond, chairman of PACleanSweep, a political action committee committed to ousting every incumbent in the Legislature. Citizen activists and...

Rome, Oct. 20 (CWNews.com) - Reports of a miracle attributed to the intercession of Cardinal John Henry Newman have given a new impetus to the cause for beatification of the 19th-century British convert. "At last we have a miracle cure," said Father Paul Chavasse, the provost of the Birmingham Oratory, an institution founded by Cardinal Newman in 1848. He was referring to reports that an American deacon was cured of severe chronic spinal problems through Cardinal Newman's intercession. Church officials would not reveal the identity of the man who benefited from the reported miracle, but said that the Boston archdiocese...

It is now time to try to wrap up these small “lectures” on the history of art. Today is the tough day: Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, etc. I have to admit that I did not “get” these works until I was well within graduate school. For Pollock, it took the documentary by Hans Namuth in which I saw him painting. His work is not just a bunch of random splatters; instead, Pollock carefully dances around the canvas, and you can see the evidence of the “dance,” if you will, on the canvas. (This is the same time that Martha Graham...

Kohbar Towers. What, me worry? The Embassy in Tanzania. What, me worry? The Embassy in Kenya. What me worry? The U.S.S Cole. What, me worry? Oklahoma City? Blame talk radio aka Rush Limbaugh. "I sometimes feel that Alfred E. Neuman is in charge in Washington," Clinton said during the inaugural Aspen Ideas Festival, organized by the Aspen Institute, a non-partisan think tank. So Hillary, when you are looking for a president who embodies the philosophy of Alfred E. Newman make an appointment and see your husband, if you can find him.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton went on the attack against President Bush in a speech Sunday, accusing him of damaging the economy by overspending while giving tax cuts to the rich. The Democrat from New York also accused Bush of depriving U.S. soldiers of equipment needed to fight the war in Iraq and cutting funding for scientific research. ``I sometimes feel that Alfred E. Neuman is in charge in Washington,'' Clinton said referring to the freckle-faced Mad magazine character. She drew a laugh from crowd when she described Bush's attitude toward tough issues with Neuman's catchphrase: ``What, me worry?'' Clinton, who...

Sunday, June 26, 2005 In his 1974 song "Rednecks," Randy Newman lays a trap for the listener. Calling up the most boorish images of white Southerners ("We talk real funny down here/ We drink too much and we laugh too loud/ We're too dumb to make it in no northern town"), Newman invites the superior laughter of northern white liberals, the folks who'd bristle at pickaninny dolls but smile at Bubba jokes. And then he unsheathes his knife. His proclamation that good old boys are "too ignorant to realize" that the North has given blacks their freedom is followed by...