Free Republic

Mon 8 Jan 2007 Birthday-suit parties all the rage for Ivy League students CRAIG HOWIE STUDENTS at America's prestigious Ivy League universities are rebelling against their colleges' stuffy reputations, casting off society's norms along with their clothes to hold naked parties. The Pundits, a secretive society at Yale University, initiated the events - which profess to be non-sexual in nature - in the mid-1990s, open to a select few. The society claims that president George Bush's daughter, Barbara, attended a naked party during her second year, in 2002. The White House has always declined to comment. But the naked parties...

ROME (AP) - The conservative religious group Opus Dei has asked for a disclaimer on the upcoming film based on the best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code." Opus Dei, portrayed as a murderous, power-hungry sect in the novel by Dan Brown, wrote in an April 6 letter to Sony Corp. (SNE) that a disclaimer would show respect to Jesus and to the Catholic Church. "Any such decision by Sony would be a gesture of respect toward the figure of Jesus, to the history of the Church and to the religious beliefs of viewers," Opus Dei wrote in the letter, which...

When Mozart Stunned Rome; God at the Pub Wolfgang's Memory Caught a Pope's Attention ROME, JAN. 26, 2006 (Zenit.org).- As any good music aficionado knows, 2006 marks the 350th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Opera houses worldwide are featuring "Don Giovanni" and "Figaro," while Mozart biographies and boxed sets of concertos and sonatas proliferate in music stores. Even Rome was enchanted by this great composer and, indeed, the child prodigy from Salzburg was warmly received in the Eternal City during his brief sojourn here in 1770. Mozart is often associated with the Freemasons -- he joined the...

So I get home last night and in the mail is an 8 page letter addressed to me with an invitation to join a "secret society". It seems I have been identified by some secret group of famous people who must remain anonymous right now as having "traits" that they are looking for to join their group. This must be something REALLY special, because they apparently only open themselves for new members every 7 years. Not only that, there is no cost to join. All I have to do is respond and I get a free book that details all...

The dictator, the saint and the ministerAfter weeks of speculation, the education secretary Ruth Kelly admitted this week that she receives 'spiritual support' from the secretive Catholic sect Opus Dei. But even if reports of bizarre rituals are exaggerated, why would she be involved with the controversial group in the first place? Andy Beckett investigatesAndy BeckettFriday January 28, 2005GuardianJust over half a century ago in Spain, a new kind of politician began to appear. As government ministers, they were young, energetic and highly competent. They were confident without being overbearing. And they seemed relatively free of fixed political ideas, except...

Police in Paris have discovered a fully equipped cinema-cum-restaurant in a large and previously uncharted cavern underneath the capital's chic 16th arrondissement. Officers admit they are at a loss to know who built or used one of Paris's most intriguing recent discoveries. "We have no idea whatsoever," a police spokesman said. "There were two swastikas painted on the ceiling, but also celtic crosses and several stars of David, so we don't think it's extremists. Some sect or secret society, maybe. There are any number of possibilities." Members of the force's sports squad, responsible - among other tasks - for policing...

...according to a study by the University of Maryland: 57 % of those surveyed "believe that before the war Iraq was providing substantial support to al-Qaida", and 45% "believe that evidence that Iraq was supporting al-Qaida has been found". Moreover, 65% believe that "experts" have confirmed that Iraq had WMD.

WASHINGTON - Sen. John F. Kerry expounds on many issues in his presidential campaign, but he's completely silent on one topic: his membership in Skull and Bones, Yale's infamous secret society. ``John Kerry has absolutely nothing to say on that subject. Sorry,'' said Kerry spokeswoman Kelley Benander. Kerry is a respected senator and a decorated Vietnam War combat veteran, but 36 years after he was initiated into what has been called the ``ultimate old boy network,'' he's wary of breaking the ultra-exclusive club's strict secrecy code. There's also another high-profile member of the club: President Bush. Bonesmen already are buzzing...

<p>The formal name is Keystone Lodge No. 6 of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World.</p> <p>Locals use the shorthand name, Black Elks.</p> <p>The fraternal organization's lodge at Highland and Burton avenues looks a bit run down, like other properties in Washington's Highland-Ridge neighborhood, and the financially strapped club is fighting for survival. Behind the dwindling membership and delinquent real estate taxes, however, is a proud story ripe for telling at the start of Black History Month.</p>

The media loves to expose the Mark Rich pardon, because it's foggy. They can herd us all into looking at that one pardon. Freepers do well to bring it up, since that is the only new info coming out. However, the Stupid Party never follows up with the big, simple pardons. The FALN bomb terrorist pardons that Hannity refers to sometimes. The crack dealer, caught with 250 pounds of cocaine, planning to convert it all to crack, who PURCHASED a pardon from Hugh Rodham, Hellery's own brother. [Her brother who also profited most from the tobacco lawsuit, with Reno's government...

"A comic junket behind–the–scenes of the world’s most exclusive power–broker retreat. The true story: the richest, most powerful white men in America gather each summer in Northern California for a super secret retreat that takes them back to their sophomore year in college. For fifty-one weeks a year they run the country. For one week they run amuck. They're there to unwind, but they get really unwound when that secrecy is threatened."