Free Republic

October 12, 2004 Dear Friends, I'm sending you this special message in my individual capacity (rather than as a group leader). As you may know, one of my regular activities is to communicate with any practicing abortionists who are willing to talk. One of those abortionists has me on his email list, and he has been sending out constant emails attacking and ridiculing the President. That should certainly tell us all something about the pro-life credentials of President Bush, when abortionists campaign against him. To help you inform others of the stark difference between the Presidential candidates this year, I...

When term papers get graded this school year, many students who turn in sloppy work won't be seeing red. An increasingly popular grading theory insists red ink is stressful and demoralizes students, while purple, the preferred color, has a more calming effect. "I never use red to grade papers because it stands out like, 'Oh, here's what you did wrong.' " said Melanie Irvine, a third-grade teacher at Pacific Rim Elementary in Carlsbad. "Purple is a more approachable color." Irvine said that in elementary schools, it's unnecessary to point out every error. Instead, a teacher should find a more delicate...

CSUSM nixes Michael Moore visit By: BRUCE KAUFFMAN - Staff Writer SAN MARCOS ---- Saying there is too little time before the November election to provide a "balancing perspective," officials at Cal State San Marcos on Monday vetoed plans to bring anti-Bush provocateur filmmaker Michael Moore to North County in October. In a memo, CSUSM President Karen S. Haynes said Moore would be invited to campus sometime after the election. Her decision renders moot a vote Friday of the board of Associated Students Inc., the student government body, to spend $6,500 toward bringing Moore to campus on Oct. 13. It's...

I love Washington D.C. I've only been there about five times - three of which were in the dead of winter - but I have always enjoyed myself. I like that every building is steeped in historical significance; I'm from San Diego, and we only have one Historical Building in the whole city. Of course, here in Europe, everywhere you turn there is a building founded by monks of the eleventh century, built upon ruins of Roman settlements from 200 BC, restored for use by some prestigious emperor, military hero, or worldly archbishop of the eighteenth century. This puts even...

Innovation, Business Creation: Hallmarks of San Diego's New Catholic University (PRLEAP.COM) SAN DIEGO – New Catholic University (NCU) plans to open the doors to its North County, San Diego-based campus in Fall 2005, welcoming its first students with a hands-on curriculum unique for its emphasis on innovation, entrepreneurship and ethical leadership. The university, which filed for state approval in July, will offer degree programs in technology, business and mass media communications. In all academic disciplines, NCU hopes to foster an entrepreneurial spirit and encourage leadership and innovation, guided by the spiritual, moral and social teachings of Jesus Christ. The university’s...

Our culture seems to be decaying from within. The recent “March for Women’s Lives” in Washington DC showed us a glimpse of what our culture has been becoming. Women holding signs about their genitals and screaming about their right to “choose” infiltrated Washington, flooded the streets and won the attention of the national media. But the rhetoric is tiresome. Signs wishing that George Bush’s mother had “choice” available to her and demanding the right to “choose” are worn out and frustrating. Has no one the courage to step forth and say that they want the right to have abortions, and...

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Tri-sexual, Undecided, Asexual and Multi-sexual Community has been clamoring lately for their "right" to marriage. Envisioning themselves as wounded civil rights activists, fighting the bitter fight against bigots, church-bombers, and fire hoses to a new springtime of equality in the eyes of the law, they have launched an all-out attack on any person or group who infringes their imagined Constitutional right to marriage. The attempt made by many in the gay and lesbian community to form a link between today's queer activism and the battle for civil rights of the Sixties has angered many,...

The university, as an institution, has been a critical partner in the mission of the Catholic Church since the founding the first great universities at Paris, Oxford, Cambridge, and Bologna. John Carroll, America's first Catholic bishop, and founder of America’s first university in Georgetown in 1789, was driven by the vision of securing the future of American Catholicism through education. Today, more than ever, society needs strong Catholic leadership inside and outside the Church and looks to the university as a foundational establishment to cultivate future leadership. Like John Carroll, the founders of the New Catholic University (NCU), under formation...

The search to prove that one can be a democrat and a Catholic has once again failed. With John F. Kerry attempting to be John F. Kennedy's protégé as the second Catholic president, the juxtaposition of Catholicism and the Democratic Party has been called to attention again with renewed vigor.Kerry's ambitions to be the next Catholic president sound as reasonable as his designs to be the next black president, for Kerry is as much a devout Catholic as he is a Southern black. Kerry's claims to be a Catholic in good standing have disturbed both the Vatican and the various...

Recently many eager students took time out of their day to "take action" against various evils in the world, specifically violence against women, by writing letters organized through a campaign by Amnesty International as part of their National Week of Student Action. This is a noble cause, one might think; the event, at my school, was advertised with such slogans as Pope Paul VI's quote, "If you want peace, work for justice." But Amnesty International deserves a closer look. As with every activist group, Amnesty International has a clear agenda underlying every action, and they have a stake in every...

Quick – more federal funding! I say that because it’s more fun than “America has a problem,” but the meaning is the same. Everyone, by now, has heard of the lawsuits being filed against McDonalds on behalf of overweight people eager to find someone to blame for their problems. Americans were too dumb to realize that eating a constant stream of super-sized Big Macs and Sausage and Egg McMuffins and McApple McPies with McIce-cream Cones might cause some weight gain and so now, we have problems with McObesity.Yes, America was a fish – a nice plump fish – swimming through...

As I’m sure you are aware, there are many disturbing things about liberals in this country. Liberals are extremely vocal in expressing their often- deviant views, and they are obnoxiously tenacious in their ceaseless efforts to have their agenda accepted by the majority of the American population. The word “agenda” is important in this situation. Liberals are rarely united by a systematic belief system; rather, they are motivated by certain goals set forth in an agenda and are ignorant of the contradictions that often arise from the conflicting goals they set out to win for themselves. Well, I should clarify....

I Don't Care Who You Put In, Just Get Bush Out! Recently John Kerry has emerged as the frontrunner of the Democratic primaries, and he'll likely be the democratic nominee for President. Until recently, however, the Democrats were a scrambling mess trying to find someone - anyone! - to step up and take the nomination. Their candidate had to be reliable, electable, one who would unify the various wings and factions of the Democratic Party - but most importantly, the candidate has to one who can get Bush out of office! The Democratic campaign is little more than a helter-...

In this country, if you want to be taken seriously as a politician, you need to attach yourself to a major political party. Nowadays, those parties are the Republican one and the Democratic one. Many people, myself included, tend to identify themselves with either the conservative or the liberal movement before they identify with a political party. As George Washington warned in his Farewell Address upon leaving the presidency, a system of political parties might divide the country into bitter factions, creating animosity rather than a federal unity. Nevertheless, we’ve been a nation of political parties since the Federalists and...

Two weeks before the opening of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," online ticket merchants reported that up to half their total sales were for the film. One Dallas multiplex has reserved all 20 of its screens for "The Passion." I am neither a prophet nor a movie critic; I am merely an Orthodox rabbi using ancient Jewish wisdom to make three predictions about the movie: One, Mel Gibson and Icon Productions will make a great deal of money. Those distributors who surrendered to pressure from Jewish organizations and passed on "The Passion" will be kicking themselves, while Newmarket...

As I write this column, it's two days past Valentine's Day. When it's published, it will be nearly a week after the day. So I write my reflections on the day knowing full well that by the time anyone reads them, they will be passé and outdated. If I were a little more prescient, I would be able to think of a good subject and actually commit to writing the article before it's long overdue. As it stands, I'm going to talk about Valentine's Day as you read this on February twentieth.I'm sure you've all read things about the origins...

New Challenge to Vatican’s Misinformation on Condom Effectiveness Starts World AIDS Day 2003 with Condoms4Life International Media Campaign Washington, DC —“Good Catholics Use Condoms” is the message of a new global public education effort to counter Vatican misinformation on condoms, beginning December 1, 2003, World AIDS Day. The campaign, a new phase in the Condoms4Life campaign, kicks off in Washington, DC, with provocative and eye-catching ads appearing in dioramas in the most highly traveled Metro stations throughout the United States capital. Then, on a rolling basis, the campaign will move worldwide throughout 2004 with newspaper and billboard ads, internet action...

Election time is quickly approaching. As we pass the threshold of December, we are reminded that the election is only 11 months away, and already, our noble candidates for office are hard at work. It is odd that the average president during his four-year term spends at least one full year campaigning for re-election. That’s 25 percent of his time in office; odd, yes, but when you look at the caliber of the candidates challenging George W. Bush for the presidency, one realizes that he doesn’t need to begin campaigning until at least October. The Democratic Party has produced nine...

Helen Thomas Helen Thomas - Commonly referred to as "The First Lady of the Press," former White House Bureau Chief Helen Thomas is a trailblazer, breaking through barriers for women reporters while covering every President since John F. Kennedy. For 57 years, Helen also served as White House correspondent for United Press International (UPI). She recently left this post and joined Hearst Newspapers as a syndicated columnist. Born in Winchester, Ky., in 1920, Thomas was raised in Detroit, Mich. One of nine children, she was the daughter of Lebanese immigrants who could not read or write English. She fell in...

Two British soldiers have been sent home from the Gulf for refusing to fight in a war involving the deaths of civilians, according to a solicitor who advises troops. Justin Hugheston-Roberts says the soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade, based in Colchester, Essex, told their commanding officers they would not take part in the military action. Mr Hugheston-Roberts, chairman of Forces Law, said they could be thrown out of the Army or have to face a court martial. It is understood they are a private and an air technician. Mr Hugheston-Roberts said his organisation, which links service personnel with specialist...