Free Republic

Purchased gas on my credit card today. Several minutes later, I received a text message from my credit card vendor asking me to confirm other purchases, none of which I had made. Contacted credit card company and they froze the account. They are expediting me a new card which I will receive Monday.I've had this happen in the past also and things are always resolved quickly and to my satisfaction. But I wonder how often this happens to other Freepers. Basically, I'd like to know how often this should be expected to happen to see if I need to do...

The NCBC Congratulates the Little Sisters of the Poor on HHS Mandate Today the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) recognized, in a unanimous decision, that the HHS can find other means to accomplish its goal of providing universal contraceptive coverage without compromising the deeply held religious beliefs of the numerous petitioners, including the Little Sisters of the Poor.  In its ruling, SCOTUS vacated all lower court decisions against the numerous petitioners, forbidding the implementation of the millions of dollars in penalties against these faith-based organizations. While not indicating that the federal government had violated the free exercise of...

Do-it-yourself exorcism schools, some aligned with actual Vatican guidelines, are on the rise. Is it really 2014?

I have received the American Community Survey and several post cards encouraging me to complete it. Having not received this before, I Googled it and found that it isn't sent out to the full populace like the Census is. It also appears to be a longer form of the Census selectively distributed in years other than Census years.There are a lot of questions that I don't feel much like answering and I stopped when asked about the market value of my home, my insurance costs, and some others. Apparently, if I don't return the survey, I am subject to a...

Beloved, we do not think of a martyr simply as a good Christian who has been killed because he is a Christian: for that would be solely to mourn. We do not think of him simply as a good Christian who has been elevated to the company of Saints: for that would be simply to rejoice: and neither our mourning nor our rejoicing is as the world's is. A Christian martyrdom is never an accident, for Saints are not made by accident. Still less is a Christian martyrdom the effect of a man's will to become a Saint, as a...

In the anguish of my heart I groaned aloud. There is a hidden anguish which is inaudible to men. Yet when a man’s heart is so taken up with some particular concern that the hurt inside finds vocal expression, one looks for the reason. And one will say to oneself: perhaps this is what causes his anguish, or perhaps such and such had happened to him. But who can be certain of the cause except God, who hears and sees his anguish? Therefore the psalmist says: In the anguish of my heart I groaned aloud. For if men hear at...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Job openings at U.S. workplaces rose to 3.23 million in July from 3.17 million in June, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Overall job openings rose 13% from the prior year, with private openings up 15% to 2.90 million. Meanwhile, government openings fell over the year to 328,000 from 333,000.

I live in the lakes country in northern Minnesota where the roads take a beating from trucks, salt, and hostile weather conditions. Road work is a constant feature of summer living here.This summer a 25 mile stretch of two lane highway from Duluth to our cabin is being resurfaced. I am accustomed to seeing the roadbed excavated and new asphalt being brought in to fix the roads.However, this year there appears to be a new process. Rather than bringing any new materials in, the process appears to make use of the existing asphalt by heating it and smoothing it out....

Clough Island will get a boatload of visitors Tuesday as conservation leaders from Wisconsin and Minnesota join state and federal natural resource officials to celebrate protection of the largest island in the largest estuary of the largest freshwater lake in the world. The 350-acre island, which once was targeted for development as a golf resort and condominium complex, is now firmly in the hands of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and is considered critical habitat for fish and birds that use the St. Louis River estuary. “It’s just a great spot to paddle or go fishing and to be...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Securities and Exchange Commission may have destroyed documents and compromised enforcement cases involving activity at large banks and hedge funds during the height of the financial crisis, according to allegations made by a lawmaker on Wednesday.

The Federal Election Commission approves the comedian's bid to create the Colbert Super PAC, which allows him to raise money from donors in advance of the 2012 presidential elections.

The Journal Sentinel Editorial Board is entitled to its own opinions but it is not entitled to its own facts. The board's speculation about my motives regarding the recount of the vote in the Supreme Court election is inaccurate. I appreciate this opportunity to set the record straight.

About 100 parishioners of St. Sabina marched in front of Cardinal Francis George's red brick mansion today to protest the suspension of their pastor, the Rev. Michael Pfleger. The parishioners and residents of the Auburn Gresham neighborhood gathered at St. Sabina this morning before boarding two school buses that took them to the cardinal's Gold Coast mansion, where they marched and demanded that the suspension be lifted.

The celebrated speaker and televangelist posted the following statement on his web site:On Ash Wednesday I learned that a former employee sent a three-page letter to several bishops accusing me of everything from drug addiction to multiple sexual exploits with her and several other adult women. There seems to no longer be the need for a complaint to be deemed “credible” in order for Church authorities to pull the trigger on the Church’s procedure, which was in recent years crafted to respond to cases of the sexual abuse of minors. I am not accused of that, but it seems, once...

There is no underestimating the importance of today's events. I don't think anyone subscribing to this forum would refute that. Many people here wear their hearts on their sleeves and are rightfully distraught about the possibility that this monstrosity could be voted into law today. Reading through the threads, it is a very personal matter for all of us and we are all concerned about the future of our country, our children, and the world.There is a higher degree of awareness here and it is productively channelled into fruitful activities. The passion of our fellow posters is palpable and sometimes...

"The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do." -- Senator Barack Obama, speaking to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, July 17, 2007The Freedom of Choice Act would nullify virtually all federal and state limitations on abortion. "Those promoting this bill intend to use it as a litmus test for those who seek congressional office, or the White House, and as a fund-raising tool," National Right to Life Committee's Douglas Johnson explained. "They know they cannot enact anything like this, so long as a pro-life president is in...

Thrasymachus (to Socrates): You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle, and fatten them and take care of them, looking to something other than their master's good and their own.Moreover, you believe that rulers in cities - true rulers, that is - think about their subjects differently than one does about sheep, and that night and day they think of something besides their own advantage.You are so far from understanding about justice and what's just, about injustice and what's unjust, that you don't realize that justice is really the good of another, the advantage...

My wife wants a new laptop computer for her birthday which is April 13th. She intends to use it primarily for work purposes and for continuing her education online. She works as a nursing director for surgery and anesthesia in a 400 bed medical center and has responsibilties for seven to eight figure budgets, scheduling for about 150 RNs, facilities planning, management-union negotiations, and performance evaluations among other things.From an education standpoing, she is working on a business degree to augment her RN and may be considering a master's type program unless I can talk her out of it.I am...

Even though we are still almost two years out from the presidential election, it is clear that the candidates are campaigning in earnest. This has led to some acromonious discussions with accusations flying about posters' motives and dedication to the principles of conservatism. While these frank discussions could be healthy for pounding out the details in a primary, some here are indicating their unequivocal refusal to support some candidates if they are nominated after the primaries. Furthermore, valuable posters have discussed their disatisfaction with the website as a forum for discussing conservatism and some have threatened to leave. Given these...

I have somehow picked up a program called "Spyaxe3.0" on my HP laptop running Windows XP. It claims to be an antispyware program. Since it appears to have installed itself, I have removed it several times with "Add/Remove Programs". I have also done a search and deleted all files related to it that I can find. It causes me to obtain "security alerts" on the toolbar at the bottom of my screen that lead to the Spyaxe website when clicked. Despite my attempts to remove it, it will often reappear when I reboot or start the computer.I have scanned the...