Free Republic

Following the UnfaithfulIn an effort to be more "welcoming," many Church leaders are looking to fallen-away Catholics to lead the way.A well-known tactic in political circles is to release a “survey” that supports a predetermined conclusion. For example, a Republican PAC might send out a survey to its base asking “Do you think Joe Biden is right about the 2nd amendment?” Or the Democrats might ask if Trump is the next Hitler. Then the results will be touted as proof of massive support for the forgone conclusion. This doesn’t just happen in political circles, though, as is clear from a...

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that while many of the provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act don’t kick in until next year, “the thing that we are doing right now is showing that we are listening to the American people.” Jean-Pierre said that the Inflation Reduction Act is “going to deal with health care, lower premiums, making sure that Medicare can actually negotiate to lower costs for seniors. The first thing that they [Republicans] have said they want to do is get rid of it.”

[Catholic Caucus]“Listening”, Or: The Rigid And Hateful Blog PostWhen I was a little child, I was taught my prayers, and the Commandments. I was taught about heaven and hell, the serpent and the apple, Noah and the Ark. When I grew up I grow more acquainted with the concept of sin. As temptations came to become a part of my daily life, I already knew what Christianity said about them. Nobody, not as a child or as an adult, ever, taught me to “listen to the Spirit”. The fact is: there is nothing to listen. What there is to do...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis Attacks Amazon Synod: "No Discernment," "Useless Bitterness" There was a "rich" and "well-founded" discussion at the 2019 Amazon Synod but "no discernment“ about married priests, Francis wrote in notes published by his apologist Father Antonio Spadaro (LaCiviltaCattolica.it, September 4).Francis explains that he didn't endorse in Querida Amazonia (February 12) the Synod’s wish to abolish celibacy because "discernment" is "something different, than just arriving at a good consensus or at a relative majority."Nobody, including Francis, has a clue what the buzzword "discernment" means in this context. For Francis, Bishops‘ Synods should be opportunities for "prayerful reflection" and "spiritual...

**SNIP** One of the things Pelosi loves about where she lives in New York’s Greenwich Village is the diversity, and the freedom people feel to be themselves. Yet the things she loves about this country are the same thing that others believe is wrong about America. “People who live in a liberal bubble do not have an understanding of this country,” she said. “I don’t think they spend enough time in America. If you live in New York City, you can’t say you live in America. Sorry, I know people will be offended by that.” But in her bubble, “we...

When it comes to sneering contempt for ordinary people, it's hard to out-perform the left, with its long, bloody history of mass murders by tiny radical elites. But we are now being treated to conservative pundits' revolt against the base, a most revealing moment in these dangerous times.

Privacy advocates claim always-listening component was involuntarily activated within Chromium, potentially exposing private conversations Privacy campaigners and open source developers are up in arms over the secret installing of Google software which is capable of listening in on conversations held in front of a computer. First spotted by open source developers, the Chromium browser – the open source basis for Google’s Chrome – began remotely installing audio-snooping code that was capable of listening to users. It was designed to support Chrome’s new “OK, Google” hotword detection – which makes the computer respond when you talk to it – but was...

Google Chrome Listening In To Your Room Shows The Importance Of Privacy Defense In Depth Yesterday, news broke that Google has been stealth downloading audio listeners onto every computer that runs Chrome, and transmits audio data back to Google. Effectively, this means that Google had taken itself the right to listen to every conversation in every room that runs Chrome somewhere, without any kind of consent from the people eavesdropped on. In official statements, Google shrugged off the practice with what amounts to “we can do that”.It looked like just another bug report. "When I start Chromium, it downloads something."...

Iowa students preparing for Hillary's first 'listening' session think she's a 'control freak' who will be 'talking s**t' and only wants immigration reform because the Democratic party needs voters Daily Mail Online spoke to ten students at Kirkwood Community College's satellite campus in rural Iowa where Hillary Clinton will be Tuesday One student is among those picked by teachers to question the former secretary of state He wants her to comment on his suspicion about immigration reform – that Democrats are pushing the policy because they need new loyal voters Another predicted that 'she's going to be, like, talking s**t'...

"I think every president in the intense media environment we have now, certainly every two-term president, gets to a point where the American people stop listening, stop leaning forward hungrily for information. I think this president got there earlier than most presidents. And I think he's in that time now." So said the Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan on ABC's This Week Sunday. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST: You are seeing (ph) more populist Democrats, I agree with that, but Peggy Noonan, you know, the president going back to the country one more time, it's unclear that these speeches are doing much...

This is the first time in many years that I have put pen to paper for a lengthy letter, so please forgive my misspellings, poor handwriting or any other errors. I will probably do this in one go and be finished with it. I won’t need much of this new notebook. It’s a nice room, desk and chair, but really, no computer? I just wish they would stop the hammering outside. I need to focus in order to write well. No one person could possibly expect to know the full truth about such a complex history, so near to its...

This is a hillarious video about woman/man relationships and approaches to solving problems. It is going viral. !.5 million hits so far. Hard to believe no one has posted it yet on freerepublic! Here is the link: Link to YouTube Video "It's Not About The Nail

Satellite photos used to be for military eyes only, but Google Earth changed all that. Now something similar is happening to the ocean depths, with any web user able to listen in and "surf the sea floor" - and the US Navy is not happy."The cable is going underneath here," says Benoit Pirenne, standing at the water's edge on Canada's Vancouver Island. "It's going out 500 miles (800km) in a big loop in the ocean, coming back in the same place." The Vancouver cable connects a network of scientific instruments on the floor of the north Pacific, some as deep...

Want to see a microcosm of everything that’s been wrong with American economic policy over the last couple of years? Watch this exchange between Ezra Klein and Rick Santelli from earlier today on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Santelli, whose February 2009 on-air rant over fiscal and economic mismanagement inspired the start of the Tea Party, gets exasperated with Klein after the Washington Post columnist talks about money moving around “unfairly”: The entire problem with this economy is the notion that some people have of “unfairness” in markets. In fact, that’s how we got here in the first place. Government intervened to...

Going on walks with my darling wife is a great joy to me. Sixteen years ago we used to walk almost six miles daily. These days we don’t get out as often as we did, but we still do get out and walk together. Holding her hand makes me feel happy and secure. Sometimes we “exer-walk” so there isn’t much hand holding going on, but I still enjoy her presence. As we pop along we talk about the scenery, family, hopes, dreams, politics, religion and other stimulating topics. What I have observed over the years (and what my wife will...

Good grief!

Today's projectile-sweat-inducing story came from USA Today with the headline: "NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls" over a lede written by reporter Leslie Cauley: "The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans ..." If you didn't read the sentence in the middle of the second paragraph ... Here is the sentence in the middle of the second paragraph: "This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations." WIRETAPP ... Wait. What? Does not involve listening to or recording? What's the big deal? Don't these people...

Gathering In The Jewels Yolanda Ballard Apr 15, 2005 Extreme measures must be taken in order to bring about a restoration of heart. Many have been trying by their own strength to heal that which was wounded years past. I want you to know that the only way to bring about a healing is by listening to the still small voice in your heart and obeying Its direction. In order to listen you must be quiet and still and be able to rest in the assurance of knowing that it is I who has started a good work and that...

The four familiar words physicians always dread come when the office visit is ending, doctor's pen clipped back onto the white coat pocket and hand reaching for the door. "Oh, by the way," the patient says. What comes next could be as innocuous as a harmless freckle - or a bombshell. Doctors call it "the doorknob phenomenon." Doctors' rushed schedules and patients' natural reluctance to reveal frightening or embarrassing symptoms make those questions at the doorknob almost inevitable, but medical schools increasingly are teaching students how to avoid such situations. Dr. Rita Charon, who runs the narrative medicine program at...