Free Republic

The announced 2016 council of Eastern Orthodox Churches is historical, but expectations should be modestAn Assembly (Synaxis) of the Primates of the local Orthodox Churches, meeting March 6-9, 2014 in Istanbul, has agreed to convene a Pan-Orthodox council. A “Communiqué of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches” released on March 9th stated that “the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church … will be convened and presided by the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople in 2016.” This decision brings to the homestretch a long process of preparation that goes back as far as the 1920s, had an active phase in...

Lars Larson, substituting for KVI’s John Carlson, listens to a mildly contentious exchange between the two city council members during a Monday council hearing where council President Tim Burgess ordered councilwoman Sawant to stop talking when she went ‘off-topic’. Sawant was venting about her pet issues, employer wage theft. Also, Larson discusses the now interminable delay of the Seattle downtown tunnel dig because of damage to the drilling machine known as Big Bertha.

Here’s the inevitable follow-up on the election of a Socialist to the Seattle City Council — although perhaps sooner than anyone would have thought. Boeing has tried working for years with its unions in the state of Washington, but still cannot reach agreements on labor contracts for its manufacturing facilities. The aerospace giant has looked for other regions in the US to build its planes, which has angered the unions and the Obama administration. It’s also provided an opportunity for Seattle’s newest councilmember to launch her anti-capitalist agenda, and she’s wasted no time in doing so … even before officially...

Mayor-elect Mike Pantelides’ honeymoon as the new chief executive of Annapolis might end before it begins, as City Council members say that next term they plan to revisit legislation that would strip the mayor’s office of much of its power. Alderman Ross Arnett, D-Ward 8, said he will introduce a charter amendment to move Annapolis to a full council-manager form of government. This would create a position similar to the current city manager, except that the official would report directly to the City Council, not the mayor. He or she would also manage all department heads. The mayor’s post would...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Days after a Republican was elected mayor of Annapolis, City Council members say they will revisit legislation that would strip the mayor’s office of much of its power. Democratic Alderman Ross Arnett of Ward 8 tells The Capital he will introduce a charter amendment to move Annapolis to a council-manager style of government. The city manager would report directly to the City Council, not the mayor.

Annapolis Alderman Ross Arnett insists the City Council's decision to take another look at making the mayor's job a more ceremonial role has nothing to do with party politics. But if the Democrat-majority council acts to remove the mayor's power, the timing will coincide with the election of Annapolis' first Republican mayor in nearly two decades, Mike Pantelides, who defeated the incumbent Democrat, Mayor Josh Cohen, last week.

If you are able to vote in the Princeton, NJ Council election,PLEASE round up your friends and family andVOTE for FAUSTA RODRIGUEZ WERTZ!!!Fausta is a Republican, running against 2 Democrats for 2 available seats on the Princeton Council. The candidate profiles are here. Most of you know Fausta from her blog, Fausta’s Blog, and her visits to my little bunker.That is all.I am MOTUS, and I approved this message.

Israel said on Thursday it plans to run for a rotating seat on the U.N. Security Council for the time ever for 2019-2020, although U.N. diplomats said it will not be easy for the Jewish state to win. “We’re going all out to win,” Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor told Reuters. “It’s about time.” … Prosor said Israel will be vying against Germany and Belgium for two seats allotted to the “Western European and Others Group.” Technically, Israel should be a member of the Asia-Pacific Group along with the other states in the Middle East, but predominantly Muslim states blocked...

Above: Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Chief Doug Jordan meet in Phoenix.- Unbelievable! The Grantville, Georgia Police Chief has been suspended for a week - without pay - merely for visiting Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio during his vacation. Chief Doug Jordan and his wife planned a recent trip to Arizona to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They had honeymooned there 31 years ago. They paid for the trip and its expenses themselves. While there, Jordan thought it would be a great idea to see if he could meet with Arpaio. He was honored when Arpaio agreed to do so.“I meet with...

Any faction found to have used chemical weapons "must be brought to justice," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday. But the head of the world body also warned that any use of force to punish perpetrators would be legal only in self-defense or with U.N. Security Council authorization. Ban appealed for patience among U.N. member states while an investigative team that returned from Syria over the weekend completes analysis of biomedical and environmental samples it collected. The team, which spent four days in search of evidence that chemical attacks occurred Aug. 21, will have delivered all of its forensic evidence...

Five D.C. Council members will decide whether Marion Barry should be dealt sanctions in addition to a fine he was issued as punishment for accepting gifts from city contractors. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson on Friday appointed an ad hoc committee that will investigate Mr. Barry’s actions. The committee is comprised of council members Yvette M. Alexander, Ward 7 Democrat; Anita Bonds, at-large Democrat; Mary M. Cheh, Ward 3 Democrat; David Grosso, at-large independent, and its chairman is Kenyan McDuffie, Ward 5 Democrat. The District’s Board of Ethics and Government Accountability on Thursday censured Mr. Barry and imposed a $13,600 penalty...

Now that President Obama has been re-elected, the vaunted jobs council is about to meet its demise. The Obama administration’s original announcement of a jobs council back in 2011 surprised few observers of the partisan political scene; the council was obviously designed as a fig leaf to cover up the administration’s complete lack of direction on economic policy. During its two year existence, that fig leaf council has met just four times formally, and just 18 times informally for “listening and action sessions” – i.e. gobbledygook – in different locations around the country. And while President Obama has suggested that...

If President Obama does not reauthorize his job council this week, the move will likely spark criticism from Republicans and could disquiet some Democrats. Obama has a lot on his legislative wish list, and Democrats on Capitol Hill do not want the White House to get distracted from the top issue on voters’ minds: jobs and the economy. The Jobs Council has met in full only four times in its two-year existence, according to its own website, though it also held 18 “listening and action sessions” around the nation. Obama last year praised it as “a work council” rather than...

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**SNIP** Although applications cannot be submitted until Monday morning, the city put the site up Friday so people can prepare to file, said Tom Alexander, a spokesman for the mayor. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Jan. 25. In addition to the power and influence, the job comes with a $115,000 annual salary, a $73,280 expense account to set up a ward office and control over $176,484 in staff salaries. Jackson told supporters this week she would like her chief of staff, Keiana Barrett, or local Pastor Scott Onque, to be appointed to replace her. But sources said the...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Monday that the United States is “pleased” to have been reelected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), a controversial body that has been repeatedly chastised for its anti-Israel bias. The U.S. joined the body after President Barack Obama’s election. Long shunned by the U.S. for its anti-Israel bent, the then-newly elected president claimed he could reform the organization. Since that time, the HRC has called for a boycott of U.S. companies that do business with Israel and attempted to investigate Israeli settlements. The U.S. won reelection to the 47-member body on Tuesday...

(10-18) 09:59 PDT OAKLAND -- An Oakland City Council candidate was robbed at gunpoint Wednesday night near his home after he attended a neighborhood anti-crime meeting, authorities said. Dan Kalb, 53, an environmental policy director who is one of seven candidates vying for the District 1 seat that represents North Oakland, said he had parked his car near his home on the 5100 block of Manila Avenue when he was accosted about 8:35 p.m. A man pointed a gun at him, demanded his iPhone and wallet and fled in a car, said Kalb, who was not hurt. The robbery happened...

Syrian opposition forces in the northern province of Aleppo have declared the formation of a “Revolutionary Transitional Council” as future umbrella for all the opposition groups battling to bring down the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. “[The Revolutionary Transitional Council] includes all those working in the revolution; civilians, politicians and military men,” one member of the newly formed council said in a statement aired by Al-Arabiya television on Friday. The council aims to “facilitate the formation for a [wider] national transitional council to include all of the Syrian provinces,” the statement added. “In a time when the Syrian revolution has...

WASHINGTON - US President Obama named or renamed seven members of the US Holocaust Memorial Council, all donors to Democrats and including representatives from the entertainment, social media and human rights sectors, as well as a past AIPAC president. In a release Tuesday, Obama named Tom Bernstein to another five year term; Bernstein, a major fundraiser for Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, has been chairman of the council since 2010.

REPORTER: On the Jobs Council, obviously they've reported to haven't met formally or publicly for six months. Why is exactly is that? CARNEY: Look, the president solicits and receives input and advice from members of his Jobs Council and others about economic initiatives all the time. And I would point you to the numerous initiatives put forward by the Jobs Council that this administration under the president's direction has taken action, presidential memorandum of August of last year that selected 14 job creating high-priority infrastructure projects for expedited review. Four of those are already under construction. In March of this...