Free Republic

Bishop Olmsted's Letter to Catholics: Coercive HHS Ruling Mandates Sterilization, Abortion-Inducing Drugs and Contraception by Bishop's Office on January 28, 2012 Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted asked that this letter be read at all Masses this weekend. This effort to alert the faithful is being conducted nationwide through the coordination of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and addresses a vital issue regarding religious liberty and our fundamental rights as U.S. Catholic citizens. Read the letter in English.Read the letter in Spanish.

Iran said on Sunday it had received a letter from the U.S. government about the Strait of Hormuz, Foreign Ministry spokesman ...was quoted ... as saying Tehran had not yet decided if it would reply to the letter, the contents of which he did not detail. "America's message over the Strait of Hormuz reached us through three channels. It was given to our U.N. representative, the Swiss ambassador conveyed it to the Foreign Ministry and also Iraqi President Jalal Talabani gave the message to Iran,"

An Ex-Muslim's Letter to the Critics of Pamela Geller This letter was sent to me from an apostate living in Europe. He has asked me to publish it. Dear Pamela, The more I go through the online videos of your media interventions, the more I am astonished by the way many Americans attack you. Being an ex-muslim — ie: a European who converted to Islam in his youth, who lived in the muslim ummah, travelled and studied in depth Arabic and islamic jurisprudence — your arguments are very clear to me, whilst the arguments of your critics fail to make...

Charles Lanes’ article on the Opinion page of Wednesday’s Bradenton Herald surprised me. A well known writer for the Washington Post, he seems unable to tell why crime in this country is down so much in the last 20 years. In the mid-1980s Florida passed a law allowing eligible residents to carry concealed weapons. All states except Illinois have followed suit. Is it no wonder criminals now think twice before committing a crime that might cost their life? I suppose some have gone straight while others engage in less dangerous forms of vice. It also makes it more difficult for...

I am responding to the full-page ad with Mike Carroll, former president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The ad blamed U.S. Rep. Dent for not opposing a bill that would force Pennsylvania to accept concealed carry gun permits from every other state. I am a recently retired police officer with more than 30 years in law enforcement, and I want people to know that it is not the law-abiding citizen with concealed carry permits that the police have to worry about, it is the criminal who illegally carries stolen weapons. My former partner, Officer Robert A Lasso...

To all my family, friends and fans - I'm writing this out to all of you after attending an event that turned out to be one of the most moving evenings I've ever had... I had the honor and privilege last night of attending The Basic School Instructor Battalion 236th Marine Corps Birthday Ball at the Greater Richmond Convention Center with Corporal Kelsey DeSantis... I knew I would have an evening that I wouldn't forget... Something I could tell my friends about. What I didn't know was how moved I would be by the whole experience.

Jerry Sandusky will be found innocentLetter to the Editor Updated: 11/09/2011 12:37:09 PM EST I have to say I find the accusations against Jerry Sandusky very hard to believe. I have met and know Jerry through The Second Mile. Both of my daughters were a part of the Second Mile program, and it is a great program for kids. I would have never hesitated one minute to allow Jerry to be with my children. He is being judged in the court of opinions. This man is innocent. I support Jerry 100 percent. I also ask that people please do not...

We’re talking hundreds of thousands of Americans. From Gun Owners Of America: With the stroke of a pen, the U.S. Justice Department has just subjected hundreds of thousands of Americans to a lifetime gun ban. In an open letter to all licensed firearms dealers, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) unilaterally decided that any person who is prescribed marijuana for medical purposes is prohibited from possessing a firearm. That means over 300,000 people in the states that allow medical marijuana suddenly cannot buy or possess a gun. Oh yeah, and for the many who already own firearms,...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign hit back at fellow Texan Rep. Ron Paul, for a campaign ad that touted Paul's early support for former President Ronald Reagan and knocked Perry for his Democratic past. In the counter-attack, Perry's campaign revealed letter Paul wrote in 1987 that cited Reagan as a reason why he left the Republican Party. Paul was one of only a handful of elected lawmakers to support Reagan's failed bid for president in 1976, but he became disenchanted after Reagan won the election in 1980. Paul left the party six years later to run for president for...

On November 16, 1990, Barack Obama, then president of the Harvard Law Review, published a letter in the Harvard Law Record, an independent Harvard Law School newspaper, championing affirmative action. Although a paragraph from this letter was excerpted in David Remnick's biography of Obama, The Bridge, I had not seen the letter in its entirety before this week. Not surprisingly, it confirms everything I know about Barack Obama, the writer and thinker. Obama was prompted to write by an earlier letter from a Mr. Jim Chen that criticized Harvard Law Review's affirmative action policies. Specifically, Chen had argued that affirmative...

Rep. West’s Response To CAIR Letter: “NUTS!”August 15, 2011 10:28 PM FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) – A South Florida Muslim group sent Congressman Allen West a letter asking him to disassociate himself from activists the group considers anti-Islamic. Congressman West did respond and the letter he sent back is raising some eyebrows. If it looks like the shortest letter you’ve ever seen from a member of congress, it probably is. How short? Try one word, in capital letters: “NUTS!” “I was shocked at first. I didn’t expect this from a congressman,” said Nezar Hamze, the executive director of CAIR Florida —...

As Congress and the White House battle to resolve the nation's debt crisis, a legendary letter written 150 years ago this week by a Civil War soldier on the eve of battle, bidding a heartbreaking farewell to his wife and children, offers a gentle reminder to all Americans of the meaning of sacrifice and love of country. Sullivan Ballou of Rhode Island, just 32 years old but already a major in the Union Army, sat down that calm Sunday night to write his wife, Sarah, before leaving to fight in what would become known as the First Battle of Bull...

Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann released a letter Wednesday from the House Attending Physician’s office, confirming that Bachmann suffers “infrequently” from migraines “with aura,” and that she can control them “well” with the use of sumatriptan and odansetron, two “commonly used therapies” to treat the chronic headaches. The letter’s release comes after The Daily Caller reported late Monday that Bachmann has been hospitalized on at least three occasions due to the headaches. Three people who have worked closely with Bachmann told TheDC migraines regularly debilitate her for periods up to several days. “You have a well-established diagnosis of migraine headaches...

The hotel maid who claims former IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn raped her has been accused of working as a prostitute. Allegations have emerged that the 32-year-old cleaner was was taking extra money from male guests at the hotel for sex. 'There is information... of her getting extraordinary tips, if you know what I mean. And it's not for bringing extra f**king towels,' a source close to the defence investigation told the New York Post. The woman also had 'a lot of her expenses – hair braiding, salon expenses – paid for by men not related to her,' the source added....

The 26-year-old was an avid campaigner for Mr Obama in 2008, getting T-shirts made and encouraging people in her neighbourhood to vote. She said: 'I campaigned for him hard. I got the shirts made, the Barack the Vote shirts made. We've done a lot.' It was about half way into the President's term that things took a downward spiral for her. Her third baby was born prematurely with health problems and with limited daycare options she could no longer work. Her partner also left around this time. With nowhere else to turn, she decided to write the President a letter....

Opening the handwritten letter from President Obama brought a glimmer of hope to her life as he promised her that things would get better for her and her family. And despite the fact Destiny Mathis, from Hobart, Indiana, treasured the letter, more than two years later she has no choice but to sell it as she and her three children face eviction from their home. The 26-year-old was an avid campaigner for Mr Obama in 2008, getting T-shirts made and encouraging people in her neighbourhood to vote.

Obama urged to reverse policy on no condolence letters for suicidesBy Adam Levine, CNN May 26, 2011 A bipartisan group of senators is asking President Barack Obama to change the current "insensitive" policy of not sending condolence letters to families of service members who commit suicide. A letter signed by 11 senators -- 10 Democrats and one Republican -- and sent Wednesday urges the president to "take immediate steps to reverse the long-standing policy of withholding presidential letters of condolence" to families of troops who killed themselves. The policy, which goes back several presidents, has been the subject of protest...

Six Republican Senators will sign a letter this afternoon asking President Obama if he intends to comply with War Powers Act regarding Libya. Sens. Rand Paul, R-Tenn., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Jim DeMint, R-S.C., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Jon Cornyn, R-Texas, all signed the letter which identifies this Friday, May 20th, as “the final day of the statutory sixty-day period for you to terminate the use of the United States Armed Forces in Libya under the War Powers Resolution.” In testimony before the Senate last week, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg promised Obama would comply with the...

For a few days this week, supporters of the long-promised and long-delayed Interstate 73 had a victory worth rejoicing. The news that the state Transportation Commission had agreed to build the interchange with Interstate 95 and five miles of I-73 toward U.S. 501 seemed the first step in finally seeing asphalt on the ground in South Carolina after decades of promises and lobbying. But then came the EPA. As reported this week, the road would destroy an unusually large amount of wetlands - about 272 acres - as it cuts through the Pee Dee region of eastern South Carolina. That...

Qaddafi has sent a rambling three-page letter to Obama imploring him to stop the airstrikes, according to the AP. In the letter, sent Wednesday, Gadhafi says his country had been hurt more morally than physically by the NATO campaign and that a democratic society could not be built through missiles and aircraft. He also repeated his claim that his foes are members of al-Qaida. Gadhafi addresses Obama as "our son" in the letter and says he hopes Obama will win re-election in 2012. This isn't the first time he praised Obama or called him "our son." But the president hasn't...