Free Republic

"...the Catholic Church has engaged herself in inter-religious dialogue with Muslims. This dialogue has produced a harvest of mutual respect, understanding and cooperation throughout the world and here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." - Bishop Robert McManus, February, 2013. See here. Tom Heneghan, writing for Charisma News: "Radical Islamists were the main persecutors of Christians around the world last year, not only in the Middle East but increasingly in sub-Saharan Africa, according to an annual survey monitoring religious freedom. Open Doors, an international group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday Islamic militants posed the greatest threat to the faith...

Writing for Spero News, Martin Barillas notes: "A group of Catholic students in Belgium remains in opposition to Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp. Spero reported on January 4 that the Flemish Catholic Students Association of Antwerp issued an open letter to Bishop Johan Bonny denouncing his statements on homosexual marriage. “Monsignor Bonny, as a successor of the apostles, wishes to alter the form in which the faith has revealed it (marriage). As a Catholic association headquartered in Antwerp, the Association of Flemish Catholic Students of Antwerp KVHV (Vlaams Katholiek Hoogstudentenverbod) raises its voice to say clearly: ‘No, Monsignor. What you...

On a warm fall day in South Dallas, ten revolutionaries dressed in kaffiyehs and ski masks jog the perimeter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park bellowing "No more pigs in our community!" Military discipline is in full effect as the joggers respond to two former Army Rangers in desert-camo brimmed hats with cries of "Sir, yes, sir!" The Huey P. Newton Gun Club is holding its regular Saturday fitness-training and self-defense class. Men in Che fatigues run with weight bags and roll around on the grass, knife-fighting one another with dull machetes. "I used to salute the [expletive] flag!"...

Sunday brunch was painfully disrupted for diners nationwide when protesters occupied upscale restaurants and read off the names of black victims of police violence. The #BlackBrunch demonstrators targeted eateries that serve predominantly affluent, white clientele and staged sit-ins in New York City, San Francisco, Oakland, Baltimore, and other cities across the country. As discomforted brunchers lifted mugs of pour-over coffee to their lips, protesters recited the names of black people killed by the police like Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. Although some protesters encountered hostility from restaurant managers, most of them witnessed supportive gestures from the diners. Activists...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A technology company says it will lay off more than 1,500 employees at a Boise call center where workers handle questions about the federal health care law. The Idaho Statesman reports (http://bit.ly/1F11uRI ) that Maximus Inc. has hired, laid off and rehired hundreds of employees at the call center since 2013....

 After the gunfight on New Year's Eve A saying that has become  common on the Internets is "When seconds count, police are only minutes away".   I wonder what the response time would be on New Year's Eve, when police resources are stretched especially thin.  Could you expect it to be longer for an unincorporated part of King County, Washington state, served by the Sheriff's department?  How long would it take for police to respond to a trespassing violation? In this tragic story out of Renton, Washington, it does not appear that the homeowner had much choice.   He was 50...

Let’s say that a Republican or conservative governor or big-city mayor (yes, there actually are quite a few) was in a heated dispute with his state’s or city’s police union. Let’s further say that this official decided that his or her best method for whipping up support was to order the staff to (ahem) “ask” GOP legislators or council members to issue public statements of support while bashing the cops. If such a campaign were exposed, that town’s or state’s press would appropriately be all over it. That public official would also get plenty of negative national attention, especially if...

Ed Miliband launches Labour’s election campaign on Monday by calling on supporters to knock on four million doors. The party leader will vow to fight the Tories and Lib Dems “house by house, street by street and town by town” until polling day on May 7. In a rallying call in Manchester, he will say: “Today is day one of our general election campaign. This is nothing less than a once in a generation fight about who our country works for.” Vowing not to be intimidated by the big-spending Tories, he will add: “We will offer hope, not falsehood. We...

There is an independent site that tracks homicides in Chicago.  There are not affiliated with the police, and they use public sources to determine the number of homicides.  The numbers that they give include justified homicides and homicides by police. The numbers are very similar in 2014 to what they were in 2013.                                        2013   2014 Homicides by shooting      375     388 Woundings by shooting    1810   2231 Total Homicides                455    456 It is interesting to note that ratio of wounded to killed went up form 4.82/1 to 5.75/1 in one year. The site has a lot of great graphics depicting...

An Arkansas burglary victim's pistol did not fire when he intended it to, because the safety was on, and he did not realize it.   Wayne Murrey, above shows some tactical sense as he cautiously peered through a doorway, exposing little of himself while he looked to determine what was happening.  When he saw that a curtain was disturbed, he realized that someone was trying to break in.   That is when he accessed his firearm.  From katv.com: “I got up, walked over here and I peeked like this, and I see the curtain kind of pulled back a little, so...

BuzzFeed News spoke to a protester who chanted for “dead cops” on Dec. 13, which was captured on video and has become a nationwide flashpoint. “We wanted to separate ourselves from people who just want to get a guy fired.”(VIDEO-AT-LINK) NEW YORK CITY — On Dec. 13, about 100 protesters splintered off from the #MillionsMarch in lower Manhattan — a huge, peaceful demonstration against police brutality — and headed up Sixth Avenue. They turned east on 32nd Street, and passed right under the window of Tom Dilello, a computer programer who works for a large bank. At about 4:41 p.m.,...

Just 24 hours after President Obama sat down for five-star dinner with the first lady, he was back in another renowned Hawaii restaurant for a luxury meal. He took his family to Nobu, a Japanese restaurant inside the hip Waikiki Parc Hotel where meals cost around $180 per person. Images showed his motorcade parked outside the stylish eatery as hundreds crowded to get a glimpse of the Commander-in-Chief, Michelle Obama and their two children. The president first ate at the upmarket restaurant in 2012 on New Year's Day, enjoying a three-hour meal of butter-poached lobster, roasted duck, and seared foie...

Last night, new year's eve, I waited for midnight, listening intently.  I was in North Dallas, and I had heard that celebratory gunfire was sometimes practiced in the area.  About 10 pm, I heard 4-8 gunshots, (or good facsimiles there of).  They were distant, so I could not be certain.   From 12:01 am to 12:20 am, I heard about 50.  Most were clearly gunshots.  They fit the pattern of gunshots.   There is a certain cadence that is different from firecrackers or random loud noises.   In addition, the timing, just after midnight seems much more than coincidental.  It is a...

“Nobody can fully understand the meaning of love unless he’s owned a dog. He can show you more affection with one flick of his tail than a man can gather through a lifetime of handshakes.” Gene Hill, author of “The Dog Man.” >At first glance, if it were not for its decrepit, arthritis-consumed back legs, one may not immediately recognize that a handsome old dog named Mo spent most of its years living under less-than-ideal conditions – before receiving affection, happiness and hope in its final days.< >For the first time in its 14 years on earth, the mixed breed...

Fargo, North Dakota has not been a hotbed of violent crime.  That may have changed with the oil boom that has been going on for the past decade.  It appears that a number of transients and homeless people have found their way to the city.   Last Monday, at noon, it was just below zero with a 10 mph wind.  It was not a good time to be outdoors.    To be knocked unconscious and left to lay exposed could have been fatal. Fortunately for the victim in this crime, a concealed carry permit holder witnessed enough of the assault and...

Oprah Winfrey has been watching the protests in Ferguson and New York like everyone else. "I think it's wonderful to march and to protest and it's wonderful to see all across the country, people doing it," she tells PEOPLE exclusively. But it's not enough to march, says Winfrey. "What I'm looking for is some kind of leadership to come out of this to say, 'This is what we want. This is what has to change, and these are the steps that we need to take to make these changes, and this is what we're willing to do to get it.'"...

Which offense is more serious? Denying a lesbian communion at a Catholic funeral? Or a female Episcopalian bishop hitting and killing a bicyclist? The Washington Post has picked (A). In 2012, they splashed across the front page (with a picture) that lesbian activist Barbara Johnson was denied communion at her mother's funeral. On December 30, the Post buried a hit-and-run-bishop story on page B5 with the headline “Bishop put on leave after fatal crash: Episcopal diocese says Heather Cook drove car that killed bicyclist.” .......

New York City’s top progressives have backed away from any direct confrontation with the city’s largest police union, even as union leaders continue to criticize the mayor following the shooting of two officers. But the silence of non-police unions may not last long into the new year. That will depend on the actions of Patrick Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, and whether he continues his public campaign against Mayor Bill de Blasio, sources with knowledge of union thinking say. Unions were instrumental in getting de Blasio elected and are considered among his closest allies. “Those that are...

In his book entitled, "Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way," Pope John Paul II writes that: "By his manner of life, a bishop demonstrates that the Christ as "Model" lives on and still speaks to us today. One could say that a diocese reflects the manner of life of its bishop. His virtues - chastity, a spirit of poverty and prayer, simplicity, sensitivity of conscience - will, as it were, be written into the hearts of his priests. They, in their turn, will convey these values to the faithful entrusted to their care, and in this way young people...

Link to video In the famous bar scene in Star Wars, one of patrons remarks that the debt collector should be watching Han Solo's hands.  It is good advice that is taught in police academies.  It is hard advice to follow when you are trying to rob a store where the clerk is behind a counter.  This robber in Florida made many mistakes, and still managed to survive.  From wpbf.com: A man walked into the 13th Street store, pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded money. The clerk was secretly aiming a gun at the would-be robber from...