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Watching the videos, including the tours of the ranch, listening to the interviews and news reports it became clear that the women and children are living in a prison inside the gates of the FLDS YFZ Ranch Compound in Eldorado, Texas. It's run like a state prison anywhere in the US. Anyone else notice that? Nobody can leave, they are locked in, they have practically no contact with the outside world, they have work duties, they wear uniforms. The children have a restricted outside play area. There is a code like in a gang of deception. Initially the men told...

Friday, January 04, 2008 Hey! I'm A Candidate for Change, Too! [Byron York] Team Romney sent out an email this morning headlined "GOVERNOR ROMNEY ADVANCES HIS MESSAGE OF CHANGE IN WASHINGTON." It includes a quote from CBS this morning in which Romney, who has invested a lot of time defending George W. Bush, appeared to argue that while voters want change in Washington, they don't necessarily want it in the White House – but in any event, they want change, and he is the candidate of change: "Well, you know, I think the race in Iowa was really a very...

FOXNews.com compiled a list of 21 questions representing some widely-held beliefs and misconceptions about Mormonism, and posed them to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church objected to answering some of the questions on the grounds that they misrepresent the basic tenets of the Mormon religion. "Many of these questions are typically found on anti-Mormon blogs or Web sites which aim to misrepresent or distort Mormon doctrines," the Church said in a statement. "Several of these questions do not represent ... any serious attempt to depict the core values and beliefs of its members." Here are the...

WASHINGTON -- Voters may not know any more about Mormonism than they did before Mitt Romney's faith speech on Thursday, but they surely know more about what it means to be an American. Romney's much-anticipated address from the George H.W. Bush library at Texas A&M reminded Americans of some fundamental truths that often get lost in the guerrilla warfare of presidential politics. He made two important points clear: Freedom and religious liberty are inextricably linked. And, though Romney's religion informs his life, leaders of his church will not inform his decisions as president. That second statement is essentially a reiteration...

The Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Mormons and a few other faiths have three things in common – they believe in Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God and that He died and was resurrected for our sins. So what’s the problem? The political pundits continue to try and make Mitt Romney’s religious beliefs a big issue as he runs for the Republican presidential nomination. Different denominations of Christianity are just that – different denominations – which means different worship practices of the same fundamental Christian beliefs. Some people have commented that they cannot support Mitt Romney because...

Coray says a glass wall isn't enough to ensure diners aren't offended. Liquor control commissioner Bobbie Coray asked her colleagues on Wednesday to consider a rule to cover up bottles of booze displayed at restaurants because some diners may be offended at the sight of alcohol. A glass partition between bartenders and customers required under current regulations may not be enough, Coray told her fellow liquor control commissioners at their monthly meeting. Coray, a lone holdout opposing liquor licenses for strip bars, now wants the commission to place more restrictions on glass partitions in restaurants. She called the partitions "a...

On paper, Mitt Romney seems the most attractive G.O.P. contender. He has business and executive experience, a fine family and no connection to the “Washington mess.” Yet his chance to win the nomination is slipping away. His national poll numbers barely hit double digits, his New Hampshire lead is vanishing, and he’s spending millions of dollars just to keep afloat. As he stood next to Fred Thompson at the Dearborn debate looking puzzled, one was reminded of the Saturday Night Live skit in which the Michael Dukakis character looked at the George H. W. Bush figure and said incredulously, “I...

Please help me come up with a list of mixed drinks to name after the 2008 Presidential candidates

 A website paid for and authorized by the Massachusetts Democratic Party has posted a picture of a flier reportedly passed out at a 2002 'gay pride' event by then-gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney expressing support for homosexual rights. The flier, on red paper, claims to have been paid for by "the Romney for Governor Committee and the Kerry Murphy Healey Committee" and reads, "Mitt and Kerry wish you a great Pride Weekend. All citizens deserve equal rights, regardless of sexual preference." The flier was posted as a "viewer submission" to RomneyFacts.com," a website run by the Massachusetts Democrat Party: "Viewer submission...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A conservative think tank is distributing a lengthy essay on the history of education in Utah that implies that if Mormons don't vote in favor of the state's school voucher law that they could face cultural extinction. The Mormon-oriented Sutherland Institute bought advertisements in Utah's two largest newspapers to publish its essay, which says public schools were introduced in Utah by federal officials who wanted to end The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' control of the state. "The object was to provide a broader context, not just for the voucher debate but for...

WASHINGTON - One in four people in the U.S. said in a recent poll that they would be less likely to support a presidential candidate who is Mormon, an ominous sign for Republican contender Mitt Romney. Yet the survey found two groups, atheists and Muslims, were even less likely to win votes. Sixty-one percent of those questioned said they would be less likely to support a presidential candidate who did not believe in God. Forty-five percent said the same for a Muslim contender. Only 5 percent or fewer said they would be likelier to support candidates who were atheists, Muslims...

On yesterday's show, Mitt Romney once again misrepresented Ronald Reagan's record on abortion to justify, and obscure, his own 35 year hardcore pro-abortion record: FOX NEWS SUNDAY August 12, 2007 CHRIS WALLACE: "For eight years -- eight years -- you said that you would protect and respect a woman's right to choose."ROMNEY: "Yes. Yeah, that's right. ...And you know what? I'm following in some pretty good footsteps. It's exactly what Ronald Reagan did. As governor, he was adamantly pro-choice. He became pro-life as he experienced life."

Let’s cherry-pick two columns for today’s post- “Yes, Romney Needs to Answer Questions” from the Philadelphia Inquirer, being reprinted in other regional papers today, and “Mitt’s Faith Isn’t an Issue: As Governor, He Didn’t Try to Convert Us” from yesterday’s Boston Herald. For two columns that reach exactly opposite conclusions, it’s remarkable how similar these two pieces are. The formula, copied from an infinite number of columns written before them, goes like this: Question- is Mitt Romney weird by association with Mormonism? Analysis: Look at all the weird stuff Mormons believe! (List Exhibits A through L, with appropriate phrasing to...

Find out what happens when social cons stop being polite and start getting real. Barnett has background; the magic begins when the headphones come off, but there’s an early detour through crackpotville when the host urges Mitt in the event that he’s elected to invite the Supreme Court to step outside. video at link

One of the most remarkable among the many and varied tribal customs that survive in Saudi Arabia is one that forbids anyone at all seeing a woman’s face. In parts of the Al-Kharj region, not even a woman’s husband and children are permitted to see her face uncovered.In interviews with Al-Kharj residents, Sayidaty, a sister publication of Arab News, heard that often the first time even a daughter sees her mother’s face is after the mother’s death.“I always dreamt of seeing my mother’s face because I am a woman like her,” resident Hissa Al-Massareir told the magazine. “But because of...

Romney and Hezbollah   [Kathryn Jean Lopez] Here's the campaign's response: GOVERNOR ROMNEY – WE MUST DEFEAT GROUPS LIKE HEZBOLLAH "Governor Romney believes that bloodthirsty terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas have smothered the progress of the people and nations where they have built their networks, Lebanon serving as an example. These terror organizations cannot and should not be allowed to gain an advantage with the citizenry in Muslim nations just because they mask their terror agenda with an offering of some vital services. America can make great progress and provide more stability by creating partnerships with moderate Muslim governments to...

JERUSALEM – Republican presidential candidate Gov. Mitt Romney has cited the social welfare network of the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group as a role model the U.S. should copy to help promote "goodness" and "freedom" around the world. Sections of Hezbollah's social welfare network, including schools and camps, are routinely used by the terror group to indoctrinate students in anti-Israel propaganda, instruct in military tactics and promote Shiite Islamic beliefs, including the waging of a final, apocalyptic world battle against "evil."

Click photo to enlargeMitt Romney (The Associated Press)«1»WASHINGTON - Many pundits have said that presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith will be a hindrance to his 2008 bid, but a new poll shows that voters believe he is more religious than any of the other contenders out there. A Time magazine poll hitting newsstands this week asked voters whether each candidate is a "person of strong religious faith." One in four voters say that Romney is, more than Barack Obama, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. Previous polls have all shown that a distinct swath of voters...

Mitt Romney is a picture perfect Republican candidate for President. Some on the left have suggested that Romney carries extra baggage: He is a member of the LDS (Mormon) Church. Will traditional Christians vote for a Mormon? Traditional Christians believe their faith can inform politics. Other faiths can reach similar conclusions and become allies. Americans are electing the President of the United States not the Patriarch of Antioch, the Bishop of Rome, or the President of the Southern Baptist Convention. Any labeling of Mormons as too “weird” to serve the public sets a risky precedent that will come back to...

How much of a ''Mormon question'' does former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney face in his presidential campaign? According to recent polls, a quarter of Americans say they wouldn't vote for a Mormon as president. That compares with only 5 percent who say they wouldn't vote for a Catholic or a Jew. Romney's biggest problem is with evangelicals, who constitute nearly half of all Republican primary voters in the South and more than one-third in the Midwest. A Rasmussen poll shows that 53 percent of evangelicals wouldn't vote for a Mormon as president. If that is anything close to right, Romney...