Free Republic

OTTAWA, June 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Despite a June 22 press release stating that neither the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) nor Development and Peace (D&P) would be commenting on the results of a recent investigation of five of D&P's Mexican partners until the results were made public, the President of the CCCB, Archbishop James Weisgerber, has been making the rounds of the media in the last several days, giving numerous interviews on the topic.

BEWARE THE OBAMA 'EVIL EYE' Tue Jun 30 2009 07:43:56 ET As the summer begins, White House watchers have spotted a new look by President Obama: The Evil Eye! Staffers have joked about the menacing glance, which comes when the president meets with world leaders who are not aligned with his progressive view. White House photographers have captured the "evil eye" in recent weeks, during sessions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Colombia's Alvaro Uribev. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi got hit with the commander's malocchio last week in the Oval office. And at least one White House reporter...

Inside France's 25,000-year-old Pech Merle cave, hand stencils surround the famed "Spotted Horses" mural. For about as long as humans have created works of art, they've also left behind handprints. People began stenciling, painting, or chipping imprints of their hands onto rock walls at least 30,000 years ago. Until recently, most scientists assumed these prehistoric handprints were male. But "even a superficial examination of published photos suggested to me that there were lots of female hands there," Pennsylvania State University archaeologist Dean Snow said of European cave art. By measuring and analyzing the Pech Merle hand stencils, Snow found that...

The quest to balance the state budget remained mired in sharp rhetoric and fruitless votes Monday, as the clock ticked nearer to California running out of cash and paying its bills with IOUs. Senate Republicans blocked a trio of bills that promised to stave off the need for IOUs for a few weeks. Senate Democrats passed a budget-balancing package of seven bills that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said would be dead on arrival at his desk. The Republican governor has backed off initial demands to eliminate safety net programs such as welfare-to-work and Healthy Families insurance for low-income children to bridge...

Several IDF navy boats intercepted, boarded and took control of a boat of pro-Arab activists trying to break Israeli sovereignty over coastal waters Tuesday afternoon. No one was injured, and an IDF spokesman told Israel National News that no shots were fired. It was the first time the IDF has boarded one of the boats since the pro-Arab “Free Gaza” movement began sending ships to Gaza last August.

The Halifax water commission has ordered two $5,000 ozone generators in an effort to solve the persistent sewage gas odour problem in parts of the city's downtown. The smell of raw sewage has permeated the waterfront area around the Halifax casino since a nearby sewage treatment plant failed and flooded in mid-January. The main goal is to mitigate the stench, said James Campbell, spokesman for Halifax Water. "For the businesses and the residents, that's what we want to do," he told CBC News on Monday. The decision to buy the ozone generators comes after a 20-year-old model was lowered down...

On June 18, by a vote of 12-7, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Clean Water Restoration Act (S. 787). As with most government bills, you can bet that it has less to do with restoring clean water than it does with increasing the power of the federal government. The bill, if passed by Congress, would “provide protection to the waters of the United States to the maximum extent of the legislative authority of Congress under the Constitution.” Again, Congress’ view of what is Constitutional is very different than the view of most American citizens. In sum,...

The Obama administration has made it a point to refrain from using the term terrorism when discussing those who wish to kill Americans in large numbers. Acts of terrorism are now described by the White House as “man-caused disasters” in order to move away from the politics of fear, according to Obama’s Director of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. Apparently, the politics of fear are being held in reserve for use against the conservative movement. First, Napolitano’s office released its assessment of “right-wing extremism.” Now, the Speaker of the California Assembly, Karen Bass, rolls out the T-word to describe talk radio....

The Obama administration has made it a point to refrain from using the term terrorism when discussing those who wish to kill Americans in large numbers. Acts of terrorism are now described by the White House as “man-caused disasters” in order to move away from the politics of fear, according to Obama’s Director of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. Apparently, the politics of fear are being held in reserve for use against the conservative movement. First, Napolitano’s office released its assessment of “right-wing extremism.” Now, the Speaker of the California Assembly, Karen Bass, rolls out the T-word to describe talk radio....

While sitting in the Advanced Placement institute a week ago, the instructor posed a question to the history educators in the room. “Not counting presidents or their wives,” he began, “who would you consider the five greatest, most influential Americans in history?” My mind began to cycle through the most important figures to grace the stage. My first choice was John Marshall. As the first significant Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he established the principle of judicial review, greatly expanding the power of the Court and making the Constitution, according to Jefferson, “a mere thing of wax in the...

Editor’s note: Jack Smith, who sent out this blog from the Kansas City Key, that diocese’s newspaper, gives an example of how the bishops can fight a good fight.) Thursday, June 25, 2009 America Mag's Calumny in Service of a Human Master A number of recent editorials by Catholic Obama partisans have sought to discredit the U.S. Bishops and the pro-life movement as a whole by grossly misappropriating the words of Kansas City – St. Joseph Bishop Robert W. Finn. Sometimes with attribution, sometimes without, but never in context, they have ripped four words, “We are at war,” from a...

No one seems to know how old Mohammed Jawad was when he was seized by Afghan forces in Kabul six and a half years ago and turned over to American custody. Some reports say he was 14. Some say 16. The Afghan government believes he was 12. What is not in dispute is that he was no older than an adolescent, and that since his capture he has been tortured and otherwise put through hell. The evidence against him has been discredited. He has tried to commit suicide. But the U.S. won't let him go. The treatment of the young...

California public employee unions already reeling from pay cuts have been dealt a new blow by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – a push to lower pension and retiree health care benefits for state workers hired after today. Schwarzenegger's call for creation of a two-tier system of retiree benefits was part of a package of proposals submitted to Democratic leaders Saturday in tense negotiations over the state's $24.3 billion shortfall. The plan would not affect existing state employees. The governor previously had imposed about a 9 percent pay cut on state workers by requiring two unpaid furlough days per month. Last week...

Minutes ago, the Democrats in the House passed a devastating energy tax in the form of a cap-and-trade program. The Democrats claimed that their legislation is a jobs bill that will cost no more than a postage stamp per household per day. They suggested it will allow us to take the lead in the alternative energy industry and create new jobs across the country. They lied to you.

Minutes ago, the Democrats in the House passed a devastating energy tax in the form of a cap-and-trade program. The Democrats claimed that their legislation is a jobs bill that will cost no more than a postage stamp per household per day. They suggested it will allow us to take the lead in the alternative energy industry and create new jobs across the country. They lied to you.

A veiled Muslim schoolteacher was not permitted to accompany her students on the grounds of a British Catholic school after she refused to remove her veil at the school administration’s request. Kevin McMahon, principal of St. Mary’s College in Blackburn, explained that school policy forbids the wearing of the veil.

PHOENIX (AP) - There was a time in the Wild West that cowboys had to check their guns before they could pull up a bar stool for a drink - rules that protected against the saloon gunfights that came to define the frontier era in places like Arizona. But a bill moving through the Arizona Legislature has some bar owners fearful that the state is turning back the clock to the Old West. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow anyone with a concealed-weapons permit to bring a handgun into bars and restaurants serving alcohol. The bill gives bars...

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots that marked the birth of the gay rights movement, President Barack Obama hosted an LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) Pride Month Reception at the White House and told his guests-- including Episcopal Church Bishop Eugene Robinson-- that “there are still fellow citizens, perhaps neighbors or even family members and loved ones, who still hold fast to worn arguments and old attitudes; who fail to see your families like their families; and who would deny you the rights that most Americans take for granted. And I know this is painful and I know...

Early salary figures from Simon Cowell's "American Idol" contract negotiations are leaking out and they're eye-popping. Cowell, who reportedly made $36 million last year for judging the hit competition show, has been offered three or four times that amount -- between $100 million and $144 million per year -- by co-producers Fox and 19 Entertainment to stick with "Idol" when his contract expires next May, according to The Guardian, a London newpaper.

Hey all you West Tennessee, north Mississippi and east Arkansas FReepers! The Memphis Tea Party will be held THU, July 2 from 6pm to 8pm at the NE corner of Audubon Park! Angela McGlowan of the national FOX Network will be speaking. Family Friendly, POSITIVE, CONSERVATIVE...Prayer, speakers, live bands, voter registration, refreshments! Bring a flag! Bring a Friend! Wear the colors! For Immediate Release June 30, 2009 Angela McGlowan Named to Headline Memphis Tea Party Fox News Political Analyst and Author is Mississippi Native Oxford, MS –Oxford native and Ole Miss graduate Angela McGlowan has been announced as a headliner...