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A facsimile of an historic document from the Vatican Secret Archives in which English peers appeal to Pope Clement VII to annul Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon is to be given to the Queen tomorrow. The 95 x 46cm (37 x 18in) parchment, which dates from 1530 and bears 81 red wax seals, is a key document of events leading to the schism between Rome and the Church in England. Scrinium, a Venice-based publisher that promotes the historic and cultural wealth of the Vatican and reproduces treasures from its archives, said that the facsimile would be presented to...

The Supreme Court, in District of Columbia v. Heller, declared that Washington’s 32-year ban on all functional firearms violated the Second Amendment. Justice Antonin Scalia’s majority opinion, however, applied only to possession of guns in the home. The court did not address, and was not asked to address, firearms carried outside the home. That’s the issue posed in a new lawsuit against the District by Tom Palmer (disclosure: my colleague at the Cato Institute) and four other plaintiffs — represented by Alan Gura, the lawyer who successfully argued Heller before the court. After Heller, the District relaxed its ban on...

Lawyer: Driver in NY wrong-way crash to be exhumed WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A lawyer says the body of a woman who killed herself and seven other people by driving a minivan the wrong way on a New York parkway and crashing into an SUV will be exhumed for testing in an attempt to counter findings that she was drunk.

Jeffrey Lord has an interesting article today in The American Spectator. I have to admit that the title of Lord's article, "Is Sarah Palin the Next Ted Kennedy", gave me considerable pause. What could the two possibly have in common? Despite my misgivings, I felt compelled to read Lord's article. In his piece, Lord spends at least as much time comparing Governor Palin to Winston Churchill as he does comparing her to Ted Kennedy. I find the Churchill comparison much more appropriate. Mr. Lord begins his piece with an account of one of Winston Churchill’s famous quotes: The British statesman...

The economic illiterates in Washington are so impressed with the "success" of Cash for Clunkers that they're readying Cash for Clunker Appliances. The ludicrous "stimulus" bill gave $300 million to the Department of Energy to provide rebates for 10 types of appliances that have been rated energy efficient. Before government extends Cash for Clunkers to more products, it might be a good idea to examine the original. The fact that Washington and the buyers who took advantage of Cash for Clunkers are gaga is hardly evidence that it was in the public interest. It wasn't. As usual, the program has...

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired fewer law clerks than usual, generating speculation that the leader of the court's liberals will retire next year. If Stevens does step down, he would give President Barack Obama his second high court opening in two years. Obama chose Justice Sonia Sotomayor for the court when Justice David Souter announced his retirement in May. Souter's failure to hire clerks was the first signal that he was contemplating leaving the court. Stevens, 89, joined the court in 1975 and is the second-oldest justice in the court's history, after Oliver Wendell Holmes....

Only on MSNBC, the network that prides itself as the "place for politics" could you see this type of anti-religion, anti-conservative vitriol. On MSNBC's Sept. 1 "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," host Keith Olbermann entertained the musings of Dan Savage, a syndicated sex columnist, author and gay-rights advocate about religious conservatives and their participation in public policy debate. "When you have a party that claims to speak for God or claims that God is on its side, the rhetoric heats up and the anger heats up because it's not just a battle about ideas and positions and what's good for the...

An overwhelming majority, if not every single American cannot begin to comprehend the astronomical deficits and debt projections flowing from Washington these days. The Obama Administration and congressional Democrats have done an outstanding job of breaking down uninsured statistics into smaller more understandable numbers such as their 14,000 newly uninsured claim. Yet, when it comes to deficits and the national debt, no one in Washington seems to want the public to understand just how much money they are spending. Politicians talk in dollar amounts that no American, even the richest among us, will ever truly comprehend. As a result, in...

Here is a video report on a strong earthquake that has hit Indoensia's main island of Java. Reports indicate at least 13 people are known dead, with the death toll expected to rise as more information is known from outlying areas of West Java. Java is one of the most densely populated places in the world: Thirteen people were killed in Indonesia after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Wednesday, officials said. The quake was initially categorized as magnitude 7.4 before being downgraded to 7.0 by geological officials. The 13 were killed in different cities in West Java province on the Indonesian...

"When the government of the United States of America claims the authority to ban books because of their political speech," says Citizens United, " something has gone terribly wrong." A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court seems to agree. Next week, for the second time, the court will hear oral arguments in Citizens United v. FEC, a case that poses the question of whether the Federal Election Commission violated the First Amendment when it prevented the conservative group from showing a highly critical documentary about Hillary Clinton on cable TV during the 2008 primary season. The court scheduled the unusual...

Liberals have a penchant for revising history, but some of their recent rewrites are especially alarming. Look at the sanctification of Sen. Edward Kennedy, which is moving beyond whitewash and into fantastic territories. Modern liberalism strikes again in blogger Melissa Lafsky’s Huffington Post article, “The Footnote Speaks: What Would Mary Jo Kopechne Have Thought of Ted’s Career?” (8/27/09). Incredibly, Lafsky wonders what Kopechne, the young woman Teddy left to drown in Chappaquiddick, would think about Kennedy’s life and career. Lafsky’s conclusion: “Who Knows – Maybe She’d Feel It Was Worth It” (The Huffington Post, August 27, 2009, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-lafsky/the-footnote-speaks-what_b_270298.html). You read...

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“Liberty is not a means to a higher political end,” Lord Acton wrote. “It is itself the highest political end.” As a classical liberal, like Acton, I naturally agree with this, and I think most other Americans would also, especially if presented with a clear and present threat to their liberty. I am not sure if most Europeans would, however. The impression I have from reading what appears about America in various European publications is that Europeans think that the U.S. Constitution confers certain rights on the nation’s citizens. As it happens, it does not. It simply acknowledges what the...

Now Faith Is Today's Scripture "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1, KJV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria What are you hoping for in your life today? The Bible says that faith gives substance to the things you hope for. Notice this verse starts by saying, "Now faith…" It's not "later" faith or "one day" faith. We have to have faith for today, right now. So, what does it mean to have "now" faith? The Bible tells us that faith is simply believing in God's goodness and knowing...

They're going to have to change the name of the show again. The prolific Duggar family, stars of the TLC show "18 Kids and Counting," are adding another child to their already overwhelming brood. "We are thrilled to announce that we found out we're expecting our 19th child," mom Michelle Duggar told the "Today" show Tuesday morning. The 42-year-old Arkansas mom - who has been pregnant for an inconceivable 12 years of her life - was surprised to find out she was expecting again just eight months after giving birth to baby number 18. She grew suspicious when she had...

London-based BP said it had made a "giant" oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, reaffirming the area's importance to Western oil majors who are barred from investing in the world's richest oil prospects elsewhere. BP said in a statement on Wednesday that it had made the find at its Tiber Prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The well was drilled in Keathley Canyon block 102. BP [BP-LN 539.50 20.00 (+3.85%)] has a 62 percent working interest in the block while Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras owns 20 percent and U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips [COP 44.15 -0.88 (-1.95%) ] owns 18...

A Life of Pure and Holy Sacrifice "He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow . . ." —John 7:38 Jesus did not say, "He who believes in Me will realize all the blessings of the fullness of God," but, in essence, "He who believes in Me will have everything he receives escape out of him." Our Lord’s teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person— His purpose is to make a person exactly like Himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe...

Gabonese Democratic Party candidate Ali-Ben Bongo Ondimba may have some explaining to do abroad -- and here in the United States. While the presidential hopeful is focused on winning the Gabonese election -- he is among 3 candidates claiming victory in the Aug. 30 contest -- his estranged wife, Inge Bongo (nee Inge Collins), and their adopted children subsist on welfare in the United States. The beautiful California native (pictured left leaving the welfare office in Riverside) told Black Voices that she still loves her husband. Bongo (pictured right in June) is the son of the late Omar Bongo, who...