Free Republic

Denver, Colo., Jan 18, 2013 / 12:02 am (CNA).- A new version of a proposed Colorado civil unions bill has dropped provisions that protect agencies from being forced to place children with same-sex and unmarried opposite-sex couples – a change that could put at risk Catholic Charities' adoption and foster care services in the state. Jennifer Kraska, executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference, told CNA Jan. 16 that there have been “significant” changes to the bill from last year’s version, which failed to pass. If the legislation passes this year, civil unions for two people of any sex would...

(CNSNews.com) - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is giving another $1.5 Billion in taxpayer money to eleven states to build their new health insurance exchanges. But it appears that half the states will let the federal government do it for them. The “Exchange Establishment Grants” announced on Thursday will go to California, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Vermont. “These states are working to implement the health care law, and we continue to support them as they build new affordable insurance marketplaces,” Secretary Sebelius said. “Starting in 2014, Americans in all states...

. . . . On Hartmann’s The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann, he said, “But I want to tell you something you don’t know about the Second Amendment ,something that’s been lost in the pages of history – that is very crucial to informing today’s current gun debate. And that’s this: The real reason the Second Amendment was ratified, and why it says ‘State’ instead of ‘Country,’ was to preserve the Slave Patrol Militias in the Southern States, which was necessary to get Virginia’s vote. Founders Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison were totally clear on that…and we all...

Who said this about a world leader: He's a "political coward -- an essentially unchallenged leader who nevertheless is unwilling to lead or spend political capital to advance the cause of compromise"? Was it perhaps John Boehner describing Barack Obama? No, though the shoe would certainly fit. It was Barack Obama describing Binyamin Netanyahu. This insight into Obama's views comes from an interview with the Atlantic Magazine's Jeffrey Goldberg. Let's pause for second to consider the gall. Mr. Obama knows full well that the United States confronts an unavoidable debt crisis if our government does not reform entitlements. Rather than...

PM says in Commons statement the crisis is still 'ongoing' and the giant BP compound is not secure(snip) David Cameron revealed that 'less than 30' British workers are unaccounted for as he gave terrifying details of the 'ongoing' hostage crisis in the Saharan desert. It is now understood that 12 Britons are among the casualties.(snip) Algerian sources said this afternoon 573 of total 650 hostages now free, including 77 of 132 foreign nationals, meaning the whereabouts of 55 foreigners are still unknown.

Update, 7 a.m.: WCBS identified the victim as Kerri Dalton and said her lungs were punctured during the attack. The report lists her in stable condition. -- Tyrik S. Haynes, 19, of Middletown is being held at the county jail on $1 million bail after being charged with first-degree attempted murder and weapons offenses by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. Haynes allegedly stabbed a 29-year old Keansburg woman inside the Bed Bath & Beyond store at 1515 Route 35, at Harmony Road on Thursday.

John Boehner is just a kid

This is about the spirit of the law, and the letter of the law. Namely, some early thoughts on how to obey the letter of the Cuomo gun ban while simultaneously spitting in the face of the spirit of the law and confounding it at every turn. The first step is realizing what the people behind this law are really after. The claim that it is a response to the attack at Sandy Hook elementary school is, of course, dishonest. This isn’t about protecting children, it is about exploiting them, and their murder, to advance the political agenda of the...

Dear Socially Liberal Fiscal Conservative Friend, That's pretty toothy, so I'm going to call you Bob. But whatever specific name you go by, Bob, you know who you are. You're the sort of person who says to his conservative friends or co-workers something like, "I would totally vote for Republicans if they could just give up on these crazy social issues." When you explain your votes for Barack Obama, you talk about how Republicans used to be much more moderate and focused on important things such as low taxes, fiscal discipline and balanced budgets. When Colin Powell was on "Meet...

Welcome to the world of “reality TV politics” — or maybe the right word is unreality. Call it “Liberals Unleashed — 2013!” As hungry for your cash as a “Walking Dead” zombie, as math-challenged as Honey Boo Boo’s mom in a dollar store, and as self-serving as the worst “Bridezilla.” After six years of exploding state spending and steady tax hikes, is Gov. Deval Patrick even a little embarrassed about pushing a $2.8 billion-per-year income and business tax increase? Not a bit. President Obama, having jacked up the debt by almost 60 percent in just four years announces it’s time...

A state pro-life group in Missouri is warning pro-life advocates to be careful of the connections between the Girl Scouts organization and the largest abortion business in the nation.For years, pro-life groups have exposed the links between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood. Now, Missouri Right to Life says that link bears more attention as pro-life citizens across the country have become increasingly concerned about the connections.“After careful examination and consideration, the board of Missouri Right to Life has voted to issue the following policy statement,” Missouri Right to Life tells LifeNews. “Because Girl Scouts USA promotes, both directly and...

Good news everyone: Jobless claims on a weekly basis fell to a five-year low according to the Labor Department. Bad news everyone: Yet still more people remain jobless. And why is that? Because Obama doesn’t care about jobs. When you reckon out the newest jobless figures using the Obama’s best calculus, the weekly decline doesn’t mean that fewer people are unemployed. That would be asking way too much from an administration that seems phobic about private-sector job creation. “Applications for jobless benefits decreased by 37,000 to 335,000 in the week ended Jan. 12, the lowest level since the period ended...

January 18, 2013 Fast and Furious Gun Found at Murder Scene Was Purchased By Embattled ATF Supervisor By Katie Pavlich 12/19/2012 A Fast and Furious gun found at the murder scene of Mexican beauty queen Maria Susana Flores, appears to have been purchased by embattled ATF supervisor George Gillett. Flores was used as a human shield before she was shot and killed by Mexican cartels during a shootout with the Mexican military. According to documents obtained by Senator Chuck Grassley, it appears Gillett purchased a number of different firearms at a gun dealership in Phoenix as part of Operation Fast...

From the Georgia Bulletin in Atlanta: New formation leaders are overseeing the growing permanent diaconate in the Atlanta Archdiocese. And in a rare appointment, a woman now shares the responsibility for shaping the future deacons.Penny Simmons, a retired bank executive and spiritual director in the deacon formation program, is one of the few women across the country to lead a formation program.Simmons will team with Deacon Jose Espinosa to share the duties of the permanent diaconate formation.The way Simmons sees it, deacons are going to minister to women and men, so why not have a woman in leadership in the...

This could have interesting ramifications, judging from the comments below. From Zenit: The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments is preparing a booklet to help priests celebrate the Mass properly and the faithful to participate better, according to the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.Cardinal Antonio Cañizares confirmed this Tuesday at an address at the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See on “Catholic Liturgy since Vatican II: Continuity and Evolution.”“We are preparing it; it will help to celebrate well and to participate well. I hope it will come out this year, in the summer,” the...

You didn't hear about all that...?

January 17, 2013 Neo-Communism Out of the Closet by David Horowitz Oliver StoneÂ’s Untold History of the United States is a ludicrous encapsulation of the KremlinÂ’s view of the Cold War, amplified by the Castro, Ho Chi Minh, Daniel Ortega, Hugo Chavez, Hamas version of the post-Communist decades. Indeed, America is portrayed by the Stone-Kuznick author-team as such an evil force in the events of the last 75 years, they evoke overt sympathy for the Germans and the Japanese during World War II, as well as for Stalin himself, and then for really any self-declared enemy of the United States,...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem A New Journey…The Names of God in The Scriptures Rose of Sharon, Lily of the ValleySong Of Songs 2:1 I am the rose of Sharon, And the lily of the valleys.

The 36-year Senate veteran is trounced by Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, whose business and Tea Party backers spent $2.7 million to defeat a once-powerful pol they portrayed as out of touch.That cracking, thudding sound emanating from Indiana on primary night Tuesday was the crumbling of a Washington institution, punctuated by muffled shrieks of terror from incumbent office-holders everywhere.Republican Sen. Richard Lugar—a towering figure in the national-security, arms-control, and foreign-policy realms who six years ago was so popular in his home state that local Democrats didn’t bother to field an opponent—lost his bid for a seventh term to a lesser-known,...