Free Republic

I was recently asked by the Archdiocese of Washington to lead a workshop for catechists that focused on the catechetical teachings implicit in the funeral rites of the Church. At first, I was somewhat surprised at the request. It didn’t strike me as the first sort of topic that one might speak about when speaking to catechists.But quickly, I warmed to the topic. I have long held that the way in which we conduct ourselves at funerals, in the manner of preaching and other visible attitudes, not only teaches poorly, but is often a countersign of biblical and Church teaching...

A Korean medical tourism information session involving 12 hospitals from Seoul’s Gangnam district took place at Yangyuan Hotel in Dalian City, China on Friday. The event brought together more than 300 people, including citizens and officials from local medical tourism agencies, and local hospitals. The participants attentively watched presentations by medical doctors from Korean hospitals, including Samsung Seoul Center, MizMedi Women`s Hospital and BK Plastic Surgery Hospital, who are widely recognized for excellence in their respective fields of medicine. The event was organized to attract Chinese patients who have growing interest in quality medical service amid China’s robust economic growth....

Lee Jung-hee, chairwoman of the Unified Progressive Party, has sparked controversy by calling President Park Geun-hye “Ms. Park Geun-hye” at a public protest rally. At the rally at Seoul Station on Saturday, Lee never used the term "president" and referred the president as “”Ms. Park Geun-hye,” “dictator,” and “dictatorial Park Geun-hye force.” “’Park Geun-hye ssi (Ms.)’ is none other than a dictator, who even fires the prosecutor-general if the latter does not follow order,” Lee said. “Park Geun-hye ssi is none other than a dictator, who fabricates the crime of rebellion collusion against an opposition party for criticizing the administration,...

A 28-year-old Chicago woman has allegedly admitted she dragged an 82-year-old man from his car and 'beat the f*** out of him' because he bumped her vehicle. Sophia Body has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery of a senior citizen after the incident, which occurred Thursday night in the city's Grand Crossing neighborhood. Authorities responded to the 900 block of East 79th Street after witnesses reported a battery in progress. They arrived to find the octogenarian bleeding from the right side of the head and suffering from lacerations to his back, police said. Body allegedly admitted she beat...

Hillary Clinton remains the most formidable presidential nomination frontrunner for a non-incumbent in the modern era. As I wrote about last year, Clinton's combination of a number of factors made her strength pretty much unprecedented. Clinton has, if anything, become stronger over the last 12 months. Clinton's polling among Democrats is still incredible. The latest Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey has her at 67% of the vote among Democrats nationally. That compares to 61% in December 2012. The fact that her numbers have if anything gone up is a very good sign for her. It shows that her numbers weren't...

China's top two oil and gas companies have accelerated shale gas exploration. PetroChina Co, China's largest oil and gas producer, announced on Friday that its first shale gas project in Daqing, Heilongjiang province, started test runs in early October. Sinopec Co, the country's largest refiner, said it has discovered enough shale gas resources for commercial scale production in Chongqing on Oct 28. The company said its shale gas block in Chongqing has reached the maximum daily output of 547,000 cubic meters. Insiders said the top two oil and gas companies – PetroChina Co and Sinopec Co – have accelerated their...

Before committing the blasphemous and daring act of openly criticizing Dear Leader, it is obligatory that I first purify my spirit by reciting Dear Leader's prayer. That way, the Black community doesn't condemn my soul for placing critical thinking over Black solidarity. It's common knowledge that Blacks who criticize Dear Leader are considered "sell-outs" while Whites are labeled "racists."Even the Congressional Black Carcass Caucus knows that Dear Leader is untouchable. Congresswoman Maxine Waters once confessed to a Detroit crowd:  "We don't put pressure on the president, let me tell you why. We don't put pressure on the president because ya'll love the...

For decades, health care was considered a recession-proof business. It's time to rethink that, some health and business experts say. The industry's stability no longer can be taken for granted. More than half of people surveyed, 57 percent, report they put off or skipped some form of health care in the past year because of cost, according to a September report by the Kaiser Family Health Foundation. One specialty taking a hit is surgery, doctors and medical experts say, and not just because patients worry about money. They worry, too, that recovery time will keep them out of the office...

(video at link)Rachel Maddow, Rhodes Scholar, speaks truth to those in power--unveiling a dastardly foreign policy scheme circa 2004. And it's all tied back to the REAL cause of Yasser Arafat's death. You're welcome, America.

With the current emergence of electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, people are using more online resources and reading more e-books. At the 32nd International Istanbul Book Fair, publishers, online database providers and writers are focusing their attention on how the digital era has changed how people read and write. Siqi takes us there for more. Although the number of e-book readers is gradually increasing, the e-book publishing industry in Turkey is still rather small. Nihan Tanriyakul works for Dogan Group, the publisher with the largest circulation in Turkey last year. "Digital book sales are not big deals...

Ethiopian Airlines is set to roll out flight service to Shanghai next April, said Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of the African carrier enterprise at a press release held in Beijing on November 7. 2013 marks the 40th anniversary of Ethiopian Airlines' uninterrupted service to China. The airline made its maiden flight to China on February 21, 1973, the first African carrier and the fourth globally to fly to China. Since then, Ethiopian has continued its operations to its key market of China, continuing to be one of the most important destinations for the airline. As trade, investment and tourism ties between...

South Africa's capital Pretoria welcomed its first of a kind Tshwane-China Shopping Mall on November 2, 2013, with traditional Chinese dragon and lion dances northeast of the city. Tshwane-China Mall Shopping Mall specializes in “Made in China” household appliances, clothing, luggage and bags and toys. According to director Shenton Sun, the Tshwane-China Shopping Mall that covers an area of 30,000 square meters and can accommodate more than 80 businesses. The premises is currently 80 percent occupied, and the seven larger venues, each excessing 200 square meters, are reserved for hypermarkets. He said that the mall will provide a platform for...

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Sunday defended the party's strategy in the Virginia gubernatorial race against attacks from conservative groups that it didn't do enough to help GOP candidate Ken Cuccinelli. Tea Party groups said the GOP establishment kept its wallet closed to Cuccinelli, the conservative attorney general who lost to Democrat Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday. Democratic party organizations, those groups said, spent more heavily on McAuliffe than the GOP did on Cuccinelli. But Priebus said the RNC invested heavily in Cuccinelli's "ground game," commenting that he was "proud" of the effort. "The RNC outside the presidential election...

For 99.9% of our tenure on Earth we've been wanderers. ... And the next place to wander to is Mars. - Carl Sagan (1943-1996), cosmologist, New York, 1976. Asia's first Mars mission took off on November 5 from India's south-east coast, in a blaze of fire, vapor and humanity's happily soaring aspirations in outer space. The Mars craft-loaded rocket, blasting off like a US$72 million version of Diwali festival fireworks, made India the third country to attempt a Mars visit - after the United States and Russia. The European Space Agency has also targeted the red planet. The 1,340-kilogram Mars...

The continuing attention devoted to the blunders, incompetence, and lies surrounding the Obamacare rollout is much deserved. But we shouldn’t forget that the President’s health-care monstrosity is merely the latest and biggest of scores of government entitlement programs suffering from the same flawed progressive assumption––that government “experts” armed with coercive power alone can solve problems better left to the states, civil society, and the free market. In reality, such programs relentlessly metastasize, increasing as well fraud, waste, abuse, and costs. One such program is SNAP, the kinder and gentler name for what we used to call food stamps. Apparently the...

SINGAPORE: After holding the top spot for the past two years, Singapore has fallen to third place in an annual global survey on the most desirable countries for expatriates to work and live in. The Republic lost its crown in the HSBC survey this year - ranking behind China and Germany - amid concerns among respondents over job market security, integration with locals and the rising cost of living. The survey results were released last week. In particular, more than half the respondents in Singapore - compared to a global average of 39 per cent - cited job security as...

USS Freedom, the first-in-class littoral combat ship (LCS) of the US Navy, developed technical problems hours before it was to take part in naval exercise in Brunei. The glitch is the latest in a long series plaguing the LCS program.

TOKYO: Japan is putting missiles on islands marking the gateway to the Pacific, officials said on Thursday, as part of a huge military drill that has unsettled Beijing. The exercise, aimed at bolstering Japan's defence of remote islands, has already seen a launching system and a loader for Type-88 surface-to-ship missiles installed on Miyako island, complete with two missiles. Four more missiles were due to arrive on the main island of Okinawa later on Thursday. It was not clear how long they would remain in place. "This is the first time" that missile systems have been taken to Miyako, said...

SINGAPORE: With a name like Batman, one would have thought the 23-year-old man would aspire to do good. But on Monday, the man -- who is actually named Batman Suparman -- was jailed two years and nine months for multiple theft and housebreaking offences. Batman admitted to six counts of theft, two counts related to house trespass, one for housebreaking and one for drug consumption between June and August this year. The prosecution proceeded on three of the 10 charges. The court heard that Batman broke into SGF Billards & Marketing Singapore at Depot Road in the wee hours of...

SYDNEY: Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday there was "no rhyme or reason" as to why Indonesia had accepted two boatloads of asylum-seekers picked up by Australian vessels but refused others. Thousands of asylum-seekers, many from Iran and Afghanistan, board rickety wooden boats in Indonesia every year to try to make the perilous sea crossing to Australia. Stopping the influx was a key issue at September elections won by Tony Abbott, who vowed to turn boats back to Indonesia when it was safe to do so -- a policy received coolly by Jakarta. Morrison said two boatloads of...