Free Republic

Catholic professors and other faculty members at a prominent Wisconsin Catholic university are now being trained to report any school employees who voice their opposition to same-sex marriage as a form of harassment to the university's human resources office. Marquette University has begun requiring its employees to attend workplace anti-harassment training, where they are taught that it is imperative for them to quickly report faculty members who discuss openly their opposing view of same-sex marriage. As the Catholic News Agency reports, Marquette's anti-harassment training includes a comic-style story presentation where a fictional character named "Harassed Hans," who overhears his co-workers,...

Over the past two days, several news reports have emerged that suggest the media and, yes, even some politicians in Washington, have begun to appreciate the threat posed by the small Gulf State of Qatar. On December 9, a bipartisan group of 24 members of Congress wrote a letter to the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, David S. Cohen, that stated in part: “We are concerned about the ties between Qatar and Hamas, and we commend you on your speech before the Center for a New American Security, where you stated that, ‘Qatar, a longtime U.S. ally, has...

Although these bans aren't enforceable under federal law, a coalition of atheists are now lobbying to remove language from constitutions in Maryland and six other states that prevent people who do not believe in God from holding public office. Along with Maryland, the constitutions of Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas all bear language prohibiting people who do not believe in God from holding office according to The New York Times. And the Openly Secular coalition wants the language removed. "If it was on the books that Jews couldn't hold public office, or that African-Americans or women...

He gave up Heaven, power and honor in exchange for a dirty feeding trough, helplessness and a cross. He gave up all the benefits that come with being God just so He could save us from our own mess. The Creator of the Universe became like us and lived among us. But the miracle that makes Christmas worth celebrating is much more personal than God with us. The miracle of Christmas is that God came here to be born within us. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, he took on the broken and corrupt spirits of every person who...

Historians have plumbed nearly every aspect of the Holocaust – but one needs further exploration, according to historians. The Nazis' crime of forced abortion and sterilization should be highlighted, studied, and used to understand modern totalitarian regimes, a panel of Holocaust historians said at a recent forum.“A lot of women’s experiences during the Holocaust had to do with the biology of being a woman – not only vulnerability of sexual violence but menstruation and childbirth and forced abortion and forced sterilization,” historian Rochelle Saidel, the director of Remember the Women Institute, said at a panel at the American Jewish Historical...

Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton knew the Obama White House’s Benghazi talking points BEFORE the White House even sent them around to administration officials. Hillary Clinton used the administration’s exact talking point blaming the attack on a YouTube video before Obama’s White House speechwriter Ben Rhodes drafted it to prepare Susan Rice for Sunday morning talk shows days later. As Rhodes prepares to leave the White House before he can be called to testify in front of Rep. Trey Gowdy’s select committee on the attack, a new timeline emerges that puts the video in Secretary Clinton’s hands.

<p>The internet troll army’s selling of the Kremlin’s parallel universe to the Russian people and to a skeptical Western audience is a matter of life and death for the Putin regime. If the Russian people do not buy their story, Putin loses the high “ratings” on which his regime rests. If he cannot convince his Western audience, Europe and the United States will take actions that spoil his Novorossiya ventures and threaten his regime. Trolling is a high stakes business that Putin takes seriously and the West must not underestimate.</p>

Anyone skeptical about entrusting ambitious tasks to the government was not stunned by the dismal rollout of the Affordable Care Act. It featured technical snafus, cost overruns and false advertising ("If you like your plan, you'll be able to keep it."). Things got so bad that President Barack Obama apologized and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius resigned. This epic fail occurred even though the administration had more than three years to prepare for the launch and $840 million to spend developing the website. It was a textbook case of government bungling. Truth be told, a rocky start should...

The government funding debate might last until next week. House Republicans are warning Democrats that if they cannot pass the long-term government funding bill Thursday, they will pass a one-week stopgap bill and come back next week to pass a three-month funding bill. The warning from GOP leadership has been delivered to congressional Democrats. Republicans still want to pass a deal today. “We expect the bill to pass with bipartisan support today, but if it does not, we will pass a short-term CR to avoid a government shutdown,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for John Boehner. “The length and other details...

WASHINGTON -- I should like to pose a question to the overnight press baron Chris Hughes, who owns the New Republic that he has rendered moribund with astounding speed and no class at all. My question is an old-fashioned one that might have circulated within the humanities faculty at universities two generations ago. "What," I would ask, "makes a book more authoritative and satisfying than a news report?" Most of the profs in their tweed jackets, and some pulling on their briar pipes, would answer that the author of a book has more time to write it than the author...

Ontario’s College of Physicians and Surgeons has tentatively approved a policy forcing doctors in some circumstances to provide abortions, contraceptives, and vasectomies.If doctors fail to comply with the proposed regulations, they could face disciplinary action, Marc Gabel, a former president of the college, told the Globe and Mail.The College Council has approved the draft policy for “external consultation,” and it will continue to accept public input until February 20, 2015.The policy would force doctors who are “unwilling to provide certain elements of care due to their moral or religious beliefs” — such as abortion — to refer the patient “in...

Over the last several months, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has been giving speeches, campaigning for candidates, appearing at public forums, and meeting with wealthy donors, which has led many people to believe that he may soon enter the race to become the next Republican presidential nominee. On Dec. 1, Bush told a gathering of business leaders at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington that he would make a decision about his political future “in short order.” But Bush’s recent business ventures reveal that he shares a number of liabilities with the last nominee, Mitt Romney, whose career in private equity...

I don't know too much about Jim Rickards, just found this to be an interesting video about the overall economy and some tidbits about what our government agencies are up to. The video is a 45 minutes long interview of sorts and discussion. Just posting in the event other are interested.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney upgraded his assessment of the Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats’ report on the use of enhanced interrogation techniques from “hooey” to “crap.” “The report’s full of crap — excuse. I said hooey yesterday and let me use the real word,” Cheney said on Fox last night. “It’s OK, you can bleep it.” The veep said the report was “deeply flawed.” “They didn’t bother to interview key people involved in the program. And I think that it’s sort of a classic example which you see too often in Washington where a group of politicians get together and...

North Korea is systematically purging its disabled population by making them disappear from public sight, subjecting them to chemical weapons tests and castrating them, defectors claimed today. Ji Seong-ho, 32, who escaped after he himself suffered horrific treatment after losing a leg and hand, said the Kim Jong-un's regime felt 'humiliated' by them. He claims babies with mental and physical disabilities are routinely snatched from hospitals and left to suffer 'indescribable things' until they die. Two other defectors also told him of a village in a remote mountain region that had been effectively turned into an asylum to house people...

Senator Elizabeth Warren is bat guano crazy. She is calling on Democrats in the House to oppose the bi-partisan budget bill negotiated by the House and Senate because an obscure rule dealing with derivatives contained in the Dodd-Frank financial regulation reform bill has been removed.If House Democrats follow her lead, the budget bill will fail and the government will be forced to shut down at 12:01 AM on Friday. At present, Speaker Boehner does not have enough votes for Republicans to pass the measure themselves. That’s because some conservatives in the House are also bat guano crazy and insist...

The incoming Republican majority in the Senate passed a new rule that requires them to live by the law that Democrats championed — and pointed out that Democrats have yet to do so. Until now, a loophole in federal law allowed both caucuses to designate their staffs as “unofficial,” meaning that they were not required to get their health insurance through ObamaCare. The Hill reports that Republicans have thrown down the gauntlet to their Democratic counterparts (via Instapundit): A loophole used in both chambers allows lawmakers to designate staff as “unofficial” or “official staff,” which permits them to keep...

With the recent nomination of Ashton Carter to head the Department of Defense many observers are not only wondering how Mr. Carter will differ in style from his predecessor, outgoing Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, but also how they will differ in substance. One area in particular is the vocal commitment to which Mr. Carter, assuming his nomination successfully navigates U.S. Senate confirmation, will give toward missile defense as a significant element of the nation's broad national security apparatus. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA), responsible for conducting "research, development, and acquisition" of ballistic missile defense systems for the Department of...

I’m sure we’re all relieved to know that after the many media debacles in the last few election cycles, the cable news denizens have learned their lesson. This time around things are going to be different. Candidates will be treated fairly, with an opportunity to make their case before the American people while being subjected to rigorous examination of their actual record and their stated positions on the issues.Naw, I’m just kidding. Nothing has actually changed at all. And to lead off the two year parade of embarrassing media moments, MSNBC featured an interview with Texas Governor Rick Perry...

In his weekly address at the Vatican late last month, Pope Francis issued a remarkable statement that’s sure to come as welcome news to anyone who’s ever lost a beloved pet. According to Francis, the promise of an afterlife applies not only to believers, but to all animals as well."The Holy Scriptures teach us that the realization of this wonderful plan covers all that is around us, and that came out of the thought and the heart of God," Pope Francis said, as quoted by Italian news site Resapubblica. The Pope then went on to say that “heaven is open to all...