Free Republic

A Nov. 12 memo by State Board of Education President John Austin cited a report issued by a liberal think tank to support the claim that Michigan schools are receiving less money. Austin now says he will "take a look at” the report he cited, which fails to account for billions of dollars that Michigan schools receive. The analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities failed to include about $10 billion of the $19.6 billion from different revenue sources that comprise the annual public school budget. The report also ignores several billion dollars directly from state sources. In...

A global glut of oil will persist next year, putting further pressure on prices and raising the risk of unrest in some producing countries. That's the stark warning from the Paris-based International Energy Agency, which on Friday cut its forecast for global demand growth in 2015. It now sees demand growing by less than 1% next year. Oil prices have already fallen by more than 40% in six months, but there's little sign of that stimulating demand yet, or constraining production enough to remove excess supply. "Oil price drops are sometimes described as a 'tax cut' and a boon for...

The National Labor Relations Board issued a final rule on Friday aimed at modernizing and streamlining the union election process. The new rule will shorten the time between when an election is ordered and the election is held, eliminating a previous 25-day waiting period. And it seeks to reduce litigation that can be used to stall elections. It will also require employers to furnish union organizers with email addresses and phone numbers of workers. […] AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the NLRB’s “modest but important reforms” will help reduce delays and make it easier for workers to vote on forming...

The Christmas season comes each year with the expected flurry of media attention to the biblical accounts of Christ’s conception and birth. The general thrust of the secular media is often incredulity toward the fact that so many people still believe the Bible’s accounts to be true. This year, the Pew Research Center released a report on Christmas Day indicating that almost 75% of the American people affirm belief in the virgin birth of Christ. Meanwhile, the Public Religion Research Institute found markedly lower levels of belief, with just under half affirming the historical accuracy of the biblical accounts. The...

Kim Yo-jong grows in clout as brother relapses PYONGYANG ODYSSEY Dec 10,2014 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is experiencing a relapse of his recent health problems, South Korean government officials said Monday. According to the Ministry of Unification, Kim was limping severely in a video clip recently aired by the state-run Korean Central TV. He was limping particularly painfully at an event with female pilots that took place at the end of last month. The Rodong Shinmun, the Workers’ Party’s newspaper, reported Kim’s visit to the air base on Nov. 28 with photos, but no video was aired until Sunday...

A group of about 30 students attempted to hold a silent demonstration in the first minutes of Primal Scream, a biannual naked run around Harvard Yard, ... The run is a College tradition in which students, at times inebriated, run naked around the Yard on the eve of the first day of exams. ... About ten minutes before the intended start of the run at midnight, the group of protesters convened near Harvard Hall on the path encircling the Yard and held signs.. As student streakers began to gather, talking and shouting, just a few yards away, the protesters, some...

American Catholic Laity Poll, 2011 Data Archive > U.S. Surveys > Religious Groups > Members or Leaders > Catholic > Summary SummaryCodebookSearchDownload The American Catholic Laity Poll contains many questions on pressing issues in the Catholic Church--views of the hierarchy, political positions of the church, women's roles in the church, what it takes to be a "good Catholic," how churches can respond to the current shortage of priests, and the effects of sex abuse in the church. Other questions also concern Mass attendance, prayer, Communion, and demographic characteristics. This poll contains respondents from many different generations of Catholics, and it...

Retiring representative Jim Moran (D., Va.) says that Democrats got “virtually everything” they wanted in the cromnibus package that’s going to a vote in the House tonight, as he praised the bill in terms that could double as the conservative critique of the legislation. Moran says that “the Republicans are indicating they need 80 Democrats” and he’s frustrated that Democrats won’t provide the votes.

London’s airspace has been closed due to a computer failure, the European air control agency Eurocontrol said Friday. Officials at London Heathrow Airport said there was a power outage at the NATS control center in Swanwick, England. Heathrow’s statement gave no indication how long the situation was expected to continue. …

"CBS This Morning" has now spoken with the three friends of the victim of an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity house who were mentioned in a Rolling Stone article. The magazine has admitted it had mistakes in the story. The accounts the friends gave to "CBS This Morning" were similar to each other, but very different from that of the victim, "Jackie," reports CBS News correspondent Julianna Goldman. The article said the friends saw and spoke to Jackie the night of the alleged assault. Alex, a third year student at UVA who asked we only use...

Hollywood producer attacks Angelina Jolie as 'spoiled brat with rampaging ego' In embarrassing emails leaked by Sony hackers Scott Rudin, producer of The Social Network and The Queen, claims the star's planned remake of Cleopatra will be an "ego bath" By Nick Allen, Los Angeles 8:14PM GMT 10 Dec 2014 An Oscar-winning Hollywood producer reportedly attacked Angelina Jolie as a "spoiled brat with a rampaging ego" in leaked emails. Scott Rudin, who produced films including The Social Network, Notes on a Scandal, Moneyball, and The Queen, made the comments in what appear to be a series of angry exchanges with...

Here’s the response from Raelian Thomas Kaenzig to Walgreens’ removal of the wrapping paper: We feel outraged by Walgreen’s decision and ask for this gift wrapping paper to be made available again. It’s unacceptable for us to see a major U.S. retail chain ban this symbol that is so dear to billions around the world. “Billions” may be a stretch, although even after the Nazi Party stigmatized the ancient sign, the swastika continues to be a religious symbol with various meanings in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Note that it is day after the vote on the spending bill known as CRomnibus and the House clerk has yet to post the votes. (As of 11 am EST, on 12/12/14) I just wrote a flaming red-hot epistle to my congressman, Lou Barletta, about the entire process used with CRomnibus. At least he had an explanation for his vote in a post on his website. I am really curious if the Republican leadership has found a way to delay the House Clerk's posting of the voting results to give cover to Republican congresscritters.

Call The Rush Limbaugh Show program line between 12 Noon & 3PM Eastern Time, at: 1-800-282-2882 E-mail Rush: ElRushbo@eibnet.com or Fax Rush at: 212-445-3963 Write a letter to Rush and mail it to: The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1270 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Join This Ping List Now! E-mail Rush: ElRushbo@eibnet.com Fax Rush at: 212-445-3963, Write a letter to Rush and mail it to: The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1270 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Join This Ping List Now! Click Here To Join This Ping List! AND NOW... amidst billowing clouds of fragrant,...

ObamaCare ads will now appear on 7-Eleven receipts at more than 7,000 stores nationwide as government health officials expand their outreach in the second year of healthcare sign-ups. Information about ObamaCare sign-ups will appear on the bottom of receipts for anyone using a mobile payment company called PayNearMe, which allows bank-less customers to pay in stores like 7-Eleven and Family Dollar. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced the new partnership with the tech start-up PayNearMe on Thursday at a store in Washington, D.C. “Putting these reminders at the bottom of PayNearMe receipts will help get health...

Eric Garner, a 43 year-old father of six, is dead. This is a tragedy, regardless of the circumstances. We rightly mourn with his wife and children. They will never see their husband and father again, and that should break everyone’s heart. When we witness a gut-rending tragedy like this, we want to know who is responsible. Who is to blame for depriving this family of its husband and father? As the facts emerge, it becomes increasingly clear that, as tragic as this situation is, in the end the culpability for Eric Garner’s death rests with Eric Garner.To put it as...

Seven people, including a family of five with young children, were lightly wounded in the West Bank Friday afternoon when a Palestinian man hurled acid into their car, before being shot and seriously wounded. The attack occurred near a checkpoint between the Gush Etzion settlement of Beitar Illit, where the family is from, and the Palestinian village of Husan, southwest of Jerusalem. Palestinian news agency Ma’an identified the attacker as Jamal Abd al-Majid Ghayatha, 45, from the West Bank village of Nahalin. Media networks affiliated with Hamas said the man was a former Palestinian prisoner in Israel jail, Israel Radio...

Killing children is part of the American ideal. It's who we are, says Obama. On behalf of the democrats on the SSIC Sen. Dianne Feinstein released a report describing what she called "torture." There has been much harrumphing about what is and what is not consistent with American values and what we stand for as Americans. Torture is "contrary to our values" says Barack Obama: President Obama said Tuesday he hopes a Senate report detailing “troubling” CIA interrogation practices will help the U.S. prevent actions “contrary to our values” in the future. “One of the strengths that makes America exceptional...

TEL AVIV – The Palestinian Authority received a pledge from the U.S. that by the end of 2014, the Obama administration will issue an official written declaration presenting general highlights of a future Palestinian state, a senior Palestinian negotiator told WND. The negotiator further said the goal is to have the general framework for a deal ironed out by April. The current framework for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement being brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry calls for the phased implementation of more Palestinian sovereignty within three to five years, the negotiator said. As part of the written declaration, the U.S....

A Prayer for the Internet from the 1946 Roman Ritual? Sure, and It’s Wonderful! By: Msgr. Charles PopeThe old Roman Ritual was (is) a magnificent collection of blessings and prayers. It had some of the most amazing little blessings of things it would never occur to you to find in such a collection. For example, among other more common blessings of statues, religious medals, and so forth are blessings, often elaborately laid out, for things like a seismograph, a typewriter, a printing press, a fishing boat, a fire engine, a stable, medicine, a well, a bridge, an archive, a lime kiln,...