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At the Extraordinary Synod held at the Vatican in October, several Catholic married couples were invited as “non-voting” auditors to offer some experiences “from the ground up” for consideration by the synod fathers.A Brazilian couple, Arturo and Hermelinda As Zamberline, were exceptional in focusing on contraception as the larger context in which the various problems concerning marriage should be understood. Their experience certainly coincides with the facts of Catholic existence in other parts of the world. As they put it: We must admit without fear that many Catholic couples, even those who seek to live their marriage seriously, do not...

Explanation: This extreme close-up, a mosaic from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the Curiosity rover, spans a breathtaking 5 centimeters. It captures what appear to be elongated crystal shapes formed by the precipitation of minerals dissolved in water, a likely result of the evaporation of ancient lake or river from the Martian surface. Brushed by a dust removal tool and illuminated by white LEDs, the target rock named Mojave was found on the Pink Cliffs outcrop of the Pahrump Hills at the base of Mount Sharp. The MAHLI images were acquired on Curiosity's sol 809, known on planet...

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The worst storm to slam sunny San Diego in the past six years has encouraged thousands of sailors to repent for their sins and seek the unconditional forgiveness of the omniscient deity of their choosing, sources confirmed Friday. Many service members elected to remain home and spend their last moments with their families — except those on duty — who were tasked with bringing two animals of every kind aboard their ships. “Duty is duty,” proclaimed an unidentified master chief. Read more: http://www.duffelblog.com/2014/12/san-diego-rain-us-navy/#ixzz3Lmkeq5HW

We all know that the American energy revolution, led by the new technologies of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, has created a flood of new shale-oil and natural-gas production that has overwhelmed world markets and driven prices down by roughly 40 percent. End-of-week crude oil closed near $57 a barrel, and the national average gasoline price finished at $2.60. No matter what the naysayers are trying to sell, the new energy reality is unambiguously good for the U.S. and global economies. There may be some dislocations among countries, sectors, or companies, but the overwhelming impact is positive. In fact, the...

PANAMA CITY - Cuba will attend the Washington-backed Summit of the Americas for the first time, host nation Panama said Friday, edging two adversaries closer to a possible joint appearance by Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro. The United States is expected to attend but has not yet announced whether Obama will lead the U.S. delegation, a development that would stir protest from the influential anti-Castro lobby. Washington has said Cuba should be excluded, but Secretary of State John Kerry indicated a softening of that position in a speech in Miami on Wednesday when he said, "We must get beyond...

Two suspects are in custody after Springdale Police said they robbed C & S Gun and Pawn shop at gun-point Saturday morning (Dec. 6). According to police, the owner of the shop shot one of the suspects. Police said 25-year-old Marcus Gould and 20-year-old Leon Roberson are in custody after attempting to rob the store carrying semi-automatic pistols. They said the owner, Shirley Cornett, pulled out her .38 revolver and shot Gould in the arm as he was jumping over the counter towards her husband, Clint.

A New York woman who claimed she was falsely arrested outside an Air National Guard base for taking photographs for a "Support Our Troops" website has been awarded $1.12 million in compensatory damages, her attorney said Friday...

Jim Geraghty published an interesting article the other day about 'Narrative Journalism' titled "What If the Media’s ‘Narrative Journalism’ Harms Their Own Causes? It has been widely discussed in light of what it contains, so I am going to go right for what is outside the box. Narrative Journalism, in this context, also necessarily implies narrative protesters. The narrative being pushed by the journalist does not have to be true by any means, but to the protesters, it is very real. The challenge is that we as citizens are supposed to be able to trust the journalist establishment without fear...

It’s Advent and our thoughts naturally turn toward less fortunate souls, longing for basic niceties, and the call for selfless giving. Christ-like love, almsgiving, and prayer are staples of this anticipatory time which brings in the new Church year. The scripture readings at Mass remind us of those in need and our moral obligation toward them. What a sad statement about current times, then, that we are forced to look a gift horse in the mouth.No, not the gifts we receive, but the gifts we give.As the giving season continues, as well as the rest of the year, we are often...

The attack by hackers suspected of having links with North Korea, has taken most of Sony Pictures’ computers offline and left it unable to process payments. The Hollywood studio that made the James Bond and Spider-Man films has abandoned film shoots after hackers paralysed its computer network, and leaked four films and thousands of documents. Agencies filming for Sony Pictures have cancelled shoots because the problems have left it unable to process payments, according to The Times. The attack by Guardians of Peace, a hacking collective suspected of having links with North Korea, has taken most of Sony Pictures’ computers...

TOKYO — Angelina Jolie’s new movie “Unbroken” has not been released in Japan yet, but it has already struck a nerve in a country still wrestling over its wartime past. The buzz on social networks and in online chatter is decidedly negative over the film, which depicts a U.S. Olympic runner who endures torture at a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. Some people are calling for a boycott of the movie, although there is no release date in Japan yet. It hits theaters in the U.S. on Dec. 25. Others want the ban extended to Jolie, the director...

My new Ford has 6 Months of Sirius Radio. I listen mostly to Patriot talk. Mike Church is on in the AM and He sounds like a real nut case. Today either I was not paying attention or he compared the EIT we did to Islamic Terrorists to what the Romans did to Various Saints. Does anyone else listen to him?

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Abraham New International Version (NIV) 15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram.     I am your shield,
    your very great reward" 2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not...

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David Miliband has said he "passionately" wants Labour to win the general election and for his brother to become the next prime minister. In an interview with the Financial Times, the former foreign secretary said his brother Ed, the Labour leader, had "clarity, vision, determination". He also said it would be "unbelievably stupid" for the UK to leave the European Union

BUDAPEST, Hungary — The Hungarian prime minister, who has vowed to remake his country into a "non-liberal" state as he moves closer to Moscow, called Friday for mandatory drug testing of journalists and politicians.

The leader of a group hoping to improve liberals' fortunes at the state level revealed on Friday plans to start tracking conservative state legislators based on the assumption that "someone’s going to say something about black people" or women. The comments came at the first ever conference of the State Innovation Exchange (SiX), the Left’s attempt to counter conservative policy successes that have followed Republican victories at the state level. “We’re working with David Brock and Media Matters and American Bridge who have trackers that we can send out to monitor the debate on some bills that you all might...

There is a super deal on a great Christmas gift for kids. Looney Tunes Golden Collection. It is 350 cartoons (48 hours). Today only, it is $48. It has been $130 lately, and Amazon just made it the Deal of the Day. This is not a bootleg cheapie collection. This is quality. I do not think you can find a better Christmas gift for a kid, and this price is outstanding.

In a small percentage of cases, a victim disarms an attacker.  The attacker usually runs off.  In one case, they even asked for the gun back!   My experience is that disarms by victims are considerably more common than disarms by attackers.   It is not hard to understand why.  The victim has a lot more to gain from a disarm; the attacker a lot more to lose if he continues the fight.   Sometimes the victim turns the gun on the attacker, as happen in this case in Chicago.   It happened in the 6600 block of South State Street, one of...

Tonight's second feature is much lighter fare. John Cusack stars in this surreal 80s teen comedy. Co-starring David Ogden Stiers, Kim Darby, and Johnny, a sociopathic paperboy who wants his TWO DOLLARS.