Free Republic

Twelve hours after the Lindt Cafe hostage crisis in Sydney began to unfold, Australians have flooded social media with sentiments of solidarity and support of Muslims in the community. Twitter user Sir Tessa began what has become a worldwide phenomenon, offering to sit next to members of the Islamic faith on transport if they were frightened to be seen in public wearing religious clothing. The 'I'll ride with you' hashtag has garnered over 112,000 mentions across social media, with people all over the world jumping on board the movement in an effort to turn the terrifying events of Monday into...

Furthermore, Ms. Feinstein seems to have no regard for thousands of American lives around the world she has put in jeopardy or the droves of new recruits ISIS will enlist because of her reckless actions. She has singlehandedly hogtied the CIA, who, by the way, vehemently disagree with this report (the methods were even defended – to a degree – by Obama’s CIA head, John Brennan), and was put together totally by Democrats, without even interviewing the persons who would have been able to refute their claim that the enhanced interrogation techniques did not provide information that foiled other attacks...

Richmond, Va. (1140wrva.com) Look for gas prices in the area to fall below $2 in the near future. Local gas industry analyst John Zehler, President of wholesaler Virginia Fuels, is predicting under $2 pump prices as the free fall in crude prices continues. Zehler says the price plunge has been going on for 6 months and it's going to be hard to turn it around until demand catches up with production. He says some folks think, with the current trend, we could see gas fall to $1.60 by the summer but admits it wild speculation.

In the span of four months, at least 94 children in 33 U.S. states have developed a devastating form of paralysis with symptoms similar to polio. Some require a ventilator to breathe. And some of the greatest government health minds in the country say they have no idea what’s causing it. At the same time, during the past four months, at least 12 children have died after falling ill with a respiratory virus called Enterovirus D-68 (EV-D68). Again, federal health officials are at a loss to explain the origin of the epidemic. Are the mysterious outbreaks linked? The Centers for...

When asked whether they felt an issue was immoral, morally acceptable, or “not a moral issue,” here’s a breakdown of how many Mormons declared that certain activities were “morally wrong.” Drinking alcohol: 54% Having an abortion: 74% Sex between unmarried adults: 79% Practicing polygamy: 86% Hold the phone. 86% of Mormons say that polygamy is morally wrong?* It seems that Mormons hate polygamy even more than abortion. Remember that abortion is discussed in the church handbook as a sin that requires serious repentance — and sometimes disciplinary action on the part of the church. Abortion is permissible only in rare...

The Taliban has called for an international investigation into the human rights standards of the United States after the Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats released a lengthy report criticizing enhanced interrogation techniques used in the war on terror. Under Taliban rule, Afghans were subject to public floggings or executions for “violations” such as women wearing nail polish or exposing any skin, or both teachers and students trying to learn in underground schools. Women had zero rights and weren’t allowed to leave their homes except with a male relative. Nowadays, the Taliban commits acts of violence against activist or working women, and...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) Peg Brokaw, 95, had missed the early Saturday morning Mass at St. Rose of Lima, on Church Hill Road in Newtown, but said she would go inside and say a prayer, anyway. She has lived in this town a long time, and tells you her son is a retired policeman here, one who still directs traffic in front of the church occasionally. And because this was another December in Newtown, two years now since 20 children and six adults were shot dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary, because Peg Brokaw stood outside what became the church of small coffins in...

New evidence from the Pew Research Center reveals that Mexican Catholics who emigrate to the United States are considerably less religious than their counterparts who remain in Mexico. A hefty majority of US Hispanics are of Mexican descent (64%), according to US Census Bureau statistics, and about a third of Mexican Americans were born in Mexico and immigrated into the US. Mexican Americans, however, exhibit differences both in religious affiliation and in doctrinal belief as compared with Catholics living in Mexico. Though the Pew study does not explore the reasons Mexican Catholics leave the Church when emigrating to the US,...

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin pro-life groups are gearing up for another legislative session, with plans to push for a new ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and to revive a host of initiatives that went nowhere last time around. The pro-life lobby scored a huge victory last session when the GOP-controlled Legislature passed a law requiring abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Republicans retained their majorities in the Assembly and Senate in November’s elections, setting the stage for more wins for anti-abortion groups. Republican leaders aren’t publicly committing to anything, but Democrats are already fuming....

“We are disappointed,” Prakash Javadekar a UN delegate from India, told The Guardian. “It is ridiculous. It is ridiculously low.”

Since the night St. Louis Country prosecutor Bob McCullough announced that police officer Darren Wilson would face no charges in the death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown and released thousands of documents in connection to the case, many interested parties have combed through the pages and analyzed them, trying to get a sense of why the grand jury decided not to indict. CNN recently did a comprehensive breakdown of Ferguson witness reports which showed how witnesses on both sides presented conflicting information, changed their stories, and some lied under oath. Some witnesses testimony, like that of Dorian Johnson, the...

The powerful storm lashing Sacramento kept many people home last Thursday, but Rosario Aguilar was not among them. After eight years of living and driving unlawfully in California, the chance to get a legitimate license led him through sheets of rain to an information session held at a community services center tucked behind an Autozone on Fruitridge Road.

The RU 486 abortion pill has been responsible for killing dozens of people — including women in the United States — and injuring thousands more. But the Supreme Court refused to take a case today to protect women from it. Contrary to Food and Drug Administration protocols, Planned Parenthood distributes abortion-inducing drugs to women, oftentimes without requiring an in-person visit, up until two weeks beyond the prescribed 49 days from their last menstrual cycle. Furthermore, the organization sends women home to complete the chemical abortion themselves without a physician present. Planned Parenthood’s instructions have directly led to the deaths of...

A Catholic priest assigned to an east Mesa church is among five men arrested by Mesa police in a sting operation that targeted prostitution involving underaged girls. Mesa police detectives posed as 16-year-old girls and advertised their services on a website known for trading in prostitution. Police say the men came to a Mesa motel at a predetermined time Thursday to rendezvous with the prostitutes for sex.

St. Louis officer faces discipline over Ferguson-related nametag ST. LOUIS - A St. Louis city police officer faces disciplinary action for wearing a tag on his sleeve bearing the last name of the former Ferguson officer who shot and killed Michael Brown. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1uIk2vQ ) he "couldn't be more disappointed" and that he thinks the officer will get "some days off for his actions." The officer, whose name hasn't been released, wore the tag with Darren Wilson's last name on it in a show of solidarity to Wilson while stationed...

JOURNALISTS, SAYS Jorge Ramos, shouldn't make a fetish of accuracy and impartiality. Speaking last month at the International Press Freedom Awards, Univision's influential news anchor told his audience that while he has "nothing against objectivity," journalism is meant to be wielded as "a weapon for a higher purpose: justice." To be sure, he said, it is important to get the facts right — five deaths should be reported as five, not six or seven. But "the best of journalism happens when we, purposely, stop pretending that we are neutral and recognize that we have a moral obligation to tell truth...

Some with Same-Sex Attraction Choose Celibacy – A Reflection on an Article in the Washington Post By: Msgr. Charles PopeA little over a year ago, I wrote an article asking and answering this question: What Does the Catholic Church Offer for those with Same-Sex Attraction? And the answer is, “the truth.” It is the same gift we offer anyone who will give us the gift of attention and presence. The truth, as revealed by God, is what we offer and celebrate along with the Sacraments, the communal life, and prayer.Of course the truth we offer in terms of human sexuality...

They are this year’s must-have Christmas presents for selfie-obsessed Britons. So-called ‘selfie-sticks’ that allow camera phones to be extended up to a metre away for group shots and panoramic images are flying off the shelves. While the selfie might have gone mainstream in 2014, it now appears that simply taking a picture of yourself and others with your smartphone is passe.

I have about 1.5 acres of land in my back yard and I need advice on what/when to plant on it so all the dirt does now wash down to the bottom. Whatever I plant/seed needs to come in thick and fast. My daughter had 2 horses back there and now the land is pretty bare.

<p>Police stormed a cafe in central Sydney early Tuesday where a gunman held more than a dozen hostages for more than 16 hours, firing automatic weapons and throwing grenades moments after captives were seen fleeing the buidling in terror. A scene of pandemonium erupted in the early morning just minutes after hostages started emerging from the cafe on their own or in small groups. Eleven hostages The dramatic end stage of the siege came as the gunman holding the remaining captives was revealed as a self-proclaimed Islamic cleric Man Haron Monis. Monis is a 49-year-old man living in southwest Sydney, but is originally from Iran and a self-proclaimed sheik, and also sent hate mail to the families of Australian dead soldiers between 2007 and 2009, according to The Daily Telegraph. The seige in the Lindt cafe in Martin Place on Monday follows an unsuccessful attempt to have these charges overturned in the High Court on Friday, The Age reported. Monis received 300 community service hours and a two-year good behaviour bond for the correspondence, which he claims were his version of sympathy cards, sent with the help from his girlfriend Amirah Droudis. Arriving as a refugee in Australia in 1996, the hostage-taker was charged as an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife - who was allegedly stabbed and set on fire on a flight of stairs in her western Sydney apartment block in November 2013. The man's current partner was charged with murder but they both received bail as the case was deemed too weak.</p>