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In a speech held at the same time as President Barack Obama’s televised speech announcing a normalization of relations with Cuba, Cuban dictator Raul Castro urged Obama to use “executive action” to bypass Congressional policy on Cuba. USA Today’s Gregory Korte first caught the comments: Raul Castro urges President Obama to use “executive action” to lift congressionally imposed sanctions on Cuba. — Gregory Korte (@gregorykorte) December 17, 2014

A Veterans Affairs psychiatrist cleared former Marine Bradley Stone of suicidal or homicidal tendencies just a week before he went on a killing spree, slaying six others and then taking his own life. Stone, who had been in a child custody battle with his ex-wife, killed members of her family Monday. His body was found near his home in Pennsylvania on Tuesday with self-inflicted stab wounds and cuts. He had a 100 percent disability rating at the VA for post-traumatic stress disorder and had seen his psychiatrist just one week prior to the incident, a VA spokesman told The Washington...

Former Florida Governor and ex-First Brother Jeb Bush announced his plans to start a fundraising committee next month, and immediately some big names in GOP money — such as Florida developer Mel Sembler — got behind him. Bush has recently proven his ability to raise big bucks, but some of Bush’s likely competitors for the 2016 GOP nomination already have a head start. Three of them — Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Ted Cruz (Texas) — have the advantage of a national podium in the Senate and plenty of places to start stashing away cash. All three...

<p>The "Cuban Five" refers to intelligence agents whose so-called "Wasp Network" operated in Florida in the 1990s.</p> <p>One, Gerardo Hernandez, had been serving a life sentence on charges of murder conspiracy related to the Cuban air force's 1996 shoot-down of two planes flown by Brothers to the Rescue, an exile organization that sought to aid migrants at sea and also dropped propaganda leaflets.</p>

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (CBS ST. LOUIS) – A GOP lawmaker in Missouri introduced a bill that requires pregnant women to receive written consent from the father of the child before an abortion can be performed – or in exceptional cases of “legitimate rape.” State Representative Rick Brattin, a Republican from outside Kansas City, filed the bill on Dec. 3 that proposes, “No abortion shall be performed or induced unless and until the father of the unborn child provides written, notarized consent to the abortion.” Although Brattin’s bill leaves open “certain exceptions” to the bill, Mother Jones reports. “Just like any...

From Tom Cotton to Ted Cruz, many of the biggest new names in the GOP are graduates of Harvard -- the school the right loves to hate. Mocking the arrogance of “liberals from Harvard” is a foolproof applause line for any Republican looking to rev up a conservative audience. But when the 114th Congress gavels into session in January, GOP speechwriters are going to need some new material. That’s because many of fastest rising stars in the Republican Party, including Senators-elect Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Dan Sullivan (Ak.) and Rep.-elect Elise Stefanik, all graduated from Harvard. Along with...

The country's top five theater circuits have decided not to play Sony's The Interview, a knowledgeable source tells The Hollywood Reporter. Regal Entertainment, AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, Carmike Cinemas and Cineplex Entertainment have all decided against showing the film. Carmike Cinemas confirmed its decision to drop the film on Tuesday. The other chains did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sony also had no immediate comment.

Fox News reports:Graham thinking about presidential bid http://fxn.ws/1BUZ2XFWhich Graham? I mean, it couldn’t be Lindsey Graham, the senior U.S. Senator from South Carolina, in Congress from 1995 to 2003 and in the Senate ever since. There’s no market for a moderate Republican whose main passion is foreign interventionism, right? And yet, that’s exactly what the story says. Here are six other Grahams you’d probably rather see run for the highest office in the land before Lindsey Graham. Heather Graham:? She was great as Rollergirl in Boogie Nights but also as Daisy in the satire Bowfinger. She’s a children’s rights activist...

Anybody paying attention to what has happened in our nation, and worldwide for that matter, regarding the lack of reverence for the dignity of life, is probably aware of the advances the culture of death has made over the past several decades. Here is some of what has happened:In 1968, a committee of 13 men at Harvard Medical School endorsed brain death as legal death; in 1981 it was approved by the American Medical Association. This has a profound effect on decisions regarding life and death and has placed physicians as the sole decision makers of who is alive and...

It is equipped with side stick controls like an F-16 Fighting Falcon. It uses an advanced, “mission adaptive” wing that has no seams at the control surfaces. The wing is so unique its design is protected under U.S. patent 821,393. The entire wing changes shape to control the roll axis of the aircraft ... And it is the first successful powered aircraft ever, the Wright Flyer. 111 years ago today Orville Wright became the first man to achieve powered flight. His first 12-second flight, covering only 120 feet, changed the course of mankind. 10:35 Local, Thursday, 17 December, 1903; Kill...

Norman Bridwell, the creator of Clifford the Big Red Dog, a figure who looms as large in toddler lit as the great white whale does in the American canon, died on Friday in Oak Bluffs, Mass., on Martha’s Vineyard. He was 86. Kyle Good, a spokeswoman for Scholastic Books, which over the past half-century has published dozens of Clifford titles by Mr. Bridwell, confirmed his death without specifying a cause. Mr. Bridwell’s wife of 56 years, Norma, told The Associated Press that he had prostate cancer and that he had been in the hospital for three weeks after a fall...

A federal judge has found parts of President Obama's immigration executive actions unconstitutional, in an opinion delivered as part of a separate immigration case not directly tied to the policy changes. The opinion filed Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Schwab, in Pennsylvania, still marks the first court opinion to tackle Obama's immigration announcement. He said Obama's immigration actions are invalid and effectively count as "legislation" from the Executive Branch.

uropean Parliament President Martin Schulz receives 2015 Charlemagne Prize of Aachen, Schulz is acknowledged in Charlemagne's city as an "outstanding representative of the revival of European democracy". Aachen (Catholic news). Martin Schulz who has his roots in the Aachen region (born in Eschweiler, living in Wuerselen) receives the Charlemagne Prize 2015. Schulz was an outstanding representative for the revival of European democracy, it said in the grounds given by the Charlemagne Prize Board on Saturday in the imperial city of Aachen. As a pioneer, he has rendered outstanding services to....

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) is on a roll. First, his team insists Republicans can win the presidency without independent voters (we really must be failing to teach math in this country), and now he says he is an innovative start-up: On Fox News’s Special Report on Tuesday, host Bret Baier asked the senator how he’s handling the criticism. “You know, in some level, I’ll agree with what they said,” Cruz said. “I am not trying to play the rules of Washington. Because I think Washington’s broken — I think it’s profoundly broken — and I think the only answer is...

t's not often that a power-conference school should hire a coach straight from FCS, but Coastal Carolina's Joe Moglia isn't most coaches. The former CEO of TD Ameritrade, Moglia stepped back into coaching in 2009 as a volunteer assistant at Nebraska. In 2011, he became the head coach of the United Football League's Omaha Nighthawks, and in 2012, he got his first job as a college head coach at Coastal Carolina.

oday, the Council of the District of Columbia will consider a bill that could force employers in the nation’s capital to cover elective abortions in their health plans and require even pro-life organizations to hire individuals who oppose their views on abortion. This latest attempt to violate the freedom of individuals in the District should spur Congress to better protect the conscience rights for all Americans. The “Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act,” would specifically prohibit employers from discriminating in “compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment” on the basis of an individual’s “reproductive health decision making” – including the “termination of...

ARLINGTON, Va. — Alan Gross has called himself a “trusting fool” for going to Cuba in the first place. Family and friends described him with other words: gregarious and outgoing, with a talent for picking up and playing any musical instrument. Gross, 65, was freed from prison Wednesday as part of an agreement that included the release of three Cubans jailed in the United States, officials said.

Full title: Judicial Watch Joins Sharyl Attkisson in Lawsuit against Justice Department to Obtain FBI Records about Attkisson Earlier FOIA records obtained by Judicial Watch show award-winning journalist was targeted by Obama White House and Justice Department over critical reporting (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that on November 19, 2014, it joined investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson to file a Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking “any and all records” relating to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background checks and other records on the award-winning correspondent. The request includes correspondence between Attkisson and...

But this article isn’t about the whole apparition story so much as it is about the tilma, Juan Diego’s cloak, on which the image of the Blessed Mother was imprinted. In the centuries following the event, some amazing and unexplainable qualities have been discovered about it. Here’s four (literally) awesome facts about the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe:

By a vote of 51 to 43 vote, the Senate has confirmed 37-year-old Vivek Murthy as Surgeon General of the United States. Critics say that the Obama pick is a political appointment only. Pro-lifers say that anyone the most radically pro-abortion president to date would select as America’s top doctor will most likely favor abortion. No sooner did the news of the confirmation become public that Planned Parenthood Action sent out a tweet of congratulations: PP Congrats Surgeon General Dec 2014 In the words of the Stanek Report, “Planned Parenthood support of new surgeon general says all you need to...