Free Republic

Five months before the upcoming Synod of Bishops, the Swiss Bishops’ Conference has published a report summarizing the results of recent discussions by Swiss Catholics on marriage and family life. Six thousand persons, the majority of them clergy, catechists, and active parishioners, took part in the discussions, which were held between January and March. “The exclusion of remarried divorcees from the sacraments must be ended,” stated Walter Müller, the bishops’ information officer, as he summarized Swiss Catholics’ “very concrete requests to Rome.”

Buzzfeed reports on the shoddy attendance record of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) : Cruz’s attendance at both committee hearings and in the Senate generally has come under criticism recently. Politico reported that Cruz missed 21 of the 135 roll call votes taken in the Senate this year. In addition, the same review noted that Cruz was present at 17 out of 50 public Armed Services committee meetings, and had “below average” attendance at his other committees. “If you are making the point he can’t talk about such topics because he wasn’t at these two hearings that is utterly ridiculous,” a...

When launched in 2006, a New Mexico commuter rail line that would connect Albuquerque and Santa Fe was hailed by supporters as a progressive step toward taking people out of cars and putting them on the train. But as impressive a feat as it was for a poor state’s huge foray into mass public transit, it comes at a price: The train earned $2.8 million last fiscal year in fares from more than a million riders but cost $28.4 million to operate. And even bigger amounts of red ink are looming over the horizon. Now the question of whether the...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no...

Stating that “there is no fourth secret nor are there other hidden secrets,” Cardinal Angelo Amato, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, delivered a lengthy address on the Fatima apparitions at the Pontifical University Antonianum on May 7. The 20th century, said Cardinal Amato, was expected to be a time of “reason and brotherhood,” but instead saw the beginning of an era of Christian persecution: “the Armenian genocide, the Mexican repression, the Spanish persecution, the Nazi massacres, the Communist extermination, and, in this first part of the third millennium, Islamist persecution.” “The message of Fatima in...

The unemployment rate for black Americans fell to single digits in April for the first time in nearly seven years. At the same time, the jobless rate among Asian-Americans rose for the first time in six months. The black unemployment rate in April was 9.6 percent, the lowest level since June 2008. During the financial crisis and recession, the rate had risen as high as 16.8 percent. Despite the latest improvement, the employment gap by race remains stubbornly wide. The jobless rate for blacks is more than twice that of whites. …

Let's get silly

In today’s version of Afterburner, Bill Whittle talks about the Garland terrorist attack and how the Islamo-Video at link- Nazis didn’t just attack Pamela Geller and her drawing event, but they attacked all of us. And he takes on the folks who says ‘I believe in free speech, but…’. Watch: Read more: http://therightscoop.com/bill-whittle-i-believe-in-free-speech-but/#ixzz3ZZzGZNvG

PARIS - Secretary of State John Kerry is urging the House to pass the Senate version of the Iran nuclear bill without changes. On Friday in Paris, Kerry called the bill that overwhelmingly passed the Senate on Thursday a "reasonable and acceptable compromise." Speaking alongside Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Kerry noted how 150 members of Congress signed a letter supporting Obama's efforts and saying he should be able to negotiate without interference. Kerry says negotiators now must get down to the "nitty-gritty" details and hammer out an agreement.

Republican presidential hopeful Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin has already flip-flopped when it comes to immigration. Once upon a time, he supported the Reaganite position which holds that immigration is a good thing and illegals should be given work permits at least. In 2006, Walker supported the McCain-Kennedy bill that would have granted a path to citizenship (nativists vilify that as amnesty) for illegals. But that was then, reported Politico, and the governor now supports curbs on legal immigration. Walker has a new apparent flip flop in the works, this one about the auto bailouts. Back in 2012, he was...

NEW YORK (RNS) Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart of Aleppo is returning to the front line of the real war on Christians, which he calls home — that is, Aleppo in war-torn Syria, where his ancient church faces the threat of extinction.

Tom Brady's offseason might extend until 2016 if the NFL decides to drop the hammer on the Patriots quarterback and at least one report is indicating that the league could slam the hammer down hard. According to the Miami Herald, Brady could be suspended for up to one year thanks to the part he played in Deflategate. "Everything is being studied. Everything is being considered," an NFL source told the Herald. Brady's punishment could end up being a shorter suspension, but the source told the Herald not to dismiss the possibility of a year-long suspension. The Patriots quarterback, along with...

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas veterinarian has kept a dog from going out with a bang after the animal ate 23 live rifle rounds. Benno, the 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, had surgery last week to remove the .308 caliber ammunition from his stomach, The Baxter Bulletin ( http://bit.ly/1QoyXHL ) reported.

NEW HOLLAND - Firefighters said they may have stopped a massacre after a gunman surprised them at their station Tuesday. The Aiken County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to the New Holland Fire Department's Station 2 around 6:30 p.m. for a report of shots fired. Firefighters said Chad Barker pulled up to the crowded fire station parking lot full of children and firefighters, got out of his car, and began firing in the air and at his vehicle. They say he also pointed the firearm at individual firefighters for lengthy periods of time. "I came out of the office, saw...

WNYM AM-970 in New York City, New York and WNIR 100-FM in Cleveland, Ohio have already begun live broadcasts of the show on Sunday nights, with WHAS AM-840 in Louisville, Kentucky set to begin broadcasting by the end of the month. Show Co-Host John Ziegler “That’s always been the goal of this, is to spread our version of the truth, which we think is something that is missing from the mainstream news media today,” said John Ziegler, who co-hosts the show with friend and colleague Leah Brandon. A few other unnamed stations are also expected to join the growing group...

During the early days after the fall of the Berlin Wall, several national media outlets in the United States published articles referring to East Germany as “the most advanced of the Eastern European economies,” vaunting its bright future after communism as the country, we were told, possessed “advanced industries” in optics and a highly productive workforce. Soon afterwards it became clear that the authors of these articles had foolishly believed the lies spread by Communist East Germany’s vaunted propaganda machine.+ The reality was starkly different. East German factories were only good to be used as scrap metal for the modern...

When our ever-wise leader set up a program on the American West, he obviously had in mind the geographic west of North America—the Great Plains, mountains, and Pacific coast beyond the Colorado, Red, Arkansas, and Missouri rivers. But when Americans emerged onto the Great Plains in the second third of the 19th century, they were already the inheritors of two centuries of American Westering. The further West was but the last phase of this experience. Permit me in my two talks to deal mostly with that two century prelude, which is where my knowledge and my bent lie. When settlers...

A youth sits restrained after the police raid in Greenvale. Source: Supplied POLICE swooped and arrested a doctor’s teenage son in Melbourne before bombs were found at his Greenvale home, foiling an “imminent terror plot”. A boy, 14, was also targeted in raids in Sydney. It is believed there was a plot to detonate three bombs in an attack planned in Melbourne on Sunday. Victorian bomb squad officers found improvised explosives at a home in Greenvale in the northern suburbs. Dramatic photos obtained by the Herald Sun showed the arrested teen handcuffed and sitting under police guard. Police ran controlled...

Ten shootings were reported Thursday across Baltimore, continuing a spate of gun violence that began after riots overtook West Baltimore on April 27. At least two people died.. Just after midnight on Thursday morning, a 24-year-old man walked into an area hospital with a gunshot wound to his foot. The victim told police he was approached by an unknown man who shot him in the 1200 block of E. North Ave. At 8:14 a.m., police were called to the 2800 block of Elgin Ave. in West Baltimore, where officers found a 21-year-old man shot in the shoulder. The victim told...

A series of incredible photographs showing more than 150 lost World War Two aircraft 130-feet under the Pacific Ocean has been released. The stunning images show the planes surrounded by coral and fish as they lie - sometimes vertically - on the seabed more than seven decades after they were dumped there. The find includes historic American aircraft including Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers, F4U Corsair and TBF/TBM Avengers.Amazingly, many of the planes have remained intact, with only a few broken tails and wings littering the floor. Brandi Mueller, from Cameron, Wisconsin, discovered the planes while scuba diving around five...