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House Democrats are nearing a "tipping point" on impeachment in the wake of the Trump administration blocking a whistleblower complaint's release to Congress, with moderate Democrats who have resisted calls for impeachment privately indicating they could be swayed. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who sharpened her rhetoric over the weekend, is still not committing to moving forward with impeachment proceedings -- though she is keeping the door open. The reason: The substance of the complaint is not yet clear. And it's still unclear how the Trump administration will respond. Multiple Democratic sources told CNN that if the White House completely...

The Republican National Committee is putting a college twist on its grassroots voter registration efforts, seeking to mobilize President Donald Trump‘s supporters. The “Make Campus Great Again” initiative is offering dozens of participants training and free pizza, plus swag like campaign buttons and drink insulators to distribute. It started with trainings at four schools in Ohio last week. Organizers describe it as a national effort, with similar swing state training sessions already held or planned for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Denver and college Republicans in Michigan.

If the intelligence community has been pursuing a goal of vacating the result of the 2016 election with single-minded zeal, if we are a house divided thanks to identity politics and gobs of free-floating hate, doesn't all of that put our national house in disorder that can be exploited by a foe? Are we within spitting distance of another terrorist attack on the magnitude of a 9/11 thanks to our intelligence community devoting too many resources to trying to overthrow Trump?

Former Vice President Al Gore blasted President Trump for not taking climate change seriously, calling him the “face of global climate denial.” Appearing outside the United Nations, CNN climate correspondent Bill Weir asked the prominent climate change advocate about the “lack of American leadership.” “Well, I think, to focus on the good news side of it, that Donald Trump being the face of global climate denial actually is motivating the kind of uprising and enthusiasm we saw last Friday with the millions of young people marching.” …

Time for a sober assessment of the agreement. While it would be excessive to state that all Chinese Catholics oppose it, its application is problematic, dissident priests are persecuted, and underlying theological issues on religious liberty remains unsolved.From the Secret Text to the GuidelinesThe Vatican-China deal of 2018 was signed one year ago, on September 22, 2018. Its text remains secret to this date. We have been occasionally criticized for our reserved attitude about the agreement. Bitter Winter did not share the enthusiasm of some Vatican media, nor did it join the abrasive criticism of those who believe that Pope...

President Trump on Monday tweeted out a video mocking Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) over his failed 2012 presidential bid, comparing it with Trump's own success four years later. The video includes clips of election night 2012, where Romney lost to former President Obama, and 2016, where Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The video was posted just hours after Romney told reporters that he wants the Trump administration to give Congress the transcript of a highly controversial call between the president and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

* The duo claim they were monitored by Chinese agents at a conference in the holy city of Fátima and that Beijing pressured organisers to disinvite them* Hong Kong’s protests and Sino-Vatican relations were among the topics being discussedHong Kong’s outspoken Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and veteran democrat politician Martin Lee Chu-ming had not yet collected their luggage at Lisbon airport when they were approached by a policeman among the hundreds of tourists arriving in the Portuguese capital. “Somebody walked up to me and asked if I was Cardinal Zen. I said, ‘Not me, but him’, and pointed to Zen....

[Catholic Caucus] After Cardinal Marx visits Vatican, Germany's 'synodal way' up for bishops' vote Fulda, Germany, Sep 23, 2019 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- The German bishops are set this week to vote upon statutes for a “binding synodal process,” days after Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German bishops’ conference, held talks about the plans with Pope Francis and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.On Monday, the German bishops began a three-day plenary session in Fulda, which will conclude Sept. 25. Sources close to the conference told CNA that the bishops plan to debate a “substantially unchanged” draft...

* Catholic sister suggests artificial intelligence robots could be used as priests * Theologian Ilia Delio said robotic priests could replace or work with humans* Benefits of AI include being incapable of sexual abuse and are gender neutral * Robots have been used to read Buddhists funeral right in Japan for some years A senior Catholic sister and theologian has suggested sophisticated robots could be used as priests. Franciscan Sister Ilia Delio who has two PhDs and a chair in theology at Villanova University, said the priesthood should be 'reimagined' with robots working alongside, or instead of, human religious figures....

Reuters reports that China will exempt some American agricultural products from its latest round of tariffs. This is welcome news—particularly for our pork and soybean producers who’ve been on the front lines of the trade war. But what does the news really mean? Did China blink? Are they throwing us a bone? Or is just part of Xi Jinping’s 200 IQ 4D underwater chess gambit to win the trade war? The answer begins and ends with the economic data. First up: pigs. China is by far the largest pork consumer on earth, and is expected to consume more than 50...

I get my felonies mixed up. Was President Trump committing bribery if he offered the Ukrainian president $250 million in foreign aid in exchange for an investigation to smear potential Democratic nominee Joe Biden? Or would that be considered extortion? It doesn’t matter. The real question is whether now, finally, the House of Representatives will perform its constitutional duty to hold Trump accountable. At this point, the president is practically begging for impeachment. Give it to him, already. Look, this is not a close call. According to published reports about a whistleblower complaint — which the administration outrageously refuses to...

The festival, which took place on the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, was held to atone for scandals and vandalismPolish Catholics participated in Masses and penance liturgies for recent scandals over sexual abuse by clergy and acts of vandalism and profanation at local churches. “The vision of Christ’s suffering can transform human hearts, spurring recognition of sins and a request for forgiveness,” said Bishop Wieslaw Mering of Wloclawek. “Today, we are being told to have fun, enjoy life, be ourselves and realize our desires. But the path to salvation doesn’t lead through egoism,” he said. Preaching to...

Hillary Rodham Clinton made listening tours famous, using them to build buzz for her New York Senate and presidential campaigns. Now, she’s on another. In an email to supporters, the 2008 and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate said, “I’d like to hear what you’re thinking.” While she isn’t talking about running for president for a third time, Clinton said that she has been talking to people about key issues, including immigration reform and electing Democrats “at all levels” in 2020. “I’ve been traveling and talking with folks around the world about their plans for the rest of the year. Some members...

If Democrats were serious about using red flag laws to keep guns out if the hands of people who might use them to senselessly murder others and therefore are danger to society, and not just as a gun control tool to disarm law-abiding citizens, then why did they kill an attempt to use compiled lists of known gang members, which many police departments and law enforcement agencies possess, then why did they kill a measure to red flag gang members? And if Beto O’Rourke is going to come and take our guns, particularly our AR-15s, is he going to start...

Steak and potatoes, creamed spinach, a stiff drink: the menu at your average steakhouse hasn’t changed for over 100 years. Americans flock to these palaces of meat, whether they’re upscale chains or a neighborhood spot whose décor hasn’t changed since the Reagan administration. Despite some falls in consumption in recent years due to price increases and health concerns, steak is still a very big deal in America. This week we’ll take a look at the steakhouse, an American institution. Our modern steakhouse has two direct ancestors, the beefsteak banquet and the chophouse. Both arose, interestingly enough, in mid-19th century New...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Anniston Army Depot, AlabamaAnniston Army Depot (ANAD) is a major United States Army facility for the production and repair of ground combat vehicles, overhaul of Small Arms Weapon Systems and the storage of chemical weapons, a.k.a. the Anniston Chemical Activity. The depot is located in Bynum, Alabama.As of 2014, the Depot employs 3,400 civilian workers. Tanks and other equipment are repaired and tested, but historically Anniston's main role since World War II has been as a major munitions storage site. Anniston is one of seven depots in the United States where...

Former Massachusetts governor and longshot candidate for the GOP nomination for president Bill Weld on Monday accused President Donald Trump of "treason" for pressing Ukraine's President to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and stated bluntly "the penalty for treason under the US code is death." "Talk about pressuring a foreign country to interfere with and control a US election, it couldn't be clearer," Weld said in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "And that's not just undermining democratic institutions, that is treason. It's treason pure and simple." "The penalty for treason under the US code is death. That's the...

Julianne Hough recently posed nude on the cover of a magazine — but what she said during her interview was far more revealing than the photos. Now, Hough is reflecting about coming out as “not straight,” and how the admission has affected her sense of self. The America’s Got Talent judge opened up about her marriage to husband Brooks Laich during the interview — and made headlines when she recalled a conversation she’d had with him. “I [told him], ‘You know I’m not straight, right?’” Hough told Women’s Health. “And he was like, ‘I’m sorry, what?’ I was like, ‘I’m...

Once a fringe argument restricted to extreme anti-Muslim corners of the internet, the idea that Islam is not actually a religion, and therefore does not qualify for religious liberty protections, has rapidly gained salience in mainstream public discourse in the U.S. among activists, media commentators, and lawmakers alike. In her new book, When Islam Is Not a Religion: Inside America’s Fight for Religious Freedom, attorney Asma Uddin traces the assertion’s American origins from extreme right-wing activist spaces to the White House. A religious liberty expert and Senior Scholar with the Religious Freedom Center at the Freedom Forum Institute in Washington,...

Donald Trump on Monday openly accused former Vice President Joe Biden of being "corrupt" in vague terms and ratcheted up his rhetoric, claiming without proof that if a Republican did what Biden did "they'd be getting the electric chair right now." Days after dismissing and downplaying a whistleblower's complaint, Trump has now acknowledged he discussed Biden in a July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and CNN has reported that the President pressed Zelensky to investigate Biden's son, Hunter, according to a person familiar with the situation. That call was also part of a whistleblower complaint submitted to the Intelligence...