Free Republic

HYMN Remember, Lord, the fallen Who died in fields of war, In flaming clouds, in screaming crowds, On streets that are no more, That we today might waken And greet this day in peace With grateful prayer for those who bear The storms that never cease. Remember friends and strangers, And those forgotten now, Whose names are known to You alone, Before whose love we bow And ask that You surround them With mercy's endless light That they may live, and we forgive The foe they went to fight. Remember, Lord, the living, Who bear the pain of loss --...

Arlington, Va. (AP) - Some big changes are coming for Roman Catholics in Northern Virginia. Arlington Bishop Paul Loverde said girls and women will now be allowed to serve at the altar in parishes. For years, that's been the case everywhere in the country except for two locations: Lincoln, Nebraska, and Arlington. The Arlington Diocese only allowed females to serve in places like hospitals, nursing homes and colleges, but some parishes now want that option, Loverde added. Also, the bishop said two churches, including Saint Lawrence in Alexandria, will be allowed to celebrate the 1962 Latin Mass. Loverde is the...

As I write this, a woman lies dying in Florida. She is dying a slow death, death by starvation. It’s the kind of death we as a nation spend billions trying to prevent each year. All over the world, the cry is heard: “Our people are hungry. Please send nourishment.” And we do. Last year’s foreign aid budget was more than a trillion dollars. By comparison, the national budget deficit was “only” $665 billion. We spend A LOT of money trying to prevent death by starvation. Only in this case, far from sending aid, the government is actually ordering Terri...

DUmmies did the work for us -- FREEP the polls! Do it now!!!!! We are way behind right now. List with hyperlinks here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=974046&mesg_id=974046

<p>SOUTH WINDSOR -- If Adrienne Samen ever forgets the details of her wedding reception, the police will be able to provide her with an official account, including a photograph.</p> <p>The 18-year-old North Haven woman was arrested Saturday night after police said she "flipped out" at the Mill on the River Restaurant, cursed workers who asked some of her guests to leave the bar and then stormed out of the establishment.</p>

<p>"Have a sex cookie," Sarah McCabe, 21, urges a fellow Webster University student who has stopped to browse the Behavioral and Social Sciences club's bake sale inside Webster Hall.</p> <p>No, the "sex cookies" aren't racy delicacies for prurient consumption. And this isn't a bake sale just for the sake of raising money - although that is an added bonus.</p>

Embedded Journal: 'I Went Over to the Dark Side' (Editor's note: This column catches us up on Jules Crittenden's last several days, after he was re-united with his laptop computer and again able to file these reports for Poynter.org.) Tomorrow, I may get to bathe for the first time in over three weeks, not counting several wipe downs. It would be nice, but doesn’t matter much at this point. You’d be surprised how you get used to it, and when I was finally reunited with my gear yesterday, I was able to throw away my week-old underwear and socks, and...

Pass the Alka-Seltzer and the Prozac, Please – It’s Time to Vote by Kirsten Andersen 11/4/2002 I'm depressed. No, not in the clinical, weepy, pill-popping sense of the word -- I'm really just plain sad. Weary. Mournful. Depressed. I hope it's temporary. Not so much for my sake, but for the sake of our country. The past several weeks of ongoing election drama have sent your usually happily-jaded commentator into a shocking spiral of doubt and despair. I didn't think it was possible for me to be any more disgusted by national politics -- or more correctly, politicians -- after...

September 11, 2001. It was a day none of us will soon forget -- the day that everyone said would change the world. For a while, there was talk of Armageddon and the Beginning of the End. On that fateful day one year ago, we seemed to have lost more than the buildings, the planes and the people. For a moment, we wondered if we had lost our future. As our nation prepared for war against an unseen enemy, plans were changed and some dreams were abandoned. Sure, everyone said that to give up on the small things – an...

I would just like to announce that on Saturday, August 31, FReeper lurker menmy38 asked LibertyGirl77 (yours truly) to be his wife. We will be married on October 11, 2003. I am so excited that I just had to share my news with FReepers!

Tall Men Likely to Have More Children? Wed Aug 14, 8:45 AM ET LONDON (Reuters) - Height matters when it comes to having children, according to a study showing that tall men are likely to have more kids than their shorter contemporaries. But the reverse is true for women, according to details of the study published in the Independent newspaper Wednesday. The survey of 10,000 people born in 1958 found that height plays an important role in finding a partner and having children by the age of 42. British men of average height -- 5ft 10in -- had significantly fewer...

The Nadir Nader of Irrelevancy On behalf of disgruntled Sacramento Kings fans (and people who just plain hate the L.A. Lakers) everywhere, "consumer advocate" and former Green Party Presidential aspirant Ralph Nader blasted the National Basketball Association (NBA) yesterday for what he deemed "decisive incompetence." Like hundreds of thousands of other armchair referees, Nader directed his ire toward the officials for Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, which apparently took place sometime last week. (NBA fan, I am not.) Nader demanded that NBA commissioner David Stern--and the United States Congress (just kidding)--launch an investigation into the officiating of the...

From the absolutely disgusting Planned Parenthood Teenwire website...GAMES for kids: Safety First! with Officer Janet Benchpress Officer Janet Benchpress has a question for you: what do you do when someone tells you they don't want to have sex play? That's right — you STOP! Sex is a very complicated operation, so take this quiz and let Officer Janet show you the ropes! That Would Suck It's your turn to play That Would Suck — the game show that will test your knowledge about HIV and condoms. Take the challenge and see how you measure up. Our Super Duper Planet: Nature...

A decade ago, I never thought I would be Twenty-three On the verge of spontaneous combustion Woe is me But I guess that it comes with the territory An ominous landscape of never-ending calamity. I need you to hear, I need you to see That I have had all I can take And exploding seems like a definite possibility to me So pardon me while I burst into flames. I've had enough of the world, and its people's mindless games So pardon me while I burn, and rise above the flame Pardon me, pardon me. I'll never be the same....

I thought it was cute (and thought provoking on a day like today) that my "Verse-a-Day" desk calendar shows Proverbs 26:4 as today's verse. "Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him." :)

It's been six months . . . Six months since the world came screeching to a halt. Six months since the unthinkable. Lisa Beamer's husband has been dead for six months. So have nearly three-thousand other Americans. Six months later, the outer facade of the Pentagon looks almost normal again. New York is back in business with style, class and determination. Six months past that fateful September day, we've lost some of our nation's finest men in an ongoing mission with a seemingly impossible objective. Six months later, we still don't have any answers. Why do they hate us? Why...

Patricia Holliday is downright disgusted with the drugs, and last week she began organizing her Annapolis Gardens neighbors to go after the dealers -- and the bullets and mayhem they bring -- with a new Neighborhood Watch program. This week, she and her neighbors were handed another target: international terrorists. The directive came from no less than Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, who believes neighborhood watchdogs across the country can help the government "weave a seamless web of prevention of terrorism." He enlisted the aid of Ed McMahon -- who's gone from pitching Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes to pitching the war ...

Suit Sparks Town’s ‘Jesus’ Signs Protest -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Christians in a small Louisiana town have literally mounted a grassroots campaign after seeing a public statement of faith torn down. More than 1,000 signs proclaiming "Jesus is Lord of All" have been posted in lawns and storefronts in Franklinton, population 4,000. The front-yard protest was sparked by a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that forced Franklinton officials to remove four signs from public property that declared, "Jesus is Lord Over Franklinton," said Fox News. The movement is spreading, too, with almost 3,000 signs being sold to people from surrounding ...

Today's Shameless Vanity in the Breaking News Section brought to you by Columnist Kirsten Andersen, AKA LibertyGirl77. I will be appearing on ABC's Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher tonight, 2/27. Other guests include 'sexpert' Dr. Ruth Westheimer, actor Eric McCormack (Will and Grace), and boxer Evander Holyfield. We'll be talking about the Andrea Yates case and Mike Tyson, among other things. I won't spoil it for any who want to watch it, but it should be a great show. We sure had fun making it, anyway. So for those of you who can handle watching the notorious Bill Maher, check ...

Thanks in no small part to a group called the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, or "ABC," it has recently become in vogue throughout the pro-life movement to tout the results of various studies linking abortion to breast cancer. The results of these studies are presented as if they were not only gospel truth, but also the most effective way to prevent any woman from ever considering an abortion. Unfortunately, the studies are not definitive by any stretch. The disparities between the results of the 37 known studies linking breast cancer and abortion are great. They range from results that are ...