Free Republic

Focused on the Dysfunctional? A Consideration of the Need for the Synod on the Family to Refocus ON the Family By: Msgr. Charles PopeMany breathed a sigh of relief when the summary document of the extraordinary Synod on the Family was much improved and the seriously flawed sections (which no one seems to know who wrote!) were removed.  But in this case we cannot allow the better to become the enemy of the best. And frankly the relatio, though improved, ought not escape sober scrutiny by those who seek to allow the upcoming (Ordinary) Synod to become what it really...

The media are all over potential presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann for the "lies" she told about her family history during an Iowa stump speech. Would that they had paid -- or will pay -- half as much attention to Dreams from My Father, the Barack Obama memoir that an untroubled David Remnick, the New Yorker editor and Obama biographer, blithely describes as a "mixture of verifiable fact, recollection, recreation, invention, and artful shaping." "I'm actually even more than just an Iowan," Bachmann told her Hawkeye audience last week. "I'm a 7th generation Iowan. Our family goes back to the 1850s...

Addiction researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a risk for alcoholism also may put individuals at risk for obesity. The researchers noted that the association between a family history of alcoholism and obesity risk has become more pronounced in recent years. Both men and women with such a family history were more likely to be obese in 2002 than members of that same high-risk group had been in 1992. “In addiction research, we often look at what we call cross-heritability, which addresses the question of whether the predisposition to one condition also might...

My wife's grandmother passed last week. As part of her personal effects is a folder containing various birth, marriage, naturalization, and other family documents. The problem is they are from Brazil so are in Portuguese. Even the names are confusing some of them are several names instead of just first middle last like they are in English. Also seems that the Father took the Mother's name as one of the middle names? Compounded this with many of them are hand written on pre-printed forms.

An Ancestry.com DNA Test can grow your family Tree. This webinar was broadcast on: Wednesday, July 8, 2009 8:00 PM Eastern (New York) If you discovered a dusty set of 1852 county courthouse records in your grandmother's attic, you'd take a look, right? Not getting a DNA test is like leaving those records unexplored--you may be missing out on amazing leads. Our panel explains the basics of Ancestry.com DNA testing. We'll present a simple science overview, how to take the test, and the payoffs for family history. Learn how: - DNA testing for genealogy works--in easy terms. - To understand...

Mormon church helps public discover ancestors PLEASANTON ? Getting to know your ancestors now might come in handy when you meet them in the afterlife. This is part of the philosophy behind the popularity of genealogy with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "We believe that family is eternal, and it continues beyond the grave," said Nickie White, one of several regular volunteers at the Pleasanton Family History Center. The center, located adjacent to the Pleasanton church, is open to the public four days a week. The service is free, and volunteers are on hand to help with...