Free Republic

Buzz out of Washington this morning is that the Obama administration has signaled it will end efforts to try 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a civilian trial and instead will use the Gitmo military tribunal system pursued by, yes, George W. Bush. AG Eric Holder is reportedly holding a 2pm Eastern press conference. Here’s a blurb from CBS: Attorney General Eric Holder today will announce that self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad will be tried in a military commission, CBS News has learned. A source says the commission will be held at the Guantanamo Bay prison. Trying Mohammed...

In 2000, Slate magazine said of Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal: “Blumenthal is blessed with every political virtue except recklessness and luck.” Well, we now know he has one, just not the other. Responding to the bombshell New York Times report that he lied about his military service record in various public speeches over the years, Blumenthal admitted Tuesday he has "misspoken" in claiming he served in Vietnam. From the AP:

Retreats, Million-Dollar Salaries Paid For As Anthem Blue Cross Sought Rate Hike Rob Hotakainen WASHINGTON - While Anthem Blue Cross proposed a 39 percent rate increase on thousands of its California customers, its parent company paid 39 of its executives more than $1 million each and spent more than $27 million on 103 lavish executive retreats, congressional investigators say. "One question we asked is where does all of this money go?" Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman of Los Angeles said at a House subcommittee hearing today. "Corporate executives at WellPoint are thriving, while its policyholders are paying the price." In response...

The House Democratic Caucus spent more than $500,000 in taxpayer money over the past five years for its annual retreats at resorts in Pennsylvania and Virginia. On Thursday, Democrats will head to the Kingsmill Resort and Spa in historic Williamsburg, Va., for the three-day planning powwow. The resort boasts multiple championship golf courses, a full-service spa and six restaurants. Individual lawmakers pay for most of the expenses related to retreat lodging through their campaign committees, but the Democratic Caucus subsidizes some of the costs for what aides consider “official business” — to the tune of nearly $100,000 each year, according...

In case after case, centers run by nuns seeking ways to redefine themselves or raise money are embracing a spiritual method called reiki -- which is also sweeping through other parts of the Church -- and it is a lesson of why something is defined as occult (or "New Age").  We reported on this several weeks ago: the infiltration of questionable spiritual practices, of which reiki may be the most prevalent, in Catholic retreat centers across the continent.That propensity can be expected to increase as the number of nuns -- and their resources -- dwindle and as they feel...

Assembly Democrats convened this week for their annual policy retreat, choosing a luxury resort renowned for its world-class golf course in the heart of California's wine country. Republicans, meanwhile, are holding their annual policy retreat in more modest accommodations in a former Sierra Gold Rush town in Calaveras County. The Murphys Suites charges $95 a night and boasts a coin-operated laundry and a microwave in every room. Despite the differences in the locations this year, the annual caucus retreats regularly lead to questions about how they are funded and whether corporations and the wealthy are buying influence with state lawmakers....

A Jesuit retreat house in Manhasset is hosting a workshop about gay Catholics and the church that had been barred from diocesan property last year by Bishop William Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. The workshop on building bridges to gay people comes just as the Vatican is about to release a document restating its prohibition barring gay men from the priesthood. Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, the organization leading the workshop, said yesterday that the program does not challenge church orthodoxy. "Our mission is simply to try to help Catholic institutions learn more about the...

SACRAMENTO – Sequestered in private policy retreats at posh resorts in San Diego and Newport Beach, Assembly lawmakers billed taxpayers $2,000 for a Mexican buffet, $1,900 for shuttle van service, $26 for a pound of deluxe mixed nuts and $22 for valet parking. And $42 for a dozen cookies. The separate getaways for Democrats and Republicans cost at least $40,000, plus about $200 each in round-trip airfare for dozens of legislators and staff, according to receipts released yesterday by the Assembly Rules Committee. Among those slips of paper, the top aide to Assembly Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield asked...

Any one out there have any experience or personal knowledge concerning Ignatian retreats?