Free Republic

On the Friday broadcast of his HBO show Real Time, Bill Maher told liberals see the world the way they want it rather than the way it is when it comes to the threat of Islam and Islamic terror. Maher, a religious critic, told his fellow liberals he wishes they would have the same "intolerance" for Muslim-related terror around the world that they do for Christians and Christian fundamentalists at home. Maher brought up the decision by the Italians to cover up nude statues during a state visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. "This is the horribleness of what's going...

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to protest in Rome's Circus Maximus arena Saturday against a civil unions bill for same-sex couples, a hot-potato issue for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's government. "As many people as possible must take part. Remember; this is the only weapon we have!" organizer Massimo Gandolfini said ahead of the "Family Day" rally, which begins in the capital's ancient Roman chariot racing stadium at 1100 GMT. Gandolfini said he expected to fill the arena, which can take 350,000 people without counting the surrounding streets, while authorities in Rome said they were preparing for up to...

The Romans have censored themselves to make visiting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani feel more comfortable during his historic stop in Italy. Rouhani -- the first Iranian leader to visit Europe in almost 20 years -- met Tuesday with Pope Francis at the Vatican, but another stop on his agenda was the famed Capitoline Museum, where classic Italian nude sculptures were covered with plain white boards to avoid offending the Muslim president.

ROME (RNS) Controversy over Italy's decision to cover nude statues during the visit of Iran's president continued to spark debate as the leader of the Syrian Catholic Church criticized the episode, saying it pains persecuted Christians in Syria who feel forgotten. "This is our culture. If you don't want to see it, close your eyes!" an exasperated Patriarch Youssef III Younan told journalists in Rome on Thursday (Jan. 28). The head of the Syriac Catholic Church was speaking two days after ancient nude statues were covered by staff at Rome's Capitoline Museums in a bid to avoid offending the Iranian...

A decision by Italian officials to cover up ancient nude statues to not offend Iran's visiting president is drawing ridicule in Rome. Ahead of a news conference Monday with Premier Matteo Renzi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, wooden panels were erected around some Roman statues in Rome's Capitoline Museums. When images of the cover-up made the Italian media Tuesday, politicians from across the spectrum decried and derided the decision. The museum said Tuesday that the premier's office wanted the statues along Rouhani's path to the news conference covered up. Renzi's office declined to comment. ...

Silty fen preserved burning houses and domestic objects inside them to reveal unprecedented view of life 3,000 years ago. Almost 3,000 years after being destroyed by fire, the astonishingly well preserved remains of two Bronze Age houses and their contents have been discovered at a quarry site in Peterborough. The artefacts include a collection of everyday domestic objects unprecedented from any site in Britain, including jewellery, spears, daggers, giant food storage jars and delicate drinking cups, glass beads, textiles and a copper spindle with thread still wound around it. The remains of the large wooden houses, built on stilts in...

A new video has just been released in which Pope Francis very clearly expresses his belief that all of the major religions are different paths to the same God. He says that while people from various global faiths may be "seeking God or meeting God in different ways" that it is important to keep in mind that "we are all children of God". This is the most recent example that shows that the Pope has completely abandoned any notion that a relationship with God is available only through Jesus Christ. As he has done throughout his papacy, he continues to...

The five marks of the Roman decaying culture: Concern with displaying affluence instead of building wealth; Obsession with sex and perversions of sex; Art becomes freakish and sensationalistic instead of creative and original; Widening disparity between very rich and very poor; Increased demand to live off the state.

Widespread corruption destroys empires. By way of example, corruption was one of the main causes of the collapse of the Roman Empire: The Praetorian Guard—the emperor’s personal bodyguards—assassinated and installed new sovereigns at will, and once even auctioned the spot off to the highest bidder [and see this]. The political rot also extended to the Roman Senate, which failed to temper the excesses of the emperors due to its own widespread corruption and incompetence. As the situation worsened, civic pride waned and many Roman citizens lost trust in their leadership. The Ottoman Empire started its decline when the sale of...

ROME -- The Islamic State has a plan to conquer Rome. Yes, it might sound crazy, but ISIS believes the conquest of Rome is central to its mission. They believe it is necessary to fulfill what Islam teaches was the prophecy of Muhammed and to prepare the return of the Muslim messiah: the Mahdi. "ISIS thinks that Rome is one of its primary goals and is in its timetable," Robert Spencer, author of The Complete Infidel's Guide to ISIS, said. "It has a timetable where in the 10 years, by the year 2025, it hopes to bring about Armageddon, the...

[Hussein] Obama went golfing in Hawaii...then made what ABC News describes as a 40-foot chip shot....The press rewarded Obama with cheers.

ROME, Ga. - The imam of a Georgia mosque who pleaded guilty to providing support to the militant group Hamas was sentenced Tuesday to more than seven years in prison. Mohamed Shorbagi, 42, could have faced up to 15 years in prison. Shorbagi pleaded guilty in August to providing material support to the militant group Hamas in a case in which the agreement, charges and even the plea hearing were handled in secret. U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy sentenced him Tuesday to seven years and eight months in prison. At the sentencing, Shorbagi said he realized that some of his...

Like a good politician, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) repeatedly proves adept at inserting itself into national debates. When presidential candidate Ben Carson said he could not support a Muslim president, CAIR gathered reporters to express outrage and call on Carson to drop out of the race. When a 14-year-old Texas boy was detained for bringing what he said was a homemade clock to school that a teacher feared might be a bomb, a CAIR official expressed outrage and sat by the boy's side during news conferences and interviews. And in the immediate aftermath of the December 2 mass...

Nigergate: the dangerous relations between Democrat Senators and ex spies Here follows an interesting article from the Italian newspaper Il Giornale. I make no comment at all other than ‘read it’. Very soon, under the title “The Rockefeller Connection”, I will post something revealing, something important that until now passed completely under the Radar Screen. Stay tuned .. Nigergate: the dangerous relations between Democrat Senators and ex spies Il GIORNALE 13 November 2005 By Gian Marco Chiocci and Mario Sechi October 9 2002, Rome. Elisabetta Burba, journalist with Panorama magazine, crosses Via Veneto. At the American Embassy someone is waiting...

SIS has released chilling new footage depicting its apocalyptic vision of the end of the world. It has titled the video 'Meeting at Dabiq' which refers to the location of a final battle between the 'Crusaders' and the 'Believers'. The video also shows an ISIS 'armoured unit' advancing towards the Colosseum in reference to the 'armies of Rome'. In the footage the terrorist organisation shows a dead fighter being kissed by his comrades, a Jihadi on horseback trying to look like a honourable soldier and groups of men with the majority too scared to show their faces to the camera....

Saturate yourself in me my children for truly it is as you drip from my presence change occurs and as The oil of Unity dripped off Aaron's beard down his robe saturating the Tassels of My Word, truly you My Bride must fill your lamps with this Oil of Intimacy for Me to complete you in Me . . . Leviticus 6:13 Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out Matthew 14:36 36 They were begging Him that they might only touch the tassel on His robe. And as many as touched it...

There is a statue of a warrior from Brittan’s distant past that sits opposite the United Kingdom’s Parliament. It is in clear view of the politicians who run the UK. They see it each day as they enter their chamber to create new excuses for running away from the Muslim invaders destroying their country. The statue is of Boudica, a courageous female warrior. She dedicated her life to leading a ragtag army of British tribesmen in a doomed revolt against the Romans who invaded her home island almost two thousand years ago. Boudica saw her husband murdered and her daughters...

Drones are to be banned from the airspace over the centre of Rome, during the Year of Mercy as a precaution against ISIS attacks. In the wake of the Paris attacks, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Monday that drones will be banned from the airspace from December 8, as the Year of Mercy is due to attract millions of tourists to the Italian capital.Addressing the Italian Parliament, Mr Alfano said that security would be tightened around any potential target, particularly around St Peter’s Square, he said: “Particular attention has been dedicated to the risk of an attack...

"Delenda est Carthago!" A noble old Roman, eighty-four years of age, had just finished a stirring speech in the Forum, or great market place of Rome, and these were his closing words: "Delenda est Carthago!" (Carthage must be destroyed!) His words were repeated by his hearers; they were carried into the street; they were discussed by excited men in every part of the city. "Who says that Carthage must be destroyed?" asked one citizen of another. "Cato the Censor says so," was the answer. "He says that two such cities as Rome and Carthage cannot long exist under the same...

A stained glass portrait of St Augustine After Mary Beard's list of important Romans, here's mine...Mary Beard has done more than anyone else, I think, to bring ancient Rome alive, and over at the Guardian she provides us with her list of the ten best ancient Romans. Lists are very personal things, and everyone will have a rival version, so I cannot resist submitting my own. Here are ten people we call all learn from, indeed need to learn from, in the order in which they popped into my head.1. Aurelius Augustinus, better known as St Augustine of Hippo,...