Free Republic

Gravity has its laws courtesy of Sir Isaac Newton, and protest has its authoritative field notes by Eric Hoffer. A longshoreman and philosopher in pretty much that order, Eric Hoffer described the protesters of his time, the Hippies and Yippies of the Sixties, with such enduring insight that he might have been talking about Occupy Wall Street today. The specific focus of protests, if any, may change with the times. But the general spirit remains remarkably the same. It's a kind of free-floating dissatisfaction with the world. Or maybe the dissatisfaction is just with the protesters' place in it. The...

Commentary: Rich world’s social discontent will result in restored trade barriersBy Amotz Asa-El JERUSALEM (MarketWatch) -- “The basis of our government is the opinion of the people,” said Thomas Jefferson. A novelty when it was said in 1787, that insight now goes without saying, provided that one knows just what “the opinion of the people” is. Reuters An Occupy Wall Street campaign demonstrator holds a placard in Zuccotti Park, near Wall Street in New York on Oct. 17, 2011. However, as the world followed recent days’ social protest in 70 cities from New York and Frankfurt to Tokyo and Sydney,...

Republican candidates could be in big trouble in 2008 if the sluggish U.S. economy doesn't turn around quickly. Presidential elections often become a referendum on the economy, with the party of the White House incumbent assigned the credit or the blame for whatever happens in the economy.

Calif. Bishop To Gov. Davis: Pick Abortion Or Communion   National Catholic Register Feb, 2-9, 2003by WAYNE LAUGESENRegister Correspondent SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The message is blunt: Abortion hurts women and is the direct killing of children, and any politician who promotes such a heinous thing shouldn't receive Communion.That's what Sacramento, Calif., Bishop William Weigand said to Gov. Gray Davis.But Davis said he's going to continue to receive Communion anyway.Bishop Weigand repeated his opinion twice: Once in a pro-life Mass marking the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and once in an interview with the Register on Jan. 27.In the Mass,...