Vatican Consultor Blasts ‘Homophobic’ Priests, Wants More LGBT Inclusion in Church

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The Rev. James Martin blasted “homophobic” pastors at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin, calling for the church to consider LGBT individuals’ lived experiences.

Martin urged the Catholic Church to more openly embrace homosexuals Thursday during a talk entitled “Showing Welcome and Respect in our Parishes for ‘LGBT’ People and their Families” at the conference.

He argued that the church should advocate for homosexuals, include them in parish life, apologize to those the church has harmed, and view them as a part of the body of Christ.

“By excluding LGBT people, you are breaking up God’s family; you are tearing apart the Body of Christ,” Martin said, according to National Catholic Register. “This is part of what it means to be a Christian: standing up for the marginalized, the persecuted, the beaten down. It’s shocking how little the Catholic Church has done this.”

Martin’s comments appeared to be aimed as much at the conference itself as they were at the church, given the fact that the World Meeting of Families barred LGBT groups from participating, pursuant to Catholic teaching on the definitions of marriage and family and God’s design for human sexuality. (Read more from “Vatican Consultor Blasts ‘Homophobic’ Priests, Wants More LGBT Inclusion in Church” HERE)

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Texas Lt. Governor Calls out ‘Accomplices’ in Death of Mollie Tibbetts

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Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) accused the political left, CNN, MSNBC and other media outlets, as well as Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera of being “accomplices” in the death of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a 24-year-old Mexican national, has been charged with first degree murder in the death of Tibbetts, 20, who was to begin her sophomore year at the University of Iowa this month. According to federal authorities, Rivera was in the country illegally, the Des Moines Register reported.

In an appearance on Fox News on Thursday, Patrick alleged that the political left and certain news media outlets are playing politics with the immigration issue and it is costing people’s lives.

“On the left, it’s pure politics. They’re playing with people’s’ lives,” he said. “The blood is on Chuck Schumer’s hands and every Democrat, and the Republicans who won’t change the rules.”

“The CNNs, MSNBCs, most of the print media in this country and Democrats are all accomplices in the death of this young girl and the death of everyone else,” Patrick declared.

“Even Geraldo Rivera,” Patrick continued. “I’ve never met the guy. I seem to like him. Seems like he has a good heart. I saw him here on Fox saying, ‘I feel badly about this but…’ There is no ‘but.’”

“I’ll be happy to debate Geraldo Rivera any time, any place, anywhere on this issue.”

On FNC’s “Hannity” on Wednesday night, Rivera said, “I totally understand the anger that so many people are expressing and feeling over this horrible case and my heart breaks for the Tibbetts’ family.”

“It is sad for what this family suffered, and it is sad because it will fuel the malignant, false notion that this terrible, savage crime is characteristic of this population,” he argued.

Rivera accepted Patrick’s challenge to a debate, tweeting “anytime, anyplace,” and suggesting they do it on Sean Hannity’s program.

“@DanPatrick claims outrageously that I’m effectively an accomplice to horrifying murder of #mollytibbetts because I beg compassion & mercy for undocumented immigrants,” he wrote. “How dare he make so false an allegation? He is fear-mongering & I accept his challenge for debate.”

Rivera alleged that Patrick is trying to play politics with the issue, tweeting, “Enough jingo rhetoric to gain votes rather than heal this wound & fix this problem.”

Patrick responded via Twitter saying “Hannity” as a debate forum works for him.

He related, “I will fly to NYC for a 30 minute face to face.” (For more from the author of “Texas Lt. Governor Calls out ‘Accomplices’ in Death of Mollie Tibbetts” please click HERE)

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Netanyahu Slams $57 Million EU Aid to Iran to Offset U.S. Sanctions

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not happy with millions of dollars of foreign aid the European Union is handing over to Iran, slamming the aid package as a “big mistake.”

On Thursday, the EU Commission announced it would give Iran €18 million ($20.8 million), the first payment in what will be a €50 million ($57.9 million) payment meant to offset sanctions imposed by the United States and save the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by former President Obama and his European counterparts.

Netanyahu believes Iran will use the aid for weapons development and the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“I think that the decision yesterday by the EU to give 18 million euros to Iran is a big mistake,” Netanyahu said at a press conference in Lithuania, i24 News reported.

“It’s like a poison pill to the Iranian people and the efforts to curb Iranian aggression in the region and terror beyond the region.”

“Where will the extra money go?” Netanyahu asked. “It’s not going to solve the water problem in Iran, it’s not going to go for Iranian truck drivers, it’s going to go to the missiles and Revolutionary Guard in Iran and Syria and everywhere else in the Middle East.”

Announcing the earmarks for Iran, EU high representative for foreign affairs Federica Mogherini said the aid “will widen economic and sectoral relations in areas that are of direct benefit to our citizens.” (For more from the author of “Netanyahu Slams $57 Million EU Aid to Iran to Offset U.S. Sanctions” please click HERE)

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Vote Alert: An $854 Billion Spending Monstrosity That Funds Planned Parenthood

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When Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., canceled the August recess, there was an expectation that Republicans would use the extra time to confirm a backlog of Trump nominees and to fight for conservative priorities. Instead, the Senate passed an $854 billion spending package that kicked conservative reforms to the side in favor of placating the Democrats and their priorities.

Senate leadership combined a $675 billion defense appropriations bill with a bill to fund the Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services, known as a “minibus.”

The $179.3 billion Labor-Education-HHS components of the package include a $541 million increase for the Department of Education, a $2.3 billion increase for HHS, and an increase in the National Institutes of Health’s record funding to $39.1 billion. These spending levels blow past the requests President Donald Trump made in his budget. The bill also fully funds the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s unaccompanied alien child refugee program without making needed reforms to confirm that those seeking asylum in the U.S. are suffering from legitimate forms of persecution, in addition to continuing funding for Title X “family planning” programs, which give taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s number one abortion provider.

The Senate claimed it would use the August recess to confirm a backlog of more than 180 Trump nominees and pass conservative legislation. Senators have only confirmed two nominees in August so far.

As for bills passed, the bottom line is that Republicans worked with Democrats to increase government spending for both military and domestic programs. The Senate irresponsibly increased funding for the Department of Education, Obamacare, welfare programs, and abortion providers. And the $21 trillion national debt continues to grow.

The Senate passed this minibus appropriations bill on August 23, 2018 at 5:15 p.m. in a roll call vote of 85 – 7. (For more from the author of “Vote Alert: An $854 Billion Spending Monstrosity That Funds Planned Parenthood” please click HERE)

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The Left Doesn’t Suffer From Trump Derangement Syndrome or Bush Derangement Syndrome. They’ve Got a Terminal Case of Republican Derangement Syndrome.

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There’s a lot of talk these days about Trump Derangement Syndrome — the media’s incessant inability to talk about anything but Trump, their determination to paint every action Trump takes as simultaneously idiotic and malevolent, their utter unwillingness to report on anything remotely resembling positive news for Trump. But the truth is that the media and the Left don’t suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome — they merely suffer from Republican Derangement Syndrome. That’s the broader classification under which Bush Derangement Syndrome and Trump Derangement Syndrome fall. It’s not just Trump they hate — it’s Republicans generally.

That’s perfectly obvious from the treatment of Vice President Mike Pence by the Left. Pence has been castigated as a theocratic madman, a “holy terror,” in the words of New York Times columnist Frank Bruni, who asked, “Are you sure you want to get rid of Donald Trump?” Then there are authors Michael D’Antonio and Peter Eisner, who argue in their new book The Shadow President that Pence is “the most successful Christian supremacist in American history.” It’s become a meme on the Left that should Pence accede to the presidency, he would immediately impose The Handmaid’s Tale.

And that should be unsurprising. The same Left castigated John McCain as a radical, Mitt Romney as a racist, sexist, bigot homophobe. No matter which Republican follows Trump, we can be sure that the Left will dishonestly look back to the glory days of Trump, when Republicans were “truly moderate.”

All of which is why Trump is president in the first place. Republicans looked at Joe Biden suggesting Mitt Romney — Mitt Freaking Romney! — wanted to put black people back in chains, and figured that no matter who they nominated, they’d be castigated as the worst people on earth. They figured they might as well nominate a guy who wouldn’t take such attacks sitting down — they might as well get behind a counterpuncher. And nobody was better at counterpunching during the campaign — above and below the belt — than Trump. (Read more from “The Left Doesn’t Suffer From Trump Derangement Syndrome or Bush Derangement Syndrome. They’ve Got a Terminal Case of Republican Derangement Syndrome.” HERE)

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Pastor, Wife Allegedly Told to End Bible Studies in Apartment—as It’s a ‘Business’—or Face Eviction

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A semi-retired Lutheran pastor and his wife allegedly have been ordered by their residential complex to stop holding Bible studies in their private apartment — or face eviction.

Why? Apparently the apartment complex defines “Bible study” as a “business” — and one that’s prohibited from taking place in private residential units. . .

According to First Liberty, the Hauges moved into the Evergreens in January 2017. Ken Hauge is a retired Lutheran minister who volunteers part-time pastoring at a small church in a nearby shopping center. Some residents in the Evergreens asked Hauge to lead a Bible study in the complex, and he agreed and applied to the complex manager to reserve the community room for the study.

But the law firm said management refused to let the gathering be called a “Bible study,” instead requiring it be named a “book review.”

A scheduling miscommunication resulted in the reservation getting canceled, and a resident volunteered to host the Bible studies in her apartment for the remainder of 2017. But the complex continued to insist that posted notices call the gathering a “book review.” (Read more from “Pastor, Wife Allegedly Told to End Bible Studies in Apartment—as It’s a ‘Business’—or Face Eviction” HERE)

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University’s Feminist Fight Club Teaches Women How to Raise Testosterone

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Participants in Colorado State University’s Feminist Fight Club are learning to confront and disrupt what the group calls displays of subtle sexism on the campus, The College Fix reported. . .

A guidebook for the program explains methods members can use. For example, female participants are encouraged to raise their testosterone levels by taking on masculine poses. The poses are considered a way to raise confidence. . . .

Another activity advises women to have a comeback ready for times when anyone asks them why they’re not smiling. This facet of the program is called “Don’t Tell Me To Smile.”

The group makes it clear where it is aiming its activities: “We fight PATRIARCHY (and all forms of harassment, bullying, inequity, discrimination, -isms, and -phobias), not each other,” the group’s discussion guidebook states. . .

Another exercise is taking part in a drinking game intended to rid people of their use of filler words and phrases such as “Um.” During the game, others are supposed to point it out and make the offender take a drink. (Read more from “University’s Feminist Fight Club Teaches Women How to Raise Testosterone” HERE)

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Mom Accidentally Locks Infant in Car, Calls 911. Emergency Services Tell Mom Help Isn’t Coming.

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A Michigan mother inadvertently locked her infant in the car while loading the child and her supplies up on Saturday. When she called emergency services for assistance in freeing the infant from the rising heat in the vehicle, she was told “no.” . . .

Lacey Guyton, 25, was leaving her grandmother’s home in Waterford, Michigan, when she realized that her car keys were in her 2-month-old daughter’s diaper bag — which Guyton had promptly loaded into her vehicle after securing her daughter in a car seat.

Guyton’s stomach dropped when she heard the car’s auto-locks deploy as she was circling the car to get into the driver’s seat. Guyton told ABC News that she had another key fob on her, but it refused to work when she tried to unlock the vehicle. . .

Guyton’s grandmother told dispatchers that there was an infant locked in the car, and the dispatcher reportedly responded that the emergency services department doesn’t answer to such calls of unlocking vehicles or breaking windows. The dispatcher, instead, reportedly offered to send a towing company to the scene. . .

After several more tries, Guyton was able to break the window, but not before her child stopped crying and had started to close her eyes. (Read more from “Mom Accidentally Locks Infant in Car, Calls 911. Emergency Services Tell Mom Help Isn’t Coming.” HERE)

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Trump Tells Mike Pompeo to Cancel His Trip to North Korea

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President Trump directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cancel his upcoming trip to North Korea Friday, citing stalled progress with denuclearization and the current U.S. trading relationship with China.

. . .

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John McCain’s Family Announces He’s Ending Medical Treatment

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Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) family announced Friday that the senator is discontinuing medical treatment for his aggressive form of brain cancer. His daughter Meghan shared the news on Twitter.

McCain’s colleagues and friends – both Republican and Democrat – have begun to send their thoughts and prayers to him and his family.

(Read more from “John McCain’s Family Announces He’s Ending Medical Treatment” HERE)

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