Pope Francis Calls US Catholic Church ‘Backwards’ for Putting Political Ideologies Ahead of Faith

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Pope Francis accused some leaders of the US Catholic Church of “backwardness,” saying they have abandoned Christian doctrines in favor of political ideologies.

“Doing this, you lose the true tradition and you turn to ideologies to have support. In other words, ideologies replace faith,” the pope said during a private meeting with a Jesuit order in Lisbon earlier in August.

The transcripts from that meeting were just made public Monday, revealing the 86-year-old pope’s unfiltered opinion about a rift growing between some US religious leaders and the Vatican over his initiatives to modernize the Catholic Church.

Francis’ comments came after a Jesuit described encountering a number of Catholics and bishops who were critical of his papacy and the Vatican during a recent year-long stay in the US.

In response, the pope called the US church “backward,” and said it had “a very strong, organized, reactionary attitude” which he warned could lead to a climate of closure that would be the antithesis of Christian values. (Read more from “Pope Francis Calls US Catholic Church ‘Backwards’ for Putting Political Ideologies Ahead of Faith” HERE)

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Hurricane Makes Landfall in Florida as Strong Category 3 Storm

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Hurricane Idalia has made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region Wednesday as a strong Category 3 storm.

Idalia made landfall near Keaton Beach in the Florida Big Bend around 7:45 a.m. It maintained its status as a “major” hurricane at the time of landfall with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Hurricane-force winds extend 25 miles out from the storm’s center, but tropical storm-force winds are extending up to 175 miles out from there. However, as of 9:00 a.m., Idalia’s maximum sustained winds had diminished to 110 mph.

(Read more from “Hurricane Makes Landfall in Florida as Strong Category 3 Storm” HERE)

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Arizona Secretary of State Says Trump Cannot Be Kept off State Ballot

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Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes claimed Wednesday that he does not have the power to keep former President Donald Trump off the ballot next year as critics argue Trump violated a constitutional amendment that would disqualify him.

Some legal scholars and critics of the former president claim Trump violated the 14th Amendment during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The amendment bars those who’ve taken an oath to support the Constitution from holding office again if they’ve “engaged in insurrection” against the United States or “given aid or comfort” to its enemies.

Fontes referred to a state Supreme Court ruling last year that determined the disqualification clause of the Constitution can only be enforced through Congress.

“Does a 25-year-old get to be on the ballot in Arizona for president?” Fontes asked the Arizona Republic. “According to the logic of the Arizona Supreme Court, they do. That having been said, can the Arizona Supreme Court be overturned? If somebody brings a lawsuit? Well, any law can be overturned in a judicial action. Now, I’m not inviting someone to sue me, although it probably will end up happening.” (Read more from “Arizona Secretary of State Says Trump Cannot Be Kept off State Ballot” HERE)

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Security Guard Who Claimed Ex-Navy SEAL Called Him N-Word Revealed to Be a White Man

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The hotel security guard who claimed former Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill assaulted him and called him the N-word during a dispute in Texas was revealed to be a white man, The Post has learned.

Johnny Loomis, 61, a loss prevention officer at The Omni Hotel in Frisco, claimed that O’Neill made the disparaging remarks and slugged him after passing out at the hotel bar on Aug. 23.

The security guard helped O’Neill back up to the fifth floor when the melee began, according to documents from the Frisco Police Department.

O’Neill, who claims to have fired the fatal shots that killed Osama bin Laden, was attempting to open the hotel room door with his credit card when he allegedly “struck Johnny on the chest with his right palm.”

Then the former special ops “called Johnny a ‘fu–ing n—er,’” the police arrest warrant states. The warrant also states that Loomis is a white man. (Read more from “Security Guard Who Claimed Ex-Navy SEAL Called Him N-Word Revealed to Be a White Man” HERE)

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Country Issues US Travel Advisory Over LGBTQ Laws

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By Washington Times. . . “Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons,” the advisory says, using an abbreviation that also uses the letters for Intersex persons and the Canadian Indian-specific term “two-spirited” (2S).

“Check relevant state and local laws,” the Canadian government warned, without specifying the states to which it was referring.

According to Reuters news agency, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said her government tries “to look carefully around the world and to monitor whether there are particular dangers to particular groups of Canadians.”

When asked by reporters whether the advisory had been made in consultation with the Biden administration, she declined to answer.

CBS News reported that a Global Affairs Canada spokesperson cited laws passed in various state capitals restricting drag performances in schools, restricting sex changes for minors and banning biological men from women’s sports. (Read more from “Canada Issues US Travel Advisory Over LGBTQ Laws” HERE)

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Canada Issues Travel Advisory to LGBT People Visiting US

By Washington Examiner. Canada is warning LGBT community members traveling to the United States to check state laws regarding how they could affect their visit. . .

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told the press that “travel advisories are done very professionally,” adding there are “professionals in the government whose job is to look carefully around the world and to monitor whether there are particular dangers to particular groups of Canadians, that’s their job.” Freeland said the travel advisory is “the right thing to do.”

Canada’s government advisory does not clarify which states specifically LGBT travelers need to take precautions in, but several conservative-led states have enacted LGBT-related laws this year. Republican lawmakers in Florida, Alabama, Missouri, Texas, and other red states have legislation on transgender issues, including bathroom laws and bans on hormone treatments and surgeries.

In June, the Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest LGBT advocacy organization, declared its first national state of emergency, releasing a guideline for LGBT community members “traveling through some of the most hostile regions of the country,” providing safety information and resources. (Read more from “Canada Issues Travel Advisory to LGBT People Visiting US” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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Half of Male Inmates Pretending to Be Female Are Guilty of Sex Crimes, State Data Shows

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More than 50 percent of men who identify as transgender held at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections have been convicted of sexual assault or sexual abuse, according to a shocking new report from The Daily Signal, based on data obtained through a 2022 public records request by the Heritage Foundation.

According to the report, 81 of the 161 male inmates who claim to be transgender have been convicted of at least one count of sexual assault or sexual abuse. As The Daily Signal reported, sexual crimes could include “sexual exploitation of a child, sexual exploitation by a therapist, forced viewing of a sexual act, rape, sexual intercourse without consent, incest, sexual intercourse with a child, indecent behavior with a child, enticing a child, and more.”

The Department of Corrections would not disclose whether these male inmates were incarcerated in a male or female facility, but state policy indicates transgender-identified inmates can be placed in the wrong-sex facility in some cases.

These problems aren’t confined to Wisconsin. In January 2021, a law went into effect in California that could permit male serial rapists into women’s prisons. Transfers could be based on “individual preference,” meaning there is no need for male criminals to take hormones or amputate their genitals to be moved. Hundreds of inmates requested to be transferred in the months following the law, almost all men looking to be moved to women’s prisons. In fact, following the law’s passage, inmates were reportedly given contraceptives such as condoms and Plan B — which wouldn’t make much sense if it were really just a women’s prison — to deal with potential fallout.

Furthermore, studies reveal disproportionately high criminal patterns among male inmates who claim to be women compared to their female counterparts. Data shows that anecdotes of men assaulting women in historically all-female spaces are not one-offs, but rather, a trend. (Read more from “Half of Male Inmates Pretending to Be Female Are Guilty of Sex Crimes, State Data Shows” HERE)

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‘Joe the Plumber’ Was Right About Barack Obama

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Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber,” passed away from pancreatic cancer this week. For those too old to remember him, Wurzelbacher, 49, became a minor political celebrity during the 2008 presidential race when he confronted Barack Obama, surely the most coddled candidate until that time, about his far-left economics.

Wurzelbacher, who worked at a small plumbing company near Toledo, believed that Obama’s redistributive policies would hurt small businesses. It was clear enough that the Democratic Party’s candidate was intent on instituting as much top-down federally managed economic control as possible. This was obvious.

Wurzelbacher’s question sparked plenty of ginned-up indignation from the left. As Byron York noted at the time, if Joe the Plumber had any unsavory events in his past, we were probably going to find out soon enough. Indeed, the same press that had allowed Obama to fabricate much of his life story jumped into action. ABC News reported that Wurzelbacher owed $1,200 in taxes, The New York Times reported that he wasn’t actually a licensed plumber, and so on.

Obama would answer Wurzelbacher’s accusation over the next couple of weeks with a torrent of platitudes and strawmen. It was clear the soon-to-be president believed we were a nation awash in breathtaking greed, inequality, and exploitation. By 2011, in a speech in Osawatomie, Kansas, Obama dropped the pretense and made a progressive case against markets, which he called a “simple” ideology that “speaks to our rugged individualism and our healthy skepticism of too much government. … And that theory fits well on a bumper sticker. But here’s the problem: It doesn’t work.” Today, regrettably, this kind of statist rhetoric runs the partisan gamut.

Obama was interested in transforming America into something distinct and new. Democrats viewed Obama as a counterrevolutionary against Reaganism. And, whereas Reagan promised Americans the power to build their own shiny cities on hills, Obama promised endless dependency and handouts. So they were right. (Read more from “‘Joe the Plumber’ Was Right About Barack Obama” HERE)

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Biden, Obama Must Approve Release of Alias Emails

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The National Archives and Records Administration is withholding more than 5,000 White House emails that used aliases for then-Vice President Joseph R. Biden as it awaits approval from him and former President Barack Obama to make them public.

Mr. Biden used at least three email aliases while serving as vice president, and House investigators sought access to the messages this month as part of their probe into whether he engaged in illegal influence peddling.

Some of the emails to Mr. Biden inexplicably copy in his son, Hunter Biden, including a scheduling email about a May 2016 call between the vice president and then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Hunter Biden was serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy company at the time.

Officials from the National Archives have acknowledged they possess 5,138 White House emails that used one of Mr. Biden’s three known aliases, but they won’t provide the records to House investigators until they receive permission from him and Mr. Obama, a spokeswoman for House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer told The Washington Times.

“National Archives officials have indicated they have sent some of the records to representatives for former President Obama and Joe Biden for their approval to be released,” spokeswoman Jessica Collins said. “President Biden promised the most transparent administration in history, and we fully expect him to approve the release of these records.” (Read more from “Biden, Obama Must Approve Release of Alias Emails” HERE)

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As Deaths Mount, an Investigation Into Biden’s Maui Fire Decisions Opens

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The House Oversight and Accountability Committee announced plans to investigate President Joe Biden’s handling of the recent Maui, Hawaii, wildfires.

In a statement, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said the federal response to the wildfire raises “serious questions” to which people “deserve answers.” He added that it is well within the scope of the committee, as it takes into account the efficacy of taxpayer dollars.

“The response by federal, state, and local officials to the catastrophic wildfire in Maui raises serious questions, and Americans, especially those impacted by this tragedy, deserve answers,” Comer said.

“As recovery efforts continue, the House Oversight Committee has a responsibility to ensure taxpayer dollars are being used efficiently and effectively. To minimize the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars, the Oversight Committee will examine the federal government’s response in Maui and work with other committees of jurisdiction to ensure accountability,” he said. (Read more from “As Deaths Mount, an Investigation Into Biden’s Maui Fire Decisions Opens” HERE)

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House GOP Chairmen Demand DOJ Documents Related to Hunter Biden Special Counsel Appointment

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The Justice Department “pulled punches” and “handicapped veteran investigators” over the course of its investigation into first son Hunter Biden, the Republican leaders of three House committees charge in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, demanding documents related to the appointment of a special counsel in the probe.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) on Monday called on the Biden administration to provide their panels with all documents and communications referring or relating to Delaware US Attorney David Weiss’s appointment as special counsel earlier this month in the government’s 5-year-long investigation into President Biden’s 53-year-old son.

Weiss’s appointment “raises numerous concerns” because of previous statements by Garland indicating that the Delaware US attorney already had “ultimate” authority in the probe, the committee chairmen wrote in their seven-page letter to the attorney general, which was made public on Tuesday.

“Now, recently reported information raises additional concerns about the Department’s unusual actions in this matter, and suggests that the Department under your leadership has been attempting to circumvent the rule of law in favor of Hunter Biden, President Biden, and the Biden family. Given the extremely serious nature of these issues, the Committees expect unfettered cooperation with our oversight from both you and the Department,” the lawmakers wrote. (Read more from “House GOP Chairmen Demand DOJ Documents Related to Hunter Biden Special Counsel Appointment” HERE)

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