Pope Benedict XVI is to resign at the end of this month after nearly eight years as the head of the Catholic Church, saying he is too old to continue at the age of 85.
The unexpected development – the first papal resignation in nearly 600 years – surprised governments, Vatican-watchers and even his closest aides according to the BBC.
The Vatican says it expects a new Pope to be elected before Easter.
Opinion: Despite the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday, many of us were too busy seeing patients to hear President Obama’s second inaugural address. It was less painful to read the transcript.
“What binds this nation together is not the color of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names,” he stated. Then let’s end the government’s obsession with African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Asian-Americans (but never European-Americans). We are all Americans. I feel some moral authority and passion on this subject as a black American whose family moved here from England in the 1600s. I am a full-blooded American!
I can’t bear to hear one more person say, “I’m so glad we have an African-American President.” How ironic: Martin Luther King, Jr., urged that we judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.
House Republican Policy Committee Chairman James Lankford (R-OK) expressed frustration Friday after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which attempts to clarify the definition of a religious institution. It also attempts to accommodate religious objections to the recent regulations that employers must provide their employees contraceptives at no cost.
“The Administration now understands that the contraceptive regulation invented last year by Health and Human Services (HHS) is a clear violation of the First Amendment right to religious freedom for some businesses,” said Chairman Lankford. “The new definitions and accommodations establish a redefined level of religious freedom Americans may expect under this Administration, if their religious preferences differ from the President’s.”
The HHS regulation (2013-02470), which could change at the whim of any future Administration, establishes essentially three categories of religious institutions. Two of the institutions have some religious protection. One type of institution has little or no religious protection.
Updated: The good news is that the song “Do You Realize” by The Flaming Lips is no longer the “Official State Rock Song Of Oklahoma.”
We here at Tulsa Today would love to take credit for this, though we’re not certain we can. Still, we will tell ourselves that we may have had just a bit to do with it.
The State Historical Society sponsored the selection process, where songs were nominated en masse and winnowed down by a committee of People Who Should Know About Such Things. Then there was a period of on-line voting where the peasants could voice their opinions. There were glitches along the way. There was dissent in the committee and there was probably ballot-stuffing, though we are not alleging corruption.
The United States Air Force defines “wingman” as a pilot who supports another pilot in a potentially dangerous flying environment – to add an element of mutual support. The presence of a wingman makes the flight both offensively and defensively more capable by increasing situational awareness. The wingman’s mere presence minimizes attack by the enemy and increases the ability to employ more dynamic tactics. The wingman protects the lead pilot by watching his back.
As a Christian man; is a wingman important?