President Barack Obama meets with Pope Francis in Vatican City and, with his poll numbers, probably hopes some of the pontiff’s popularity will rub off on him before he leaves. “I’m a great admirer,” Obama tells Francis. The focus of the conversation when President Barack Obama meets Pope Francis on Thursday is expected to be the gap between the rich and the poor. MORE

If we learned nothing else during the 2012 election, it is that some of us are makers, hard-working folk solely responsible for America’s prosperity, and others are takers, who want the federal government to pay for luxuries like food and health care.

What may come as some surprise is where these two warring tribes tend to live. The states with elected officials most likely to espouse anti-taker sentiments — i.e., Republican-dominated states — are the most dependent on federal spending, while returning the least to Washington in the way of tax dollars. MORE

Nearly 200 scientists are attending the conference, called The Search for Life Beyond the Solar System: Exoplanets, Biosignature & Instruments, which runs from March 16-21 in Tucson, Arizona. The Vatican Observatory is co-hosting the conference with the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory. ‘Finding life beyond Earth is one of the great challenges of modern science and we are excited to have the world leaders in this field together in Tucson,’ said event co-chair Daniel Apai, assistant professor of astronomy and planetary sciences at the UA Steward Observatory. MORE

You’ve never experienced celebrities like this:  It all starts with your favorite celebrities, and a quick biopsy to obtain tissue samples.
Culture: Isolating muscle stem cells, we grow celebrity meat in our proprietary bioreactors. – Meats: In the tradition of Italian cured meats, we dry, age, and spice our product into fine charcuterie. Process: Continue reading →

Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Ginsburg aggressively questioned the corporate challengers who want exemptions from providing contraception under Obamacare at Tuesday’s oral arguments. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties say the measure violates their religious freedoms. MORE

The way that boys are raised in Russia is very different from how boys are raised in the United States.  In Russia, boys as young as five years old are taught survival skills, learn how to use military equipment and are trained in hand to hand combat.  Boys as young as twelve are taught to fire assault rifles and some of them even get to experience real paratrooper training. MORE

City rejects media cover-up when violence breaks out in newspaper parking lot. Ten years ago, the media in Louisville, Ky., could have gotten away with reporting this weekend’s events this way: A group of 10 “roving teens got into a fight with two girls … then it happened a few more times over two hours.” MORE

“‘God’s Not Dead’ earned an incredible $8.56 million,” the site noted, which placed the film at No. 5 at the box office this past weekend. “That ranks seventh all-time among faith-based movies, and ranks first among those opening in fewer than 1,000 theaters. It’s a bit below ‘Courageous’ ($9.1 million), but above ‘Fireproof’ ($6.8 million).” MORE

Uganda’s health minister says the government has lost up to $6 million in annual U.S. government support over the East African country’s new anti-gay law. Ruhakana Rugunda said Friday that the U.S. had not renewed a contract that helped pay the salaries of Ugandan doctors and nurses involved in mostly AIDS programs. He said that under the contract that expired earlier this year, the U.S. gave between $4 and $6 million each year over the last 10 years. MORE

Away from the conflict in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is quietly seeking a foothold in Latin America, military officials warn. To the alarm of lawmakers and Pentagon officials, Putin has begun sending navy ships and long-range bombers to the region for the first time in years. MORE

Michael Voris is joined by Lynn Mills, Shawn Sullivan and Leif Arvidson to discuss the insanity that takes place in Catholic Hospitals. MORE

(pope) Francis reprimanding the Mafia has been all over the news, but I thought I’d pass it up…until a friend of mine commented flippantly: ‘Have you heard that the pope told the Mafia that they’ll end up in Hell if they don’t repent? I wonder if they (the mobster/mafia) blackmailed the pope?’  ‘Lol. That would be an interesting strategy on his (popes) part,’ I said, and then left if like that.  But today came across this article: The drugs had been mailed from South America, and were bound for the Vatican post office, where any of the Vatican’s 800 citizens could have picked it up… INCLUDING the Pope. Well, there’s a 1/800 chance, at least. VIDEO

With the blockbuster news that all of Israel’s embassies and consulates are closing for the first time in history, supposedly due to a union “strike,” it is noteworthy that just days before this hit the MSM, it was reported that Israel was preparing to launch the “first strike” against Iran, as part of a “coordinated operation led by the Pentagon.”

Furthermore, in January, two months before the reports of Malaysia Flight 370 mysteriously disappearing, Israel conducted an emergency preparedness drill, which included, “a fictional airplane crashing into a residential area, causing hundreds of casualties.”  MORE

France’s far-right National Front party dealt a major blow to the ruling Socialists Sunday after several of its candidates took prime position in the first round of local elections.

The main centre-right opposition UMP party also hailed a “big victory” as initial estimates showed it came out trumps in the elections, as President Francois Hollande suffers record unpopularity against a backdrop of near-zero growth and high unemployment. MORE