A papal appeal didn’t stop Kelly Gissendaner’s execution, whichtook place Wednesday morning in Georgia nearly 17 years after she was convicted of arranging the murder of her husband. Pope Francis sent a letter to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles asking that her death sentence be commuted and made it clear in his speech to Congress last week that he opposes the death penalty in all cases, saying that “a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation.”

The pardons board in Georgia disagreed with the pontiff, and so do many American Catholics. MORE

Anchor baby, a child born in the U.S. to a foreign national mother or the father who is an illegal immigrant to the United States. Current U.S. federal law prevents anyone under the age of 21 from being able to petition for their non-citizen parent to be lawfully admitted into the United States for permanent residence.

But here is the problem, let’s say the mother is a US citizen and the Mexican father is illegal, but they have children and a job. If the father is deported to Mexico and he was the one who was supporting the family, Continue reading →

My brother Dominic 87 (left) Myself 79 (center) and brother Pete 83

This is a long read but you can see how the US indirectly fostered the Islamic fundamentalists.

The only person Henry Kissinger flattered more than President Richard Nixon was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. In the early 1970s, the Shah, sitting atop an enormous reserve of increasingly expensive oil and a key figure in Nixon and Kissinger’s move into the Middle East, wanted to be dealt with as a serious person. MORE

Tehran (AFP) – The Iranian foreign minister’s reported handshake with US President Barack Obama triggered chants of “Death to America” in Tehran’s parliament Wednesday and a warning against “another kind of spying”.

The foreign ministry has confirmed a “completely accidental” encounter between Obama and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday, without denying there was a handshake as reported by Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency. MORE

Joaquin may converge with another slow-moving storm in the East to add to a serious flooding situation into early next week. MORE

Well Michele, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It goes from Rome to Washington, Japan and back again. In other words around the world.

Former Rep. Michele Bachmann is not backing away from her End Times prophecies about how President Obama and gay rights advocates are paving the way for America’s destruction and the Apocalypse, returning to “Understanding the Times with Janet Markell” this weekend to issue her latest warning. MORE

Others saw the pope’s disdain for the mayor as being linked to his support of gay marriage, and in particular the city “legalising” same-sex marriages conducted abroad, even though Italy still bans such unions.

One thing is sure — the row will not help relations as Rome gears up to welcome 20 million pilgrims for the Year of Mercy, which begins on December 8, when the faithful will be granted special indulgences, the highest form of forgiveness. MORE

More than half of evangelical pastors say Pope Francis is their brother in Christ.

More than one-third say they value the pope’s view on theology, and 3 in 10 say he has improved their view of the Catholic Church.

Those are among the findings of a new study of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors, released this week from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. MORE

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When several thousand Christian conservative activists gather in Washington on Friday, they will hear from Donald Trump and seven other Republican presidential candidates. But one big name with religious bona fides will be absent: Jeb Bush.

Bush, who was not invited to the Values Voter Summit last year, was not able to attend this year, his campaign said. A Bush spokeswoman said he had offered to send a video message to the event, but a summit spokesman said the offer was declined. MORE

A Mexican councillor has provoked outrage after that homeless people should be put down like animals to keep the number of them on the streets down. MORE

A statue of the 18th century friar Junipero Serra was toppled and graves vandalized at the Carmel Mission in California, police said Sunday, just days after the missionary was canonized by Pope Francis.

The person or persons responsible struck Saturday night, damaging gravesites and signs and splashing green and white paint on doors, Carmel Police Sgt. Luke Powell told the Salinas Californian. MORE

Moments ago Carl Icahn decided to use his Shareholders’ Square Table as the venue in which to respond to his quasi-nomination for Treasury Secretary (he politely declines), and also to opine on Trump’s warning that the market is “one big fat bubble” (he agrees). MORE