In the 11th century, the Catholic forebears of Father Bassam Saade and the Orthodox predecessors of Father Joshua had a falling out so seismic it became known as “the great schism.”
Excommunications and strongly worded parchments flew back and forth. The dust of an Orthodox church was symbolically shaken off a papal representative’s feet. The resulting divide between the two churches has persisted for the better part of a millennium. MORE
Orlando shooting suspect Omar Mateen was interviewed by the FBI in 2013 and 2014, FBI Assistant Special Agent Ronald Hopper told reporters Sunday. “Those interviews turned out to be inconclusive, so there was nothing to keep the investigation going,” Hopper said. Mateen was not under investigation at the time of Sunday’s shooting and was not under surveillance, Hopper said. MORE
The big lie of gay marriage was always this: “It will affect nobody outside of the gays who wish to partake in it.” That is clearly false, as any number of bakers or photographers will tell you after having gone through the legal wringer of forced gay wedding compliance. Yet sometimes the big lie gets even bigger. Sometimes it threatens more than the livelihoods of cake-bakers in north-central Colorado. MORE
Robin Williams (he committed suicide, why is he there?) Andy Warhol, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, George Harrison, Prince, and so forth. The bottom left corner, (below Mandela) is Ali’s trainer Angelo Dundee? He’s still alive the last I heard. Notice the Catholic Cathedral? Ali was a Muslim. Sammy Davis Jr. was Jewish.
This is the disturbing moment a ‘possessed ‘ woman terrified bus passengers as she thrashed around, rolled her head and shouted in a satanic voice. MORE
Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has whipped up a storm on Russian social media for an off-the-cuff comment he made to a Russian pensioner last month. MORE
New numbers show obesity in the United States are high, especially among women
The number of Americans who areoverweight or obese continues to reach shocking highs, with some estimates that more than two-thirds of American adults are now overweight or obese. Now, a new study reveals that while obesity rates in men have plateaued, rates have continued to rise among women. MORE
More than two years have elapsed since the last direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.
When the Israelis refused to release Palestinian prisoners from a previously agreed to list, the talks, in the words of US Secretary of State John Kerry, went up in the air. The continuation of the stalemate, coupled with the latest right-wing addition to an Israeli government already controlled by settlers, is pushing some Palestinians and Jordanians to rethink the confederation concept.MORE
Police have announced that they will not allow terrorists’ funerals to take place in eastern Jerusalem. Instead, the terrorists will be buried in other Muslim cemeteries, as chosen by the police.
Ynet reports that the decision came after a number of recent cases of incitement at terrorists’ funerals. In particular, about 200 attendees at the Ala’a Abu Jamal’s funeral expressed praise for his attack and incited against Israel, in violation of the family’s prior pledges. When videos of the event arose, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) ordered the return of terrorists’ bodies to be suspended until new arrangements could be arranged. MORE
MEXICO CITY — When Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told an open government conference Thursday that “Google was now Hillary’s secret weapon,” he provided ample fertilizer for a year’s worth of conspiracy theories in this overheated election season.
Assange was referring to The Groundwork, a stealthy startup funded by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt that’s providing consulting services to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign. According to Quartz, The Groundwork is building digital infrastructure like the Obama campaign did in 2012, laying “the groundwork’ for personalized, data-driven electioneering in 2016. MORE
Philippines president-elect Rodrigo Duterte effectively said he supports vigilantism in a nationally-televised speech.
Faced with criminals who resist arrest or threaten citizens, the controversial politician suggested that it was fine for citizens to take the law into their own hands.
“If he fights, and he fights to the death, you can kill him,” said the former mayor of Davao City, who was elected to the presidency in a decisive victory last month. VIDEO
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday said that Israel and Turkey are one or two meetings away from normalizing ties, Reuters reports.
Speaking during an interview with the Turkish television station TRT Haber, Cavusoglu said that Israel lifting the blockade on Gaza and allowing for increased aid to be delivered to Palestinians is still a topic of great importance.
Israel however, remains reluctant to ease the blockade on the coastal enclave. MORE