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I’ve seen a few extremely powerful things. Just recently I watched a tornado whirling debris on the lawn as it rose up and passed just beside our house. I know that it was insane to be outside watching, but power is intriguing. I’ve been in a tropical storm on the Florida coast, packed and ready to leave in an instant if it accelerated to a hurricane. I’ve felt the ground rumbling while watching a space shuttle launch, and I’ve circled three times in a small plane over the mighty Victoria Falls in southern Africa. I’ve faced an angry bull elephant...

Australia has offered Indonesia a prison swap deal in an 11th hour bid to save the lives of two Australian drug smugglers who have been transferred to an island prison where they are to be killed by firing squad within days.

Maybe it’s cancer. Maybe it’s divorce. Maybe you have a son or daughter who’s turned away from God. Maybe you have a friend who betrayed you. Maybe you’re close to bankruptcy. Whatever it is, Mark 14:32-42 shows Jesus in a more painful predicament. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ faces a soon and horrible death on the cross. Even his friends—Peter, James and John—refuse to stand by him. They can’t even stay awake as Christ pleads with his Father to “take this cup from me.” As Christians, our model is Jesus Christ. In fact, there is probably no better way...

The National Socialist Movement has scheduled an April 18 return to Toledo, nearly a decade after a planned rally ignited rioting in the city. The neo-Nazi group’s Oct. 15, 2005, demonstration preceded a riot and the arrest of more than 100 people. Angry crowds attacked emergency workers, burned down a bar, and looted two convenience stores. Next month’s rally is planned for 3:30 p.m. outside One Government Center, said Dan Donaldson, 36, of the Toledo area. Mr. Donaldson is the movement’s regional director representing Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and West Virginia. “There is somebody out there for white people’s interests and...

Lawmaker proposes lower military drinking age • A Maryland senator has proposed a new bill to allow 18-year-old members of the US military to drink alcohol, despite the legal drinking age in the country being 21. Senator Ron Young, D-Frederick proposed a reduction in the legal drinking age for military members to the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee on Friday. The bill would permit service members under the age of 21 to drink beer and wine at a bar or restaurant by showing valid military identification, however spirits and off-premise purchases would still be prohibited. “Is someone can...

My wife is going to Italy Sat 3/7 for one week and I am trying to set up a simple unlocked cell phone for her use there. She is definitely not tech savvy. I am beginning to doubt my own rudimentary skills. I got an unlocked new but older Blackberry LG-A275. I set up one contact name using multitap but now I've pushed something that I think activated something called T9. In anycase the multitap won't provide anything resembling the names I am trying to set up in the contact list. The users guide is nearly useless. User friendly has...

In one of the party’s best pickup opportunities this cycle, Democrats have zeroed in on second-time candidate Monica Vernon to win Iowa’s 1st District. Freshman Rep. Rod Blum, a Republican, holds the seat. But the district’s composition is competitive, if not left-leaning: In 2012, President Barack Obama won it with 56 percent. (SNIP) On the other side, there’s concern in the state Blum might not get much help from Washington, D.C. after voting against John A. Boehner for speaker on his first day in office. Iowa Republicans noted Blum didn’t make the National Republican Congressional Committee’s initial list for the...

The actual blueprint of the method of the madness of the Obama regime has been laid bare in White House plans to develop “A Country Within A country” of 15 Million “New Americans”, a story brought to light by Mark Levin’s interview with Susan Payne. “Citizens Will Be Cast Into the Shadows”, warns Susan Payne, a contributor to WCBM, Baltimore and Co-Host of the Pat McDonough Radio Show. (Independent Sentinel, February 28, 2015) Citizens about to be cast into the shadows is only courtesy of the natural order when the current administration in D.C. operates not on the way its...

Accusations of dual loyalty against Jews used to be something one expected to hear, if at all in this country, from the extreme right. But modern conservatives generally strongly support Israel and rarely display anti-Semitic tendencies. On the other hand, the far left has been anti-Israel for decades, and hostility to the Jewish state -- often occulted by philo-Israel bromides -- is increasingly becoming a mainstream sentiment within the Democratic Party. Some leftist Jews have raised the issue before, but now many more have recklessly raised the canard as a means to support President Obama’s opposition to Israeli Prime Minister...

Germans are more supportive of how the EU is run than any other member state, but experts tell The Local that may only last as long as the economic good times. Among Germans, 69 percent told Gallup pollsters that they “approve” of the EU leadership's job performance in 2014. That was well above the average approval rating of 49 percent across all member states, while just three other countries—Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg—topped 60 percent approval. “[The results] might be an indication that some Germans now start to identify leadership within the European Union with their own government and with the...

America’s Enemies Influence Entertainment “We are primarily in a war of ideas…between freedom and tyranny,” declared attorney and anti-Islamism activist Deborah Weiss on February 24 before an audience of about 20 at Washington, DC’s National Press Club. Focusing on Hollywood’s media industry as a key “agent for social change” and “information dominance,” Weiss and other panelists examined the dangerous sociopolitical influences of America’s past and present Marxist and Muslim enemies. Cliff Kincaid, president of event host America’s Survival, Inc., opened the panel by discussing “Hollywood’s anti-American bent,” often under leftist influences. This had a long tradition, historian Allan Ryskind later...

Another day, another missed data point. ADP Employment data shows 212k jobs added in February, which modestly missed expectations of 219k and is the weakest monthly gain in 6 months. This despite a strong prior revision, pushing the January number up from 213K to 250K to catch up to the BLS runrate. Despite the miss, that showed large businesses adding by far the fewest jobs, Mark Zandi as usual remains optimistic: "jobs growth is strong but slowing," and expects the economy "will return to full employment by mid-2016."

John Kerry generally enters into diplomacy concerning Israel like a bull in a china shop; or, shall we say, like a Cossack in a sukkeh. (That is a simile that would have been familiar to Kerry’s Yiddish-speaking paternal grandparents, originally named Kohn.) It therefore came as no surprise when, in a nearly apopleptic outburst to a congressional committee on February 25, he assailed Benjamin Netanyahu for having the temerity to accept an invitation from the U. S. Congress to warn of the imminent danger of allowing Iran to acquire the capacity to develop and the ability to “deliver” nuclear weapons,...

Excerpted from The New York Times: Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday morning that New York public schools will observe two of the most sacred Muslim holy days — Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.“This is a growing community in our city and in our schools and we wanted to recognize that.Mr. de Blasio was surrounded on the podium by dozens of local activists and politicians who had pressed for the change. Carmen Fariña, the schools chancellor, took the podium to say that she hoped the change would lead to increased tolerance and understanding within the school system and...

 J.C. Ryle,[A] common reason why many do not hold perseverance is an incorrect view of the nature of SAVING FAITH. They regard faith as nothing better than a feeling or impression. As soon as they see a man somewhat impressed with the preaching of the Gospel and manifesting some pleasure in hearing about Christ—they set him down at once as a believer! By and by the man’s impressions wear away, and his interest about Christ and salvation ceases altogether. Where is the faith he seemed to have? It is gone. How can his friends, who have pronounced him a believer,...

In an interview on the PBS television ‘Charlie Rose’ program, President Barack Obama’s National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to accept the invitation of House Speaker John Boehner to address Congress on the issue of Iran’s looming nuclear threat had “injected a degree of partisanship, which is not only unfortunate, I think it’s destructive of the fabric of the [U.S./Israeli] relationship.” Nothing can further from the truth: it’s Obama’s partisanship that has produced a crisis in relations between the White House and Jerusalem, not Netanyahu’s – and the record shows it. Obama doesn’t...

A phenomenal thing has happened in Washington: Progressive advocates and conservative forces have united around legislative action supported by the strong majority of the American people. Groups as disparate as the Center for American Progress and ACLU on the left and the Koch Brothers on the right; Republican Sen. Rand Paul and Democratic Sen. Cory Booker; and over two-thirds of the American people all support major overhauls to America's criminal justice system. (SNIP) Yet it would appear Grassley just doesn't wanna change the rules. Grassley is the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Simply put, given the generally powerful position...

The Associated Press said Wednesday that it was considering legal action over unfulfilled Freedom of Information Act requests for government documents covering Hillary Rodham Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. In its requests, the AP asked for her full schedules and calendars and for details on the State Department’s decision to grant a special position to a longtime Clinton aide, Huma Abedin, among other documents. The oldest request, the news organization said, was made in March 2010. “We believe it’s critically important that government officials and agencies be held accountable to the voters,” said AP’s general counsel, Karen Kaiser. “In...

HOORAY!!!! Freepathon now at $80,002 and it's OVER THE TOP. . . but don't stop giving. JimRob needs every penny, dollar, and c-note to keep our favorite site going strong.

Americans fear disaster if Iran gets nuclear weapons -- and support military force to stop it. According to a new Fox News poll, voters feel: - It would be “a disaster” if Iran obtains the capability to use nuclear weapons. - The U.S. has not been aggressive enough in stopping Iran from getting nukes. - U.S. military action is the right thing to do to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. - A deal that just delays Iran’s nuclear time-table is a bad idea. - Barack Obama is a weak negotiator with foreign leaders. - It was a good...

Even before Bibi Netanyahu spoke, Barack Obama was hammering him: WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) didn't offer any "viable alternatives" to the nuclear negotiations with Iran during his speech to Congress. Obama says he read a transcript of Netanyahu's speech Tuesday. He says "there was nothing new" in the speech. Obama says Netanyahu made almost the same speech when he warned against the interim deal reached with Iran. Obama says that deal has resulted in a freeze and rolling back of Iran's nuclear program. Obama says Netanyahu's alternative to the talks amounts...

Linky only.

The Grateful Dead’s three-night farewell shows don’t seem like they’re shaping up to be a great time for the band’s most dedicated followers. Over the weekend, we reported that tickets for the event were being scalped for as high at $10,000. And now, Chicago’s police and fire departments have decided not to let Deadheads camp out or park overnight on the land in front of Soldier Field. Earlier this year, a petition circulated around asking the venue to waive their usual policy. “We took this seriously and did not want to dismiss it,� Luca Serra, a spokesman for Soldier Field,...

Sunk without trace in what some historians consider the greatest naval battle ever fought, the mightiest battleship ever built has been found off the Philippines by one of the world’s wealthiest men. Paul Allen, the multibillionaire Microsoft co-founder, on Tuesday posted photographs of the wreck of the Musashi, a second world war Japanese battleship that, with its sister-ship the Yamato, was the largest and most heavily-armed warship ever launched. “WW2 Battleship Musashi sank 1944 is FOUND,” Allen announced on Twitter, beneath a ghostly underwater photograph of the mammoth vessel’s rusting, coral-encrusted bow clearly bearing the chrysanthemum crest of the Japanese...

Governor Rick Snyder has signed the concealed carry reform bills into law. Governor Snyder, who vetoed virtually the same bills only six weeks ago, signed them just hours ago.  Senate Bills 34 and 35 are now Public acts 3 and 4 of 2015.    The bills had passed with strong, veto proof majorities in both the House and Senate. County gun boards are eliminated by the bills, with a number of other reasonable reforms.   The gun boards were put in place in 1927.   In 1925, a black man, Dr. Ossian Sweet, had used a handgun to defend his family...

White children will be outnumbered by minority kids in the United States in just five years, new Census Bureau projections reveal. This is the result of an ongoing trend of declining birth among white Americans and a baby boom among immigrant groups, as well as a surge in immigration. By the year 2020, 50.2 percent of all children in the US are expected to be non-white, according to the Census. By 2044, whites will be outnumbered by minorities. The Census study, released this week, predicts that by year 2060, nearly 20 percent of the population will be foreign born -...

U.S. envoy to Seoul Mark Lippert was seriously injured Thursday morning after being attacked by an armed assailant, official sources said. The envoy was on his way to attend a morning lecture in central Seoul when the attack took place. Lippert, bleeding heavily, was rushed to a nearby hospital, the sources said, adding that the suspect was immediately arrested although his or her identity is still not known.Image source

The latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, for the three months ending in January 2015, show that Apple’s iOS reached its highest ever share in urban China with one in every four smartphones sold being an iPhone. “Leading into Chinese New Year, Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus drove sales to an unprecedented high in urban China with iOS’ share of the smartphone market reaching 25.4% – a 4.5 percentage point increase over the same period in 2014,” reported Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “Across key global markets Apple’s momentum generally continued from last...

ZARIF: Well-- Mr. Netanyahu has been-- proclaiming, predicting that Iran will have a nuclear weapon with-- within two, three, four years, since 1992. He has been on the record time and again that Iran will build a nuclear weapon within two years-- since, as I said, 1992. In 2012, he went before the General Assembly and said, "Iran will have a nuclear weapon within one year." It seems that he wants to stick to his one year-- forever. Iran is not about building nuclear weapon. We don't wanna build nuclear weapons. We don't believe that nuclear weapons bring security to...

Parliament speaker Ali Larijani warns that if Israel dares attack Iran with US congressional support, the Americans should expect to see “Israel in a wheelchair.” An Iranian reaction to the speech of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the US Congress was not long in coming, with numerous harsh criticism leveled at the speech and Israel. “The only one who is angry and upset about the course of negotiations is an occupying regime that sees its survival in war and invasion,” said President Hassan Rouhani in reference to Netanyahu’s speech in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Iran’s Mehr News reported. “People...

A teenager from Woodbridge, Virginia, is in custody accused of helping another young man travel to Syria to join ISIS. Sources tell News4 they fear the 17-year-old Osborne Park High School student may have tried to recruit other students to join ISIS.

Explanation: What dark structures arise from the Pelican Nebula? Visible as a bird-shaped nebula toward the constellation of a bird (Cygnus, the Swan), the Pelican Nebula is a place dotted with newly formed stars but fouled with dark dust. These smoke-sized dust grains formed in the cool atmospheres of young stars and were dispersed by stellar winds and explosions. Impressive Herbig-Haro jets are seen emitted by a star on the right that is helping to destroy the light year-long dust pillar that contains it. The featured image was scientifically-colored to emphasize light emitted by small amounts of ionized nitrogen, oxygen,...

With its star-studded cast of attendees, its plush setting at the famed Cipriani Wall Street, and its strict no-media rules, the Clinton Foundation’s annual gala could hardly be coming at a worse moment for Hillary Clinton before she launches her all-but-certain presidential campaign. The presumptive Democratic presidential frontrunner is set to attend the Wednesday night fundraising event amid controversies about her use of a personal email address as secretary of state and the foundation’s own fundraising practices and oversight. Clinton did not address either matter in a widely anticipated speech in Washington on Tuesday night. And as the foundation’s high-profile...

 Charity Or: Loving as God Loves  The two terms "love" and "charity" are frequently used interchangeably, and with good reason, since the virtue of charity is in fact a kind of love. However, the two are not identical; not all forms of love are also charity. For example, we often hear expressions like, "I love hot chocolate," or "I love basketball," or even "I love America," and these kinds of love, while all good in themselves, still fall somewhat short of the love that is charity. What sort of love is charity, then? Quite simply, charity is the Love of...

The Mark Levin Show is on-the-air: “Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” -- Mark Levin in "Liberty and Tyranny". Welcome to “The Levin Lounge"... Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia seems to have faith that Congress would fix Obamacare if the Court weakens it—but not so much faith in the Congress that wrote the law in the first place. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, arguing on behalf of the Obama administration, warned the Court during oral arguments in King v. Burwell on Wednesday that a ruling invalidating Obamacare's insurance subsidies in most of the country would have disastrous consequences. Premiums would skyrocket, millions of people would lose their coverage, and many states' individual insurance markets could descend into chaos, he said. But Scalia wasn't sure it...

Dalia Gokirmak, 31, and her husband Oscar, 41, always wanted a big family. But when they found out they were having twins when she was pregnant for the second time, reality sunk in immediately. “I’ll be honest, I pulled out the calculator right away,” Oscar says. Though they would’ve preferred to stay in Hoboken, N.J., the couple knew they would not be able to afford $1,600 a month per child, the going childcare rate in the area, plus the cost of moving to a bigger home. So they packed up and moved to the neighboring town of Union City where...

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley sent a letter on Friday to DHS Sec. Jeh Johnson questioning whether the suspected killer of Mirjana Puhar, a former contestant on “America’s Next Top Model,” was an illegal immigrant who applied for amnesty under President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Emmanuel Jesus Rangel-Hernandez, a 19-year-old reputed gang member, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Puhar, also 19, and three others in Charlotte, North Carolina earlier this week.

The Apple logo is pictured inside the newly opened Omotesando Applestore at a shopping district in Tokyo June 26, 2014. Picture taken June CREDIT: REUTERS/YUYA SHINO (Reuters) - It may be by far the most valuable American company but Apple Inc still can’t get into at least one exclusive club – the 30-member Dow Jones Industrial Average. That may not be a problem for the company behind the iPhone and the iPad, after all Apple shares recently hit record highs. It is, though, hurting those who tie their investments to the performance of the venerable Dow, which was first calculated...

A teacher describes how the death Trayvon Martin made ger scrap her lesson plan and work on something more relevant with students.Brit in the Bronx teacher created her portrait of Trayvon Martin using red Skittles wrappers and cream and turquoise Arizona drinks labels.Sometimes the people you teach and the events that change their lives can take you to places you weren’t expecting. In 2012, my students had a Hoods Up For Trayvon Martin day in protest against the failure to arrest former neighbourhood watchman George Zimmerman for killing the Florida teenager. They came to class with their hoods up, many...

The U.S. Senate voted down a key vote to override a White House veto on a bill to approve the contentious Keystone XL pipeline, which the GOP sees a key to job creation and maintaining a strong U.S. infrastructure. The vote on override a presidential veto failed 62-37. The Senate had passed the bill 62-36 in January.But last month President Obama vetoed the measure. Republicans have said that if they couldn't override Obama's veto, they plan to wrap legislation green-lighting the 1,700-mile pipeline into a spending measure or broader bill, such as the federal highway bill. But Democrats who oppose...

Why should the Internet—a “modern technology”—be subject to regulations originally drafted in the mid-1930s? The Federal Communications Commission’s recent vote was less an adoption of “Net Neutrality” regulations and more a carte blanche redefining of Internet services. In redefining the Internet as a “public utility,” the FCC exposes Internet and broadband service providers to regulatory schemes crafted when rotary phones and switchboards were the norm. We can only guess what the actual regulations will say for the next couple weeks, since FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler crafted them behind closed doors and has yet to release them. While we wait for...

On Wednesday, gun control advocate Gabby Giffords stood with Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill to demand that everyone buying a gun be required to undergo the same background check Jared Loughner underwent to acquire the Glock he used to shoot her in 2011.

Supporters of the Affordable Care Act gather in front of the U.S Supreme Court during a rally Wednesday. The court heard arguments in the case and is expected to announce its decision in June. The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could end Obamacare subsidies for policyholders in a majority of states, including Texas, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio. If the court sides with the plaintiffs, it would mean millions of people could no longer afford health insurance.The challenge to the Obamacare subsidies comes in the case King vs. Burwell. The plaintiffs point to a passage in...

A lecture on the effects of secularism on the Church and the life of the Christian Family.

Clink on the link for another blast from the past. The Marc Rich pardon was done by Clinton for a reason. The reason was 250 million dollars. Denise Rich plead the 5th in testimony because she was not given immunity. Pssst, mainstream media, now that you are paying a little more attention to Hillary, how about finally investigating this.

An investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives will subpoena former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's personal emails regarding the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, later on Wednesday, the Washington Post reported. The House Select Committee on Benghazi, which first discovered that Clinton used her personal email account to conduct official business during her tenure as secretary, sent the subpoenas to the State Department, according to the Post, which cited people familiar with the probe.

Harf condemns Congress address 'fantasy world,' dismisses 'scary hypotheticals' - like an Iranian nuclear arsenal in weeks. Calling Netanyahu's talk of a better deal "hypothetical" and "rhetoric," she added "anyone who tells you there’s a magic formula that they have in their head that we don’t have is just not looking at the situation realistically." "We need to be very clear about what we’re trying to achieve and what the alternatives look like, not in a fantasy world, not in a world without specifics, but in the real world. And that’s what we’re doing," she claimed Harf was asked about...

<p>A New Jersey appellate court says a man cannot seek damages for burns he suffered while bowing his head in prayer over a sizzling steak fajita skillet at a restaurant.</p> <p>The ruling made public Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that dismissed his lawsuit. The man claimed a waitress didn't warn him the dish was hot, but the lower court found the food posed an "open and obvious" danger.</p>

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