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German soldiers and missiles seem likely to be posted to Turkey’s border with Syria soon. One report suggested the government was checking the legality of such a posting, ahead of a Turkish request expected on Monday. The Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported on Saturday that government officials were discussing whether a parliamentary mandate would be needed to send the 170 soldiers which would be needed to staff two Patriot missile units as part of a NATO mission. The Turkish government said ten days ago it wanted the air defence missiles for its border with Syria, where rockets from the civil-war-wracked country...

Opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband vowed on Monday (19 November) he would not let Britain sleepwalk towards exit from the European Union as Prime Minister David Cameron prepared for tough talks in Brussels this week on a renewal of the bloc’s budget. Speaking to a conference of business leaders, the pro-EU Miliband said leaving Europe would be bad for prosperity and a betrayal of Britain’s national interests. “Increasingly we see euroskepticism on the rise among the British public—we see cabinet ministers in this government openly calling for Britain to leave,” Miliband said. “For those of us like me, who care...

The International Monetary Fund said it’s considering classifying the Australian and the Canadian dollars as reserve currencies. The two “are to be considered for inclusion” separately in the IMF’s “Currency Composition of Official Foreign-Exchange Reserves” data, the Washington-based lender said in a report published on Nov. 14. They’ve previously been included in an “other currencies” category in the COFER reports.

.... From there the regression into abandoning the teaching of reading to children was rapid. Teaching “reading” came to be viewed by many to be the act of repeatedly showing children flash cards in an effort to get them to recognize words by rote memorization as opposed to actually reading the words. Fortunately for my eldest, this had not reached the elementary schools by the mid-90s and she was taught how to read and write. My youngest, though, was met with this like a freight train and the results were comparable with a train wreck. My youngest was a hard-working...

In the old west Snake oil salesman peddled elixirs that allegedly cured everything from acne to gout, but in fact these “miracle cures” were simply watered down whiskey or worse. Con men used elaborate ruses, such as the scheme used in the movie, The Sting, to swindle their marks and steal their money. There are many e-mail and internet scams that attempt to wrest money and information from those who are greedy or simply unsuspecting and naïve. There are many ways to deceive, mislead, dupe and betray in order to pilfer another’s assets. But, some of those assets are far...

Far-left filmmaker Michael Moore is on board with President Barack Obama's class warfare rhetoric. The documentarian only wishes the president would back it up with extreme policy positions. Moore took to The Huffington Post today to share an open letter to President Obama. It's full of fiscally ludicrous suggestions as well as the kind of rich-bashing that's part and parcel of Moore's faux Everyman shtick. Yes, the Oscar winner is wealthier than most of the people who see his films (and has the fancy homes to prove it), but he prefers not to focus on that inconvenient fact. He's also...

(Watch video at link, the title said it all) Exchange between MSNBC’s Mara Schiavocampo and Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the U.S.

Hostess Brands, the maker of the iconic Twinkies snack cakes, may find a buyer when it heads to bankruptcy court today to liquidate the 82-year-old company, the company’s CEO says. “I think we’ll find buyers,” CEO Gregory F. Rayburn told ABC News on Sunday. ”A few have surfaced already since Friday expressing interest in the brand to acquire them.” Con Agra and Flowers Foods are among the companies that have expressed interest in Hostess, but Mexican company El Grupo Bimbo may have an edge, the Christian Science Monitor reported Saturday. Grupo Bimbo, headed by Mexican billionaire Daniel Servitje Montull, is...

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia celebrates Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica, Oct. 20, 2012. Credit: Matthew Rarey-CNA. Baltimore, Md., Nov 19, 2012 / 11:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The current Year of Faith is an opportunity to counter the cultural relativism that plagues modern society and that has led many in the Church to deny Catholic teaching on important topics, said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia. “The appropriate response to relativism is faith, where you no longer are the center of the universe, you are no longer the one who decides what’s true,...

Oklahoma is latest to reject state-based health exchangeBy Sam Baker - 11/19/12 03:23 PM ET Add Oklahoma to the list of Republican-led states that won't implement the key feature of President Obama's healthcare law. Gov. Mary Fallin said Monday that she won't set up a state-based insurance exchange — a new portal where people who don't get insurance through their employers can shop for coverage, often with help from a federal subsidy. "It does not benefit Oklahoma taxpayers to actively support and fund a new government program that will ultimately be under the control of the federal government, that is...

Here's the most cynical thing you'll see on the Internet today. I'm tempted to call it stupid, but it's not: The charge is stupid but it’s leveled in service to a clever goal, framing Rice's prospective nomination as Secretary of State as a referendum on racism and sexism. McCain is the target for daring to suggest that she's unqualified and maybe "not very bright" for buying the White House's early line on Benghazi, which required her to feed the public ridiculous disinformation about how "substantial" our nearly nonexistent security presence in Benghazi was. If you vote no at her confirmation...

SAN FRANCISCO, November 19, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) - The pendulum of the sexual revolution may be swinging slightly back toward sanity in San Francisco, as the city is set to vote on a new law that may bar public nudity – except at the city’s gay pride march and other events covered by permit. The ordinance, introduced by Supervisor Scott Wiener who oversees the city’s homosexual Castro District, would make it illegal for any adult and most children to “expose his or her genitals, perineum, or anal region” in public. The behavior of some naturalists at the district’s public plaza pushed...

Founder and chief executive of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, apologized for posting a message on Twitter slamming the "Jewish owned press" for its anti Israel coverage of the Gaza conflict. Murdoch reportedly received angry responses to his tweet, which asked: "Why Is Jewish owned press so consistently anti-Israel in every crisis?" "Middle East ready to boil over any day. Israel position precarious. Meanwhile watch CNN and AP bias to point of embarrassment," Murdoch wrote in a second tweet in support of the Jewish state. Due to negative backlash, the media mogul tweeted an apology ...

The oh-so-enlightened, globalism-endorsing United Nations has been pushing for more powers to regulate the international weapons-trade scene for ages now, and more specifically, has been pushing for the United States to get on board with a proposed Arms Trade Treaty for months now. After the U.N. negotiations last summer, the U.S. put the issue on the back-burner --- the treaty (rightly) became the target of vociferous criticism from America's pro-gun groups, and even perceived support for such things simply won't do in an election season. But, now that the election is over, certain parties are trying to bring the treaty...

Biden: Obama wants to golf in Ireland, but I don’t want to take him Joel Gehrke Commentary Writer The Washington Examiner @Joelmentum Joel on FB Popular in PoliticsTraveling abroad, President Obama dons a traditional Indonesian Batik shirt Petraeus chose 'Jackie Kennedy' package for wedding Obama in Burma: ‘I cannot just impose my will on Congress, even though sometimes I wish I could’ TSA issues holiday warning to ‘Opt Out and Film’ privacy rights activists Jeb, Christie on top for 2016 President Obama wants to go on a golf trip to Ireland, but Vice President Joe Biden doesn’t want to take...

Mid-East Prophecy Update - November 18th, 2012 Pastor J.D. talks about the situation in Gaza along with a number of recent events through the lens of Bible prophecy.

The latest Gaza war is only a few days old, but already one conclusion can be drawn: missile defense works. This is only the latest vindication for the vision of Ronald Reagan who is emerging as a consensus pick for one of the all-time great U.S. presidents. For it was Ronald Reagan who made missile defense a major priority for the U.S. and our allies. His 1983 speech on the subject was widely derided as “Star Wars” because he envisioned that some missile would be intercepted in space. For years critics claimed that it was impossible to intercept missiles in...

You need to read the full interview to appreciate how much of a non sequitur this question was. He's going back and forth with the author, Michael Hainey, about the standard post-election fare --- Obama, 2016, his biography --- and then, out of nowhere, "How old do you think the Earth is?" It's not organically part of the conversation but suddenly there it is, and Hainey doesn't follow up on it. It has a distinct check-the-box feel to it, as if either he himself or his editors wanted to make sure that the question was asked but weren't particularly interested...

The Legacy Lives On! Mark’s Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation “Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and TyrannyWelcome 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

The IDF Sunday night bombed a Gaza City soccer field that camouflaged a Hamas underground missile launching site it used to attack Tel Aviv last Friday. Use of the soccer field to attack Israel explains several Hamas claims in the past that Israel has attacked children playing soccer. Covering an underground missile site with a soccer field is part of Hamas's strategy to use civilian sites for terrorist activities. The strategy has been effective in causing deaths to civilians who live in homes that are used to house terrorists or serve as weapons depots. Hamas has claimed that dozens of...