Free Republic

Hamas and Fatah continue to accuse each other of a lack of commitment to the reconciliation deal signed in Cairo last May. Bethlehem-based Maan News quoted Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf as saying Saturday that “evidence on the ground shows that Hamas hasn’t fulfilled anything of the Cairo agreement.” Assaf said Hamas continues to detain Fatah activists and denies Fatah members from Judea and Samaria entry to Gaza. The Hamas government in Gaza also refuses to open the Palestinian Central Elections Commission offices in Gaza, he said. Hamas released a statement, too, on Saturday, accusing Fatah of undermining the terms of...

The White House called for an end to the political gridlock blamed for the first-ever US credit rating downgrade as allies voiced confidence in the world's largest economy. Standard & Poor's cut the US rating for the first time in history Friday, by one notch from its top-flight triple-A to AA+, saying US politicians were increasingly unable to manage the country's huge fiscal deficit and debt. The agency added a negative outlook, warning there was a chance the rating could be downgraded further within two years if progress is not made in balancing the country's lopsided finances. Washington's allies in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will tell Congress on Wednesday "the time for bickering is over" and call for quick action on a comprehensive healthcare overhaul that would dramatically transform the U.S. insurance market and health system. In excerpts of his high-stakes, nationally televised speech to the U.S. Congress scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT), Obama says lawmakers are "closer to the goal of reform than we have ever been" and issued a warning to critics. "I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than improve...

SACRAMENTO — If you want a less-polarized Legislature — if you want lawmakers who can actually compromise to get things done, such as agreeing on a budget — redistricting reform is not the answer. That's the finding of a report released Tuesday night by the Public Policy Institute of California, throwing into doubt the campaign message of Proposition 11, which would take the power to draw political boundaries away from lawmakers and hand it to a 14-member commission. Proponents have argued that the measure, which is on the Nov. 4 ballot, would rid Sacramento of the partisan bickering by setting...

Protestantism and Islam: Points of Contact Protestantism may well have begun as a genuine movement of reform. Accepting the teachings of the Church, its adherents wanted to bring the practice of the Church into line with its teachings. This is the object of all Christian movements. However, it very soon developed into something far more radical, jettisoning basic Christian teachings, bringing in doctrines entirely new to Christianity, and having to meld the results into a coherent whole. This involved developing doctrinal and practical solutions to new problems in the field of Christian faith and morals. Most of Protestant teaching was...

WASHINGTON - Two leaders in current efforts to reduce special interest influence on Congress once again appeared to be fighting on the same side Wednesday, two days after an unusually fiery falling out. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., testified together at a Senate hearing on lobbying and ethics overhaul. With a pat on the back and an exchange of compliments, they publicly put in the past an angry letter from McCain charging that Obama was more interested in scoring political points than in working together on the ethics issue. "I'm particularly pleased to be sharing this panel...

Tolerating error In recognizing the brotherhood of all who have put on Christ, one sincere concern of some good friends has been that I may be tolerating error--that I may come to accept the errors of denominationalism or the deeply divided "religious world." Rest assured, I'm not. I still remain just a Christian, not a hyphenated or a sectarian one. But there is a world of difference between tolerating an error and tolerating a person who is in error. ...

You should worry if your kids aren't squabbling, say the experts. Home is the lab where children can try out behaviors.There's a reason the Felicity Huffman character on ABC's hit show "Desperate Housewives" has resonated with viewers, no doubt a good many of them parents. She's the one who went from high-powered career woman to stay-at-home mom with four kids, three of them out-of-control boys who do nothing but argue, fight and generally wreak havoc wherever they go.The incessant sound of their children's bickering can drive many real-life parents to play a game of "Can you top this?" with other...