Free Republic

God became a man to save us from our sins, which he did finally and completely on the Cross. We commemorate his death and resurrection on Easter, but his suffering on our behalf began much earlier than that. We would do well to remember that at Christmastime, when we celebrate our savior's birth. Seminary professor Bob Tuttle, in his 2006 book, "Shortening the Leap," puts that in perspective poignantly: "The Jesus of glory still bears the marks of the Incarnation, and not just in his hands, his side and his feet, but in his navel, because the suffering began in...

In the competition for the creepiest campaign material of 2012, we may already have a winner. It is “The Life of Julia,” the Obama reelection team’s cartoon chronicle of a fictional woman who is dependent on government at every step of her life. … The Obama campaign revives the concept of “cradle to grave” as it highlights Obama-supported programs that take care of Julia from age 3 to her retirement at age 67.

The Obama campaign has a cringe-inducing propaganda slideshow called "The Life of Julia" intended to illustrate how the Obama Administration's policies will give government help to a young woman as she is educated, works, starts a family and retires. If you had to stifle a guffaw, you're not alone. Yes, the Obama Administration's policies alone can be the savior for American children everywhere - all it takes, apparently, are piles and piles of taxpayer money thrown around recklessly. And by the end, children will still be able to retire and live comfortably on the totally-stable programs of Medicare and Social...

Early education is one of the hot topics around the liberal roundtable in the United States, both nationally and globally. The liberal elite are not only discussing ways of forcing children into school by the time they are four and younger, as evidenced by Bill SB122 D-Clark-Coleman in Michigan, but now are looking at zero to three years old early education as an extension of K-12 compulsory education. Their mantra is that babies start learning from day one. In a White House press release dated March 10, 2009, “President Obama is committed to helping states develop seamless, comprehensive, and coordinated...

The cradle that is India March 07, 2005 Ideas about early Indian history continue to play an important role in political ideology of contemporary India. On the one side are the Left and Dravidian parties, which believe that invading Aryans from the northwest pushed the Dravidians to south India and India's caste divisions are a consequence of that encounter. Even the development of Hinduism is seen through this anthropological lens. This view is essentially that of colonial historians which was developed over a hundred years ago. On the other side are the nationalist parties, which believe that the Aryan languages...

TURKMENISTAN: MAKING A BID FOR CRADLE-OF-CIVILIZATION STATUS 5/21/07 Even in mid-spring, a stark landscape greets visitors to the Gonur-depe historical site in eastern Turkmenistan. Standing amid sand and rock at the edge of the Karakum desert, it is hard to imagine that a rich civilization once thrived here, built around a lush oasis fed by the Murgab River. Yet Greek-Russian archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi has uncovered just that since his expedition began in 1972. He says Gonur-depe was the capital – or imperial city, as he prefers to call it – of a complex, Bronze Age state – one that stretched...

Archaeologists find cradle of china in north China Archaeologists have unearthed three high-temperature ceramic kilns dating back about 2,000 years in a North China village, which shows North China was also the cradle of porcelain, against the conception that porcelain only originates from south China. The archaeologists from the Hebei provincial cultural relic research institute drew the conclusion on the basis that analysis on wares in the kilns suggests they were made at more than 1,100 Celsius degree, exceeding the temperature of 800-900 Celsius degree required for pottery-making. Although built during the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 24), the kilns...

Could Asia have been the cradle of humanity? By David Ropeik, Globe Correspondent | July 5, 2005 Science continues to struggle with one of the most basic questions of all: Where did humans come from. There isn't much question that modern humans came out of Africa, probably in several waves of migration over the past 100,000 years. But it now appears that the ancient ancestors who gave rise to those African humans might have come from Asia. Until recently the only fossils of anthropoids -- the creatures at the base of the branch of the evolutionary tree that gave rise...

Archeologist says Central Asia was cradle of ancient Persian religion Fri Mar 18, 6:24 PM ET Science - AFP ATHENS (AFP) - The mysterious Margianan civilisation which flowered in the desert of what is now Turkmenistan some 4,000 years ago was the cradle of the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism, Greco-Russian archeologist Victor Sarigiannidis claimed here. He said the theory would provoke controversy amongst his fellow archeologists, but said his excavations around the site of Gonur Tepe have uncovered temples and evidence of sacrifices that would consistent with a Zoroastrian cult. The religion was founded by Zarathustra, a Persian prophet...

Peterson family planned to keep some property Peterson family planned to keep some property By DAVE JONES BEE STAFF WRITER Published: May 31, 2003, 07:18:00 AM PDT Scott Peterson's family had planned to voluntarily turn over only some of the items that his wife's family wanted from the couple's home. Laci Peterson's family and friends acted first, though, and took what they wanted Friday from the Covena Avenue house -- over the Peterson family's objections. Jackie Peterson, Scott's mother, expressed dismay: "Yesterday we see a coroner's report about a baby, and today we're talking about salt and pepper shakers," she...

Rocking the Cradle In Iran, an archaeologist is racing to uncover a literate Bronze Age society he believes predates ancient Mesopotamia. Critics say he may be overreaching, but they concede his dig will likely change our view of the dawn of civilization Discoveries made during a dig in southeastern Iran have convinced archaeologist Yousef Madjidzadeh that a desolate valley here was once home to a thriving—and literate—community. He calls it nothing less than "the earliest Oriental civilization." It's a dramatic assertion, but if he's right, it would mean the site, near Iran's Halil River, is older than Mesopotamia, a thousand...

Documentary Redraws Humans' Family Tree Hillary Mayell for National Geographic News January 21, 2003 By analyzing DNA from people in all regions of the world, geneticist Spencer Wells has concluded that all humans alive today are descended from a single man who lived in Africa around 60,000 years ago. Modern humans, he contends, didn't start their spread across the globe until after that time. Most archaeologists would say the exodus began 100,000 years ago—a 40,000-year discrepancy. Wells's take on the origins of modern humans and how they came to populate the rest of the planet is bound to be...