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Hello, and welcome to the new week's thread.The campaign turns into its final month as McCain and Obama prepare for their second debate Tues. night.Locally McCain and Palin will hold an event Wed in the Cleveland area!

"I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse." - Barack Obama, January 2007

Sound familiar? Before you jump to conclusion about the quotation … this is what a gnat might say, finding itself nearing windshield impact. Yes, the brainpower of a gnat is sufficient to know, when things aren’t going well, “Change” is a good idea. Why, then, has the “Change” mantra generated so much excitement over Obama? If good “Judgment” accompanied “Change” … with the aim being better, not just different … “Judgment” that, metaphorically, can keep us from going splat … I could understand. Sadly, many who are excited about Obama and “Change” remain so in the face of indications of...

Election '08: If Barack Obama has such difficulty picking friends, mentors and advisers, should voters entrust him with the responsibility for picking a Cabinet and Supreme Court justices?Sen. Obama was going to ride into Washington aboard a white horse and clean out the stables, except his high horse keeps coming up lame. With the resignation of Washington insider James Johnson from Obama's vice presidential search team, we see the now-typical Obama pattern — surround yourself with either questionable characters or those who don't live up to the standards you yourself set, tap dance awhile, accuse your accusers of political motives,...

Obama's the Perfect Candidate for the Sally Field Party by Seth Swirsky Actress Sally Field won an Oscar in 1979 for playing a union organizer in “Norma Rae.� Six years later, she won the same prized-award for her role in “Places in the Heart,� her acceptance speech earning its own special place in sound-bite history: “…I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it, and I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!" That about sums up what the Democratic party...

Rick Paul, owner of Rick's White Light Diner, was found in contempt of court Monday and must pay $1,000 to a charity of his choice, for again infringing on the Derby-Pie trademark. Before U.S. District Judge Joseph Hood in a Lexington courtroom, Paul was found in contempt of court for violating a 1997 permanent injunction signed by Hood, ordering Paul not to infringe on Kern's Kitchen Inc.'s trademark Derby-Pie. Paul also must pay Kern's Kitchen's attorney fees and costs. "I am disappointed with the judge's ruling and I accept it," Paul said today. "Our proof was considerably different than Derby...

A Question to Ponder It may too late in the process, but I thought we should ask this question: What is God’s view of a woman as the head of a nation? How we answer that question will, of course, betray our system of Bible interpretation; so, let’s ask the text. In the midst of his pronouncement of awful judgment, Isaiah states as part of that judgment, “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” If this...

Compare and contrast. Whose judgment do you trust? CLINTON: "Today the world once again is reminded of the dangers facing those who pursue democracy and free elections, in Pakistan and elsewhere in areas that are rife with conflict and violence and extremism and anti-democratic forces at work," Clinton said..."I have known Benazir Bhutto for a dozen years and I knew her as a leader. I knew her as someone willing to take risks." "I hope that if there is any opportunity for the government and people of Pakistan to respond to this tragedy appropriately, it would be to move more...

An 80-year-old Fairfax County woman...was identified yesterday as the victim of Wednesday's fatal shooting in a popular park, allegedly by a teenager who did not know her. Joan M. Gillinson, married for 60 years and the mother of four..liked to take leisurely walks and read in Huntley Meadows Park. About 2:40 p.m. Wednesday, Gillinson was shot to death in the park...A man with blood on his clothes ran from the park, climbed on a bus and held police at bay for nearly four hours... Kevin C. Kline, 18...was charged with murder in Gillinson's slaying. Police said Kline did not know...

The floods that have devastated swathes of the country are God's judgment on the immorality and greed of modern society, according to senior Church of England bishops.   The Bishop said pro-gay laws were to blame for the floods One diocesan bishop has even claimed that laws that have undermined marriage, including the introduction of pro-gay legislation, have provoked God to act by sending the storms that have left thousands of people homeless. While those who have been affected by the storms are innocent victims, the bishops argue controversially that the flooding is a result of Western civilisation's decision to...

NEW YORK -- Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani acknowledged again Friday that he made a mistake when he recommended Bernard Kerik to be the nation's homeland security chief. The acknowledgment followed a report in The New York Times that the former New York City mayor was warned about Kerik's relationship with a company with suspected ties to organized crime even before Giuliani appointed Kerik as New York City police commissioner. Giuliani told a Bronx grand jury last year that his former chief investigator recalled briefing him on Kerik's relationship with the company, Interstate Industrial Corp., before Kerik's appointment. But Giuliani,...

Approval of Congress has increased since the midterm elections ousted Republicans from their House and Senate majorities, and Democrats are viewed in a more positive light after two weeks in power, according to the survey. But only 25% of those surveyed believed Democrats have formulated a clear direction for the country; 58% said they had failed to. Those results amount to a mixed report card on the much-ballyhooed "100-hour" agenda House Democrats set for themselves as they took power. ...But the survey underscores that Democrats still have much to prove to voters as the Senate debates these bills and lawmakers...

What The Bible Teaches About Rewards For & Judgment Of Believers "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." [Genesis 15:1] Introduction So, just what exactly does the Bible teach about rewards for believers in heaven? There are two major schools of thought on this subject. One teaches that believers will receive some kind of physical rewards (literal crowns) in heaven based on their works done as Christians. The second school of thought teaches that the heavenly reward of believers is...

3,000 dead and missing after N Korea floods Published: Thursday, 27 July, 2006, 01:16 PM Doha Time SEOUL: Nearly 3,000 North Koreans were believed dead or missing in floods and landslides after torrential rains hit the impoverished country, a respected South Korean human rights group said yesterday. Monsoon downpours caused much more damage than the secretive North’s state media have claimed, said Good Friends, an independent rights group that in the past has provided accurate information about the isolated communist country. “North Korea has suffered really severe damage from recent rains, with nearly 3,000 people known to have been recorded...

VIRGINIA BEACH-Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson is warning that, according to God, storms and possibly a tidal wave will pound America's coastline this year.

<p>In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.</p> <p>O most merciful Jesus, with a contrite heart and penitent spirit, I bow down in profound humility before Thy divine majesty. I adore Thee as my supreme Lord and Master; I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee above all things. I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, my Supreme and Only Good. I resolve to amend my life, and although I am unworthy to obtain mercy, yet the sight of Thy holy cross, on which Thou didst die, inspires me with hope and consolation. I will, therefore, meditate on Thy sufferings, and visit the stations of Thy Passion in company with Thy sorrowful Mother and my guardian angel, with the intention of promoting Thy honor and saving my soul.</p>

With the hard right hoping for reversal, the black-and-white war over abortion finds itself immersed in shades of gray.March 6, 2006 issue - At first glance, it appeared that the forces of the pro-life movement were on the march last week. The question of abortion is much more ambiguous than the louder voices on either side of the pro-life/pro-choice divide are willing to admit. The hard-line anti-abortion crusaders may be disappointed by the legal realities, at least in the short term. At the same time, the pro-abortion-rights interest groups are just beginning to grapple with an uncomfortable truth: that many...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2005 – The decision by U.S. soldiers to burn the bodies of two enemy Afghan fighters was an act of poor judgment, but not a violation of the laws of war, U.S. officials have determined. Officials also determined that using the act to incite Taliban fighters by announcing it over psychological operations loudspeakers was a separate act. In all, four soldiers have received administrative punishment in the two incidents. "Based on the criminal investigation, there was no evidence to substantiate the allegation of desecration or any violation of the Law of War," according to an executive summary...

DETROIT -- A man serving a life sentence for a murder conviction has won a $219,000 judgment against a prison employee. Darrell Siggers claims he was transferred to another prison in 2001 in retaliation for a complaint. The 41-year-old Detroit man claimed that David Barlow, a resident unit manager at Mound Correctional Facility, had him transferred after he complained that Barlow failed to promptly process paperwork to pay for a lawyer. Barlow denied Siggers claim. But on Wednesday Siggers won the judgment, which included $200,000 in punitive damages. The state attorney general's office said the case might be appealed.

Jordanians are shocked that Islamic terrorists would blow up families, including families celebrating a wedding. They are so shocked that for the first time in history, Muslims have taken to publicly demonstrating against Islamic terror. And why are they shocked? Because the terrorists blew up Jordanians. As long as Islamic terrorists blew up men, women and children who are Jewish, Christian, Hindu, American, Australian and black Sudanese, the Arab and larger Muslim worlds were not particularly disturbed. In fact, Palestinians, who comprise the majority of Jordan's population, celebrated when Jews were blown up at Passover seders and at weddings. And...

What’s Wrong with "User Friendly"? Recently, the 11th edition of the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary was published. The reprint included 10,000 new words–words that will bring us all up to date. Words like "phat" (excellent), "dead presidents" (paper currency), and "McJob" (low paying, dead-end job) are among the entries that will finally help us communicate with our teenagers. How did those words make it into the updated dictionary? There is one criterion: usage. A word qualifies for the new edition based on how widespread its usage has become. While I can’t imagine how phat, McJob, and dead presidents will find a...

25 Warnings in Ten Years to the United States - Bill Koenig In John McTernan's and my book, "Israel: The Blessing or the Curse," we showed how the Lord over ten years has given the United States 21 warnings the same day the U.S. has pressed Israel to give up their land. There were record-setting earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical storms, floods and stock market corrections. I have also included 4 more since President George W. Bush took a more active role in the Middle East talks. October 30, 1991 - President George W. Bush and Russian President Michael Gorbachev begin...

THE DAY OF THE LORD About a month ago my wife, my three girls and I had the privilege to see a full arced double rainbow in the sky. In a moment of insanity this preacher thought about going and chasing down a double portion of gold at the end of those rainbows. But when the fog of financial bliss finally wore off I decided to tell my girls that those rainbows were Signs by God promising mankind that he wasn’t going to destroy the world again by the flood like he did during Noah‘s time. Their moment of relief...

On The London Attacks Chuck Pierce Dear Friends: I was awakened this morning at 4:30 am, unable to breathe. Around 5 am, the Lord told me to turn on the television and watch the news. I had been praying about our trip to England that I leave on this afternoon. When I turned on the news, Tony Blair was making the statement that London has been attacked by terrorists. The underground transportation network and bus network in central London had been suspended due to several bombings. Actually, the bus that was shown on the news that had been attacked was...

Limbo and the Hope of Salvation by Dr. Jeff Mirus, special to CatholicCulture.orgMay 12, 2005 In a recent website review, we were compelled to list the site’s views on limbo as a weakness. Some Catholics are under the impression that the Church has formally taught that unbaptized infants cannot be saved but must inevitably be consigned to a marginal abode known as limbo, where no supernatural happiness is possible. But this is not what the Church teaches. The Questions Raised by BaptismThe Church does teach that the enjoyment of the presence of God in heaven is not ours by right....

[QX NOTE: some highlighting by author has been left off due to my time constraints. Please check the link for accurate highlighting. Some red and blue bold highlighting may be Qx added—not sure yet.] BIBLE CODE DIGEST MARCH/APRIL 2005 Continued The Tsunami By Moshe Aharon Shak Copyright © April 2005 by Moshe Aharon (Morris) Shak Introduction In looking for tsunami Bible codes, I almost drowned in a sea of tsunamis. There are four spellings of tsunami: and there may be other spellings to choose from as well. Since I was overwhelmed by the amount of information available, I limited my...

Clarion Call To Avert West Coast Disaster Burdell Austin For several years many of you have been getting words of warning, dreams, and visions of an earthquake and tsunami in this region [U.S. West Coast]. I join many who sense it is time to mobilize an army of worshiping warriors, who will go before the Lord in humility for those sins committed on the land that give legal right to the adversary to perform acts of violence. As we hear from the Lord regarding specific repentance needed to cleanse the land, we will then have the blood-bought authority of the...

I was a bit careless this past weekend. And, in the spirit of confession being good for the soul, I’d like to tell you about it. Normally on the weekend, I like to sleep. A lot! One of my colleagues, a former paramedic, has informed me without any doubt or hesitation that there is no way to “make up” for lost sleep. Well, call the Mayo Clinic (and hold the ham on rye) because I do it every single weekend. I’m talking serious snore time here. But not this past weekend. No, I decided to take a quick trip over...

On the last Monday in February, some 350 people packed a hall at Kibbutz Ramat Rahel for the launching of a unique organization – a new court system. No, this was not an attempt to overhaul Israel's ailing justice system. The first official Jewish Monetary Court will judge specifically monetary disputes according to Jewish law. Among those in attendance for the occasion were such high-profile figures as former finance minister Professor Ya'acov Neeman and Dr. Yehoshua Rozensweig, director of the First International Bank of Israel. The new court has also received the support of leading Zionist rabbis such as Yaacov...

A Glimpse Ahead Timothy Snodgrass The Impossible Will Come Alive In 2005 01/28/05 In January of 2004, as we began to intercede for the New Year the Holy Spirit gave us the prophetic slogan, "The Seas will Roar in 2004". This year we were given a new slogan, "The Impossible will come Alive in 2005". As the veil of darkness begins to come down over nations and regions, along with great shakings will come great breakthroughs; signs, wonders, healings and a spectacular release of miracles in impossible circumstances. This year, although we are ultimately poised to gain much ground, there...

The scale of suffering and the magnitude of the disaster in Southeast Asia defy the imagination. Sitting comfortably in our own homes and offices, we can look at the images, video segments, and computer simulations, knowing all the while that, in the nations that encircle the Indian Ocean, the death toll continues to mount. This much is clear--the direct death toll from this disaster is likely to reach 250,000, and subsequent deaths related to the disaster may drive the total number of deaths to well over half a million. Those numbers are hard to take, but the video images are...

The tragedy unfolding in the Indian Ocean demands the world's attention--and calls for a clear Christian response. In the aftermath of the disaster, some religious leaders suggested that God was simply unable to prevent the tsunamis that destroyed so many lives. Some secularists jumped on the opportunity to argue that the tragedy was further proof that God does not exist. Others simply blamed the earthquake and tidal waves on fate or claimed that God had sent the destruction as punishment for the victims' sins. How are we to deal with this? What approach will affirm the full measure of Christian...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Many Shall Call Me Lord Self-deception and believing, then living a lie. There are no quick answers to complex questions, but the questions concerning, God’s Word or “Revealed Will,” are plain for every generation to see.  Whether they are men and women who name Christ as their Lord or not, people want to play all kinds of games with God and His Word in an attempt to excuse themselves from their anti-cultural and suicidal behaviors.  These lifestyle choices center on ethical decisions requiring wisdom for greater understanding of the difference between good and evil.  From a Christian perspective, this point...

AMERICA AT THE CROSS ROADS OF HISTORY When the terrorists attacked the United States on September 11th, 2001, it signaled that they were no longer satisfied to only attack US interests outside the United States. It signaled that they felt comfortable enough and were savvy enough to realize that the US is no longer a unified country, ethnically, socially, politically, or spiritually. Some may believe that it never was, and that comes from a lack of knowledge about the country. Of course, there were slaves, mostly black Africans, but there were also white slaves who bought passage to the New...

Ken Mehlman, Bush campaign manager, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the campaign should focus on Kerry's judgment during his 20 years in office. We will, too, starting soon. However, Bob Dole said two weeks ago that he can't remember a single piece of legislation that Kerry sponsored. We can. We can remember a lot of the hateful legislation Kerry supported; legislation that would have definitely been harmful to low and middle-income American families. Democrats are generally uninformed, politically. In all fairness, many of them are occupied trying to make ends meet and just have no time to pay attention...

Bud MacFarlane Jr. recently left his wife Bai and four young children after enough years of marriage to have four young children. He ran the Catholicity www.catholicity.com website and wrote books and multiple articles about the importance of good solid Catholic marriages. Deal Hudson retired his position as editor of CRISIS a conservative Catholic magazine over an alleged teacher/student sexual scandal back in 1994, well documented on the Internet and Free Republic. Despite paying $30,000 to the 18 year old student in compensation back in 1995 (with a silence clause) he went on to write articles like this. http://www.catholicity.com/commentary/hudson/collegesurvey.html entitled,...

The Case of Jose Padilla presents an interesting quandry to the US form of constitutional government. Padilla, an American citizen, was arrested and held as a military combatant without access to legal counsel. There are good arguments to be made both for and against this type of arrangement. Those for making such military arrests make the good point that exposure of suspects in national security issues risks releasing information to the public, and hence our enemies about critical military intelligence and activity. In a civilian trial, classified information would be presented to grand juries and juries, composed of regular citizens,...

<p>NEW YORK (AP) ? With two key meetings ahead that could determine whether the Episcopal Church splits over homosexuality, the denomination's leader defended his support yesterday for an openly practicing homosexual bishop.</p> <p>Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said in an interview with the Associated Press that he voted at last month's General Convention to confirm Bishop-elect V. Gene Robinson because Episcopalians in New Hampshire had overwhelmingly chosen him in their local election and had the right to make that choice.</p>

The Platonic Soul It is fitting to give Plato the first word on the question, “What Is Man?” For Plato was the first thinker to isolate man out of his connection to clan and tribe, making the human individual -- man as he is in himself -- a proper subject of investigation. This shift of attention to the individual psyche marks a decisive, revolutionary break with the characteristic habits of thought of the ancient world, the cosmological consciousness, which conceived of man mainly in terms of his connections to units larger than the individual, and envisioned a cosmos filled with...

Today's SF Chronicle tells us there was major pot bust, Miss South Carolina won't be allowed to compete in the Miss America Pageant, consumers will have to further subsidize wind and solar electric generation and the Governor doesn't want to debate the now vindicated Bill Simon. For months, now the Chronicle has been telling us in every breath that Simon was a "convicted" candidate having had a major judgment against him. His name was always associated with this judgment. Or course the damage has already been done. Can we expect the Chronicle to now say between today and election day,...

One major difference between Protestants and Catholics is that Catholics pray for the dead. As Cardinal Ratzinger said so well, "My view is that if Purgatory did not exist, we should have to invent it." Why? "Because few things are as immediate, as human and as widespread - at all times and in all cultures - as prayer for one's own departed dear ones." Calvin, the Protestant reformer of Geneva, had a woman whipped because she was discovered praying at the grave of her son and hence was guilty, according to Calvin, of "superstition." "In theory, the Reformation refuses...

Women and Islam   Muhammad was not a complete misogynist. To him woman was not "an organ of the Devil" (St. Bernard) but a fortress against Satan in that a good wife lessens the danger of extra-marital fornication. "The best treasure a man can hoard is a virtuous wife who pleases him when he looks to her, and who guards herself when he is absent". "The best of the commodities of the world is a virtuous wife". However the man is head of his family and after consulting with his family has final say in decisions concerning it. To the...

The Final Judgment By Zane Hodges In John’s well-known description of the Final Judgment in Revelation 20:11-14, we do not even find a reference to sins, much less a reference to unforgiven sins. Instead, we are told, “the dead were judged acording to their works, by the things which were written in the books” (Rev 20:12; italics added). To be sure, the works of unsaved people contain innumerable sins, but it is still significant that sin per se is not referred to, as we will point out in a moment. Yet even though unsaved people are judged on the basis...