Free Republic

These days it is hard to find a true friend to love and trust. Daily tell your children you love them. This is our parenting duty.

WASHINGTON — Freshman Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison has become a de facto American emissary, meeting with foreign policy makers both here and abroad to preach peace and democracy. Ellison, a Democrat, had already developed an international reputation when he took his oath of office on the Quran last year. In his first term in office, he's built on that with congressional trips, State Department functions and internationally themed town hall meetings in his district. "Peace is a key component of what I'm here to do," he said in a recent interview.

CLAYMONT, Del. (CBS 3) ― A woman wanted in the bizarrely complicated attempted kidnapping of her former virtual boyfriend has been apprehended after a multi-state search. New Castle County Police said 33-year-old Kimberly Jernigan of North Carolina was apparently distraught after her online relationship with a 52-year-old man from Claymont, Delaware came to an end. The pair apparently met online in "Second Life." A virtual relationship began between the victim, whose character was a Lion, and Jerrigan, whose online persona was said to be a virtual woman.

The Risk of Love July 23rd, 2008 by Mark Shea Recently a reader wrote me to say, “I read a story on the Internet about a Catholic couple whose new baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and anencephaly (no brain). They chose to abort it. How on earth would you deal pastorally with such a horrible situation?” Such questions involve several parts. What does God think? What would I do? What should I make of those people over there? We feel torn between obeying God’s commands “Don’t kill” and “Don’t judge.” And in our culture, “Don’t judge” has much the...

Dancing With the Baby Stars - The Amazing Feats of Fetal Development You may not think of yourself as the next Kristi Yamaguchi, but long before you could walk, you could dance. Not on the floor, mind you, but in the womb. If you want proof of an unborn baby's dancing ability, check out http://www.yourdevelopingbaby.com/sampleChapters/7.htm. There, under the headline "Baby aerobics," you'll see a baby 15 weeks after conception, doing a unique form of hip hop. The incredible video comes courtesy of two Harvard radiology professors, Peter Doubilet and Carol Benson, a married couple who have written an eye-catching book...

For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body. Philippians 1:19,20

Stubble is the way to win a woman’s heart, a study has shown. Researchers found that women are more attracted to men with stubbly chins than those with clean-shaven faces or full beards. Women participating in the research rated men with stubble as tough, mature, aggressive, dominant and masculine - and as the best romantic partners, either for a fling or a long-term relationships. The findings of the experiment, carried out on British women aged 18 to 44, could explain the appeal of actors such as George Clooney and Brad Pitt who cultivate their unshaven look. The explanation for the...

Staff Sgt. Joseph Reinsburrow, 64th Military Police Company and native of Towanda, Pa., holds an Iraqi child June 12 in Hurriyah, while Iraqi Police and Coalition forces hand out toys and school supplies to the local children. Photo by Sgt. Daniel Blottenberger, Multi-National Division Baghdad. CAMP VICTORY — When Iraqi Police (IP) and Coalition forces arrived at the Zainab Girls School in Hurriyah June 12, they were met by the smiling faces of more than 50 children and their caretakers in the Baghdad community. “This makes it all worth while,� said 1st Sgt. Thomas Gray, 64th MP Co., 18th Military...

During my 1960s boyhood, Father's Day was an awkward occasion. It required my brothers and me to express love to a man who considered such talk girlish, and who knew we feared more than liked him. Only for the sake of Mom did Dad and his five boys put on a Father's Day act. But after the death of my father last month, I understand that those fake-feeling gestures back then had conveyed a lot of truth, and that the expression of love between a father and his boys can be -- maybe should be -- at times difficult.

One of the major criticisms in the 2008 presidential election cycle has been about the media bias in favor of liberal Democratic Sen. Barack Obama. Former MSNBC show host Tucker Carlson, now the senior campaign correspondent for the network admitted the criticism is valid. Carlson, who has access behind the scenes in the news, compared the media’s affection for the Illinois senator to “the kind of love you have to be a ninth-grade boy to understand.” “If you think about the psychology of this – I think it’s interesting, Carlson said in an interview with Carol Joynt. “In the last...

.NEVER FORGET.And now the Man who predicted 9/11 ...one 9/11 Lifesaver extraordinaire RICK RESCORLA... finally gets his due:TIME Magazine Cover Story June 9, 2008'How to Survive a Disaster' ...By Amanda Ripley(See 'How One Person Made a Difference' - Pages 3 & 4).NEVER FORGET.

[snip] At the same time that the nation’s growing diversity and changing social attitudes are helping to swell the ranks of multiracial Americans at 10 times the rate of the white population, the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, son of a black man and a white woman, has brought new attention, curiosity and discussion to their experiences.

Reconciliation: A Vital Part of Christ's Message A major theme of Christ's message is reconciliation. But how does reconciliation fit into God's plan for you and me? by Mark Mickelson Jesus Christ began His public ministry by declaring the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the people in Galilee. What He said and did during His 31/2-year ministry was so incredible that it just couldn't be ignored. Jesus called people to repentance and gave them hope. He gave them encouragement and healed their diseases. Even more, He possessed the power to forgive their sins.Christ's countrymen were astonished that He...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The dance party in Atheer Jassem al-Othman’s living room was in full swing. The guests — about two dozen girls in their late teens — had arrived, and Ms. Othman and her mother were passing around cups of sweet tea and dishes of dates. About half the girls were swaying and gyrating, without the slightest self-consciousness, among overstuffed sofas, heavy draperies, tables larded with figurines and ornately-covered tissue boxes. Their head-to-toe abayas, balled up and tossed onto chairs, looked like black cloth puddles. Suddenly, the music stopped, and an 18-year-old named Alia tottered forward. “Girls? I...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Nader al-Mutairi stiffened his shoulders, clenched his fists and said, “Let’s do our mission.” Then the young man stepped into the cool, empty lobby of a dental clinic, intent on getting the phone number of one of the young women working as a receptionist. Asking a woman for her number can cause a young man anxiety anywhere. But in Saudi Arabia, getting caught with an unrelated woman can mean arrest, a possible flogging and dishonor, the worst penalty of all in a society where preserving a family’s reputation depends on faithful adherence to a strict code...

Baby McBaby took his first steps this week — the first of many. This is, of course, a happy occasion. Yet you know me — I never let a happy occasion pass without pausing to add a bit of neuochemical Angst. Yes, I'm thrilled to see our little Soybean making his initial "one small step for mankind". I'd be worried if he didn't! Yet even as I watch those little feet move, my heart swells with joy — but also with a sharp, stinging melancholy, for I know that they are moving along a path that will eventually carry him...

'Agent' of God helps boy meet Benedict BY CHRISTINA BOYLE DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Sunday, April 20th 2008, 4:00 AM Handschuh/NewsSecret Service agent Brad Borst (below) carries Aaron Ruiz, 9, out of St. Patrick's. Ruiz, who has muscular dystrophy, was blessed by the Pope. Handschuh/News When Beverly Ruiz and her wheelchair-bound son arrived outside St. Patrick's Cathedral early Saturday they had no hope of getting inside.But all that changed when 9-year-old Aaron, who has muscular dystrophy, caught the eye of one of the Secret Service agents safeguarding Pope Benedict. Just moments before the historic Mass began, the federal agent singled...

SPILLING a vodka cranberry down your date’s white shirt is never a good start. And banging on about Brad Pitt won’t help your prospects either. That’s why it’s a good idea to set yourself some dating rules right from the start. ‘Chilling out’ and ‘not acting like a psycho’ are definitely priorities as far as we are concerned. So we asked relationship expert Jenni Trent Hughes to share her top ten dating tips: 1) Give yourself a quick emotional MOT before you go on a date to check you’re in the mindset for a possible new relationship. In other words,...

How Do We Know That We Love God? The Bible states over and over again exactly how we are to demonstrate our love to God. The simple answer may surprise you! by Lyle Welty How do we know we genuinely love God? That probably seems like an odd question to most of us. Of course, we love God, and we just know that we love Him. But is that good enough? Is it enough to just know and feel that we love God? Is anything else involved? Actually, the Bible-God's inspired Word-is clear about how we show love to God....

FORT HUACHUCA — While deployed in Kuwait, Spc. Herbert Brown remembers how much he and his comrades appreciated the little things from home. So when boxes of Girl Scout cookies were shipped to his unit, the men and women were completely moved by the gesture of good will. “It’s really hard to express how much this means to the soldiers,” Brown said, recalling what it was like to be on the receiving end of the cookies. “I was in Kuwait in ‘05-’06, and it meant a lot that people I didn’t even know were thinking about me.” For the past...

It is currently in vogue within American evangelicalism to play against each other the complementary realities of Christian love and unity, on the one hand; and on the other hand, the necessity for a strenuous biblical precision in formulating and contending for those points of doctrine which are secondary in importance – that is, those doctrines which, to believe one way or the other, would not per se corrupt the essential purity of the gospel. A concrete example of such secondary matters would be one's beliefs in the debate between cessationism or continuationism of the so-called "sign gifts"; or else...

. NEVER FORGET . On this year's Easter Season GOOD Friday... ...SHIRLEY JONES & husband MARTY INGELS lovingly share their LOVE & most loving 9/11 Memorial. . NEVER FORGET .

A little girl fights for her life, and her last wish is to see her father. But that wish may not come true. "They didn't expect her to still be here. She's fighting, day by day, minute by minute," said Vonda Yaeger, mother. 10/11 has followed the story of 10-year-old Jayci Yaeger as she battled brain tumors. Now doctors say she is about to lose that fight. Her last wish is to spend what time she has left with her father, but he is in a federal prison for drug charges. Less than six months ago, Jayci was energetic, fun...

New research into inter-ethnic unions suggests we're reverting to a less romantic idea of marriage I grew up in a traditional Chinese household, where I was taught my future life partner must have an equal, if not better, upbringing than mine. That mentality is embedded in the ancient saying, "A bamboo door should match a bamboo door; a wood door should match a wood door." Essentially, what it means is you have to marry someone in the same social class if you want the relationship to last. The Chinese are not alone in this worldview. Many Indians are still bound...

Love makes us blind to the charms of others By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent Last Updated: 6:01pm GMT 18/03/2008 Love really is blind, but not in the accepted meaning of the old adage, scientists say. Psychologists who studied volunteers in stable relationships believe romantic love is a biological "commitment device" to lessen our awareness of the charms of others. Many non-human species are also monogamous The study, highlighted in this week's New Scientist magazine, provides support for the theory that strong emotions that encourage committed relationships have evolved to ensure offspring are well cared for. Monogamy has been observed in...

This is an animated rare parakeet named Perija and with a greeting and a bow quote the scripture, from the New Testament, Philippians 4:8. What a wonderful world if humans would only learn and practice this one bible scripture. Revski

We Wouldn't Make This Up At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people,...

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:15-17

I've gone off the deep end so to speak on this one. This video is a Gospel, singing bullfrog. Hehehe lol Revski

Why Do We Love Babies? Parental Instinct Region Found In The BrainWhy do we almost instinctively treat babies as special, protecting them and enabling them to survive? (Credit: iStockphoto/Aldo Murillo) ScienceDaily (Feb. 27, 2008) — Why do we almost instinctively treat babies as special, protecting them and enabling them to survive? Darwin originally pointed out that there is something about infants which prompts adults to respond to and care for them which allows our species to survive. Nobel-Prize-winning zoologist Konrad Lorenz proposed that it is the specific structure of the infant face, including a relatively large head and forehead, large...

Most of us know we're supposed to love others. Christians, who read the Bible and/or attend church, regularly encounter reminders regarding this. Still, the meaning of the term itself appears to remain unclear. Confusion comes because "love" can describe a feeling or it can describe an action. Complicating matters more, the feeling and the action which love seeks to describe need not be remotely connected to the same subject or event. For instance, my wife and I once saw an elderly woman pushing a shopping cart down a street near our home. The cart was obviously loaded with all her...

“Barack Obama,” Howie Kurtz declared, “will never get this kind of cuddly coverage again.” With that, the uber-critic gave voice to one of the cyclical predictions of the primary season’s punditry, the prediction that appears and reappears, never fulfilled, yet never dying: that, at some point, the press will stop fawning over Obama. Kurtz made this particular prediction back in December. Of 2006. Has it materialized? Well, flash forward to February of 2008, to Tuesday’s Potomac Primary. During MSNBC’s live coverage of the returns, as Mssrs. Matthews and Olbermann analyzed the victory speeches of the winners (Obama, by considerably more...

By Arthur C. Brooks Many couples disagree about politics. In fact, researchers at the University of California have found that 56 percent of couples discuss politics fairly regularly, and 53 percent disagree “occasionally or frequently.” For some, this disagreement is a major barrier to marital harmony. I know one couple that battles bitterly and continuously over politics. It will be unsurprising this Valentine’s Day if one of them doesn’t end up sleeping on the couch due to a dispute over something along the lines of whether Barack Obama is secretly a socialist. Conjugal disagreement over the presidential election is just...

Casey's Valentines Day Rules To Live By Ladies, having sex with your partner is NOT a Valentines present. Even if you wear his favorite outfit, and do whatever he wants. This is insulting, and is the most flagrant of Valentines Day fouls. You are obligated to perform sexual favors (if of age) for your man ... the opposite is true for you guys as well. If men have to get you presents ... you have to get them presents. Now pony up cheap ass! Men, taking your partner out to dinner is NOT a Valentines present. You are supposed...

Watching U.S. leaders snap and backbite, do you ever ask yourself: Where is the love? Do you ever wonder what the love lives of the presidential candidates are like? Me neither, but if there is a fitting time to inquire into their romantic practices, Valentine’s Day is it. The office comes with expectations of personal accountability as much as it does with political accountability, and a nation that reads more Us Weekly than Newsweek is bound to be curious. When the Kenneth Starr report appeared, outraged politicians from both ends of the spectrum deemed it “pornographic” and “dirt and filth.”...

What phenomenon was abandoned by Napoleon, turned Stalin's heart to stone, evaded Hitler, and led a Paraguayan president to try to take over South America? Love. As Valentine's Day draws near, lovers around the world celebrate their intimacy. But how did some of the world's most infamous dictators experience the emotion? Nigel Cawthorne, author of Sex Lives of the Great Dictators, says the average tyrant and absolute despot seems incapable of experiencing love in the same way as the average human being. "In nearly every case, human feeling came second to ambition," he says. "Even Napoleon with his great love...

How Did One Small Man Move 1,100 Tons of Stone to Build a Marvel of Engineering? Like the ancient wonders of Stonehenge or the Great Pyramids of Egypt, there is an incredible and mysterious creation right here in the United States. Coral Castle, in Homestead, Fla., just south of Miami, is an intricate rock garden made of enormous pieces of coral, many of them weighing several tons. But more amazingly, Coral Castle was built entirely by one man  Latvian immigrant Ed Leedskalnin, who stood just 5 feet tall and weighed 100 pounds. To this day, no one knows how...

NEW YORK: Fighting with your spouse can actually be good for your health with people who bottle it all up found to die earlier, a new study shows. Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and its psychology department released preliminary findings after 17 years of following 192 couples. The couples fell into four categories: where both partners expressed anger when they felt unfairly attacked, where neither partner expressed their anger, and one category each for where the wife suppressed her feelings and where the husband did so. "I would say that if you don't express your...

Unconditional love can be expressed in many ways. I think of unconditional love as the emotional expression of a part for its whole. A mother and her newborn are emotionally inseparable. That’s an expression of unconditional love. Brothers may share it, if they’re close confidants. Soldiers may feel a version of unconditional love for those they risk everything for. A priest may feel unconditional love for his parishioners and vice-versa. Unconditional love is usually detached from materialism but it can indeed exist over purely material relations. A zealous store owner may feel a version of unconditional love for their most...

Air Force Maj. Don Treanor, commander of Detachment 3, 732nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, and his brother Maj. Stephen Treanor, executive officer for 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), are serving simultaneously in Iraq for the second time. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs. CAMP STRIKER — Deployments aren’t generally regarded by families as happy occasions – unless you’re one of the Treanor brothers. For the second time, Army Maj. Stephen Treanor, executive officer of 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat...

"Sometimes the names alone provided hints as to the prospects for a lasting relationship. Somehow gunilla_luvs_prozac didn’t seem quite ready, whereas cum2mama was if anything a little too ready. Messages from hysterical_hilda, katsb4men and imeldamarcos were similarly binned. But diligent research eventually brought its rewards as I discovered that beyond the mundane Majas lay clusters of intriguing Tinas, Linas and Sabrinas."

During their 71 years of marriage, Don and Myrtle Rutledge rarely spent any time apart... So it was fitting, then, that when Don died just after 11:30 a week ago Monday night, Myrtle passed away just four hours and five minutes later...

Dating Swedish men: bring your own beers Dating in Sweden: When Isabel March arrived in Sweden from America, she set out to find her own blond bombshell. But dating US-style left her ill-prepared for dealing with the strong, silent types she found in Scandinavia. Many people who move to Sweden – especially those relocating to small villages in Lappland – are beguiled by a strong, silent Nordic type or one of the members of the Swedish Bikini Team. But despite the hordes of love immigrants who have been caught in the net of a blond bombshell, it often seems easier...

During their 71 years of marriage, Don and Myrtle Rutledge rarely spent any time apart. In the early days, Myrtle picked up the family and followed Don when his job with the power company uprooted him. When one was confined to a hospital, the other stayed right there at the bedside. They even went fishing together (the family insists Myrtle was the better fisherman), dropping lines in the water whenever they found a little time. So it was fitting, then, that when Don died just after 11:30 Monday night, Myrtle passed away just four hours and 5minutes later, in the...

Frank Worthen was ex-gay when ex-gay wasn’t cool! Perhaps no testimony of freedom from homosexuality has been more widely circulated and read than Frank Worthen’s. He is now 78 years young. This article, op-ed, column – call it what you like - will not likely be published in many places or read by many people, but it commands to be written. “Different” When Frank was 13, (1942) his pastor told him “Frank, you are a homosexual." Though Frank knew he was “different” from other children, he didn’t know what homosexuality was. “I'd been called different before!” Frank had become a...

10/5/2007 - TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- Three local children diagnosed with serious illnesses suited up and jumped into the cockpit of an F-15 Eagle during the "Pilot for a Day" event here Oct. 2. The 95th Fighter Squadron hosted the children and their families for a fun-filled event allowing them to experienced a day in the life of an Air Force fighter pilot. "Some of the highlights of the day were taking the kids on a tour around real F-15s, letting them suit up at life support with flight gear, and then fly the same simulator as...

Even a half hour after Ron Paul's "Revolution" rally ended in downtown Manchester, there was a crowd larger than other candidates could only hope to draw. The campaign estimated that as many as 800 people showed up as the Texas congressman kicked off a canvassing effort in New Hampshire's three largest cities. The campaign gave out buttons asking: "Who is Ron Paul?" But who are Ron Paul's supporters? "I think they're new to the process," said Paul's son, Rand Paul. "We definitely have Democrats that are crossing over, Libertarians crossing over, Independents crossing over. And I think the people that...

DID I REALLY LEAVE THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH? The Journey into Evangelical Faith and Church Experience William Webster This article was first published by Moody Press in the book titled, Roman Catholicism: Evangelical Protestants Analyze What Divides and Unites Us in 1994. In light of the recent reversion of Francis Beckwith to Roman Catholicism I felt that perhaps the testimony of one who was Roman Catholic and is now a convinced evangelical Protestant might prove helpful to some. The arguments presented here as to why I could never become a Roman Catholic, based on the truth of Scripture and the...