Free Republic

Thousands of Christians from all over the world crowded the stone alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City to mark Good Friday, retracing the route Jesus took to his crucifixion. Nigerian Christian pilgrims, one waving an Israeli flag, attend a mass prayer at Hulda steps in Jerusalem's Old City, Tuesday. Photo: AP Some pilgrims carried large wooden crosses as they walked down the Via Dolorosa, or Way of Sorrows, stopping at 14 stations that commemorate events that befell Jesus as he was led to his death. Many pilgrims prayed in the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally the site of Jesus'...

“The rocket fire at the South is an obstacle [to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations], and so is construction in the settlements,” said German chancellor Angela Merkel this week during her three-day visit to Israel. A lot of anniversaries are in the air—Israel’s upcoming 60th anniversary, which Merkel’s visit was meant in part to mark; also, this month, the 70th anniversary of the German-Austrian Anschluss (unification) that was a major milestone on the road to World War II and the Holocaust. Merkel’s words don’t indicate much progress in moral understanding over the 70 years; they draw a clear equivalence between attempts to...

Researchers at Boston College and MIT have used nanotechnology to achieve a major increase in thermoelectric efficiency, a milestone that paves the way for a new generation of products -- from semiconductors and air conditioners to car exhaust systems and solar power technology -- that run cleaner. The team's low-cost approach, details of which are published in the journal Science, involves building tiny alloy nanostructures that can serve as micro-coolers and power generators. The researchers said that in addition to being inexpensive, their method will likely result in practical, near-term enhancements to make products consume less energy or capture energy...

European colonisation of South America resulted in a dramatic shift from a native American population to a largely mixed one, a genetic study has shown. It suggests male European settlers mated with native and African women, and slaughtered the men. But it adds that areas like Mexico City "still preserve the genetic heritage" because these areas had a high number of natives at the time of colonisation. The findings appear in the journal Public Library of Science Genetics. The international team of researchers wrote: "The history of Latin America has entailed a complex process of population mixture between natives and...

Obamamania has intoxicated many of America’s liberal primary and caucus goers, but in Kenya it has been elevated to a higher level - 6% alcohol content to be exact - in what is now the hottest selling item in the country. Senator Beer. In Kenya, it is in a brown bottle that is served in jugs. Obama’a father was from Kenya, which is why the citizens of the country identify with the Illinois Senator and have made him their role model. The brewery was smart enough, however, to avoid using the name “Barack,” so as not to encourage lawsuits. An...

The ever-widening federal probe into Eliot Spitzer's hooker hanky-panky has iced the state's investigation..........A spokesman for the state inspector general (a Spitzer appointee) confirmed that federal prosecutors asked her office to refrain from an independent investigation into how Spitzer led a double-life as a sleazy harlot-hopper. Feds are looking into how Spitzer spent campaign cash and whether he purposely arranged seemingly official out-of-state travel for trysts with prostitutes...Spitzer resigned March 12 in the wake of revelations that he was the long-standing client of an international call girl ring......

Even those who are ardent opponents of Barack Obama's candidacy must admit his March 18 speech on race in America was, at least in parts, exceptional. You can agree or disagree with aspects of the speech, even dismiss segments of it as his standard stump speech, but it is hard to deny the speech as a whole was well thought out and well executed. The most inspiring part of his speech for me came when he discussed his background. "I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas," Obama told the assembled crowd...

Hi everyone. My mother was recently diagnosed with a very rare cancer that affects about 1,000 people a year. It's called pseudomyxoma peritonei. It has been an journey of misdiagnoses, wrong advice,etc. and now after a laparotomy we know what's causing my mother's belly to get so big. I saw my mother about two or three weeks ago and she dropped a lot of weight. I don't mean to depress anyone on this Easter weekend but a lot of folks are going to church and I'd appreciate the prayers.

The chairman of the Yesha rabbinical council and chief rabbi of Kiryat Arba, Rabbi Dov Lior, on Wednesday issued a halakhic ruling stating that it is forbidden by Jewish law to employ Arabs or rent homes to them. In an interview published by "Eretz Israel Shelanu" (Our Land of Israel), to be distributed this Saturday in various synagogues, Lior said that "since this is a matter of endangering souls, it is clear that it is completely forbidden to employ them and rent houses to them in Israel. Their employment is forbidden not only at yeshivas, but at factories, hotels and...

Mustard Seed Faith Today's Scripture “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea’ and it will obey you” (Luke 17:6). Today's Word from Joel and Victoria A mustard seed is a very small thing. But when it’s planted, it grows into a huge tree. In the same way, Jesus is saying that a little bit of faith can bring tremendous results! As a believer in Him, you already have enough faith on the inside of you to overcome any obstacle. The same Spirit...

The racial dimension of Barack Obama's electability problem is now apparent, but no prominent Democrat dares discuss it openly. Similarly expect no discussion of the subject in the major media. The white working class vote I am not referring to the ongoing and intense discussion of The Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Wright is a separate problem for Obama. Whether Obama has been, or will be, permanently weakened by his long and close association with Wright, or has soared above it with his Philadelphia speech, is not the subject of these thoughts. Something much simpler than the answer to that question has...

Identified or Simply Interested? " I have been crucified with Christ . . . " —Galatians 2:20 The inescapable spiritual need each of us has is the need to sign the death certificate of our sin nature. I must take my emotional opinions and intellectual beliefs and be willing to turn them into a moral verdict against the nature of sin; that is, against any claim I have to my right to myself. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ . . . ." He did not say, "I have made a determination to imitate Jesus Christ," or,...

BALTIMORE -- Federal prosecutors have opened an inquiry into allegations that two Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee employees illegally tapped into Lt. Gov. Michael Steele's credit history. WBAL-TV 11 News reporter David Collins reported the workers obtained the report in July while executing opposition research on the lieutenant governor. In June, the Republican lieutenant governor announced he had established an exploratory committee to explore a candidacy for the U.S. Senate (Full Story). Paul D. Ellington, Steele's chief of staff, issued a statement late Wednesday afternoon in reaction to the allegations. "Lt. Gov. Steele was extremely disturbed to learn about the alleged...

Mr. Obama’s Philadelphia speech, in spite of its eloquent passages expressing his hope for better racial relations in America, is a mastery example of literary subterfuge, the broadening of the scenery whereby an object of inquiry becomes blurred and lost in the background, or more bluntly, the escaping of a slippery fish from a pond into a lake to hide in a wider expanse of water. His speech is essentially a sophisticated lawyerly defense of Rev Wright’s sin on the basis of self-defense. While Mr. Obama’s understanding on the root causes of America’s racial problems is quite apt, he attempts...

The subject I want to discuss with you, peace and national security, is both timely and important. Timely, because I've reached a decision which offers a new hope for our children in the 21st century, a decision I'll tell you about in a few minutes. And important because there's a very big decision that you must make for yourselves. This subject involves the most basic duty that any President and any people share, the duty to protect and strengthen the peace.

Senator Barack Obama is not a Muslim, contrary to invidious rumors. But he belongs to a Christian church whose doctrine casts Jesus Christ as a "black messiah" and blacks as "the chosen people". At best, this is a radically different kind of Christianity than most Americans acknowledge; at worst it is an ethnocentric heresy. Biblical theology teaches that even the most terrible events to befall Israel, such as the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, embody the workings of divine justice, even if humankind cannot see God's purpose. James Cone sees the matter very differently. Either God must do...

Barack says we need to have a conversation about race in America. Fair enough. But this time, it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to. Wright ought to go down on his knees and thank God he is an American. Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the '60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American...

Two of Britain's most dangerous Islamic terrorists moved to new prison - because they complained fellow inmates were 'too white'By GWYNETH REES - More by this author » Last updated at 09:58am on 21st March 2008  Two of Britain's most dangerous terrorists have been moved to different prisons after complaining their fellow inmates were "too white".  Dhiren Barot and Omar Khyam asked to be transferred from high-security Frankland prison near Durham. Barot masterminded a radioactive bomb plot involving limousines packed with nails and explosives and Khyam plotted to blow up Bluewater shopping centre in Kent.  Scroll down for more...Complained:...

TOLEDO — A stolen van loaded down with donuts may not be the best vehicle for eluding police. Frank Alvarado, 46, of Moline, Ill., found that out the hard way Thursday morning after leading nine officers from four different agencies in a high-speed chase through Benton and Tama counties. Alvarado boosted the van, owned by Donut Delite Ltd. of Moline, around 5 a.m. when a delivery driver was making a stop at the Rock Island Hospital. He got as far as Benton County when a sheriff’s deputy spotted him heading west on Highway 30, according to the Tama County Attorney’s...

Feds Launch Criminal Probe Into Aluminum Maker Alcoa Over Alleged Bribery in Bahrain PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The U.S. Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation into whether aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. participated in bribery in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain. In documents filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, federal prosecutors asked a judge to halt a federal civil lawsuit that accused Pittsburgh-based Alcoa of bribing officials through overseas shell companies to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments. "The United States has a direct and substantial interest in this case, as the subject matter giving rise to this...