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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales fell for the first time in seven months in September, suggesting that manufacturing-led weakness could be spreading to the broader economy, keeping the door open for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates again later this month.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem (Music in The Bible) Psalm 1 Psalm 1. 1 Blessed is the one     who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take     or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,     and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,     which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—     whatever they do prospers. 4 Not so the wicked!     They are like chaff     that the wind...

During Tuesday’s CNN-New York Times Democratic debate, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg said President Donald Trump withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria has made them “ashamed,” and was taking away their honor. Buttigieg said, “The slaughter going on in Syria is not a consequence of American presence, it a consequence of a withdrawal and a betrayal by this president of American allies and American values. Look, I didn’t think we should have gone to Iraq in the first place. I think we need to get out of Afghanistan. But it’s also the case that a small...

Left-wing documentary filmmaker Michael Moore took a swipe at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) during the Democratic Presidential debate on Tuesday, saying that her “accountable capitalism” platform endorses a system that enslaves people. The far-left Farenheit 9/11 director also slammed candidates Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, and Pete Buttigieg for their defense of capitalism in the health care system.

Reading Suggestions for Aquinas’ Five Ways Michael Egnor October 16, 2019, 4:35 AM In discussions with atheists and materialists, theists have powerful resources at our disposal. Our perspective is supported by a rigorous and elegant metaphysical framework, that began with Plato and particularly Aristotle, is synthesized by St. Thomas Aquinas, and continues with the work of many superb philosophers today.  At the core of our dispute with atheists is the evidence for the existence of God. Of course, His existence can be proven — as convincingly as any question about existence can be proven and more convincingly than any scientific...

China's biggest tech group moves on senior research scientists following US crackdown TAIPEI -- Huawei Technologies is redeploying senior executives and scientists who have U.S. links due to growing concern inside China's biggest tech company that they could be co-opted by American agents and leak confidential data, multiple sources have told the Nikkei Asian Review. The world's biggest telecom equipment builder and second-largest smartphone maker, which Washington insists is involved in covert surveillance by Beijing, has also reinforced electronic security systems between its overseas offices and Chinese headquarters to minimize security leaks, the Nikkei Asian Review has learned. Huawei lies...

Legend has it that on 31 October 1517, a German friar named Martin Luther (1483–1546) nailed a statement of criticism of the Roman Catholic Church on the doors of Wittenberg church. It is not known for sure whether he really nailed his protest to the doors or sent it directly to the local Archbishop. But one thing is certain: his ‘95 theses’ shook Europe to the core and led to a great cultural revolution. It encouraged the German Peasants’ Revolt of 1524–25, in which the rural poor raised an army of 300,000 to fight the feudal order, and later still...

Three hours of Democrats Debating! Sheer joy.Off limits for discussion last night: immigration, critical trade issues, climate change. On topic: Impeach! Impeach! Impeach! Socialism, more Socialism, and most Socialism! For some reason the entire evening reminded me of the punchline of that old joke about prostitution, “Madam, we've already established that. Now we are just haggling about the price”.Tempting, isn’t it? The thought of eliminating the pimps?Except in Washington people pimp themselves out so you’ll never be rid of them. Speaking of which, everyone gasped when Anderson Cooper dared ask the unmentionable of Joe Biden: “If it's not okay for...

Morning "Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine." John 21:12 In these words the believer is invited to a holy nearness to Jesus. "Come and dine," implies the same table, the same meat; aye, and sometimes it means to sit side by side, and lean our head upon the Saviour's bosom. It is being brought into the banqueting-house, where waves the banner of redeeming love. "Come and dine," gives us a vision of union with Jesus, because the only food that we can feast upon when we dine with Jesus is himself. Oh, what union is this! It is a...

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey’s offensive into northeast Syria will end if Kurdish fighters in the region drop their weapons and withdraw from a planned “safe zone”, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, but warned that no power could stop it until then. Erdogan said the quickest solution was for militants to drop their weapons and pull back from the area by Wednesday evening. The operation will end when the “safe zone” is established, he said, and Turkey was not open to negotiating this.

“He answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.’ For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:17–18). The Sabbath observance was at the heart of Jewish worship in Jesus’ day. The Lord’s reply to those who persecuted Him for violating it (5:16), “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working,” implies that the Sabbath was not instituted for God’s benefit but for man’s...

In between the first and second hour of the Democratic Party’s presidential debate in Ohio was a brief commercial from the Freedom From Religion Foundation calling for watchers to remember that secularism was a founding father plan for America’s government from the get-go and that those who say differently are, well — uninformed. Come on in guys, the fire’s warm. Ronald Prescott Reagan — the son of the late, great President Ronald Reagan — actually made the pitch for FFRF on national TV, wrapping with this mocking line: “I’m a lifelong atheist, I’m not afraid of burning in hell.” Yikes....

Considering that the United States largely created the fiasco in Syria beginning in earnest in 2011, it is difficult to consider the Kurds as a US ally, when the US placed the Kurds in harms way by inciting them versus America’s own NATO ally in 2011. Israel has been at war with Syria since 1948. Period. Full stop. It has been at war over the Golan, West Bank, southern Lebanon, and Shebaa Farms, where no peace agreement or armistice has ever been signed or accomplished between Israel and Syria. During this time, the hegemonic power behind Syria’s war has primarily...

crash death after Donald Trump dropped the "bombshell" that she was in the room next door at the White House. Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn felt "a little ambushed" by the offer made by the US president. Anne Sacoolas, 42, returned to the United States days after the crash which killed 19-year-old Harry. Harry's parents said they wanted to meet Mrs Sacoolas in the UK. Mr Dunn said a White House official told them she would not be returning to the UK, but Mr Trump said he would "try to push this from a different angle".

President Vladimir Putin has been greeted in Saudi Arabia by a dodgy rendition of the Russian national anthem. The performance was far from stellar – but still merely mediocre, compared to some of the worst-ever anthem fails. The unexpected ear-shattering performance of the country’s anthem awaited Russia’s president at the Saudi royal palace as he met King Salman on Monday. An entire military orchestra, accompanied by a sizeable honor guard detachment, performed for the two leaders right inside the palace – and their rendition of the Russian anthem turned out to be a bit off – to put it mildly....

“All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits. Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established” (Proverbs 16:2-3 KJV).

After months of controversy, the Eastern Lancaster County District in Pennsylvania has approved a plan to build non-gender specific locker rooms and changing areas, according to WGAL. The renovation project comes after a transgender student, who was born female but identifies as male, was allowed by the district to use the boys' locker room. The proposed plan could be a map to the future in the Elanco School District. "It's been a difficult, long journey the last seven to nine months but that long difficult journey has produced a product that I think is a win for everyone," said Superintendent...

“That’s why it’s so important to remove this man from office. On the 17th....look, the fact is.” So hey, @SecretService , want to ask @JoeBiden what’s going down on October 17th? Does @realDonaldTrump have a rally that evening?

On Morning Joe, pressed by Joe Scarborough as to what would happen if people refuse to surrender weapons such as AR-15s covered by his mandatory gun buyback plan, Beto O'Rourke admits that law enforcement would "visit" and "recover" the weapon. 

TodayÂ’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) I didnÂ’t watch last nightÂ’s Democrat debate, because IÂ’m sane and would prefer to stay that way. Besides, there was baseball on TV. But I did follow the festivities in real time on social media, and quickly realized I didnÂ’t miss anything that wasnÂ’t entirely predictable. For example, there was this lovely moment, when the two near-octogenarians in the race, perhaps surprised to see each other still alive and kicking, gave each other a big hug: Image may contain: 2 persons Awwww, isnÂ’t that cute? ItÂ’s like that big family reunion back...