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A rare, 4th-century CE ceramic oil lamp recently discovered during Israeli Antiquities Authorities excavations near the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem will be displayed to the public for the first time during the current Hanukkah holiday, the IAA said Thursday. The unusual lamp is decorated with imagery related to the services in the Jewish Second Temple in Jerusalem, including a Temple menorah (which had seven branches, unlike the nine-branched menorahs used during Hanukkah). Also depicted on the small lamp are an incense shovel, which Temple priests used when making offerings, and a lulav... The Second Temple was destroyed in 70...

My latest song. I'd have a snarky comment here, but I forgot.

Terrorism -- i.e., the use of violence on civilians and civilian targets for a political purpose -- is an act of weakness, not strength. A couple of incidents -- the crash of an Azerbaijani airplane in Aktau, Kazakhstan, and the sinking of the Oboronlogistica, a Russian state-controlled company that operated the Ursa Major freighter, in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria -- are characterized as terrorist attacks. Maybe.While Western media immediately blamed the plane crash on Russian air defense-missile, the video and the wreckage do not support that claim. Yes, the fuselage was peppered with shrapnel holes, but those...

An uproar is taking place on X over reports Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his entourage have spoiled the fun at southern BC ski resort. The reports have yet to be verified. "I have never been so angry after a day at Red Mountain," said a social media user of his recent experience at the Rossland-area ski hill. "Some self-important big shot showed up with an entourage of security, and they absolutely ruined the entire experience for everyone else. This guy and his goons thought they were too good to wait in line, cutting ahead of families and kids like...

Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the lexicon, as evidenced by the extensive list of local sayings and idioms used throughout the Lone Star State. These turns of phrase make it easy to spot a Texan from a mile away (though the ten-gallon hats and spurred cowboy boots certainly help as well). There are classic expressions, such as “howdy” and “y’all,” as well as some phrases you may not be familiar with unless you’re from Texas. Let’s look at some of the distinctive phrases that are particularly common among Texans. Fixin’ To “Fixin’ to” is the unofficial state verb of Texas....

The State Department’s controversial Global Engagement Center (GEC) shut down this week after congressional lawmakers nixed reauthorizing the agency in spending legislation to keep the government open. “The Global Engagement Center closed on December 23, 2024,” read a message on the agency’s website. The GEC came under fire from House Republicans after journalist Matt Taibbi uncovered evidence that it pressured US social media platforms early in the COVID-19 pandemic to censor Americans online, purportedly to counter “disinformation,” such as theories that the virus leaked out of a laboratory in China. “We learned Twitter, Facebook, Google, and other companies developed a...

Welcome to the PRAYER REQUESTS thread. This daily thread is a listing of prayer requests that have been posted by Freepers to the main forum who wish to have continued prayer. Hopefully this thread will remind us to continually pray for our fellow Freepers’ cares and needs. GOD hears and answers our prayers.

Late tonight a missile from Yemen intercepted by Israeli air defenses... "Don't you think we should release the names of the representatives? I do" That's Republican Congressman Thomas Massie... British Politics the Reform UK Party celebrating a milestone in membership... Israel's Attorney General directing police to open an investigation in Sara Netanyahu the wife of Prime Minister... Israel's El Al airline suspending flights between Tel Aviv and Moscow... A police official in Mozambique says six thousand prisoners were freed in disturbances at prisons in the capital city... At least three killed in a bus crash in Norway... The new government...

The UN delegation was in Yemen to negotiate the release of UN staff detainees and to assess the health and humanitarian situation there. On behalf of WHO, Tedros sent his condolences to the families whose loved ones lost their lives in the attack, the statement read.The United States and the United Kingdom have previously struck the Houthis after the group disrupted shipping in the Red Sea, one of the world's busiest waterways. The US State Department considers the Houthis to be a global terrorist organization.Last week, a projectile fired from Yemen hit Tel Aviv, Israel's second-largest city, injuring at least...

President-elect Donald Trump has assembled the wealthiest presidential administration in modern history, with at least 13 billionaires set to take on government posts. They include a wrestling magnate, a private space pioneer, a New York real estate developer, the heir to a small appliance empire, and the wealthiest man on the planet -- with several being donors and close personal friends of the incoming president. In total, the combined net worth of the wealthiest members of his administration could surpass $460 billion, including Department of Government Efficiency co-head Elon Musk -- whose net worth of more than $400 billion exceeds...

This is like Libya running out of sand: Cuba is now an importer of sugar: The Cuban government acknowledged that it is “shameful” for the island, traditionally one of the leading sugar producers in Latin America, to be forced to import this product. I think it is shameful that Cuba still has a Communist government after all these years of unremitting impoverishment and enslavement of the Cuban people. Over the years, the crisis in the industry has been severe. During the last harvest season, the failures were evident, resulting in a drop in production that has impacted both the domestic...

In one year, Donald Trump has gone from a net worth of $2.5 billion and facing significant legal burdens, to becoming President-elect and returning to Forbes’ tally of America’s richest people, thanks to his majority stake in Truth Social’s parent company, which grew his net worth to $6.1 billion. TimelineJanuary 2024By early this year, Trump’s net worth stood around $2.5 billion, a figure Forbes determined in September 2023 for the annual Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans; that figure declined from his previous time in office, when his net worth reached $4 billion—although his net worth was less volatile before...

Sean Hannity and Ainsley Earhardt . Photo: Fox News MediaFox News hosts Sean Hannity and Ainsley Earhardt are engaged. After years of quietly dating long distance, Hannity, 62, proposed to Earhardt, 48, over Christmas week at a church in his home state of Florida. "We are overjoyed and so thankful to our families for all of their love and support during this wonderful time in our lives," the pair told Fox News. The two added that they had the blessing and support from their children, who "couldn't be happier." Hannity shares two children, Patrick and Merri, with ex-wife Jill Rhodes,...

Star Trek: Deleted Scene - The Doomsday Machine - "Commodore Decker Was Begged By His Crew For Help". "The Doomsday Machine" was written by Norman Spinrad, and directed by Marc Daniels. In this deleted Star Trek (TOS - The Original Series) scene, Commodore Matt Decker (William Windom) has an alternate take, with Captain James Kirk (William Shatner) asking him questions, of camera. This deleted scene has alternate dialogue from Matt Decker (William Windom), who does an absolutely brilliant job of acting, where, you actually feel his pain, for the loss of his entire crew, on a planet that was devoured...

He’s been demoted. Recently ousted NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey was kicked out of his Queens home by his enraged wife following a Post exposé that linked him to a sleazy sex-for-OT scandal involving a high-ranking aide in the department, law enforcement sources said. Maddrey, 53, the highest-ranking uniformed cop at the NYPD until his abrupt fall from grace last week, left his two-story Brookville home lugging two suitcases shortly after the explosive Dec. 21 report — and is now shacking up with kin in Georgia, the sources said. The veteran cop, who rose through the ranks of New...

FORT CAMPBELL, KY (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Over 50 military installations are alleged to have toxic levels of water contamination that cause a variety of illnesses, diseases and cancers. Now, Fort Campbell has been added to that list. In November 2023, the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization, released information indicating that the groundwater on post is contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which could expose current and former servicemembers to potentially dangerous toxins. A lawsuit in federal court claims the PFAS contamination in Fort Campbell’s groundwater has registered well above the EPA-recommended limit.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will soon head President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have repeatedly demonized undocumented immigrants. In recent days, though, Musk and Ramaswamy have both argued Big Tech firms desperately need foreign workers — generating controversy among the MAGA base. Both Musk and Ramaswamy appeared to be expressing support for H-1B visas for high-skilled workers. These visas have often been criticized by the left and right for allowing companies to rely on cheaper foreign labor. Companies also maintain significant control over such workers; it’s difficult for them to switch jobs, and if they...

Say, remember when the government and the media treated the lab-leak hypothesis of COVID-19's origin as a conspiracy theory? At the time, social-media platforms suppressed discussion and debate over that explanation. The media treating anyone who noticed that a deadly and novel coronavirus had emerged in the same place where biologists just so happened to be conducting gain-of-function research on --ta da! -- coronaviruses.The question of origin became so important to foreign policy and epidemiological strategy that Joe Biden ordered the US intel community to do an analysis to pin down the origins of the deadly pandemic. That review concluded...

Donald Trump is having the time of his life as he barrels toward a second term in the White House after crushing Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Naturally, Trump was already reveling in his own brand of humor and confidence long before any of this came to fruition. He epically trolled Kamala Harris by working a shift at McDonald's during the campaign. Then, when Joe Biden called Trump supporters garbage, he held a press conference from a garbage truck with the Trump 2024 campaign logo on it.Just yesterday, Trump trolled Canada once again, this time suggesting that hockey...

Azerbaijan wants Moscow to admit to an "attack" on a national airliner on Christmas day that left 38 dead after it crashed in Kazakhstan. "The Azerbaijani government demands official recognition, a formal apology, and accountability for those responsible for the attack," according to an Azeri Times report translated by Visegrád 24.There were 17 survivors, including 14 passengers and three crewmembers. Video taken of the crash indicates that the pilots were relying entirely on the engines to maneuver the aircraft. Various reports indicate that Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 lost hydraulic controls following an explosion near the rear of the aircraft, indicative...