Free Republic

Prefatory note: The following is a response to a question from another thread. It is posted here so that an entire thread can be devoted to a discussion of the grace of God. So next we have to decide if Grace and Faith are the same thing. I would contend that they are not the same thing. Would you argue that they are? ~ kjam22 Grace and faith are not the same thing! So your short answer is NO. It is that every time Jesus talks about faith... it is our faith. There is not one time that he says...

Don't Break Up INS, Ridge Says Wed Jun 26,11:26 AM ETBy JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) - Congress should not split up the Immigration and Naturalization Service when including the embattled agency in a new Homeland Security Department, the Bush administration said Wednesday. Photos AP Photo Slideshows Audio/Video (AP) "To make the system work, the right hand of enforcement must know what the left hand of visa application and processing is doing at all times," the president's homeland security adviser, Tom Ridge, told the Senate Judiciary Committee ( news - web sites).The House in April voted to break...

Gas Masks Ordered for U.S. Capitol Tue Jun 25,10:18 PM ETBy LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) - Capitol Police have ordered 25,000 gas masks to help protect tourists, members of Congress and their staffs in the event of a chemical or biological attack, a congressional official said Tuesday. The so-called quick masks will be stored around the building as part of new safety measures put in place after Sept. 11, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.The decision to buy the masks wasn't a response to any specific threat, the official said."The reason we're doing it is because...

A voting rights lawsuit against the state, Miami-Dade and several other counties stemming from the disputed 2000 presidential election is headed to trial later this summer after attorneys deadlocked on a settlement, a federal judge said Tuesday. ''As far as I'm concerned, this case is going to trial,'' U.S. District Judge Alan Gold said after hearing that attempts for successful mediation had failed. ``It's disappointing, but it is what it is.''The lawsuit, filed last year by the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, The Advancement Project, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and The People for the American...

<p>Next Monday the International Criminal Court officially comes to life. The required 60 nations have ratified it--although the U.S. has not--so in September the member nations will meet to set rules for selecting judges and its prosecutor.</p> <p>By January the ICC may begin prosecuting international crimes if the relevant nation's own courts are unable or unwilling to do so and a member state or the U.N. Security Council refers a matter to it, or if the prosecutor decides on his own that something should be done. The court is authorized to investigate and prosecute four crimes committed by individuals (not nations) at any time after July 1: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and "aggression," which has yet to be defined.</p>

Rush opened his show with a lengthy discussion (still ongoing) of the Wall Street situation. He reminded us how the liberals loved to call the 80's the "decade of greed." The 90's, he said, should be called "The decade of fraud and deceit," and he attributed the mess to Clinton and company. Among other things, he spoke of the hubris of the Clinton gang, who bragged how they had "defeated the business cycle;" yet, as the Bible points out, "there will be seven good years and seven lean years." (My paraphrasing.) Rush was also utterly appalled at the gall of...

<p>Federal prosecutors have widened their probe of Martha Stewart beyond insider trading to include possible obstruction of justice and making false statements, a person with knowledge of the case said. At issue is whether the lifestyle guru misled prosecutors in explaining why she sold shares of ImClone Systems Inc. late last year immediately before damaging news about the company was made public.</p>

Rush is worked up and back to the form that first drew me to him.If anyone calls him today ask him to put that Reagan/Clinton comparison on his site.

Rush just teased that he will have excerpts of Coulter Couric Catfight from this morning. He didn't say when but HEADS UP.

George W. Bush should rethink his proposal to create a new "Homeland Security" Cabinet department. Once upon a time — as recently as 1995 — Republicans wanted to reduce the size of the Cabinet, not add to it. If a Homeland Security Agency is truly necessary, the Commerce Department or HUD must be closed down to make room for it. If the Republicans won't shut down agencies that long ago outlived their usefulness, they should at least adopt a policy of no net increase in Cabinet departments. Creating this new department is likely to be highly expensive (at least $4...

Senate GOP extends term limitsBy Noelle Straub Facing the prospect of expiring term limits for the top positions on committees, Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to give themselves a partial reprieve.The Republicans voted to keep their six-year term limit on committee chairmen, but to allow themselves another six years as ranking member if they haven’t had a chance to serve their full term as chairman. THOMAS BUTLER Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) The change is critical for those senators who have already spent six years as the top Republican on a panel — with the last year-and-a-half as ranking member, thanks...

A pioneering Johns Hopkins stem cell expert and one of the institution's leading bioethicists have won a multi-year grant from the Greenwall Foundation to develop far-reaching recommendations on a "second generation" of ethical questions about stem cell research. John D. Gearhart, Ph.D., and bioethicist Ruth Faden, Ph.D., M.P.H., say the "Ethics and Cell Engineering: The Next Generation" project builds on their longstanding informal partnership dedicated to carefully navigating the frontiers of human developmental biology. "We want to take these issues to a relatively mature level of analysis before they become political footballs, so as to provide the public, policymakers and...

<p>Chaoyang, China -- In greater numbers than ever, China's villagers are using inexpensive prenatal scans and then abortion to prevent the birth of unwanted daughters and to ensure that they will bear a son, recent studies and census data show.</p>

KFWB news reporter Erin Kotecki met me yesterday at the Ontario International Airport (ONT) and spoke with SSAF USA LLC president Nick Ashton on the phone. She had been to the airport but really didn't pay that much attention to the amount of glass in the terminal. She acted almost astounded. KFWB news 980 in Los Angeles is running a series today about what would happen if a bomb blast went off in the short-term parking lot, which is only 150 feet from the terminal. The company with which I am associated, SSAF USA LLC, has been raising the issue...

Nothing like sitting in the gym of a little mountain elementary school and hearing nothing but bad news from local officials, sheriff representatives, firefighters, and Forest Service employees to give a person a reality check. Last night our community got together with all of the above to hear what pathetic shape the San Isabel National Forest is in and to NOT be optimistic about a fire not hitting our little town because there is nothing to be optimistic about! So, despite what we thought were well thought out plans, the packet of information we received last night tells us we've...

June 26, 2002Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Psalm: Wednesday Week 29 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading I2 Kgs 22:8-13; 23:1-3 The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan,"I have found the book of the law in the temple of the Lord."Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.Then the scribe Shaphan went to the king and reported,"Your servants have smelted down the metals available in the templeand have consigned them to the master workmenin the temple of the Lord."The scribe Shaphan also informed the kingthat the priest Hilkiah had given him a book,and then read...

Link post: Geology Picture of the Week, June 23-30, 2002

Can you believe it? The democrats are warning that not raising the debt limit by the end of this week might affect Social Security checks that the retired and disabled are supposed to receive on the third of July. They are trying to make it seem like the Social Security outlays are dependent on the government's ability to borrow. And some nitwits may believe them. That's the sad part. Suddenly the cash cow, the one thing in the District of Corruption that operates smoothly, the slush fund that they've robbed consistently as fast as the money comes in, the mother...

PAW PAW, Mich. -- Pigs can't fly, after all -- at least not in the passenger cabin. Northwest Airlines is backing away from an earlier decision to grant a Vietnamese potbellied pig flying rights equal to those of small dogs and cats. Northwest now says the pig named Pork Chop must ride with luggage and other animals in stowage below the passenger cabin -- even if she is a star. Pork Chop is part of a Michigan woman's ventriloquism act. Alicia Dacoba and her pig are scheduled to tape an appearance on the Fox series "30 Seconds to Fame"...

<p>BRADENTON, Fla. — Grant Griffin's one-bedroom apartment isn't big enough for him, and more importantly, bats have turned up in his shower, sink and sheets. So he is moving.</p> <p>Exterminators aren't allowed to kill the bats, which are considered native wildlife and can't be trapped or poisoned, said University of Florida assistant professor Mark Hostetler. They can only be killed if they are rabid, which county health officials are testing for after Griffin and his girlfriend discovered bite marks.</p>