Free Republic

Rarely are currency exchange rates as good for the American dollar as that of Asian countries. In Asia, the American dollar carries a lot of clout and with the recent devaluation of the USD; it is a good thing that these countries offer an excellent trip for so little cost to Americans.

I saw a piece on the news recently which said, in essence, that even if you want to "buy American," there are so few American-made items in the stores that it is almost impossible. Sad, and if you insist on buying the trendy stuff at the mall, probably true. But there is an alternative. All across our land there are artisans, craftsmen, and artists who produce Made-in-America items which are far superior to the brummagem stuff made in China.

The ancient footprints of the artisans who built a stunning 1,700-year-old mosaic floor in Lod were discovered recently, when conservators from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) were in the process of detaching the huge work of art from the ground. As the conservation experts worked on the plaster bedding to be done before detaching the mosaic, they were surprised to notice there were ancient foot and sandal prints beneath it. Clearly, the builders that had worked on the floor sometimes wore their sandals, and sometimes worked in their bare feet...

John Edwards is the strongest candidate of the entire 2008 presidential pack, regardless of party affiliation. John McCain is the strongest on the Republican side. These observations are borne out by a widely ignored CNN poll of 912 registered voters early in December that showed Edwards beating all GOP candidates in a general election by these margins: vs. McCain, 52 to 44 percent; vs. Rudy Giuliani, 53 to 44 percent; vs. Mitt Romney, 59 to 37 percent; and vs. Mike Huckabee, 60 to 35 percent. The poll’s error margin is plus/minus 3 percent. While Democrats are not likely to choose...