Free Republic

The sudden crush of worshipers packing the small evangelical Shelter Rock Church in Manhasset, N.Y. — a Long Island hamlet of yacht clubs and hedge fund managers — forced the pastor to set up an overflow room with closed-circuit TV and 100 folding chairs, which have been filled for six Sundays straight. In Seattle, the Mars Hill Church, one of the fastest-growing evangelical churches in the country, grew to 7,000 members this fall, up 1,000 in a year. At the Life Christian Church in West Orange, N.J., prayer requests have doubled — almost all of them aimed at getting or...

After a week of rough economic news, President Obama on Saturday gave a pep talk to America, using his weekly radio address to tell them he understands their hardships and to tick off the steps he's prodded government to take. "We will continue to face difficult days in the months ahead," Mr. Obama said. "But I also believe that we will get through this — that if we act swiftly and boldly and responsibly, the United States of America will emerge stronger and more prosperous than it was before." Mr. Obama also bragged about what he said were the brakes...

After years of struggling to get their wages up, the nation’s workers are trying to find jobs that will simply last, least through the deep recession. Fearing layoffs, investment bankers at Merrill Lynch or Morgan Stanley are joining small Wall Street firms for less pay but with signed employment guarantees. Academics are migrating to community colleges, which are adding teachers as enrollment rises. In Eastern Wisconsin, workers furloughed from paper mill they fear will not reopen are training as truck drivers and welders. “Looking online and in newspapers and talking to my instructors, I’ve decided that trucking and welding stand...

With a late evacuation, contradictory messages to her citizens and now a failed first attempt to give evacuees a chance to check their homes, it's been a tough week for Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas. The four hectic days were filled with Hurricane Ike's destruction and the reality that thousands of residents were reluctant to leave. Now there is the arduous task of keeping her promise to them that she would have them home soon while trying to combat a growing public health crisis. Tears welled in her eyes as she pleaded with her tiny quorum of three council members...

Bad day for Wall Street