Free Republic

"The media and analysts are mystified as to why gold is suddenly going up in tandem with the US Dollar because they traditionally have an inverse relationship. This buttresses what I have been contending here for years. Whether the dollar is up or down versus other world currencies is about as relevant as a step ladder on the Titanic. Better yet, remember (in the movie) all of those people who rushed to one end in the ship so when the opposite side sank first, they were momentarily lifted high in the sky as though they were at the top of...

For 90-plus years, Bill and Carl Larson had each other's back on their Oklee, Minn., farm. Then Carl wandered off one night, and Bill set out to find him. Except for the three years that Bill was fighting the Nazis and Carl was an Army medic in the Pacific, the Larson brothers had been side by side for more than 90 years. They grew up farming on the outskirts of Oklee, Minn., never married, and stayed on the family farm to raise prize-winning Belgian horses long after their two older brothers, Roswall and George, died decades ago. So when 95-year-old...

White racism is back. Not so much any actual racist behavior by any actual white people, but rather the charge leveled against political opponents of President Obama. Obama's election supposedly ushered in a new post-racial era where old animosities would fade from memory, but if anything, charges of white racial vitriol are as prominent as ever. Let me try to explain this eruption and suggest why accusations of white racism will become increasingly strident. In a nutshell, white racism has become the glib reason for imperfect racial progress, and the term's definitional fuzziness, it's resistance to scientific confirmation makes it

Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. Psalm 112:6 O that there were an army of equipped and passionate Believers marching across the land in defense of Godly causes and the Gospel. How would our world be different if we had unshakable faith and an unquenchable thirst for righteousness? What would that look like in our day and age? And yet, there are many, even those reading this, whose faith is solid and strong, who cares not what the world says or thinks, but does he or she knows to be right. You don't...

It has been brought to my attention that a thread should be presented on the question of w long is For Ever, and Ever Lasting?”more to the point of this issue is the meaning and Biblical usage of the words translated “for ever”, “ever lasting”, “eternal” and “eternity”. If forever means endlessly, then what is the meaning of such expressions as “for ever and ever”, or as the phrase is sometimes translated, “from everlasting to everlasting”? Unfortunately the post-apostolic church borrowed the idea of innate immortality from Greek philosophy and super-imposed the same upon the Scriptures. From the Latin Vulgate...

...Rubinomics is the concept of "deficit reduction" as growth policy: Lower the federal budget deficit and, as dawn follows night, interest rates will fall and prosperity will break upon the land. Named for former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, and much celebrated in the 1990s, the concept was embraced as gospel by nearly all Democrats as recently as a few weeks ago. But last week it officially expired, as those same Democrats reconverted to Keynesian deficit spending in the name of "economic stimulus."Mr. Rubin's successor at Treasury, Larry Summers, started the bidding with a $65 billion tax rebate and spending plan....

WASHINGTON — Say goodbye to those pesky 1- and 2-cent stamps that used to clutter up desks and purses every time the price of mailing a letter went up. A new "forever" stamp — good for mailing a letter no matter how much rates rise — was recommended Monday by the independent Postal Regulatory Commission. The panel also called for a 2-cent increase in first-class rates to 41 cents, a penny less than the post office had sought. In addition, the changes would sharply scale back the price of heavier letters. "Adoption of this proposal is good for the Postal...

WASHINGTON — While it’s up to the Iraqi government to make the tough decisions as the country continues its progress, the Iraqi people can continue to count on the United States for help, President Bush said in New York yesterday. Bush and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani spoke with reporters after a bilateral meeting. While praising the Iraqi people for their courage, Bush acknowledged the road ahead is difficult. “These are tough times,” he said. “There's still violence in your midst because extremists want to stop the advance of a free society.” Bush said he and Talabani discussed the way ahead...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2006 – Five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England views them over the course of three distinct days he said forever changed America: one day the country celebrated its greatness, the next, that greatness came under attack, and the third day, the nation began striking back. On Sept. 10, 2001, England, then secretary of the Navy, joined President Bush to host Australian Prime Minister John Howard on a tour of the Washington Navy Yard. It was a day of pomp and circumstance, with flags, bands, speeches and marches, England recalled...

Immortality is within our grasp . . . In Fantastic Voyage, high-tech visionary Ray Kurzweil teams up with life-extension expert Terry Grossman, M.D., to consider the awesome benefits to human health and longevity promised by the leading edge of medical science--and what you can do today to take full advantage of these startling advances. Citing extensive research findings that sound as radical as the most speculative science fiction, Kurzweil and Grossman offer a program designed to slow aging and disease processes to such a degree that you should be in good health and good spirits when the more extreme...

Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward testified under oath Monday in the CIA leak case that a senior administration official told him about CIA operative Valerie Plame and her position at the agency nearly a month before her identity was disclosed.

The tax revenue windfall. For local government officials, it is the major topic of conversation. They are delighted that the hot real-estate market is providing billions of additional dollars to county coffers around the state. For Los Angeles, it represents a cool $1 billion in new revenue, a nearly 10 percent increase over last year. San Bernardino County anticipates its tax receipts to double to about $320 million. However, you'll have to pardon us if we don't join the celebration just yet. The last time we saw government officials so excited was in the late 1990s after Gray Davis took...

No country lasts forever. That’s an inarguable fact. History reveals three primary reasons why countries fall, governments change and ways of life vanish. The Taliban, Saddam, Nazis and many other governments fell because of war with other nations. Revolutions brought on by internal strife, an insurgency, social unrest and disillusionment, reduced respect and admiration of the nation’s military (note that the Marines and Army are finding it very difficult and sometimes impossible to meet their recruiting goals), loss or reduction of social values and norms, and political extremism bring down some governments. Examples include Iran in 1979, France in the...

Some thoughts on the life and death of Terry Schiavo

Controversial theorist Aubrey de Grey insists that we are within reach of an engineered cure for aging. Are you prepared to live forever? On this glorious spring day in Cambridge, England, the heraldic flags are flying from the stone towers, and I feel like I could be in the 17th century—or, as I pop into the Eagle Pub to meet University of Cambridge longevity theorist Aubrey de Grey, the 1950s. It was in this pub, after all, that James Watson and Francis Crick met regularly for lunch while they were divining the structure of DNA and where, in February 1953,...

Life expectancy is increasing in the developed world. But Cambridge University geneticist Aubrey de Grey believes it will soon extend dramatically to 1,000. Here, he explains why. Ageing is a physical phenomenon happening to our bodies, so at some point in the future, as medicine becomes more and more powerful, we will inevitably be able to address ageing just as effectively as we address many diseases today. I claim that we are close to that point because of the SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) project to prevent and cure ageing. It is not just an idea: it's a very...

John Kerry and Jane Fonda political cartoon.June 2, 2004...Sen. Flip-Flop: here he goes again!By Roger Wm. Hughes If America thought John Kerry was Senator Flip-Flop on the issues, America has become even more amazed as Kerry tries to communicate who and what he is about. First, Kerry was "a better set of choices." Then in typical Kerry style, he changed to be "a better set of choices.” In September of 2003, he discovered the "courage to do what’s right for America." However, somehow that wasn’t "the real deal." So, he became “the real deal.” Kerry then told America to...

SOUNDTRACK: Messiah, Handel (40kb midi) ISAIAH 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Luke 2: 11 - 14AND LO, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people!...