Free Republic

…They pushed forward, writing and recording an emotion-packed seventh album that returned the group to its hard-blues roots. This focus on urgency ran counter to the sense of experimentalism that drove their more recent albums, but there didn't seem to be any other way. … "Nobody else really came up with song ideas," the guitarist said in Light & Shade: Conversations With Jimmy Page. "It was really up to me to come up with all the riffs, which is probably why [the songs were] guitar-heavy. But I don't blame anybody. We were all kind of down." … The results arrived...

NATO moved Friday to enhance its naval presence in the Baltic Sea as Estonia’s navy began patrolling an undersea cable supplying energy from Finland. The move follows the excision of a different cable from the power grid on Christmas Day in what Finnish authorities allege is a case of deliberate, targeted sabotage by Russia, as Breitbart News reported. A ship named as Eagle S is suspected of damaging the Estlink 2 cable and Finnish coast guard crew have boarded the oil tanker and steered it into Finnish waters. The E.U. said the Eagle S was part of “Russia’s shadow fleet”...

Kamala Harris’s campaign reduced her time on the campaign trail this week, opting to prepare for an interview with NBC and a CNN town hall. The schedule is unusual for the closing weeks of a presidential campaign. Candidates typically place greater importance on holding local events in swing states rather than sitting for interviews with friendly networks. Harris will sit for an interview on Tuesday with NBC’s Hallie Jackson, whose reporting appears biased against former President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, Harris will attend a CNN town hall. Trump has often called CNN “fake news.”

Newly installed Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Michael Whatley on Saturday renewed a previous vow that poll workers are “going to be in the room” when early votes are cast and counted in November. The Hill reports Whatley said the RNC is going to “ensure” each state has “good rules of the road” and “thousands” of attorneys present when votes are being cast to make sure ballots are “protected” and election integrity preserved.

Boston’s police force will increase its presence around subway stations as the city prepares for the Boston Marathon on Monday, following a shooting on a Brooklyn subway train. Boston police Superintendent-In-Chief Gregory Long said at a press conference Tuesday that although there is no credible threat to the city at this point, the police force is closely monitoring any suspicious activity.

Joe Biden said Thursday it is important President Donald Trump attend his inauguration to deliver public testimony to the nation’s commitment to a peaceful transfer of power between political rivals. “Important in only one sense,” Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper by way of qualification, when asked of the significance of Trump attending his inauguration.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says that the demand that Iran withdraw completely from Syria "is unrealistic." In a meeting with Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, Lavrov argued that Iran is one of the strongest countries in the region...

According to a report in a leading Arabic website, Moscow has given its consent to Israeli military strikes deep in Syrian territory. Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Friday that Moscow and Jerusalem held talks Thursday concerning Syria and agreed to “limit” the Iranian presence in the south of the country. Israeli counterpart Avigdor Liberman met met in Moscow with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, while Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Vladimir Putin spoke about Syria over the phone. The two sides agreed to “limit” Iran, keep its forces away from the south, and to allow the IDF to target "menacing...

US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said, “We will continue to work through all our partners to try to stabilize the country.” Spokesperson Nauert commented on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Russian soldiers will be pulled out of Syria and said, “If Russia chooses to pull out, certainly, that is its choice to do so, but we continue to work through all our partners to try to stabilize the country.” US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert answered questions about Syria in the daily press briefing. Nauert said the following on the question about Russian President Putin’s announcement that Russian...

"The jig is up." Liberalism no longer possesses the moral authority to control our national politics. Liberals are terrified of Trump because they know that their great myth, once the light of consciousness has been shined on it, will dissolve as quickly as a grain of salt in water. As Steele puts it, the "president rolls his eyes when he is called a racist, and we all – liberal and conservative alike – know that he isn't one." Elizabeth Warren's Jeff Sessions rant was just that: a hysterical rant, and everyone knows it. "White guilt," and all that goes with...

Living in the Presence of Godby Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.There is no single subject in spiritual literature that is more highly recommended or insisted upon as more indispensable than the spirit of recollection or living in God's presence. There is no question about its fundamental role. The important thing is, how do we grow or develop in this living in God's presence? What do we mean by "presence"? What do we mean by living in God's presence with our minds, or mentally? And what do we mean by living in that same presence with our wills, or volitionally?...

Obama aide: Large delegation from J'lem to fly to DC, despite PM's cancellation. ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — US President Barack Obama's national security adviser says that Israel will still have a "robust" delegation at a nuclear security summit in Washington next week, even after Israel's prime minister abruptly decided not to attend. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had said he would be at the conference to underline the danger of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons. Officials in his office said Netanyahu reversed himself because some nations planned to use the conference to target Israel over its barely concealed nuclear weapons program....

KABUL – Al-Qaida's role in Afghanistan has faded after eight years of war. Gone is the once-formidable network of camps and safe houses where Osama bin Laden and his mostly Arab operatives trained thousands of young Muslims to wage a global jihad. The group is left with fewer than 100 core fighters, according to the Obama administration, likely operating small-scale bomb-making and tactics classes conducted by trainers who travel to and from Pakistan. President Barack Obama said Tuesday that al-Qaida has "lost operational capacity" after a series of military setbacks and vowed to continue the battle to cripple the terror...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2009 – Global climate change is a hotly debated topic, and the U.S. government is looking to Alaska to assess how it may affect the nation. White House and federal agency officials participating in the new Ocean Policy Task Force traveled throughout Alaska and the Arctic from Aug. 17 to 21 to observe activities in the region and meet with local leaders and industry representatives. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen, who took part in the trip, discussed in a Sept. 1 “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable how the increasingly accessible and active Arctic region has significant security,...

The God Chasers by Tommy Tenney Book Excerpt & Commentary I recently finished THE SHACK by William P Young and HE LOVES ME by Wayne Jacobsen. I found both of them deeply moving, Biblical, edifying and helpful in drawing me closer to God. Subsequently, a Navy Friend/ Christian Bro of 30+ years read me the riot act about THE SHACK. I found his rants about “heresy” completely without substance. Turns out he had not read it. Sheesh. It is, after all, a NOVEL! And, I found it exceedingly Biblical. Some important Biblical truths, doctrines are affirmed with a sentence...

What Is Meant by the Spiritual Presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper An Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XXIX, Article 7 by David Bromlow Copyright © 1997, All rights reserved. The debate over the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper has its roots deeply embedded in the Reformation where it was a primary source of division among the Protestant churches. Without digging too deeply into the historical details, it is sufficient to say that in response to the (snip) of the Roman Catholic mass–the propitiatory sacrifice, transubstantiation, and the "reservation" of Christ’s body and blood...

In July of last year, Hillary Clinton gave an interview to New York Times reporter Michael Luo about her faith. It’s a fairly in depth interview. Well, for your listening pleasure, The Brody File found the actual audio from the interview and it’s real interesting. Reading the transcription of the interview is one thing but hearing Hillary Clinton talk about her faith is very different. Listen here. You can read the transcription here. At the time, the article got significant play but some of the quotes from the whole interview never got used in the article. Here are some key...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28, 2007 – The government of Iraq appreciates the efforts and sacrifices of U.S. servicemembers engaged in the country’s fight against insurgents, and it desires a continued American troop presence as Iraqi security forces improve in numbers and capability, an Iraqi government spokesman said today. The U.S.-Iraq Declaration of Principles for Friendship and Cooperation signed by President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a Nov. 26 videoconference signifies American recognition of Iraq’s sovereignty and also of the United States’ continued commitment of support for Iraq, Ali al-Dabbagh said during a conference call with online “bloggers” and...

(IsraelNN.com) Over 100 unauthorized Judea/Samaria outposts - slated to be tomorrow's new Jewish towns - are on a ministerial committee's agenda today (Sunday). The committee's chairman, Minister Chaim Ramon (Kadima), says that at least 26 outposts should be destroyed immediately. The timing of the session is acute, in that the State is due to give a response this week to the Supreme Court on a suit brought by Peace Now and a group of Arabs against the Jewish outpost/community of Migron. Peace Now, which has been working since 1978 to uproot all Jewish presence in Judea, Samaria and Gaza and...

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 7 -- The United Nations has offered to bolster its presence in Baghdad for the first time in more than three years, laying the groundwork for a more ambitious role in mediating the country's sectarian disputes. The move comes three weeks after President Bush delivered his second personal appeal to Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to help resolve some of Iraq's intractable religious and ethnic conflicts. The top U.N. political adviser, B. Lynn Pascoe, told the Security Council Tuesday that the United Nations would be prepared to increase the size of its mission in Baghdad by nearly...