Free Republic

Eric Sprott is exchanging $30 million worth of his own gold ETF PHYS for silver at the current 45:1 ratio. Stop whining that silver has not been following gold higher for the past 2 weeks, and use the relative weakness vs gold to add to your silver position professionally like Mr. Sprott. The Sprott Foundation, named after Eric Sprott, announced that it is selling two million units of its Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHY.U-T15.770.070.45%), worth about $30-million at Wednesday's price. In its announcement, Sprott said that the proceeds would be reinvested in the silver sector, which isn’t surprising because Mr....

SAN DIEGO - Bulldozers are rolling again on the U.S.-Mexico border, moving hundreds of tons of dirt to make way for a 16-foot steel fence in an area that once was the most popular crossing for illegal immigrants. But before the construction resumed recently, the 14-mile project in San Diego was stalled for years by legal challenges from environmentalists, budget problems and difficulties buying land. Those delays are now raising doubts about a government plan to extend fencing to 370 miles of the Mexican border. The Bush administration, under pressure to tighten border security, wants all 370 miles done by...

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2007 – Operation Phantom Thunder enters its third week with coalition forces operating in and around Baghdad, Diyala province and Anbar province, in Iraq, a Joint Staff spokesman said here today. Army Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins also said that the Taliban has not been able to launch a serious challenge to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Wiggins said U.S. servicemembers are experiencing a tough fight against a fanatical enemy, but they are making progress against the terrorists. The fighting against al Qaeda and Shiia militias in Iraq is in areas where such groups long have...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2006 -- The Iraq national reconciliation conference held Dec. 16 in Baghdad was only the first of many such meetings that will serve to "enlarge the circle of reconciliation," said Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. Al-Dabbagh and the coalition spokesman, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, discussed the reconciliation conference among other topics during a joint news conference in Baghdad on Dec. 17. The conference brought together representatives from all ethnic and sectarian factions in Iraq. “There will be more conferences which will include the groups and individuals who didn't have the opportunity to take part...

Filioque The Western Church commonly uses a version of the Nicene creed which has the Latin word filioque ("and the Son") added after the declaration that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. Scripture reveals that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The external relationships of the persons of the Trinity mirror their internal relationships. Just as the Father externally sent the Son into the world in time, the Son internally proceeds from the Father in the Trinity. Just as the Spirit is externally sent into the world by the Son as well as the Father (John...

Share-cropping became common in the United States after the Civil War. Back then, many Southern plantations had ample land, but little money to pay wages. At the same time, a large segment of the population was left impoverished, with little prospect of earning an adequate living. So, it was little surprise that the landed people -- those with the means of producing a product -- contracted with the poor, who had labor to offer, to produce a product from which both might profit. Share croppers normally received a home, the necessary tools, farm animals, and sometimes even some education, for...