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Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has hired a Russian adviser with ties to a former Eastern Bloc oligarch and Russian intelligence infiltrated energy company, Gazprom. The hire in question is a globe-trotting 44 year-old American investment banker Carter Page, who has built a career on deals with Russia and its state-run gas company. Page’s resume includes a stint in the U.S. Naval Academy, working in arms control at the Pentagon and a fellowship at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Over his career, he’s earned three graduate degrees, including a PhD from SOAS University of London. In 2000,...

Renew Your Mind Daily Today's Scripture "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV). Today's Word from Joel and Victoria So many people today are not really enjoying their lives because of the condition of their minds. They constantly dwell on negative, destructive, harmful thoughts. They don't realize it, but the root cause of many of their problems is simply the fact that their thought life is out of control. They just dwell on any thought...

Republican Dede Scozzafava endorsed her former Democratic opponent Sunday in the race for an upstate New York congressional seat, one day after Scozzafava dropped out of the contest. Scozzafava dropped out after Conservative Party candidate Dough Hoffman experienced a late-in-the-game surge. But on Sunday, Scozzafava backed Democrat Bill Owens -- the announcement was made in a statement send out by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same," she said. "In Bill Owens, I see a sense of duty and integrity that will guide him beyond political partisanship. He...

Get into Position Today's Scripture "Sing, O childless woman, you who have never given birth…" (Isaiah 54:1, NLT) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Sometimes, when we don't see our dreams and desires coming to pass, we can feel empty and barren like a woman who is unable to have children. But look at what this verse is saying: if you've got unborn promises, don't just sit around in defeat. Don't just give up and say, "Too bad for me." No, God says when you're barren, the first thing you need to do is sing a song of praise....

Overcoming Disappointments Today's Scripture "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past" (Isaiah 43:18, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Every person, no matter how much faith they have or how good a person they are will face disappointments. It may be something simple like not getting that promotion you really hoped for, or not closing that big deal you worked so hard on. Maybe you didn't qualify for a house you really wanted. Or, it may be something more serious like a relationship not working out, the death of a loved one, or some kind...

Editor, Times-Dispatch: Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice. On June 30 I celebrate my independence day and on July 4 I celebrate America's. This year is special, because it marks the 40th anniversary of my independence. On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba and a few months later I was in the United States to stay. That I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress. I've thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about Cuba and...

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton made what some called a “gutsy move” this past week when she appeared at a conservative evangelical megachurch to talk about AIDS. Sat, Dec. 01, 2007 Posted: 20:17:22 PM EST Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton made what some called a “gutsy move” this past week when she appeared at a conservative evangelical megachurch to talk about AIDS. Initially, some felt ill at ease over the New York senator’s appearance at the Global Summit on AIDS and the Church hosted by Saddleback Valley Community Church because of her support for abortion and gay rights, which most...

One of Rudy Giuliani’s early achievements as mayor of New York City was to make people think twice about urinating on the streets. “If somebody was urinating on the street,” he once told the New York Times, “the reaction would be, oh, we can’t do anything about that. And then the idea would start to develop that there must be some inherent human right to urinate on the street. So the police started ignoring all kinds of offenses. They’d even stand by when drug deals were going on. The police became highly skilled observers of crime.” Something had to be...

They are beginning....the lies and the smears and the awful things that the fools think will turn good conservatives away from Rudy, but I tell you, and I am conservative, Rudy is the guy.....the Man....a leader for America who will hold our values and our heads up and not be scared away by liberals, the media or any tin horn dictator anywhere in the worldWe need a man with values and principles and that man is Rudy G..... they are going to karp about his re marriage, (so what) or the fact that he actually does not agree with every...

Daniel Ortega (R) speak in a Managua hotel November 4, 2006. Carter is in Nicaragua to observe Sunday's general elections. Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo is seen in the centre. REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas

MISSOURI: Gay marriage ban approved by voters, nixed by Episcopal bishop News Analysis By David W. Virtue Voters in Missouri have given a resounding thumbs up to an amendment (2) to the state constitution banning gay marriage. By doing so they served notice that similar proposed bans in other states could be difficult to defeat. The Missouri Constitution will now state that "to be valid and recognized in this state a marriage shall exist only between a man and a woman." The vote was over 70% in favor. The Christian voters turned out in record numbers, said a Virtuosity subscriber....

As the Democratic Party nominated a Catholic for president for the first time since 1960, the Catholic priest who gave the final words at the convention alluded to the church's concern with the Democratic Party's support for abortion rights by calling on God to ''guide every citizen of our United States to cherish all life." The Rev. John B. Ardis spoke at the close of the convention, around 11:15, to a packed FleetCenter crowd that just seconds earlier had been dancing and shouting to celebrate Kerry's nomination. As the priest talked, his arms outstretched and palms facing upward, the nominees,...