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The term Islamism was coined to differentiate Islam as modern ideology from Islam as a faith. It became necessary to make this distinction after the Iranian revolution of 1979, which gave rise to the popular use of the term: "Islamic fundamentalism." The use of fundamentalism to describe Islam spread so fast that by 1990, the Concise Oxford English Dictionary defined fundamentalism as "the strict maintenance of traditional Protestant beliefs" and "the strict maintenance of ancient or fundamental doctrines of any religion, especially Islam." Ironically the more the media embraced Islamic fundamentalism as a term, the more scholars of Islam looked...

In 1929, Deflation Started In Europe Before Overtaking The U.S. Economics / DeflationNov 30, 2012 - 05:23 AM By: EWI What Happens in Europe Will Not Stay in Europe More than 1,500 years after the fact, scholars still debate the causes of the Roman Empire's fall. What historians do agree on is that the crumbling empire's final days were marked by economic contraction, a struggle to fund Rome's routine affairs and excessive debt. Sound familiar? Mark Twain said, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." That quote seems to apply when economically comparing the Roman Empire and the United...

The metropolitan areas of Yuma, Ariz., and El Centro, Calif., have the two highest unemployment rates in the country, according to data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the El Centro metropolitan area, the unemployment rate for October was 28.1 percent, said BLS. In the Yuma metropolitan area, it was 29.8 percent. The national unemployment rate in October was 7.9 percent.

Before we get into this, we'd like to apologize in advance, because we're about to give you a link to perhaps the worst article in the history of sports. ...and Whitley's article, which went up on Thursday, is as asbestos-y as anything you'll ever read. A brief example: "San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick is going to be a big-time NFL quarterback. That must make the guys in San Quentin happy. "Approximately 98.7 percent of the inmates at California's state prison have tattoos. I don't know that as fact, but I've watched enough "Lockup" to know it's close to accurate. "I'm also...

It's the Multicultural way! How could we possibly go wrong?We must recognize that Islam is our friend, not our enemy, and apologize for our shameful misconduct toward members of the highly regarded Religion of True Peace. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKerbOi_mrI?feature=player_detailpage] Video linkHere's a not very different view: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfJ6FpabknY?feature=player_detailpage] Video linkColonel Allen West has some similar ideas. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CVK4c2qu3M?feature=player_popout] Video linkColonel West is just an absurd old White militaristic Uncle Tom with an irrational hatred of Islam. A vile Islamophobe, he says nothing worth hearing and knows nothing worth knowing. He didn't even have enough common sense to stay happily on the...

While Hamas welcomed a UN vote to recognize "Palestine" on Thursday, on the same day it issued a statement rejecting the UN's famous Resolution 181, in which the world body voted in favor of a plan to recognize two states in what was then British Mandatory Palestine - one Arab, and one Jewish. The Arab world rejected the plan and attacked the fledgling Jewish state - an approach which led to Israel growing in size, while Egypt and Jordan seized the rest of the land in the former British mandate. Hamas' Thursday statement indicated that its approach to the "problem"...

Good afternoon/evening FReepers. Yep, it is Beer Thirty Time Once Again!Happiness is a bubbling airlock! And a Cold Brew Irish Stout Yum! Good evening/afternoon brewers and winemakers. I bottled the Irish Stout that I started about 4 weeks ago this week. I would like to try a Blueberry Wine soon. I think I will make just one gallon to start. What will I need? I will be using frozen whole Blueberries. A recipe for one gallon of must would be nice. Any help out there with what additives I will need and how much? I have a dry Champagne yeast to...

REGINA — The latest HIV statistics have been released and although there has been an eight-per-cent increase of new cases in the province these latest numbers represent a seven-per-cent drop when compared to 2009 rates. “We recognize HIV is a serious issue for Saskatchewan, and we’re committed to reducing the HIV incidence in our province and improving the quality of life for people living with HIV,” Dustin Duncan, minister of health, at the All Nations Hope AIDS Network HIV Conference. “We are into the third year of implementing the provincial HIV Strategy and we have made significant progress on a...

CBS Radio hit by gunfire. (Story at Link.)

Extending the current level of long-term unemployment benefits for another year would add 300,000 jobs to the economy, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office. The analysis released Wednesday from the nonpartisan office estimates that keeping jobless benefits would cost the government $30 billion. But it would also lead to more spending by the unemployed, boosting demand for goods and services and creating new jobs. Federal long-term unemployment benefits are set to expire on Dec. 29 for more than 2 million workers unless Congress approves an extension. Democrats have called for reauthorization of extended benefits, but Republicans generally...

WASHINGTON—House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will try to force a vote on the House floor to extend current tax rates for the middle class next week if Republicans do not act, the California Democrat announced on Friday. During a press conference on Capitol Hill, Pelosi called on House Republicans, who control the chamber, to hold another floor vote on whether to extend current tax rates for individuals who earn $200,000 or less and families making $250,000 or less. If they don't, Pelosi vowed to file a "discharge petition" that would force a vote if 218 House members sign it, which...

The White House announced its opposition to a new round of Iran sanctions that the Senate unanimously approved Friday, in the latest instance of Congress pushing for more aggressive punitive measures on Iran than the administration deems prudent. On Thursday, Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) introduced the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which the Senate passed 94-0. The new legislative language would blacklist Iran's energy, port, shipping, and shipbuilding sectors, while also placing new restrictions on Iran's ability to get insurance for all these industries. The legislation would also vastly expand U.S. support for human...

Plus, 40 Creative Writing Fellowships totaling $1 million awarded to poets November 27, 2012 Contact: Victoria Hutter 202.682.5570 hutterv@arts.gov Washington, DC -- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Rocco Landesman announced today that the NEA will award 832 grants totaling $23.3 million through its Art Works funding category. Not-for-profit arts organizations in 47 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico will receive funding. The supported projects span 13 artistic disciplines and fields and focus primarily on the creation of work and presentation of both new and existing works for the benefit of American audiences. In addition, the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Stevie Wonder is calling off a concert for a group that raises money for the Israeli military. Wonder had been scheduled to perform next week for Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, which raises money for Israeli soldiers and their families.

Do you believe that conservatism requires spending more on defense? I am surprised that so many of my fellow conservatives believe that defense spending cuts are at odds with conservatism. I definitely think we need a strong defense: that is a conservative principle. But, we should definitely evaluate what level of spending is necessary to make a strong defense. We owe it to the men and women fighting our war in Afghanistan to give them the tools they need to fight, but I can't imagine that there is no waste in the defense budget. We owe our soldiers a duty...

November 30, 2012 Report: Security Clearances Revoked, Criminal Charges Pending For ATF Fast and Furious Officials Katie Pavlich Washington D.C. - According to credible ATF sources, officials heavily involved in Operation Fast and Furious and named as partially responsible for the program's failure by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz and the House Oversight Committee have been stripped of their government security clearances while some have been fired, demoted, and transferred. Criminal charges are also reportedly pending. Former ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division Bill Newell, former ATF Special Agent in Charge of Operations in...

California Is About To Get Pummeled With Rivers Of Rain Mark Fischetti, Scientific AmericanNovember 30, 2012An atmospheric river (thin yellow band) feeds torrential rain into northern California on Nov. 30. Northern California is experiencing the first days of what weather forecasters are warning will be a long series of torrential rainstorms that could cause serious flooding across the northern one-third of the state. The relentless storms are being driven by a feature in the atmosphere you have probably never heard of: an atmospheric river. Oh, and another atmospheric river created the worst flooding since the 1960s in western England and...

The Legacy Lives On! Mark’s Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation “Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and TyrannyWelcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811

The Pope’s new book, Infancy Narratives, was released on November 21. The day’s headline of the Daily Mail? “Killjoy Pope crushes Christmas nativity traditions: New Jesus book reveals there were no donkeys beside crib, no lowing oxen and definitely no carols.” CNN’s online story followed suit. The New York Daily News repeated the claim about the animals, adding not that the pope agreed with some historians on an earlier dating of the birth of Christ but that “the Christian calendar has Jesus’ birth year wrong, Pope Benedict XVI claims in a new book.” But those who have read Pope Benedict...

"Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels." Revelation 12:7 War always will rage between the two great sovereignties until one or other be crushed. Peace between good and evil is an impossibility; the very pretence of it would, in fact, be the triumph of the powers of darkness. Michael will always fight; his holy soul is vexed with sin, and will not endure it. Jesus will always be the dragon's foe, and that not in a quiet sense, but actively, vigorously, with full determination to exterminate evil. All his servants, whether angels...