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Infections of the kidney, bladder and urethra happen in uncircumcised baby boys at ten times the rate of circumcised boys, and over a lifetime, uncircumcised men are four times more likely to experience one, according to a new analysis of past research. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are most common in boys’ first year of life, and circumcision was already known to make a difference in their risk, but how much and whether that carried through to adulthood was unclear, Australian researchers say. They found that circumcision “provides considerable protection and over the lifespan makes about a three- to four-fold difference...

The following picture has been posted by the office of PM Netanyahu in his Facebook page. My question is: why is he lighting the shamash after the first Hanukkah candle is already lighted? I am not criticizing, I am a Christian who is trying to learn.

Posing as a delegate from Myanmar, the climate skeptic, Lord Monckton, spoke at the UN climate negotiations in Doha, Qatar. The imposter was later expelled from the conference...

Posted at: 12/07/2012 4:02 PM Updated at: 12/07/2012 5:00 PM By: Cassie Hart Woman Who Stalked, Killed Ex in Brooklyn Park Faces 40 Years A woman accused of stalking and then killing her ex-boyfriend in his Brooklyn Park home pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder. 39-year-old Rochelle Lynn Inselman of Eden Valley was indicted for first-degree murder and faced life in prison without parole. "The charges were reduced when she agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder", said Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Dominick Mathews. Inselman pleaded guilty to shooting and killing 41-year old Bret Struck on February 12th. “Every case...

Hovering in the background of the “fiscal cliff” debate is the prospect of 2 million people losing their unemployment benefits four days after Christmas. “This is the real cliff,” said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. He's been leading the effort to include another extension of benefits for the long-term unemployed in any deal to avert looming tax increases and massive spending cuts in January. “Many of these people are struggling to pay mortgages, to provide education for their children,” Reed said this past week as President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, rejected each other’s opening offers for a...

The problem is that it’s also the 9 percent that has the best equipment and the best fighters. But this should be interesting. The U.S. State Department is planning to designate the al-Nusra Front, a radical Islamist group in Syria, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, according to two U.S. officials who spoke to CNN on background. The goal of the designation is to isolate extremists groups in Syria while giving a boost to the new political opposition group unveiled at a summit in Doha, Qatar, last month. The latest U.S. data estimates al-Nusra makes up roughly 9% of the rebel...

The youngest baby boomers will begin turning 50 next year, a noteworthy milestone in the graying of America. But the more important data point may be this: Last year, the birth rate in America fell to the lowest level in recorded history. These may be separate developments but they are part of the same ominous story. As our largest generation moves toward full-on retirement we are minting what promises to be our smallest generation, a group that from the very beginning of its working years will face the impossible task of supporting millions of entitled old fogeys. Something will have...

CAIRO: Struggling to subdue continuing street protests, the government of PresidentMohamed Morsi has approved legislation reimposing martial law by calling on the armed forces to keep order and authorizing soldiers to arrest civilians, Egypt's state media reported on Saturday. Morsi has not yet issued the order, the flagship state newspaper Al Ahram reported. But even if merely a threat, the preparation of the measure suggested an escalation in the political battle between Egypt's new Islamist leaders and their secular opponents over an Islamist-backed draft constitution. The standoff has already threatened to derail the culmination of Egypt's promised transition to a...

Is there a war on Christmas? Yes No

President Obama went over the constitutional cliff this week, demanding more power than the U.S. Constitution allows any president to have. All Americans — regardless of party affiliation — should shudder at the president's attempted power grab and say no. Compromising on taxes and spending is fine, but not on the nation's bedrock principles. To avert the so-called fiscal cliff on Jan. 1, 2013, Obama is insisting that House Republicans hand over to him Congress's authority to raise the debt ceiling. Obama is demanding a power no other president has ever had — to borrow without congressional prior approval. Under...

Explanation: A Full Moon rises in this waterfront scene. Its colorful, watery reflection is joined by harbor lights and a windowed skyscraper's echo of the western horizon just after sunset. The tantalizing image is a composite of frames recorded at 2 minute intervals on November 28 from the Caspian Sea port city of Baku, Azerbaijan. Still, this Full Moon was not really as big or as bright as others, though it might be hard to tell. In fact, November 28's Full Moon was near apogee, making it the smallest Full Moon of 2012. As it rose over the Baku boardwalk...

From the New York Daily News: “Snooki Gives Kate Middleton Advice on Being a New Parent.” Great! Maybe Kate could return the favor and give Snooki and her fellow Americans some advice. About fiscal prudence, for example... --snip-- In his recent book Presidential Perks Gone Royal, Robert Keith Gray, a former Eisenhower staffer, revealed that last year the U.S. presidency cost American taxpayers $1.4 billion. Over the same period, the entire royal family cost British taxpayers about $57 million. There’s nothing “royal” about the current level of “presidential perks”: The Obama family costs taxpayers more than every European royal house...

Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. (Isaiah 46:9-10)

President Obama argues Republicans want to go back to pre-recession policies of cutting "taxes for the folks at the very top" and rolling back "regulations on big banks." He warned: "We tried that top-down approach. It's what caused the mess in the first place." Did it, though? Most economists agree the recession was caused by the subprime mortgage crisis, which had little if anything to do with tax policies. In fact, real economic growth accelerated after 2003, when the Bush tax cuts for top earners and small businesses fully went into effect. The 73-month economic boom of the 2000s didn't...

Lost within the tsunami of campaign reporting was a study released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on October 3, 2012. The report, titled "Births: Preliminary Data for 2011," passed through the 24-hour news cycle with hardly a mention. The only reason I heard about it was due to a short blurb carried by a local outlet, which reported a significant drop in teenage births. This news item was, of course, reported as positive. But the full report and its tables of statistics reveals nothing positive whatsoever. According to the CDC numbers, 2011 was a banner year. It recorded...

A small business that sells plus-size women's shoes took a big hit this week when dozens of the company's shoes were stolen from a car in San Francisco's Mission District. Johanna Nilsson, a spokeswoman for LLXLLQ, said she was parked at 19th and Valencia streets on Monday evening when someone broke into the trunk of her car and stole about 50 shoe samples, all right-footed. The total value of the shoes is about $10,000, she said. The Palo Alto-based company, which sells various shoes crafted in Italy in sizes 10-12, is currently online-only but plans to open a store in...

Post 'em if ya' got 'em!

Here we go again, it's "American Idol: Presidential Edition." And we can't even resist waiting until 2012 is over. Since the Republican Party clearly needs to amp up its Hispanic outreach, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is a leading contestant for their team. And Hillary, oh Hillary, she is inevitable all over again. Pundits on left-leaning MSNBC who once cast her aside in 2008 are now expecting her to be their next candidate. After viciously attacking the GOP during this year's presidential election, The National Organization for Women is now insisting that President Obama's cabinet be filled with at least 50...

You wouldn’t know it by perusing mainstream media coverage, but now that the 2012 election is out of the way, the Department of Justice is discarding some of the troublesome ATF and DOJ employees responsible for Operation Fast and Furious, the gunrunning operation that put more than 2,000 firearms into the hands of the Sinaloa narco-terrorist cartel. Eric Holder’s chief of staff, Gary Grindler, was the highest-ranking figure to go: A ranking Justice Department official named by Republicans in their probes into the botched gunrunning scheme “Fast and Furious” will resign on Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced in a...

The ubiquitous Salvation Army bell ringers who collect donations for charity every Christmas might be booted from the liberal bastion of UC Berkeley, where the student body has accused the Christian group of holding homophobic policies. Last month, the student government passed a resolution saying the bell ringers and their red kettles are persona non grata on campus, claiming the charity organization only serves people who "accept and abide by the Salvation Army's doctrine and discipline,' which excludes homosexuality," according to the resolution. The Campus Reform blog explains that Berkeley officials are now seriously reviewing whether to grant the student...