Free Republic

A violent face-off developed Thursday afternoon between IDF soldiers and Arabs in Hevron. In the wake of the face-off, a major Arab riot developed, with Arabs throwing stones and bricks at IDF soldiers. Israeli forces used anti-riot tactics to break up the fracas. IDF officials said they considered the incident “serious,” and that an investigation had been opened. Officials said that the level of Arab rioting in Judea and Samaria had climbed significantly since Operation Pillar of Defense ended, and that there were more reports of rock throwing and other terror incidents. Officials said that they had also been prepared...

In some Jewish homes this Hanukkah, families will celebrate with an alternative to the traditional potato latke: the boyo. These Turkish-style stuffed pastries — also known as bulemas, depending upon their shape and the village their maker comes from — are made by Jews whose ancestors lived in the Ottoman Empire. Traditionally, boyos were made for Shabbat (the Sabbath) and the Jewish holidays. But these busy days, they're reserved mostly for the holidays. In Renee Ferrera's Portland, Ore., kitchen, every available space is taken over with boyo-making when the holidays roll around. For this Hanukkah, there are bowls of spinach...

Jews in Hevron are facing the prospect of another expulsion after the State Prosecution adopted a former senior prosecutor’s opinion in favor of evicting Israeli Jews from Beit Ezra. Beit Ezra is a Jewish owned building in Hevron that was abandoned in 1947 when Jews were forced from the city, but was restored to Jewish ownership following the 1967 Six Day War. A court has issued a verdict favorable to the Jewish families living in the property, but the families’ rights to the building have been challenged by a Peace Now lawsuit calling for their eviction. .....

Not long ago, it seemed to many observers that the House of Representatives was a case of the tail wagging the dog, with Speaker John Boehner unable to keep in line many of his fellow Republicans, especially freshmen who came to Congress riding the 2010 Tea Party wave. Now, however, the big dog seems back in control. Some of the signs are subtle, some not. But as he faces off with President Obama during fiscal cliff negotiations, Boehner enjoys a stronger position with House Republicans than he had during earlier showdowns with the White House. In a paradoxical way, Obama's...

Former Episcopal priest Larry Gipson. CNA file photo. Houston, Texas, Dec 8, 2012 / 01:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Former Episcopal priest Laurence Gipson, who became Catholic in October, says his reaction to the Catholic ordinariate for former Anglicans is one of “gratitude.” “The ordinariate, I think, is a wonderful opportunity for people like me, Anglican clergy and Anglican laity, who are seeking Catholic faith,” he said. On Jan. 1, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI established the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter to allow Anglican and Episcopalian groups in the U.S. to become Catholic as groups, not only as...

The Israeli Navy is prepared to neutralize threats targeting Israel's Tamar natural gas rig, the IDF Website reported Saturday. The Navy will protect the reception facility – a vital infrastructural facility to pump gas from the rig – which is currently being built. The IDF's defensive model has been tested in three scenarios: routine, escalation, and emergency. "The wisdom in the development of this kind of model is that it provides an excellent response for all three scenarios," senior naval commander Rear Adm. Yaron Levi recently explained at a conference on protecting Israel's economic waters held at the Institute for...

A mother who beat her son to death for failing to learn the Koran by heart murdered him and burned his body to hide the evidence, a jury has found.Sara Ege, 33, treated her son Yaseen like a "dog," brutally beating him with a stick for failing to memorise religious texts. The seven-year-old died in July 2010 from internal injuries caused by three months of punishing beatings from his own mother. Ege accused her husband, Yousef, of being the real killer throughout her murder trial at Cardiff Crown Court. But he was cleared on Wednesday of failing to act to...

As we eliminate the private sector and welfare state, we will need more government employees. Introduction.Cry along with me! I have reluctantly decided, as every compliant citizen must and as every other voter already has, that Speaker Boehner is right and that all who refuse to play on his team and instead reject President Obama's grand plan for a delightfully mediocre America are deluded. Accordingly, I have tried to get into step by thinking as a proper Librul -- it's the way of the future. This article reflects my new Librul approach. All must join Team Boehner now; it's for...

Do Catholics worship Mary? This question is as old as the Protestant Reformation itself, and it rests, like other disputed doctrinal points, on a false premise that has been turned into a wedge: the veneration of Mary detracts from the worship of Christ. This seeming opposition between Mary and Christ is symptomatic of the Protestant tendency, begun by Luther, to view the entirety of Christian life through a dialectical lens – a lens of conflict and division. With the Reformation the integrity of Christianity is broken and its formerly coherent elements are now set in opposition. The Gospel versus the...

The day after the election, House Speaker John Boehner, the man now at the center of the negotiations with President Obama, called Ryan, according to a Boehner aide, because the speaker wanted "to make sure he was in the fold from Day One," adding he's been a "close part of the thought process." And an aide to Ryan, who asked that his name not be used, says the role of the Wisconsin congressman is as a "resource to the speaker, a resource to House Republicans."

The preserved body of a woolly rhinoceros has revealed new insights into how this now extinct giant animal once lived. The woolly rhino was once one of the most abundant large mammals living in Eurasia, but only a handful of preserved carcasses have been found. Now an analysis of a female woolly rhino found preserved in Siberia reveals that the animal was a herbivore that grazed mainly on cereals, and was similar in size to today's Javan rhino. However, it was slow to reproduce, had a short stubby tail and ears, and was likely driven to extinction in part due...

Student religious groups should not have to appoint leaders who do not share their beliefs, a student judiciary at Tufts University announced on Wednesday (Dec. 5). It was a big victory for a Christian group on campus that had lost official recognition in October. Like several other private colleges, Tufts has an "all comers" policy that requires official student organizations to be open to all students for both membership and leadership, regardless of beliefs. But in reviewing a discrimination complaint filed against Tufts Christian Fellowship (TCF), the largest evangelical group on the Medford, Mass., campus, the Tufts Committee on Student...

Potato the dog from Jiangsu province in China has been taught to add, subtract, multiply and divide.Proud dog owner Lu Zesheng says he has been able to train his two-year-old canine companion Potato to do arithmetic. Lu poses the questions, and Potato barks the answers. For example, when asked: "How much is 3.44 plus 3.56?" Potato barks seven times which, according to Lu, means he knows the answer is seven.

On Thursday, George Zimmerman filed suit against NBC News and three NBC producers he accuses of intentionally painting him as a racist. Zimmerman and his attorneys have now done what many in the new media only dream of doing, holding the major media responsible for their biased and misleading output. The language in the complaint is blunt. It calls NBC's coverage "yellow journalism" and refers to "journalistic crimes." Most broadly, the complaint accuses NBC of trumping up a racism narrative for ratings, with a name check of the Today Show and Rev. Al Sharpton in particular. Here are some of...

My son has been deployed overseas the past two years. My wife and I pray every day for his safety and for the safety of all of America’s sons and daughters serving in the nation’s military. That’s why I find offensive the music video in which Korean pop star PSY appeared in which he wished death upon our men and women in uniform. Like my 23-year-old son, the only child with which my wife and I have been blessed. It’s also why I am angry that PSY has not been disinvited to an upcoming Christmas concert for President Obama, whom,...

Mother-of-two Jacintha Saldanha was found dead near the King Edward VII hospital in central London By Reuters Published A nurse who answered a prank call at the London hospital that was treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate for morning sickness has been found dead, the hospital said on Friday, in a suspected suicide. The death comes days after the King Edward VII hospital apologized for being duped by an Australian radio station and relaying details about Kate's condition which made headlines around the globe. "It is with very deep sadness that we confirm the tragic death of a member of...

Terry Waite has met the leadership of Hizbollah, the militant group accused of kidnapping and holding him for five years, in an extraordinary gesture of “reconciliation”.The former hostage spoke for two hours to one of its most senior figures at their stronghold in Beirut, his first encounter with the organisation held responsible for masterminding his kidnapping 25 years ago. Accompanied by The Sunday Telegraph, he travelled to Lebanon to highlight the plight of Christians who have fled the Syrian civil war. Mr Waite offered the reconciliation to Hizbollah to help with the Christians’ plight at a secretly arranged, late night...

As hard as it is to believe, it’s been only a little over three weeks since Election Day. But there are already plenty of signs that Republicans are learning many of the wrong lessons from that debacle. For starters, there’s been a lot of excessive emphasis on racial demographics, which actually changed very little from 2008.  According to exit polling, the portion of Hispanic voters went up just 1 percentage point, the portion of Asian voters went up just 1 point, and the portion of black voters stayed the same.  Meanwhile, the portion of white voters fell 2 points — largely because,...

If caught, a fine of $180 will be imposedA village council in the eastern Indian state of Bihar has banned the use of mobile phones by women, saying the phones were "debasing the social atmosphere" by leading to elopements - a move that set off outraged protests from activists. In addition to the ban, the Sunderbari village council in a Muslim-dominated area some 385 kilometers (239 miles) east of Patna, the capital of Bihar, has also imposed a fine of 10,000 rupees ($180) if a girl is caught using a mobile phone on the streets. Married women would have to...

Mother and uncle trained teenager to break into houses and shopsThere seems to be an alarming rise in crimes being committed by juveniles in Sri Lanka. Hot on the heels of a 17-year old girl in Kandy being caught for a series of robberies in the hill capital, the news of a 15-year old boy being nabbed for a similar offence has shocked the community, according to Sinhala daily Lankadeepa. The difference in this case is that the school drop-out has been encouraged by his family members to engage in crime. He was arrested by the Nikaweratiya Police along with...