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In her first speech as a Knesset member Tuesday, MK Orit Strook (Jewish Home) insisted that U.S. President Barack H. Obama be brought to Hevron when he visits Israel next month. Only then, Strook said, would Obama be able to appreciate what the Land of Israel means to the Jewish people. "It would be a good idea to take President Obama not just to Mount Herzl and Yad Vashem, but also - actually, mainly - to the Machpelah Cave in Hevron," Strook said. "We would explain to him that the Land of Israel is not just a refuge for Holocaust...

If you think the Obama health law won't affect you because you have private insurance, keep reading. The Department of Health and Human Services announced final rules for private insurance last week. The federal government will have control over your care. Sec. 1311 of the law empowers the Secretary of Health and Human Services to dictate how doctors treat privately insured patients and what questions patients must be asked. Your doctor will enter your information into an electronic database; your doctor's decisions will be monitored for compliance with federal guidelines, and your doctor may have to choose between what is...

World powers will present Iran with an updated and "good" offer at talks this week on its nuclear program, an EU official said Monday, although hopes for a breakthrough appear slim, AFP reports. Talks aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear drive start Tuesday in Kazakhstan, with the so-called P5+1 represented by the European Union sitting down with an Iranian team led by negotiator Saeed Jalili. "We have prepared a good and updated offer for the talks, which we believe is balanced and a fair basis for constructive talks," said the spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, according to AFP....

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

As responsible citizens continue to buy all the defensive weapons that can be acquired, a new book on community defense has gone viral. Promoted in part by a "hasty" review by Matt Bracken, the noted author Castigo Cay and the Enemies, Foreign and Domestic trilogy, the books authors are hard pressed to keep up with demand. As a fan Matt Bracken's writing, I was looking forward to obtaining a copy of "A Failure of Civility". All I have received is this apologetic email, which I can well sympathize with: Thank you for your inquiry about “A Failure of Civility.” We’re...

Gov. Cuomo said yesterday that 169 of 192 residents of Staten Island’s storm devastated Oakwood Beach have taken him up on his offer to buy out their Sandy-ravaged homes. The people who live in the battered neighborhood have been enticed by a deal that will pay them 100 percent of their damaged home’s prestorm market value — plus 5 percent if the homeowners stay on Staten Island, Cuomo said. The feds will pick up 75 percent of the tab. “Let’s build back smarter than before, and let’s do it right,” Cuomo said during a visit Monday to the College of...

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-ive-become-more-humble_704715.html Obama: I've 'Become More Humble' 2:08 PM, Feb 26, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPER President Barack Obama admitted today in a Virginia speech that he's "become more humble": "But in order for us to make that happen I'm going to need you. You know, the one thing about being president is, after four years, you get pretty humble. You'd think maybe you wouldn't but actually you become more humble--you realize what you don't know," said Obama.

Supporters of same-sex marriage hope for a boost this week when dozens of high-profile Republicans, many no longer in office, submit their legal argument to the Supreme Court on why gays and lesbians should be allowed to wed, bucking their party's platform in a move that one who had a change of heart on the issue said would “strengthen our nation as a whole.” More than 80 Republicans have signed the brief to be filed in the case of Proposition 8, a California law banning same-sex marriage, according to the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which is waging the legal...

Gov. Chris Christie will expand the state's Medicaid program to cover 300,000 uninsured New Jersey residents, The Star-Ledger learned today. The governor's new budget, which he plans to unveil at joint session of the Legislature this afternoon, also relies on state revenue growth of 4.9 percent and delays some property tax rebates for local taxpayers, according to three sources with knowledge of the budget plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The governor's revenue forecast this year is a much smaller jump than the optimistic 8 percent growth of last year, a goal he has not met. The sources...

Tribune Co. has enlisted investment banks to help sell its newspaper business, including the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

Why must Republicans always play defense? Seemingly on the wrong side of any argument? Education; you? The pending sequester cuts have the President and his minions, like a flock of Chicken Littles, running to and fro, spinning tales of planes falling out of the sky.  For some reason - whether they’re too polite, too incredulous or just too inept - I barely hear a peep from the loyal opposition. So I wrote this little story to help Republicans explain the scale of sequester cuts to their constituents and hopefully help them put things in perspective: George Finds Out He’s getting...

"Big Sis" betrayed her fellow Arizonans - and all Americans - today by releasing criminal aliens into communities from coast-to-coast-by John HillStand With Arizona Despite potential budget cuts being 4 days away and Congress and the Administration have been negotiating to avoid them, the Department of Homeland Security has already started releasing hundreds of illegal aliens held in local jails in anticipation of automatic "sequestration" cuts - out of a planned total of more than 10,000 aliens to be released. Sources tell Stand With Arizona that DHS has "34,000 beds" for illegal aliens, meaning that Secretary Janet Napolitano is releasing...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke strongly defended the U.S. central bank's monetary stimulus before Congress on Tuesday, easing financial market worries over a possible early retreat from bond buys. The Fed chairman also urged lawmakers to avoid sharp spending cuts set to go into effect on Friday, which he warned could combine with earlier tax increases to create a "significant headwind" for the modest economic recovery. Bernanke said Fed policymakers are cognizant of potential risks from their extraordinary support for the economy, including the possibility that it might fuel unwanted inflation or stoke asset bubbles. But, in...

Meg Whitman, Jon Huntsman, Christine Todd Whitman, Carlos Gutierrez, Ted Olson, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and members of the Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain presidential campaigns.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke strongly defended the U.S. central bank's monetary stimulus before Congress on Tuesday, easing financial market worries over a possible early retreat from bond buys. The Fed chairman also urged lawmakers to avoid sharp spending cuts set to go into effect on Friday, which he warned could combine with earlier tax increases to create a "significant headwind" for the modest economic recovery. Bernanke said Fed policymakers are cognizant of potential risks from their extraordinary support for the economy, including the possibility that it might fuel unwanted inflation or stoke asset bubbles. But, in...

I'm thinking of buying one with the Freedom Drive II 4WD package. Seems a little underpowered, though. But I won't be hauling, or doing any serious off-roading.

Following in fellow MSNBC co-host Chris Hayes’s footsteps, the network’s conservative pundit S. E. Cupp has withdrawn from speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference next month over the issue of same-sex marriage and the exclusion of GOProud. Cupp announced her decision to back out on The Cycle earlier this afternoon.

For girls born after women were appointed to the Supreme Court, "Makers: Women Who Make America" is a history lesson. The three-hour special that airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, on PBS is naturally not just for younger women. It is for everyone — those who relished victories whenever women won higher office, experienced fury when colleagues made sexual advances or were frustrated when schools allocated money only for boys sports. It's for males and females — those who suffered the indignities and fought to change the world and those for whom the ERA is only a baseball stat....

A lame-duck pope. A secret dossier. Rumors of a gay cabal. A cardinal accused of "inappropriate" behavior. The Vatican is in an uproar, and church scholars say there hasn't been this much drama surrounding a conclave since 1800, when Pope Pius VI died while being held prisoner by Napoleon. One Vatican watcher says you have to go back to 1730 — when Pope Benedict XIII's right-hand man fled Rome in disguise amid allegations of corruption — to find a conclave buffeted by this much scandal. "This is not a healthy situation for any kind of institution," said the Rev. Thomas...

In a highly unusual move, federal immigration officials have released hundreds of detainees from immigration detention centers around the country, an effort to save money as automatic budget cuts loom in Washington, officials said Tuesday. The government has not dropped the deportation cases against the immigrants, however. The detainees have been freed on supervised release while their cases continue in court, officials said. But the move angered some Republicans, including Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte of Virginia, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who said the releases were a political gambit by the Obama administration that undermined the continuing negotiations over...