Free Republic

Like megachurches, homeschooling, and Tim Tebow, “Merry Christmas� has become a religio-cultural Rorschach test. If you prefer that department stores greet you with a “Merry Christmas,� or at least wish they didn’t feel compelled to adopt the anodyne “Happy Holidays,� chances are good you’re a conservative Christian of some stripe. If, on the other hand, you prefer to talk about how ridiculous it is that anyone should care how a department store greets them, or if you prefer to mock that concern and say that people who feel that concern should (a) get a life or (b) stop trying...

As a biblical fundamentalist (one who believes in the realities and ETERNAL truths of the Holy Bible) I have one critique with those who give political commentary and analysis. The average media personality today - whether they be a Left-wing reprobate or a Conservative, REFUSES to see the world, the events at hand and the overall picture of why the world is the way it is from Almighty God’s ETERNAL perspective (2 Cor. 4:3-4, Eph. 6:12, 1 John 2:16-17). These blinded individuals (Left or Right), posses an unbelieving subjective world view which blinds them to the true realities at hand,...

The President says that “the best economic policy is one that produces more college graduates.” No doubt this is best for colleges, which have been able to increase tuition faster than inflation, year after year, secure in the knowledge that they can rake in ever-rising government subsidies and skyrocketing tuition. Students have little choice but to pay inflated tuition bills to the education industrial-complex, as they vie with each other for scarce entry-level jobs by acquiring ever more degrees that show their ability to jump through hoops and master difficult (but largely useless) skills. But is this educational arms race...

ScienceDaily (Mar. 19, 2010) — Centuries ago, scientists began reducing the physics of the universe into a few, key laws described by a handful of parameters. Such simple descriptions have remained elusive for complex biological systems -- until now.Emory biophysicist Ilya Nemenman has identified parameters for several biochemical networks that distill the entire behavior of these systems into simple equivalent dynamics. The discovery may hold the potential to streamline the development of drugs and diagnostic tools, by simplifying the research models.

Induced abortion is the surgical or medical intervention in a pregnancy for the purpose of causing the death of the embryo or fetus. (If the procedure results in a live birth, the outcome is a preterm delivery, not an abortion.) Every abortion, then, is an iatrogenic death. Every post-abortion woman has undergone a real death experience - the death of her child. Grief is a natural consequence of death. Current obstetrical and psychiatric literature abounds with articles about grief following perinatal death - death due to spontaneous abortion, premature birth, stillbirth, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. However, it is only...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2010 – The complexity of the situation in northern Iraq means that more U.S. troops will remain in the region than elsewhere in the country after the March 7 elections, the commander of U.S. forces in the region said today. Video Army Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo, commander of U.S. Division North, said he expects more U.S. troops will be needed in Iraq’s seven northern provinces than elsewhere in the country. Cucolo commands the 21,000-member division that covers the area from the Baghdad suburbs to Iraq’s borders with Syria, Turkey and Iran. He spoke via teleconference with Pentagon...

Young Iraqi boxers give a demonstration for their peers during the Basrah Sports City Complex groundbreaking ceremony, July 20. Sports City will be a training facility for Olympians and world-class competitors, giving these children hopes and dreams of one day representing their country on the international sports stage. Photo by Sgt. Rodney Foliente, 4th Infantry Division. BASRAH — The provincial government here hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the Basrah Sports City Complex, July 20. The project is slated to be completed in 2013, just in time for the city to host the 21st Gulf Cup Soccer Tournament. "I am proud...

Darwinists Topple Darwin’s Tree of Life Darwin’s “Tree of Life” is a myth. It’s based on circular reasoning. It is a pattern imposed on the data, not a fact emerging from the evidence. We should give up the search for a single tree of life (TOL) as a record of the history of life on earth, because it is a “quixotic pursuit” unlikely to succeed – and the evidence is against it. Who said this? Not creationists, but a new member of the National Academy of Sciences in his inaugural paper for the academy’s Proceedings.1 W. Ford Doolittle and Eric...

The Obama administration backed off Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s statement last week that China is “manipulating” its currency. In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden said the administration has made “no judgment” on whether the Chinese have manipulated their currency, an accusation that would have international legal ramifications. “The policy of this administration is going to be to say to China, which occasionally the last administration was reluctant to do. `You're a major player on the world scene economically, and you've got to play by the rules that

ADHAMIYAH, Iraq, Jan. 28, 2009 – As a two-time Olympian shouted instructions from the side, two boxers sparred for a crowd of onlookers to celebrate the reopening of the Adhamiyah Sports Complex in northeastern Baghdad yesterday. Two-time Olympian Farouk Changchun, left, and the Iraqi boxers he trains pose with gear donated by USA Boxing for the reopening of the Adhamiyah Sports Complex in northeastern Baghdad, Jan. 27, 2009. Changchun represented Iraq in the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Games. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Zach Mott  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Following a $200,000 facelift funded through the coalition’s...

NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Nov. 8, 2007 – A new legal complex under construction here is incorporating concepts proven in forward field environments to provide a cost-effective way to support the military commissions process. Air National Guardsmen construct a commission building that will house the courtroom that’s the centerpiece of an expeditionary legal complex at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. About 100 Air National Guardsmen from six states are building the first known expeditionary legal complex. The complex will include a $10 million courtroom building and a 100-tent city that...

BAGHDAD — Construction workers are busy building an addition to the Kadhimiyah Courthouse in western Baghdad. A new, one-story, 427 square-meter building is under construction that will expand the overall facility by 25 percent. The Criminal Investigation Court includes three judges, two prosecutors and 11 judicial investigators. The Personal Status Court has three judges. About 300 litigants attend the court daily. The new building, which adjoins the existing facility, will be used by both the Al Fajr and Atifiya city councils. Al Fajr chairman, Mr. Ali, said the new structure is a great addition to the community. “This facility demonstrates...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2007 – The environment in Iraq is extremely complex, and the American people are going to have to be patient, the commander of Multinational Corps Iraq said in a news conference today. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno said the threats to stability differ from province to province, and there is no silver-bullet solution to the situation. He said sectarian strife, Sunni and Shiia extremists, al Qaeda, crime and subversive influences from around the region are the main threats in the country. Odierno briefed Pentagon reporters via a two-way link from his headquarters in Camp Liberty,...

NEW YORK - Does money buy happiness? It's sometimes said that scientists have found no relationship between money and happiness, but that's a myth, says University of Illinois psychologist Ed Diener. The connection is complex, he says. But in fact, very rich people rate substantially higher in satisfaction with life than very poor people do, even within wealthy nations, he says. "There is overwhelming evidence that money buys happiness," said economist Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in England. The main debate, he said, is how strong the effect is. Oswald recently reported a study of Britons who won...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2006 – The senior U.S. troop commander in Iraq today expressed his belief that the country can be stabilized, while acknowledging the “difficult and complex” situation there. “Several factors add to the complexity that we’re now seeing” in Iraq, Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force Iraq, told reporters in Baghdad. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad accompanied Casey at the news conference. Since the Iraqi elections in December 2005, the nature of the conflict has evolved “from what was an insurgency against us, to a struggle for the division of political and economic...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2006 – The U.S. military’s goal is to win the fight against insurgents in Anbar province and across Iraq, but leaders recognize that winning will take more than just military operations, a top U.S. general in Iraq said today. “We are fighting to win, but we understand that winning is a combination of a whole bunch of things in this insurgency we're fighting, and as I've indicated time and time again, this is different than any other fight I believe the United States of America has ever found itself in,” Army Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, commander...

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 11, 2006 – Violence in southern Afghanistan is caused not just by militant extremists, but also by regional issues such as a lack of governance, the U.S. general in charge of coalition troops in Afghanistan said today. The Afghan government has not traditionally had strength and presence in certain provinces in southern Afghanistan, so the Taliban can easily gain strength, Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, told reporters in Tajikistan before boarding a flight here with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. "It's not a question of the enemy being strong; it's very...

Cattle's Call of the Wild: Domestication may hold complex genetic tale Bruce Bower A new investigation of DNA that was obtained from modern cattle and from fossils of their ancient, wild ancestors puts scientists on the horns of a domestication dilemma. The new data challenge the mainstream idea, based on earlier genetic and archaeological evidence, that herding and farming groups in southeastern Turkey or adjacent Near Eastern regions domesticated cattle perhaps 11,000 years ago. According to that view, these groups then introduced the animals throughout Europe, so current European cattle breeds would trace their ancestry directly back to early Near...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, May 8, 2006 – A coalition air strike killed four enemy extremists and destroyed a truck and a cave complex today in the Bermel district of Afghanistan's Paktika province, military officials reported. Other insurgents may be buried in the rubble, officials said. Prior to the strike, a joint combat team of Afghan National Army and U.S. ground forces saw people loading a truck near the cave and determined they were moving rockets from a cave complex and that the activity was linked to recent rocket attacks on a nearby coalition base. Close-air support was used to...

Scientists gain insight into invisibility through a complex superlens By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 03/05/2006) The Klingons used it to make their Bird of Prey spacecraft invisible. The Romulans used cloaking too and variants of this stealth technology hid the nasty alien in the Predator films and have been mentioned in Star Wars, Doctor Who and more besides. Scriptwriters will be pleased to discover that this science fiction idea is deemed today to be closer to science fact than we realised, according to a paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences....

Iran builds a secret underground complex as nuclear tensions rise By Philip Sherwell in Washington (Filed: 12/03/2006) Iran's leaders have built a secret underground emergency command centre in Teheran as they prepare for a confrontation with the West over their illicit nuclear programme, the Sunday Telegraph has been told. The complex of rooms and offices beneath the Abbas Abad district in the north of the capital is designed to serve as a bolthole and headquarters for the country's rulers as military tensions mount. Iran uses small attack boats to simulate assaults on US warships The recently completed command centre is...

In December, the FBI was worried that Border Patrol agents' lives were in danger. But many of those officers never got the memo. Instead, agents say, they first learned of the threat -- that smugglers planned to hire gang members to murder Border Patrol agents -- when a Daily Bulletin reporter called to ask for their opinions. The fact that many officers didn't know about the threat, described in an "Officer Safety Alert" disseminated by the Department of Homeland Security, shows how poor communication among law enforcement agencies can be. The warning is "proof that we're being targeted," said a...

The question is this: After Eisenhower’s speech and thinking about the current situation with the War on Terrorism, do you think that we have a “balanced” approach described in this paragraph of Eisenhower’s speech: "Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research --...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Nearly two decades after voters approved Proposition 98, the school-funding initiative has become a central target in the debate over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempt to gain greater control over state spending. The landmark education funding measure, narrowly approved by voters in 1988, made a simple promise to schools and community colleges: They could depend on getting the lion's share of state spending - in good times and bad. As California struggles with annual budget deficits, Schwarzenegger has argued that it can no longer afford the funding guarantee of Proposition 98. He said the funding mandate takes too...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2005 – A Marine assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), was killed Sept. 15 from an indirect-fire explosion at Forward Operating Base Camp Ramadi in Iraq, military officials announced today. The Marine's name is being withheld, pending family notification. In other Iraq news, coalition forces raided an al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist complex south of Haditha that contained a car-bomb factory and weapons caches. Tips from local citizens and intelligence resources had confirmed the 12-building complex's existence. All terrorists had fled the facility before the coalition had arrived, but forces found that...

For every day Terri Shiavo suffers, liberals continue to deny their role in the conspiracy to commit murder. In an attempt to muddy the water and wash their hands of any responsibility for her death, those who support Terri’s starvation have adopted a new catch phrase: “This is a very difficult and complex matter.” Whether it is Michael Shiavo’s lawyer, Judge Greer, Jeb Bush, the Florida legislature, or everyone in the partisan media, these modern day equivalents of Pontius Pilate have decided that the best way to wash their hands of Terri’s blood is to constantly mumble some generic form...

Contact: José Iriarte iriartej@si.edu 202-786-2094 x8350 Smithsonian Institution A complex agricultural society in Uruguay's La Plata basin, 4,800-4,200 years ago A complex farming society developed in Uruguay around 4,800 to 4,200 years ago, much earlier that previously thought, Iriarte and his colleagues report in this week's Nature (December 2). Researchers had assumed that the large rivers system called the La Plata Basin was inhabited by simple groups of hunters and gatherers for much of the pre-Hispanic era. Iriarte and coauthors excavated an extensive mound complex, called Los Ajos, in the wetlands of southeastern Uruguay. They found evidence of a circular...

Secret Complex Exists Underneath Belgrade. BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - A probe into the mysterious shooting of two soldiers has revealed the existence beneath the Serbian capital of a secret communist-era network of tunnels and bunkers that could have served as recent hideouts for some of the world's most-wanted war crimes suspects. The 2-square-mile complex - dubbed a ``concrete underground city'' by the local media - was built deep inside a rocky hill in a residential area of Belgrade in the 1960s on the orders of communist strongman Josip Broz Tito. Until recently its existence was known only to senior military...

JOHN KERRY'S IRAQ DELUSIONS~PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE 2 POURQUOI JOHN KERRY EST DANGEREUX POUR L'AMÉRIQUE   by Mia T, 10.09.04 IRAQ DELUSIONS (viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE) UNFIT #23: THUMBSUCKER SERIESJohn "One Position on Iraq" Kerry's 1971 Replay (viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE) NEW! compleatjohnkerry.blogspot.com NEW! unfitforcommand.blogspot.comjohnkerryisdangerousforamerica.blogspot.com KERRY DOESN'T HAVE THE JUDGMENT TO BE PRESIDENT Senator Kerry's contradictions on Iraq are the wrong signal to send to our troops on the ground, to our coalition partners, to the Iraqi people and to the terrorists seeking our destruction. On the eve of Prime Minister Allawi's visit...

Cheney Outshines Edwards; North Korea Outshines Iraq Written by Isaiah Sterrett Thursday, October 07, 2004 This is what happens when you choose your running-mate solely on the basis of his superior use of hairspray. Several days ago I was taking advantage of Al Gore’s best and most well-known invention, the world-renowned ''Internet,'' when I came across a column he’d written for The New York Times. (Someday, when I serve as vice president under an impeached, disbarred miscreant and then run a miserable presidential campaign which I lose to a virtually unknown politician from a dusty state, I look forward to...

Ancient Relics Discovered at Kaesong Industrial ComplexThousands of historical remains such as figures of bull images were found at the Kaesong Industrial Complex. Korea Land Corporation has conducted a joint excavation with North Korea since last June in 12 areas of the Kaesong Industrial Complex in which relics were distributed, and discovered a huge amount of historical remains from the Old Stone Age to the Chosun (Joseon) Dynasty. Iron figure bull image found at Gaesong Industrial Complex./Yonhap The figures of bull images were found where a Koryo Dynasty building had been, and were probably buried during construction as part of...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) and his wife, Maria Shriver, have sold three properties in their posh Pacific Palisades residential compound, which is valued at about $18 million, and a fourth parcel is in escrow, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday. The couple has not lived on the 5.3-acre property since they bought a new home in nearby Brentwood for about $11.9 million in 2002, the paper reported. The four parcels in the compound were offered as three separate homes. Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, a son of Robert F. Kennedy and a...

Spiral ring reveals ancient complex machines 19:00 10 June 04 NewScientist.com news service Distinctive spiral patterns carved into a small jade ring show that China was using complex machines more than 2500 years ago, says a Harvard graduate student in physics. The spiral-patterned ring is 27 millimetres in diameter and was probably a body ornament (Image: Science) The ring was among the goods found in high-status graves from China's "Spring and Autumn Period" from 771 to 475 BC. Most archaeological attention has focused on larger and more spectacular jade and bronze artifacts. But Peter Lu identified the patterns on the...

WASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden and his henchmen had hoped their attacks would cripple the U.S. economy. But while Sept. 11 helped deepen the nation's recession, the al-Qaida terrorists also unwittingly spurred a new, fast-growing industry dedicated to homeland security. This industry, built around the Homeland Security Department and the focus on terrorism in the United States, has attracted old-line defense contractors, small businesses, universities, investment bankers, consultants and newsletter publishers. Homeland-security conferences, where business people network in hopes of landing a Homeland Security Department contract, are common. So are trade shows featuring displays of such products as bomb-resistant glass...

Complex global web had arms dealer trapped from the very beginning Import-export trader out of his depth as intelligence agencies closed in Julian Borger in Newark and Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow Thursday August 14, 2003 Hemant Lakhani was in trouble from the moment he began talking to his American contact in December 2001. This was someone he could talk comfortably with in Urdu and Hindi and someone he clearly thought he could trust. But in the charge sheet presented against the London businessman which was published yesterday, his contact was identified as a "cooperating witness" - or CW -...

Analysis of US Casualties in Iraq by Week and Month - post Baghdad Liberation Day   April: Post- Baghdad Liberation Day - April 30   Week of Apr. 10 - Apr.16:   Apr.10: One Marine killed 22 wounded securing Baghdad Mosque:  Iraqi regime loyalists, terrorists and paramilitary forces engaged elements of Regimental Combat Team 5 (RCT-5) from the protection of an 8th century Shia Mosque. In over one hour of heavy gunfire exchange, the Marines of RCT-5 cleared the mosque for return to the Iraqi people....Marines quickly assessed the situation. After receiving permission to engage the enemy inside, Marines swiftly defeated the Iraqi...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Baby Girl Vogt died years ago on a California mountain road, a ghastly step in the legal path that permits Scott Peterson to be charged with murdering his unborn son.</p> <p>In a country where legal abortions are commonplace, fetal protections can only be described as complex. These complexities and conflicts are highlighted when, as in the Peterson case, police charge someone with murdering the not-yet-born.</p>

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 February 23 A Twisted Solar Eruptive Prominence Credit: SOHO Consortium, EIT, ESA, NASA Explanation: A huge eruptive prominence is seen moving out from our Sun in this condensed half-hour time-lapse sequence. Ten Earths could easily fit in the "claw" of this seemingly solar monster. This large prominence, though, is significant not only for its size, but its shape. The twisted figure eight shape indicates that a complex...

Vostok: The Lake of ShadowsCover Story FATE Magazine 2002-06-01 00:00:00 by Scott Corrales “Doubt of the real facts, as I must reveal them, is inevitable; yet if I suppressed what will seem extravagant and incredible there would be nothing left.” —H. P. Lovecraft, “At the Mountains of Madness” The inspiration for this article began in the summer of 1996, when a series of email messages began to appear suggesting the possibility that “someone” or “something” was surreptitiously removing all recent maps of Antarctica. The notion was so outrageous that even die-hard conspiracy theorists found themselves having to clarify the...