Free Republic

Snip.... And why would Tehran, which has not launched a war since the revolution in 1979, start a war with an America with 10,000 nuclear weapons? If the Iranians are so suicidal, why have they not committed suicide in 30 years by attacking us or Israel? What makes war with Iran folly is that an all-out war could lead to a break-up of that country, with Persians, Azeris, Kurds, Arabs and Baluchis going their separate ways, creating fertile enclaves for al-Qaida recruitment and training. Snip.... In our time, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Czechoslovakia have split apart. The Soviet Union and Yugoslavia...

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki fled before sitting down next to American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The reason given for his departure was the red see-through dress worn by a violinist who performed at dinner. The dress apparently offended the dignity of Mottaki, who is said to be a deeply religious politician. According to the media at Sharm al-Sheikh, this was the reason that there was no rapprochement or meeting between Mottaki and Rice.   We are not necessarily convinced by this explanation. We have followed carefully the mutually destructive war that has been raging between Washington and Tehran,...

All seven major Democratic presidential candidates addressed the National Jewish Democratic Council this past week, but only one had two supporters introduce her. Hillary Clinton also received the most applause and ovations before, during and after her speech. Even those NJDC activists who aren't backing Clinton in the primary campaign acknowledged that she was the most popular choice in the hall, according to several attendees interviewed by The Jerusalem Post. The NJDC, which describes itself as the country's only organization of Jewish Democrats, counts top political donors and activists among its members. The other top two Democratic contenders - former...

The New York Police Department has hired a 24-year-old Muslim leader to become the Islamic chaplain for the thousands of Muslims in the department, officials announced yesterday. Khalid Latif is the second Islamic chaplain ever hired by the police. "Because of the life-and-death nature of police work, the role of the chaplain in the police department takes on specific importance," the Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. "At the bedsides of police officers wounded in the line of duty and regrettably, all too often, at the sides of family members after a police officer has been killed in the line of duty."

Circumcision Is Recommended to Fight HIV Mar 28, 8:00 AM (ET) By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS GENEVA (AP) - U.N. health agencies recommended Wednesday that heterosexual men undergo circumcision because of "compelling" evidence that it can reduce their chances of contracting HIV by up to 60 percent. But World Health Organization and UNAIDS experts said men need to be aware that circumcision is only partial protection against the virus and must be used with other measures. "We must be clear," said Catherine Hankins of UNAIDS. "Male circumcision does not provide complete protection against HIV." Studies suggest 5.7 million new cases of...

The joke's on us Barbara Kay, National Post Published: Thursday, January 11, 2007 I caught the opening episode of CBC's Little Mosque on the Prairie Tuesday night. It wasn't quite as bad as I'd anticipated. That is to say, it's awful, but at least my worst fears were not realized: Thanks be to Allah, there are no Jews in this sitcom. So I was spared my fantasized plot thread of a young Muslim boy and a young Jewish boy -- the son of the local rabbi, of course -- who find some quarrel in a straw, but then, through...

In the three weeks since Steve Irwin, the Australian "Crocodile Hunter," died suddenly at age 44 from a rare stingray attack, FReepers have poured out their hearts to show their great love for Irwin's infectious enthusiasm and passion for his work; his devotion to his family, his country, his friends and the public at large; and his one-of-a-kind brand of wildlife education and entertainment. His widow, Terri, and his 8-year-old daughter, Bindi, will be on U.S. television Wednesday night in an interview with Barbara Walters on ABC. His 2-year-old son, Bob, is a little too young to make an appearance...

BERLIN: Red-faced officials at the German culture ministry scrambled to apologise yesterday after two gaffes at former Nazi concentration camps. The first occurred when Hermann Schaefer, deputy federal representative for culture and media at the ministry, gave a speech at a memorial concert for victims of the Buchenwald camp near Weimar in central Germany. He spoke at length about the ordeal faced by Germans expelled from their homes by Red Army forces in the final days of World War II but failed to mention Nazi crimes or Holocaust victims at any point during the speech. Some 250,000 people from 36...

This is a heads-up for anyone to watch Keith Olbermann's "Countdown" today. It replays 9 p.m. westcoast time. Jackie Mason is #5 on the Countdown, and he was TERRIFIC. Keith looked very disappointed in the wise, generous, sensible and hilarious Mr. Mason, the son of a rabbi and a comedian without peer. Try as Keith might, he couldn't get Mason to say a bad word about Mel Gibson. On the contrary, he said "if we're going to hold everyone accountable for what they say when they're drunk, everyone would either be in jail or dead by next Thursday." Mason went...

More blatant antisemitism at Daily Kos: Imagine a world without Israel. (Hat tip: LGF readers.) ************************************ Or is that not allowed? Muslims, Jews, and Christians could live in peace without fear of mutual destruction. There would be no more need for US AID or justification for Dimona. We could bring down the Wall, send prisoners home, and families could be reunited. We could dismantle checkpoints, open crossings, and pull down barbed wire fences. There would be no more settlements or armed settlers because the people would be united. We could replant trees and olive groves and rebuild battered cities. No...

May 17 (UPI) -- Humans and chimpanzees may have interbred millions of years ago after the two species initially separated, according to a study published in Nature. If hybridization -- creating a new form of plant or animal life by combining two species -- did occur between humans and chimpanzees, ``one might need to modify the evolution displays in museums,'' Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor David Reich wrote in an e-mail message. The study, ``Genetic evidence for complex speciation of humans and chimpanzees,'' says the X chromosome is much younger than previously thought and may mean that after human and...

Missouri Cherokee Tribes proclaim Jewish Heritage by Staff February 7, 2003 The Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory has recently shocked the world by claiming their ancient Oral legends tell of a Cherokee migration made to America from the area known as Masada. This startling evidence is being offered to the public by Beverly Baker Northup whom is the spokesperson for their organization. The evidence offered in support of this connection to Cherokees escaping the mountain fortress of Masada is based in part of what Northup claims is stories passed down from elders and the similarity between ancient...

Question: Who’s afraid of Jews in the boardroom? Freemasons in the basement? Reds under the bed? Black helicopters in the sky? Answer: A surprising number of otherwise sensible people. Even under the new shadow of terrorism, old fears live on, breeding bogeys that knot together in a vipers’ tangle of menace. Regrettably, Catholics do their share of worrying about the Judeo-Masonic-Communist conspiracy and/or the imminent arrival of the Antichrist to rule over the New World Order. Their anxieties are often fueled by anti-Semitic screeds, polemical histories, eccentric economics, and even heavenly messages. Fear-mongering is standard fare in the pages of...

This is what vibrant religious life looks like in one corner of American Judaism: • A T-shirt that says "W.W.B.D.?" above a sketch of Barbra Streisand. • A man in drag teaching Torah. • A Web site called Mazal Tov Cocktail, a self-described "encyclopaedia of Jewish radical culture" represented by a flaming rag inside a bottle of Manischewitz. A marriage of hip and Jewish that emerged in the late 1990s has redefined religious identity for irony-loving 20- and 30-somethings from New York to Los Angeles and beyond. They flock to all-night multimedia celebrations of Jewish holidays; fill nightclubs where Jewish...

THE troubled English National Opera plans to sing for its survival with the world premiere of a new opera about lesbian lovers that features nudity and sex. ENO, which is only now emerging from a period of deficits of millions of pounds, is pinning hopes on The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, an operatic adaptation of the 1972 film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the cult German director. The all-female production tells the story of a fashion designer, von Kant, who develops a crush on Karin, one of her models. It also portrays von Kant’s mistress/slave relationship with her mute...

<p>Thank you four allowing me to join your esteamed sight. i feel i am on the cutting edge of moderate republican progressive! i have been a life long republican. you have to believe me.</p>

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen said in 1974, “We live in a sensate age. We are no longer governed by Faith, we are no longer governed by reason. We are governed by feelings.” The outpouring of naked emotion at the death of Pope John Paul II proves these words true. It is expected that Catholics worldwide would grieve and pray for the departed Pontiff, as it is a fitting expression of filial piety. But the effusion over John Paul II was a good bit more. Cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and laity vied with each other to canonize him as “John Paul...

"Jump the Shark" is a semi-known phrase meaning "lose all credibility" or "it's all downhill from here." The phrase comes from www.jumptheshark.com - which catalogs and debates the (paraphrase) "defining moment when you know you're favorite TV Show has reached its peak and its all downhill from here." The phrase "jump the shark" comes from a Happy Days episode - late in the series - where Fonzie went on a vacation with the Cunninghams. In that episode of the sitcom, Fonzie jumped over a jaws-like shark while waterskiing on the ocean. Fans generally thought this moment was so absurd, that...

A transgender candidate for mayor in Lansing told Local 4 that a city law requiring her to put her former male name on the ballot is discriminatory. Melissa Sue Robinson, whose name was Charles Edward Staelens Jr. before a sex change operation at University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor five years ago, is running for Lansing mayor, Local 4 reported. Robinson's candidacy has reportedly created some complications with the appearance of the ballots for election day. "What they're trying to do is make me use the name that I formerly went by as Charles Edward Steaelens Jr. ......

Australia was a divided nation last night as its troops prepared to join a United States-led invasion of Iraq and Federal Parliament descended into a bitter debate over waging war without specific United Nations backing. The Prime Minister came under heavy flak for committing the country to war after the US President, George Bush, gave Saddam Hussein and his sons until tomorrow to leave Iraq or face attack. John Howard said the coalition of US, British and Australian troops did not need further UN approval to launch the invasion. "The Government strongly believes that the decision it's taken is right,...