Free Republic

Hedge funds prey on rivals By Henny Sender in New York Published: October 2 2008 23:34 | Last updated: October 2 2008 23:34 Hedge funds are embracing trading strategies designed to profit from the unwinding of large positions by their competitors, market participants say. The increasingly cannibalistic activity stems from the wave of redemptions hitting hedge funds. Because so many firms hold similar positions, forced selling by one in response to redemptions can have ripple effects, forcing other funds to sell. More nimble hedge funds have sought to profit from the dynamic by taking short positions in securities known to...

Bloodbath ahead Big differences in hedge fund performance could put weakest ones on endangered list By Christine Williamson The biggest performance dispersion among hedge funds and funds of funds in six years has set the stage for what some predict will be a six-month-long bloodbath. Sources said they expect the body count to total as many as 2,000 hedge funds and 500 hedge funds of funds between now and the end of March as investors redeem assets from the poorest performers and weakest managers, and move into funds managed by strong, institutionally oriented firms. Data from Hedge Fund Research Inc.,...

Millions held in hedge funds lockdown By James Mackintosh Published: October 1 2008 23:43 | Last updated: October 1 2008 23:43 An increasing number of hedge funds are telling customers they cannot have their money back as rising withdrawals and exposure to Lehman Brothers hit the industry. The inability to access money has already had a knock-on effect: Absolute Return Partners’ Millennium Wave, a small fund of hedge funds, has had to tell its customers they cannot have their money back until it can retrieve it from the funds in which it invests. Luqman Arnold’s Olivant is also struggling to...

Will hedge fund investors use a chance to cash in today? By Michael C. Juliano Staff Writer Article Launched: 09/30/2008 03:06:43 AM EDT There's tension in the hedge fund industry as investment analysts said they expect many investors to cash in their holdings today after Monday's House rejection of a $700 billion bailout for the nation's financial system. Many hedge funds consider Sept. 30 a quarterly redemption period when investors may cash in investments. K. Daniel Libby, a senior portfolio manager for Select Access Funds of the Greenwich investment firm Sands Brothers, said he expected many investors to notify hedge...

Financial crisis: Hedge funds face record redemptions Global hedge funds will this week be forced to hand back hundreds of millions of pounds to investors in the biggest round of redemptions the sector has ever faced. By Louise Armitstead Last Updated: 10:28PM BST 27 Sep 2008 Hedge funds are preparing to return between 10 per cent and 50 per cent of their assets under management to investors who want their money back at the end of yet another quarter of dire investment performance. One prime broker said: “Many funds will have to close. There were a flood of redemption notices...

Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer."You'll be encouraged by the power of God's love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality," according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has prayed for about six years. Palin's conservative Christian views have energized that part of the GOP electorate, which was lukewarm to John McCain's candidacy before he named her as his vice presidential choice. She is staunchly anti-abortion, opposing exceptions for rape and incest, and opposes...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer. "You'll be encouraged by the power of God's love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality," according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has prayed since she was a child.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

In proclaiming this gospel of work, John Paul developed a theme that is rooted in the Sacred Scriptures, expounded upon at length in the Christian Tradition and is desperately needed in this age. In 1981 he authored an Encyclical letter entitled “On Human Work” which beautifully presented this Christian vision of the dignity and meaning of human work. We live in an age that has all but lost this Christian vision of the meaning of work. This is not a new problem. It is a part of a larger social and individual malady, a bad fruit of the rupture of...

Washington, DC -- There is no woman in the world who grows up thinking she will have an abortion one day. Whatever the reason for the abortion -- feeling they have no other option or pressure from a partner or others -- many women feel significant guilt and shame. Sheila Harper learned the hard way when she chose abortion as a teenager, carrying around debilitating emotions that led to drugs, alcohol and even a suicide attempt. For seven years, author Harper carried with her the shame and humiliation of her abortion. Eventually she found deliverance through God’s abundant grace and...

When the Lord opened my heart to the gospel in December of 1985, He set me on a radical new course, having delivered me from a wild life which was characterized by various anti-social behaviors, selfishness, drugs, crime, and the occult. Out of the most unlikely place, as I was reading the Scripture, the Lord revealed to me my lost condition: that I was without hope save in the mercy of Jesus Christ alone. In a moment, the Holy Spirit graciously united me to Christ, adopted me into God’s family, turning me from my idols to serve the Living and...

Trauma, Turmoil, Chaos, Refiner's Fires, The Redemptive Order of GOD ALONE [Open] Lack of secure ATTACHMENT the first 6 years of life—especially, imho, to a healthy loving DADDY, results in almost or truly terminal insecurities. Said insecurities trigger a lifelong [until arrested and overcome, flushed]—trigger a lifelong pattern, habit, obsession of BEING IN CONTROL of every detail of one’s life and especially one’s relationships [which, of course, causes no end of problems and never results in the security longed for—satan wins again]. And, most often, such obsessive compulsions and needs for CONTROL find a nurturing home in INSTITUTIONALIZED structure,...

FORT WORTH, Texas, April 30, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The United Methodist pro-life ministry Lifewatch recently hosted a free luncheon featuring former abortion clinic owner Carol Everett.Everett spent six years working in the abortion industry in the early 80s, before experiencing a profound conversion. In 1995 she founded the Heidi Group - a group of inner-city crisis pregnancy centers named after one of Everett's own children that she aborted in 1973."We are an injured nation, for many of us are unwilling to admit or deal with our pain," Everett told her audience.Everett has testified in the past that while she...

The Pope will pray for the redemption of Islamic terrorists when he visits the site of the September 11 attacks in New York next week. The pontiff will call for terrorists to convert to Christianity, saying: "Turn to Your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred. "God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy, we seek your light and guidance". The prayer is likely to further incense the Muslim world, which has already attacked the Pope for publicly converting Magdi Allam, a journalist and one of Italy's most high-profile Muslims, at Easter. Osama...

As best as I can determine, my same-sex attraction began in reaction to my father, who was a violent alcoholic. He often drank, came home to throw things around the house and abuse my mother in addition to threatening me and my brother. I thought he hated us. Consequently, I didn’t want to be anything like him. In my sorrow, I started looking for the love of my father in thearms of other men. At age 17, a predator took advantage of me under the teacher/pupil dynamic and I became completely mixed up about human sexuality. Over the years, one...

Luke 22:1-6 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. 2 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people. 3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. 5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of...

SUDBURY, ON, March 10, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Canadian Television (CTV) has pulled an ad that claims it is possible to leave the homosexual lifestyle, sponsored by a Christian advocacy group, Life Productions, after the station received numerous complaints from pro-homosexual activists. The 30-second spot is narrated by John Westcott, the founder of Exchange ministries, an organization that seeks to help practicing homosexuals who wish to leave the lifestyle. Westcott is himself a former homosexual, as is his wife Amanda."You hear a lot about gay rights, gay marriage and the gay lifestyle being taught in our public schools for children," says Westcott...

Crisis grips European hedge funds Louise Armitstead A RAFT of European hedge funds have been forced to introduce emergency measures to protect their businesses from collapsing in the wake of the turmoil in financial markets. Up to 10 European hedge funds have suspended redemptions after investors clamoured for their cash when the managers made severe losses. A London prime broker told The Sunday Times that even before last week’s extreme gyrations, nearly two-thirds of London-based hedge funds had lost between 4% and 10% of their value. A “significant number” had lost much more, he said. The manager of one of...

Bernard Nathanson, M.D., was formerly the director of a large abortion clinic in New York City and personally performed thousands of abortions. He also co-founded NARAL (the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League). In the late 1970s, however, Dr. Nathanson had a change of heart and became a staunch opponent of abortion. He is creator of the pro-life video The Silent Scream and author of the book The Hand of God: A Journey from Death to Life by the Abortion Doctor Who Changed His Mind. Dr. Nathanson continues to be a voice for the pro-life movement through speaking...

Frank Worthen was ex-gay when ex-gay wasn’t cool! Perhaps no testimony of freedom from homosexuality has been more widely circulated and read than Frank Worthen’s. He is now 78 years young. This article, op-ed, column – call it what you like - will not likely be published in many places or read by many people, but it commands to be written. “Different” When Frank was 13, (1942) his pastor told him “Frank, you are a homosexual." Though Frank knew he was “different” from other children, he didn’t know what homosexuality was. “I'd been called different before!” Frank had become a...

This is a powerful demonstration of God's love and grace toward us, His creation. Although many forces pull at us and allure us, He is all we want, need... our Everything.

New Study Finds Christian Counseling Effectively Assists Leaving Homosexual Life-Style Study also finds leaving the lifestyle not psychologically harmful By Meg Jalsevac NASHVILLE, September 18, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A new study, entitled the Exodus Project and conducted by two psychologists, has determined that, through "religiously mediated means", it is possible for homosexual individuals to leave their old lifestyle and embrace the heterosexual lifestyle.  The study also determined that, contrary to mainstream scientific thought, the effort to change one's inclinations away from homosexuality does not appear to be psychologically problematic. In the words of the authors themselves, "The study is the...

In the first longitudinal, peer-reviewed, scientific study of its kind, researchers have concluded some homosexuals can change their "orientation" through religiously mediated guidance. Researchers Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse released the results Thursday of a three-year study during an address at the American Association of Christian Counselors World Conference. Their conclusions contradict the claims of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association, which contend such change in sexual orientation is impossible and attempting to pursue it likely will cause depression, anxiety or self-destructive behavior. The new study concluded such changes do not cause psychological harm to...

Despite claims by some mental-health experts, new research indicates that a change in sexual orientation is possible for some homosexuals. In the book Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation, which was released today, authors Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse address two of the most disputed questions in the homosexuality debate: Is change possible and can the attempt to change be harmful? C. S. Lewis said that science produced by Christians would have to be “perfectly honest. Science twisted in the interests of apologetics would be sin and folly.” Jones and Yarhouse took Lewis’...

Dr. McArthur Hill used to kill babies for a living. Now he has repented. At a conference of former abortionists, he shared the nightmares he had: "In my nightmares I would deliver a healthy newborn baby and I would take that healthy newborn baby and I would hold it up, and I would face a jury of faceless people and ask them to tell me what to do with this baby. They would go thumbs-up or thumbs-down and if they made a thumbs-down indication then I was to drop the baby into a bucket of water which was present. I...

Hedge-fund redemption shock Investors looking to cash out this fall may be met with an unpleasant surprise. By Grace Wong, CNNMoney.com staff writer August 23 2007: 12:40 PM EDT LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- Investors are expected to hit hedge funds with a flood of redemption requests this fall, but those who try to withdraw their money may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Most hedge funds have "lock-ups," a minimum period of time during which investors agree to tie up their money and not make any withdrawals. Once that period ends, investors generally can redeem their stakes as long as they...

I agree with the president of Atlanta's NAACP. The NFL should welcome Michael Vick back to its league once he has finished serving jail time for his involvement in dog fighting. "As a society, we should aid in (Vick's) rehabilitation and welcome a new Michael Vick back into the community without a permanent loss of his career in football," R.L. White said on Wednesday. "We further ask the NFL, Falcons and the sponsors not to permanently ban Mr. Vick from his ability to bring hours of enjoyment to fans all over this country

NASHVILLE, August 9, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - During the massive prayer rally of 07.07.07 that drew an estimated 100,000 primarily young people to Nashville this July, a former abortionist begged God for mercy and joined crowds in praying for a definitive end to the national crime of abortion. During "The Call" rally, former Planned Parenthood abortionist Dr. Patti Gibbink stood up and testified, confessing her sins and begging God to end abortion. She told the crowds, "Ten years ago, I did abortions for Planned Parenthood." Here she paused, overwhelmed with tears. "Oh Lord, oh God, God most holy and just,"...

St. Maximus the Confessor (580-662) seems to be the only Father who was directly concerned with the problem, although not in the same setting as the later theologians in the West. He stated plainly that the Incarnation should be regarded as an absolute and primary purpose of God in the act of Creation. The nature of the Incarnation, of this union of the Divine majesty with human frailty, is indeed an unfathomable mystery, but we can at least grasp the reason and the purpose of this supreme mystery, its logos and skopos. And this original reason, or the ultimate purpose,...

Homosexuality came easy to me, because I was already weak. My mom died when I was 19. My father had died when I was 13. At an early age, I was already confused about who I was and how I felt about others. My confusion about "desire" and the fact that I noticed I was "attracted" to guys made me put myself into the "gay" category at age 14. At age 20, I came out as gay to everybody else around me. At age 22, I became an editor of the first magazine aimed at a young, gay male audience....

He was a rising star in the "gay rights" movement, but Michael Glatze now declares not only has he given up activism – he's no longer a homosexual. Glatze – who had become a frequent media source as founding editor of Young Gay America magazine – tells the story of his transformation in an exclusive column published today by WND. Although Glatze cut himself off from the homosexual community about a year and a half ago, he says the column likely will surprise some people. "This will actually be news to anybody I used to relate to," he told WND....

Franciscan (Scotistic) Thesis: Absolute Primacy Of Christ -Jesus Christ was absolutely predestined for grace and glory in His Incarnation quite apart from any question of sin. The elect (men and angels) were chosen and predestined in Him by an eternal decree. And this before the universe had been created. Supporters of this: -St. Maximus the Confessor: “This [the Incarnation] is that great and hidden mystery. This is the blessed end for which all things were created. This is the divine purpose foreknown before the beginning of creation… Really, it was for the sake of Christ, that is the mystery of...

Violent, antisocial, beyond redemption?11 April 2007 NewScientist.com news service Peter Aldhous Whether you think of them as mad or bad, they are certainly dangerous to know. All societies contain a few extremely violent individuals, who are either psychopaths or have a related severe personality disorder. With no concern about the harm they inflict, little can be done to change their behaviour, psychiatrists say. Now the UK government is challenging this dogma in the hope of protecting the public from these highly risky people. It has already altered criminal law to allow certain violent offenders to be given indefinite jail sentences....

One surefire way to avert a nuclear holocaust. If you were a Jew in Europe in 1941, and you actually knew that Hitler was developing the means to carry out his threat to exterminate the Jews, what would you do? Dismiss the danger as overstated? Try to arouse the nations of the world to stop him? Or take upon yourself to employ every means possible -- both physically and spiritually -- to avert the catastrophe? If you are a Jew in 2007, and you actually know that Ahmadinejad is developing the means to carry out his threat to exterminate the...

"...(Y)ou may value yourselves as fine rational creatures, and that you are noble beings; and you were so, as you first came out of God's hands; but now you are fallen, there is nothing lovely, nothing desirable in man; his heart is a sink of pollution, full of sin and uncleanness: Yet, though a man's own heart is so desperately wicked, he is told by our modern polite preachers, that there is a fitness in men, and that God seeing you a good creature, gives you his grace; but this, though it is a modern, polite, and fashionable way of...

Marines from B Company's 3rd Platoon stand next to one of the many weapons' caches they dug from the ground during Operation Rubicon in Mushin, Iraq, west of Habbaniyah. The Recon Marines unearthed hundreds of mortars, artillery shells, rifles, machines guns, ammunition and improvised explosive device-making materials. Marines found so many caches, they said they could barely make it 100 meters before discovering another buried weapons' site.

Note: A FReeper who wishes to remain anonymous has asked me to post her story of her abortion and the grief and redemption that followed. She does not seek your sympathy, she merely has a desire to possibly help young women avoid the same mistake.In reading her story, one particular portion of Scripture came to mind: If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing. If we say, "We have not sinned," we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1: 9-10)Here...

Whitney and CeCe were hanging out recently (June 30) in Nashville,TN. According to the Tennessean Newspaper the old girlfriends were seen dining at the Cheesecake Factory. Whitney also attended church services at Born Again Church with the singers. The pair sang “Count on Me” on the Waiting to Exhale Soundtrack, a song that promised “a friendship that would never end.” Houston is a “spiritual” person who sang in her church and whose mother Cissy was a past Gospel singer. Perhaps she continues to cling to her roots to fight drug addiction, which has been reported over the last several months...

DOCTRINE OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST Spir Dynamics 827 4/17/96; Eph 284-286 5/11/86; Rev 11/3/82; 1 Jn 11/11/81 A. Definition and Description. 1. While our Lord did some bleeding on the cross, He didn't bleed to death, nor does His literal human blood have anything to do with the phrase found throughout the New Testament, "the blood of Christ." 2. Even Greek lexicons recognize this principle when defining the word HAIMA, the Greek word for blood. a. The Arndt and Gingrich, Greek-English Lexicon, p.22, under HAIMA in the paragraph describing the figurative use of the blood of Christ, says, "blood...

From gay to God "I WAS EXCLUSIVELY HOMOSEXUAL; I had never been with a woman." That's part of the riveting testimony of the Reverend Darryl Foster, a board member of Exodus Global Alliance – a Christian organisation made up largely of former-homosexuals who promote the message that "change is possible through the power of Jesus Christ". The Texas, United States, native was one of the featured speakers at the just concluded three-day conference: Sex, Sexuality and Homosexuality: Engaging The Truth hosted by Project PROBE Ministries, at the Sherbourne Conference Centre. Foster, 45, is now a heterosexual who confesses that the...

I would like to tell you about some people who are often treated as if they do not exist. While they flourish as citizens and are active in our churches across the nation, it is as if they lack reality as far as the so-called mainstream media are concerned. These people are former homosexuals, sometimes known as ex-gays, who have prevailed over their previous existence. I imagine they are the most politically incorrect people in our nation. They do exist, though, and there are untold thousands of them. But when former homosexuals are depicted on the networks, they are typically...

Once there reigned a queen, in whose garden were found the most glorious flowers at all seasons and from all the lands of the world. But more than all others she loved the roses, and she had many kinds of this flower, from the wild dog-rose with its apple-scented green leaves to the most splendid, large, crimson roses. They grew against the garden walls, wound themselves around the pillars and wind-frames, and crept through the windows into the rooms, and all along the ceilings in the halls. And the roses were of many colors, and of every fragrance and form....

Press Release April 12, 2006 Liberty Counsel and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays Launch the "Change is Possible Campaign" Virginia - Today, Liberty Counsel and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays ("PFOX") kicked off their joint "Change is Possible Campaign." Liberty Counsel is a national public interest law firm with offices in Florida and Virginia and hundreds of affiliate attorneys in all fifty states. PFOX is a national organization that supports families touched by homosexuality, advocates for the ex-gay community, and educates the public on sexual orientation. In the past several years, as "tolerance" and "diversity" have...

A national gay and lesbian group is accusing several religious organizations of harming homosexual teens by offering parents what they say are bogus therapies to keep children from becoming gay. In a report released Thursday in Miami Beach, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute questioned whether the therapies are ethical or effective and said state and federal authorities should provide greater oversight when these programs are aimed at youth. The report said some Christian-based gay prevention and treatment groups have used the First Amendment protection of religion to avoid sanctions by state health officials seeking to enforce...

New York -- Charles Socarides, the psychiatrist famous for insisting that homosexuality was a treatable illness and who claimed to have "cured" hundreds, has died. He was 83. Socarides, died Dec. 25 of heart failure at a hospital near his Manhattan home, his family announced. A funeral Mass was held Friday. He waged an unsuccessful battle to reverse the American Psychiatric Association's 1973 decision to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders, and brushed off frequent condemnations by colleagues who considered his views hurtful.

I forgive you Canada....the slate is wiped clean. I, who am (pop) culturally deprived, discovered on my television a program called "Two and a Half Men." Perhaps others have heard of it.The episode I saw was a rerun, I've learnt from Google, and the ravishing guest star was Canadian import Emmanuelle Vaugier. C'est une maitresse de ballet très sympathique.Oooo la la. Oooo la la la la la la la la.

"The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." -Psalms 58:3     Last thing at night, when our children were small, I often secretly watched them as they slept: there they lay, breathing rhythmically, almost imperceptibly, relaxed, at ease, enjoying "the sleep of innocence." But man - perhaps especially a father - looks on the outward appearance (1 Sam. 16:7). What of the heart on which God gazes? Wearing biblical lenses we come to see a more sinister reality: our children may be unknowing and naive, but innocent they...

What’s Wrong with "User Friendly"? Recently, the 11th edition of the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary was published. The reprint included 10,000 new words–words that will bring us all up to date. Words like "phat" (excellent), "dead presidents" (paper currency), and "McJob" (low paying, dead-end job) are among the entries that will finally help us communicate with our teenagers. How did those words make it into the updated dictionary? There is one criterion: usage. A word qualifies for the new edition based on how widespread its usage has become. While I can’t imagine how phat, McJob, and dead presidents will find a...

For those who are either not believers or are not mature in their faith, the Christian concept of redemption or forgiveness can be difficult to fully understand. It is only natural to believe that there are some crimes that are beyond forgiveness. For those who don’t know the Word, the idea that murders, rapists and even child molesters could find their way into heaven is repugnant. And the thought that God could use anyone who is guilty of such evil… The idea that he could use a man like Stanley Williams, the founder of the Crips and a convicted...