Free Republic

Recent research has demonstrated that as many as 200 million people in the Americas and Europe have Jewish ancestry who were forcibly converted. …The process for certification begins with filling out a relatively short questionnaire about a person’s background, clues about their Jewish heritage, like customs, family trees or items with a Jewish connection, and their reasons for believing they have Sephardi ancestry. This information will then be assessed by a team of experts and researchers who will determine if the applicant has enough information to be awarded the certificate... …While the certificate will have no legal status, it is...

It seems we need reminders that no matter how sweet exile, galut, seems, it is not our home. BLM provided them. Don't wait, come now. Op-ed. Shalom and greetings from Israel, The video I saw on Arutz Sheva expressing your concern for American Jews on the eve of what you called a Kristallnacht reminiscent of 1938, was very disturbing for many reasons. The "Night of the broken glass" was a terrifying and defining moment for European Jewry. Today's violent protests, breaking out store windows, thievery and savage physical attacks we are witnessing around America, arouse dread, not only for the...

Israel’s current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to remain in his role for a fifth term, following his earning of 65 recommendations from the 120-seat elected parliament. Netanyahu’s Likud Party and his main challenger Blue & White, under the leadership of former Israel Defense Forces’ chief of staff Benny Gantz, both received 35 seats a piece, final results published Tuesday showed. Although coalition talks are still underway, Netanyahu is believed to be likely to form a government comprised of the Likud (35), Shas (8), United Torah Judaism (8), Union of Right-Wing Parties (5), Kulanu (4) and Yisrael Beytenu (5)....

[From 2011] Abstract: The National Popular Vote (NPV) plan is the latest in a long line of schemes designed to replace the Electoral College... ...The NPV, at face value, may appeal to traditionally democratic notions of “every vote being equal.” Yet its supporters seemingly have no concern for the many other non-majoritarian aspects of the governmental structure established by the Constitution... ...Supporters of the NPV claim that because the Constitution gives state legislatures the power to determine how electors are chosen, the NPV is constitutional and requires no approval by Congress. Such claims, however, are specious. The NPV is unconstitutional...

FORT DODGE [Iowa] - A Fort Dodge man has been charged with several felonies after police say he attempted to defraud the Iowa Lottery. Investigators with the Iowa Lottery contacted the Fort Dodge Police Department in October 2018 in regards to suspicious activity related to a winning scratch ticket in the Fort Dodge area. Detectives with the Fort Dodge Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division conducted an investigation into the activity. During the course of that investigation, multiple search warrants were conducted at various locations in Fort Dodge and numerous items were seized, including U.S. currency, vehicles and electronic devices. Multiple...

NEW DELHI: The long and chilly winter in north India this year could be linked to cold blasts from the Arctic region that have been spilling southwards since late December due to the breakdown of a wind circulation called the polar vortex, Indian Met officials said. As north India continues to reel under severe cold, with the temperature dropping to -1.1 degrees Celsius in Churu, Rajasthan on Tuesday, an official in the India Meteorological Department said the sustained chill over the region appears to be linked to the polar vortex breaking up — an event that has brought freezing spells...

The narrative you are about to read is unique in the history of mankind. It is an event never repeated by any other nation or religion... ...Scene: The entire world is silent. All of nature is on hold. Not a bird chirps! Not a frog burps! The Jewish people (who somehow slept that night!) are en route to their divine encounter at the mountain. Soon will be enacted the most important event in human history. Suddenly there is thunder, lightning and a loud shofar blast. The mountain is smoking like a furnace and trembling like a volcano. The people are...

DES MOINES, Iowa–2020 is not 2018. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds chose U.S. Representative Steve King, 4th District Congressman from Kiron, to serve as one of her ceremonial campaign co-chairs in the 2018 re-election. But she told Channel 13 Wednesday that she will not endorse King in his primary election in 2020. "The last election was a wake-up call for it to be that close," Reynolds said during an interview in her formal office at the Iowa Statehouse, "That indicates that it does open the door for other individuals to take a look at that." King won re-election in 2018. But...

[excerpted]...passenger car market share dropped to 30.6 percent in the month of August as a tide of crossovers, trucks, and SUVs continued swamping the automotive landscape. Few automakers can say their traditional passenger cars are making headway against the current... ...The Ford Taurus is not among this crowd of holdouts. Scheduled for death and talked about only by fleet managers, its sales dropped 16.8 percent over the first eight months of 2018. Its Lincoln Continental stablemate? Down 29.2 percent. At General Motors, where sales reporting is a quarterly phenomenon, Chevrolet Impala sales fell 11.7 percent at the end of the...

(KMSP) - The National Weather Service reports some record-breaking cold temperatures for Sept. 6 in northern Minnesota with both International Falls and Hibbing finding themselves waking up to a very chilly morning. International Falls reached 28 degree Thursday, breaking the previous record of 31 degrees for Sept. 6. Hibbing fell to 29 degrees, breaking the previous record of 33. Though not a record, Robinson, Minnesota near Ely was a chilly 25 degrees. Summer was nice while it lasted.

1. Moses received the Torah from Sinai and gave it over to Joshua. Joshua gave it over to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets gave it over to the Men of the Great Assembly. They [the Men of the Great Assembly] would always say these three things: Be cautious in judgement. Establish many pupils. And make a safety fence around the Torah. 2. Shimon the Righteous was among the last surviving members of the Great assembly. He would say: The world stands on three things: Torah, the service of G‑d, and deeds of kindness. 3. Antignos...

WAKE COUNTY, NC (WTVD) -- One hundred ninety-eight miles per hour! It's how fast a driver in Wake County got up to last month on US-1 near the Triangle Expressway. William Jefferson, 22, was behind the wheel -- he has since been charged with street racing and reckless driving. Only on #ABC11 the wild video of a street racing stunt in wake county. If you can believe it, the car got up to 198 MPH! @NCSHP pic.twitter.com/7kL4vBqSju — Josh Chapin (@JoshChapinABC11) August 17, 2018 "It's one reason why I don't want my kids on the roads late at night," said...

After having the car's formal debut interrupted by an arrest, Audi announced that it will begin taking orders for its all-electric e-tron SUV on September 17, the company said last week. The car's formal debut August 30 in Brussels was postponed after Audi CEO Rupert Stadler was arrested by authorities in Germany for his role in a widespread emissions cheating scandal. Now the unveiling has been rescheduled for San Francisco on September 17 and Audi said it will take orders for the car online the same day. Audi will reveal final specs on the car a the September 17 event,...

Sergio Marchionne, longtime CEO and chief for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, stepped down Saturday due to serious complications after surgery, the company announced. Mike Manley, head of Jeep and Ram brands, replaced him. John Elkann, grandson of Gianni Agnelli and chairman of the company that controls FCA, said his family was shocked by Marchionne's failing health. "I am profoundly saddened to learn of Sergio’s state of health. It is a situation that was unthinkable until a few hours ago, and one that leaves us all with a real sense of injustice," Elkann said in a statement. Elkann will fill Marchionne's chairman...

As Volvo prepares to inaugurate its first United States-based manufacturing facility in South Carolina, the Swedish luxury marque announced it will also reveal the 2019 S60 sedan at the same location. The S60 will make its debut at the Charleston production facility on June 20. Motor Authority is scheduled to be on hand in Charleston for the reveal of the S60 and a tour of the new plant. The reveal is part of Volvo's shifting strategy around media events. Volvo issued a press release about that strategy on Friday. Rather than attend major auto shows, Volvo said it will plan...

New reports surfaced on Wednesday claiming Ford is planning to concentrate production of the next-generation Fusion mid-size sedan in China. The current Fusion is produced at plants in Spain, Mexico and China. However, Automotive News (subscription required) and Reuters have learned from their respective sources that production of the next-generation Fusion, due in 2020, will take place exclusively in China. The Spanish plant is safe as Ford in November said it will spend $887 million at the site to produce the next-generation Kuga, Europe's version of the Escape compact SUV. It’s not clear what Ford has in store for the...

...There were many people who, enthralled by the appealing lifestyle of the Greeks, sought to discard their Jewishness and embrace the new customs: they were the Hellenists, in whose eyes all of the traditional practices were impractically archaic. To perform circumcision or refrain from eating pork could only further the Jewish particularity and distinctiveness, which was what the Hellenists were fleeing from. For them, the solution was to proclaim all of the Jewish customs unbinding and irrelevant... t the other extreme were a group of people led by the Maccabees, whose only concern was defending their heritage. Their indignation was...

SNOW-MAGEDDON! Britain paralysed with 50,000 BA passengers stranded, hundreds of schools shut and dangerous icy roads on 'Black Monday' - after lows of -12.2C overnight with WORSE still to come. 'Black Monday' with more snow due and swathes of ice on the roads as temperatures dropped to -8C, Schools across the UK have been shut today after the country was hit by a so-called 'snowbomb' yesterday. Thousands of homes were left without power and Brits faced travel chaos as trains and flights were cancelled. In particular, Birmingham will grind to a halt on Monday after all of its schools will...

The internet is a black hole filled with an endless stream of stupid thoughts and bad ideas. While it’s usually best to ignore it, every so often something breaks through the obnoxious drone of social media that is so egregious, you couldn’t possibly turn a blind eye if you wanted to. We are obligated to present to you a recent tweet from Vahid Kazemi, a software engineer for Google’s self-driving arm Waymo, and describe how it made us feel. Kazemi begins his digital announcement stating that he’s driving in Los Angeles. While that isn’t a crime in itself, it is...

Solid-state batteries represent the holy grail for automakers as they promise a driving range for electric cars comparable to internal combustion models, along with charging that could end up quicker than the time it takes to fill a gas tank. Revived electric car company Fisker has now revealed that it’s filed patents for solid-state battery technology that could enable a range of 500 miles and a charging time of just one minute. The key are three-dimensional electrodes that have 25 times more surface area than flat thin-film solid-state electrodes, along with high electronic and ionic conductivities. According to Green Car...