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I won’t go into the details, but I’ve just been subjected to an unimaginable tragedy. All at once every ounce of pain, disappointment, and sadness I’ve ever experienced was made trivial by the news of this one event. Even now, I find it hard to believe that this nightmare is taking place in reality. Part of me is still thinking I’ll soon sit up in bed with my heart hammering and brood over how realistic the whole thing had seemed. I find myself asking the usual questions that arise under these circumstances: “Why God?” “Why have you allowed this?” “What...

German tourist sends 'unlucky' old stone back to Thailand Fri Feb 11,12:41 AM ET Offbeat - AFP BANGKOK (AFP) - A German tourist has sent a stone he found in historic ruins back to Thailand, blaming it for three years' of bad luck, officials in Bangkok said. AFP Photo The Tourism Authority of Thailand said the tourist, Michael Beil, told officials in a letter that he found the stone in 2001 during a visit to a temple in the old royal capital of Ayutthaya and took it home to Germany. He had a change of heart however and sent the...

A Glimpse Ahead Timothy Snodgrass The Impossible Will Come Alive In 2005 01/28/05 In January of 2004, as we began to intercede for the New Year the Holy Spirit gave us the prophetic slogan, "The Seas will Roar in 2004". This year we were given a new slogan, "The Impossible will come Alive in 2005". As the veil of darkness begins to come down over nations and regions, along with great shakings will come great breakthroughs; signs, wonders, healings and a spectacular release of miracles in impossible circumstances. This year, although we are ultimately poised to gain much ground, there...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

Editors' preface: A noted historian of the Middle East has said the following about the legacy of scholars who devoted their careers to the study of the region: The giants of the recent past tend to be largely forgotten as soon as they are dead if not before, especially if what they have written isn't what is now considered fashionable or central … They are criticized when they are in error, but their achievements are forgotten.[1] While this is largely true in the English-speaking countries, it is not true in France, where a few French "giants" of Islamic and Arab...