by Adam Wills, Associate Editor
Sephardic Jewish pirate Jean Lafitte  
There's no arrr-guing that pirates are in.
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As of last weekend, Disney had plundered $1 billion worldwide with "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," and International Talk Like a Pirate Day -- that's Sept. 19, for you landlubbers -- has gone from an inside joke between two friends to a mock holiday celebrated in more than 40 countries.
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Yet tales of Jewish piracy, which stretch back thousands of years, aren't in the public's consciousness, and Hollywood even has been known to remove a pirate's Jewish background. As a result, we're stuck with portrayals of pirates as wayward English seamen on a murderous rampage.
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But now a forthcoming book hopes to change that image by focusing on Ladino-speaking Jews whose piracy grew out of the Inquisition. "The Jewish pirates were Sephardic. Once they were kicked out of Spain [in 1492], the more adventurous Jews went to the New World," said Ed Kritzler, whose yet-untitled book on Jewish pirates will be published by Doubleday in spring 2007.
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Jewish piracy has been around since well before the Barbary pirates first preyed on ships during the Crusades. In ...   more »

'G-d damn
America'?
By Hal Lindsey
First, I am quoting this title, not agreeing with it.
If your pastor's sermons dripped hatred for black people as a race and equated black people with devils, would that be grounds to question your views on racism? Suppose your pastor said from the pulpit that black people are responsible for all America's problems?
Suppose you attended that church, under that teaching, for 20 years or more? Would that make you a racist? If not, shouldn't the issue of racism at least be called into question?
That is the question facing presidential candidate Barack Obama because of his long association with his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But Obama says his campaign "transcends race." I am sorry, Mr. Obama, that is an impossible position in the context of this election, given your unique background – which can be both a blessing and/or a curse. It all depends on whether you condemn of agree with certain radical beliefs of your close associates. You can't dismiss some of these doctrines with glib one-liners. The American people deserve more than that.
Obama dismisses criticisms by saying he doesn't always agree with his pastor. On the other hand, ...   more »

By Greg Evensen
For thirty years, I have been writing, speaking, imploring, and begging others to make rational, concrete plans for a time in life that would offer no quarter, give no mercy, and that would in a word be--catastrophic. We are coming face to face with that moment. You have so little time left to do anything that will give you a fighting chance. What are you doing?
National Guard units are training and preparing for urban combat. The United States has just reached an agreement with Canada’s armed forces to come in to this country and assume combat roles should they be needed in American cities and towns. The Federal Reserve’s last ditch effort to stem the “blood loss” in the sub-prime and other currency markets has failed. The dollar has been abandoned for Euros. The stock market can’t find its ass with both hands and a Chinese made, Wal-Mart sold ass finder. Israel has demanded that all of the financial aid it receives from Washington (that’s us) be paid for in Euros. The ultimate irony and slap in the face. Oil, dairy, wheat, wheat products, gold, silver, copper prices, the list goes on and on, are racing ...   more »

'Deception': Christians
war over worship day
Centuries-old clash continues
over disputed commandment
By Joe Kovacs
This sign at the Mesa Avenue Church of Christ in Grand Junction, Colo., is typical of churches announcing their worship services on Sunday.
Two thousand years after Jesus walked the Earth, Christians are at war with each other concerning – as strange as it may sound – a day of the week mentioned in the Ten Commandments.
The issue boils down to: "When is God's Sabbath?" In other words, what is His holy day of rest?
Most Christians today think it's Sunday, when the majority of churches hold services.
But others confidently say it's Saturday, calling Sunday worship "the most flagrant error of mainstream Christianity," believing Sunday-keepers are victims of clever deception.
Some high-profile evangelical pastors such as California's Greg Laurie say it's simply "wrong to set Saturday apart as a special day for worship."
Today, some high-school sports teams refuse to play in state tournaments for the sole reason the events are held on Saturday – what they say is God's Sabbath.
Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell 
Conversely, the 1981 film "Chariots of Fire" was based on the story of Eric Liddell, a Scottish sprinter ...   more »