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It's been nearly six months since Oakland homeowner Patrick McCullough faced down a group of young men outside his home, wounding one of them during a scuffle, and he is still dealing with the fallout. The latest blow came last week when McCullough read a newspaper article that said his insurance company had agreed to pay $55,000 to settle a claim brought by the family of Melvin McHenry, the 16-year-old shot in the arm during the struggle outside McCullough's home on 59th Street. McCullough said he almost choked on his blueberry muffin when he read the article. "We were assured...

Armed Forces stretched beyond limit By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 15/06/2005) A damning report on the Armed Forces' ability to go on operations has concluded that more than a third of the military are experiencing serious weaknesses. The National Audit Office says today that there is a potential crisis facing the military with so many troops deployed in operations overseas and a possible brigade-size operation in Afghanistan next year. The Government's commitments abroad have used up a vast amount of equipment and led to serious curtailment of training, the Whitehall spending watchdog says. Under the Ministry of Defence traffic...

I am pleased to join millions of Americans in honoring the brave men and women in uniform -- those who serve today, those who have fallen in battle, and those veterans who proudly served in the past. My father volunteered to serve in the Navy after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Millions enlisted to battle against the tide of tyranny then threatening the world. And I was privileged to serve in the Navy some 50 years ago. Now, more than 50 years later, I count my time in uniform as a most important period in my life. Thousands, if...

Iraqi rebels better armed than we first thought, say US marines By Oliver Poole in Baghdad (Filed: 16/05/2005) Iraqi insurgents have proved to be better equipped and more elusive than expected, United States marines have said at the end of a week-long operation near the Syrian border. Many rebels wore bullet-proof vests and a number had Soviet-designed armour piercing bullets and night sights, equipment rarely seen previously in Iraq. In one clash two marines were killed when militant fighters lay on their backs in the narrow gap under a house and fired through the concrete floor. The end of the...

In The Arizona Minutemen II, I mentioned that Arizona’s Minuteman Project is restoring the concept of Militia in its proper light, and that the mission of any Militia is that – made up of everyday constituents – Militias of everyday constituents have always been the first line of defense. Adding power to this concept is the resonant idea of putting more cops on the street, the official equivalent to constituent-manned Militia. Sheer numbers with legal authority both have. President Clinton enunciated this policy when he promised 100,000 new officers on the street, though it never became a reality, even as...

Just as there is a War on Drugs and a War on Terrorism ongoing in this country, there is a war without such a catchy name that continues unabated in America. That is the War on Guns. And just as the War on Drugs has spent billions of dollars with quite literally nothing to show for it but growing incidences of violence and the highest incarceration rates in the world; and as the War on Terrorism has cost untold losses of liberty to date; the War on Guns has prohibitive expenses all its own. The grassroots forces in the War...

A man walked into a church in Wisconsin two weeks ago and shot dead seven people before turning the gun on himself. He fired a total of 22 rounds from a 9 mm handgun. He wounded four others. No one knows exactly what set off this nutcase, Terry Ratzmann. It doesn't really matter. The bloodbath is sure to evoke new cries for gun control in America. No doubt some so-called "Christians" will even embrace this draconian, freedom-destroying solution to random or planned violence in this country. But let me tell you why this is exactly the wrong prescription. There were...

FORT HUACHUCA - With the screams of his fellow soldiers from Fort Huachuca, Nathaniel Hicks used of barrage of punches in the final round to claim a 25-18 decision over Paul Eghareva of Fort Drum, N.Y., on Saturday night at the All Army Boxing Championships at Barnes Field House. "It motivated me when they started to scream my name, and it gave me more power to go out there and do good," Hicks said. Hicks, however, won't be advancing to the Armed Forces Championship, Feb. 17-19 at Fort Huachuca in the 165-weight class, but he did walk away with the...

SACRAMENTO - Armed with a new report showing big savings and backed by the Legislature's two leaders, a Democratic lawmaker announced plans Wednesday to reintroduce her bill to create a universal health care system that would cover all Californians. The study by the Lewin Group, a Virginia consulting firm, predicts the legislation would save California $343.6 billion in health care costs over the next 10 years, mainly by cutting administration and using bulk purchases of drugs and medical equipment. The study was paid for by Health Care for All - California, a nonprofit group that supports universal coverage. The bill's...

Alongside U.S. 59, several miles north of the Loop, sits the appropriately named 59 Gun Range. Run-down homes, vacant lots and a fireworks emporium line its block. Immediately adjacent is Pancho's Mobile Homes, a makeshift sales lot marked by a hand-painted sign, where dented trailers teeter on cinder blocks like derailed train cars. In the smoky gun shop, which forms the lobby of the range, a wispy teenager with long, oily hair and a dimwitted but lively gaze drawls about the thrills of gun recoil. His sidekick affirms with a crooked smile. At one of the shadowy shooting lanes, Marie...

The Government of Cojedes state took over as proimised the British owned cattle ranch Hato El Charcote. The Goveror stil claims they are respecing private property, but "it is not absolute" whatever that means. You can read more about it here, here and here. The people at the bottom are not part of the intervention, they are the invaders of the ranch, who are protesting because the Government apparently is not going to give them the intervened land, but it will be handed over to 28 cooperatives of farmers.

JERUSALEM (AP) - The armed uprising against Israel is a mistake and must end, interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview published Tuesday, signaling his determination to change direction after Yasser Arafat's death. Palestinian militants have enjoyed broad support among Palestinians during more than four years of conflict with Israel. Abbas' affirmation of a somewhat unpopular view comes at the height of his campaign for Palestinian Authority president. Abbas is the frontrunner in the Jan. 9 election to succeed Arafat as Palestinian Authority president. Abbas, a pragmatist, has the support of Israel and the international community. While...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Editor's note: Readers may be interested in two related stories: "Invested in Terrorism" and "BBC: U.S. Damned if it does and damned if it doesn't". -ALJ Douglas Farah uncovered the story of al-Qaeda's involvement in West Africa's diamond smuggling while reporting on Africa for the Washington Post, which he described in Blood from Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror (New York: Broadway, 2004). Mr. Farah, now a consultant, freelance writer on terror finance and national security matters, and a senior fellow at the Consortium for the Study of Intelligence, addressed the Middle East Forum in New York City on...

S Africans 'armed to the hilt' South Africans own more guns than the police and army South African civilians own more guns than the police and military combined, according to a study by Gun Free South Africa and Cape Town University. Some 8.4% of the population own a gun, which amounts to 3.7 million firearms, the researchers found. In the region, on average 2.27% of the population own guns, while Mozambique has a rate of 0.04%, the study says. South Africa has one of the world's highest incidences of gun-related crime which has led to new fire arm laws. Apartheid...

NEW YORK (AFP) - New York authorities are turning central Manhattan into an armed security fortress for the four-day Republican National Convention that opens next Monday to nominate President George W. Bush (news - web sites) for a second four-year term. "The city and the state as well as many agencies and thousands of individuals have come together in partnership to provide an unprecedented, comprehensive level of security to protect this great city and the convention," said US Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. Ridge's declaration of both the Republican convention, and the Democratic convention held in Boston last month --...

This is long overdue for me. A tribute to our armed forces. Thank you, all. I do not consider your sacrifices in vain. The American Flame

Memories of 2000 energize Dem organizers By Ron Fournier, AP Political Writer April 27, 2004 ST. LOUIS -- Armed with Palm Pilots and a $95 million budget, Democratic organizers hope to exploit voters' anger toward President Bush and the disputed outcome of the 2000 election to produce a record-breaking Nov. 2 turnout. They're doing it the old-fashioned way -- knocking on doors and registering voters -- with information-age technology, such as the hand-held computers carried street-to-street by canvassers. "There's going to be people crawling out of the woodwork to vote against Bush after what happened in 2000 and what he's...

Man Who Killed Armed Intruder Jailed Eight Years By Will Batchelor, PA News A man who stabbed to death an armed intruder at his home was jailed for eight years today. Carl Lindsay, 25, answered a knock at his door in Salford, Greater Manchester, to find four men armed with a gun. When the gang tried to rob him he grabbed a samurai sword and stabbed one of them, 37-year-old Stephen Swindells, four times. Mr Swindells, of Salford, was later found collapsed in an alley and died in hospital. Lindsay, of Walkden, was found guilty of manslaughter following a three-week...

MOSCOW, February 11 (RIA Novosti) - Armed policemen will be on Russian flights. "The possibility of armed policemen being on flights on a contract basis is being examined," Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin said at a press conference at Domodedovo airport. According to him, policemen are currently being trained for this duty. They are studying airplanes and the special characteristics of actions inside airplanes so that they are prepared to react to any situation. In regards to airport security, Mr. Chekalin there was improper protection of airplanes. According to him, in certain cases, criminals have the opportunity to place foreign...