Free Republic

From the time Anglican pilgrims arrived in Jamestown, it's as if America and the Episcopal Church have been soul mates – for better or for worse. Now come the country's culture wars over sexuality, conservative versus liberal, change versus tradition. And the 2.4-million-member denomination that has given us more U.S. presidents than any other, along with its first-ever woman leader, is not being spared. Nearly five years after a gay priest was elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, the fallout continues. One diocese has seceded from the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Dozens of congregations,...

WASHINGTON – A senator wants Congress' investigative arm to determine whether the Transportation Department has broken the law by spending federal money on a program allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. roads. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., called for the investigation by the General Accountability Office a few hours after Transportation Secretary Mary Peters warned of economic losses if Mexican trucks are prohibited from driving deep into the U.S. Peters has been fighting in court to prevent the program's end. But Dorgan and others say Congress prohibited spending money on the program last year. “When Congress passes a law that says no...

For more than 75 years the Hunt family has meant big money in Big D, and often big news, too. Eccentric oilman H.L. Hunt built the world's largest fortune and secretly supported three families at the same time. His children built Reunion Tower and the Mansion on Turtle Creek, coined the term "Super Bowl," infamously failed to corner the silver market, and recently signed an eyebrow-raising oil deal in Iraq. But the branch of his family led by his eldest daughter, Margaret Hunt Hill, lived quietly. She flew coach, attended charity galas and became the glue that held the family...

NASHUA, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton, her back against the wall in New Hampshire, battled to keep the state from swinging to rival Barack Obama on Sunday by accusing him of talking about change but failing to get results. In the hotly contested Republican race, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney lashed out at Arizona Sen. John McCain two days before New Hampshire votes. At stake is crucial momentum in New Hampshire and on both sides the race was taking a negative turn. The state is vital to efforts by Clinton and Romney to revitalize their campaigns after disappointing...

Civil War history enthusiasts can enjoy a variety of programs this weekend and next commemorating the 144th anniversary of the Battles for Chattanooga. The events hosted by the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park kick off today. Park Superintendent Shawn Benge said highlights will include several living history programs, the firing of cannons and walking tours. "It's really an opportunity to come out and learn ... some Civil War history about the campaign for Chattanooga and to immerse yourself more than (through) the traditional level of programs that we offer," he said. The Battles for Chattanooga marked the end of...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Days after Taliban fighters overran Musa Qala a U.S. commander pledged that Western troops would take it back. Nine months later, the town is still Taliban territory, a symbol of the West's struggles to control the poppy-growing south. But a string of recent battles around Musa Qala, won overwhelmingly by American Special Forces, signal a renewed U.S. focus on the symbolic Taliban stronghold. An Afghan army commander said Sunday that U.S. and Afghan forces have taken over the area around the town and that Afghan commanders are holding talks with Musa Qala's tribal leaders to persuade them...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Suspected Taliban militants fought fierce battles with U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan, killing 20 insurgents and one civilian, officials said Sunday. The Defense Ministry said the joint Afghan-NATO operation was launched Saturday in the Korengal Valley in Kunar province — next to the border with Pakistan — with artillery fire and airstrikes. The ministry said 20 "enemy" fighters were killed in the battles, while Kunar Gov. Didar Shalizai said one civilian died. Maj. Charles Anthony, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said 11 civilians were wounded. Anthony said elders in the area indicated that the suspected...

TOURS, 732

KABUL (AFP) - Fresh battles in insurgency-plagued Afghanistan Tuesday left 35 Taliban fighters and six policemen dead, officials said. US-led coalition forces killed more than 20 militants when they repelled a rare frontal attack on a US military base, the coalition said in a statement. Afghan army and coalition forces beat back the morning attack on US Firebase Anaconda, in Uruzgan province, in which the rebels used small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and 107mm rockets, the statement said. It said that as 75 fighters attacked the base, air support was called in. "Almost two dozen insurgents were confirmed killed in the...

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (Reuters) - Al Qaeda-inspired militants killed six Lebanese soldiers on Thursday in fierce battles at a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon, security sources said. They said 22 soldiers were wounded, three seriously, in fighting at the Nahr al-Bared camp which began in the early morning after Fatah al-Islam snipers shot dead two soldiers, prompting Lebanese troops to unleash artillery barrages. The army and Fatah al-Islam militants have been fighting at the coastal camp for nearly eight weeks. At least 212 people have been killed, making it Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. Security...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Fierce battles over strategic positions spread Wednesday to central Gaza, with Hamas fighters wresting control of the coastal strip's main north-south road and positioning to cut off reinforcements to beleaguered forces of the rival Fatah faction. In the southern town of Khan Younis, a one-ton bomb in an underground tunnel tore through the headquarters of a security force loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, said Ali Qaisi, a presidential guard spokesman. At least one person was killed and eight were wounded, medics said. Before the blast, Hamas militants demanded officers inside the building come...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, April 24, 2007 – Efforts by Iraqi security forces and the coalition to reduce the violence in Baghdad continue as Operation Law and Order enters its ninth week. "Progress is measured neighborhood by neighborhood in an attempt to rid the capital city of extremists who are intent on terrorizing the population and undermining the elected government here," said Army Brig. Gen. John F. Campbell, the deputy commanding general for maneuver with Multinational Division Baghdad and the 1st Cavalry Division. He said joint security stations manned by coalition and Iraqi forces continue to stand up throughout the...

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2007 – Army leaders are committed to improving the service’s health care systems for wounded servicemembers and their families, top officers told the national security subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today. The committee held a meeting at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here to gather facts behind problems reported there that have tarnished the once-stellar reputation of the Army’s top medical facility. Part of the problem, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Richard A. Cody said, is that policies and rules governing many of the health care systems have...

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2007 – The anticipated spring offensive may mark the beginning of the end for the Taliban in Afghanistan, a military official told bloggers and online journalists in a conference call yesterday. “If the Taliban do not make it through this offensive, we feel that by next year they’ll have limited access to Afghanistan,” Army Col. David B. Enyeart, deputy commander of Task Force Phoenix V, said. Enyeart, whose soldiers oversee training of the Afghan forces, said coalition officials fully expect a surge in Taliban and insurgent attacks in time with the country’s spring thaw. “We know...

Givati Infantry Brigade forces, accompanied by tanks, armored vehicles and aerial support, have engaged terrorists in heavy battle in northern Gaza; ten terrorists and one soldier have been killed. IDF censors have released the name of the soldier killed during the clash with terrorists in Beit Hanoun, the PA-controlled Gaza town from which rockets are fired on Sderot. He is Staff Sergeant Kiril Golenshein, 21, from the agricultural community of Shekef. Golenshein was shot and fatally wounded by Palestinian Authority terrorists at 2:30AM Wednesday. He was evacuated from the scene, but died a short time later. IDF forces shot and...

Indian state battles fever fears By John Mary Trivandrum, Kerala Mosquitoes are blamed for spreading the disease Authorities in India's southern state of Kerala say they are battling a fever outbreak that has claimed many lives. Since July, at least 70 people have died - most, it is suspected, from the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus. A team of experts from the World Health Organisation have arrived in Kerala to examine the outbreak of the disease. Separately, Indian authorities are fighting an outbreak of dengue fever in the country's north - 28 people have died of the disease in recent weeks. Cases...

'100 Tigers killed' in sea battle with Sri Lankan navy By Michael Hirst (Filed: 03/09/2006) Sri lanka's navy claimed to have sunk 12 Tamil Tiger boats during a six-hour sea battle yesterday that killed up to 100 rebels. The fighting started late on Friday when about 20 Tiger vessels, including five suicide boats packed with explosives, attempted to attack a naval base at Kankasanthurai, a key port on the northern Jaffna peninsula. A patrol, including fast-attack gun boats, drove the Tigers into open water where the battle continued until dawn yesterday. TamilNet, a pro-rebel website, claimed that two navy vessels...

BLOOMINGTON -- U.S. Army Col. Dirk Spanton lived with the possibility of dying every day during the 32 months he served with Special Forces in Iraq. The Bloomington man was shot at by insurgents, sent to minefields to disarm explosives and once had a rocket-propelled grenade come within feet of ending his life. After three tours of duty in the desert, the 50-year-old former ROTC instructor finally returned home to his wife and five children on Memorial Day. Within days, the family’s joy turned to sorrow as Spanton was hospitalized with a mysterious illness. Doctors later diagnosed him with cancer...

This is an excellent book that is both a detailed military history and a historical apologetics book. The authors' foundational point is that the military campaigns of the OT are so detailed that they couldn't have been fabricated and are not fables like some skeptics and liberal scholars would like us to believe. The authors do an incredible job at drawing out details from the English and Hebrew texts. This coupled with their own knowledge and experience in warfare, they paint a detailed picture of the Israeli campaigns. They also make many comparisons to later battles, leaders and campaigns in...

Ya gotta LOVE the Marines !!! My Marine Corps Association calendar has the following historical notation for Sunday, January 8,2006:1815 - Marines,with Andrew Jackson's help,repulsed the British at New Orleans. Ho.......kay ! Semper Fi, anyway !! :) :) :) :) :) :)

. . . James McIvor has found an instance in the Civil War when the animosity between the Union and Confederate soldiers also lifted, if only for the length of a single song . . . As the opposing forces settled into battle lines near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on December 30, 1862, the bands on each side played an evening concert for their respective comrades. The two concerts continued, unharmoniously enough, until, “as if by common consent,” recalled the Tennesseean, both took up “Home, Sweet Home.” The men on both sides soon joined together in singing the song. When it was...

State Battles Likely if Roe Overturned By DAVID CRARY, Associated Press Writer Sat Nov 5,11:56 PM ET NEW YORK - Undoubtedly, there would be tumult — likely roiling every statehouse in the nation. Beyond that, little is certain about what would unfold if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the divisive 1973 decision establishing a woman's right to have an abortion. Reversal remains only a hypothesis for now, yet both sides in the abortion debate are discussing the demise of Roe as an increasingly serious possibility. President Bush's nomination of conservative Samuel Alito to replace moderate Justice Sandra Day...

We find ourselves, yet again, with an issue on which there can be no middle ground. Are the Democrats right and the war in Iraq is unjust, with great degrees of carnage and America’s defeat at hand? Or are the Republicans right in seeing the cause as noble, victory real and the benefits of a safer region, a more secure America and a more peaceful world already being realized? Anyone who cares about America needs to care first about the truth. If America is in the wrong then only the truth will help us right it and thus remain the...

A group of the most influential liberal court lobbyists gathered in a high-ceilinged room across the hall from the Senate chamber, within hours of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement announcement Friday. With grave expressions on their faces, the activists stood somberly behind a lectern and one-by-one delivered impassioned pleas that Justice O'Connor be replaced with a jurist who will protect their particular interests. "This is a watershed moment," said Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way, noting that this fight will be even more momentous than the one for which they have been preparing for...

When George Washington, in a spiffy uniform of buff and blue, sitting his horse with a grace uncommon even among Virginians vain about their horsemanship, arrived outside Boston in July 1775 to assume command of the American rebellion, he was aghast. When he got a gander at his troops, mostly New Englanders, his reaction was akin to the Duke of Wellington's assessment of his troops, many of them the sweepings of Britain's slums, during the Peninsular War: "I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they terrify me." You think today's red state/blue...

The Iraq War isn't one. It looks like a war. It has all the pain and suffering of wartime captured in human stories with individual names that scream in anguish, pain, and unspeakable love and pride. Measured by the long, dispassionate yardstick of history, however, the Iraq War is one battle in a much greater, grave World War IV. The distinction is significant to more than military historians. A battle can be lost and the war still won. The Iraq War, in context, is a battle which may be lost in either Iraq or the U.S. It may be lost...

Every historical period must have an appellation, a title that quickly recalls the nature of the times, a name that defines the era. Ours is no exception. Many have been calling it the “Information Age,” which suffices to represent the Internet explosion with its abundant access to news and knowledge, including the notorious and much maligned “blog.” But perhaps it would be better remembered as the Age of Treason—an age in which men who reside under the same sovereign roof, live by the same set of rules, hold the door against the same threats of chaos and destruction, are eager...

BRASILIA, Brazil - Battered by accusations his party paid monthly bribes to buy votes in Congress, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva huddled with aides Tuesday as he prepared to host a U.N. forum on corruption. As calls intensified for a congressional inquiry that could paralyze Silva's administration, stocks fell for a second straight day over concerns about political stability in South America's largest country. Brazil's currency was down again against the dollar and euro. Analysts said Silva has little choice but to explain what he knew about the payoffs if he hopes to restore confidence in the Workers Party,...

Leaders from Turkey, New Zealand, Australia and Britain have attended a ceremony to mark the 90th anniversary of the bloody WWI Gallipoli landings.A minute's silence was observed at the Turkish memorial on the Gallipoli peninsula on Sunday - the beginning of two days of events. Turkish jets performed an acrobatic display while battleships and frigate sailed past the Dardanelles. More than 100,000 died in the failed allied bid to win a foothold in Turkey. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country's "excellent relations" with Australia and New Zealand "provides a fresh breeze to the souls of all those...

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Italian archaeologist has discovered the remains of 30 British troops dating as far back as a decisive naval battle in 1798 between France and Britain off Egypt's north coast, the British Embassy said on Wednesday. Archaeologist Paolo Gallo discovered the bodies on an island in Abu Qir bay, east of Alexandria, where British Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated Napoleon Bonaparte's French fleet in the Battle of the Nile. Gallo had been excavating the island for Greek-Roman artefacts when he discovered the remains of the 30 British sailors and soldiers, some dating to the 1798 battle and others...

Baron Nishi is probably a familiar name to people who know the history of Japan in the days leading up to World War II. Born an aristocrat, his first name was Takeichi. He won a gold medal in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, and served in the Imperial Japanese Army during the war. After a tour in Manchuria, he was shipped to Iwojima island, where he was killed in action. It is said that U.S. soldiers on Iwojima tried in vain to get Nishi to surrender, calling out to him by name: ``Olympic hero Baron Nishi, please turn yourself in....

There are new allegations that heavily armed private security contractors in Iraq are brutalizing Iraqi civilians. In an exclusive interview, four former security contractors told NBC News that they watched as innocent Iraqi civilians were fired upon, and one crushed by a truck. The contractors worked for an American company paid by U.S. taxpayers. The Army is looking into the allegations. The four men are all retired military veterans: Capt. Bill Craun, Army Rangers; Sgt. Jim Errante, military police; Cpl. Ernest Colling, U.S. Army; and Will Hough, U.S. Marines. All went to Iraq months ago as private security contractors. "I...

During the Battle of Fredricksburg, Robert E. Lee, surveying the battlefield covered with thousands of the dead and wounded, remarked to his staff that "It is a good thing war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it." William Tecumseh Sherman, having been criticized for the widespread destruction his army caused in the Shenandoah and Georgia, responded "War is hell." What if war were not hell, but conducted as a sterile, antiseptic, non-invasive procedure to eliminate the "bad guys" without causing harm to "innocent civilians" and property? The hazards of this type of warfare are manifold and introduce...

The red-state warriors and blue-state battlers are at it again. This time, the goal isn't the White House. It's the Oscar. In one color-coded corner: Conservative groups pushing for nominations for The Passion of the Christ. In the other color-coded corner: Proud liberal Michael Moore pushing for nominations for Fahrenheit 9/11. If the contrast holds, Academy Award season may bare more than a passing resemblance to this fall's divisive general election. Promises Patrick Hynes: "It will be all that and more." Hynes is a senior account executive at the Washington, D.C.-based GOP consulting firm Marsh Copsey + Scott. This...

SACRAMENTO -- Frustrated by years of overspending and late budgets, Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, plans to introduce a major reform package today when the Legislature reconvenes designed to force lawmakers to pass a budget on time and limit spending. McClintock, considered one of the most fiscally conservative legislators, wants to force the Legislature to pass an on-time budget by June 15, or face the consequence of the governor's budget winning approval without legislative changes. But he would also lower the threshold to pass a budget to a simple majority, down from the current two-thirds requirement. "It's a comprehensive budget-reform...

One important lesson learned during this past election year is that the American people want a return to basic American values, and an end to vicious, Michael Moore-style politics. Certainly the last thing Americans want is yet another year of incessant, baseless, and venomous attacks.But if liberal special-interest groups in Washington have their way, more vicious politics is exactly what the American people will get, particularly in the likely event of a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.The American people want judges and justices on the bench who will dutifully interpret the law — distinguished legal minds and devoted...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -  A U.S.-Iraqi raid on the Abu Hanifa mosque — one of the most revered sites for Sunni Muslims spawned a weekend of street battles, assassinations and a rash of bombings that changed Baghdad. The capital, for months a city of unrelenting but sporadic violence, has taken on the look of a battlefield. The chaos has fanned sectarian tension and deepened Sunni distrust of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a Shiite installed by the Americans five months ago. It has also heightened the anxiety of the city's 6 million people — already worn down by years of sanctions...

AMSTERDAM Anger toward the Netherlands' Muslim community percolated among the crowd that gathered outside the funeral for the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, who was killed by an Islamic extremist a week ago. The public debate over how conservative Islam fits into Europe's most tolerant, liberal society had already become a no-holds-barred affair before the killing of van Gogh, who had publicly and repeatedly used epithets against Muslims. But his killing has now polarized the country, giving the rest of Europe a disturbing glimpse of what may be in store if relations with the continent's growing immigrant communities are not...

Editor: I didn’t write this piece but I salute the man who did. He has said exactly what so many veterans have been thinking for so long. When I returned from Nam, my roommate in the 82d Airborne was SSGT Charles B. Morris, awarded the Medal of Honor while serving with the 173rd Airborne in Vietnam. I know firsthand it’s true that warriors like Charley are tormented in their dreams and cry out in their sleep as they re-fight their battles; yes that I know from bunking with him. But one thing I never heard him do was boast. Not...

In Israel, Remembering Yom Kippur War By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem----September 24.....As I wrote the below account last year, the first time retracing steps taken thirty-one years ago in Israel in October 1973, memories began to pour back along with the anxiety and tears that we all experienced at the time. For many of us, the scars of war will never heal. Nor should they. Sitting in the relative safety of a suburban Long Island home, I first heard news reports of Arab armies attacking Israel on October 6, 1973. It was not exactly clear what was transpiring...

Five months after a pair of altercations between off-duty New Hampshire Drug Task Force officers, a Portsmouth police officer and civilians, no charges have been filed and the county courthouse is void of any pertinent public record. The county attorney, state police, head of the drug task force and Portsmouth police chief all remain tight-lipped, saying little more than their respective investigations are ongoing. Meanwhile, rumors of a motive linger. State law defining the distribution of seized drug assets may validate one alleged motive for the March 17 and 18 public police disputes. Money. According to New Hampshire law, funds...

The History Channel is going to air a new historical series entitled DECISIVE BATTLES including some classic wars between ancient Persian armies and Roman and Greek ones. The History Channel goes on location to the actual battlefields and integrates cutting-edge videogame technology to bring history and imagination together in the new series DECISIVE BATTLES. The half-hour series DECISIVE BATTLES premieres Friday, July 23 at 9-9:30pm ET/PT. The series is hosted by Matthew Settle (Band of Brothers) on location at the ancient battlefields and features expert commentary from the world©s foremost historians. DECISIVE BATTLES is unlike any series The History Channel...

Here's the state budget crisis in an nutshell: On Wednesday, the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee defeated SB 9, by Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Simi Valley. It was a strict party-line vote, six Democrats nea, two Republicans yea. Passing SB 9 would save $11 million a year. That's just a fraction of the nearly $78 billion state budget or of the $8 billion structural deficit in future years estimated by Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill. But SB 9 is symptomatic. It would cancel a bill passed in 2002, and signed into law by Gov. Davis, that extended hefty public safety pensions once...

NAJAF, Iraq - Followers of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr fought gun battles with foreign troops in Shi'ite Muslim strongholds on Tuesday and vowed to pursue their uprising until U.S.-led forces withdraw from Iraqi towns. U.S. troops have long faced daily attacks in the Sunni Muslim heartlands to the north and west of Baghdad, where heavy fighting was reported in the Sunni cities of Falluja and Ramadi. But the violence in Shi'ite Muslim areas represents a new front for occupying troops trying to pacify the country ahead of a June 30 handover of sovereignty to an Iraqi government. An American soldier...

<p>Let's start using the correct vocabulary. The Iraq conflict should be known as The Battle Of Iraq, not the war. The war is on Terrorism, and is being fought worldwide. During World War II, when Rommel was running over North Africa, it wasn't know as the War In Africa, and we didn't lose the war because of temporary losses. We have now won the Battle of Iraq, and the Battle of Afghanistan, but the war continues. The battle of Lybia has already been won without firing a shot.</p>

FARWELL – After more than a two-year ordeal, a Parmer County jury Thursday found Ronnie Puckett, 47, innocent of possession of marijuana, a charge that came after police found an estimated 250 pounds of the drug on his Lazbuddie farm in October 2001. His fight continues, however, to keep the state from seizing his land. Puckett was arrested on June 14, 2002, after an investigation into the cultivation of marijuana plants on about 10 acres of cornfield. Police also seized marijuana from a barn on the property. Puckett’s then-74-year-old father, William Vernon Puckett, was arrested during a raid on the...

MASTER AND COMMANDER : THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD Avast ye swabs who have been searching the seas for a Man's Captain and a ship to sail. Coming to theatres on November 14 is Peter Weir's adaptation of Patrick O'Brien's series of books chronicling the adventures and lives of two extraordinary men living in extraordinary times : Stephen Maturin and Jack Aubrey. I have just begun reading these books and am completely taken in. I am beginning this thread in the hopes of garnering other fans who are either long time afficianados of O'Brien's writing, or bookworms (like...

Battles rage across Saddam heartland where guerrillas resist US occupation By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad 14 June 2003 American troops claimed yesterday to have killed 27 Iraqis who ambushed a tank with rocket-propelled grenades north of Baghdad. The number of attacks on US forces north and west of the capital has risen sharply in recent weeks and the military says it has killed a total of 70 Iraqi fighters. But the fighting has brought the loss of an Apache helicopter shot down in an attack on a guerrilla training camp on Thursday. Although President Bush has declared major combat in...

Chirac battles to focus G8 summit on Africa's plight By John Lichfield in Paris 31 May 2003 The meeting of the world's biggest developed countries in Evian from tomorrow was supposed to mark a historic opening of the "first" world to developing nations. But much of the time will now be absorbed by the first world's own economic difficulties and papering over its political squabbles. Over the next three days, the G8 countries will open out on the shore of Lake Geneva to become the G20, embracing countries as disparate as China, Egypt, South Africa and Brazil. The manouevering among...

New Senators Seek to End Judicial Battles WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The 10 newest U.S. senators -- nine Republicans and one Democrat -- urged senior colleagues on Wednesday to stop the bickering and find a way to end partisan battles over judicial nominations. On the eve of a Senate showdown vote on one of two conservative nominees being blocked by Democrats, the freshmen lawmakers said the confirmation process must be reformed. "Each of us firmly believes that the United States Senate needs a fresh start," they wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, and Senate...