Free Republic

Iran's parliament is set to debate a draft bill which could see the death penalty used for those deemed to promote corruption, prostitution and apostasy on the internet, reports said on Wednesday. MPs on Wednesday voted to discuss as a priority the draft bill which seeks to "toughen punishment for harming mental security in society," the ISNA news agency said. The text lists a wide range of crimes such rape and armed robbery for which the death penalty is already applicable. The crime of apostasy (the act of leaving a religion, in this case Islam) is also already punishable by...

Bloggers, like me, are voicing their views and commentary on the news (and falsehoods, etc) of the day as is our right under the constitution.  When a corporation tries to tell me I cannot comment, criticize (and more often correct) their lousy product I lose all interest in being reasonable.  There are lines you do not cross because they cannot be uncrossed. The-news-source-that-shall-not-be-named, which went after bloggers for excerpting and linking their biased and error prone ‘news’ articles, crossed that line - in full hypocrisy it seems: 1. The AP is essentially arguing that anyone who excerpts 33 to 79...

NEW YORK - The Associated Press, following criticism from bloggers over an AP assertion of copyright, plans to meet this week with a bloggers' group to help form guidelines under which AP news stories could be quoted online. Jim Kennedy, the AP's director of strategic planning, said Monday that he planned to meet Thursday with Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association, as part of an effort to create standards for online use of AP stories by bloggers that would protect AP content without discouraging bloggers from legitimately quoting from it. The meeting comes after AP sent a legal...

The McCain campaign has a special program encouraging its supporters to leave positive comments about the candidate on other blogs. Via Jonathan Martin, we learn that those who leave McCain talking points on “featured blogs� like conservative Red State and moonbat Daily Kos will earn “points:� Help spread the word about John McCain on news and blog sites. Your efforts to help get the message out about John McCain’s policies and plan for the future is one of the most valuable things you can do for this campaign. You know why John McCain should be the next President of the...

The move on the Left from Hillary to Obama has all the characteristics of a nasty divorce. A few days ago I wrote about one of my associates who transferred his affection from the Clintons to Obama. He spoke about Hillary like she was a wife who had slept with his best friend. The expressions of loathing are especially graphic in the blogosphere. Thanks to Powerline we get a glimpse of what the Left is saying when they are not using four letter words to describe Hillary. Posts like this one from John Aravosis, with the title "Go away you...

The media frenzy surrounding Pope Benedict’s visit to the United States is being driven in part by a newcomer on the media block: bloggers. For the first time in history, a U.S. papal visit is being covered around the clock by bloggers of all stripes – Catholic and secular, independent and staff, spiritually focused and news focused – and they are doing what they do best, bringing online readers information almost as fast as it happens. It’s a new way of covering the pope, and, according to those on the front lines, it is changing the landscape of media coverage in...

Every so often in the blogosphere, on the Left and the Right, hostile debates over gender seem to rise up to the surface like a leviathan from the depths. Some male bloggers tend to think women get more links because they're women, some female bloggers think there's some sort of a "good ol’ boys" club that keeps them from getting big, and more than a few people seem to get huffy about the whole debate. However, the fact is that the issue is much more complex than it appears on the surface. The blogging experience ISN'T THE SAME for men...

Yes you heard right. We are looking for a few people who want to be contributers at White Devil Red Angle. Qualifications? Know your way around a browser, Be Conservative, Like to write. Must be willing to make at least 2 post a week. Come help expose China for the Commie Creeps they are. You can also throw in any liberal you want also. Commie Creep can be used for so many.

Looking for some conservatives who want to help as posters on my new blog White Devil Red Angle http://whitedevilredangel.mee.nu/ Responsibilities will be to post weekly on politics in America and china. Just about anything goes. Please shoot me a message on the page or here if you are interested. Thanks

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Wei Wenhua was a model communist and is now a bloggers' hero -- a "citizen journalist" turned martyr. The construction company manager was driving his car when he witnessed an ugly scene: a team of about 50 city inspectors beating villagers who tried to block trucks from unloading trash near their homes. Wei took out his cell phone and began taking pictures. The city inspectors saw Wei and then attacked him in a beating that lasted five minutes. By the time it was over, the 41-year-old Wei was slumped unconscious. He was rushed to the hospital...

MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) -- Bloggers and free speech advocates are calling on prosecutors not to file charges against a teacher arrested for allegedly posting an anonymous comment online praising the Columbine shooters. In 1999, two Columbine High School students killed 12 fellow students, a teacher, and themselves. Some were disturbed by the post that police say James Buss left on a conservative blog, but other observers said it was a sarcastic attempt to discredit critics of education spending. The suburban Milwaukee high school chemistry teacher was arrested last week for the November 16 comment left on www.bootsandsabers.com, a blog on...

An article in USA Today touches on blogging among believing Christians, and remarks on the frequently combative nature of the posts: "For Christ's sake, stop!" declared the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Rev. Frank Page, pleading for civility in the Baptist blogosphere. Episcopalians and Anglicans duel incessantly over their faith and future in the Anglican Communion. Catholics focus on every topic from liturgy to law to spirituality. These are faith bloggers -- uncountable voices who contest, confess and consider religious beliefs, doctrines and denominational politics in their posts. Although every faith has its bloggers, U.S. Christians may...

Media Bloggers Unite by: Bethany Stotts, November 15, 2007 Blogging has increased dramatically over the last few years, marked by proportionate increases in lawsuits. The alleged dangers of internet anonymity prompted Forbes writer, Victoria Murphy Barret, to write in her October article “Anonymity & the Internet” that “Today the Net still protects the abused and the disenfranchised...But it also shields creeps, criminals and pedophiles. It emboldens the mean-spirited and offers them a huge audience for spewing hatred and libel.” Libel remains the largest reason for all reported blog-related lawsuits, followed by privacy, copyright disputes, and harassment, noted Robert Cox, President...

Internet evangelism is by far the newest means of getting out the gospel message. With millions of blogs, articles, videos and interactive platforms for sharing the faith, this media must be taken seriously.

In a move that diminishes the legal distinctions between bloggers and journalists, on Aug. 1 a congressional panel voted to protect journalists from having to reveal their confidential sources -- and specifically included professional bloggers in the measure. While casual and hobby bloggers will not benefit from the newly revised Free Flow of Information Act, those that earn either all or part of their income from blogs will be able to enjoy the same protections as their journalist counterparts. Bloggers, many of whom consider themselves journalists whether or not they're officially recognized as such, feel that they should be entitled...

According to celebrity gossip blog PerezHilton.com, Barr's purported MySpace ramblings include, "I need to stop drinking, but I do not wish to," "I am in Hawaii on the beach drunk" and "When you are old, you pee your pants more it seems." ----------------------------------------- Barr has posted another message on RosanneWorld.com, claiming that the former intern has stolen a "private sex tape" from her.

http://groups.google.com/group/misc.writing/browse_thread/thread/e62e265ee4e686e5/0bd4ef79ab02c3e8 http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/298530.html ________ Says Andy Nevis at Young Insider (http://www. younginsider.blogspot.com): "The blog that I probably read the most is Free Republic (www.freerepublic.com). It is actually more of a message board, but it provides a place for conservative contributors from all over the world to come together and discuss issues and share information."

ALL OVER America, millions of voters don't know -- or care -- that Mike Gravel has an "artistic" side or that Hillary Clinton likes Celine Dion. Yes, it's hard to believe if you're a tuned-in, turned-on popular culture vulture umbilically connected to the blogosphere/videosphere. But cross the country and ask normal people about the latest Gravel ad and they'd think you don't know how to pronounce the word for tiny pebbles. Ask working folks about "You and I," the campaign song selected by Clinton in her recent Sopranos-spoof video, and most will shrug indifferently. Everyday people, in other words, are...

I apologize if this thread is does not belong here. I am currently looking for 2 or 3 people to contribute to my blog, http://www.constitutionallyright.com. Although it has only been online for 6 months, I currently have a google PR of 4, and average about 80 unique hits a day. However with the summer coming, I will be away alot and unable to post everyday. If you are interested in contributing please contact me through my blog, or email me at csignorile at gmail.com, include a link to your blog if you have one. I will add a link to...

The Wall Street Journal says the Republicans' prospects for 2008 are looking "dim," with Americans giving the GOP "their most negative assessment in the two-decade history" of the Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. Maybe this will help: As the Politico reports, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has come up with a 39-page playbook to teach GOP candidates how to weather the not-so-new new-media world. "Rapid response and explanation of a position or vote to friendly blogs can ensure center-right solidarity behind your defense," the playbook says. "The paradigmatic example of the failure to do is the 'macaca' moment. Conservative blogs,...

As if he hasn't teased voters enough about his likely presidential bid, TV's Fred Thompson is now blogging for support and hinting that his backers will soon hear more about his plans. He went up on the Pajamas Media site this week to thank supporters for giving him six victories in the PJM Presidential Straw Polls. "So," he blogged, "I hear you all have been talking about me." Referring to the poll, the former Tennessee senator said, "The Pajamas Media poll is certainly good news, especially when, for a lot of politicians, encouragement to run from three relatives and an...

I don’t believe in ideologically segregated, blogosphere ‘playgrounds’ or hallowed ground, gated communities, nor does the thought of someone leaving a ‘non-harmonious’ comment on a thread appear to me to be a serious threat to Western Civilization. Rarely do I blindly attack those who honestly and genuinely disagree with me on a subject. Alas, that cannot be said for many on the Left. Some people experience fear or are disheartened by the hatred, attacks, name-calling and general antagonism directed towards them when they stray off the reservation, but I actually kind of enjoy it. Not only is it wise to...

It’s been an odd and interesting week for the media. My week began with this story in my mailbox. In it, Charles Cooper, of CNET News, reviews Andrew Keen’s new book ‘ The Culture of the Amateur’. The tome appears to be a cautionary tale on the evils of citizen journalism to western civilization as we know it. While the book does not debut until June, some excerpts make it clear that Keen is not so keen on today’s blogging landscape. In fact, he sees the situation as quite bleak. We bloggers, apparently, are ” collectively corrupting and confusing popular...

It's okay for the AP to claim four mosques were torched that weren't (the Washington Post claimed “at least five”), or that six Sunnis were horribly burned alive who weren't, or for the Los Angeles Times to report that an airstrikethat never occurred killed dozens of women and children. But when a citizen embed (albeit one attached to a magazine) wants in, he gets sent to the lemon stand.

Podcast: How you gain true influence in a campaign.

The YouTube era of politics, which helped to bring down George Allen (R) in last fall's U.S. Senate election, has come to the Virginia General Assembly. Upset that Republicans are killing bills without recording the vote, a Democratic operative is trolling the halls of the State Capitol with a video camera to put Republicans on the defensive. The videos are uploaded on blogs or YouTube, a popular Internet video sharing site. On Thursday, after House Republicans killed several proposals to increase the state's minimum wage in an unrecorded vote, furious Democrats put a video of the proceedings on http://www.assemblyaccess.com, a...

I visit various blogs, message boards, and websites. I go to each one for different reasons. I have a lot of different interests. I go to Milblogs to get the war, defense, counterterrorism, and military scoop. I visit blogs run by former Intel officers (or they say they are, one never really knows with Spooks as people remind me all of the time, since some call me a Spook of sorts, and I guess I am sortta but I'm also not, so there you go, that's the way that kind of thing works doesn't it?) to catch a drift or...

Persuasion Tuesdays (PTs) are an organized way for center-right bloggers to post constructive articles on issues important to them. The connectivity of Web 2.0 affords us the opportunity to discuss these issues in a positive way and connect with others who feel the same. The goal of PT is to provide coherent arguments that lead to the enactment of the positions important to us. So much of the blogosphere, particularly the political portion, is devoted to attack pieces. Persuasion Tuesday is a chance to get away from the vitriol and bile and give positive reasons for our philosophies. Participation is...

When it is not possible for a budding author in Egypt to publish his/her first piece of creative writing, except at his/her own expense or by waiting patiently for his/her work to eventually be published, by which time the writer may have decided to give up on his/her talent or to follow a different path, he/she is compelled to find an alternative to showcase his/her talent in creative writing. This alternative has emerged in the form of blogs, a free service that offers internet users the opportunity to express their views on a wide variety of topics ranging from politics...

There's not just an oil boom in Saudi Arabia - there's a blogging boom too. "It really took off last year," says Saudi journalist Rasheed Abou-Alsamh. There are now between 500 and 600 Saudi blogs - in English as well as Arabic - and the bloggers are women as well as men. "I think young people see the Internet as a way of expressing themselves easily and in an uncensored fashion," says Mr Abou-Alsamh. The Saudi kingdom is still in many ways a closed society. "The media here are controlled," says blogger Fouad al-Farhan, who is 31 and runs an...

Hello, I am planning to write a post on the Most Beautiful Blogs, and I was hoping Freepers could suggest some blogs they find beautiful. Since Beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder, the definition of what's beautiful is open-ended and reserved for your aesthetic pleasure. But lots of suggestions, please Freepers. Thanks very much. MG

9/14: Game On!Part of the reason progressive bloggers beat Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) in the 8/8 Dem primary was Lieberman's complete lack of presence in the blogosphere. Sure, Marty Peretz et al chipped in occasionally at TNR, but they were never nearly as focused, or partisan, as Ned Lamont's camp to mount any significant push-back. Sen. George Allen (R-VA) has learned that lesson. In the past week a new blog The A-Team has popped up, and it's completely devoted to pushing Allen's case online. The Blogometer has no inside information on the extent of Allen's New Media Coordinator Jon Henke...

Has anyone compiled a list of successes that the conservative blogoshere has accomplished? Not just agenda-driven news events ala RatherGate, but also things like to two 9/11 "Memorial" exposes, Plamegate, PorkBusters, the altered/staged photography scandals, etc. I'd be curious if this has been compiled and documented anywhere, as I think it would be valuable to convince others of the danger of inaction, and maybe inspire others to contribute. Maybe if people can respond in the comments we can draw up a list?

The fragile cease-fire still holds, but for wary Lebanese and Israelis the barrage of noise continues -- in cyberspace. By provoking a trade in words, the 33-day war in Lebanon didn't just wreak death and destruction. It also helped knock down a wall of silence. "I think it's the start of something. In a way, it's a revolution," said Mustapha Hamoui, the blogger behind Beirut Spring. "Communication is never bad. It's better to tell someone, 'I hate you.' Then you have to ask, 'Why do you hate?' Then you have to have a conversation."

I should've known that something interesting was coming on CNN when I saw that the violent-nihilistic movie, "V for Vendetta" was advertising itself earlier today on "CNN Sunday Night." You might remember that film; audiences were supposed to cheer terrorists as they blow up Big Ben in London. Happily, audiences shunned the film--Hollywood seems to have overestmated the public appetite for terror-philic films. And that was just the commercial. Host Carol Lin didn't let me down, either--even as she ran down the USA....

There have been great revolutions in the political discourse in this country, and many of them have happened in the last hundred years. You can think of Fireside Chats, Cable Television, and the expansion of the Print Media as huge innovations effectively educating and enlightening the masses. In the last 20 years however, two new powerful mediums have emerged, both of which give not only the intelligent and entertaining a voice, but give the average American a voice. Let’s take a look. In August of 1988, a man hit the airwaves popularizing a new format of AM radio, now known...

Imagine my surprise when, after using the example of Bush's 2004 campaign ad showing an image 9/11 to chide some on the right yesterday for being a bit hypocritical with their outrage at the DCCC's new video, I read that Erick at RedState has used the exact same example....to charge Democrats of hypocrisy. Let me see if I have this right. If you were against Bush using images of 9/11 in 2004 but aren't opposed to using images of flag-draped coffins in 2006, you're a hypocrite. So far so good. But if you weren't opposed to Bush using images of...

Happy Fourth of July - Today We Are All Americans.The Iraqi Conflict. The Media, in an Ideological Confrontation with the Bush administration, of whom, they don't regard as possessing the legitimacy to lead the nation, has framed the Iraqi Conflict as an unjust action, a dispirited cause, a quagmire of bombings and killings among the Iraqi citizenry, and an ever present collection of Grim Milestones of American Soldiers lives forfeited in Iraq: 500 gone; 1,000 killed; 1,500 lost; 2,000 dead; 2,500 extinguished, trumpeted throughout news headlines, in an unceasing meme of death and destruction. But the American Servicemen and women,...

A reporter's take on the Anglican battles http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=RELIGION-FAITH-06-21-06 http://tinyurl.com/g47pt By TERRY MATTINGLY Scripps Howard News Service 21-JUN-06 Anyone who follows what Ruth Gledhill has to say at her "Articles of Faith" Web site knows that she has strong religious opinions. This is especially true when it comes to Anglican battles. Here is her take on the challenge facing Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams after U.S. Episcopalians elected Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori as Anglicanism's first female archbishop and then refused to retreat on homosexual issues. Will the Anglican Communion shatter, with Third World conservatives pitted against modernists in Europe and America?...

I have always been a proud Jew, but never a terribly observant one. Several weeks ago, I made a rare visit to synagogue for a cousin's bat mitzvah and, as usual, found myself confused (and bored) by a Hebrew service I couldn't understand. During the second hour of what would be a ceremony of NFL-game-plus-overtime-length, I picked up the Torah in the pew-back, opened it at random, and started reading (the English translation, that is).

After reading how Google has been de-linking some Conservative opinion sites from "Google News" (Google claimed that articles linking islamifascism with terrorism were "hatespeech") I am now thinking that I should move my blogs from Blogspot (owned by Google). Anyone have any suggestions on blog hosting alternatives that aren't likely to censor conservative blogs (or rat out readers to the Chicomm State Security)? I can do basic HTML (links, images) and can handle FTP if necessary. TIA - Y

WASHINGTON, March 31 — The transformation of American politics by the Internet is accelerating with the approach of the 2006 Congressional and 2008 White House elections, prompting the rewriting of rules on advertising, fund-raising, mobilizing supporters and even the spreading of negative information. Democrats and Republicans are sharply increasing their use of e-mail, interactive Web sites, candidate and party blogs, and text-messaging to raise money, organize get-out-the-vote efforts and assemble crowds for a rallies. The Internet, they said, appears to be far more efficient, and less costly, than the traditional tools of politics, notably door knocking and telephone banks. Analysts...

I'm a novice blogger in search of advice about enabling comments on a blog. I had planned to not censor comments (this is a really low traffic blog with few comments anyway). But one of the first comments included an invitation to an Aryan forum. I don't want my little conservative blog associated with white supremecy. I would appreciate input on from other conservative bloggers on how you handle this issue, if you have encountered it. Do you allow comments? Do you censor them?

I use blogspot, and nothing for the last week from my blog is showing up in Technorati. I checked....double checked...my blog settings. Same with Technorati tags. Nothing.

People are making a living, or a decent chunk of one, by blogging. Some are warbloggers in the Middle East, like Michael Totten, who blogs from Beirut, with occasional sidetrips to Egypt, Turkey, and Iraq, or Michael Yon, who served as a war correspondent via blog, or Bill Roggio, who embedded himself for a while with a U.S. combat unit in Iraq. Back here in the States, there are plenty of people making money the older-fashioned way, without being shot at. Andrew Sullivan has moved in-house at Time for a presumably pretty penny, Josh Marshall is running a blog-collective, and...

MG: Baghdad Treasure, Welcome to the In T View. Can you tell us about yourself? Baghdad Treasure: I am an average Iraqi citizen lives in Baghdad and went through hard times of three wars and 12-year sanctions. I am a reporter with one of the most famous and influential newspapers in the world. I chose this job to help my country in revealing the truth and making myself a productive and influential part in the Iraqi society. MG: How did you become interested in blogging and what was the genesis of your Blog: Baghdad Treasure ? Baghdad Treasure: The first...

Just a quick announcement of my new blog: RightWinged.comI intend to be a slightly different kind of media watchdog, in addition to covering the regular news I will be busting the omissions, spin, and lies of the liberal media in places most wouldn't otherwise find. Plus, I'll serve up news with the proper framing, comentary, and analysis when it's required. I actually enjoy this stuff a lot too, so expect a lot of humor. I like photoshopping and political cartoons, so you should expect a bunch of that included in my posts. Anyway, again, just a new blog announcement if...

Young, Baghdad-based Iraqi Journalist, 24 Steps To Liberty, runs the very fine and appropriately named 24 Steps To Liberty Blog, where he provides his readers with a Reporter's and Personal Perspective on the Events, Dramas, Politics, and Happenings in Iraq and his Life, as well as his chosen profession of Journalism. It's The In T View: 24 Steps To Liberty, Iraqi Journalist Excerpt: Journalism MG: Who, What, Where, Why, and How: What is the Most Important Question you as an Iraqi Journalist can ask when getting to the Heart of a Story? 24 Steps: What? I love this question. From...

I recently posted at my website (link above) about my frustration about the impugnity with which Senators Reid and Rockefeller attack the Bush Administration without providing evidence to support their allegations. I then followed that with a pair of "Resolutions of Censure" that I thought that, if actually introduced on the floor of the Senate, would serve to get the point across that "if you're gonna bring the accusations, then bring the evidence." That's where the fun started. Here's my repartee with those that took issue with my ideas: "Choose Your Fate or It Will Be Chosen For You" 4...

WASHINGTON - Beltway politicos, famously slow to adopt technology, are wooing blogs - all but Trent Lott. "Bloggers claim I was their first pelt, and I believe that. I'll never read a blog," says the former Senate majority leader, who forfeited that title after bloggers Joshua Micah Marshall and Glenn Reynolds picked up a racially charged remark, drawing the attention of mainstream media (MSM) and his Senate colleagues. Blogs (short for web logs) are websites that can be as basic as an online diary, or as fully fledged as a political community. And when the latter variety seizes upon a...