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WASHINGTON - Republican Sen. Rand Paul says he is filing suit against the Obama administration over the data-collection policies of the National Security Agency. And on his website, he's urging Americans to join the lawsuit, in his words, "to stop Barack Obama's NSA from snooping on the American people."

The seventy-fifth anniversary of Kristallnacht has passed without a whimper from our vaunted press. Where are they now? Where were they then? I guess we have to go through this exercise another time as our Fathers did.

The FReeper Canteen Salutes theU.S. Marine CorpsOn Its 238th Birthday10NOV1775 – 10NOV2013 Semper Fidelis!(Always Faithful!) O ETERNAL FATHER, we commend to Thy protection and care the members of the Marine Corps. Guide and direct them in the defense of our country and in the maintenance of justice among nations. Protect them in the hour of danger. Grant that wherever they serve they may be loyal to their high traditions and that at all times they may put their trust in Thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Marine Corps Prayer by Bishop SherrillFormer Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal ChurchAnd...

Eating bacon can significantly lower a man’s sperm quality, Medical Daily reported. In a study presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s 2013 Annual Meeting in Boston, researchers from Harvard University gathered data from 156 men who were undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVR) with a partner. Each couple was asked questions about their diet, including how often they consumed processed meat, red meat, white meat, poultry, and fish.

MILLION MAN MARCHAfter Action Report13 October 2013 As I walked down 17th Street to the WWII Memorial I was passed by at least a dozen D.C Police cruisers and Paddy wagons. Two Secret Service cruisers were blocking vehicular access to 17th below Constitution Avenue. I was late arriving and missed Sarah Palin, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz. Photo by KC Lion Arriving at the Memorial, I made my way to the high U.S. Flag and Gadsden Flagheld by FReeper Mr. Trooprally. ConorMacNessa, Mr. Trooprally and Ron G. Kirby Those who arrived before me made short work of the Barackades:...

MAY ALMIGHTY GOD UPHOLD AND DEFEND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! THIS NATION IS dearer to me than my own life. I fought for it willingly and proudly, as my ancestors have done since the American Revolution, and as members of my family continue to do to this very day. MY FOUR-GREATS Grandfather, Samuel Brison, was born in Scotland around 1760. He emigrated to the Colonies and served in the Revolutionary War, retiring afterward to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where he passed on to his reward in May 1935. Memorial to Battery "C", 5th U.S. Artillery at Gettysburg,...

The final day of the 2013 Cowal Highland Gathering saw hordes all over the Dunoon Stadium and the town, arriving by ferry, by car and on foot. And the weather played fair. With the big results to come today in the highland dancing and pipe band competitions, everywhere you looked there were pipe bands tuning up and practising their entrance marching in unison. Above is the Kelty and Blairadam pipe band in a very well synchronised march, given that the band members in the visible line are of very different heights.

The Massed Pipes and Drums - Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2013 The sounds of the Massed Pipes and Drums welcome you to 2013's Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Bands featured: The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland 1st Battalion Scots Guards 1st Battalion The Royal Tank Regiment 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment The Wallace Pipes and Drums, Malta The Pipes and Drums of The Royal Guard of Oman

Standing in a park overlooking the east Sutherland village of Helmsdale, a statue depicts a young family from the 19th century. The father is looking out to the North Sea, while the mother faces inland - casting a final glance at her beloved Strath of Kildonan. The Emigrants is a tribute to the thousands of Highlanders who sailed to the New World after being evicted from their homes during the Clearances in the 19th century. Between 1807 and 1820, approximately 2000 people were removed from their homes in Kildonan to make way for more profitable sheep farming. These traumatic and...

COMPETITIVE action in this year’s World Pipe Band Championships has got under way, with around 8,000 pipers and drummers vying for the top spots in their respective categories. The event is being held at its familiar home of Glasgow Green this weekend. It is the first time the annual gathering is being held over two days. Overall, 225 bands are taking part in the event, which is expected to be attended by thousands of spectators today and tomorrow. The gates opened at 8am today, with the competition beginning at 10am. An event spokesman said there was already a “great” atmosphere...

A War horse, midges the size of motorbikes and even a military take on Gangnam Style were among the diverse highlights as this year’s Edinburgh Tattoo got off to an explosive start. Royal Military Tattoo Edinburgh Castle * * * * Nearly 9000 spectators swelled Castlehill, struggling to get to their seats in time in anticipation of the night’s offerings. The show erupted into life with the timeless sounds of the Massed Pipes and Drums spilling out on to the Castle Esplanade as schoolchildren from Erskine Stewart’s Melville College and members of the Lyceum Youth Theatre simulated a volcanic lava...

The 1298 Battle of Falkirk was remembered on Saturday. The Society of William Wallace invited the pipes and drums of Uphall Station Pipe Band to lead the parade from the High Street to the memorial cairn at Callendar Park. Speeches were given by the society’s Amber McCann and ‘Yes’ campaign co-ordinator for Falkirk Keith Houston before wreaths were laid in memory of the fallen. Society member Gordon Aitken said: “We would like to make more people aware of this event and Falkirk’s historical past and ask them to join us next year.” The event was completed with an evening ceilidh...

The FReeper Canteen Salutes the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps On Its 115th Anniversary 17 JUNE 1898 – 17 JUNE 2013 From the early days of the Republic the Navy has had enlisted medical personnel known variously as “Loblolly Boys”, Surgeons Stewards, Pharmacists Mates and, most recently, Hospital Corpsmen. Established 17JUN1898 by an Act of Congress, the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps is the only wholly enlisted corps in the Navy. The Hospital Corps is the largest rating in the Navy, comprising approximately ten percent of the Navy’s enlisted personnel. They were originally called Loblolly Boys in Navy records on the...

Dear Pro-life American, Tragically, over 4,000 babies are aborted every day in our nation. That's over 1.6 million every year! But by passing a Life at Conception Act you and I can end abortion in America! The Supreme Court itself admitted in Roe that once Congress establishes the personhood of unborn children, they must be protected by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution which explicitly says: “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property.” Since the Supreme Court is waiting for someone to tell them who the law counts as persons, let’s not wait another minute!...

PRAYERS ASCENDING ON HIGHFor All Those Affected By The Catastrophic Tornadoesin Texas And Oklahoma! Heavenly Lord, Please Hold Our Brothers And Sisters In Tornado Alley In The Shelter Of Your Healing Wings! _________________________________________________________________ The Twenty-Third Psalm Mahalia Jackson(Click) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art...

I received a call from a local hospital shortly after 3:00 p.m. informing me that my son David had been beaten up and brought there by ambulance. They were performing X-rays and CT scans. It appears that he suffered a concussion. My wife is at the hospital and I will be following her there in the next few minutes.

REST IN PEACE, FALLEN BROTHERS! In Memoriam My Comrades-In-Arms Of Kilo & Lima Companies, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines Who Fell In Combat In The Mothers' Day Massacre, 11May1969 SSGT. ERWIN EMRICK, JR., USMC LCPL. ROBERT MARTINEZ FUENTES, USMC LCPL. MICHAEL WAYNE GREEN, USMC PFC. STEPHEN RAY LOPEMAN, USMC PFC. ROBERT RUAN MCCLURE, USMC PFC ROBERT NELSON NEWMAN, USMC PVT SAMUEL BRUCE SCHWARTZ, USMC PFC ROBERT BENJAMIN STARKES, JR., USMC CPL TERRY LEE ADKINS, USMC LCpl. ROY LEE BALDWIN, USMC PFC CHARLES WAYNE FORD, USMC LCPL ARTURO BUSTAMANTE GUTIERREZ , USMC PFC ROBERT LLOYD KLEINSMITH, USMC HM3 JEROME MENTER, USN...

Hundreds of bands from the UK and abroad are expected at the event, known as "The Worlds", on 17 and 18 August. The competition coincides with the last days of the 10th Glasgow International Piping Festival - Piping Live! St Enoch Square will act as the hub for the music event from 11-18 August. Among the performers is Julie Fowlis, whose music featured in the film Brave. Major attraction The World Pipe Band Championships, won in 2011 and 2012 by the Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band from Lisburn, near Belfast, have been associated with Glasgow for more than 60 years....

The rain spat in Galashiels and Melrose on Tuesday, but it didn’t matter to the parading soldiers of 1SCOTS, the Royal Scots Borderers - they were home, safe from six months in the desert. Nor did the weather dampen the cheering crowds lining the streets to welcome their sons, fathers, and even strangers, back from danger in Afghanistan. The first Borders faces the soldiers saw, as they marched in desert boots shouldering rifles and swords behind the pipes and drums and mascot Shetland pony Cruachan IV, were over a hundred schoolchildren from Langlee Primary School. 24-year-old Lance Corporal Fraser Pairman...

The sounds of pipes and drums will be bigger and louder than ever before as the Glasgow International Piping Festival returns for its tenth year. St Enoch Square will be the new hub for Piping Live! in 2013, which sees the World Pipe Band Championships take place over two days for the first time in its history. Acts from all corners of the globe will make music ring out across the city during the bagpiping week which runs from August 11 until 18. The programme of events includes a headline set from Julie Fowlis at the Gaelic Music Concert and...