Free Republic

EXETER, N.H. — At a rally meant to be all about boosting support for Mitt Romney, protesters instead took center stage, evoking colorful responses from both Romney and his outspoken surrogate, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who at one time referred to one of the protestors as “sweetheart.” “Really?” said Christie, as soon as protestors interrupted him, the second outburst of the night from the group, who had already gone after Romney. “You know, something may go down tonight, but it ain’t going to be jobs, sweetheart.” “See it’s this confusion that’s out there because if she was in New...

At least 10 people, mostly journalists, were injured on Friday when police tried to stop clashes between pro-reform demonstrators and government supporters in central Amman. Police used batons to disperse the clashes outside city hall, beating and injuring nine journalists who were wearing orange vests marked "press," an AFP reporter at the scene witnessed. The wounded included an AFP photographer and a female Islamist activist. "We were beaten by police, although we were wearing special press vests," said the photographer. "We thought we would be safe when we stood next to the police and away from the clashes." A photographer...

Underneath headlines about Libya, the Japanese disaster and the Republicans’ dainty attempts to nip around the edges of our massive federal debt, the culture war is raging. The left is lobbing nukes into the institution of marriage and the military. Obamacare is going forward, complete with funding for abortion and massive increases in the size of the already enormous Department of Health and Human Services. Defunding this increasingly unpopular power grab should be in every budget bill - but it’s not. Using a combination of judicial activism, executive malfeasance and

Cairo - Clashes between Christians and Muslims escalated on Tuesday with thousands of people burning tires, smashing parked cars and cutting off a main road despite military moves to control a day of violent protests in Egypt's capital. Tensions have been simmering between Egypt's minority Christian community and its Muslim majority after a Muslim mob burned a church in a Cairo suburb. Egypt's military rulers have since pledged to rebuild the church and Prime Minister Essam Sharaf met Monday with the protesters outside the state-television building.

* Ahmadinejad calls on Medvedev to change sanctions stance * Iran tells Kremlin chief to "think more" and be "cautious" * Russia raps Iranian president for political demagoguery * Worst row between Russia and Iran since Cold War (Recasts to add Russian criticism) By Robin Pomeroy and Guy Faulconbridge TEHRAN/MOSCOW, May 26 (Reuters) - Iran and Russia clashed on Wednesday over Kremlin support for draft U.N. sanctions against the Islamic Republic, in one of the worst rows between the two powers since the Cold War.

On a windy Monday night, Pete’s Candy Store—a bar in Williamsburg with a railcar-shaped performance space in the back—is crammed to capacity with the thin and the bearded. Almost no one is drinking. The mood is pregame, expectant and nervous. We’re at one of the oddest New York City powwows in recent memory: a panel designed to quell a metastasizing dispute between bicyclists and Hasidic Jews. Except no Hasids are present. For a moment, it looks like the bicyclists will have to debate themselves. At immediate issue is the Bedford Avenue bike lane. It’s the longest in Brooklyn and runs...

More N. Korean soldiers had crossed border to capture defector: Seoul official SEOUL, March 4 (Yonhap) -- Two or three North Korean soldiers had crossed the border with the South to capture a defecting compatriot, but returned to their territory after warning shots were fired by South Korean troops, a military official here said Thursday. The North Korean soldier defected to the South by crossing the eastern front line late Tuesday, expressing his wish to live in the South. The South Korean government has yet to reveal the soldier's identity and is investigating the specific route and motives behind his...

Iranian security forces have clashed violently with opposition supporters in central Tehran, witnesses say. Police used batons and tear gas, according to the witnesses. There were also unconfirmed reports of security forces using live rounds. State media confirmed there had been clashes, though a foreign media ban means details are hard to verify. The violence came on the day that Iran holds an annual commemoration for the killing of three students in 1953. Early on Monday, hundreds of Iranian police were reported to have surrounded Tehran University to try to block protests. Iranian security forces, including the elite Revolutionary Guards,...

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PITTSBURGH — Police fired canisters of pepper spray and smoke at marchers protesting the Group of 20 summit Thursday after anarchists responded to calls to disperse by rolling trash bins and throwing rocks. The afternoon march turned chaotic at just about the time that President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrived for a meeting with leaders of the world's major economies. The clashes began after hundreds of protesters, many advocating against capitalism, tried to march from an outlying neighborhood toward the convention center where the summit is being held. The protesters banged on drums and chanted "Ain't no...

BEIJING -- Ethnic tensions between workers at a toy factory in southern China sparked a brawl that left two dead and 118 injured, state media and a government spokesman said Saturday. The official China News Service said hundreds of workers at the Xuri Toy Factory in Shaoguan City fought for two hours before more than 400 police restored order early Friday morning. A spokesman from the Shaoguan City government said the brawl was due to tensions between Uighurs - Turkic-speaking Muslims - and Han Chinese, who make up most of China's population.

Sabotage moonbat moves to undercut America’s 2,000 plus Tea Parties has bypassed sneaky for sinister. “Just this morning, I received word that a new radical organization calling itself “A New Way Forward” has put together an underhanded sneak attack designed to undercut the popular uprising known as the Tea Party Movement,” Bill Wilson, of Americans for Limited Government (ALG), warned mainstreet Americans yesterday. “Simply put, their idea is to stage phony rallies throughout the country on April 11--made to look like they are part of the Tea Party movement--while actually opposing Tea Party principles and supporting the complete government takeover...

The last of Samuel Huntington's books -- "Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity," published four years ago -- may have been his most passionate work. It was like that with the celebrated Harvard political scientist, who died last week at 81. He was a man of diffidence and reserve, yet he was always caught up in the political storms of recent decades. "This book is shaped by my own identities as a patriot and a scholar," he wrote. "As a patriot I am deeply concerned about the unity and strength of my country as a society based...

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AFP) – Republican John McCain faced fierce pressure in Tuesday's second presidential debate to grab a lifeline for his sliding campaign in the increasingly nasty White House duel with Barack Obama. The rivals will come face-to-face in McCain's favored town-hall style setting in Nashville, Tennessee, at 8:00 pm (0100 GMT) after the Republican's barrage on Obama's character ignited a war of words with the pace-setting Democrat. Exactly four weeks before the election on November 4, the debate marks one of Arizona Senator McCain's last chances to transform a race which seems to be sliding away, with Obama profiting...

London - Young British Muslims are to be taught citizenship in mosque schools to prevent them from being influenced by Islamist extremism, the government announced on Friday. The new lessons will be tested in London from the start of the new term in September, and other areas with high Muslim populations, like Birmingham and Leicester in central England and Oldham, Rochdale and Bradford in northern England. The initiative is part of a package of measures, including a new board of academics, theologians and community leaders to advise on responses to tackling extremism, to show there is no conflict between being...

Protest against security fence being constructed near Na'alin turns violent as Israeli, Palestinians, foreign nationals clash with IDF troops A reported 150 people participated Sunday afternoon in a demonstration near the West Bank village of Naalin, west of Ramallah to protest the security fence being built in the area. The protestors accused IDF soldiers of using tear gas to disperse them while the latter claimed that rocks were thrown in their direction. The demonstrators - Left-wing Israeli, Palestinian and foreign nationals - have gathered on land due to be confiscated to allow for a fence to be built around the...

Berlusconi faces Muslim clash By Malcolm Moore in Rome Last Updated: 11:38PM BST 04/05/2008 Silvio Berlusconi is facing a row with the Muslim world over his plans to appoint a member of the far-Right to his cabinet. Roberto Calderoli, 52, a senior member of the Northern League, enraged Muslims two years ago during the row over a set of Danish cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed. He appeared on television wearing a T-shirt printed with one of the cartoons. The Italian consulate in Libya was set on fire and 11 people died in riots. Mr Calderoli has also threatened to...

It would have been unlike Samuel P. Huntington to say “I told you so” after 9/11. He is too austere and serious a man, with a legendary career as arguably the most influential and original political scientist of the last half century — always swimming against the current of prevailing opinion. In the 1990s, first in an article in the magazine Foreign Affairs, then in a book published in 1996 under the title “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order,” he had come forth with a thesis that ran counter to the zeitgeist of the era and...

Fred Thompson, Huckabee Clash at Debate Friday, January 11, 2008 1:05 PM By: Newsmax Staff Article Font Size   Fred Thompson went on the attack against Mike Huckabee at Thursday’s Republican presidential debate, sharply criticizing the candidate he clearly sees as a rival for the evangelical vote in South Carolina. In the debate sponsored by Fox News and the South Carolina Republican Party, the heated exchange went like this: THOMPSON: “This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party and its future. On the one hand, you have the Reagan revolution. You have the Reagan coalition of...

EXCLUSIVE: A clash of cultures between Asian and eastern European youths is leading to increasing tension and violence on Yorkshire's streets, it is claimed. Some young Britons of Asian descent are now leading a campaign of intimidation against the new economic migrants from eastern Europe, whom they claim are taking their jobs. The situation has become so bad in cities like Bradford that a leading social think-tank has begun research into how to get the two sides working together. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has commissioned Bradford-based organisation QED to identify the causes of tensions between the two groups and improve...

Recordings Show Iran-US Clash in Gulf Tuesday January 8, 2008 9:16 PM By SEBASTIAN ABBOT and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press Writers WASHINGTON (AP) - Video and audio recordings clearly show Iranian boats confronting U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf, and a voice speaking in heavily-accented English can be heard threatening that the American vessels were going to explode, military officials said Tuesday. The incident, which President Bush denounced Tuesday as a ``provocative act,'' was videotaped by a crew member on the bridge of the destroyer USS Hopper, one of the three ships that faced down five Iranian boats...

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton clashed Sunday in the slushy New Hampshire homestretch, deriding each others' claims to be the true candidate of change. Clinton told Democratic voters they should elect "a doer, not a talker." Obama countered that his critics are stuck in the politics of the past. At a raucous rally in a high school gymnasium in Nashua, Clinton skewered Obama for several votes he has cast in the Senate, such as his vote in favor of the Patriot Act and for energy legislation she described as "Dick Cheney's energy bill." She never mentioned...

CARACAS, Venezuela - Soldiers used tear gas, plastic bullets and water cannons to scatter tens of thousands who massed Thursday to protest constitutional reforms that would permit Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to run for re-election indefinitely. Led by university students, protesters chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" and warned that 69 amendments drafted by the Chavista-dominated National Assembly would violate civil liberties and derail democracy. It was the biggest turnout against Chavez in months, and appeared to revive Venezuela's languid opposition at a time when the president seems as strong as ever. Students promised more street demonstrations over the weekend, but no opposition-led...

Judge Rules DNC, Florida Clash Is 'Intra-Party Dispute'By BILLY HOUSE and WILLIAM MARCH The Tampa Tribune Published: Oct 6, 2007 TAMPA - The first legal challenge to the Democratic National Committee's refusal to seat Florida's delegates to the party's national convention next year was thrown out of federal court Friday. Calling the matter "an intra-party dispute," U.S. District Judge Richard Lazzara concluded the arguments made by Tampa-based Democratic voter and political consultant Victor DiMaio contained no legal basis for challenging the national party. Lazzara wrote, "The Supreme Court has consistently recognized that national political parties have a constitutionally protected right...

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. Dozens of anti-illegal immigration activists faced off against immigrant-rights backers at a rally outside a church where an illegal immigrant is being sheltered with her U.S.-born infant son. One immigrant-rights advocate was injured with a chemical spray during Sunday's confrontation at the United Church of Christ, officials said. Members of the anti-illegal immigration group Save Our State, which organized the rally that drew about 120 protesters and counter-protesters, said they had hoped to make a citizen's arrest of the woman, who has identified herself only as Liliana. Liliana is living in the church's former parsonage as part...

DURHAM, N.H. - Republican presidential contenders voiced support for the Iraq war Wednesday night despite a warning from anti-war candidate Ron Paul that they risk dragging the party down to defeat in 2008. "Even if we lose elections, we should not lose our honor," shot back former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, "and that is more important to the Republican Party." Huckabee was in the majority, Paul very much in the minority on the debate stage when it came to the war, a politically unpopular conflict that has emerged as the dominant issue of the 2008 race for the presidency. The...

LOS ANGELES - California Republicans are headed for a showdown over the direction of the party that could highlight national schisms over gay rights, gun control and abortion. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants the state GOP platform — the party's statement of core values — boiled down to as little as a single page focusing on lowering taxes, limiting the size of government and building a strong national defense. A centrist, the actor-governor describes himself as a "post-partisan" who wants to bridge the political divide that often leaves the state capital of Sacramento gridlocked. But some conservatives see his move as...

BAGHDAD (AP) - An Iraqi official says the al-Qaida leader in a western Baghdad neighborhood has been killed in clashes between US forces and al-Qaida gunmen. Casualty figures have not been made available and there is no immediate word from the US military about the fighting. But the official says 45 other fighters have been detained. Meanwhile, authorities say three policemen and three civilians were killed and 15 civilians were wounded after a suicide truck bomber struck a communications center on the western outskirts of Ramadi. In Fallujah, one report says at least 20 people were killed after a suicide...

http://hotair.com/archives/2007/05/15/are-you-afraid-of-backlash/

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops battled insurgents in fierce fighting that killed at least 12 people in the volatile Sunni city of Ramadi, the military said Thursday. Iraqi authorities said the dead included women and children. The six-hour firefight began after the U.S. troops were attacked by insurgents with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades Wednesday evening in eastern Ramadi, said Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Shawn Mercer. The fighting ended after "precision guided munitions" damaged a number of buildings being used by the insurgents, he said. Twelve insurgents were killed and three were wounded, he said, adding that there were no...

Clash on Israel-Lebanese border Israeli troops regularly patrol the border area Israeli and Lebanese forces have exchanged fire on the international border between the two countries. Israeli officials said their troops came under fire as they searched a border area where four explosives were found on Monday. Troops returned fire but no casualties were reported, security sources said. Lebanese officials confirmed the clash. Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia fought a 34-day war last year sparked by flare-ups on the tense border. Since that conflict the international border between Israel and Lebanon has been policed by a combination of Lebanese government...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The army restored order in the Lebanese capital Friday as mourners buried victims of a bloody student clash that took a dangerous sectarian tone, prompting leaders to appeal for calm in an effort to keep the country from sliding deeper into violence. A rare curfew in Beirut was lifted early Friday, imposed after factions supporting the Western-backed government and Hezbollah protesters trying to bring it down turned a university campus into a battle zone a day earlier. At least three people were killed and dozens injured after mobs faced off with homemade clubs and stones. Army officers...

Iran Prepares Public for Possible Clash Monday January 22, 2007 11:01 PM By ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press Writer TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran conducted missile tests Monday as its leadership stepped up warnings of a possible military confrontation with the United States. In another show of defiance, Tehran said Monday it had barred 38 United Nations nuclear inspectors from entering the country, apparently in retaliation for a U.N. Security Council resolution last month imposing limited sanctions on Iran. The drum-beating suggested Iran does not intend to back down in its standoff with the West. It could also aim to...

WASHINGTON - Negotiations between the White House and a trio of powerful GOP senators snagged Wednesday over Bush administration demands that Congress reinterpret the nation's treaty obligations to allow tough CIA interrogations of terrorism suspects. Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said his panel would meet Thursday to finalize an alternative to President Bush's plan to prosecute terror suspects and redefine acts that constitute war crimes. Warner said he was aware the White House may come out in opposition of his legislation. The Supreme Court ruled in June that Bush's court system established...

Musharraf faces bitter clash over rape law reforms By Isambard Wilkinson in Peshawar (Filed: 25/08/2006) President Pervez Musharraf has opened a new and especially bitter confrontation with radical Islam by trying to rewrite Pakistan's controversial rape laws. These place an almost impossible burden of proof on women by compelling them to produce four "pious" male witnesses to prove rape or risk being convicted of adultery and face 100 lashes or death by stoning. This law, known as the Hudood Ordinance, has been regarded as untouchable since its passage 27 years ago. It also sets no minimum age for sex...

Republicans, Democrats clash over who's stronger on national security WASHINGTON Republicans and Democrats are clashing over the war on terror. Following word of the foiled airline bomb plot, each side is accusing the other of doing too little to deter the threat of attack. House Speaker Dennis Hastert said, "Freedom is never free, and we must never be complacent in defending it." Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist added: "We must be on alert so that our nation does not suffer another attack like Nine-Eleven." But Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid countered that "as a result of mismanagement and the wrong...

/begin my summary China dispatched additional troops to N. Korean border Armed clashes between N. Korea and China are on the rise (N. Korean) espionage on missile technologyHong Kong Xin-bao reported on July 27: China dispatched additional troops to its border with N. Korea due to N. Korean missile crisis. According to Information Center for Chinese Human Right and Democracy Movement in Hong Kong, PLA 16th Corps, which defends the border with N. Korea, dispatched last week 2,000 additional troops to Tumen, Long-jing, Cong-hua, Hui-chun, all adjoining the border. The units involved are from 46th motorized infantry division and 48th...

BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi and U.S. troops battled Shi'ite militiamen in a village northeast of Baghdad on Thursday, and witnesses and police said U.S. helicopters bombed orchards to flush out gunmen hiding in the palm groves. Iraqi security officials said Iranian fighters had been captured in the fighting, in which the commander of an Iraqi quick reaction force and two soldiers were shot dead by a sniper. They did not say how the Iranians had been identified. The U.S. military had no immediate comment. Police said the fighting was still going on at 6 p.m. (1400 GMT) in the...

ABASSAN, Gaza Strip - Militants from the Hamas and Fatah movements clashed with assault rifles and shoulder-held missiles Monday, killing three people in the latest sign the rivals could be heading toward a large-scale confrontation. The groups fought again on Tuesday in downtown Gaza City, wounding nine people, including five children. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas called for restraint and ordered his security chief to impose order. But tensions remained high as the sides accused each other of instigating the violence. Friction has been rising since the Islamic militant group Hamas ended Fatah's four-decade control of Palestinian politics with...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Violent clashes and mass protests erupted Saturday across the West Bank and Gaza Strip between followers of the militant group Hamas and Fatah rivals, after a Hamas leader accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of treachery. The two sides traded gunfire and hurled stones and firebombs, escalating a fierce power struggle between militant and moderate factions focused on control over Palestinian security forces. Abbas said Saturday he would not allow the accusations to plunge the Palestinians into civil war. The unrest followed the president's recent moves to take control of all six security forces and Hamas's...

LONDON - You expect to have your luggage scrutinized at the airport. But how about your choice of music? Security staff at a British airport stopped a businessman from catching a flight because the songs he had asked a taxi driver to play on the car stereo made the driver suspicious, police said. Harraj Mann, who is of Indian origin, had the songs stored on an MP3 player, which the cab was equipped to play on its stereo. Mann asked the driver to play "London Calling" by the Clash as they headed for Tees Valley International Airport near Darlington in...

Nobody is above the law, says Hamas after rival groups clash By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem (Filed: 03/04/2006) Hamas yesterday faced its toughest internal challenge since being swept unexpectedly to power in the Palestinian territories when rival militant groups in Gaza took part in a series of clashes that left four dead and dozens wounded. Clashes were sparked by the murder of Abu Yussef al-Gouga Said Siam, the newly appointed Hamas interior minister, appealed for calm and warned that his government would clamp down heavily on armed groups who used their weapons against each other rather than in the struggle...

"If you want to know where the Muslim community is headed, the Shias are the canary in the coal mine," said Nazish Agha, a young Manhattan lawyer who helped found a national Shia group. "Just assume that if these groups hate Shias, then they're also anti-Christian, anti-Semite and anti-Hindu as well." While many Shia and Sunnis interact socially, they often worship in separate mosques. By and large, the national Muslim organizations are dominated by Sunnis with scant Shia representation. And while dialogue between the two sects has grown significantly since the Sept. 11 attacks, it is still informal. "At least...

There’s No Clash Here Only one civilization cares to put up a fight. By Lee Harris Does the so-called "cartoon war" represent the clash of civilizations? I wish I could answer "yes," but I can't. In order for there to be a clash of civilizations, it is necessary for there to be two civilizations, both of which are prepared to defend their deepest cultural values. Those in the Islamic world who are violently protesting the Danish cartoons clearly represent a civilization that is keen on maintaining its own deeply held traditions and convictions, as the Muslim rioters are prepared to...

Taleban clash 'leaves many dead' Some 300 army troops were said to have been involved in fighting Nearly 20 combatants have been killed in a battle between Afghan troops and Taleban fighters in the southern province of Helmand, officials say. Helmand's deputy governor told the BBC that at one point, he and 100 soldiers were surrounded by 200 Taleban. He said 16 Taleban and three soldiers had been killed, with 13 more wounded. The BBC's Paul Wood in Kandahar said it is the most serious fighting between government forces and the Taleban for two years. Taleban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf...

When Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his "wipe Israel off the map" remarks last month, many diplomats on both sides of the Atlantic rushed to explain, read between the lines and relativize what was an unambiguous statement of Teheran's long-established policy. They expressed the hope that Iran would "clarify" - meaning soften - its position. That was followed by feverish diplomatic activities, mainly by the United Nations' Secretary-General Kofi Annan, to persuade Teheran to tone down Ahmadinejad's remarks. (Annan was forced to cancel a planned visit to Teheran after the Iranians told him they would not allow any conciliatory phrases...

One group wants to end illegal immigration. The other rejects what it calls the armed uprising that the first group has begun. They clashed Saturday in the shadow of the Capitol, and three people were arrested. Still, it turns out, they agree on one thing: The system is broken. "This isn't about hatred. This isn't about racism. We stand against a broken system that has failed all of us," said Tim Donnelly, leader of the Minuteman Corps of California, one branch of a group that organizes armed citizen patrols of America's border with Mexico. Donnelly's group held a rally on...

All those polling numbers about ballot initiatives got you feeling dazed and confused? You're not alone. With the conflicting numbers shown in recent public opinion polls, many voters must be wondering just what is going on. Check out one poll on Proposition 76, a state spending-cap proposal, and it appears that 58 percent of voters support the initiative while 36 percent oppose it. Check out another poll and it appears that just the opposite is true, with 19 percent saying they support the measure and 65 percent saying they oppose it. Another recent poll shows similar numbers, with 63 percent...

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Miffed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will snub George W. Bush when the US president begins a visit to California amid a clash over fundraising for their Republican Party. The movie-star state governor, a moderate in Bush's conservative party, late Wednesday expressed irritation that the president apparently ignored his plea to delay the fundraising trip and said he would not take the time to meet Bush. The cash clash brings to the surface long-standing tensions between the two men as Schwarzenegger moves to raise crucial funds for himself ahead of a special election next month on which he...

US forces clash with Mahdi Army By Adrian Blomfield in Basra (Filed: 26/09/2005) American troops and the Mahdi Army militia of Moqtada al-Sadr clashed in the slums of Baghdad yesterday, raising fears for the future of a year-long US truce with the fiery Shia cleric's gunmen. The fighting came as insurgent attacks took the lives of at least 31 people, including 13 commandos from the elite Wolf Brigade, the Iraqi army's showcase anti-terrorism unit, killed when a suicide bomber rammed into their convoy in the south-east of the capital. Mahdi Army gunmen opened fire on US forces that entered their...