Free Republic

But when Congress refuses to act, and as a result, hurts our economy and puts our people at risk, then I have an obligation as President to do what I can without them.

Lori Berenson's parents raged last night against a human rights court ruling that will keep their activist daughter in prison for the next 11 years. Mark and Rhoda Berenson, who live in Gramercy Park, said the ruling marked "a tragic day for human rights in the Western Hemisphere and in the world." They faulted the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Human Rights Court's decision to uphold a Peruvian court ruling that declared their activist daughter a Marxist terrorist who conspired in 1995 to overturn the Peruvian government. Berenson was originally tried by a tribunal of hooded judges. It was later found she...

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) - The Inter-American Court of Human Rights Tuesday refused a request by American Lori Berenson to review its ruling that upheld her 20-year sentence in Peru for terrorism. In a decision issued in November, the Costa Rica-based court - the legal arm of the Organization of American States - rejected Berenson's arguments that Peru violated her rights in a 2001 civilian retrial. It was Berenson's last formal avenue of appeal. The former New York City resident has denied any wrongdoing and maintains she is a political prisoner whose concern for social justice was distorted by...

Lima, Peru -- Lori Berenson, a U.S. citizen jailed in Peru since 1995 for helping leftist rebels, has been granted conditional release, a judge announced Tuesday. Berenson has served nearly 15 years of a 20-year sentence for aiding Peruvian rebels in a 1995 plot to overthrow Peru's congress. Judge Jessica Leon Yarango made the announcement in a televised court hearing after Berenson's lawyer made the request, but did not specify when she would be released. Berenson, 40, who last year gave birth in prison to a son, Salvador, has long maintained her innocence. Her original sentence of life in prison...

Storm gathers over Pakistan "coup" memo Anita Joshua Pakistan's Ambassador to the U.S. Husain Haqqani is reported to have tendered his resignation on Wednesday (American time) following allegations that he had submitted a memo on behalf of President Asif Ali Zardari to former U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen to pre-empt a possible coup in the wake of the May 2 operation against al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. However, several hours after news broke of the resignation offer made during the night (Pakistani time), there was no word from the Government on whether it had been accepted or not....

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's decision to submit the EU rescue plan to a referendum is dangerous and irresponsible, complains conservative French daily Le Figaro. < Gaëtan de Capèle Perhaps, but it will be without George Papandreou, who, with an incomprehensible flippancy, decided to gamble the future of his country and of the eurozone on a single hand of poker: the European bailout plan for Greece must be submitted to a referendum he's decreed, without consulting anyone. The austerity imposed on the Greeks leaves little doubt as to the result of such a ballot – and presages the worst...

Libya's former leader Moamer Gaddafi was first captured alive, but was later murdered by shootings of participants of operation, the Aljazeera reported. His dead body was brought to the city of Misrata. Former Libya's Defense Minister Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr was also killed during the air strikes. Mass demonstrations demanding for the ouster of Qaddafi, who has been ruling the country for more than 40 years, started in Libya in mid-February and subsequently grew into armed confrontation between the government forces and the rebels. On August 23, 2011, Gaddafi lost control of Tripoli, and effective control of Libya with the rebels'...

U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with Honduran President Porfirio Lobo next month at the White House to discuss a broad range of bilateral and regional economic and security issues, according to a press release. The Oval Office Meeting on October 5 will come only a few weeks after Lobo’s address at the United Nations, where he highlighted his country’s commitment to restoring human rights in the aftermath of the June 2009 coup that ousted then-President Manuel Zelaya. “The President also welcomes the opportunity to underscore the strong bonds of friendship between the American and Honduran people, as well as...

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 figure harshly criticized Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in a new audio tape Saturday, accusing him of being an enemy of Islam and threatening a wave of attacks against the North African country because it improved relations with the U.S. ADVERTISEMENT In the 28-minute audio tape called "Unity of the Ranks," Ayman al-Zawahri also announced that the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group was joining ranks with al-Qaida. "The Islamic nation is witnessing a blessed step ... The brothers are escalating the confrontation against the enemies of Islam: Gadhafi and his masters, the Washington crusaders," al-Zawahri said...

Politicians rarely admit mistakes, but Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev always was in a different class. So it is not surprising that, as he looked back on his six tumultuous years in power at the head of the Soviet Union, he was willing to count the errors he had made. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian he named at least five. They led not just to his own downfall 20 years ago; they also brought the collapse of the Soviet Union and the introduction of an unregulated economic free-for-all that turned a few Russians into billionaires while plunging millions of people...

...Buried on page 131 of their 266 page report was the information officials were so eager to hide from the taxpaying public. As Americans struggled to make ends meet in the midst of financial meltdown, the Federal Reserve was shipping trillions of dollars overseas to foreign banks. In one year, Fed officials offered indiscriminate loans of $16 trillion to a host of European banks, as well as Wall Street titans like CitiGroup, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs. The GAO found that 65 percent of those “emergency loan” handouts went to foreign companies and banks. On behalf of American taxpayers,...

The United States is in a Constitutional and political crisis without precedent. What can ordinary Americans do when a large number of politicians are corrupt and an even larger portion of the national political leadership is complicit in a cover-up of that corruption? Do we petition those leaders to investigate and punish themselves? (snip) The evident bewilderment displayed by Will is prima facie evidence of the depth of denial now prevalent in Washington, D.C. It is an equivalent to writing an article after the Pearl Harbor attack entitled “The Japanese might not like us.” (snip) Having been born in Panama...

5 May, 2011, 06.16PM IST,PTI Ayman al-Zawahiri betrayed Osama: Saudi paper DUBAI: Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was betrayed by his deputy Ayman al- Zawahiri who led US forces to his hideout as the two were involved in an intense power struggle, a Saudi newspaper has reported. The two top al Qaeda men had differences and the courier who led US forces to bin Laden was working and had more loyalties for Zawahiri, al Watan newspaper reported quoting Arab sources. "The Egyptian faction of al-Qaeda led by Zawahiri was defacto running the militant group, after bin Laden was taken...

At least three White House advisers and officials, including President Obama's regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein, have ties to an effort funded by billionaire George Soros to push for a new, "progressive" U.S. Constitution WND first reported last week that Sunstein's wife, Samantha Power, has been a champion of a Soros-funded doctrine, entitled "responsibility to protect," which was used by Obama to justify engaging in an international military alliance to bomb Libya. As the National Security Council special adviser to Obama on human rights, Power reportedly influenced Obama in his decision. Now it has emerged that Sunstein has maintained extensive ties...

Madison -- A group of perhaps one hundred protesters has entered the previously restricted and quiet Capitol and is now chanting, “Our house, our house.”David Noyce of Madison said that he entered the building with the demonstrators after someone let them in and that a policeman flashed him a thumbs up as he entered. The protesters entered just as Gov. Scott Walker was about to start a news conference in a separate room of the building.

American foreign policy experts, having been caught off guard by the swift regime changes in Tunisia and Egypt, are now examining other countries where citizens have been oppressed and denied basic democratic freedoms. Countries where peaceful street protests have turned violent, where opposition political parties have been brutally squashed, and where economies are in tatters, elections rigged, judicial systems corrupted, and free media bound and gagged. One of those states is Georgia, where U.S.-backed President Mikheil Saakashvili must be concerned by the latest turn of events in Egypt. He and former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak have many similarities. Georgian opposition...

My guess is the youth of Iran has now realized they can do the same as the Egyption you has done. Despite the current Military leadership of Egypt, the people of Egypt are not going to fall in for a Fundament Islamic Sharia based government. Watch for protests to start in IRAN within days ... Maybe this is what leads up to the peace agreement with Israel so long talked about. Everyone thinks it would be war that brings about the necessity for the agreement, but I'm thinking perhaps it's because there is peace in the land (though it will...

Egypt's military announced on national television that it has stepped in to "safeguard the country" on Thursday and assured protesters that President Hosni Mubarak will meet their demands in the strongest indication yet that Egypt's longtime leader has lost power. In Washington, the CIA chief said there was a "strong likelihood" Mubarak will step down Thursday. The dramatic announcement showed that the military was taking control after 17 days of protests demanding Mubarak's immediate ouster spiraled out of control. Gen. Hassan al-Roueini, military commander for the Cairo area, told thousands of protesters in central Tahrir Square, "All your demands will...

President Hosni Mubarak will meet the demands of protesters, military and ruling party officials said Thursday in the strongest indication yet that Egypt’s longtime president may be about to give up power and that the armed forces were seizing control. Gen. Hassan al-Roueini, military commander for the Cairo area, told thousands of protesters in central Tahrir Square, “All your demands will be met today.” Some in the crowd held up their hands in V-for-victory signs, shouting “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great,” a victory cry used by secular and religious people alike.

The American government secretly backed leading figures behind the Egyptian uprising who have been planning “regime change” for the past three years, The Daily Telegraph has learned. The American Embassy in Cairo helped a young dissident attend a US-sponsored summit for activists in New York, while working to keep his identity secret from Egyptian state police. On his return to Cairo in December 2008, the activist told US diplomats that an alliance of opposition groups had drawn up a plan to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak and install a democratic government in 2011. The secret document in full He has already...

The Problem with the Announcement Stories Two items have been offered as evidence of Barack Obama being born in Hawaii: an online COLB image which the HDOH has indirectly confirmed in 2 different ways as a forgery, and online images of birth announcements in the Hawaii papers shortly after Obama’s birth. This post will explain why I believe we’ve been fed – and swallowed – a lie about where those images came from. Later posts will give a glimpse of just how far it seems somebody was willing to go in order to have something – anything – that would...

The Egyptian military arrested and later released six journalists from the Arabic television network Al-Jazeera, the network said today. "Special military units have just raided the hotel where our journalists from Al-Jazeera English were operating," Clayton Swisher, an Al-Jazeera reporter in Doha, Qatar, told ABC News. Swisher said the journalists were arrested and that newsgathering equipment was also confiscated. Though the journalists were released about 90 minutes later, the equipment was not returned. The six were told authorities did not "want to see [them] again" when they were released. Swisher told ABC News the network will continue to broadcast from...

Barry Rubin, director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, and author of books including The Muslim Brotherhood: The Organization and Policies of a Global Islamist Movement, took some questions Sunday from National Review Online on the situation in Egypt. Kathryn Jean Lopez: Why all this optimism in the media vis-à-vis Egypt? Why do you believe it’s so wrong? Barry Rubin: Everybody likes the idea of the oppressed and repressed masses rising up against a dictatorship. Both conservatives and liberals find this appealing. And because America is a democratic country and the current wisdom is that everyone all...

Saudi Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud has warned the country's royal family to step down and flee before a military coup or a popular uprising overthrows the kingdom. In a letter published by Wagze news agency on Tuesday, the Cairo-based prince warned Saudi Arabia's ruling family of a fate similar to that of Iraq's executed dictator Saddam Hussein and the ousted Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, calling on them to escape before people "cut off our heads in streets." He warned that the Saudi royal family is no longer able to "impose" itself on people, arguing that deviations...

Turns out there’s a fairly clear answer to the question Why is Julian Assange doing this? Anyway, it’s as clear as the topic of human motivations ever really get. Back in 2006, Assange wrote a couple of essays on the topic of conspiracy and control. He takes the position that all authoritarian structures are conspiracies of power. His thoughts are interesting. Their may even be some truth to some of what he says. In any case, if you want to understand his motivation, grasp what he’s saying here: Conspiracies take information about the world in which they operate (the conspiratorial...

How about that, there's someone on the airwaves more unhinged than liberal radio talker and MSNBC heat miser Ed Schultz. And go figure, that someone happens to be a frequent Schultz guest. But between his appearance on Schultz's radio show Nov. 22 and Schultz's MSNBC program several hours later, the caffeine apparently wore off for Mike Papantonio, a lawyer and co-host of the radio show "Ring of Fire," seeing how Papantonio dialed down his remarks from what he initially told Schultz. Here's what Papantonio said during the first hour of Schultz's radio show Monday between noon and 1 p.m. while...

"Madagascar’s leader has insisted he remains in control of the country, and is promising a quick crackdown on a group of soldiers who are still claiming they’ve taken control. "

November 7, 1917: Communist Revolution in Russia In response to Russia’s defeat on the front, Czar Nicholas II was dethroned in a revolution in March 1917 and a new government of mixed liberal-conservative complexion came into being. As political deadlock and defeats on the front continued, the socialists gained in popularity and their radical wing, the Bolshevik party, under Lenin, called for immediate peace and apportionment of land to the peasants. In November 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power. The new government concluded an armistice with Germany in December 1917 and a separate peace treaty with Germany in March 1918, but...

Conservative columnist Alan Caruba wrote a most excellent article, where he posed the question as to whether or not Obama is a moron. This article will answer that question. Stupid is, as stupid does and the following is what the Obama´s have presented as their presidential legacy, for the national perusal: This couple has transformed national service into a permanent White House vacation, including a free pass for Obama´s illegal alien aunt to get out of jail. Barack H. Obama thinks he is president and Tiger Woods, rolled-into-one, in that by his actions, he shows he would rather play golf,...

NKorea's Kim, heir apparent son at lavish parade Published October 10, 2010 | Associated Press Clapping, waving and even cracking a smile, Kim Jong Il's son and heir apparent joined his father Sunday at a massive military parade in his most public appearance since being unveiled as North Korea's next leader. Kim Jong Un, dressed in a dark blue civilian suit, sat next to his father on an observatory platform at Kim Il Sung Plaza as tanks carrying rocket-propelled grenades and long-range missiles rolled by as part of celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of the reclusive state's ruling Workers' Party....

LONDON: Former president Pervez Musharraf warned Wednesday that Pakistan’s military could launch another coup, as he prepared to launch a new party and rejoin the country’s turbulent politics. The retired general said army chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani could be forced to intervene against the goverment of President Asif Ali Zardari which he said had failed to tackle rampant extremist militancy and a crumbling economy. Musharraf — who himself came to power in a coup in 1999 and has lived in London since quitting in 2008 — cited as evidence a reported crisis meeting this week between Kayani, Zardari and Prime...

SAS soldiers are standing by for an emergency evacuation of ­Britons from Pakistan amid fears of a military coup. There are concerns that hardliners in Pakistan’s army are becoming impatient with the ­crisis and want faster solutions and a more ­determined effort to stamp out the terrorist menace. A diplomatic source said: ‘‘There are more and more rumours that some people in the military view a military takeover as the best way to bring greater stability.”

Second, Obama asserted that the biggest problem with the Constitution is that its Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments, place limits on government power. He then went further to suggest a horrific concept that should serve as a clear warning signal to anyone who values freedom--he would prefer that the Constitution affirm the rights of GOVERNMENT. This is the smoking gun, the big enchilada, the proof positive that Obama and like-minded Leftists, Socialists, Marxists, Fascists, whatever you wish to call them, do not value at all the concept that citizens should be protected from government power but actually advocate...

Long before Barack Obama announced his candidacy for President in 2007, many astute citizens, including this writer, sounded the alarm concerning the ultimate goals of the man who couched his extremist agenda for America in terms of 'positive hope and change.' At each step along the way since Obama ascended to his 'throne,' the sturdy edifice of this free society has been systematically taken apart brick by brick. The first brick that was removed was the free market, which was blamed for something for which it had no culpability whatsoever--the housing and mortgage meltdown caused by Fannie Mae and Freddie...

With immigration stories dominating headlines nearly every week, President Obama is delivering a speech Thursday morning that will frame the issue on his own terms -- calling for comprehensive legislation and the importance of keeping the border secure. But he is not expected to announce any new policy during the 10:45 a.m. address to an audience of 250 religious, business, labor, and community leaders and law enforcement and elected officials at American University, administration officials said. Nor is the Justice Department going to announce its decision on a lawsuit in Arizona, where a new law makes it easier for police...

President Obama swore to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.—Presidential Oath If what Arizona’s Sen. Kyl is alleging is true and correct president Barry Hussein Soetoro and the Democrat Party are engaged in an ongoing conspiratorial act of treason against the United States of America for political advantage and gain. That act is called Comprehensive Immigration Reform. (see...

When The One’s most faithful apostles start questioning the tenets of the New Religion and criticizing its messiah, you know things aren’t going well for the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.,,,,,,

IN my mail this morning, from Kitty: Notice the pub date of Sept 2009. I could pull-quote this whole thing, but I had to stop. Fascinatingly frightening view of what we face. And his plan was laid bare for all to see! Jim O'Neill does give some advice of how to right this, but you'll have to read it yourself. I'm the world's slowest reader yet I zipped through in no time. Soros: Republic Enemy #1 By Jim O'Neill Tuesday, September 15, 2009 Soros is a real life version of Dr. Evil—with Obama in the role of Mini-Me. Which is...

We've been hearing a lot of comments recently about a national coup d'etat scheduled for sometime in late summer or early fall and designed to circumvent the coming Democrat debacle in the 2010 elections. This is an example of political gothic of a type that I tend to overlook. But my interest was piqued by the fact that it has been mentioned several dozen times in the comment threads of essays of mine in recent weeks. I've had a little difficulty grasping exactly how such a thing would work, so I've spent the last few days puzzling it out. The...

There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America's military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the "Obama problem." Don't dismiss it as unrealistic. America isn't the Third World. If a military coup does occur here it will be civilized. That it has never happened doesn't mean it wont. Describing what may be afoot is not to advocate it. So, view the following through military eyes:

I cannot think of any other subject in recent American history that has been so mired in controversy, so factually misrepresented, mischaracterized and so misunderstood than the matter of the eligibility of Barack Hussein OBAMA II to hold the office of President of the United States. Despite its importance, the topic has been summarily dismissed as fodder for conspiracy theorists by many, while others insist that the question of OBAMA’s citizenship has been “asked and answered.” But has it really been answered, and if not, why not? In consideration of the controversy that continues to plague Barack Hussein OBAMA over...

The radicals in Washington are giving the Marxists in Venezuela a run for their money. Senate Democrats have gathered in the Rules Committee to eliminate the filibuster. Republican.Senate.Gov reported: THEN-SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): “What [The American People] Do Not Expect Is For One Party, Be It Republican Or Democrat, To Change The Rules In The Middle Of The Game So They Can Make All The Decisions While The Other Party Is Told To Sit Down And Keep Quiet.” “What they do not expect is for one party, be it Republican or Democrat, to change the rules in the middle of...

Our allies hate him. Our enemies are laughing at him. Nearly two years after Obama’s World Tour in which he did his best to convince voters that he understood global challenges with a high profile tour of a lot of foreign countries (a approach that if it worked should convincingly make every internationally famous rock star a foreign policy expert), his biggest global accomplishment is still his ability to travel around the world to high profile destinations on the taxpayer’s shrinking dime. His attempts at diplomacy consisted of delivering vicious slaps across the faces of longtime allies, from England...

A Kyrgyz opposition leader claimed on Wednesday that the official government has resigned and that President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has left the capital Bishkek, but there has been no official confirmation.

First, the Obamacrat coup leaders passed a bill they know good and well (unless they're thoroughly unhinged) to be pie in the sky: unaffordable without future tax increases and service cuts. Nor, as is generally agreed, does the bill do anything to restrain medical costs, which will grow inexorably as more clamor to receive more and more. How are we going to be able even to fund Medicare without substantial cutbacks and tax hikes, given general health care's new demand on resources? The coup leaders' second offense -- committed with the encouragement of their president -- has been all along,...

As Barack Obama's approval ratings continue to plummet, the tea party movement explodes and Democrats lose election after election – even in Massachusetts – one giant question looms large for Team Obama: How to stay in power? The answer to that question can be found in the groundbreaking March issue of Whistleblower magazine, titled "STEALING THE NEXT ELECTION." This game-changing special report is summarized in its long subtitle: "Amnesty, universal voter registration, felons voting, operatives planted: Team Obama's strategy for maintaining permanent power."

Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010 Turkey's Government and Military Face a Showdown By Pelin Turgut / Istanbul /snip The arrests are being seen as a critical test of how far the government can go in reining in the military's power — a goal of Erdogan's party for years. After it came into power, for instance, the party started using European Union–inspired reforms to pave the way for civilian courts to try military staff. The government has also backed a two-year court investigation into allegations that a bizarre alliance of military men, mafia bosses and secularists sought to create social upheaval by...

Mamadou Tandja, president of the desert nation of Niger, has secured another three years in office and unlimited runs at future terms, in a referendum that opposition officials have called a coup d’etat in all but name. Tandja, a 71-year-old former army colonel, who had promised to step down after his second term expired in December, thanked voters even before the official results were announced on Friday by the country’s electoral commission. Giant posters appeared in the capital of Niamey by Thursday, expressing gratitude for the “renewed confidence” of voters. The commission said Tandja’s proposal for a new constitution received...

Niger voted on Tuesday in a referendum the president hopes will give him a mandate to change the constitution and rule beyond the end of his term. Mamadou Tandja’s growing authoritarianism has raised fears of unrest in Africa’s second biggest uranium producer. The European Union on Tuesday warned that Mr Tandja’s actions could lead it to cut aid. In recent months, the president has governed by decree after dissolving parliament and disregarding the Supreme Court’s ruling against his plans to extend his stay in office beyond a two-term limit. “In voting today [Tuesday], I believe I have responded to the...

The embattled representative from the state of Florida, Alan Grayson found himself on the verge of being caught in a coup in Niger earlier this week. www.southernstudies.org Representative Alan Grayson Democrat from Florida. Alan Grayson, the often outspoken Democratic Representative from Florida was on a trip to Niger earlier this week. While on his trip there was a military coup that Grayson almost found himself caught up in. According to a Grayson's press secretary, Todd Jurkowski, "He heard the gunshots. They were literally in the building next door." Grayson was serving as part of a congressional delegation that was...