Free Republic

Tens of thousands emerged from Friday afternoon Muslim prayers to participate in rallies against the regime of President Bashar Assad Friday despite the harsh military crackdown in Syria, Reuters reports. Opposition leaders said tens of thousands rallied in the southern province of Deraa, the epicenter of the three-month revolt against Assad's rule, the Kurdish east, the cities of Homs and Hama north of Damascus, and suburbs of the Syrian capital itself. Friday prayers – and sermons – have been a platform for the biggest protests leading to the most bloodshed in Syria's "Arab Spring" inspired revolt. Similar revolts have topped...

CAIRO — Syria’s state news agency reported Monday that “armed gangs” had killed 120 police, security personnel and civilians in multiple attacks in a northwestern town, and that residents were “pleading” for the army to intervene. The reports could not be independently verified, but regardless of whether the numbers are inflated, they appear likely to presage an even harsher crackdown on antigovernment protesters. The reported number of dead ballooned over the course of the day — from 28 to 40 to 80 to 120 — as state media described escalating violence in the town of Jisr al-Shughour by the unspecified...

New VP/longtime security chief Omar Suleiman prefers "not to use police tools"... thereby implying he just might Starting to look like the party's almost over in Cairo: popular support for the protesters is fading as the dug-in Mubarak regime offers measured concessions... whilst preparing to turn the screws- VOA: Egypt's vice president says the government will not tolerate prolonged anti-government protests in Cairo's main square, where hundreds of thousands of people gathered Tuesday in the latest effort to force the ouster of long-serving President Hosni Mubarak.  Egypt's state-run MENA news agency quotes Vice President Omar Suleiman as saying that a crisis triggered by 16 days...

A state legislative panel studying whether Georgia should adopt an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigration has received a long list of proposals to consider, including authorizing all local and state law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws. Also on the list is a proposed requirement for all businesses to use the federal E-Verify database to ensure their employees are in the country legally. Other proposals include creating new criminals offense for people who stop vehicles to hire and pick up day laborers; conceal, harbor, or shield illegal immigrants; or encourage illegal immigrants to move here. These proposals are outlined...

20 detained in Beijing for celebrating Nobel to Liu 2010-10-08 05:30:00 Beijing, Oct 8 (DPA) Police in the Chinese capital detained at least 20 human rights activists who were celebrating Friday's award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the jailed dissident writer Liu Xiaobo, one of the activists said. 'First we went to karaoke because we feel happy and we also took photos (of each other),' activist Wang Lihong told DPA by telephone. When the group of about 20 activists moved to a restaurant near the east gate of Beijing's Ditan Park, more than 50 police in a dozen vehicles...

SIERRA VISTA — The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is stepping up its effort to stop the flow of illegal guns flowing into Mexico and into the hands of drug cartels. The agency is setting up specialized teams along known trafficking hubs and routes, including Sierra Vista. Project Gunrunner will establish teams in seven U.S. cities: Atlanta, Dallas, Brownsville, Texas, Las Vegas, Miami, Oklahoma City and Sierra Vista. The move is a follow-up to the ATF’s Gun Runner Impact Team (GRIT) initiative, which saw a 100-day deployment of resources to the Phoenix Field Division, according to the...

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Nicaraguan mother Lorena Aguilar hawks a television set and a few clothes on the baking sidewalk outside her west Phoenix apartment block. A few paces up the street, her undocumented Mexican neighbour Wendi Villasenor touts a kitchen table, some chairs and a few dishes as her family scrambles to get out of Arizona ahead of a looming crackdown on illegal immigrants."Everyone is selling up the little they have and leaving," said Villasenor, 31, who is headed for Pennsylvania. "We have no alternative. They have us cornered."The two women are among scores of illegal immigrant families across Phoenix...

Austin police teamed up with code enforcement for a little club hopping last night. The goal was not the usual weekend checklist but reducing violent crimes. The party at La Rumba Night Club on East Riverside was cut short last night as police, fire and code inspectors hit the dance floor in search of violations. “We want to go out there and make sure everyone is in compliance. People aren't creating more victims by serving them too much alcohol so people can't make sound decisions and protect themselves at night,” said Lt. Paul Christ with the Austin Police Department. APD's...

THE tax on cigarettes will rise by 25 per cent from midnight as part of the Federal Government's crackdown on smoking. The Government will also force tobacco companies to use plain packaging from July 1, 2012. The changes will cut tobacco consumption by six per cent and the number of smokers by two or three per cent - about 87,000 Australians, the Government said. The 25 per cent tax increase will mean an increase of about $2.16 for a pack of 30, raising the cost to about $17.95.

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2010 – Iraqi forces working with U.S. advisors killed one senior al-Qaida in Iraq leader and captured two others in recent operations in Mosul, military officials reported. In eastern Mosul yesterday, Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors cornered Ahmad Ali Abbas Dahir al-Ubayd, also known as Abu Suhaib, the suspected military leader for the terror organization in northern Iraq. He allegedly is responsible for oversight of both bombing attacks against the Iraqi government and the people of Mosul. Ubayd refused to leave the building where he was hiding. Instead, he fired at Iraqi forces, who returned fire and...

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2010 – Iraqi forces, with U.S. advisors, continued their assault on al-Qaida in Iraq this week, arresting one terrorism suspect near Baghdad and two others in Mosul, military officials reported. Iraqi security forces today arrested a man suspected in vehicle-borne bombings in the Baghdad area after a combined patrol searched a building just west of the capital city for another man believed to be his associate in the bombings. In the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on April 7, Iraqi forces arrested two suspected associates of an al-Qaida in Iraq leader for eastern Mosul during a combined...

/begin my excerpts A String of Arrests were Made on those Watching the Movie '2012': Why? 'Human race going extinct on the centennial anniversary of Great Leader's birth? Unacceptable!' Asahi Shimbun of Japan reported on Mar. 25 that a string of arrests were made on N. Koreans watching the movie '2012.' A man recently brought in a pirated copy of '2012' from China and watched it. He was arrested when his acquaintance reported it(to the authorities.) According to the newspaper, there has been several incidents like that in N. Korea, quoting its source. '2012' was directed by Roland Emmerich, in...

March 11, 2010 Hundreds rounded up in Tibet crackdown Jane Macartney in Beijing Hundreds of Tibetans are being rounded up and detained in Lhasa and armed paramilitary groups are patrolling the streets in advance of the anniversary of fatal riots in 2008, The Times has learnt. Authorities are anxious to avoid a repeat of the anti-Chinese attacks, in which about 20 people were killed when Tibetans rampaged through the city, setting fire to shops and offices. This month marks a particularly sensitive period in the region as March 10 is also regarded by Tibetans as the anniversary of the start...

Just thought I'd get your take on this. I was coming home just now and went through a relatively busy intersection of San Pedro (13th and Grand). There were four cops--one on each corner at the 4-way stop with ticket books in hand. Actually one was just returning from a car he had just given some unknown citation to. Since it was nothing I had seen before, It got me thinking... I'm sure that there were some long-established violations that they were on the lookout for--not stopping, busted tail light, etc. But I'm sure that their real cash cow was...

CAIRO – The No. 2 leader of Egypt's opposition Muslim Brotherhood and two other top figures were arrested by police Monday in a dawn sweep targeting members of the nation's most powerful opposition group. The arrests, part of an ongoing crackdown, come as the group recently chose a new leadership and ahead of parliamentary elections set for October. Police arrested the new deputy leader, Mahmoud Ezzat, and two other members of the Guidance Council, Essam el-Erian and Abdul-Rahman el-Bir. A fourth member of the group's top level decision making body was not home when police raided his house. At least...

The Daily Bell is pleased to publish an interview with the distinguished libertarian attorney and activist, Edwin Vieira, Jr. Introduction: Dr. Vieira holds four degrees from Harvard: A.B. (Harvard College), A.M. and Ph.D. (Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences), and J.D. (Harvard Law School). For over thirty-six years he has been a practicing attorney, specializing in cases that raise issues of constitutional law. He has presented numerous cases of import before the Supreme Court and written numerous monographs and articles in scholarly journals. His latest scholarly works are Pieces of Eight: The Monetary Powers and Disabilities of the United...

After three decades, the revolution is returning. Back the government of the Shah was corrupt and unpopular, and the small businessmen and clerics supported widespread discontent, which evolved into massive demonstrations that the security forces were not willing to put down with force. It's different this time, in that hundreds of thousands of hard core government supporters are in the Revolutionary Guard. Unlike the shah's forces, the Revolutionary Guard contains a lot of Islamic true believers, who will shoot to kill. They have already done this. Will they do it on a large enough scale to intimidate most Iranians? The...

A police crackdown on climate protesters in Copenhagen in which more than 960 people were arrested was preplanned and apparently without justification, according to an Australian eyewitness. Simon Sheikh, national director of the progressive Australian lobby group Get Up, watched the crackdown from his apartment - and has exclusive video footage of it. Mr Sheikh said the marchers were peacefully making their way through the bohemian district of Christianshavn on Saturday afternoon when the police moved in. "At a preplanned time they ran with full riot gear straight at women, children and families," Mr Sheikh told AAP. "We were taken...

BEIRUT - As they gear up for a major anti-government protest Monday, Iranian students are besieged by a clampdown in the universities, with a wave of arrests and expulsions. At the same time, authorities are intensifying enforcement of Islamic morals on women's dress and men's hair length as a way to punish political dissent.

The Obama administration today announced a new campaign to get mortgage companies to lower mortgage payments for struggling homeowners – and part of the strategy is some old-fashioned "name and shame." Share To date over 650,000 homeowners have entered into trial modifications under the Treasury Department's housing relief plan – a ratio of about one in five eligible borrowers. But the administration – frustrated with the performance of mortgage companies thus far – will now try to ratchet up the pressure on servicers, especially with 375,000 of these trial modifications set to convert to permanent ones by year's end.