Free Republic

Tacoma, WA--On Friday, March 25, 2011, Steve Rodriguez of www.kalakala.org announced that the former non-profit organization dedicated to saving and preserving the ferry KALAKALA would become a for profit entity. At the same time, it looked like his dream of saving the the unique vintage ferry was literally sinking as the ship took on water causing a list of up to 25 degrees to port, during low tide at her berth on the Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma, Washington. The former Black Ball Line and Washington State Ferry has been at this location since September, 2004. Various efforts to find a...

For centuries exile has been the most popular strategy for kings and dictators to escape hanging, whether it be Charles II, his brother James II, Idi Amin, Ferdinand Marcos or the Shah of Iran. Exile also has been a preferred choice for those seeking political asylum from persecution such as Albert Einstein and Bertolt Brecht fleeing the Nazis, or Salman Rushdie finding safe haven from the Ayatollah's fatwa death sentence. No US president has ever been exiled. For high crimes and misdemeanors impeachment is our cure. For lesser sins, a second term denied is punishment enough. Until Barack Obama came...

Terrorism: Should the press report the news or show its "sensitivity"? Refusal by Seattle media to run FBI photos of men who might just be trying to kill us signals the latter. No wonder they're becoming irrelevant.

The coming economic crisis. Unemployment. Health care for the poor. The almost 1,500 dead soldiers. The almost 100,000 dead Iraqis. Armstrong Williams and Maggie Gallagher. The Christian Conservative takeover of our nation. The missing 9 billion. The missing weapons of mass destruction. The impending invasion of Iran, and Syria. The total failure to protect us on 9-11.

US Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who had hoped to replace George W. Bush as president yesterday, instead sat in the cold and clapped as the Republican began a second four-year term. Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin patted Senator Kerry on the back shortly before the inauguration Senator Kerry had hoped would be his. As Mr Bush delivered his inaugural address, Senator Kerry, about 10m away on the steps of the US Capitol, joined other lawmakers and the crowd in repeated applause. Senator Kerry looked relaxed, at times wistful. He frequently smiled, able to hide any disappointment over what...