Free Republic

Reuters has an interesting piece looking at how many experts are concerned that mass surveillance efforts by the federal government are making a mockery of the 4th Amendment. The focus of the article is on the scan of all Yahoo email that was revealed back in October, but it certainly touches on other programs as well. The concern is easily summarized by Orin Kerr: "A lot of it is unrecognizable from a Fourth Amendment perspective," said Orin Kerr, a former federal prosecutor and Georgetown University Law School expert on surveillance. "It's not where the traditional Fourth Amendment law is." But,...

NAPERVILLE, IL — A COVID-19 patient at Edward Hospital who was given Ivermectin after a lawsuit is now breathing without assistance, Daily Herald reports his attorneys have said. Lawyers for the hospital however, contend that Ng had been improving prior to the treatment. In early November, Judge Paul Fullerton had ordered the hospital to allow Dr. Alan Bain, who is not vaccinated against coronavirus, to come to the hospital to provide ivermectin treatments to Sun Ng, 71, a resident of Hong Kong, who was hospitalized with coronavirus on Oct. 14. Ng was placed on a ventilator four days later. Ng's...

White Semidouble THIS GLORIOUS SAINT was like a beautiful lily, crowning the ancient branch of the kings of Wessex. The times had progressed since that sixth century, when the pagan Cerdic and other pirate chiefs from the North Sea scattered with ruins the island of saints. Having accomplished their mission of wrath, the Anglo-Saxons became instruments of grace to the land they had conquered. Evangelized by Rome, even as the Britons they had just chastized, they remembered, better than the latter, whence their salvation had come; a spring-tide blossoming of sanctity showed the pleasure God took once more in...

All weekend long and well throughout the day today, the topic of conversation has been on the attacks in Paris. Here in Louisiana, perhaps more than anywhere else, there is a strong connection with the French: It’s in our culture, it’s the basis of a (rapidly dying) local language, and it is where we as a state came from. The Paris attacks have now given way to a broader U.S. conversation about the acceptance of Syrian refugees, and several states, including Louisiana, have said “No, we’re not cooperating on this.” But, do you know who is okay with accepting Syrian...

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden got into a heated exchange with comedian and late night host John Oliver over the ramifications of his wide-ranging leaks about U.S. surveillance apparatus during an interview that aired Sunday night. “How many of those documents have you actually read?” Oliver asked Snowden, during an interview on his show, "Last Week Tonight." “I’ve evaluated all of the documents that are in the archive,” Snowden replied. “You’ve read every single one?” Oliver asked. “Well, I do understand what I’ve turned over," Snowden said. "There’s a difference between understanding what’s in the documents and reading...

During a round of morning interviews with several of the major television networks on Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry accused NSA [National Security Agency] leaker Edward Snowden of engaging in the same kind of betrayal and traitorous activities that Kerry once participated in. When Kerry returned from the Vietnam War in the early 70's, he accused his fellow American soldiers of committing war crimes. Kerry's accusations provoked the ire of countless Vietnam War vets who said that not only was Kerry falsely maligning them, but that he was guilty of betrayal and that he was harming American POW's in...

Catholic World News reports: "A former chancellor of the Manchester, New Hampshire diocese, who last year resigned from his post as president of the St. Luke Institute, has been sentenced to a 4-year prison term after pleading guilty to theft charges. Msgr. Edward Arsenault admitted to stealing funds from the Manchester diocese, from the estate of a fellow priest, and from a hospital where he had served on the board. Under a plea-bargaining agreement he will serve 4 years in a New Hampshire prison. As chancellor of the New Hampshire diocese, Msgr. Arsenault was the top aid to Bishop John...

In second part of Glenn Greenwald interview, NSA whistleblower insists he is a patriot who regards the US as fundamentally good. Edward Snowden predicted more than a month ago while still in hiding in Hong Kong that the US government would seek to demonise him, telling the Guardian that he would be accused of aiding America´s enemies.

It seems that nothing is ever as it seems. It may be that Edward Snowden is what he seems to be — an Obama-supporter who, despite barely gaining a GED, managed to work his way into sensitive technical positions at the CIA, NSA and private contractors, and then became disillusioned that abuse of individual privacy he witnessed under the Bush administration was not cured and if anything worsened under Obama, and who, despite four years of Obama-rule in which to leak embarrassing documents, waited until late May 2013 in which to take and then dump on Glenn Greenwald a treasure...

Edward Snowden was interviewed over several days in Hong Kong by Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill. Q: Why did you decide to become a whistleblower? A: "The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. If I wanted to see your emails or your wife's phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards. "I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things … I do not...

Afternoons were Bertie’s favourite time for adultery. While husbands were out at work, the Prince sallied forth to pay calls on their wives, lingering for up to 90 minutes. Servants were instructed that no one else should be admitted into the drawing room. Then Bertie would make an abrupt lunge, followed by a kiss smelling of tobacco and a hasty grope. With his favourites, he patiently negotiated the barriers of crinolines and stays to achieve his ultimate desire. Few turned him down: within his social set, it was almost impossible for a woman to resist advances from the Prince of...

Perhaps no Prince of Wales in history has been less trusted — or more spied upon — than the boy everyone knew as Bertie. When he attended a military summer camp, at age 19, the future King Edward VII was surrounded by minders: two stern Grenadier officers, a colonel and a general. He even had to share a general’s quarters. Happily, however, they had not thought to lock Bertie’s bedroom window. So, one night, the heir to the throne wriggled out, made a beeline for the camp prostitute — one Nellie Clifden — and triumphantly lost his virginity.

Our former NR colleague, Joe Sobran, passed away today after a long battle with a variety of ailments. He was relatively young, just 64, and while physically beaten at the end, he also departed spiritually triumphant.   Surely, in short order, there will be ample reflection — much of it critical — on the hyper-talented, hyper-controversial writer. There will be a recounting of his history at NR, the break, the following years, and Joe’s soured relationship with WFB (happily, they rekindled their friendship before Bill passed away). Good, let’s discuss all that, and more. But later. Right now, let us,...

Among the bordellos of Victorian Paris, Le Chabanais was the most exquisite, and the most lavish. Over the years this ‘maison de tolerance’ — the word ‘brothel’ was considered too tawdry — saw visitors as illustrious as Humphrey Bogart, Mae West and Cary Grant. But in the 1880s, one of its principal clients was the future King Edward VII, then known to everyone as ‘Bertie’, the playboy Prince of Wales. Each of the establishment’s 30 rooms had its own theme, such as Moorish, Louis XIV and ancient Roman — but Bertie’s favourite was the Hindu room.

The royal princes plodded slowly and sadly behind the coffin of their father, George V, as it was hauled through the streets of London to lie in state in Westminster Hall. In the silent crowd, Bloomsbury artist Vanessa Bell looked on the gun carriage draped with the royal standard and surmounted by the Imperial Crown and thought it 'unexpectedly lovely'. But then she caught sight of the new King, Edward VIII. What struck her was not just that he looked utterly miserable and very small, but that he was 'disreputable, patchy and debauched'. She was not impressed.

Listen to Candidates Bucking For United States Senator Harry Reid Seat in 2010 Part 3 We have had candidates that have been campaigning for US Nevada Senator Harry Reid Seat in 2010. One Republican and one Democrat. On October 3, 2009 we have had Sharron Angle Republican Candidate for US Senate on the Veterans In Politics Talk Show on All Talk Radio. On October 3, 2009 we have had Edward “Mr. Clean” Hamilton Democratic Candidate for US Senate on the Veterans In Politics Talk Show on All Talk Radio. Listen to what they have to say and do your homework...

John Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter, talked to news-ertainment television show "Extra" last year while promoting her campaign "webisodes." While the interview was condensed for air, hours of footage were left on the cutting room floor. Now 23/6 has raided the "Extra" vaults for an inside look at the interview you were never meant to see.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australian police were embarrassed Thursday after having to discipline an officer assigned to guard Prince Edward for taking unauthorized photographs of the British visitor's hotel suite. Police said an officer assigned to a security detail for dignitaries at the Commonwealth Games had been seen during a routine security sweep taking photographs of the suite the prince will occupy until Monday. The photographs were confiscated and destroyed. "The member involved was stood down from Games duties and returned to normal duties," a police spokesman said. Victoria state police commissioner Christine Nixon said another snap-happy officer had also been...

Site requires membership to pull up story but here is excerpt... Grandson Wants Russian Authorities to Investigate Stalin’s Death Joseph Stalin’s great-grandson has appealed to the Russian authorities with a request to investigate the circumstances of his great-grandfather’s death, news agencies reported Thursday. “When Stalin was disposed of, Khrushchev, who imagined himself to be a statesman, was able to come to power. His so called activities were nothing but a betrayal of the interests of the state that he headed,” Jacob Jugashvili said in a statement. The betrayal committed in the Kremlin should be judged in the Kremlin, too, he...

Clooney film faces censorship (But You Know The New York Slimes...) by Julia Wheeler The film which won George Clooney an Oscar may be banned in one of the countries where it was shot because of political sensitivities. Syriana was partly filmed in the United Arab Emirates. The authorities there are still deciding whether the film, which is a political thriller, will be shown.