Free Republic

Many argue that communism will never be possible because of "human nature". The essence of this false argument is the belief that a communist society would consist of an all-powerful central government that would tell everybody what to do--and would therefore undermine the creative initiative of individuals and the search for happiness. • This argument is based on two false assumptions: (1) It assumes that a communist society will look like the former Soviet Union, or the current China, North Korea, etc (ie: corrupt police states with a feudal-style ruling class) (2) It assumes that people will only work in...

During the 32 years I covered Washington for the Los Angeles Times, I learned that leaks from anonymous sources are crucial to informing the public. In the debate over what Karl Rove said when and to whom, and over the role of confidential sources in general, that must be underlined: Without leaks, without anonymity for some sources, a free press loses its ability to act as a check and a balance against the power of government. The stories that have depended on confidential sources, and often on classified information, are legend: Watergate in the Nixon administration, the Iran/Contra scandal and...

OAKLAND, Calif. - The city of Oakland has agreed to pay half a million dollars to settle a lawsuit filed by an anti-war protester who was injured when police fired wooden dowels and rubber balls during an April 2003 demonstration. The Oakland City Council also signed off on two other injury claims from the 500-person protest at the Port of Oakland that took place during the early days of the war with Iraq. A man who said his fingers were broken will get $85,000, while another demonstrator who suffered cuts and bruises is set to get $7,500, according to city...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cmp/20050715/tc_cmp/165702500 UN Panel: No Single Nation Should Control Internet Addresses Aoife White Thu Jul 14, 9:38 PM ET BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP)--A U.N. panel created to recommend how the Internet should be run in the future has failed to reach consensus but did agree that no single country should dominate. The United States stated two weeks ago that it intended to maintain control over the computers that serve as the Internet's principal traffic cops. In a report released Thursday, the U.N. panel outlined four possible options for the future of Internet governance for world leaders to consider at a November "Information...

Here is the list so far for sponcers to this hate America fest: ANSWER Code Pink UFPJ NION Al Awda World Workers Party Ruckas Revolutionary Communist party Moveon.org ACORN Campus Antiwar Network International Socialist Org Greens Party Muslim Student Association CPUSA

>>>>Let me set this up, this is the editorial that first started this fight, I will print the rest in order. Why they hate us MARK YOST This is a belated Fourth of July column (superseded by the state shutdown). The headline isn't a prelude to a column justifying why the Islamists hate Westerners so much that they're pouring into Iraq to kill our soldiers (along with innocent fellow Arabs, including Egyptian diplomats). Or defending the sleeper cells planted to blow up Madrid, London and who knows where next. Rather, it's about why most Americans, particularly soldiers, hate the media....

WASHINGTON — Megan Watson, leader of Mainstream Moms, is so angry at military recruiters for invading schools to sign up unwary youth for combat in Iraq that she and her group launched an online movement, “LeaveMyChildAlone.org.” “They offer these trinkets to lure our children to enlist,” Watson said in a phone interview from her home in Bolinas, Calif. “This is very aggressive, demographic targeting to have conversations with our kids that should not be happening.” All branches of the military are falling short of recruiting goals as parents say, in effect, “Hell no! My kids won’t go!” Watson blasted the...

<p>LONDON, July 7 - It is said, usually as a kind of joke, that a day is a long time in politics. Rarely has that been so true - and so bloodily so - as in the past 24 hours of Prime Minister Tony's Blair's roller coaster ride from triumph to tragedy.</p>

Thursday, July 7, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 AM Editorial Exit without apologies Saddam Hussein is toppled from power. The fundamental aim of the Iraq war is accomplished. Now is the time to plan to leave and bring American forces home. As noted in a series of editorials that began on Sunday and ends today, the passage of time only erodes confidence in an enterprise we initially supported. Successive layers of President Bush's rationales for the war were stripped bare. No weapons of mass destruction were found, no prewar terrorist havens or links to Sept. 11, 2001. The war...

GEORGE Galloway was accused by a senior minister last night of "dipping his poisonous tongue in a pool of blood", after the former Labour MP warned the terrorist attacks in the capital will not be the last. The outspoken Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow and anti-war campaigner hit back at his accuser, the armed forces minister Adam Ingram, likening him to a "foul-mouthed ... thug". Sylvia Heal, the Deputy Speaker, had to intervene, reminding the House that "good temper and moderation" were the hallmarks of language in the Commons and they should remember that on this day of...

A.N.S .W.E.R.'s response to Bush:Hit the Streets September 24!Recognizing that the people of the United States have turned dramat ically against the war and occupation of Iraq, Bush went on national televi sion tonight to defend his imperial foreign policy. He repea tedly invoked September 11 as a pretext for the criminal and illegal war ag ainst Iraq. Bush took to the airwaves tonight because the antiwar m ovement is growing in strength. Our power poses a major poli tical obstacle to the continuation of the war and occupation. Now Bush has taken on the additional role of Recruiter-in-Chi ef, urging young people to sign up for military...

Happy birthday America, you suck. That seemed to be the sentiment of National Book Award winner James Carroll in a July 5 Boston Globe column. "After the fireworks, the music, the rhetoric of freedom -- what then? The party is over. Can we think about what, exactly, we were celebrating?" Carroll asked. "Today's date puts the question of how high-flown American ideals square with the quotidian reality of what the nation is becoming." Carroll ended by wondering: "What kind of nation does our flag fly over now?" He answered: "Not a less innocent one, because American innocence was never the...

Londoners have paid the price for Iraq and Afghanistan, says George Galloway. The Respect MP, whose Bethnal Green and Bow constituency includes the site of at least one of the bomb attacks, said the attacks were "despicable". But he told MPs it was the US-led coalition's actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo which had inflamed hatred of the West in the Muslim world. In response, minister Adam Ingram accused Mr Galloway of "dipping his poisonous tongue in a pool of blood". The armed forces minister added that Mr Galloway's comments were "disgraceful". Same mistakes? Earlier Mr Galloway said he was...

Dean: Troops Deserve More Than Bush's 'Discredited' Rhetoric 6/29/2005 4:04:00 PM To: National Desk Contact: Karen Finney of the Democratic National Committee, 202-863-8148; Web: http://www.democrats.org WASHINGTON, June 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a release of the Democratic National Committee: Disappointingly, the President followed Karl Rove's advice last night and linked Iraq to 9/11 no fewer than five times in just over 35 minutes. He ignored the concerns that Americans have expressed about the war, and still refused to provide real answers or a clear path to success in Iraq. Even former Reagan aide David Gergen expressed that he was...

At the culmination of a gathering of global 'antiwar' groups in Istanbul to hold court on the liberation of Iraq led by the United States and the United Kingdom, the jurors who heard testimony against the liberators issued their findings which included a declaration of support for the terrorists in Iraq who are killing American, British and coalition soldiers and Iraqis.The World Tribunal on Iraq is endorsed by leading leftwing organizations from around the world including American-based groups like Not in Our Name Project, United for Peace and Justice, Code Pink and International ANSWER.The war on terror has reached a...

The latest survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press has found overwhelming dissatisfaction with news organizations, with a rising number of people saying that news media were "too critical of America." And while Democrats have been more satisfied with the news media than Republicans, the survey found a marked increase in the number of Democrats who said they believed that reporters were too soft on the Bush administration. The survey found "a startling rise in the politicization of opinions on several measures," and its authors said the results reflected the increasing political polarization of the...

No U.S. bashing at WTC, Pataki vows Gov. Pataki blasted America-bashing art like that featured by Drawing Center. Gov. Pataki drew a line in the sand yesterday, declaring he will tolerate no America-bashing on the sacred soil of Ground Zero. Hours after the Daily News disclosed that a museum set to rise on the site had displayed kooky and anti-American art, the governor said there can be no place where nearly 3,000 innocents died for an institution that attacks the United States and the heroes of 9/11. His voice rising and his resolve steely as he compared the World Trade...

Morgan Spurlock got famous from his Oscar-nominated documentary Super Size Me. He ingested big McDonald's meals three times a day for 30 days, then blamed McDonald's for his bloated body and dodgy health. Now he's using his 30-day premise to get Americans to ingest his version of radical Islam on cable's FX Network. -- snip -- I asked the show's executive producers--all of whom worked on The Awful Truth With Michael Moore, a cable TV show--how this could be a documentary when they had decided the outcome in advance. Wasn't it possible that Mr. Stacy would come out seeing that...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US anti-war group vowed to surround the White House in a sea of demonstrators during coordinated protests scheduled to take place in Washington, as well as Los Angeles and San Francisco on September 24. The ANSWER Coalition expects more than 100,000 people, from families of US soldiers to trade unions and diverse religious groups, to take part in the demonstrations against the war in Iraq.

FrontPageMagazine.com | June 23, 2005 Wow. I can’t believe it. Well, yes, I can believe it actually – here I am in Iran courtesy of you, Phil, and the San Francisco Chronicle. I don’t know why I said I couldn’t believe it because I can’t think of a single other person who’s more qualified than me to do this job. I mean, I’ve already done everything Hollywood has to offer and what could be more natural for someone with my background than to report on free elections in Iran? Anyway, thank you, good buddy. This place is awesome! After I...