http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/frontpage-news/ en-us Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:39:42 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051171/posts WASHINGTON -- Three ballistic missile crew members in North Dakota fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices this month, triggering an investigation by military and National Security Agency experts, the Air Force said Thursday. The probe found that the missile launch codes were outdated and remained secure at all times. But the July 12 incident comes on the heels of a series of missteps by the Air Force that had already put the service under intense scrutiny. "This was just a procedural violation that we investigated," said Air Force Col. Dewey Ford, a spokesman at Peterson Air Force Base... TheNewsTribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051171/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:39:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051061/posts Are reporters in the business of reporting facts or rumor? Andrea Mitchell, for one, has no problem sending along "scuttlebutt" that if true would be deeply damaging to John McCain. Barack Obama's cancellation of plans to visit injured military members at bases in Germany has drawn considerable attention and criticism. On today's Morning Joe, Mitchell passed along a rumor that McCain used his Pentagon connections to sabotage the Obama visit. View video here. NewsBusters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051061/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:33:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051051/posts Saeed Jalili, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, handed a two-page letter riddled with typing errors - and mysteriously titled the "None Paper" - to diplomats from the world's six leading powers in Geneva last weekend. For the first time, America had sent the State Department's third highest-ranking official, William Burns, to join the talks. Mr Jalili had been expected to give Iran's formal response to last month's offer of technical and economic help if Tehran stopped enriching uranium. Instead, he only bemused his interlocutors. "His discourse was rambling. He had a lot to say about Iranian history... Telegraph UK http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051051/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:38:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051027/posts LONDON (AFP) — The United States risks starting a new Cold War by proposing to build a missile shield in central and eastern Europe, former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev said in comments published here Wednesday. Washington claims that the anti-missile system for Poland and the Czech Republic is aimed exclusively at countering the threat from so-called "rogue states" like Iran, but Gorbachev said those assertions could not be trusted. Instead he said the military build-up -- plus the eastward expansion of NATO into Russia's traditional sphere of influence -- was aimed at containing a resurgent Russia, where Dmitry Medvedev is... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051027/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:59:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050342/posts Cuba silent on Russian bomber report: Fidel Castro 24 Jul 2008 01:30:02 GMT Source: Reuters HAVANA, July 23 (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Wednesday said Cuba does not have to explain or "ask forgiveness" about a report out of Russia this week that Russia might use its Cold War ally Cuba as a refueling base for nuclear-capable bombers. He did not address whether the report was true or false, and Cuban officials have made no comment. "Raul did very well keeping a dignified silence," Castro wrote, referring to his brother, President Raul Castro, in a column... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050342/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:23:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050971/posts MOSUL, IRAQ: The Battle for Mosul over the past several years has worked as a microcosm for the larger Iraqi conflict, with Coalition and Iraqi forces successfully imposing its will only after Al Qaeda and other insurgent groups held large parts of the city and region for long periods. Control over the city of 1.9 million people and the surrounding Ninewa province have been lost to Coalition and government forces twice since 2003. Only a successful security operation in May has brought attacks to their lowest recorded levels since the conflict began. Operation “Lion’s Roar” in May involved 5,000 Coalition... The Long War Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050971/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:19:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050937/posts As Barack Obama travels abroad, Americans seem to think most members of the media are in line with his message, according to the latest FOX News poll. Nearly 7/10 Americans (67%) say they believe most in the media want Obama to win the November election - while a scant 11 percent think the media are pulling for John McCain. ... When asked to rate the objectivity of media coverage of the campaigns, Americans feel Obama gets more of a positive spin by a better than 7-to-1 margin... FOX News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050937/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:04:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050934/posts The Obama campaign has issued a new statement blaming the Pentagon for Obama's controversial decision to scrap visits to U.S. troops and Rammstein Landstuhl military bases in Germany on Friday.Der Spiegel initially reported this morning that Obama had cancelled the visits without reason. Then as word spread through the political world after the story was first posted at Free Republic, Obama's campaign issued a statement saying Obama thought it would be "inappropriate" to visit the troops while on a campaign trip.After the McCain campaign issued a statement upbraiding Obama for snubbing the troops saying that it is never inappropriate to... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050934/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:59:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050904/posts Today the President to made remarks on the freedom agenda at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. He also met with the National and State Future Farmers of America officers at the White House. Pray for President Bush -- Day 2871 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attended the 15th ASEAN Regional Forum Retreat meetings on Thursday July 24, 2008 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore. She then flew to Perth Australia for a 2 day visit to that country. www.whitehouse.gov/news www.yahoo.com/news http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050904/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:39:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050872/posts Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, blasted the Bush administration today for conducting what Democrats described as harsh and punitive immigration raids, calling special attention to a raid at a kosher meatpacking plant in Iowa last May where nearly 400 illegal workers, mainly Guatemalans, were arrested in the largest worksite immigration raid in U.S. history. Lofgren, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee's immigration panel, said at a hearing on the raid that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rounded up workers at the Agriprocessors meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa, and then they were "herded into a cattle arena and prodded down... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050872/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:01:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050802/posts CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Chicago’s gun laws have been challenged in federal court since the Supreme Court’s decision on the D.C. ban. But, City Corporation Counsel Mara Georges has told two City Council committees she’s confident Chicago’s law will stand. Georges tells Aldermen the Supreme Court’s decision on Washington, D.C.’s handgun ban shouldn’t apply to Chicago, because previous Supreme Court rulings have said Second Amendment "right to bear arms" doesn’t apply to local governments, like Cities. She says D.C. is a federal jurisdiction. And Georges is confident that, and other arguments, will prevail, at least in the lower courts. But, she... WBBM Radio http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050802/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:05:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050822/posts Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden, D-Del., had previously told Meet the Press that "the reason Obama didn't hold a hearing on NATO, I chair the committee. Every one of those committee hearings are held at full committee." But today Biden decided to take his defense of Obama one step further, writing to DeMint that there have been plenty of hearings on European Affairs, they've just been held at the "full committee level." ~snip But Biden's letter brought attention to the fact that Obama did not attend two of those three hearings -- and for the third, on March... ABC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050822/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:35:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050774/posts Out here in West Texas we love our guns, we support our troops, and we treasure our freedom. We are an independent bunch and -- pardon me, Senator Obama -- fiercely but not bitterly so. We are proud to have our own things to do with as we choose to, as free people of the freest nation in the history of the world. We also walk around on top of oil: yes it’s far beneath us, but it’s there. And all these aspects of West Texas come together to our astonishment and anger over the fact that our independence is... humanevents.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050774/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:13:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050756/posts CITY PRAYER POLICY UPHELD Fredericksburg Free Lance - Star Fredericksburg Virginia http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/072008/07242008/397448 Date published: 7/24/2008 BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE Fredericksburg City Council can keep Jesus Christ out of its prayers. The 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals yesterday upheld the city's right to start its meetings with nonsectarian prayers. Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor sat on the three-judge panel hearing the case and wrote the opinion. "She didn't feel my rights were being violated, but my rights are definitely being violated," said City Councilman Hashmel Turner, who filed the case. "It removed an opportunity for me to pray... Fredericksburg Free Lance Star newspaper http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050756/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:52:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050751/posts John McCain is winning a paltry 23 percent of the Hispanic vote compared with 66 percent for Barack Obama, according to a large poll released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center. While Obama’s lead among Hispanics is not drastically ahead of where Democratic nominee John Kerry stood in the summer of 2004, McCain trails President Bush’s standing at this point four years ago. At that time, Pew found that Hispanics broke 62 percent for Kerry and 32 percent for Bush. Exit polls later found that Bush earned the support of about four in 10 Latino voters. That difference — from... Politico http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050751/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:34:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050747/posts Iran has signalled it will no longer co-operate with International Atomic Energy Agency experts investigating for signs of nuclear weapons programmes, confirming that the probe - launched a year ago with great expectations - was at a dead end. Coming from Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the announcement compounded international scepticism about denting Tehran's nuclear defiance just five days after Tehran stonewalled demands from six world powers to suspend activities that can produce the fissile core of warheads. Besides demanding a stop to uranium enrichment - which can create both fuel and the nuclear missile payloads - the international... The Press Association http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050747/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:23:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050739/posts SAN FRANCISCO — The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday called on Mayor Gavin Newsom to allow the federal agency full access to information about local inmates, saying the city should rescind its policy that prohibits ICE agents from reviewing jail logs and records. A letter sent to Newsom from ICE director Julie Myers urging more access to inmate records was the latest flare-up following accusations that a San Francisco policy to shield undocumented immigrants also caused the city to shelter felons charged with serious crimes. Eileen Hirst, chief of staff for San Francisco County Sheriff Michael Hennessey,... Contra Costa Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050739/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:12:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050705/posts House rejects bill to sell oil from reserve Thu Jul 24, 2008 3:09pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives rejected legislation on Thursday to sell 70 million of barrels of light, sweet crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and replace it with heavy, sour crude. The bill would have required the sale of 10 percent of the emergency stockpile's holdings, or 70 million barrels, on the open market over six months. Proceeds from the sales would have been used to buy an equivalent amount of heavy crude, which is cheaper. The White House had threatened to veto... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050705/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:12:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050516/posts With less than six months to go before he would be sworn in as the nation’s 44th president, Sen. Barack Obama has directed his aides to begin planning for the transition. "Barack is well aware of the complexity and the organizational challenge involved in the transition process and he has tasked s small group to begin thinking through the process,” a senior campaign adviser said. “Barack has made his expectations clear about what he wants from such a process, how he wants it to move forward, and the establishment and execution of his timeline is proceeding apace.” Last month, the... The Atlantic http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050516/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:00:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050669/posts Rep. Roy Blunt, the House Republican whip, on July 8 introduced a resolution demanding that the Defense Department better enable U.S. military personnel overseas to vote in the November elections. That act was followed by silence. Democrats normally leap on an opportunity to find fault with the Bush Pentagon. But not a single Democrat joined Blunt as a co-sponsor, and an all-Republican proposal cannot pass in the Democratic-controlled House. Analysis by the federal Election Assistance Commission, rejecting inflated Defense Department voting claims, estimated overseas and absentee military voting for the 2006 midterm elections at a disgracefully low 5.5 percent. The... GOPUSA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050669/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:10:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050656/posts Russia will supply to Iran advanced anti-aircraft systems by the end of 2008 or early 2009, Reuters reported with reference to a source with Israel's Ministry of Defense. According to the source, Russia will supply advanced S-300 anti-aircraft systems to Iran. The delivery of first consignment has been slated for September, but deploying and making the systems operable will take from six to 12 months... Kommersant http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050656/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:46:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050592/posts Senate Republicans have threatened to block nearly all other bills pending before the August recess if Democrats refuse to vote with them on expanding offshore drilling. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said bills that do not pertain to energy can wait until after the August recess, with gas prices now surpassing $4 per gallon. McConnell and top Republicans indicated Wednesday they would oppose any procedural votes to take up other legislation, which require 60 votes to succeed. “We think there is nothing more important that we can do right now than to deal with the Number One issue of... TheHill.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050592/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:54:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050590/posts Russia said on Thursday it opposed any artificial deadlines being issued to Iran to force it to respond to incentives from world powers on suspending its nuclear activities. But it also warned Tehran against dragging out the process. Western powers suspect Iran is seeking to build atomic bombs. The Islamic Republic says its nuclear program is a peaceful drive aimed at generating electricity so that it can export more of its oil and gas. Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050590/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:53:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050582/posts Eliot Kamenitz / The Times-PicayuneWorkers along the Mississippi River try to contain the hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel oil from a barge and ship collision on Wednesday. The river is now closed to the Gulf of Mexico. The massive oil spill that remains a major threat to the area's fragile delta ecosystem now stretches from New Orleans to the mouth of the Mississippi River -- a distance of 100 miles, Coast Guard officials said early Thursday. The Times-Picayune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050582/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:48:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050578/posts Hollywood's conservative underground 'Friends of Abe' group meets quietly EXCLUSIVE: A group of politically conservative and centrist Hollywood figures organized by actor Gary Sinise and others has been meeting quietly in restaurants and private homes, forming a loose-knit network of entertainers who share common beliefs like supporting U.S. troops and traditional American values. The Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050578/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:41:18 GMT