Free Republic

Sprint announced Friday that Adm. Mike Mullen would join the company’s board after its proposed $20.1 billion sale to SoftBank of Japan closes. Admiral Mullen, 66, who had served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 2007 to September 2011, would serve as an independent director as well as the company’s security director. He is also on the board of General Motors. His appointment would satisfy one of the concessions that the companies agreed to to win government approval for the merger. ... The two companies, however, have been gradually winning the necessary approvals. A special...

That's the heading on the first page of the court order obtained theGuardian. Top Secret is one of the highest levels of security classification in the U.S. government; the other initials indicate that this is "special intelligence," aka "signals intelligence," one of the most closely guarded capabilities of the U.S. intelligence community, and that it should not shown to any foreigners. Ironically and disturbingly, a British newspaper obtained this document. ... I have no idea who this intelligence officer is, but he (or she) has committed a serious crime by the unauthorized disclosure of such sensitive information. He needs to...

Nicaragua has awarded a Chinese company a 100-year concession to build an alternative to the Panama Canal, in a step that looks set to have profound geopolitical ramifications. The president of the country's national assembly, Rene Nuñez, announced the $40bn (£26bn) project, which will reinforce Beijing's growing influence on global trade and weaken US dominance over the key shipping route between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The name of the company and other details have yet to be released, but the opposition congressman Luis Callejas said the government planned to grant a 100-year lease to the Chinese operator. The national...

“You can take it from me — obviously I know the president pretty well, I know the attorney general pretty well, and he will be in his position for quite a while.”

(article photo) As America grew in the 1800s from a republic of a few millions, whose frontier stopped at the Mississippi, into a world power, there were constant collisions with the world’s greatest empire. In 1812, we declared war on Britain, tried to invade Canada and got our Capitol burned. In 1818, Andrew Jackson, on an expedition into Spanish Florida to put down renegade Indians harassing Georgia, hanged two British subjects he had captured, creating a firestorm in Britain. In 1838, we came close to war over Canada’s border with Maine; in 1846, over Canada’s border with the Oregon Territory....

[Article by Bob Kabel...] As a lifelong Republican and a member of the Republican National Committee (RNC), I am deeply concerned about the GOP’s image with all demographic groups in the wake of a crushing defeat in the 2012 elections—but I’m especially concerned with millennials: they are the future of our Party—and our country—and unless the Republican Party can attract their votes, we stand to lose a generation of supporters. ... To say rapidly changing attitudes about same-sex marriage—especially among younger voters—is a major challenge for the Republican Party is an understatement; it would be more accurate to term...

“Man must sacrifice his life”– interview with Dominique VennerGötz Kubitschek On May 21, 2013 Dominique Venner , a French historian, shot himself in the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris to protest against the introduction of gay marriage in France. Only a week before that, Secession magazine interviewed Venner scheduled for the August issue. The occasion was Venner's new book: Le Choc de l'Histoire - The shock of the History. During the conversation Venner suggested that our time was ripe for symbolic actions and personal sacrifice. Questions by Benedict Kaiser. SECESSION: Le Choc de l'Histoire treats questions that you have investigated...

Caterpillar North America Sales Collapse Suggests US Economy Back To 2010 Levels Tyler DurdenZero Hedge 05/20/2013 11:50 -0400 While we have wondered on numerous occasions previously if the collapse in lumber prices is the far more accurate indicator of end demand for housing (as confirmed by the recent collapse in multi-family housing starts), perhaps an even better indicator of trends in housing (and by implication the broader economy) is private sector intermediate end demand, such as Caterpillar North America sales, which unlike government data, are far less subject to political intervention, interpolation, guesswork, seasonal adjustments and otherwise, general manipulation. And...

"This is called slave labor," said Pope Francis. The Holy Father was referring to the $40 a month paid to apparel workers at that eight-story garment factory in Bangladesh that collapsed on top of them, killing more than 400. "Not paying a just wage ... focusing exclusively on the balance books, on financial statements, only looking at personal profit. That goes against God!" The pope is describing the dark side of globalism Why is Bangladesh, after China, the second-largest producer of apparel in the world? Why are there 4,000 garment factories in that impoverished country which, a few decades ago,...

When economic patriotism died Pat Buchanan agrees with the pope about ' the dark side of globalism' “This is called slave labor,” said Pope Francis. The Holy Father was referring to the $40 a month paid to apparel workers at that eight-story garment factory in Bangladesh that collapsed on top of them, killing more than 400. “Not paying a just wage … focusing exclusively on the balance books, on financial statements, only looking at personal profit. That goes against God!” The pope is describing the dark side of globalism. Why is Bangladesh, after China, the second-largest producer of apparel in...

RCMP grapples with questions of FBI authority in Canada ... In the wake of a dramatic RCMP reveal of two people arrested in Canada in connection with a plot to derail a passenger train, Canadians may have questioned why the United States Department of Homeland Security and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation were involved in the operation. Those who have followed the quiet evolution of Canada-US cross-border policing, however, weren't surprised. Law enforcement agencies in Canada and the US are now working together in an unprecedented way, says the RCMP—and the two countries are hammering out a plan to...

The father of a Connecticut child is furious after discovering that his son’s school is teaching students that Americans don’t have a Second Amendment right to bear arms. “I am appalled,” said Steven Boibeaux, of Bristol. “It sounds to me like they are trying to indoctrinate our kids.” Boibeaux’s son is an eighth grader at Northeast Middle School. On Monday his social studies teacher gave students a worksheet titled, ‘The Second Amendment Today.’ “The courts have consistently determined that the Second Amendment does not ensure each individual the right to bear arms,” the worksheet states. “The courts have never found...

The continuing downturn in the U.K. manufacturing sector have reignited fears of a triple-dip recession amid lackluster demand from both domestic and foreign markets. Further, mortgage approvals declined again in February, reflecting no credible support from the Funding for Lending Scheme to the housing market. The headline purchasing managers' index rose less-than-expected to 48.3 in March from February's four-month low of 47.9, a survey by Markit Economics and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply showed Tuesday. Economists expected the reading to rise to 49. A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion of the sector, while a reading below 50...

The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday signed off on a sweeping, first-of-its-kind treaty to regulate the international arms trade, brushing aside worries from U.S. gun rights advocates that the pact could lead to a national firearms registry and disrupt the American gun market. The long-debated U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) requires countries to regulate and control the export of weaponry such as battle tanks, combat vehicles and aircraft and attack helicopters, as well as parts and ammunition for such weapons. It also provides that signatories will not violate arms embargoes, international treaties regarding illicit trafficking, or sell weaponry to...

ustralia is seeking to bypass trading in U.S. dollars with China in an effort to avoid the commercial uncertainties that come with the recent fluctuations in the greenback. For example, just a half a year ago, the dollar traded at about $1.20 to the euro; by February, it had weakened to $1.34 per euro and now it is going for $1.27. Eliminating the dollar in trade will be the focus of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s trip to Beijing next week. Trade with China, Australia’s primary trading partner, totaled $120 billion in the last fiscal year. China buys nearly one-third...

Diplomacy: After a reprieve from international regulation of our guns, another sovereignty-grabbing U.N. treaty, a pet project of our secretary of state, is still being pushed to declare the oceans the common heritage of mankind. In the pre-dawn hours last Saturday, the U.S. Senate approved by 53-46 a measure "to uphold Second Amendment rights and prevent the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty." But a seemingly harmless cousin, the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), remains on the table, with its champion, former Sen. John Kerry, now our secretary of state. Kerry gave a speech...

Multinational retail giant Walmart has said that the company is expected to incur financial losses in view of ongoing investigation into alleged corruption cases pertaining to its foreign subsidiaries. “...We expect to continue to incur costs (in addition to the $157 million of costs incurred in fiscal 2013) in conducting our on-going review and investigations”, the company said in a filing to US Securities and Exchange Commission. The company claimed that Audit Committee comprising its independent directors (on board) is conducting an internal investigation into, among other things, alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practises Act (“FCPA”) and other alleged...

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is forming a new issues advocacy group to promote immigration reform, education and other policies aimed at growing the economy. … High-tech companies have stepped-up their lobbying on immigration to get more visas for high-tech workers, but the people involved say Zuckerberg’s interest is broader and includes citizenship for those here illegally. …

In Russia, most analysts, politicians and ordinary citizens believe in the unlimited might of America, and thus reject the notion that the US has made, and continues to make, mistakes in the [Middle East]. Instead, they assume it’s all a part of a complex plan to restructure the world and to spread global domination,” writes Fyodor Lukyanov ... It’s instructive to view ourselves through a Russian mirror. The term “paranoid Russian” is a pleonasm. “The fact is that all Russian politicians are clever. The stupid ones are all dead. By contrast, America in its complacency promotes dullards. A deadly miscommunication...

Worldwide approval of U.S. leadership dipped considerably during President Barack Obama’s fourth year in office — but it increased in some countries, including Mexico, according to a poll Wednesday. The median approval rating for U.S. leadership for 130 countries was 41 percent in 2012, down 8 percentage points from the 49 percent approval during Obama’s first year in office, Gallup found - noting the America’s standing is still generally higher than it was during President George W. Bush’s final years in office.