Free Republic

(Reuters) - The Obama administration will unveil a "more realistic" vision for the military on Thursday, with plans to cut tens of thousands of ground troops and invest more in air and sea power at a time of fiscal restraint, officials familiar with the plans said on Wednesday. The strategic review of U.S. security interests will also emphasize an American presence in Asia, with less attention overall to Europe, Africa and Latin America alongside slower growth in the Pentagon's budget, the officials said. Though specific budget cut and troop reduction figures are not set to be announced on Thursday, officials...

We must fight back. Urgent petition:  Keep the Cross at Ground Zero A group called American Atheists is suing to get the World Trade Center Cross removed from the 9-11 Memorial and Museum in New York City. Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, a construction worker found the Cross-shaped beams in the rubble of the World Trade Center. Immediately, the steel Cross became a powerful sign of hope for those who lost family members on Sept. 11, and for every American who loves God. Now this beloved symbol is under attack from American Atheists. They are suing to get it...

Join us on September 11th at our 911 Freedom Rally at 2pm at Broadway and Park Place to oppose this 15-story middlefinger to America. Ground Zero ‘Mosque’ Launches 9/10 Fund Drive, Tweaks Name The Puff Ho On Friday night, Park51 launched a fundraiser aimed at raising $7 million over the next month and a half, according to WNYC. The deadline for the funds is Sept. 10, which Mr. El-Gamal called “a motivational deadline,” its proximity to the 10th anniversary merely a coincidence. Last November, when the project sought $5 million in 9/11 grants, it caused quite a stir, so any...

Judge Rules Ex-Firefighter Cannot Sue Over Mosque NY Times A Manhattan judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a former New York City firefighter who is trying to stop the construction of an Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan. The former firefighter, Timothy Brown, sought to overturn a decision by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to deny landmark status for a 150-year-old building on Park Place that would be demolished to make way for the center. [..] In a decision issued on Friday, Justice Paul G. Feinman of State Supreme Court in Manhattan wrote that Mr. Brown was “an...

Two important pro-gun bills need your immediate attention. As we reported last week, House File 1467 passed in the House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee by a 10 to 7 vote. HB 1467, which is sponsored by state Representative Tony Cornish (R-24B), is now before the House Judiciary Committee and will be voted on during its hearing at 8:15 a.m. this Wednesday, May 4. The Senate companion bill sponsored by state Senator Gretchen Hoffman (R-10), Senate File 1357 Senate File 1357, is expected to be considered by the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee as early...

Tells faithful they must pay 'ultimate price' to see paradise "True" Muslims who enter the highest levels of Muslim paradise are those who pay the ultimate price of sacrifice for the goal of implementing Shariah Islamic law, declared the imam who has become the new face of the proposed Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero in New York City. In a recent mosque sermon obtained by WND, Imam Abdallah Adhami opens with an Islamic prayer declaring the supremacy of Allah over the universe.

NEW YORK -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office worked behind the scenes to help the organizers of a mosque and community center near ground zero, intervening with city administrators to get a temporary prayer service permit and having an official ghostwrite a letter to community leaders.

ARASOTA COUNTY - Gunfire erupted on a Newtown street in May, leaving Patrick Barbour dead on the road and Alphonse Gallo in jail facing a murder charge and the possibility of life behind bars. But a judge listened to the details of the killing and ruled that Gallo, 35, should not be prosecuted for murder because of Florida's stand-your-ground law, which allows people to use deadly force to defend themselves. Gallo was released from jail last month, the first Sarasota County murder defendant to win immunity under the 2005 law allowing people to use deadly force to defend themselves without...

Imam: NY Muslim Center Aims to Prevent Terror Attack Sunday, 26 Sep 2010 10:17 PM The imam behind the controversial plan to build a Muslim culture center near the site of New York's Sept. 11 attack said Sunday the project is meant to prevent a similar attack. In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" program, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said he feels duty bound to help protect non-Muslim Americans from such violence.

In mid-August, as the controversy over the Ground Zero mosque began to gain international attention, a leading Saudi journalist wrote two opinion articles opposing the project. Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid, then manager of the Saudi-owned, Dubai-based Al-Arabiyya satellite television network, first produced a column for the August 16 edition of the international Arab daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat [The Middle East], of which he is the former editor-in-chief. In that first column, Al-Rashid cautioned, “I cannot imagine that Muslims want a mosque on this particular site, because it will be turned into an arena for promoters of hatred,

A coalition of Muslim groups called Monday for interfaith dialogue to combat religious intolerance and said they support the right to build a controversial Islamic center near ground zero. "We stand for the constitutional right of Muslims, and Americans of all faiths, to build houses of worship anywhere in our nation as allowed by local laws and regulations," the Muslim leaders said in a statement delivered at the site of the proposed Islamic center in lower Manhattan, to be called Park51. They called for a "week of dialogue" on the weekend of Oct. 22-24, during which Muslims would conduct open

While the Imam behind plans for a mosque near Ground Zero was jetting around the globe and advocating for his Downtown project, a pair of dilapidated apartment buildings he owns in New Jersey fell into such disrepair that cops have to stand watch in the event of a fire. The fire watch, at taxpayer expense, was revealed during a court hearing today when Union City lawyers asked to have two buildings owned by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf placed into receivership so that rent s could be used to fix dozens of violations, including inoperable alarms and sprinklers. Rauf skipped today’s

rochesterconservative.com was well represented this past Saturday at the 9/11/2010 Ground Zero Mosque Protest by RC co-founder, Freedom Fighter, and here's a presentation of her photos that she took while there. She was right up front and reported: I do know there were more than 2000 at our rally. We were packed in like sardines. I couldn't even move my feet! The people went back for at least two blocks. It doesn't even matter what the media reported anyway. All you have to do is look at the photos. They're never going to report fairly. I waited three hours at...

Hi, All - Please check out Barbara from Harlem's latest on-line broadcast. She attended the rally on Saturday, September 11th, and she shares her thoughts on it and the controversy surrounding the proposed mosque near Ground Zero on her site. Please check it out today! Thank you.

The Circus Comes to Ground Zero On his way to the ceremony commemorating the victims of the worst attack on American soil, volunteer firefighter Sean Noonan sensed something different on the streets surrounding Ground Zero. He’s come to the former site of the World Trade Center for the past nine years to hear the name of his friend, New York City fireman Paul A. Tegtmeier, read aloud among the rest of the 9/11 victims. Before the ceremony this year, someone in a McDonalds tried to hand him a pin in support of the so-called “Ground Zero mosque,” Noonan scoffed. Also...

So how far along are we towards completing the Freedom Tower? Not far along as far as we can tell. Michelle Malkin asks the same question I’ve been wondering about for the last four or five years. Why is the Freedom Tower not done yet? Will it take longer than the construction of the Pyramid at Giza?

Tens of thousands descended upon Ground Zero today to remember those we lost nine years ago, and to save the American principles of freedom that the sharia tramples. Crickets are chirping in taqiya media newsrooms nationwide (although they were all there). There has been no coverage. We organized a rally of remembrance that dwarfed the opposition. If the America haters had 4,000, we had ten times more. The media is playing the dueling rallies; it was no such thing. Free people came from all over the country and all over the world to stand in solidarity with the 911 families...

I just watched our "president" give his 9/11 address, and I was amazed. I have seen this man twist and distort and outright lie for five years now. I am still stunned at what I just heard. As tone-deaf and arrogant as we have come to know this empty-suit to be, he just set a new low for even himself. The thrust of his entire 9/11 address was a very thinly-veiled scolding for those who oppose the Ground Zero Mosque. The man is a shameless pig who routinely defiles the office he feigns to hold. I am going to be...

As the summer of 2010 comes to a close, American tempers are dramatically rising over the Ground Zero mosque. A fine example of the heat this issue is generating occurred on Wednesday's "O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News. In the left corner was Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. On the right filling in for the usual host was Laura Ingraham. What ensued was an ideological battle that likely pleased folks on both sides of this contentious debate (video follows with transcript and commentary, h/t our friends at the Right Scoop):

Hear Islamic leader propose plan Israel says will bring about its disintegration JERUSALEM – The controversial imam behind a proposal to build an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero has advocated a plan that is widely regarded here as promoting the eradication of Israel as a Jewish state. In uncovered audio, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf pushes for a "one state" solution of Jews and Arabs sharing the same country. While the idea may sound moderate to those unfamiliar with Mideast politics, such a proposal, which has been touted by Palestinian leaders, is seen by Israel as pressing for its destruction...

Two protests on Sunday morning, in the normally quiet blocks north of Ground Zero, claimed to be on the side of tolerance. One camp stood in favor of the mosque and Islamic center that has been proposed for the area; the other argued against. Around 500 of those opposed gathered in a cordoned-off area, heavily monitored by police. They sang patriotic songs and spoke of a hijacked Constitution, a renegade presidency and tolerance toward the sensitivities of New Yorkers whose relatives died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A counterprotest, smaller but equally passionate, gathered steam two blocks away, where...

How do you think the Muslim call to prayer will go over when it’s BLARING OVER A PA SYSTEM at Ground Zero 5 times a day?

Until about 40 years ago, churches in most U.S. cities had an inherent right to build anywhere without enduring a lengthy and often expensive public hearing process. But now, even though a congregation may be small and wanting to open in a blighted region, city officials no longer believe churches have intrinsic worth. Increasingly, congregations wanting to relocate to a new area or to expand existing facilities are met with resistance from both neighbors and city officials anxious about increased traffic, a decreased tax base, and parking and noise problems. Most church leaders want to be good neighbors, but some...

The director of Al-Arabiya TV, a popular Arab-language news station, wrote that "Muslims never asked for" the proposed mosque at Ground Zero, and "do not care about its construction," in a column for London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat on Aug. 16. “I can't imagine that Muslims [actually] want a mosque at this particular location, because it will become an arena for the promoters of hatred, and a monument to those who committed the crime,” wrote Al-Arabiya director Abd Al-Rahman al-Rashid in the column, which was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

Subbing for Ed Schultz on MSNBC this evening, Cenk Ugyur suggested that the roughly 70% of Americans who oppose the Ground Zero mosque are "ignorant." Ugyur was debating the mosque matter with Republican strategist and former Newt staffer David Winston. Winston suggested that the people behind the mosque could, in light of the overwhelming oppposition of Americans to the plan, show sensitivity by agreeing to site it elsewhere. That provoked Cenk's snide insult, which, as you'll see, actually revealed his own lack of knowledge on the subject . . . Constitution Is Big Barrier

Barack Obama has backtracked over his support for plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero. The U.S. President was hit by a furious backlash from victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks after he backed the highly controversial plans in a speech on Friday. (snip)Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son was killed at the World Trade Center, condemned the President for a 'gross lack of sensitivity to the 9/11 families and to the people who were lost'.

Take yourself back to September 12th, 2001, if you can. Imagine, with the bodies still burning, the full death toll still unknown, the future of the war declared on us by Islamic jihadists unclear, that someone had told you: In nine years, a U.S. president named Barack Hussein Obama, at a White House dinner in honor of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, will insist that a mosque should be built overlooking the mass grave of the victims of this attack. Breathtakingly bizarre, it would have seemed, and offensively ridiculous too. Surely anyone must admit that. And yet that's where we...

The battle over plans to build a mosque near the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York is fuelling a surge in anti-Muslim protests across the US, including opposition to new Islamic centres from California to Georgia. Religious leaders and civil rights activists warn that a tide of Islamophobia that has swept the country since the destruction of the twin towers is being heightened by political exploitation of the New York dispute before nationwide elections and is increasingly bound up with hostility to immigrants and other forms of racism.

For the last week or so, the Daily Show with Jon Stewart has presented relentless coverage of the Ground Zero Mosque issue. All of the coverage was in favor of the Mosque. Comedy Central are even pleadingly presenting the Muslim generated straw-man arguments. CC insists that it is not a mosque, it is a 'cultural center' (yeah right) and Muslims are good honest people and only Al Quiada is bad. We know that the Left uses, so called, 'comedy', to say what they really believe and to attack people personally in the most vulgar way possible. The Daily Show is...

Symbolism is at play in the debate over a grand mosque being built near the site of Islamic extremism’s greatest terrorist victory against a democracy. While many embrace its construction as symbolic of a democratic society’s tolerance, there is danger in not understanding the symbolically sinister side of its construction as well. As much as we hear about Islamic extremists only representing a small percentage of the Muslim community, it is difficult to forget the images of euphoria in many Muslim countries as news of the 9/11 attacks spread.

With city approval of a proposed mosque and Islamic center two blocks away from Ground Zero nearly secured, the battle over the project is moving away from zoning boards to the court of public opinion. The expected clearing of another major regulatory hurdle on Tuesday is unlikely to silence the debate around an issue that has become a call to arms for national Republicans—who have been emboldened by polls showing widespread public skepticism about the project—and a divisive policy matter for religious groups.

Following a New York Times report that he exaggerated his military record, Democratic Senate hopeful Richard Blumenthal has lost ground in match-ups against all his potential Republican challengers in Connecticut. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Connecticut finds Blumenthal with just a three-point advantage over Linda McMahon, 48% to 45%. Two weeks ago, he led the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment by 13 percentage points. The New York Times story broke late Monday; the survey was taken Tuesday evening.

Following a New York Times report that he exaggerated his military record, Democratic Senate hopeful Richard Blumenthal has lost ground in match-ups against all his potential Republican challengers in Connecticut.

A mosque rises over Ground Zero. And fed-up New Yorkers are crying, "No!" A chorus of critics -- from neighbors to those who lost loved ones on 9/11 to me -- feel as if they've received a swift kick in the teeth. Plans are under way for a Muslim house of worship, topped by a 13-story cultural center with a swimming pool, in a building damaged by the fuselage of a jet flown by extremists into the World Trade Center.

Maybe in passing along the land, the farmers of old forgot to pass along how valuable land is. Not in the monetary sense. But valuable because farmers are charged with taking care of the land. Nurturing it like it was a child. Loving it. I remember my grandfather and other older farmers always bending down to scoop up a handful of earth. They ran it through their fingers. They tasted it. They simply loved and cherished it. I think farmers of old just naturally thought the love and the well being towards their land would always be a part of...

You all know how much we love the bar Sidetracks here in Boystown. In a lot of ways, it’s like our little clubhouse, where we plan many an adventure and get the scoop on all sorts of things here in Boystown, especially on Showtunes and Comedy nights, which we love. That’s when the VJs play little clips of Broadway musicals for people to sing-a-long to, or snippets of comedy routines from TV for people to laugh at. Unless they’re clips of Janeane Garofalo, who isn’t, and has never been funny, in which case you’d just hear crickets.

NBC/WSJ survey also shows a drop in his overall job-approval rating WASHINGTON - Despite his public-relations blitz over the past two weeks to promote his plans to reform the nation's health-care system — including holding two town halls on Wednesday — President Barack Obama has lost ground on this issue with the American public, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Gallup shows support for gay marriage declining since 2007, when it stood at 46 percent. That number is now just 40 percent, with 57 percent opposed to legalizing gay marriage. More important politically is the fact that just over half of Democrats favor gay marriage (55 percent), and fewer than half of independents (45 percent) support such unions. Among Republicans the number is 20 percent in favor. All of which means that gay marriage remains a winning issue for Republicans, and one which will remain on front pages throughout the next election cycle. Given the president's much praised powers...

If only they could pave highways with this stuff. Scientists have discovered a patch of the earth's surface that remains virtually the same as it was 1.8 million years ago - and it looks pretty good for its age. Researchers are calling an expanse of "desert pavement" in Israel's Negev Desert the oldest continuous surface on earth, the current issue of the journal GSA Bulletin reports.

It is difficult to screw up an appearance at Ground Zero on September 11th. You have to be either completely oblivious or completely indifferent. It is a signal feat of idiocy. And yet Barack Obama accomplished it. John McCain and Obama visited Ground Zero together. Obama and McCain entered the site. But while McCain took the time to shake hands with uniformed firefighters and a construction worker with an American flag helmet, Obama ignored them and stood around. But he wasn’t done yet. Both McCain and Obama brought roses to place on the makeshift 9/11 memorial. Obama casually tossed his...

I bet each person living in New York City on September 11, 2001 can recall where they were and what they were doing when the terrorist attacks occurred. These assaults ruthlessly murdered close to 3,000 people within hours. If you weren’t directly affected, you knew someone who was. Our sense of security was severely damaged, so we stayed home glued to the television set. Many were in a state of shock, others outraged. We saw the posters, pictures and flyers of the “missing”. We suffered for weeks following, hoping for one survivor, out of the rubble that once was the...

A patch of land in Ventura County's Los Padres Forest where the ground heated up to 812 degrees Friday continues to puzzle firefighters and geologists after a month and a half of monitoring. "It's a thermal anomaly," said Ron Oatman, spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department. Firefighters first responded to the hot spot a month and a half ago, Oatman said. There were no visible flames, but they created a containment line about 2 feet wide and monitored the two-acre plot. Because the smoke was not going away, the containment line was widened to about 30 feet Friday, he...

My bill, HF 498, known as the Castle Doctrine, is needed to clarify what law-abiding citizens can do to protect themselves and others in life-threatening situations. Contrary to what its critics say, it's a common-sense bill. Citizens have a right to protect themselves from criminals and to use deadly force when necessary. I'm concerned the current paranoia about guns has given law-breakers an edge. A few days ago, Don Samuels, a Minneapolis City Council member

BAGHDAD — Soldiers continue searching around the clock for their missing comrades throughout southern Baghdad Thursday. Although the 2nd Brigade Combat Team “Commandos,” 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) troops are sometimes trucking supplies out to their brothers and sisters in arms, they mainly rely on the 1st “Warriors” Air Cavalry Brigade’s aerial assets to get the job done, said Staff Sgt. Darren Larson, a brigade supply noncommissioned officer for 2-10th Mountain. “I know everybody down range really appreciates everything (1st ACB) is doing. We couldn’t have done it without (them),” he said. “(They’re) probably, by far, one of the biggest...

United they stood, not for glory, but because they were a band of brothers. Nobody was watching them, and no glory awaited them. They stood because they were men of honor and dignity. Lesson from the past.

The hole in the ground that could connect Africa with Europe By Fiona Govan Last Updated: 1:03am BST 10/04/2007 Laden with fishing gear Mohammed Ahrare strolled past a rusting scaffold frame rigged with weights and pulleys on a cliff-top outside Tangier and set up his rod at his favourite fishing spot. The 16-year-old tilted his head at the insignificant looking structure and said with a certain amount of pride: "That is a very important spot. From there they will build the tunnel that will link Morocco to Spain." He gazed wistfully across the choppy waters where the coast of Spain...

BAGHDAD, Feb. 22, 2007 — Like any advancing society, the roads in Baghdad are like the arteries of a heart, pumping vital supplies and equipment throughout the city. Similarly if troops can't travel on the roads, the heart stops beating. Insurgents have preyed on that fact by placing deadly roadside bombs along routes used by all, making driving on the roads increasingly dangerous. "It's going to put pressure on the bad guys, because we're out there all the time, and they know we're going to be looking for them," Sgt. Eric Meinhardt, a squad leader with Battery B. But in...

Fulgurites! The second is the world record holder.

When the towers first fell and, in practically the same moment, so many turned to imagining their replacement, I was appalled. Later, when I started to write about the site, I avoided proposing designs of my own, both because they were banal and impracticable—I thought it would be cool to flood the bathtub—and because I felt such activities were beyond the scope of a responsible critic. I would often say, however—as I think I wrote or at least implied here once—two things: that the ultimate form of the reconstruction was unimportant as long as the process to achieve it, from...

SIERRA VISTA — A lot of lives were changed that day. Jennifer Wojtanowski’s was one of them. “You can watch 9-11 coverage on TV all you want, but until you are actually there, you have no idea what it’s really like,” Wojtanowski said of her experience at Ground Zero. “The smells, the sounds, the family members. It was just overwhelming.” As a 19-year-old who had just gone through her initial military training, Wojtanowski was assigned to the New York Army National Guard’s 42nd Infantry Division at the time of the attacks. Now, five years later, the 24-year-old vividly recalls the...