Free Republic

Foreword: As a follow-up to my recent column on competing concealed carry bills in Iowa, I have invited representatives from state gun rights groups Iowa Gun Owners and Iowa Carry to educate us on their positions. The following response is from Sean McClanahan, President, Iowa Carry: We’ve had several meetings with Chris Rager, both in person and on the phone. We have a copy of the NRA’s proposed legislation available on our main website. Keep in mind that this is *proposed* legislation. Nothing is set in stone right now, and changes can still be made. In fact, as I send...

Courtesy Oleg Volk, A Human Right Related Articles * House File 596 analysis--Iowa Gun Owners * Iowa legislation update--Iowa Carry Jeff Knox of the Firearms Coalition says the NRA is derailing a good concealed carry bill and pushing a bad one in Iowa: [O]ne would expect advocates to unite around the Alaska-style bill for this legislative session with an eye towards either passing a very good bill, or forcing a clear record vote on such a bill and using that vote against opponents in the next General Election. Instead, after ignoring the state for decades, NRA has decided to ride...

Recently Jim Robinson posted two threads declaring Free Republic’s determination to see Conservatives elected and ousting Rino's from government. Jim and a great many Freepers believe that we need to take back control. But the RNC is not hearing us. Activism is called for NOW. 2010 is nearing and we need Conservative candidates to run. The time is ripe and people are ready for another 1994 type election. But we need to make the RNC hear us loud and clear. This is the Rino Free America Project. Get involved. Make them listen. Write a letter and MAIL it. Republican...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A Des Moines girl was suspended after school officials said she violated their weapons policy. Jazmine Martin, 12, brought an empty shotgun shell to school on Monday, a souvenir from a summer vacation to South Dakota. The shell was empty and had the word "blank" written on the front. "We went to South Dakota and went to the Circle B Ranch," said Chenoa Martin, Jazmine's mother. "There's a show of the old West -- a stampede. Had a gun shoot-out and stuff like that. When they fire their rifles, they do it into the crowd. It...

Does anyone want to advance to the BCS title game? Tim Tebow drove Florida for a winning field goal against Arkansas. Several contenders teetered on the edge of extinction Saturday. Florida survived Arkansas 23-20, and Texas snuck by Sam Bradford-less Oklahoma 16-13. Some fell off the edge. Ohio State was stunned by Purdue 26-18, and Virginia Tech was dumped by Georgia Tech 28-23. The first BCS standings of the season will be released Sunday afternoon. No matter how they look this week, we likely will end up with the winner of the SEC title game playing USC or Texas for...

www.iowacarry.org. Iowa Carry, an organization devoted to preservation of Second Amendment rights, will hold a rally noon Saturday in Library Square in Estherville. A free lunch will be provided. According to Larry Walders, Iowa Carry Emmet County coordinator, Saturday's rally is to acquaint local citizens with the concealed carry law in Iowa. "There's 99 counties and there's 99 different policies," Walders said. Walders said a bill will be introduced in next year's Iowa Legislature to change the law from stating that county sheriff's "may issue" to "shall issue" concealed weapons permits to applicants. Walders said the legislation will provide that...

King gives Conyers an acorn, literally By Jordan Fabian - 09/16/09 10:43 AM ET Well, this is certainly one way to start a conversation. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) handed House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) an actual acorn, hoping to discuss the embattled community activist group of the same name. King tweeted Wednesday: Just presented an acorn to chairman j conyers-who-with a smile and a handshake agreed to meet tomorrow to talk about an acorn investigation The Republican, who also sits on the Judiciary panel, has frequently called for investigations into ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)...

Sara was late for work. The alarm clock didn't alarm, the kids were unusually slow getting ready for school, and nothing went right. She finally got to her car -- a brand new 2020 Chevy Adventure. She touched the finger-print secured start button. Nothing. It wouldn't start. She touched it again. Nothing. Furious, she banged the steering wheel with her fist. Then she noticed the paper hanging from the receipt printer on the dash. "Your designated visa account rejected your Road Use Tax in the amount of $87.32 for the month of June, 2020. You must insert a valid account...

Ashby Jones: The Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday apologizing for slavery, making way for a joint congressional resolution. Click here for the WaPo story. “You wonder why we didn’t do it 100 years ago,” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), lead sponsor of the resolution, said after the vote. “It is important to have a collective response to a collective injustice.” Memo to Senator Harkin: We had a collective response. It was called the Army of the Potomac. Not to mention the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and decades of affirmative action. Jones continues: Randall...

The Iowa Supreme Court recently proved that the critics of same-sex “marriage” are correct: we are not being urged to make marriage more inclusive, but to radically redefine the nature of marriage itself. With its decision, the Iowa Supreme Court covertly but profoundly changed the meaning of marriage. While marriage previously served public purposes of attaching mothers and fathers to their children and one another, now marriage merely serves as affirmation of adult feelings. The Court abolished the essential public purpose of marriage, and replaced it with a new understanding of marriage that is neither essential nor public. The Institution...

MOSUL — Maj. Gen. Hassan Karim, commander, Ninewa Operations Command, traveled to Al Kazer for the opening of a new Iraqi Army (IA) brigade headquarters, May 28. For the mostly Arab IA, the new brigade is unique; made up of more than two-thirds Kurdish Soldiers and located close to the Kurdish regional government. Upon arriving at the new headquarters, Hassan was greeted by Brig. Gen. Natheer Asim Amin, commander, 5th brigade, 2nd IA division, and his senior officers. Accompanying Hassan to Al Kazer was Brig. Gen. Robert Brown, deputy commanding general (support), Multi-National Division - North; Col. Brian Vines, commander,...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Chet Culver on Tuesday ended days of silence on the Iowa Supreme Court's decision allowing same-sex marriage, saying he disagrees with the ruling but is "reluctant to support" amending the state constitution to reverse it. Culver said in a lengthy statement that he hadn't changed his mind that marriage is between a man and a woman: "This is a tenet of my personal faith." However, Culver said the issue before the court in its unanimous ruling Friday involved only civil marriage, and that churches and other religious institutions do not have to perform them....

Guardsmen to conduct urban training at Arcadia in April By BUTCH HEMAN Staff Writer The Carroll National Guard unit will train on urban military operations by holding a four-day exercise at Arcadia. The purpose of the April 2-5 drill will be to gather intelligence, then search for and apprehend a suspected weapons dealer, according to Sgt. Mike Kots, readiness NCO for Alpha Company. Citizens, law enforcement, media and other supporters will participate. Troops will spend Thursday, April 2, staging at a forward operations base at Carroll. The next day company leaders will conduct reconnaissance and begin patrolling the streets of...

On a brief jump flight from Philadelphia to Scranton, McCain adviser Charlie Black and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback came back to talk up the campaign's conviction that the glass if half full. "Four years ago at this point, George W. Bush was down five points in Iowa," Brownback said. "Today John McCain is down one point in Iowa." He was citing an unreleased internal McCain campaign poll of the state, which was completed last Thursday, said Black. (The campaign stopped doing its own polling after Thursday, he added, because television time through the election all had to be purchased by...

It was in the QCTimes the other day but wasn't confirmed. Just heard on radio. They said it would be at Central High School, but looks like it may have been changed to the River Center, downtown Davenport. Doors open 8:30 am; Program 10:30am. Tickets are required and will be available at Scott County Republican Party Headquarters Thursday at 9:00 am. Headquarters are located at 1880 E 54th Street, Dav, IA. The phone number is (563) 332-9666. Also have another phone number (563) 823-5854. When I pick up our tickets, if there are any changes, will post an update. I'm...

Iraqi Army Soldiers with the 3rd Battalion, 42nd Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division, sort through a large cache discovered in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, Aug. 14, 2008, after a resident informed the unit of its location. Photo by Sgt. Zachary Mott. PATROL BASE COMANCHE — In the three months since the Iraqi Army began patrolling inside the Sadr City district of Baghdad, the Soldiers conducting these patrols have worked hard to cultivate a relationship with the people there. Constant patrols, handing out food and water as well as providing medical services have helped advance this new relationship. In...

An Iraqi policeman stands guard outside a voter registration center in Mosul as US and Iraqi troops enter. When Iraqi Army Brigadier General Noor Aldeen visited his old secondary school in northern Mosul this week, he had little time to reminisce about placing first in spelling and arithmetic. His former school in the neighborhood of Al Nomaniya is an election registration site for upcoming regional elections in October, making it a popular place for a terrorist attack in the coming weeks. Almost all of the 57 registration sites in Iraq’s third-largest city are at primary and secondary schools --...

CAMP TAJI — Working together with the Iraqi Army (IA) is an important step in the success of this war – and an important step toward Iraqis taking charge of their nation. A fire team showing a unified Coalition front line force at a Joint Security Station near Camp Taji, northwest of Baghdad, is a model for a successful transition from a dependent Iraq to a sovereign nation that can secure its people. The fire team consists of both Multi-National Division – Baghdad and IA Soldiers from the 36th Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division. Sgt. Michael Rios, a native of...

Some 10,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, backed by tanks, pushed deep into Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Baghdad bastion on Tuesday, stamping the government's authority on an area until now outside its control. The army said they met no resistance as they moved into Sadr City in the early hours, securing three quarters of the sprawling slum where hundreds have been killed in weeks of fighting between U.S. and Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militants loyal to Sadr. A truce 10 days ago between Shi'ite factions largely ended the fighting in one of Baghdad's poorest districts and paved the way for Tuesday's...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY — Iraqi national police officials with support from Iraqi army soldiers conducted a clearance mission in the Karadah Security District of eastern Baghdad, May 17. With national police Brig. Gen. Aamir and his operations officer, Col. Tariq, leading the effort, 1st Brigade, 1st National Police Division, conducted a cordon-and-search mission within Muhalla 711 to find and confiscate illegal weapons and explosives. Other goals of the mission, which involved every battalion of the brigade including Iraqi army soldiers under their operational control, encompassed deterring special group and Jaysh al-Mahdi activity in the area and apprehending insurgent suspects...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi Army and Iraqi National Police partnered together to conduct a multi-day joint operation in the eastern Baghdad district of Karadah to neutralize violent extremists and safeguard their citizens. In one such operation, IA soldiers from the 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, established the outer cordon while NPs from 1st Brigade, 1st National Police Division, conducted a search in the southeast Baghdad neighborhood of Zafraniyah. Concurrently, a company of Jundi (Iraqi Army soldiers) searched adjacent farmland and scattered homes. “This is a positive sign of increased capability and performance by the Iraqi Security Forces,” said Col....

A soldier of the Iraqi army 42nd Brigade, 11th Iraqi army division, hands out water to young boys before they wait in line for medical care at an abandoned school in the southern portion of the Sadr City District of Baghdad on May 8. The Iraqi army handed out relief supplies and provided medical care in an effort to help the people in the district. More than 250 people showed up to receive free food and medical supplies. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Cohen Young. CAMP LIBERTY — Residents in Sadr City continue to receive humanitarian aid from...

Priests in the United States are as varied as the country in which they live -- some are past retirement age, others were not born Catholics, and others have sought the priesthood after other careers or vocations. "The Class of 2008: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood" was performed by the Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. The annual survey was prepared for the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. "We are blessed with the enthusiasm the newly ordained will bring to the mission of the Church," said Cardinal Sean O'Malley, chairman of the...

JOHNSTON, Iowa -- Homecoming ceremonies will be held on Wednesday in Denison, Johnston and Sioux City for members of two Iowa Army National Guard units returning from Iraq.About 120 soldiers were mobilized from Company D, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry, based in Denison. Another 120 soldiers were mobilized from Troop A, 1st Squadron, 113th Calvary, based at Camp Dodge in Johnston and Sioux City. The guard said both units were mobilized last May. The soldiers left Iowa in June for additional training at Camp Shelby, Miss., before being sent to Iraq, where both units served in the Baghdad area.The homecoming for...

Iraqi soldiers, suffering from a shortage of experienced noncommissioned officers, have often been firing wildly, expending vast quantities of ammunition to try to silence militias that are equipped with AK-47’s, mortars and rockets. But pulling back from their positions earlier, they now appear to be holding their ground — albeit with considerable American support. Iraqi politics has played a role in shaping the military strategy. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has decreed that American ground forces should not push into the heart of Sadr City, according to a senior American officer. American commanders also want to limit the United States’...

(NOTE: From FRC action E-MAIL; link is to their home page. I've broken it into paragraphs, and added emphasis): Washington is reeling from last night's Iowa caucuses. A loud and clear message was delivered, but whether it will be heard is yet to be seen. On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee's huge victory can be attributed to two primary reasons. First, he is real and his style reflects it. He is engaging and he talks with people, not at them. He is a great campaigner; he is the communicator in this presidential election cycle. Second, evangelicals, dispirited by Republican indifference...

Iraqi & Coalition forces Order of Battle as of December 31, 2007. The January 2008 updates to the Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle are now available at the ISF OOB Page. The significant changes to the Order of Battle are summarized below. On December 14, the quarterly report to congress was released. The details have been addressed in "Iraqi Security Forces continue to surge" and only updates or changes to that report will be addressed in this update. On December 15, the ninth of 18 Iraqi provinces transferred to Iraqi control. Basrah marked the halfway point in the...

AMES, Iowa -- Doug Gross, the chairman of Mitt Romney’s campaign in Iowa, said today it is focusing on turning out its supporters Thursday night, placing 22,000 phone calls just on Tuesday in an attempt to make sure the more than 50,000 Romney supporters they have identified show up. "This is all about a ground game," Gross told reporters. "And the bottom line is whoever does the best job at turning out is going to win this thing. And we think we have the best organization… We’ve been working the last year, year and a half, on organization, and we’re...

So in calling around to figure out what exactly is going on in Iowa, I'm hearing that Huck's stunt yesterday — where he showed an anti-Romney ad at a press conference and then said he wasn't going to show it — was genuine. I hear that broader coordinated efforts to support the anti-Romney ad were also called off at the last minute, after materials were prepared. But this shows the Huck camp's basic problem. They are a shoestring organization that has struggled to put together a cohesive strategy. Further, Huck's flighty campaign style — as evidenced by the stunt yesterday...

Click here for video.Click here for transcript

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa -- Down more than 10 points in the polls here only weeks ago, Mitt Romney appears to be surging back days before Iowans head to their caucuses. Two polls released over the weekend showed Romney ahead of rival Mike Huckabee by several points, while another survey out Sunday has Romney in a statistical tie with the former Arkansas governor. That's a far cry from early November, when a surging Huckabee took the front-runner mantle from Romney and never looked back. While Iowa's caucuses -- the first test of the presidential contest - are difficult to poll given...

Iowa Poll-apalooza! (Updated) The L.A. Times conducted a widely discussed poll of Iowa and New Hampshire voters. In Iowa, the Times had Huckabee leading Romney 37%-23%. In her write-up of the poll results, Times staff writer Janet Hook oddly neglected to mention that the results among likely voters are much closer. Counting only the likely voters, Romney trailed 36%-28%. Ms. Hook’s story on the poll reported Huckabee’s fourteen point lead as definitive. Why, even Hugh Hewitt didn’t notice the discrepancy between the “likely voters” result and the Times’ coverage of its own poll. To find the difference, you had...

http://www.fred08.com/Virtual/iowabustour.aspx Fred's "Clear Conservative Choice: Hands Down!" Bus Tour of Iowa 12/27/2007 - 10:05 am Fred Participates in Live in studio radio interview with Jan Mickelson of WHO 1040 Des Moines, Iowa - WHO 1040 Studio 12/27/2007 - 11:30 am Meet Fred in Urbandale Urbandale, Iowa - Fred08 Iowa HQ 12/27/2007 - 3:50 pm Fred Thompson Tours Downtown Chariton and Drops by Chariton Leader Chariton, Iowa - Chariton Leader 12/27/2007 - 6:00 pm Meet Fred in Knoxville, Iowa Knoxville, Iowa - National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum

Fred Thompson's refusal to raise his hand is being hailed by many as what could be the turning point of his campaign for president. But Fred's takedown of the debate's moderator was just the most memorable moment in an overall debate performance which was outstanding, as Phillip Klein observed in the American Spectator: Fred Thompson was the only candidate who stood out. He was funny, charming, and peppy. Here was a guy who wasn't afraid to speak hard truths, and who displayed knowledge of the policy issues--especially on entitlements. But the moment of the debate, the moment that will be...

"The Bush administration's arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad." - Source "I would like us to restore relationships and rebuild the kind of positive attitudes people have historically had toward our nation and do that by showing the kind of respect that other nations would want and deserve." - Source "I have also come to understand that from a perspective of the way the world looks at us, GITMO has become a symbol of what a lot of people are angry about, and whatever value it has, it's being lost by the ill-will that it has...

Air America radio host Randi Rhodes unleashed a torrent of what's being called "liberal racism" and accused Oprah Winfrey of "acting" when she stumped for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. On her show last week, Rhodes discussed Oprah's appearances on Obama's behalf, and told listeners: "She was blacker than Obama yesterday . . . Let me tell you something. Everyone who watches Oprah are the whitest people in the world . . . Even the black men who watch Oprah are white women while they watch Oprah . . . "She's like so unbelievably white . . . Why is...

BAGHDAD — Elements of the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division entered the Abu Hanifa Mosque in the eastern Adhamiyah neighorhood of the Iraqi capital in an early morning operation and detained 12 individuals, including two known terrorists who were using the mosque as a base. The captured terrorists are suspected of improvised explosive device emplacement, kidnapping, murder of Iraqi civilians and attacks against Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces throughout Baghdad. They are also known to have links with al-Qaeda, said Capt. Phillip Dow, a staff officer with the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat...

BAGHDAD — Coalition forces saw a possible glimpse of the future in Hawr Rajab recently, when they observed Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) at a checkpoint come under attack from insurgents, defend themselves, and then receive reinforcements from Iraqi Army troops, Oct. 31. Paratroopers of Troop A, 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska, currently attached to 2nd BCT, 3rd Inf. Div., Fort Stewart, Ga., observed the event from a rooftop. Everything kicked off with a bang. Paratroopers were en route to the concerned citizens’ southern-most checkpoint just outside of Hawr Rajab,...

Hillary Clinton’s top advisers charge that the presidential candidate was unfairly targeted by moderator Tim Russert during Tuesday night’s Democratic debate in Philadelphia. Russert asked Clinton a number of tough questions during the MSNBC-sponsored debate, including one on Social Security and another on the release of documents from the Bill Clinton administration, as she sought to fend off attacks from her Democratic rivals. Mark Penn, Clinton’s senior strategist, said: “Russert made it appear that President Clinton had done something new or unusual� in regard to the release of documents. “I think there will be further clarification.� Penn and Jonathan Mantz,...

Do to copyright issues, I can only post the link. http://blogs.dmregister.com/?p=8775

You've undoubtedly already heard the results of the Ames, Iowa, Republican straw poll.......(snip)... I'll start off with some comments on the finish of each of the candidates.Mitt Romney. Romney had to finish first and did. Rudy Giuliani and John McCain took themselves out of the straw poll in June, and Fred Thompson, who has yet to officially announce, did nothing. (A few guys from Texas and Tennessee drove up and bought a table next to some other guys who bought a table for Alan Keyes, who has already demonstrated that he can lose by a landslide margin to Barack Obama.)...

Just announced: Romney wins with a third of the vote. Huckabee comes in second.

Since the Romney interview has been launched onto the net, to say I've been getting feedback is an understatement. So I'll try to respond. In the interest of full disclosure, I consider myself a pro-life Christian libertarian. Whazat? The second verse of American the Beautiful describes it best. America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law! Iowa is my home. WHO Radio has been my post since '88. Before that, it was talk radio in Cincinnati before I came home. Since Iowa has its legendary first-in-the-nation status caucuses, my job has offered...

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa — Former Gov. Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, had a little time to kill before the start of the Independence Day parade here, so they decided to go say hello to the other presidential candidate and her spouse taking part in the festivities. "Mr. President, how are you, Mitt Romney," the Republican said after finding Bill Clinton working the three-deep crowd gathering along Main Ave. "This is my wife, Ann, and my son, Josh." After introductions were made, Romney observed that "this is kinda fun." "How many times you done this before?" he asked. "Once or...

Night Vision, Zoom Lens Catches Troops in the Groove Video at link

Mitt speaks of his "life long" experience with herding sheep.Click here for the video.

Nothing says “frontrunner” quite like a giant red bullseye painted on your chest. And Mitt Romney is morphing into the frontrunner of the GOP race - at least in Iowa and New Hampshire, anyway - two of the most important states in the nomination process. Two months ago in April, Romney was being compared to Phil Gramm all over the blogosphere. Sure he’s got the money, they said, but he doesn’t have the support. He’s still in single digits in national polls, they said, and he isn’t even doing that well in Iowa where he needs to win. Two months...

"It looks as if we just beat those campaigns in Iowa two months earlier than we had planned on beating them." --Romney for President spokesman Kevin Madden on the decision of Rudy Giuliani and John McCain to “skip” the Ames, Iowa straw poll. The first Republican presidential debate was at the Reagan Library on May 3, 2007. The third was on June 5, 2007 in New Hampshire. In the space of one month and a day, former Massachusetts Governor went from fundraising frontrunner to a dead heat with the other two and a half candidates for the GOP nomination: Rudy...

By Sean J. Miller .... sean@dmcityview.com Iowans warm up to Romney The former Massachusetts governor is riding high among Republicans Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, during two campaign stops in the Des Moines area last Wednesday, outlined his plan for increasing the size of the military, confronting international terrorism and providing healthcare to uninsured Americans. Romney’s message is resonating with Iowa Republicans. The former governor and business consultant enjoys a 12-13 point lead over his rivals Sen. John McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani among Republicans caucus-goers polled by The Des Moines Register May 12-16. His...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2007 – Retired Army Lt. Col. Bruce Crandall was admitted into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes today, one day after President Bush presented him the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam. Retired Army Lt. Col. Bruce Crandall, who was inducted today into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes, said brotherhood and belief in their mission motivated him and his fellow soldiers in Vietnam. Crandall received the Medal of Honor during a Feb. 26 White House ceremony. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Chief of Staff Peter J. Schoomaker praised Crandall, a...