Free Republic

For a 56th birthday present to himself, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-North Carolina) took perhaps the most aggressive step yet against the Republican Party's establishment. It marked perhaps the most bombastic challenge to House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) leadership, and another point at which long-simmering tensions within the Republican caucus have exploded out into the open. Meadows introduced a resolution on Tuesday that aims to force Boehner from his post. The resolution will now be referred to a powerful House committee full of members loyal to Boehner, and has no chance of succeeding. But the message he had attempted to send...

The internal tension in the Arab cities of Shechem (Nablus) and Jenin in Samaria has long been growing and threatening to boil over, as the Palestinian Authority's (PA) leading Fatah faction and its security apparatus clash. The two cities, which are under full control of the PA as per the 1993 Oslo Accords, in recent days became the scenes of violence between Fatah, which features a "military wing" named the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, and the PA Security Forces. An exchange of gunfire was reported last Friday at Jenin between armed men, apparently from Fatah, and members of the PA Security...

The secretive head of the agency’s National Clandestine Service is retiring amid reports of infighting over a reorganization of the intelligence service. The director of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, the storied home of the agency’s most secretive intelligence operations, has announced that he plans to retire, The Daily Beast has learned. CIA spokesman Dean Boyd confirmed that the director announced his retirement “after a long and distinguished career at CIA. We thank him for this profound and lasting contributions to both CIA and to our nation’s security.”

AN IRAQI scientist-turned-author says the most significant pieces of his country’s dormant nuclear programme were buried under a lotus tree in his backyard, untouched for more than a decade before the US-led invasion in 2003.But their existence, Dr Mahdi Obeidi writes in a new book, is evidence that the international community should remain vigilant as other countries try to replicate Iraq’s successes before the 1991 Gulf war to develop components necessary for a nuclear weapon. In The Bomb in my Garden, Dr Obeidi details Saddam’s quest for a nuclear bomb: "Although Saddam never had nuclear weapons at his disposal, the...

Beirut - Fighting between al Qaeda´s Syria branch and a splinter group in eastern Syria has forced more than 60,000 people to flee their homes, emptied villages and killed scores of fighters, a monitoring group said. Fighters from the al Qaeda branch, the Nusra Front, also arrested a rebel commander from a more moderate group and several other insurgent leaders in a southern province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Infighting among insurgents has undermined the three-year-old rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad and killed thousands of people since the start of the year.

France’s consumer affairs minister Benoît Hamon has slammed Germany’s policy of keeping pay artificially low for being “unfair” on France. Speaking to the BBC on a visit to an Optic 2000 factory, which creates eyewear in France, Hamon said “some countries in Europe are getting around employment directives and underpaying their workers.” Hamon lamented Germany’s wage policy, which has helped keep the cost of German products down compared to “Made in France” goods. “I want Germany to have a social policy where competitiveness doesn’t rely on jobs paying €400 [£336; $534] a month,” he said. …

A recent story in Slate looked inside the community of “gaybros” on Reddit.com, a group of masculine-identified gay men who feel that they’ve been somewhat estranged from the wider LGBT community because of their masculinity. Columnist Bryan Lowder met with the gay bros, learning about their typical interests – sports, video games, grilling, the military, and so forth – and exploring the difficulties they’ve sometimes faced in relating to other gay men and dealing with cultural stereotypes of what it means to be a gay man. ... But here’s the thing: I don’t have that option. You get to walk...

I wanted to post this video. I believe there is TOO much infighting amongst us. Than man he shot, widowed his wife and orphaned his children; but yet he came to see what they have done to him; however, he comes and brings this man to Kingdom Come. It breaks my heart each time I listen to it. Forgive, just don't forget.

Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney’s top strategist, knew his candidate’s convention speech needed a memorable mix of loft and grace if he was going to bound out of Tampa with an authentic chance to win the presidency. So Stevens, bypassing the speechwriting staff at the campaign’s Boston headquarters, assigned the sensitive task of drafting it to Peter Wehner, a veteran of the last three Republican White Houses and one of the party’s smarter wordsmiths. Not a word Wehner wrote was ever spoken. Stevens junked the entire thing, setting off a chaotic, eight-day scramble that would produce an hour of prime-time problems...

Rebels fighting to oust Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday announced plans to reform and stem the proliferation of militias, as they came under artillery and aerial attack on multiple fronts. Forces loyal to the embattled president again trained their heavy weapons on second city Aleppo, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 30 people, including seven children, were killed on Wednesday. The Observatory said fighter jets bombed zones controlled by the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the northern city while ground troops simultaneously unleashed a barrage of shells. Aleppo has been the target of a five-week-old government...

Look out President Barack Obama. Even Sarah Palin's gaining on you. A new McClatchy-Marist poll finds that Obama looks increasingly vulnerable in next year's election, with a majority of voters believing he'll lose to any Republican, a solid plurality saying they'll definitely vote against him and most potential Republican challengers gaining on him. Even in potential matchups where he leads, Obama in most cases has lost ground to the Republican. The biggest gain came for Palin, the former Alaska governor who hasn't yet announced whether she'll jump into the fast-changing race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. After trailing Obama...

It’s common these days to hear media talking heads refer to Michele Bachmann as the “Tea Party favorite” in the upcoming 2012 GOP primary race. Unlike Governor Palin who has always stated that the Tea Party doesn’t need one specific leader, Bachmann has tried to cast herself into such a role. She created a “Tea Party Caucus” in congress and gave the “Tea Party response” following Obama’s State of the Union Address last January. The Tea Party is comprised mainly of independent-minded small government activists who are sick and tired of the way Washington is operating. These are people who...

Our latest interview with the White House Insider reveals a Democratic Party civil war, with growing opposition to the Obama White House. Author’s Note: This interview took place for nearly two hours over the weekend at the office of the White House Insider. We wish to extend our gratitude for their making time to meet with us despite an extremely demanding schedule. The information contained in this interview is among the most in depth and fascinating to date, and due to the extent of information, will come in two installments. Here is installment one:

See Video Did Press Secretary Robert Gibbs know he was about to set off a firestorm this Sunday when he “stated the obvious” to David Gregory that there “are enough seats in play” for the GOP to take the House this November? Chances are, yes. This administration if far too media savvy to think a quote like that would do anything but set off a firestorm. Their motivation for doing so, however, remains unclear. I’ve noted in earlier posts I thought this was the administration’s subtle attempt to have its cake and eat it too. Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher thinks this...

Pies-in-face attack roils anarchist-vegan world Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer (03-16) 18:30 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- An ex-vegan who was hit with chili pepper-laced pies at an anarchist event in San Francisco said Tuesday that her assailants were cowards who should direct their herbivorous rage at the powerful - not at a fellow radical for writing a book denouncing animal-free diets. Lierre Keith, a 45-year-old Arcata resident, was attacked at 2:15 p.m. Saturday at the 15th annual Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair while discussing her 2009 book, "The Vegetarian Myth." A 20-year vegan, Keith now argues that the diet is...

Battle lines are drawn over lucrative traffic fines An L.A. councilman and a state senator clash over which entity should issue red-light and other citations and keep the money. By Rich Connell 5:14 PM PST, February 12, 2010 In an emerging high-stakes battle fueled by government budget woes, a Long Beach lawmaker is attempting to stop cities from launching what she calls a "raid" on state coffers by collecting and keeping traffic fines. With some tickets now costing more than $500 -- and with most of the money going to the state and the courts -- California municipalities in small...

After weeks of fierce protests against his plans to reform the US healthcare system, President Obama faced revolt inside his own party yesterday amid accusations that he was surrendering to its vociferous opponents. The powerful liberal wing on Capitol Hill threatened to withdraw support for Mr Obama’s healthcare legislation if it did not include a government-run insurance programme — something he has appeared willing to abandon in recent days to try to garner Republican support. However, fiscally conservative Democrats appeared increasingly opposed to the “public option”, leaving Mr Obama with the potential for a dangerous split in the Democratic Party...

Political scientist let in a possibility of coup in Russia Read it in Russian The country will face a coup, in case the Russian authorities will not overcome the consequences of global financial crisis, said Gleb Pavlovsky, the head of Effective Policy Foundation Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. According to him, “if the question is about the sources of social protest in the country, one should look for them in the corridors of power”. Pavlovsky believes there is a small group of people in Russia who would like to commit a coup in the conditions of nowadays crisis. It is according to...

Sarah Palin wasn't aware that Africa was a continent and she and her brood behaved like a band of "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," aides to Republican John McCain are telling prominent news organizations. Less than 24 hours after McCain lost the presidential election to Democrat Barack Obama, those close to him apparently wasted no time burning up the phone lines to dish the dirt on Ms. Palin, the Alaska governor who portrayed herself as a sensible hockey Mom when she was chosen the Arizona senator's running mate in late August. If the anonymous McCain insiders...

Zardari acceptable as Pakistan president if strips powers: Sharif Sat Aug 23, 7:54 AM ET Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif Saturday said he was ready to accept the widower of slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto as president if he does away with powers to dissolve parliament. Former president Pervez Musharraf had strengthened his powers through a 17th constitutional amendment, which gave the president the power to dismiss the government and dissolve parliament. Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari won the unanimous backing of lawmakers from the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) on Friday but has yet to announce if he will stand...