Free Republic

The Israel Herald has a long but interesting article, U.S. and Israeli militaries discuss attack on Liberty in which it links a current discussion on the USS Liberty with a possible attack on Iran. It speculates, So where does the Liberty fit in? What discussions could have possible brought the Liberty attack to the fore? If indeed Israel is planning an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, could it be that the U.S. has warned the Jewish state it would not tolerate a repeat of what happened to the Liberty? What other explanation could there be for discussing an incident both...

The flame of which America is the white-hot heart is the living fire of the West. But who knew I would find one of the most moving descriptions of what the United States represents in one of my youngest son’s books? Rick Riordan has created Percy Jackson, son of a human woman and Poseidon, the (Greek) God of the Sea. In The Lightning Thief, Percy discovers what it means to be a half-blood; that the gods truly are immortal—and they are living in America: Explains Charon the Centaur: “Come now, Percy. What you call ‘Western civilization.’ Do you think it’s...

Leading defense officials from the United States and Israel, meeting in Israel this week, raised the controversial attack on the U.S. ship USS Liberty, by Israel, in June 1967. The attack has caused considerable controversy over the years despite both governments being reticent to publicly discuss the affair. It is rare that defense officials from either side discuss the attack which killed 34 U.S. service personnel, and wounded 171 others. In talks this week however between the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Michael Mullen, and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, together with other senior Israeli...

In the course of human events it is necessary, now and again, to dissolve our political bands with the ninnies who keep abandoning our founding principles. It used to be self-evident that our government’s role was primarily to protect certain unalienable rights, such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It used to be that our government did the bidding of the people – that any power it derived was solely through the consent of the governed. It used to be our country believed in limited government – that government at its best was a necessary evil and should...

This blood libel of Israel, Jews, and John McCain’s father is sanctioned by Barack Obama’s official campaign It has been established [http://husaria.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/obama-campaign-sanctioned-anti-semitic-and-other-hate-speech/] that Barack Obama’s official campaign site exercises editorial control over the content of my.barackobama.com, and is capable of finding and removing “offensive” and “disrespectful” material within two days. The following has been online for almost three weeks. It accuses Israel of deliberatly murdering the crew of the U.S.S. Liberty, American Jews with divided loyalties of complicity, and John McCain’s father of complicity in a cover up. The following entry is sanctioned (tolerated) by Barack Obama’s official campaign... Now,...

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2008 – A California-based group will fulfill the promise of a major milestone today, as a soldier at Fort Lewis, Wash., receives a free Jeep Liberty. Army Spc. Michael Gallagher, a vehicle commander from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash., opens a care package given to him by Operation Gratitude on Forward Operating Base Warhorse, Iraq, Jan. 22. Gallagher received Operation Gratitude's 300,000th care package, which contained the keys to a 2008 Jeep Liberty. Photo by Army Pfc. Kirby Rider   (Click photo for...

McCain and the U.S.S. Liberty By Tony Wicher - Jun 12th, 2008 at 12:11 pm EDT Also listed in: 5 groups LIKE FATHER LIKE SON. THE COVER-UP CONTINUES ON THE USS LIBERTY April 12, 2008 — crescentandcross When Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., Commander in Chief, United States Naval Forces, Europe, ordered the cover-up on the attack of the USS LIBERTY GTR-5 it was a sure act of treason perpetrated on the American people and the crew of the LIBERTY to hide the true facts surrounding the unprovoked attack by the Government of Israel on our ship, the USS LIBERTY....As...

Liberals, who hate guns almost as much as they hate cars, got a well-deserved lesson in Second Amendment rights when the Supreme Court spit in their face by ruling that the Constitution really does guarantee the right of Americans to own guns. The ruling, which struck down the District of Columbia’s laws almost totally restricting handgun ownership, affirmed the traditional view that the Second Amendment means exactly what it says when it guarantees “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.”

Good morning everyone! And a safe, enjoyable weekend to all...Did y'all catch the lovefest between O and Hill?And what about "no-bounce" Obama? Maybe that's why they staged that special event in Unity, N.H....There's a lot of discomfort and questions out there about the Senator from Ill, and McCain and Co. need to exploit their opening. Will they?

While much of the U.S. Constitution invites legitimate debate as to the “Framer’s Intent,” the twenty-eight words which comprise the Tenth Amendment are as unambiguous as they are forgotten. “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” One of the clearest and most compelling proofs that our Founding Fathers indeed envisaged a limited federal government, the Tenth Amendment is a vital safeguard against an overreaching central authority. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most routinely discarded pieces of our...

[Heritage Lecture #1090 -- Delivered April 24, 2008] ... It is likewise an honor to be here tonight and to speak to you of responsibility, because I'm keenly aware of the fact that in this room tonight we have an entire army of crusaders for freedom. ... I admire you and thank you for the hard work that you do. You and your colleagues do this because you love and are dedicated to the simple idea of human liberty. You see it as your birthright, and you fight on its behalf. You understand that man precedes the state, and that...

On Wednesday, June 18, a district court in the German state of Hesse sentenced Jurgen and Rosemary Dudek each to three months in prison simply because they homeschool their seven children. HSLDA condemns this court ruling in the strongest possible terms. Good parents who love and care for their children should never be sentenced to prison for doing what is best for their children. Germany is a Western nation and should know better. HSLDA will be helping the Dudeks with their appeals, but German courts have so far consistently ruled against homeschoolers. More information will be forthcoming as this story...

  June 23, 2008 Obama's next takeover...    This cartoon/graphic is free for noncommercial use in emails, blogs, and forums.  iowapresidentialwatch.com

Hi everyone.Price of crude oil is climbing again as the markets open this morning.Comedian George Carlin has died.And the main campaign season is underway as the candidates and their surrogates appear on talk news shows, in ads and across the country before groups. It's going to be a long summer....

The UN Human Rights Council said the UK must "consider holding a referendum on the desirability or otherwise of a written constitution, preferably republican". The council has 29 members including Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Sri Lanka. It was the Sri Lankan envoy who raised concerns over the British monarchy. The resulting report said Britain should have a referendum on the monarchy and the need for a written constitution with a bill of rights.

SEA Jails Amish Criminals A Sign of Very Bad Things to Come You may never have heard of the SEA, and may not believe it when I tell you what it is. I am not making this up. The SEA is the "Sewage Enforcement Agency." The, "Cambria County Sewage Enforcement Agency," protecting society from two dangerous Amish outhouse operators, apprehended them for violating Pennsylvania state sewage laws. They "were sentenced Thursday to 90 days in jail." Their crime? "Andy Swartzentruber and Sam Yoder do not have permits for outhouses at a school and have been disposing of waste "improperly." The...

Note: To All Fifth Columnists is an open letter written by Ayn Rand around the beginning of 1941, when she was encouraging conservative intellectuals to form a national organization advocating individualism. She desired for the letter be issued by such an organization. You who read this represent the greatest danger to America. No matter what the outcome of the war in Europe may be, Totalitarianism has already won a complete victory in many American minds and conquered all of our intellectual life. You have helped it to win. Perhaps it is your right to destroy civilization and bring dictatorship to...

June 19, 2008 Senate Housing Bill Requires eBay, Amazon, Google, and All Credit Card Companies to Report Transactions to the Government Broad, invasive provision touches nearly every aspect of American commerce. Contact:  Adam Brandon Phone:   (202) 942-7698 Email: abrandon@freedomworks.org Washington, D.C. -  Hidden deep in Senator Christopher Dodd's 630-page Senate housing legislation is a sweeping provision that affects the privacy and operation of nearly all of America’s small businesses. The provision, which was added by the bill's managers without debate this week, would require the nation's payment systems to track, aggregate, and report information on nearly every electronic transaction to...

Responding at samizdata.net to a Guardian [UK] editorial, Johnathan Pearce discusses some opinions on liberty: Excerpt: At the most basic level, the Guardian has conflated the idea of liberty and the idea of power. There is "negative liberty", which says that liberty is the absence of coercion, and "positive liberty", which blurs the idea of freedom with the ability, or power, to do things, or have things one wants, such as food, shelter, good health, nice weather, and so on. The late, great Isaiah Berlin skewered this reasoning years ago...  And don't overlook the comments. The one by "toolkien" (June...

Texas farmers and ranchers are hoping that the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) recent announcement to make use of existing roadways in its plan for Interstate 69 is a positive sign when it comes to the ongoing battles with the Trans-Texas Corridor. “We are glad to see that TxDOT is beginning to listen to what so many members of our organization have said for the past four years,� said Kenneth Dierschke, president of the Texas Farm Bureau. Some 28,000 Texans — many of whom are members of the state’s largest farm organization — aired grievances during public meetings held at...

I'm a Chinese and live in Beijing. You may heard about a massive earthquake stroke Sichuan province last month. In this natural disaster, one my fellow people, exactly a teacher, ran before his students and declared his view of personal liberty and freedom regardless his teacher indentity. His allegation has triggered a extensive discussion on humanity and teacher, as a publice servant,responsibility. I know that personal liberty is well developed and protected in US. But, and the same time, US is a country regarding public responsibility especially for those paid by the taxpayers to do their civil job. I came...

THE Pentagon has approved $US6.7 million ($7m) to develop binoculars that would tap a user's brainwaves to home in on threats. Northrop Grumman Corporation said today it was leading an academic and industry consortium for the project, known as the Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System program, or CT2WS. The plan featured a custom helmet equipped with electrodes placed on the scalp to record neural responses to the presence or absence of potential threats, Northrop said. The brain's input would "train the system's algorithms, which will continue to be refined over time so that the warfighter is always presented with items...

Bryce Lockwood, Marine staff sergeant, Russian-language expert, recipient of the Silver Star for heroism, ordained Baptist minister, is shouting into the phone. "I'm angry! I'm seething with anger! Forty years, and I'm seething with anger!" Lockwood was aboard the USS Liberty, a super-secret spy ship on station in the eastern Mediterranean, when four Israeli fighter jets flew out of the afternoon sun to strafe and bomb the virtually defenseless vessel on June 8, 1967, the fourth day of what would become known as the Six-Day War.......... .....Their anger has been stoked by the declassification of government documents and the recollections...

WASHINGTON, May 28, 2008 – President Bush called upon the newest graduates of the U.S. Air Force Academy today to lead the cause of freedom in their generation, calling freedom the most powerful weapon in the U.S. arsenal. Bush addressed the 1,012 cadets who made up the 50th graduating class in the history of the Colorado Springs, Colo., academy during commencement ceremonies. The president drew comparisons between the wars of the 20th and 21st centuries, citing similar ideological struggles first with fascism and communism, and now with Islamic extremism. “We are once again facing evil men who despise freedom...

HAILEY, Idaho (AP) - Three pro-marijuana initiatives have again been approved by voters in the central Idaho town of Hailey. Voters yesterday approved initiatives to legalize medical use of marijuana, industrial use of hemp, and to make enforcement of marijuana laws the lowest police priority in the city. Rejected was an initiative to require the city to regulate and tax distribution of the drug. Voters last November passed the same three initiatives, but city officials balked at recognizing them.

“We cannot drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times,” says Obama the Messiah. And, the masses say, “Obama! Obama! Obama!” The forces of socialism are on the move. The times are ripe. And no wonder. Having paid $3.99 per gallon for gas for the first time in my life this week, I did wonder if there are still a few patriots willing to declare, “Give me energy or give me death!” Or, have we all finally become sheep, succumbing to the central planners who will tell us...

Good morning, and a good week's start to everyone! David Frum suggests on Bennett's show using "appeasement" to "assuagement" so as not to upset the Obama camp. LOL!He's written a new book: Comeback about how Rs can win again...

Good morning!The stories of the week:Natural disasters...Hillary: When will she quit? Will she quit?Obama turns his attention to McCain..

In the past few months, American workers, consumers, and businesses have experienced a sudden and dramatic rise in gasoline prices. In some parts of the country, gasoline costs as much as $4 per gallon. Some politicians claim that the way to reduce gas prices is by expanding the government’s power to regulate prices and control the supply of gasoline. For example, the House of Representatives has even passed legislation subjecting gas stations owners to criminal penalties if they charge more than a federal bureaucrat deems appropriate. Proponents of these measures must have forgotten the 1970s, when government controls on the...

Good morning!Fateful week in national politics. Who predicted we'd be at this point back in January when it all began? Those earliest primaries were supposed to settle everything so quickly! The political gods have a sense of humor......

Investigative Project Releases Gov't Memos Curtailing Speech in War on Terror The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is refusing to identify the "influential Muslim Americans" and "leading U.S.-based scholars and commentators on Islam" who met with Secretary Michael Chertoff in helping shape a softer approach to government lexicon about terrorists and their ideological motivations. "Our policy is we don't comment on the Secretary's private schedule," spokeswoman Amy Kudwa told the IPT. Nor would she identify any of the participants' organizational affiliation. DHS and the State Department's Counterterrorism Communications Center each issued reports urging government employees to avoid words like "jihad,"...

RENO, Nevada (AP) — Outmaneuvered by raucous Ron Paul supporters, Nevada Republican Party leaders abruptly shut down their state convention and now must resume the event to complete a list of 31 delegates to the GOP national convention. Outnumbered supporters of expected Republican presidential nominee John McCain faced off Saturday against well-organized Paul supporters. A large share of the more than 1,300 state convention delegates enabled Paul supporters to get a rule change positioning them for more national convention delegate slots than expected. "I've seen factions walk out. I've never seen a party walk out," said Jeff Greenspan, regional coordinator...

Good morning!2 primaries tomorrow.Rev. Wright gave an astonishing, jaw-dropping speech before the NAACP last night. Will it be covered by the MSM? Is this the kind of speech we need to get beyond the race issue - Obama's first position during this campaign season, OR to confront honestly this country's racial history - Obama's second , post-Wright position, during this campaign season?I understand the Rev. will be talking at the National Press Club this morning....covered probably by CSPAN.

Lessons from Jefferson - America is politically divided down the center line between individual freedom and a so-called greater common good. Half of the country is trying desperately to protect and preserve a maximum level of individual freedom and liberty for themselves and future generations, while the other half is desperate to take from those according to their means in order to fill the perceived needs that they have failed to fill on their own. Many American voters are struggling to escape the reality that freedom isn’t free and never was. They try to hide from the fact that freedom...

The earliest American definition of liberty—stated frequently by the Founding Fathers—is about constraints on personal actions: if I don’t hurt anybody else, I should be free to pursue my own will. As Thomas Jefferson put it in his first inaugural address, “A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.” Despite more recent attempts to expand our understanding of freedom to include claims on one another or...

Good morning.Dem party wars continue...who'll win?Can the winner be stopped come Nov?Is Jimmy Carter still in the Mideast, or has he found his peaNUTTY way back to Georgia?

VetsCoR Founding Ideals VetsCoR was founded in 2002 because the original members believe, as did our Founding Fathers, in individual Freedom and Liberty, with the individual solely responsible for his or her life. The vision of the Founding Fathers of this great nation was one of free men and women, pursuing life, liberty, and their own vision of happiness, constrained only by their responsibility to do no harm to others. To this end, the Founders wrote one of the most important documents in the history of mankind! Wisely, it specifically limited the role of centralized government and maximized the power...

Good morning everyone!1000+ Iraqi security forces are fired following the Basra attack. They had refused to fight against the Shi'ite insurgents.Pres. Bush will discuss the airline inspection debacle with the Transportation Sec. today.O spent the weekend deflecting Hillary's vigorous attacks over his PA comments from last weekend. Time will tell how successful he is.

Good morning!It's turned chilly again.Violent storms struck the county's mid-section on Friday.Bill Clinton, much to his wife's ahem, annoyance, brought up the fake Bosnia story again yesterday, and Obama's comments about rural PA voters drew criticism. His arrogance and high level of self-importance and self-regard are more and more apparent.

I don’t know what everyone else is planning on doing with their whopping three to six Benjamins this tax season, but I plan on paying off bills – medical bills, to be more specific. Here’s to stimulating the economy. It’s odd. One year, the IRS is hunting me down, insisting that I owe them thousands of dollars. Now, they are genuinely sorry about that entire hullabaloo a year ago because, really, what’s a grand or two between friends? As a matter of fact, here, just take it back. They don’t need it anyway. Or here’s an idea. How about I...

Good morning!Mark Penn leaves the Clinton campaign at a crucial time...pre PA primary.Charlton Heston's career as an actor and patriot is remembered...Gen Petraeus will be testifying again before Congress, and the cringing Defeatocrats prepare their lies....

For Peyton Gilbert, the battle over the Trans-Texas Corridor is reminiscent of the moment in 1836 when Lt. Col. William Travis drew a line in the sand at the Alamo and invited those willing to fight thousands of Mexican soldiers to step across. "That line in the sand is the Trans-Texas Corridor, and it's a threat to our sovereignty again, just like at the Alamo," said Gilbert, 14, who is from Whitehouse, near Tyler. Gilbert was among a large crowd of people who marched down Congress Avenue to the Capitol on Saturday afternoon to demonstrate against the proposed highway-rail-utility corridor...

That poor woman down the street Apparently it's perfectly okay for the CHRC to hijack its neighbour's computer systemI should begin with a correction. Last week, I was at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal hearing for the case of Warman vs. Lemire. Richard Warman is the Canadian Human Rights Commission's plaintiff on every single complaint filed since 2002, and Marc Lemire is a supposed white supremacist on trial for the "hate messages" at his Freedom Site — or, at any rate, the handful of "hate messages" on his Freedom Site that weren't posted by undercover CHRC operatives whiling away an...

The Story of a Convert from Islam – Baptized by the Pope at St. Peter's His name is Magdi Cristiano Allam. For five years he has lived under guard, threatened with death. But his baptism has raised harsh criticism, against him and against Benedict XVI. The complete text of the accusation written by Aref Ali Nayed, architect of the letter of the 138 by Sandro Magister ROMA, March 28, 2008 – Three days earlier, in an audio message released over the internet, Osama bin Laden had accused "the pope of the Vatican" of having "a significant role" in fighting a...

Good morning!US Forces have killed several militants in the latest Iraqi attacks.It's the last day of March!Countdown for the Dems til April primary continues.Discussion of Fed's role in financial institutions' troubles moves into another week as the administration has outlined its own plan.

Liberals, who seek “control” over the people by way of “control” over their right to bear arms, hang their hat on this section of the Second Amendment, “A well regulated Militia,” claiming that the right to own and bear arms is restricted to only a “well regulated militia,” meaning the government. Conservatives who seek to conserve and preserve the highest degree of freedom among law abiding citizens and maintain a fundamental right of self-defense hang their hat on this section of the same Constitutional clause, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” –...

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa — The Jose Pearson TB Hospital here is like a prison for the sick. It is encircled by three fences topped with coils of razor wire to keep patients infected with lethal strains of tuberculosis from escaping. But at Christmastime and again around Easter, dozens of them cut holes in the fences, slipped through electrified wires or pushed through the gates in a desperate bid to spend the holidays with their families. Patients have been tracked down and forced to return; the hospital has quadrupled the number of guards. Many patients fear they will get out...

Good morning!Nervous investors will continue to watch the markets this week.Last full week of spring training is here.Surveys of the flood-damaged Midwest continue.

This day in history...VIDEO

In the turbulent 1960s, a civil rights movement arose that resulted in the creation of a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Soon, there were state commissions on civil rights around the country. Then came the U.S. Commission on the Status of Women. Soon, there followed state Commissions on the Status of Women. Perhaps it is time for a Commission on the Status of Freedom. America grew into a powerful, prosperous nation because its Constitution guaranteed to every citizen the freedom endowed by the Creator. While it took a century to extend those freedoms to black Americans, and to women, the...