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The United States says a conference on banning nuclear weapons in the Middle East will not be held because of current conditions in the region. The announcement comes amid a flare up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza, civil war in Syria and an unsettled political situation in Egypt. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Friday "a deep conceptual gap persists in the region" on how to handle regional security and arms control. Nuland said the U.S. would not support a conference in which any regional state would be subjected to "pressure or isolation," a reference to U.S. concerns that...

Egypt's highest judicial body, the Supreme Judicial Council, is condemning the decrees granting President Mohamed Morsi sweeping powers, branding them an unprecedented attack on the independence of the judiciary. And a broad spectrum of Egypt's judiciary is expressing support for the country's outgoing judicial head, Abdel Mejid Mahmoud, who was fired by the president Thursday. Mahmoud received a standing ovation by members of Egypt's Judge's Club, after telling them that he will appeal the president's decision to the judiciary. Mahmoud said he will insist on the application of all legal articles, including those that deal with the powers of the...

Syrian rebels say they have captured a government helicopter base near Damascus as they try to close in on President Bashar al-Assad's seat of power in the capital. A video released by Syrian activists on Sunday appears to show anti-Assad rebels roaming around the Marj al-Sultan air base, about 15 kilometers east of Damascus, after they launched an assault the previous day. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels killed at least eight soldiers and destroyed two helicopters at the base, while at least 15 rebel fighters also were killed. There was no government confirmation of the...

Long unfairly stigmatized as "devil worshippers" by their Muslim and Christian neighbors, Iraq's half-million strong Yezidi minority suffered some of the worst sectarian attacks after the fall of President Saddam Hussein in 2003. Now under the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, the pilgrims are returning. The Yezidis have their own minister in government. Before we were not free to pray and could not visit here easily," said Lokman Suleiman, a local Yezidi teacher. "Now we can. The Kurdistan government is not only good for us, it is good for all people. The sun now rises over a Kurdistan of many colors,...

Black Friday retail sales online this year topped $1 billion for the first time ever as more consumers used the Internet do their early holiday shopping, comScore Inc said on Sunday. Online sales jumped 26 percent on Black Friday to $1.04 billion from sales of $816 million on the corresponding day last year, according to comScore data. … E-commerce accounts for less than 10 percent of consumer spending in the United States. However, it is growing much faster than bricks-and-mortar retail as shoppers are lured by low prices, convenience, faster shipping and wide selection. …

Although both are founding members of Turkey's ruling party, increasingly the two men appear to be at odds with one another on a variety of political issues. The rivalry could have far-reaching consequences for the country. The Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, has in the past few months been challenging what is perceived as the increasingly tough positions of the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whether on the treatment of the country’s Kurdish minority, imprisoned journalists or advocating membership in the European Union. Last month Erdogan voiced his frustration. He said Turkey is not ruled by double-headed governance and he said...

Is Obama Always Faithful to our Marines? The current political winds in Washington, DC, have dictated that less will be spent on the various Branches of the Armed Forces of the Unites States. Case in point: the Commander-in-Chief has decided to fire 20,000 of our U.S. Marines. In an article published by San Diego, California's North County Times, ironically on Thanksgiving Day, Military Affairs reporter Gretel C. Kovach cites; "The Corps is shrinking by 20,000 Marines, to 182,100." The North County Times also cited that America's premier fighting force is; "scraping to repair or replace battle-worn equipment." In spite of...

Ugandan president repents of personal, national sins 'We confess idolatry, witchcraft, political hypocrisy, dishonesty, intrigue' "The Ugandan newssite New Vision reports President Yoweri Museveni celebrated Uganda’s 50th anniversary of independence from Britain at the National Jubilee Prayers event by publicly repenting of his personal sin and the sins of the nation. “I stand here today to close the evil past, and especially in the last 50 years of our national leadership history and at the threshold of a new dispensation in the life of this nation. I stand here on my own behalf and on behalf of my predecessors to...

Says because of Hurricane Sandy in Atlantic City "much of that boardwalk no longer exists -- just the pillars where boardwalk used to be." Hurricane Sandy washed iconic Jersey Shore landmarks into the sea, but despite what you may have heard -- from social media, television or maybe even a United States senator -- the historic boardwalk fronting Atlantic City's casinos survived. Two weeks after the monstrous storm swept through New Jersey, devastating large swaths of the state’s coastline, Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, took to the Senate floor to describe the destruction and push for funding for recovery efforts. In...

Please Mail checks to Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794. Click here to pledge your support via secure server! ^ Come on, everyone! How long is this one going to take? Our 4th Quarter FReepathon is now into its 56th day, which I think, is both a heartbreaking shame and also outrageous. Free Republic is the premier online gathering place for independent, grass-roots conservatism on the whole on the Internet! You all love Free Republic or you wouldn't be here. You all know that we hold FReepathons every quarter to finance Free Republic. What you...

Komotini, Greece - Over 500 undocumented migrants detained for the past three months at the Komotini police academy in eastern Greece have rioted and set fire to the premises. "The riots have stopped. It is not the first but it is the largest. It is inhumane," a ranking officer told Euobserver on Saturday (November 24) evening. The entire site is on lockdown. Outside the gates, a police officer in riot gear stands guard armed with a machine gun in near complete silence. Behind him, a parking lot and the nearby buildings are obscured in darkness. The lights turned off. The...

The White House "kill list"--a regularly updated chart showing the world's most wanted terrorists used by President Barack Obama during kill or capture debates--may soon be getting a rule book to go with it. Until now, President Obama has had the "final moral calculation" overseeing the "kill list," the existence of which was first revealed in May in the wake of a drone strike that killed an al-Qaida leader. But according to the paper, administration officials are looking to curb the power of the commander in chief with the rule book:

A poll conducted on November 5 by Rasmussen Reports found that an all-time high of 68% of “likely U.S. voters” say that global warming is “a serious problem”; 38% of them thought it was “very serious.” Considering the benefits of warming and the fact that even the UK Met office shows that there has been no global warming in the past 16 years, this demonstrates the degree to which the population has been propagandized into believing the opposite of reality. We are the first generation in history to believe that climatic warming is a bad thing. In a warmer world,...

The current Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has been and remains a pretty popular leader. His legacy of a decreased unemployment rate that betters the national average, repeatedly balanced budgets, and a relatively evenhanded leadership style will be a tough act to follow, but you can’t run for two consecutive gubernatorial terms in the Old Dominion — a rule of which I am exceedingly fond.Candidates can’t officially sign up for the contest until January, but several people have already gone public with their political intentions, via WaPo a few days back: The early fight in Virginia next year will be among...

ISMAILIA (EGYPT): Militants bombed security bases being built in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, injuring three people, authorities said, as the state tries to reassert control over territory that slipped from its grip after the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. A massive explosion partly destroyed the wall of a security base being built for border guards in the town of Rafah at the border with the Gaza Strip overnight, but without causing injuries. Further south, three workers were injured by a separate blast that damaged a compound being built in Quseima for a different security agency responsible for guarding a pipeline that...

A federal anti-terrorism program has drawn North Jersey deeper into the practice of hidden surveillance, equipping police departments with high-tech cameras, infrared technology and automatic license plate readers to keep tabs on people as they travel to local reservoirs, financial hubs and malls. The stepped-up security around potential terrorist targets links the region into a network of clandestine monitoring. Some of the departments are already putting to use the equipment provided by Homeland Security; others are gearing up. Oradell, Emerson, Closter and Harrington Park police have car-mounted night-vision technology and video and recording equipment that can watch over the Oradell...

WASHINGTON (AP) — For nearly six years, a senior Secret Service agent kept his extramarital affair with a Mexican woman a secret from the agency responsible for protecting the president. But in the wake of an embarrassing prostitution scandal involving 13 agents and officers, Rafael Prieto’s secret was revealed by a fellow employee amid concerns the Secret Service wasn’t enforcing its rules consistently. With an internal investigation ongoing, Prieto apparently committed suicide last week, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Prieto, a married father assigned to the security detail for President Barack Obama, admitted the years-long relationship...

This version of the Knockout Game began like most others: A black mob found a defenseless white college student. They punched him in the face. Only stopping when they got tired and he got knocked out. Then they ran away, laughing hard and loud. Leaving Trevor Godfrey bleeding, unconscious and shaking with convulsions. Usually that is the end of it – just another case of racial violence played out by the hundreds in more than 80 cities across the country, detailed both in WND.com and the book White Girl Bleed a Lot: The return of racial violence and how the...

Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!   For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.   Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     ~ Hall of Heroes ~Sky Soldiers173D Airborne BrigadeAll info and photos from this website.             BRIGADE HISTORY  The 173D Airborne Brigade was activated on the island of Okinawa on March 26, 1963. From its beginning, it proved to be an aggressive and unique unit led by (then) Brigadier General Ellis W. Williamson who established...

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