Free Republic

The Knights Templar are demanding that the Vatican give them back their good name and, possibly, billions in assets into the bargain, 700 years after the order was brutally suppressed by a joint venture between the Pope and the King of France. If the Holy See doesn’t comply, the warrior knights, renowned for liberating the Holy Land, will deploy that most fearsome of weapons: a laborious court case through the creaking Spanish legal system. The Daily Telegraph reports that The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ has launched a court case in Spain, demanding Pope Benedict...

It may have taken years for army intelligence to infiltrate the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and it may have been tough to convincingly impersonate rebels. But what seems to have been a walk in the park was getting the FARC to believe that an NGO was providing resources to help it in the dirty work of ferrying captives to a new location.

.....Meanwhile the work of other foreign-funded NGOs in the interest of terrorist organizations warrants urgent attention. Take the Peruvian "human-rights" group Aprodeh, which labored in Europe to get the MRTA off the terrorist list there, even though Peru still considers it a grave threat to its security. In 2007, according to government records, Aprodeh received funding from Oxfam America, George Soros's Open Society, the John Merck Foundation, the city of Barcelona, the Dutch embassy and a U.S. government agency called the Inter-American Foundation, among others. On Friday, the Peruvian government asked Aprodeh to explain how its NGO status allows it...

Mary Anastasia O'Grady writes in today's Wall Street Journal that George Soros's Open Society Institute has been funding terrorism. In a column entitled Friends of Terror in Peru, O'Grady notes that Thursday's vote by the European Parliament to take the Peruvian guerrilla group known as the Tupac Amaru (aka MRTA) off its terrorist list has Peru in an uproar. For good reason: The MRTA is notorious for kidnapping, torturing and murdering civilians to advance its political agenda. More recently, Peruvian officials have linked it to Hugo Chávez's "Bolivarian Movement," which seeks to destabilize democracies in Latin America, and to the...

What makes The Heritage Foundation one of the most famous and widely quoted nonprofit companies worldwide? Having a top-notch staff to promote public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values and a strong national defense helps, no question. But as the new book Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits shows, it’s more than that. Heritage succeeds because its leaders follow certain “high-impact� practices that have elevated the 34-year-old institution to the forefront of the nonprofit world. Figuring out what those high-impact practices are matters, because success in the nonprofit...

Environmental Activist Funding, Agendas Exposed Written By: Review by Jay Lehr, Ph.D. Published In: Environment News Publication Date: September 1, 2007 Publisher: The Heartland Institute The Green Wave: Environmentalism and Its Consequences Bonner Cohen Capital Research Center, 2006 240 pages, $14.95, ISBN 1892934116 Available online through Amazon.com T.S. Eliot once said, "half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm--but the harm does not interest them. Or they justify it, because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves." Eliot...

Deep in the shadows of the New Age is an organization that is linked to the United Nations and striving to create a New World Order.  It is not the stuff of paranoia. It is not a conspiracy theory. It is a simple fact.  Recently, I called attention to Bohemian Grove, a clandestine meeting place for world leaders north of San Francisco, and now would like to call attention to this group on the other coast.  I'd like to know, once and for all, about Lucis Trust. I'd like to know what they want. I want to know why they...

Three French aid workers in Brazil have been stabbed to death at the offices of the charity they worked for in Rio. Police say the three, a couple who headed the charity and a male employee, were killed by the organisation's treasurer, who allegedly hired hit men. Police say they have arrested the treasurer and that he had confessed to the crime. They say he had stolen funds from Terr'Ativa, a French-Brazilian NGO helping slum children. "The motive was not to leave any trace of the siphoning of the money," deputy district police chief Marcus Castro told reporters.

While this new world of corporate governance/ lobbyists/ privatization of the commons etc; seems difficult to understand (disguised as it is with buzz words – and meaningless jibberish), it’s really not as complex as one might think. After you learn how to ignore the superficial banalities, and get to the meat (if there is any) of the message being given. Most times you’ll hear just fluff and nutter talk – sounds important but isn’t. While we naturally focus upon local issues and concerns such as community development, roads, tons of garbage, forest access, tourism, sportsmen’s rights, lack of snow, no...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Those heaping portions at restaurants -- and doggie bags for the leftovers -- may be a thing of the past, if health officials get their way. The government is trying to enlist the help of the nation's eateries in fighting obesity. One of the first things on their list: cutting portion sizes.

FAIRFAX, Va. -- Wayne LaPierre, executive vice-president of the National Rifle Association, tells NewsMax that the United Nations is dead set on writing a treaty that will curb domestic ownership of guns. He also says his worst fear is that a Hillary Rodham Clinton presidency would allow such a treaty to severely damage Second Amendment rights. "She has never cast a pro-gun vote in the U.S. Senate," advises LaPierre, author of "The Global War on Your Guns: Inside the U.N. Plan to Destroy the Bill of Rights." "She will probably be the most anti-firearm Second Amendment candidate to ever run...

Clerics in Kabul mosques are urging worshippers to join the Taliban's fight against the Afghan government and international troops. Some imams here believe the time is right to call for holy war. "The only thing (people) can do is fight against the government and I am telling them they can do that. They can pick up a gun and fight against the government," said Abdullah, a 52-year-old imam wary of giving his full name for fear of reprisals. "It's a reality, the fighters are getting stronger and stronger because the government is alienating the community and the people," Abdullah said....

Something extraordinary is happening in global development circles. For the first time since the 19th century, progressive activists are embracing trade as positive tool for change. The global NGO Oxfam is the latest progressive interest group to change its tune. It has launched a campaign to end agricultural subsidies in the developed world. This could represent a fundamental turning of the tide from a world based on nationalism and violence to a world based on commerce and peace. Oxfam has a new section on its website devoted to "the private sector's role in development," where they acknowledge that "Oxfam GB...

In the campaign in the UK to organize an academic boycott of Israeli universities, led by the British Association of University Teachers (AUT), it turned out that a fanatic anti-Israel faculty member at an Israeli university, Ilan Pappe from the University of Haifa, was the driving force. He was seeking to create a boycott of his own university. That boycott campaign ultimately fizzled and failed. But the attempts by radical anti-Israel faculty members in Israel to promote attacks on their own country continue. Recent campaigns are in some ways more outrageous and far worse than the earlier boycott initiative. The...

At the 55th annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 5-9, 2000, called the Millennium Assembly and Summit, far-reaching plans are underway to turn the corner from a world of sovereign, independent nation-states to a world of disparate peoples subordinated to the supreme authority of the United Nations. These plans call for the total restructuring of the mission and powers of the United Nations. To achieve this goal, the UN is scheduled to consider at least two actions, by consensus rather than by formal vote: adoption of the Earth Charter, a document whose...

Former Governor and current State Senate President Dick Codey sponsors the legislation. He says, "We would be the first in the country to build a building dedicated solely to stem cell research." He adds, "We would be using existing tobacco bond monies so, we're not spending new money." $150 million dollars would be needed leading many critics to ask, "What else could that money be used for?" Codey says, "This is about saving lives in the future." He asks, "If the cure for diabetes or something else came out of this New Jersey facility, wouldn't that be a great legacy…it...

THE American Red Cross has come under fire over payments to publicists who recruited stars to add lustre to its image, even as funds ran short for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The controversy could not have come at a worse time for the charity: this Tuesday, it unveils a “celebrity cabinet” of personalities whose glamour will be exploited to attract money, volunteers and donations of blood. Its critics are unhappy at what they call an inappropriate use of funds. “They’re hoping people will send them money on the basis of celebrity, as opposed to good works and effectiveness,” said Daniel...

  Victim hood works. The Palestinian PM designate, Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader of the new government in Ramallah, some would call it Hamastan, is spewing “taqiyyah,” religiously condoned lying by Muslims to “trick” western unbelievers. He says that the PA would recognize Israel if it gave up all of Samaria, Judea and east Jerusalem and let 3.5 million plus Palestinian refugee "victims" get their rights of return “honored.” Israel promptly rejected these destructive conditions and his lying proposition. Ibrahim Hooper of the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), those wonderful folks who want to replace our Constitution with Shari’a...

WASHINGTON (Feb. 28) - Former President Clinton, a reformed overeater, urged state governors on Tuesday to embrace a long-term effort to change the nation's culture of too much food and too little exercise. He warned the governors that failure to change the nation's eating habits will weaken the economy and threaten the lives of its children. "We have a huge cultural problem and unless we change it our children may grow up to be the first generation with shorter lifespans than we had," the former Arkansas governor told the National Governors Association at the last day of its annual winter...

MATTRAI, Pakistan, February 27, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A young woman was raped by three men in retribution for refusing to perform illegal abortions in a rural community in the western Punjab last Wednesday.Rubina Kousar, 26, worked as a nurse in the Mattrai health center. She refused to carry out abortions on two women, reported the Telegraph, despite six months of constant pressure from the women’s families.“In the past our staff have been subjected to this type of victimization for refusing to carry out illegal abortions, but they have not raised their voices for fear of retribution,” said Riaz Hussein,...

MONTREAL (CP) - It may take a special tax to help fight what one Canadian sociologist calls the "obesogenic food environment" - the junk food that's prominently displayed in supermarkets and schools. Anthony Winson of the University of Guelph said high-sugar and high-fat products are "aggressively promoted" every week in grocery stores. "You can have maybe 20 special displays in a supermarket that are around every corner promoting types of high-sugar, high-fat products, whether they be candy bars or soft drinks," Winson said in an interview. He said the displays are advantageous for retailers because they bring in extra revenue....

US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton is known for his radical views on the world body. The combative diplomat has never taken kindly of its activities. The Group of 77 developing countries are angry over his strong views on reshaping the UN by cutting its budget and tightening its role. His very often contemptuous stand has rattled US allies, such as Britain. Even American senators expressed their displeasure by refusing to confirm his nomination as UN ambassador. President George W. Bush had to resort to circumvention to get him the UN posting. As a fierce UN critic, Bolton...

Green Global Tribunals on the Way "The rights of victims of environmental disasters worldwide are to be formally recognized by the Permanent Court of Arbitration," reported a BBC News dispatch on November 26th. On that date the Hague-based international court signed "an agreement with the Cousteau environmental society as a basis for settling international environmental disputes between organizations and individuals. The Cousteau Society is placing a ship, the Alcyone, at the court’s disposal to carry out fact-finding commissions. It is the first time a court will give legitimacy to environmental disputes between individuals and organizations in an international context." The ...

Marriott refuses counter-terror group, but hosts Muslims Students Association Eastern Zone Conference The Marriott Hotel chain refused to host the upcoming counter terror symposium that is being organized by Jeffrey Epstein and the America’s Truth Forum. According to Epstein, Peter Cantone, General Manager for Marriott Georgetown, turned down the group in November, saying: Your event is too controversial to be held on the property. This decision is based upon business considerations, as the event would call for heightened security since protestors might be attracted from both the student body and off campus. I'm concerned that these protestors might block the...

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--Hundreds of volunteers throughout the state will hit shopping malls and grocery stores Saturday at 9 a.m. as they kickoff efforts to gather nearly one million signatures needed to place an initiative on the November 2006 ballot that would provide critical funding to reduce smoking, keep emergency rooms open, fund health insurance for children and expand nursing education. "This initiative will save lives, by raising the tobacco tax and funding urgently needed community emergency and related health care services," said Paul Knepprath of the American Heart Association of California. "This is the broadest coalition that's ever come together to...

The Hooded Man from Abu Ghraib: The Rest of the Story by Laura Mansfield Do you remember this image? (See attached PDF file for image) The hooded man is Haj Ali al Qaisi. Haj Ali is known throughout the world because of this photograph showing him with a black hood over his head, standing on a box, with electric cords on his hands. The photo came to represent torture in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq at the hands of the American military. Haj Ali, who now lives in Jordan and heads a group called the "Organization of Victims of US...

The original American system promised a society in which the benefits of civilization including liberty, property, privacy, security and justice would be available to all of its citizens who were willing to work for them. However, such a society can only be sustained when the majority of the citizens are mature adults who accept the basic principles of self-government, self-reliance, and mutual respect. Those principles require the individual to assume reponsibility for his own actions, to be a producer rather than a parasite, to exercise his liberty with consideration for others, and to support and defend the system. It doesn't...

Last year was another instrumental year in the advance of world government. While most commentators will concentrate on popularized events, many will not discuss the latest steps taken to cement the final touches to a world governmental structure, that has been in the making for the last 150 years or so. In order to understand the importance of 2005's global achievements in the march towards global governance, which is the integration of the world's peoples, countries, and philosophies, we must briefly visit the past. Let us recount the 1913 birth of the U.S. tax code. Over the past 92 years,...

The UN, left to itself, will end up giving corruption and socialism a bad name. Joseph Klein has written Global Deception to show why. He pinpoints the UN's greatest threat in his subtitle: The UN's Stealth Assault on America's Freedom.The corruption of the UN leadership, and its heavy hitter supporters such as Canadian oil billionaire, Maurice Strong, is a litany of hypocrisy on a par with the glitterati of Hollywood. "Do as I say, not as I do." Most readers are aware of Kofi Annan, the pious critic of greedy capitalists, who plunged so deeply into the Oil for Food...

What will it take to knock the United Nations off the pedestal that it occupies in the minds of American internationalists? Certainly not passivity in the face of genocide. The loathsome record of the UN fiddling while innocents burn in Bosnia, Rwanda and now Darfur has not dimmed the affections of the world body’s faithful devotees. Nor do serial rape and institutionalised paedophilia seem to serve as disqualifiers, either. The multi-lateralist faith of the UN cheerleading squad appears to be unshaken by a sordid trail of sexual exploitation left by blue-helmeted peacekeepers from Kosovo to the Congo. In 2001, a...

Taking farmers into confidence on opium eradication Sanjay SuriLONDON, Feb 2 (Pajhwok Afghan News) - Proposals being considered for the widespread destruction of opium plantations could end up destroying the lives of millions of farmers, an independent report warns. The report was released a day ahead of the international conference on Afghanistan that concluded in London on Thursday.The report by The Senlis Council, a drug policy advisory forum, says that in the face of mounting violence and instability in Afghanistan, the focus should be on the real stakeholders in Afghanistan's future. ''The Afghan farming communities must be empowered and included...

At one level, the United Nations is merely the latest variant on the Congress of Vienna held almost two centuries ago—a venue where the great powers sit down to resolve the problems of the world to their mutual satisfaction. Unfortunately, unlike Lord Castlereagh, Prince Metternich and Talleyrand, none of whom would be asked to audition for a “We Are The World” charity fundraising single, the UN has become the repository of all the West’s sappiest illusions of one-worldism. Let me give an example. Nearly three years ago, the space shuttle Columbia crashed, and Katie Couric on NBC’s Today show saluted...

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank has criticized Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for her role in the rejection of two international gay civil rights groups by a United Nations body. Last month, the U.N. Economic and Social Council, a think tank made up of nongovernmental agencies from around the world, voted not to admit the International Lesbian and Gay Association and the Danish Association of Gays and Lesbians. According to 365Gay.com, their application to join other nongovernmental agencies on the council was rejected without a hearing after the United States voted with some of the world's most repressive regimes, including Iran,...

MEXICO CITY - The U.S. Border Patrol arrested a Mexican immigration official who was allegedly trying to help a group of undocumented migrants sneak into the United States, the Mexican government said Sunday. Immigration agent Francisco Javier Gutierrez was arrested at a checkpoint near Alamogordo, N.M., about 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, the Mexican Interior Department said in a news release. Gutierrez had been fired on corruption allegations last year but returned to his job after winning a court case in which he claimed he had been unfairly dismissed, according to the National Immigration Institute.

MONTERREY, MEXICO Families of undocumented Mexican migrants who disappear while sneaking into the United States have had nowhere to turn for information on the loved ones' fates. Now, a new Mexican government program to help with their inquiries. It's a computer database designed to help identify migrants who die crossing the border -- as well as find the living who lose touch with family once they are in the United States. The new program links Mexico's Foreign Relations Department's 35 offices in Mexico and 45 consulates in the United States to an Internet database. In the last decade, more than...

Russia rocks spy world 27/01/2006 11:01 - (SA) Moscow - Russia's main KGB successor agency said on Thursday that a spy gadget hidden in a fake rock that allegedly had been used by a purported British spy ring in Moscow was a highly sophisticated device, as complex as space technology. Sergei Ignatchenko, a spokesperson for the federal security service - the top KGB successor agency known under its Russian acronym FSB - said that the device intended to help exchange information between agents and their handlers had cost tens of millions of British pounds. "It's a space-level technology," Ignatchenko said...

Following a health trend that appears to be brewing up all over the nation, Mayor Judith Rawson has signed a proclamation for the City of Shaker Heights that addresses the issues regarding caffeine intoxication and dependency. In the proclamation the Mayor is "calling upon all Shaker Heights citizens, public and private institutions, business and schools to increase awareness and understanding of the consequences of caffeine consumption." The proclamation also spells out many dangers of caffeine abuse such as heart disease, pancreas and bladder cancer, hypoglycemia, and central nervous system disorders. By getting the word out about the serious dangers of...

Eco-terrorists have struck again. Not in the dead of night, to be pursued by diligent agents of the FBI, but right out in the open, in a public meeting, under the auspices of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On January 24, one of those ubiquitous FDA panels of "outside experts" voted, by an 11 to seven margin, to recommend that FDA ban non-prescription, over-the-counter asthma inhalers, used routinely by millions of asthma-sufferers to control the symptoms of their debilitating condition. As frequently noted in the press, while such recommendations are not binding, they are most often adopted. The...

Globalization and the Nation State eco-logic report Here is an excellent description of "global governance," directly from an official of the United Nations. It was delivered at a seminar at the University of Colorado on April 7, 2001. It describes in detail the "obstacles" to global governance presented by the "nation state." It describes how nation states are to be "rehabilitated" to become administrative units of the United Naitons. It describes how environmental NGOs are "vital" to bringing about this change in the function of nation states. This is a lengthy presentation. If you can't read it all, read the ...

I am very close to finishing my book regarding The Stand at Klamath Falls and the crisis of 2001. Here is the cover art: (Note: In this post I am including the Introduction, the Acknowledgements, and the Epilogue for review and comment.. The book should be completed and to the printers by the 1st of February.) INTRODUCTION It has been almost five years since the memorable and pivotal events surrounding the struggle by farmers in the Klamath Basin of Oregon and California took place. Much has occurred since then that has overshadowed those events…but nothing can erase the importance of...

“Picture a chip the size of a grain of rice that can be implanted in a doctor’s office with a local anesthesia and the site to the injection closed without stitches, that gives detailed information about you to anyone with the right scanning equipment” (Kevin Krolicki, Yahoo! News). Once the chip is implanted in the person, the microchip remains inactive until read with a scanner. Scanners send a low-radio-frequency-signal to the chip, providing the power needed by the microchip to send its unique code back to the scanner with the ID number of the person. After implantation, the device remains...

Funding for the project, more than $369,000, was made possibly by a school safety grant through the National Institute of Justice, a research branch of the U.S. Department of Justice. "The idea is to improve school safety for the children," said Phil Meara, superintendent, Freehold Borough School District, on Monday. "We had a swipe-card system that operated the doors, but the technology was obsolete." ...

North American Cooperative Security Act, H.R.2672 and S. 853, seems to be a grand move toward effectively removing our borders with Canada and Mexico. It also forms security teams containing officers from both U. S. and Mexico, together. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.00853: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HR02672: Comments?

Before Bill Clinton left office, he authorized 2001 an 84% increase in the government's investment in nanotechnology research and development, National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) and made it a top priority. What has not been publicly realized is the meaning of this initiative and the various components that are encompassed. This governmental increase has been combined with non-governemental organizations and grant programs. These NGOs have been creating partnerships with existing governmental agencies and masking initiatives as Federal and State grant reward programs. They are not. Here, at the CDC is an overview of what is called, Healthy People 2010. As you...

Russian state television has broadcast video footage of what it claims are British diplomats spying in Moscow. In the programme, people claiming to be Russian intelligence officers say British agents planted a transmitter in an imitation rock on a Moscow street. The officers say British embassy officials then walked past downloading data from the "rock's" transmitter. The UK Foreign Office said it was "concerned and surprised" at the claims and denied any improper conduct. Carried away The programme said four officials from the British embassy and one Russian citizen, allegedly recruited by the British secret service, downloading classified data...

Former Gov Codey was pretty busy signing many items into NJ law before Corzine stepped up this week. One of the Amendments Codey signed into law is the Model School Nutrition Program. http://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/PolicyQA.pdf I became curious because it seems to be an initiative of the USDA. I always thought it was the FDA that dealt with foods and labeling. Anyway, the School Nutrition Policy is an effort of another initiative called Healthy People 2010. The Model School Nutrition Program is the first implementations of the Healthy People 2010 Project. The USDA, State and Local levels are presenting this as a...

Russia devises protection against color revolutions 18:24 | 24/ 11/ 2005 MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Vladimir Simonov.) - During the July conference with the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, Russian President Vladimir Putin categorically objected to foreign financing of political organizations in Russia. In November the State Duma (lower house of parliament) began the first reading of the bill on amendments to relevant laws. The parliament calls for closer monitoring of more than half a million public, non-governmental and human rights organizations, foundations and associations. Nobody knows the precise figure because the law regards groups without an...

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's government has had a checkered human rights record since it came to power after the 2003 Rose Revolution. The international community has welcomed the steps taken by the new Georgian leaders to refine the legal mechanisms needed to combat rights abuses. But it also blames the government for failing to ensure those mechanisms are properly implemented. Other critics say they are increasingly concerned by the "culture of impunity" they say continues to prevail among law enforcement officers. They blame this feeling of impunity for many rights abuses, including torture. Prague, 22 December 2005 (RFE/RL) -- The...

WHAT will happen after humanitarian organizations leave Darfur? The question grows more relevant daily. For much of 2004, humanitarian groups ramped up their operations in Darfur. These efforts temporarily blocked the genocidal aims of the Sudanese government from coming to full fruition. Throughout 2003 and 2004, government-backed militias terrorized Darfur's African tribal populations, evicting them from their villages and cutting them off from their livelihoods. Many ended up in refugee camps, where only the efforts of humanitarian groups have allowed them to stay alive. Sudan's leaders would like nothing more than to see these groups leave the country, so that disease and malnutrition can finish the...

NGOs, Industry Advocates Will Do Their Best to Influence the Climate Change Agenda Though they don't have official delegate status, many environmental organizations on both sides of the Kyoto debate will be in Montreal to make contacts and get the latest news. Although they won't have seats at the official negotiating table, hundreds of environmentalists, industry advocates and other lobby groups are headed to Montreal to take part in the United Nations Conference on Climate Change as official observers. Morag Carter of the British Columbia-based David Suzuki Foundation says that the outcome of the Montreal conference is very important to...