Free Republic

TALIBAN SPOKESMAN: 'Anyone who knows about Islam knows that stoning is in the Koran, and that it is Islamic law. There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet. They want to bring foreign thinking to this country' WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT Horrific video footage has emerged of Taliban insurgents stoning a couple to death for alleged adultery in northern Afghanistan. Hundreds of villagers can be seen on the video standing around as the woman, Siddqa, is buried up to her waist in a four foot hole in the ground. Two mullahs pass sentence...

It's bipartisan date night on the floor of the House and invitations are flying. But not all are being accepted. House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has rejected an invitation from Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., to sit together at the President's State of the Union Address. Pelosi moments ago announced that she had already extended an invitation to Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, of Maryland, who also happens to be a Republican. Cantor was shot down in a tweet from the former speaker. "I thank @GOPLeader for his #SOTU offer, but I invited my friend Rep. Bartlett from MD yesterday &...

Reigning Miss USA Rima Fakih has spoken out against the Ground Zero mosque. Fakih, 24, is the first Muslim winner of the Miss USA contest and is preparing for the Miss Universe Pageant, scheduled for August 23 in Las Vegas. "I totally agree with President Obama with the statement on Constitutional rights of freedom of religion," the New York Post quoted Fakih as telling Inside Edition during an interview. "I also agree that it shouldn't be so close to the World Trade Center. We should be more concerned with the tragedy than religion," she added.

Many Republicans are still searching for that ideal 2012 presidential candidate – someone who can fire up both the fiscal and social conservative wings of the GOP while luring swing voters. And, in recent months, the chatter has often turned to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Bush apparently sought to quiet the murmurs today, telling a Kentucky TV reporter that he isn’t running. Bush has said that since leaving office in January 2007 that he would focus on making money and advocating for education reforms, which were a centerpiece of his tenure as governor. Even as polls show that he...

The Center for Security Policy today unveiled a powerful 1-minute video opposing the construction of a 13-story, $100 million mega-mosque near the hallowed ground of the World Trade Center. The Twin Towers were destroyed on 9/11 by adherents to the barbaric, supremacist and totalitarian program authoritative Islam calls "Shariah." And the imam who is promoting this mosque has publicly declared that he seeks to "bring Shariah to America." As the ad makes clear, Shariah's followers have long built mosques on the most sacred sites of those they have conquered - for example, on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, at Constantinople/Istanbul's St. Sophia...

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) is taking a pass on the House Tea Party Caucus. The second-ranking House Republican told POLITICO on Tuesday that he's not joining the group started by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) because he sees it as more of an organic, grass-roots movement rather than a Washington entity. Cantor praised Bachmann for providing “another avenue for people to have their voices heard" but said he thinks the tea party is better left outside Washington. “I met with several of groups that operated under that moniker in Virginia; they’re not all uniform,” Cantor said in his third-floor...

Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho), the only member of his party to receive the backing of the Tea Party Express rejected the group's endorsement Monday citing the controversy over a blog post written by one of its leaders Mark Williams.

Rick Perry's been mentioned in some circles as a possible future GOP Presidential candidate, but the party's voters in his own state aren't too keen on the idea. Only 14% of Texas Republicans think Perry should run for President in 2012 while 63% think he should not and 23% are unsure. That level of interest compares unfavorably to the desire of Louisiana Republicans (48%) for Bobby Jindal to make a White House bid and South Carolina Republicans (24%) for Jim DeMint to do the same. Tested as an actual candidate Perry finishes tied for 5th at 8% with fellow Texan...

In an interesting development the House Armed Services Committee unanimously approved legislation that would block Gitmo, Illinois from coming to fruition. In fact, they’ve blocked any Gitmo terrorist from being transferred anywhere into the interior of the USA. This is a blow to Obama’s desires to shut Gitmo down and to bring terrorists to a prison near you. Wednesday the committee approved a defense bill for 2011 that includes language to prevent moving detainees into any US facility inside our borders and also blocked any funding to even study the possibility.-snip-Amusingly, the New York Times tried to spin this as...

In what may be one of the most shocking stories of the year, a man in China died after having an eel inserted into his rectum. Doctors who treated the victim in the Sichuan Province, did not know how the man met his demise until they performed an autopsy and discovered an Asian swamp eel up his backside.

Both Maine Senators declined the White House's invitation to attend President Obama's event in their home state today, according to White House spokesman Bill Burton. Burton said the Maine Republicans decided not to attend Obama's healthcare speech in Portland, Maine. A spokeswoman for Snowe said the senator "had a full day of events already planned today long before we learned of the President's trip to Maine last Friday." Meanwhile, Collins is overseas visiting U.S. Central Command in Qatar, and her office says it's not clear she was invited in the first place. Of course, both Snowe and Collins opposed the...

Republican Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina touts her business resume, particularly her years as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, as the reason GOP voters should nominate her to face Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. But this morning, an heir to one of the company’s founders issued a slashing rebuttal, arguing that Fiorina nearly drove the technology firm into the ground. “I know a little bit about Carly Fiorina, having watched her almost destroy the company my grandfather founded,” wrote Arianna Packard, the granddaughter of David Packard, in a letter posted on www.redstate.com. Fiorina is in a tough three-way GOP race to take on...

LOS ANGELES—The Smithsonian Institution has rejected a donation of the suit O.J. Simpson wore when he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend. The decision announced Tuesday comes a day after a judge approved the donation as the solution to a long court battle over the clothing. Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas says the suit is not appropriate for the museum's collection.

BOSTON (AP) - Joseph P. Kennedy III, the son of a former congressman and the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, said Sunday he had decided against running for the U.S. House from Massachusetts this year. Kennedy told The Associated Press that he wants to remain in his new job as a prosecutor in Cape Cod's Barnstable County. The 29-year-old Stanford University and Harvard Law graduate has held the post only for eight months.

Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who has recently been under attack by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and lavished with praise by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), is ruling out a 2012 run for president. Over the weekend, Ryan was singled out for praise by Palin during her interview with “Fox News Sunday.” "“[W]e have some strong -- some young Turks in this party,” said Palin. “Paul Ryan -- I’m very impressed with Paul Ryan. . . . He’s good. Man, he is sharp. He is smart, articulate. And he is passionate about these commonsense solutions that America has...

Recently rebuffed in its attempt to hold the 2016 Summer Games in Chicago, the U.S. Olympic Committee does not plan to enter a U.S. city in the race for the 2020 Summer Games and remains uncertain about when it will next attempt to bring a Games to U.S. soil, USOC Chief Executive Scott Blackmun said Saturday morning. "The cold and hard reality is Chicago spent approximately $80 million on its bid," Blackmun said. "It's going to be difficult to get U.S. cities to continue to invest to that level unless they think they have a realistic chance of winning. The...

U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy's decision to leave Congress makes it clearer than ever that Joe Kennedy made the wrong decision when he decided not to run for the U.S. Senate. With the Rhode Island Kennedy's announcement that he will not seek re-election, there will be no Kennedy in Congress for the first time since 1946, when the late John F. Kennedy was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Kennedy family critics -- and Republicans -- may rejoice at the idea that there will now be a Kennedy-free Congress. But the fact is that whatever one thought of the late...

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, issued a statement late Saturday in response to President Obama's Friday invite to a bipartisan Health Care Summit at the White House. Boehner and other Republican leaders are complaining that the event is simply political gamesmanship and that Obama is planning to have a health care deal finalized before anyone even sits down at the meeting, which is scheduled to take place on Feb. 25. Here's Boehner's statement: A productive bipartisan discussion should begin with a clean sheet of paper. We now know that instead of starting the 'bipartisan' health care 'summit' on Feb....

Meg Whitman is running for the California governorship. Obviously, Whitman very much wants Californians to cast a vote for her this year. And then, apparently, she wants to stop Californians from casting a vote on much of anything else in the future. Repeatedly, the billionaire former CEO of eBay has attacked California's ballot initiative and referendum process. Last May, right after California voters clobbered a number of issues referred to the ballot by legislators, measures that would have raised taxes and played three card monte with parts of state spending, Whitman told an audience, "In many ways, the proposition process...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Super Bowl network CBS rejected an ad Friday from ManCrunch.com, a gay dating Web site. "After reviewing the ad, which is entirely commercial in nature, our standards and practices department decided not to accept this particular spot," said CBS spokeswoman Shannon Jacobs. "We are always open to working with a client on alternative submissions." "It's straight-up discrimination," said Elissa Buchter, spokeswoman for the Toronto-based dating site.