Free Republic

Warren Buffett hasn’t found a lot to like in the stock market recently.In each of the last six quarters, Buffett has sold more stocks for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) than he bought. Last quarter, he sold off a big chunk of his Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) position and the entirety of his Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA) investment. All told, he sold nearly $20 billion worth of stocks from Berkshire’s portfolio, and he bought less than $3 billion.Buffett lamented investment opportunities for Berkshire are few and far between as the company grows bigger. With a market cap of about $877 billion, there...

Does Francis's "Right-hand Man" Parra have a "Sexual Predation against Seminarians, Adultery, and even a Deadly Sex Game...[that] 'might even be a Scandal Surpassing that of McCarrick'"? Today, the Call Me Jorge website asked "What could be so important that Francis interrupted his weekly adulation [Audience] session?"Pope gets a phone call during the Audience. Haven’t seen this before. Then he quickly leaves and says he will be back. pic.twitter.com/npCuPzdnxP— The Catholic Traveler (@MountainButorac) August 11, 2021 It was Abp. Mons. Edgar Robinson Peña Parra, Substitute for the Secretariat of State, who was involved in the recent scandal of mismanagement...

The polarizing topic of gun control in the U.S. is once again in the national and world spotlight as gun manufacturer PARA USA calls for a boycott of the film Taken 3. The film’s lead actor, Liam Neeson, told a reporter last week that he felt there were too many guns in America. During the interview he added, “Every week now we’re picking up a newspaper and seeing ‘Yet another few kids have been killed in schools.’” While the debate over the constitutionality of gun control laws rages, Neeson’s comment exemplifies the critical view of the rest of the world...

Gen David Petraeus, the commander of Nato troops in Afghanistan, has hailed a Parachute Regiment operation involving a precision attack that killed 15 Taliban but left two civilans unharmed. Two Afghan civilians survived unscathed as bombs and bullets rained down on Taliban during a "precision strike" campaign being run by the 3rd Bn The Parachute Regiment. Gen Petraeus undertook an urgent fact-finding visit to the Paras and praised the attacks as "the most impressive way to do business". The American commander has adopted the mantra "ruthless prosecution of targets" since arriving in Afghanistan but has faced obstacles from subordinates worried...

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Former Democratic Assemblywoman Nicole Parra has a new job in the Schwarzenegger administration coordinating economic development. Parra will earn $128,124 directing the governor's regional development issues in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. Parra, who termed out last year, earned headlines when assembly Speaker Karen Bass evicted her from her Statehouse office for not supporting her party's budget proposal. Parra, from Hanford, represented the 30th Assembly District from 2002 to 2008. After terming out, she supported Republican Danny Gilmore in his successful bid to succeed her.

The summer of 2006 was a violent time in Helmand province. Now, just 18 months after they went through some of the most intense fighting in decades, the Parachute Regiment is back in southern Afghanistan. The 16 Air Assault Brigade has taken over Nato command in Helmand from 52 Brigade and they arrived to a different war - still dangerous but in a different way. Then they fought for their lives, surrounded in small town centres and attacked day and night by a determined Taleban force more numerous and well armed than commanders expected. The British forces were never supposed...

It is with deep sadness that the MOD must confirm the death of a British soldier from the Parachute Regiment in Iraq on Wednesday 5 September 2007. The soldier sustained fatal injuries in the early hours of Wednesday while conducting routine operations in support of ongoing Coalition activity in Iraq. Notification of the Serviceman's death has been withheld for operational security reasons.

A PARATROOPER who came under a ferocious hail of Taliban gunfire as he saved the life of a wounded American sergeant is the first British soldier serving in Afghanistan to be recommended for the Victoria Cross.Private Peter McKinley, 21, a trained first aid soldier, endured 15 minutes of sustained attack from heavy machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades as he treated the US soldier during one of the most intense battles experienced by the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment. Army commanders have described McKinley’s rescue effort in Helmand province as a “massive display of bravery” and have put his name forward to...

Muslim accosts injured Para in hospital By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 02/10/2006) A paratrooper wounded in Afghanistan was threatened by a Muslim visitor to the British hospital where he is recovering. Seriously wounded soldiers have complained that they are worried about their safety after being left on wards that are open to the public at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham. On one occasion a member of the Parachute Regiment, still dressed in his combat uniform after being evacuated from Afghanistan, was accosted by a Muslim over the British involvement in the country. "You have been killing my Muslim brothers in...

A British Paratrooper killed while trying to rescue wounded comrades from a minefield in Afghanistan could be in line for a posthumous medal for gallantry, Army sources have revealed.Cpl Mark Wright is among 200 British soldiers likely to be recommended for bravery medals, including 'several' who could receive the ultimate recognition of the Victoria Cross. Corporal Wright ran into the unmarked minefield to try to help badly wounded fellow soldiers after two of them triggered explosions, but after helping to treat their wounds and calling for a helicopter to winch them to safety he stood on a mine himself. He...

Jabron Hashmi, the British Muslim soldier killed fighting the Taliban British Muslim victim Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi. Photograph: Mod Crown Copyright/PA Jabron Hashmi was born in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, just under an hour from the Afghan border. Last Saturday, after a journey that had taken him from Peshawar to Birmingham, and from civilian life to the military, he died on the other side of the border in Sangin, southern Afghanistan, the first British Muslim soldier to be killed since the "war on terror" began five years ago. The family of L/Cpl Hashmi, killed alongside Corporal Peter Thorpe in...

Paras' show of force brings new Shia threat of bloodshed By David Blair in Majar-al-Kabir (Filed: 30/06/2003) Freshly-painted banners denouncing the British Army hung from the sunbaked walls of Majar-al-Kabir yesterday when Iraqis gave warning of more bloodshed if soldiers return to carry out house-to-house searches for weapons. "Why did you shed the blood of innocent unarmed people?" asked one banner, painted in both Arabic and English, recalling the deaths of at least four Iraqis last week. Another read: "Where is the freedom of Iraq? Is it patrolling military forces and searching houses?" On Saturday, 500 soldiers from 1 Bn...