Free Republic

FL mom uses pressure washer on toddler; caught on tape Security video of mom using pressure washer on toddler There is some disturbing video coming out of Florida of a mother spraying her daughter with a high-powered hose. She has now turned herself in to police to explain what happened. Chilling surveillance tape of a mother and her child at a car wash in Orlando shows a mother turning a high powered hose on her 2 ½-year old daughter as punishment, police say. "It looks like the girl probably had an accident - urinated or spilled a drink." Police say,...

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resisted pressure Sunday to launch a broad military operation against Gaza rocket squads, a day after an 8-year-old boy lost his leg in a rocket attack on a much-targeted Israeli town. The ongoing rocket barrages and Israeli military attacks threaten to scuttle U.S.-backed efforts to prod Israel and the Palestinians toward a final peace agreement by the end of the year. Israel has warned it would not implement any peace deal if the violence continues. Yet, senior military and government officials oppose a broad Gaza invasion, for fear dozens of soldiers and Palestinian...

"What are you doing about Bush's trip here?" the young man asked me as he emerged from the cave. For me, it was a surprising question. Or rather, the source of the question surprised me. I had just arrived at Homesh to do guard duty and help the young pioneers who have tenaciously maintained a Jewish presence in the settlement destroyed by Israel three summers ago. These young people are the absolute cream of the idealistic crop. Every time that the army comes to expel them, it also destroys everything that it can get its hands on. The only place...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26, 2007 – Having been ejected from Baghdad and its environs during the surge of forces, al Qaeda in Iraq is attempting to re-establish itself in regions north of the capital city, a senior U.S. military officer posted in Iraq said today. Yet, while al Qaeda scrambles to reorganize itself, the terrorist group is being pressured by a triple threat consisting of coalition and Iraqi security forces and local concerned citizens’ groups, Army Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, commander...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2007 – While al Qaeda in Iraq continues to be the main threat there, military officials are reporting that recent targeted operations by coalition and Iraqi forces, along with attitude shifts by local citizens against the group, are taking a toll on insurgent efforts. In fact, there are indications that some al Qaeda fighters are leaving Iraq because they are dissatisfied with top leadership efforts, Army Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, deputy chief of staff for strategic effects for Multinational Force Iraq, said in a briefing today. Others are giving up valuable intelligence once captured, discussing...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 4, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today pointed to the new national intelligence estimate as evidence that non-military means are the best way for the United States to deal with Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. Responding to a reporter’s query during a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai here, Gates said the estimate, released yesterday, also underscores the need for the international community to continue pressuring Iran not to restart its nuclear weapons program. “If anything, the new national estimate validates the administration’s strategy of bringing diplomatic and economic pressures to bear on...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi operations are keeping up the pressure on al Qaeda insurgents in Iraq, a senior U.S. military official told reporters in Baghdad today. Although al Qaeda in Iraq “retains the capacity” to replace a series of leaders killed or captured in recent months during engagements against coalition troops and Iraqi security forces, the terrorist group clearly is under duress, said Navy Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. Several al Qaeda chieftains operating in Tarmiyah, Mosul, Baghdad and other areas across Iraq have been killed or detained during anti-insurgent actions...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2007 – The best way to confront Iran’s nuclear weapons program is through international diplomatic pressure, and military force should remain a last resort, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today at Kansas State University. Gates told participants in the Landon Lecture series in Manhattan, Kan., he supports diplomatic pressure to get Iran to abandon its nuclear efforts. “We are engaged in diplomacy with Iran,” he said. “More importantly, we are engaged in diplomacy with a number of countries around the world and trying to secure their support for economic sanctions to bring pressure on the...

George Bush believes that Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination, but then be defeated by whoever the Republican candidate may be. He also says that Hillary is prepared to handle the "pressure" of a presidential race and the White House. No. It's not an endorsement. It's just an acknowledgement that anyone "married" to Bill Clinton has to either eventually pack some luggage and buy a plane ticket, or they have to learn to deal with pressure. Baby-faced prison inmates learn to deal with pressure, that doesn't qualify them to serve as our Commander in Chief.

Late-Term Abortionist's Patient Drops Bombshell Testimony Of Illegal, Coerced Abortion TOPEKA, Kansas, September 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A former patient of abortionist George R. Tiller gave jaw-dropping testimony before a joint interim legislative committee Friday, telling the detailed story of her late-term abortion experience that, as described, violated the Kansas ban on such abortions at nearly every turn. "This is perhaps the most explosive testimony that has every been heard at the Capitol. Based on this testimony alone, Tiller's medical license should not survive to the end of the day," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "We demand that the...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorAugust 31, 2007Wellington, New Zealand (LifeNews.com) -- The leading pro-life group in New Zealand is calling on that nation's parliament to draft legislation to make it illegal for people or groups to pressure or coerce a woman into having an abortion. The measure is similar to legislation some states in the United States have considered.Right to Life New Zealand cites the bill the Michigan legislature approved as evidence that this kind of legislation is not without precedent.The group says it is "trying to establish procedures to make sure that a woman is not intimidated into an abortion...

WASHINGTON, July 30, 2007 – Operations in Iraq are putting pressure on insurgents, keeping them off balance and eliminating their safe havens, a senior spokesman there said today. “We have established a degree of tactical momentum … and will continue to build on that momentum,” Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, deputy spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, said during an in-country media roundtable this morning. “We continue to pressure former sanctuaries in the Baghdad belts -- around Ramadi and in and around Baqubah -- denying (al Qaeda in Iraq) freedom of movement and disrupting extremist secret cells while increasing the...

The longer state legislators wait, the worse the state's budget picture seems to get. With lawmakers nearing a stalemate on the state's overdue budget, revenue estimates released Friday show California has collected $800 million less in tax money than expected in recent months. Analysts say the size of the drop raises questions about whether the budget that lawmakers are already having trouble balancing is based on overly rosy revenue projections. Republicans - already holding out on the $140 billion spending plan supported by Democrats - seized on the data, saying it proves the Legislature must do more to cut spending...

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2007 – The troop surge has become “a surge of operations,” and coalition forces are in the early stages of a difficult fight, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman told reporters in Baghdad today. Coalition and Iraqi troops working together have led successful operations recently in Baqubah, Mosul, Anbar and Diyala provinces, and north of Baghdad, Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner said. “We are on Day 12 of Operation Phantom Thunder, the Multinational Corps’ offensive to simultaneously increase pressure in and around Baghdad. This has been, and will continue to be, a tough fight; we are in the...

In Battle for U.S. Carbon Caps, Eyes and Efforts Focus on China By Steven Mufson Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, June 6, 2007; Page D01 Supporters of limits on greenhouse gases are betting that the road to U.S. climate-change legislation runs through China. This year, China is expected to surpass the United States as the leading producer of greenhouse gases, and one reason the Bush administration has declined to enact emissions limits is its concern about leaving China unchecked. So a variety of lawmakers, environmentalists and business leaders are looking at ways to engage China in the battle against climate...

Sadr raises pressure for US to withdraw By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 2:20am BST 17/04/2007 The United States faced a fresh challenge to its presence in Iraq yesterday when supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr's radical Shia Muslim movement quit the Baghdad government to demand a deadline for withdrawal of its troops. By pulling out of the ruling Shia Alliance coalition, Sadr has moved a step closer to outright confrontation with the American-led military effort to stabilise Iraq. A Shia militiaman wears an identity card with a picture of Moqtada al-Sadr on the back The loss of Sadr's followers,...

Cocoa But Not Tea Linked To Blood Pressure Reduction A German study suggests there is evidence that cocoa but not tea is linked to blood pressure reduction. The study is published in the American Medical Association journal Archives of Internal Medicine. Dr Dirk Taubert and colleagues from the Department of Pharmacology at the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany, reviewed the medical literature for dietary effects of cocoa and black and green tea on blood pressure over the last 40 years. They specifically searched for trials involving 10 or more adults that examined the before and after effects of consuming cocoa,...

Iraqi Soldiers Pressure Insurgents in Western Baghdad Soldiers focus on a top-three list of insurgents who operate in the area. By U.S. Army Master Sgt. Rick Brown MNSTC-I Public Affairs BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 8, 2007 -- As the new year dawns bright, soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, are stepping up pressure on insurgent leaders in the Karkh section of Baghdad. The soldiers of the 3rd Battalion take the responsibility of protecting all citizens, both Shia and Sunni, very seriously. The leadership, working with intelligence gained from the residents of the neighborhoods, have developed...

I told you people yesterday and the day before of a movie, a mini-series running on ABC on September 10th and 11th, called The Path to 9/11 and I told you that I have the DVDs. I also told you because I am in touch -- I am poor when I'm in New York -- I do not have a DVD player. I don't. My apartment's got an old media room in it, it's got a laser disk player in it, but it doesn't have a DVD. Well, actually it has a DVD player in it, but the TV doesn't...

/begin my translation China to Cut Oil Shipment to N. Korea China has cut oil shipment to N. Korea, in order to prevent N. Korea's nuclear test, according to local sources in China on Aug. 26."These days the amount of oil shipped to N. Korea from here has substantially dropped,", said an employee at Basan Oil Repository, located 20km(12.5 miles) away from Dandong, a Chinese city sitting next to Sino-Chinese border. The repository stores oil sent from Daqing Oil Field. Crude oil stored here is sent to the shore of Yalu River 10 km(6.25miles), from which it is shipped to N. Korea. The worker...