Free Republic

A U.S. Army simulation game at Summerfest, shut down after complaints to festival officials, was replaced Wednesday by a modified version in which players shoot at still targets instead of virtual human beings. The decision to reopen “America’s Army” was announced late Wednesday afternoon in a joint news release from the Army and Summerfest faxed to the Journal Sentinel on Army stationery. --------------------- This is a followup to an earlier FR post at: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039585/posts

UPDATE: Army shuts down warfare game At the request of Summerfest officials, the U.S. Army on Tuesday removed a virtual urban warfare game that allowed fest-goers as young as 13 to hop into a Humvee simulator and fire machine guns at life-size people displayed on a computer screen. "We're determining it's probably not something that we want to have shown at Summerfest," said John Boler, vice president of sales and marketing, said before the decision was made to request removal of the game, called Virtual Army Experience. The game drew criticism from Peace Action Wisconsin, which called it "totally inappropriate...

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - A young prisoner accused of throwing a grenade that injured two U.S. soldiers and their translator in Afghanistan called the Guantanamo war court illegal and unfair on Wednesday, and then refused to participate further. "I've been tortured. I'm a human being. I have not violated any law," Afghan prisoner Mohammed Jawad said in his first hearing on charges of attempted murder and causing great bodily injury. "I've been brought here illegally . I am innocent. It's an injustice to me," he said through a Pashto translator. His hearing occurred as the United...

Yesterday, the UN Security Council finally reacted to the new intelligence indicating that — surprise! — Iran continues to lie about its work on nuclear technology. After a smuggled laptop showed significant new evidence of Iranian deception on weapons research, including a video of the work being done under the nose of the IAEA, the UNSC took action … in the usual manner. It passed an expansion of sanctions that the Washington Post describes as “watered down” and mostly voluntary: The United Nations imposed new sanctions on Iran yesterday, capping a year of difficult diplomacy that may represent the Bush...

Britain hopes to send a top navy officer to Tehran to deliver a face-saving compromise that will ensure the release of 15 captive British naval personnel, Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported yesterday. The British government will send the officer to Tehran to promise that the Royal Navy will never knowingly enter Iranian waters without permission, according to a plan cited by The Sunday Telegraph. The compromise, which would involve dispatching a navy captain or a commodore to Iran, was raised at a meeting of a senior government crisis committee on Saturday, the newspaper reported. Mullah-run television aired new footage of two...

Best-selling author and Muslim dissident Ibn Warraq argues that freedom of expression is our western heritage and we must defend it against attacks from totalitarian societies. If the west does not stand in solidarity with the Danish, he argues, then the Islamization of Europe will have begun in earnest. The great British philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty, "Strange it is, that men should admit the validity of the arguments for free discussion, but object to their being 'pushed to an extreme'; not seeing that unless the reasons are good for an extreme case, they are not good...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Tens of thousands of angry Muslims marched through Palestinian cities, burning the Danish flag and calling for vengeance Friday against European countries where caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were published. In Washington, the State Department criticized the drawings, calling them "offensive to the beliefs of Muslims." While recognizing the importance of freedom of the press and expression, State Department press officer Janelle Hironimus said these rights must be coupled with press responsibility. "Inciting religious or ethnic hatred in this manner is not acceptable," Hironimus said. "We call for tolerance and respect for all communities and...

(23-year-old soldier faces court martial over refusal to deploy) Pfc. Katherine Jashinski dresses in uniform every day, but instead of drilling for war with fellow soldiers, she spends her time on an Army post in Georgia sweeping floors, scrubbing bathrooms and wondering whether she's headed for jail. The 23-year-old soldier from Wautoma, She disobeyed orders to attend weapons training and refused to deploy to Afghanistan with her unit, moves the military considers criminal. Jashinski does not want to go to Afghanistan, Iraq or anywhere with the Army. She says she disagrees with war of any sort, could never kill anyone,...

B.B. Guns Becoming a Problem for Police Updated: 8:12 AM Nov 17, 2005 NBC 15 Tuesday, a 13 year old Blackhawk Middle School student took a B.B. gun on to a Madison school bus. He shot three people with that gun. All three students had minor injuries. Now, police say it's the latest in a series of serious events related to such a weapon. Madison Police Chief Noble Wray says in the last few weeks there have been a growing number of B–B gun incidents involving children. It's illegal in the city of Madison for children under the age of...

Red vs. Blue: The Aftermath Seattle Weekly readers sound off on the election. I feel like someone has died, and I guess that someone is my country and its shining ideals. The people have voted, cowering in fear and ignorance, and now retreat to their caves with the same mentality . . . playing right into the hands of this despicable bunch that will control our country for another four years. I'm shocked and appalled, fearful, and more than a little ashamed of my countrymen, and I'm worried about what the next four years will bring. Because it's "open season"...

Some of us -- hopefully most of us -- are trying to understand and appreciate the effect our recent election will have on you, the citizens of the rest of the world. As our so-called leaders redouble their efforts to screw you over, please remember that some of us -- hopefully most of us -- are truly, truly sorry. And we'll say we're sorry, even on the behalf of the ones who aren't.

It came as a shock to me when a U.S. truck platoon of the 343rd Quartermaster Company refused orders to hit the road and deliver essential supplies to their comrades. Their reason: the trucks weren’t adequately maintained and the unit didn’t have adequate escort protection for the mission. As the 18-member Army Reserve platoon was placed under arrest for their refusal of a “suicide” mission, the Army rapidly shifted to damage control mode — “It’s an isolated incident . . . we’re investigating . . . the goods have been delivered.” The initial press positions differed. The reports reiterated that...

Milksop Nation By Jack Gordon Economist / Shell Writing Prize 2002 I like thunderstorms. My dog does not. I never feel so impressed by planet Earth, nor so satisfied to inhabit it, as when a proper thunderstorm is in progress. I like the rumbling approach of the great cumulus cloud, the booms and flashes, the way you can actually feel the air pressure drop in the moments just before the first wallop of wind arrives. I like storms even though one tried to kill me a few years ago, late at night on a 36-foot sloop with its full mainsail...