Free Republic

Some of us LOVE getting books, especially for Christmas. There's something special about unwrapping a book on Christmas morning - and enjoy sharing with others. I rarely post anything, (maybe ten articles in 16 years on Free Republic), but thought this would be a good time for book-lovers to share what we received this morning. Merry Christmas!

Some of us LOVE getting books, especially for Christmas. There's something special about unwrapping a book on Christmas morning - and enjoy sharing with others.I rarely post anything (maybe five articles in 15 years on Free Republic), but thought this would be a good time for book-lovers to share what we received this morning.

White House: The White House press secretary, Jay Carney, did not say that Tel Aviv was the capital. But he also would not say it was not, in this semi-comical exchange with reporters: First Reporter: What city does this Administration consider to be the capital of Israel? Jerusalem or Tel Aviv? Carney: Um . . . I haven’t had that question in a while. Our position has not changed. Can we, uh . . . First Reporter: What is the capital? Carney: You know our position. First Reporter: I don’t. Second Reporter: No, no. She doesn’t know, that’s why she...

Last year National Review magazine started running a piece by James Lileks in every issue. I am ashamed to say I had never heard of him, although his humor is quite good (better than P J O'Rourke even). And he is, of course, a conservative.Anybody familiar with his work?

Loony 'troon [Mark Steyn] Readers may recall Ann Coulter's visit to the University of Ottawa a couple of months back. The Provost, François Houle, had threatened her with criminal prosecution before she'd even set foot on Canadian soil, whereupon a mob of Houligans forced the cancellation of her speech. The Canadian Press filed a freedom-of-information request and has discovered that M Houle's fatuous letter was sent at the behest of the University's President, Alan Rock, a former Minister of Justice under the Liberals: "Ann Coulter is a mean-spirited, small-minded, foul-mouthed poltroon," Rock wrote to Houle in a March 18 email....

I had the pleasure of attending Senator Rick Santorum's little speech/press release yesterday in the Senate offices.He really laid out the logic of his Pro-Life stance so even a child could understand it.There was applause and smiles all around.Then Senator Arlen Spector got up, and said he was against Partial Birth Abortions, (OK, that's good), then went on to outline his pro-abortion stance.This, of course, was met with several severe rounds of booing.OK, so a couple of questions about the senior Senator from Pennsylvania:1) Did he not understand the simple logic that Rick Santorum laid out, or maybe he thought...

BAGHDAD TIME [John J. Miller] Just returned from Colorado Springs, where I spent a couple of days with the good people at Air Force Space Command. Part of my itinerary included a gee-whiz tour of Cheyenne Mountain, where NORAD keeps its underground command center. This is the room you've seen portrayed in films, when generals track ballistic missiles approaching the United States and yell into red phones things like "Get me the president!" In real life, it's smaller than you might expect--though it does have a few big-screen monitors, a bunch of computers, and guys in green jump suits. There...

Washington Update - October 31, 2002 From: Ken Connor, President Date: October 31, 2002 - Thursday To: Friends of Family Research Council Obituary: PBA Ban R.I.P. Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (H.R. 4965), 1995-2002. Just seven years after it was first introduced in Congress, the Partial-Birth Abortion ban expired on the floor of the United States Senate at the close of the body's 107th term. Among other things, mourners say the short-lived legislation would have been instrumental in preventing the death of millions of nearly-born infants. The PBA ban, as it was known to politicians and advocates alike, had been approved...

BOMBSHELL IN BRIDGEPORT: [Rod Dreher] Acting on a request by The New York Times, a judge in Bridgeport, Conn., has agreed to unseal documents in the priest sex-abuse cases handled by then-bishop Edward Egan, who was bitterly criticized by victims of Bridgeport priests for the way he handled these cases, and treated them in litigation. The documents will be made public a week from today. A priest who has personal knowledge of what's in those files told me recently, "If the judge unseals them, Cardinal Egan will find himself in as much trouble with the people of New York as...

PORTLAND, Ore. — Homeland defense may have a serious kink in its West Coast armor. Portland police refuse to cooperate with the U.S. Justice Department's request for help interviewing men who entered the U.S. since Jan. 1, 2000 from countries that have been linked to the Sept. 11 hijackers or were waystations for the Al Qaeda terror network. Portland's police department claims this part of the Justice Department's sweeping terrorism investigation would violate state law, making Portland the first city to refuse to cooperate with the anti-terrorism effort. The Justice Department had distributed a list of 5,000 men ages 18 ...

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Planned Parenthood of South Carolina asked a federal judge Tuesday to block the state from issuing "Choose Life" license plates, saying the new tags are unconstitutional. Attorney Peter Murphy, who filed the lawsuit, said it's a violation of free speech for the state to provide a forum for one political view without providing a chance to express opposing views. "The fact that only one choice is being provided by the state is exactly what's wrong," Murphy said.

Been here since last year, this is my first post, so please be "tolerant" and don't flame me if I've done it wrong.Now, this is for "historical" reference only - I don't want Federal lurkers to get the wrong idea. If we were in the same situation now (2001) that we were in in 1774, and I chose to prepare myself in the event we needed to form a militia, (like, say in Lexington MA, circa 1774), which combat rifle should I acquire?Obviously my shotgun or handgun would not suffice, (and my old 30-30 was OK for combat maybe a ...