Free Republic

A federal grand jury in Spokane has added a federal hate crime to the charges pending against Kevin William Harpham, an alleged white supremacist suspected of planting a backpack bomb along the city's Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade route. Harpham is named in a new four-count indictment issued late Thursday. It adds two counts, one relating to a violation of the federal Hate Crimes Act and the other accusing him of attempting to use an explosive device in connection with the hate crime. Harpham faces up to life in prison if convicted. He had earlier pleaded not guilty to...

Let me start by acknowledging the legitimate skepticism of many Gateway Pundit commentators that any justice will come out of John Durham’s work. You have been promised the moon in the past and instead received a flaming bag of dog poop. But let’s accept the fact that yesterday’s news that DNC lawyer Michael Sussmann was going to be indicted turned out to be true. Charlie Brown got to kick the football this time. So what does this mean? Is it a meaningless gesture or the first domino to fall in a line of dominoes? I think this is just the...

I have spoken with several friends who are democrats over the past 3 days and even they have had enough. To a person they believe this is 1984 and it's wrong. If there is a single topic that unites all of us it's this. The whole thing is bunk The givernment is setting themselves up for something they won't be able to control once that fuse is lit or that fateful day they meet us "On The Green"

Brigades loyal to Najaf cleric split from Popular Mobilisation Forces after efforts to wrest control from Iran-backed commanders fail. An attempt by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani to wrest control of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces from Iranian-backed factions has ended with the national Shia leader giving a green light instead for the dismantling of the militia alliance, military commanders and officials have told Middle East Eye. That process began last week when four armed factions associated with Sistani, the most senior cleric in the holy city of Najaf, were disengaged from the Popular Mobilisation Authority, which oversees the PMFs, and placed...

Rex Harrison, my little guy, has passed at the age of 14. An believable friendly little guy, for a Cocker Spaniel, he loved to give kisses, love and bring joy on even the worst day. He was a funny dog who would, like a monkey, attempt to get the nits out of my hair. Never had a dog do that. He was always patient, observant and wanted to whatever I wanted to do. We called him Rex Harrison due to his black coat, with a streak of white in his chest and white paws...Like a tuxedo. He was always quite...

Throughout the summer, Americans for Tax Reform will be highlighting the most outrageous new powers that the IRS will have under the Obamacare law. According to a report from GAO, the IRS is tasked with nearly four dozen new powers under that law. Each day, one will be selected for a brief review. Thanks to Obamacare, you can no longer buy non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines with your health savings account (HSA) or workplace flex account (FSA).

The federal government has no strategy to counter the Muslim Brotherhood at home or abroad, according to the chairwoman of the House panel that oversees counterintelligence and terrorism. “The federal government does not have a comprehensive or consistent strategy for dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliated groups in America,” Rep. Sue Wilkins Myrick said during a hearing Wednesday. “Nor does it have a strategy for dealing with the Brotherhood in Egypt or the greater Middle East.” The North Carolina Republican is chairwoman of the House Intelligence subcommittee on terrorism, human intelligence, analysis and counterintelligence. Mrs. Myrick said at...

"When we promised during the campaign change you can believe in,it wasn't change you can believe in in 18 months," President Obama said. "It was change you can believe in but were going to have to work for it."

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama achieved a milestone Wednesday when a Senate committee approved a plan to revamp the U.S. health care system. The Senate panel's action, which attracted no Republican votes, came as the president's campaign organization rolled out television ads to build support for his top domestic priority. Obama met with Republicans at the White House in search of an elusive bipartisan compromise on his call to expand coverage to the nearly 50 million uninsured Americans as well as restrain spending increases in health care. But the 13-10 party-line vote in the Senate health committee signaled a...

(IsraelNN.com) British MP George Galloway met on Wednesday with Ismail Haniyeh, chief of the Hamas-led PA of Gaza, the Associated Press reports. The location of the meeting was undisclosed. In addition, Haniyeh’s office claims that the meeting actually took place on Tuesday. Haniyeh has tried to conceal his movement ever since the IDF began Operation ‘Cast Lead’ against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Jason Atkins is going to court to fight for the right to webcast cockfights. By KEVIN SITES, FRI SEP 7, 4:38 PM PDT MIAMI - Ask Jason Atkins about the Michael Vick dogfighting scandal, and his reaction is anger and disgust. "I just thought, you know, [he's] gotta be the worst criminal I've ever seen," he says. 'Girls and Guns' is among the features on Jason Atkins' ToughSportsLive Web site. Animal rights advocates might find that response surprising, because Atkins's Web network, ToughSportsLive.com, features live cockfighting from Puerto Rico — which, while legal there, is banned now in all 50...

By unwittingly angering Muslims with his comments on Islam, Pope Benedict XVI has shown that he has yet to shake off his academic theological roots and master the global media machine with the same deftness as his predecessor. In clinging to theology and orthodoxy, the bookish Benedict has shown little regard for media management in getting his message across, unlike the communications-savvy John Paul II. Benedict railed Muslims when he quoted a 14th-century Christian emperor who said the Prophet Mohammed had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things, portraying the Islam he founded as a religion which endorses violence,...

Israel Says It Has Captured Guerrillas Wednesday August 2, 2006 4:01 AM By HUSSEIN DAKROUB Associated Press Writer BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Israel poured up to 10,000 armored troops into south Lebanon Tuesday, and separately dropped helicopter-borne commandos deep into the eastern Bekaa Valley where they raided a Hezbollah-run hospital and fought pitched battles with guerrillas, in a major escalation of the three-week-old war. After the raid on the ancient city of Baalbek ended, the Israeli military said it had captured some guerrillas and hit others. The military statement said all its soldiers returned unharmed to their base, but gave...

May 30) — The graduating senior looked unassuming recently as he strummed his guitar on the campus of Harvard University. But he was no average student, and it was no average song. Rivers Cuomo, 35, is lead singer of the band Weezer , and he was strumming "Beverly Hills," a recent chart-topping, Grammy-nominated hit. Six months ago, after completing an 80-city tour in support of his latest platinum album, Cuomo traded in pop hooks for books -- and five-star hotels for a 14-by-9-foot dorm room. "At first, I was a little nervous about living in dorms," Cuomo said, "because I...

Ancient American Skeleton Has European DNA Link[Original headline: Sinkhole Skeleton Skeleton’s DNA Could Shed Light on American Migrations] Vanlue, Ohio [AP] — The discovery of prehistoric tools from an Ohio cave is one of several finds that has scientists questioning the identity of settlers thought to have moved in 11,000 years ago. A just completed excavation of Sheriden Cave in Wyandot County, 100 miles southwest of Cleveland, revealed tools made from flaked stone and bone. The items are scheduled to go on display next year at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Kent State University archaeologist Kenneth Tankersley, who led...

FDA Statement FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Statement April 20, 2006 Media Inquiries: FDA Press Office, 301-827-6242 Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA Inter-Agency Advisory Regarding Claims That Smoked Marijuana Is a Medicine Claims have been advanced asserting smoked marijuana has a value in treating various medical conditions. Some have argued that herbal marijuana is a safe and effective medication and that it should be made available to people who suffer from a number of ailments upon a doctor's recommendation, even though it is not an approved drug. Marijuana is listed in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the most restrictive schedule. The...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2006 – The federal response to Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that the Defense Department is one of the only federal departments capable of playing a critical role in the nation's response to catastrophic events, a government report released today stated. In September, President Bush asked Fran Townsend, his homeland security adviser, to conduct a review about the federal response to Katrina. The result is a report titled "The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned," which outlines what was learned from the government's response to the hurricane and how to better prepare and respond to future domestic...

'Europe has no hope of eradicating bird flu' By David Rennie and David Derbyshire (Filed: 23/02/2006) Europe has "no hope of eradicating" the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in the foreseeable future, now that there are infected wild birds across the European Union, a senior bird flu expert said yesterday. Although the virulent strain of avian influenza arrived inside the EU less than two weeks ago, it is now a fact of life, European Commission officials said. The warning came as EU officials approved plans by France and the Netherlands to vaccinate millions of birds against the disease. The British...

MADRID, Spain - A Colombian woman has given birth to a 15-pound baby, the largest in 40 years in Madrid's main maternity hospital. The 38-year-old mother, identified only as Rosario, had gestational diabetes _ which can cause women to give birth to larger-than-usual babies _ and a track record. Her first daughter, now nine, weighed 10.2 pounds at birth. The new baby's father, Juan Carlos, said that with another woman he had a daughter that weighed 17 pounds at birth. "They told me it is genetic," he told reporters. The proud parents showed off their daughter Arancha on Monday. She...

Cold and Deep: Antarctica's Lake Vostok has two big neighbors Sid Perkins GREAT LAKES. Lake Vostok and the newly described 90°E and Sovetskaya Lakes lie beneath a kilometers-thick blanket of ice. The black square in the inset shows the outline of this satellite image on a map of Antarctica; the cross indicates the South Pole. R.E. Bell, et al. Trapped beneath Antarctica's kilometers-thick ice sheet are two bodies of water that rival North America's Great Lakes, new analyses suggest. The geological setting of these huge, unfrozen lakes hints that they may harbor ecosystems that have been isolated for millions of...