Free Republic

APRIL FOOL'S! How could I ever leave such wonderful friends, and the greatest forum on the net? Hugs to you all! Now, go trick some other unsuspecting friends.

Berkeley is really sorry. It turns out that it didn't want to pick a fight with the Marines. More precisely, it turns out that it didn't want to be seen as picking a fight with the Marines, because all the right-wing zanies in the blogo-radio-sphere will have something to rant about. And they need ammunition just now. It's a bad season for the right wing. None of the candidates left standing adheres to the conservative orthodox line in every matter. The right-wingers are realizing that there are lots of Latinos who vote, and a nice anti-immigration rally will not play...

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt faced frail men in dark fedoras and children in bright skullcaps Tuesday and apologized for Belgian authorities' involvement in the deportation of Jews to Nazi extermination camps during World War II. "Only by recognizing the responsibility of the authorities at the time, can we build a future where this will never happen again," he told a gathering of Jewish and government officials before unveiling a plaque to commemorate Belgians who saved Jews from the Holocaust. Belgium's Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, 2nd right, and Belgium's Defense Minister Andre Flahaut, right, inaugurate a remembrance plate during a...

Latin America: Does Britain want more trouble from its enemies? Then why does it embolden them by apologizing on the 25th anniversary of Argentina's Falklands invasion for the loss of life in that war? The 25th anniversary of Argentina's invasion of the Falklands should be a time of reflection and resolve, given the new threat Britain faces with 15 of its sailors held hostage in Iran. But the British government's tribute to the attack on Sunday was downright pathetic.

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wrote an impassioned front-page apology to his furious wife. Delaware Sen. Joe Biden has done the heartfelt public mea culpa -- twice now -- and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has done it repeatedly the past few years, for everything from off-the-cuff musings to Hollywood star-era bad behavior. So San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's pained public apology Feb. 1 for an affair with the wife of his campaign manager served as a high-profile initiation into a growing club -- that of prominent public figures who have had to say "I'm sorry" in the glare of very...

An Orangevale youth who fatally shot a passing motorist with a hunting rifle had to write a 1,000 word essay on why he was sorry and will serve 30 days in juvenile hall. The sentence is far short of the maximum penalty of 14 years' incarceration. The 14-year-old shot Gary Marcy, 69, of South Natomas, on Sept. 27, while barely missing his wife of nearly 50 years, who was sitting beside Marcy in the vehicle. "I killed a man that day, and nobody knows how it feels," the youth said as part of the essay he read in court. "I...

Regarding "In Key Races, Democrats Look at Rivals' Personal Lives; Amid Voter Disgust Over Foley Scandal, Strategists Believe Attacks on GOP at Local Level Won't Backfire" [news story, Oct. 13] and "Democratic Faces That Could Launch Thousands of Votes; With a Parade of Attractive Candidates, the Party May Benefit From the Politics of Beauty" [front page, Oct. 14]: The Post reported approvingly of Democrats running congressional campaigns based on personal destruction of their opponents and on their candidates' physical appearances. What happened to issue and policy differences? The Post seems to have conceded that Democratic candidates are unable to defeat...

This is a formal apology to all of those I’ve offended or ridiculed in the last couple of weeks. I’ve been dealing with an unexpected death by indulging in too much drink. While this is neither your fault nor your problem, it might help some to understand my sudden change of attitude. A lot of my recent comments are unbecoming a decent human being. So, I’m sorry. Jaysun

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sat down with The Chronicle's editorial board this week. Frankly, some of us weren't expecting much. Schwarzenegger is only occasionally available, and when one of his people told us he would be 25 minutes late, we thought that would be a good excuse to cut into his scheduled time. "Oh no,'' one of his people said, "he's going to give you a full hour.'' And he did. Some of what he said was political boilerplate. There was some ducking and dodging and a little filibustering to elude tough questions. (He didn't want to answer one about gay...

One of the brightest and furthest known objects in the universe might not be a black hole as traditionally believed, but rather an exotic new type of object, a new study suggests. (snip)

IN THE WEST, Qana, a small Lebanese village southeast of Tyre, is believed by some to be the place where Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine. In Lebanon and throughout the wider Arab and Muslim world, however, the village's name has for the last decade been synonymous with something else: the killing in April 1996 of more than 100 men, women and children who had taken refuge in a U.N. compound, hiding from Israeli shelling directed at Hezbollah. Over time, Qana has been sculpted by Hezbollah into a symbol of martyrdom, a Shiite version of Sabra and...

THESE ARE THE SENATORS WHO VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL PARTY, THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO BE DEFEATED IN 2006, 2008 OR 2010, WHENEVER THEY NEXT COME UP FOR OFFICE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW; THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION -- THAT IS, UNLESS THEY DO NOT MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHO NEVER PAID INTO IT AND AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT. Grouped by Home State Alabama: Alaska: Stevens (R-AK), Yea Arizona: McCain (R-AZ), Yea Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR),...

I am curious why none of the media covers the most important aspect of the Malvo shootings. If you look at Newspapers on the dates when the shootings are underway you discover something I find quite interesting. The shootings begin to dominate the news the day before the debate on the Iraq war starts and they catch them the day after the declaration of war??? If you ask most people "do you remember the debate about starting the second Iraq war", they will all answer "yes of course". But if you followup with the question "name one point in the...

I recently received a reply to a post that stated: "This should be beneath a "freeper". Sad." So I asked.. what is it that makes a FReeper? My reply (and I will admit was tasteless) was also questioning. It stirred controversy and was removed? Why Moderators? Can you not tell me? Did it not meet with your "FReeper" mentality? According to all posted guidelines it should be listed but no, you chose to delete it. Yes.. I'm the first one IBTZ, I'm sure you'll nick me for speaking up..

I made a screwup, and need to contact a moderator. A guy signed up with the screen name Dr. Richard Kimball. I posted to him, asking him to pick another name, as there might be confusion as to which of us had posted. He was very nice, and did. After making two posts with his new screen name, his privileges were revoked. I think it was because of signing up with multiple screen names. I feel badly about it, because he seems like a nice guy, and I think I accidentally got him banned. Anyway, I didn't want to flag...

In this war freedom should come first not after! In New Hampshire the Motto is Live free or Die! I don't need Bush spying on law abiding americans and taking our freedoms. Anyone who surrenders a square inch of freedom to the government in the name of saftey is a traitor and should be treated like one! Let the Bush Fashists all drop dead! Filthy Commys! LET FREEDOM RING!

Less than 24 hours after anti-Bush peace activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested for "unlawful conduct" at last night's State of the Union address, the charge is being dropped and federal officials are apologizing. "The officers made a good faith, but mistaken effort to enforce an old unwritten interpretation of the prohibitions about demonstrating in the Capitol. The policy and procedures were too vague," said Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer. "The failure to adequately prepare the officers is mine." Sheehan was taken into custody shortly after unzipping her jacket, revealing her T-shirt, which had the message, "2245 Dead. How many...

A GERMAN newspaper has apologised for accidentally placing a utility company advertisement for "the gas of tomorrow" inside a full-page story on the Nazi killing of Sinti (Gypsy) people in Auschwitz concentration camp. The Landeszeitung Lueneburg said on its website today it had not noticed that the article about a local exhibition describing the fate of the Sinti in Hitler's Germany appeared on the same page as an advert for utility company E.ON which read: "E.ON is taking care of the gas of tomorrow, today." The Nazis used poison gas for mass killings in World War II. It is estimated...

Fellow Americans, there comes a time every mans life when we must give up ourselves before we are worthy to recieve. There comes a time in this war on terror when in order to protect liberty, we have to give it up in the mean time for safty. That's right folks. Today, Americans have forsaken the creator for the creation and have decided that they would value our "civil liberties" than protecting western civilization and rich white people from the tender mercies of radical Islamic terrorists. Selfish liberals insist and whine that Bush has no right to spy on Americans...

Yaa, you repukes are not doing so well, huh? Imagine, you repukes control the presidency, both houses of Congress, and appointed 7 of the 9 Supreme Court justices. Yet the Supreme Court thre out sodomy laws in all 50 states and recognized the right of government to seize land for any reason. And you couldn't pass your Social Security changes could you? Sorry, that was your last shot. Come November, we're going to start seeing more Democratic faces in the House. It's the end for you guys. You guys are celebrating when Bush's numbers go *up* to 45%. Then Faux...