Free Republic

/13/2006 - SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Day and night they arrive -- four-star generals, ambassadors. congressional leaders and even Vice President Dick Cheney. Whether they stop for a formal visit or are here en route to another location, a two-person protocol team is there to greet them with a salute and a smile. “We are the first people (distinguished visitors) see when they get off of the plane here,” said Capt. Edgar Lopez, 447th Air Expeditionary Group protocol chief. “We have to present a crisp military image, because that is often what they base their impression of their...

There’s a lot being said about Bush’s wiretapping without a warrant. However, this intrusion into our privacy is nothing new. According to Drudge, Clinton did it and so did Carter. Clinton "authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order" during what it now falsely deemed the golden age of peace during the fat 90s, when our current and real enemies were planning death in secret. So why did Clinton seek such a broad extention of his executive powers? Bush at least has done so with the war against Islamism as an alibi. Ditto for Carter during the Cold War....

JUNEAU, Alaska — Starting Wednesday, a new anti-gun-control law in Alaska will allow handgun owners to carry concealed weapons without a permit in the seven Alaska cities where permits are now required. Gun owners will be allowed to keep their firearms in their vehicle, even if the car is parked on private property where the owner has a no-gun policy. And, some police chiefs say, local ordinances that ban guns from public buildings such as city halls will no longer be enforceable. Alaska’s new law forbids municipalities from passing gun laws that are more restrictive than state law. The National...

BAGHDAD, Oct. 1, 2005 – In the dead of night Sept. 24, Iraqi police with the 2nd Public Order Brigade conducted their first raid without oversight by coalition forces. The mission was directed against members of terrorist groups and criminal gangs in Medain, a district south of Baghdad. In all, the Iraqi police unit detained 20 suspects and confiscated several AK-47 assault rifles. "Medain is a very important area for us to secure - many people suspected of terrorism live in that region," said Brig. Gen. Hamed Aabdullah Abrahim, 2nd POB commander. "Our brigade is conducting qualitative operations, not quantitative,...

Liberals regroup after NARAL ad Alex Wong–Getty Images Posted 8/18/05 By Liz Halloran It was a rough week for liberals and progressives trying to build a case against Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts, whose Senate confirmation hearings begin September 6. They were knocked on their heels last Friday when NARAL Pro-Choice America, under pressure from both sides of the aisle, pulled a controversial anti-Roberts ad that suggested he sympathized with abortion clinic bombers. The group's chief spokesman subsequently resigned, and just a few days later, anonymous aides on Capitol Hill whispered to Washington Post reporters that Democrats would abandon...

(IsraelNN.com) Channel 10 TV on Friday night will air its video footage depicting Negev police commander Brigadier-General Miso Shacham. Speaking to the area border police commander, Shacham is recorded instructing his forces to beat anyone who breaks away from the Kfar Maimon group, seeking to enter Gush Katif. He called for the indiscriminate use of the water cannon, giving him authority to do so without hesitation or approval, as well as telling him to use batons and “hit them hard, blows to the lower extremities to teach them a lesson”. The documented footage includes a fair share of vulgarities and...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California was on the brink of entering the new fiscal year without a state budget for the fifth time in a row after lawmakers deadlocked Thursday over a tiny fraction of spending in a plan likely to exceed $115 billion next year. The Assembly adjourned for the holiday with plans for party leaders to work on a compromise over the weekend with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but senators were called back into session late Thursday for a possible vote on a Democratic budget plan. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, said he would keep members in session...

Sudan wants MSF head Reuters KHARTOUM – Sudan has issued a warrant for the arrest of the country head of aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) for publishing a report on hundreds of rape cases in Darfur, the attorney-general said yesterday. “We have issued a warrant for the arrest of the head of the organisation after speaking to the [governmental] Humanitarian Aid Commission,” Mohamed Farid, Sudan’s attorney-general, said. He said it was for publishing a false report on rapes in the Darfur region in March. MSF Holland released the report in March, saying its doctors working in Darfur had medical...

Politics as usual has been playing itself out the past month or so over the confirmation of John R. Bolton as the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The Republicans, who clearly have demonstrated they have no concern over our freedoms and sovereignty, have been singing Bolton's good virtues while the Democrats rant Bolton is a rat. Then, to confuse this diversionary tactic even more, a handful of Republicans suddenly decided they had questions about Bolton. For these United States of America to continue even appointing a U.S. representative for this communist body is to give legitimacy to America's...

Gov. Schwarzenegger, who has rejected the idea of increasing state taxes, is pushing legislation that would let cities, counties and other public agencies increase fees and property tax assessments to pay for stormwater cleanup and flood control. Local governments face hundreds of millions -- and maybe billions -- of dollars in costs to reduce pollution in runoff from yards, construction sites and other locations to comply with the federal Clean Water Act. The legislation would put a measure on a future state ballot to weaken Prop. 218, the anti-tax measure approved by 56 percent of voters nearly a decade ago....

Distilled Spirits Council Urges Ban of Alcohol Vapor Devices; Senate Committee on Regulated Industries Hears Bill Today Mon Mar 21,12:48 PM ET To: State Desk Contact: Sarah Rosen of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, 202-682-8840; Web: http://www.distilledspirits.org WASHINGTON, March 21, /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Distilled Spirits Council today urged swift passage of legislation introduced in Florida banning "alcohol without liquid" (AWOL) devices that allow consumers to inhale alcohol by mixing alcohol with pure oxygen. The bill, SB 794, sponsored by Senator Mike Haridopolos, would prohibit the sale or use of these devices and make its sale a...

The contractors came by the dozens to the two San Jose houses, offering up estimates for painting, kitchen remodeling and landscaping. But the homeowners who welcomed their bids weren't who they appeared to be. They really were investigators for the state's contractors licensing board, carrying out an undercover sting this week -- a sting that nabbed 59 unlicensed builders. Those nabbed by the ruse were given criminal citations that could land them in jail for a maximum of six months, or they could be ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. A first offense for being unlicensed usually draws two years...

The government’s Assistant Attorney general, Shai Nitzan, said that it might be appropriate to keep Jews under arrest without indictment or trial as the date for executing the government’s plan to expel Jews from their homes in the Gaza region approaches. The procedure for arresting people without due process rights of indictment and trial, known as administrative detention, has been considered a measure to be used only for jailing suspected terrorists who pose an immediate threat to the country. Administrative detention has also been used on rare occasions against Jewish citizens, persons who were deemed dangerous because of their extremely...

Eighteen Hundred and Froze To Death The Infamous "Year Without A Summer" Of the cold summers in the period 1811 to 1817, the year 1816 has gone down in the annals of New England history as "The Year There Was No Summer," the "Poverty Year" and "Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death." The year began with a moderate but dry winter. Spring was tardy and continued very dry. The growing season from late spring to early fall, however, was punctuated by a series of devastating cold waves that did major damage to the crops and greatly reduced the food supply....

WOODMERE, Ohio - The nation's food companies are stirring up new recipes for everything from Oreos to SpaghettiOs to get rid of trans fat, the artery-clogging ingredient that must be listed on food labels next year. The companies say they're promoting good health, but they're also looking ahead to the new federal rule and new dietary guidelines urging consumers away from trans fats. Trans fats have been in the nation's food supply for decades, giving products a long shelf life and making goodies like chips and cookies oh so yummy. They are formed when liquid oils turn into solid fats...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

On November 8, 2004, a U.S. federal judge ruled that the Bush administration had improperly ignored the Geneva Conventions in establishing military commissions to try detainees at the Guantánamo Bay U.S. naval base as war criminals. Ted Lapkin's timely article delves into the complexities of the Geneva Conventions, and how much they should apply to the war on terrorism. —The Editors. From Manhattan to Mindanao, Islamist zealots draw no distinction between combatants and non-combatants. Jihadists target women, children, and the elderly without even the pretence of discrimination. In June 2004, an Al-Qaeda affiliated group distributed a video proudly documenting...

Ah, the travails of a tiny country caught at the crossroads of greater powers. Sound familiar? Lithuania? Armenia? Israel? There have been so many holocausts that we could easily pick one out of a hat and discuss it. But because of recent developments in Damascus and Beirut, we’ll discuss Lebanon today. In a move I found quite surprising, the U.N. Security Council voted Friday in, support for a free and fair electoral process in Lebanon's upcoming presidential election, conducted according to Lebanese constitutional rules devised without foreign interference or influence. The new U.N. resolution also called for, the restoration of...

75,000 Without Power As Storm Slams S.C. Sunday August 29, 2004 5:01 PM AP Photo NY107 By BRUCE SMITH Associated Press Writer MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) - Tropical Storm Gaston sloshed ashore in South Carolina Sunday, spinning sheets of rain and near hurricane-force strength wind as it uprooted trees, snapped power lines and knocked out power to at least 75,000 homes. A flash flood watch was in effect for most of the coast, and Charleston's mayor, Joseph P. Riley Jr., urged those who had not evacuated to stay indoors. ``The best advice for everyone is to stay put. Stay put,...

Published online: 19 August 2004Tribe without names for numbers cannot count Helen PearsonAmazon study fuels debate on whether the concept of numbers is innate. Can a knowledge of numbers determine the way we think? © Alamy A study of an Amazonian tribe is stoking fierce debate about whether people can count without numbers. Psychologists, anthropologists and linguists have long wondered whether animals, young children or certain cultures can conceptualize numbers without the language to describe them. To tackle the issue, behavioural researcher Peter Gordon of Columbia University in New York journeyed into the Amazon. He carried out studies with the...