Free Republic

Omani jihadist killed in US airstrike in 'Khorasan' By BILL ROGGIOMay 14, 2012 An Omani jihadist was among several foreign fighters who were killed in a recent US drone strike in the "Khorasan," according to a statement released on jihadist Internet forums. The statement, which was unsigned, said that Abu Hamza al Omani, also known as Imran bin Abdullah bin Khamis al Balochi, was killed in a US airstrike on May 5, 2012 along with several other "brothers and supporters" who were not identified. "The courageous knight dismounted on the night of Saturday, 5 May 2012, when the planes of...

GOP: Romney can shame Obama, boost foreign policy credentials with Israel trip By Cameron Joseph - 05/14/12 05:00 AM ET Mitt Romney should visit Israel soon, Republican lawmakers say, claiming that such a trip would highlight the fact that President Obama has not been there during his first term. Congressional Republicans told The Hill that there would be many benefits for Romney should he go to Israel, explaining that it would both advance U.S.-Israeli relations and help him politically. “It would be a good visit for him,” said National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (Texas). Romney, who has a...

Democratic Senator Bill Nelson finds himself in a quandry- unable to defend the failed Obama agenda that he has fully supported for the past four years, his last line of defense is to blame Republicans for causing partisan gridlock in Congress. After receiving an award from SAVE DADE for his role in helping to end the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, Nelson stated the following- "Just turn on your TV and you will see the extremism, the polarization, the excessive partisanship, the ideological rigidity, the people who say, it’s gonna be my way or no way, all of the...

Redefining Marriage Not Above Obama's "Pay Grade" Written by Jack Kenny That Barack Obama has "evolved" into a President promoting "marriage equality," meaning the "right" to a legally recognized same-sex marriage, was the "history-making event" of the past week. Less historic, perhaps, but no less significant is the fact that less than four years ago, Senator Barack Obama, then the Democratic Party's candidate for President, was asked by Pastor Rick Warren at the Saddleback Civil Forum,"At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?" "Well, you know, " Obama began haltingly, "I think that whether you're looking...

A combination of avian flu and foot and mouth disease risk destroying the protein supply, eroding public trust, and further destabilizing the Arab world's most populous country. Lost in the recent political jockeying and protest violence leading up to Egypt's May 23 presidential elections is the unfolding public health disaster there. Avian flu and foot and mouth disease are running rampant, killing people and livestock as well as inflating the price of food. It's a serious health and economic issue, but it has potentially much larger implications for Egypt, and this little-discussed crisis is beginning to resemble those that occur...

Judge Suggests Cutting Four Commandments in Religious Display Case Written by Dave Bohon A judge in the latest ACLU-generated Ten Commandments display case has suggested that the targeted high school cull out four commandments that refer to God in order to avoid a full-blown lawsuit. As reported by the Associated Press, the ACLU of Virginia has filed a complaint against the Narrows, Virginia, high school on behalf of an unnamed student who claimed the display, which is part of a larger exhibit of historically significant documents, makes him feel like an outsider because he is an atheist. The ACLU is...

On an appearance on Sean Hannity’s radio show on Monday, “The Amateur” author Edward Klein revealed the name of a close ally of President Barack Obama that his book alleges offered a $150,000 bribe to Rev. Jeremiah Wright to be quiet until after the 2008 election. “Well, what happened is that after ABC’s Brian Ross broadcast the video tapes of the Rev. Wright ‘God damning America’ and slamming whites and slamming Jews and America, he was contacted by one of Obama’s closest personal friends — a guy who travels on Obama’s plane, who plays basketball with him, who goes on...

To Key West Housing Authority officials it was seen as a necessary task, the chopping down of banana trees Richard "Diver" Overman nurtured daily with his fingerless hands, outside the windows of his public housing apartment on Amelia Street. To Overman it was a massacre. "They were just nubs when I planted them," the 67-year-old retired lobster diver said. "Now I am so disappointed. That was my pastime -- the only pastime I've got. Now they took them away and I feel like nothin'." Housing Authority Director Manuel Castillo said he and his staff tried to work with Overman, but...

The sun is moving through the Milky Way slower than previously thought, according to new data from a NASA spacecraft. From its orbit around Earth, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) satellite measured the speeds of interstellar particles entering at the fringes of our solar system, 9 billion miles (14.5 billion kilometers) from the sun. Plugging the new data into computer models, the IBEX team calculates that the sun is moving at about 52,000 miles (83,700 kilometers) an hour -- about 7,000 miles (11,000 kilometers) slower than thought. The discovery suggests that the protective boundary separating our solar system from the...

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UN Seeking Global “Mental Health” Plan Written by Alex Newman On January 20, the WHO Executive Board released a resolution entitled “Global Burden of Mental Disorders and the need for a comprehensive, coordinated response at the country level.” The document calls for, among other measures, collaboration between national governments and the global health body in developing a “comprehensive mental health action plan” for the world. The resolution asks the WHO Director-General to draft a “comprehensive” plan which includes model legislation and policy measures for member states. The program would encompass everything from education and human rights to health-care delivery and...

There has been a subtle shift in the polls for President Obama — whose approval rating has dropped to 46% in the most recent polling conducted by Gallup and Rasmussen Reports – with disapproval at 53% in the Rasmussen poll and 47% in the Gallup survey. The President’s approval numbers are mirrored in the most recent head-to-head data for General Election: Obama vs. Romney. The President is currently trailing Governor Romney by four points according to polling conducted by Rasmussen Reports between May 10-May 12th, with Romney leading 48%-44% — while the latest Gallup numbers show the race effectively tied...

COLONIE — The Episcopal Church must embrace change and diversity if it is to move forward, the presiding bishop of the 2.4 million member church said Friday. "We need to discover ways to engage in the outside community," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said, in urging the 125 delegates attending the Province II Synod of the Episcopal Church to recognize that while many believe the church is an unchanging rock, it too slowly evolves. "'We are beginning to discover a way forward into a new chapter in the church's history," Jefferts Schori said. "If we are going to save the...

Critics Blast Big Psychiatry for Invented and Redefined Mental Illnesses Written by Alex Newman Unlike in conventional medicine where objective diagnoses and treatments are made based on observable biological evidence, psychiatrists get together every so often to decide what should or should not be considered a “mental illness.” And they do not always agree, as evidenced by the more than 13,000 professionals from around the world who recently signed an open letter demanding that the upcoming edition of the psychiatry industry’s “diagnostic manual” be put on hold and reconsidered. As the elite of the nation’s psychiatric establishment work in the...

Tested takes a trip to Reed College in Portland, Oregon. This isn't just where Steve Jobs went to school, it's the home of the Reed Research Reactor, the only nuclear reactor in the world that's operated by undergraduate students. We learn how the reactor works and get a demonstration in sample irradiation. It's real science!

The Green River Formation, a largely vacant area of mostly federal land that covers the territory where Colorado, Utah and Wyoming come together, contains about as much recoverable oil as all the rest the world's proven reserves combined, an auditor from the Government Accountability Office told Congress on Thursday. The GAO testimony said that the federal government was in "a unique position to influence the development of oil shale" because the Green River deposits were mostly beneath federal land. It also noted that developing the oil would have an environmental impact and pose "socioeconomic challenges," that included bringing "a sizable...

It’s worth noting here that Rosen herself is a lesbian who has switched partners, and with two adopted children at stake to boot. She broke up with Elizabeth Birch (pictured above), then hooked up with head of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten. The children spend time split between Birch and Rosen. If this is the way to “cure marriage,” then Rosen certainly doesn’t have the answers. As to Rosen’s point that tons of men are dying to marry men and women are dying to marry women is also statistically false. The marriage rate between members of the same...

Newsweek's cover this week declares that Barack Obama is the "First Gay President," playing on the reader's knowledge that Obama isn't himself gay, but his support for same-sex marriage earns him an honorary rainbow halo. The headline obviously calls back to 1998, when Toni Morrison declared Bill Clinton the first black president in The New Yorker, which at the time was edited by current Newsweek editor Tina Brown. …Newsweek's cover has been called "controversial" and "pretty shocking," but it's merely the most recent in presidential firsts that weren't for the country's actual first black president.First Female President: Perhaps Newsweek should...

Romney Campaign Adopts Key Advisor’s Tactics Written by Bob Adelmann Eric Fehrnstrom joined Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign in 2002 when he was running for governor of Massachusetts. Today he is not only the most experienced member of Romney’s current staff, he is also the one closest to the candidate. Fehrnstrom is usually referred to as a “Romney spokesman” or “strategist” while Romney himself refers to him as his “communications director,” but those close to the campaign call him Romney’s “consigliere” — an intimate counselor or advisor — whose job is not only to give advice and counsel to...

FLASHBACK.. 2011 Democrats reject GOP plan to eliminate CA's $15.4 billion deficit without tax hike.... From 2011 ! Deficit is now $16 billion... For some in California its Déjà vu all over again. This week Governor Jerry Brown announced his ‘Honest’ budget from last year is now $16 billion in the red. Republicans did not support his plan. They offered their own plan to cut state spending and balance the budget without tax hikes. Now, one year later the Governor's new plan is convince voters to approve $63 billion in new taxes (over 7 years) According to an LA Times...