Free Republic

Thursday was inauguration day in Venezuela. Hugo Chavez — who has dominated Venezuelan politics one way or another for 14 years — was again sworn in as President. Only this time, the authoritarian populist could not take the oath in person. He departed for cancer surgery in Cuba on Dec. 10, 2012, and has not been seen in public since. This latest surgery is his fourth round of treatment in Cuba. Few expect Chavez to serve out this next six-year presidential term.

Long after he vanished in Iran, retired FBI agent Robert Levinson reappeared in a video and a series of photographs sent to his family over the past year, transforming a mysterious disappearance into a hostage standoff with an unknown kidnapper, The Associated Press has learned.

The National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau (NSCCTBCTB) issued on Thursday a serious warning against travelling to the Sinai Peninsula, and called on Israelis vacationing in the area to leave immediately. "From information at our disposal, it arises that terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip and additional elements are actively planning to perpetrate terrorist attacks, especially abductions, against Israeli tourists in Sinai in the immediate term," the NSCCTB's warning said. "The NSCCTB reiterates its call to all Israelis in Sinai to leave the area immediately and return home. The families of Israelis in Sinai are requested to contact them and update...

Residents demand an immediate probe into the raid by US-led foreign forces that resulted in abduction of several local figures in Balkh Province. No information is available on the fate of the abductees. The governor of Balkh has condemned the move, calling it brutal. Governor Atta Mohammad Noor said such unauthorized operations by foreign forces will only lead to the Afghan people losing their trust in the government. Local officials say an investigation will be launched into the incident. Witnesses said two NATO reconnaissance aircraft and nine helicopters hovered over the area, terrifying residents. The foreign soldiers then stormed the...

"The cow is the most comical-looking creature in the world, and the notion that the Earth is being visited by UFOs is the craziest idea I have ever heard. Now there's a gift that combines the crazy and comical cow with the silly and ridiculous idea of of UFO abductions:"

May 22) -- Raymond Hewlett, a fugitive British pedophile, is under suspicion in the 2007 disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal, according to reports Friday in the British media. The London Evening Standard reports that Hewlett is being treated for throat cancer at a hospital in Germany and may be extradited to England, where he is wanted for questioning in sex attacks stretching back to the 1970s.

Most abductees report being taken into spaceships from their homes or from their automobiles while driving. Once in the ship, "the atmosphere may be dank, cool, and occasionally even foul-smelling" (p. 36). Their abductors typically "appear as tall or short luminous entities that may be translucent, or at least not altogether solid. Reptilian creatures have been seen....But by far the most common entity observed are the small ‘grays,’ humanoid beings three to four feet in height....Gender difference is not determined so much anatomically as by an intuitive feeling that abductees find difficult to put into words" (p. 37). (A sketch...

Most abductees report being taken into spaceships from their homes or from their automobiles while driving. Once in the ship, "the atmosphere may be dank, cool, and occasionally even foul-smelling" (p. 36). Their abductors typically "appear as tall or short luminous entities that may be translucent, or at least not altogether solid. Reptilian creatures have been seen....But by far the most common entity observed are the small ‘grays,’ humanoid beings three to four feet in height....Gender difference is not determined so much anatomically as by an intuitive feeling that abductees find difficult to put into words" (p. 37). (A sketch...

This week is the anniversary of the tragic day in 1963 [11/22/63, 35 years ago today] when John F. Kennedy was assassinated on the streets of Dallas. Looking back, we can see that Kennedy's death marked a turning point, when the political consensus of the time gave way to the confrontational politics that we associate with the 1960s. The upheavals that followed -- along with the bitter partisanship that disfigured political life in the last third of the century, and whose echoes we still hear today -- can be traced back to that day in Dallas. The terrorist attack of...

*The question was sure to come up during press interviews for the upcoming "X-Files" movie. Rapper Xzibit, who plays an FBI agent in the film, was asked if he believes in the existence of other life forms in the universe. "I don't believe in aliens," the 33-year-old tells People magazine. "I don't think aliens or ghosts like black people. We never get abducted; our houses never get haunted. It always happens in rural areas, where no ethnic people live. The day I see somebody from South Central Los Angeles say, 'Man, I got abducted yesterday,' then I'll believe it." "The...

Two top nuclear scientists of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) are currently in Taliban custody. The two were working at PAEC’s facility in North West Frontier Province. Zee News investigations reveal that the two scientists were kidnapped about six months ago. To avoid international embarrassment Pakistan Government has kept this information under wraps. According to information available with Zee News, nuclear scientists have been kidnapped by Taliban at the behest of Al-Qaeda.

An Italian priest, Giancarlo Bossi, who was kidnapped at gunpoint in the southern Philippines last month, has been freed. The news was announced by the Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, and coincides with the 87th birthday of Father Bossi's mother. Fourteen government soldiers were killed last week as they searched for the priest. The Philippine army blamed their deaths on Islamists linked to al-Qaeda. Father Bossi, who plans to meet with his parishioners before heading back to Italy to see his family, said his captors treated him "with respect." "I never had the sensation that they wanted to kill...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces said on Thursday they had killed more than 23 Sunni and Shi'ite fighters in two operations in Iraq and captured two al Qaeda-linked militants suspected of links to the abduction of three U.S. soldiers. ... U.S. forces said they killed 12 militants in a four-day operation against Sunni Arab fighters north of Baghdad and 11 in an overnight raid against Shi'ite militants in the south. The two men captured were described as linked to the abduction of three U.S. soldiers in May, which triggered a massive manhunt in palm groves south of Baghdad during the...

Abductions follow exchange for Italian KABUL, Afghanistan, April 7 (UPI) -- A string of kidnappings have occurred in Afghanistan following last month's exchange of five Taliban prisoners for an abducted Italian journalist. At least 13 Afghans and two French aid workers have been kidnapped in three incidents in the past two weeks, the Los Angeles Times said Saturday. The Taliban is holding at least 10 of the hostages and will free some of them only if more jailed Taliban are released. Critics of the deal that set Italian reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo free March 19 -- after his driver had been...

The AP reports: "A Fox employee in Gaza, who declined to give his name because he was not authorized to release information about the incident, said the two kidnapped people were reporter Steve Centanni, a U.S. citizen, and a cameraman from New Zealand." > Update: 3:41pm: The headline has been updated. Centanni is a national correspondent for FNC. He has been with the network since its launch in 1996. "Currently, Centanni is covering the crisis in Iraq and is stationed in Doha, Qatar," his bio says. Centanni reported live from Gaza during the 9am hour of Fox News Live.

In these last days, the Bible says it will be a time of mass hybridization and the mixture and corruption of human DNA by fallen angels, also known as "Aliens." The government is and has been, conditioning the existence of aliens through Hollywood, science fiction, cartoons, and other sources. However, they are not telling you the whole truth. These Aliens are not ascended masters, or enlightened ones, or beings from galaxies millions of miles away, nor are they our forefathers or original creators. They are fallen angels who were kicked out of heaven for their rebellion against the headship...

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Remote-controlled robot jockeys made their debut as camel riders in the United Arab Emirates Monday, competing in a trial race after the Gulf Arab state tightened a ban on child jockeys. Robots weighing up to 15 kg (33 lb) were dressed in the clothes of human jockeys during the race held in the capital Abu Dhabi, which officials described as "successful," the WAM news agency reported.

Early on the morning of March 16th, 1984, William Buckley left for work at the American embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Officially, Mr. Buckley, a decorated veteran of the Special Forces, served as the political officer at the embassy. In reality, however, Mr. Buckley was the embassy’s CIA station chief. On his way to the compound, Buckley’s car was stopped by a group of masked men, who forced him from his car at gunpoint. His assailants would later be identified as terrorists from the group Islamic Jihad, which served as an alias for the real perpetrators, Hezbollah. The circumstances surrounding the...

Ban sex offenders from Georgia May 4, 2005 By William John Hagan Houston Home Journal (Warner-Robins, Perry Georgia) http://news.mywebpal.com/index.cfm?pnpid=963 Despite the recent spree of abductions and murders by registered sex offenders, this should in no way be considered a new problem. According to a U.S. Department of Justice report in 1994, within three years of release, 2.5 percent of rapists were arrested for another rape, and sex offenders were about four times more likely than non-sex offenders to be arrested for another sex crime after their discharge from prison. Many states have the common sense to warn neighbors when a...

Vanity: Question... has anyone noticed the inordinate number of child abuductions in Florida? Could this in any way relate to the cuban criminals and mentally ill that Castro "released" to the United States? Is there a database somewhere that charts abuductions nationally? Just curious.