Free Republic

An Australian court has upheld a municipal council’s decision to ban the construction of a synagogue in suburban Sydney because it could become the target of a terrorist attack. The group that wants to build the synagogue near Bondi Beach called Wednesday’s ruling by the Land and Environment Court “rewarding terrorism.” The Waverley Municipal Council had denied the Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe, or FREE, permission to build near the beach, which is popular with residents and visitors. The council in its refusal of the development application said the site was “unsuitable for a synagogue because of the potential...

A bad leak in many ways. Confidentiality breeds candor, and you want the president to be candid when talking to foreign leaders. If he has to worry about his conversations leaking, he won’t be. Conceivably there’s a pressing national security concern that might override that concern — if, say, the worst suspicions of hardcore anti-Trumpers were true and he were colluding with the Kremlin to undermine American interests, you might justify leaking a transcript in that case. But there’s nothing like that in the WaPo piece. The most embarrassing part, it seems, is Trump asking the president of Mexico...

A federal judge on Wednesday denied a former Republican congressional candidate’s request for a restraining order barring President Bush or Vice President Richard Cheney from bombing Iran or Syria. Mary Maxwell, 59, of 179 Loudon Road, Apt. 10, Concord, filed a lawsuit Monday against Bush, Cheney and other “unnamed defendants actively engaging in acts of war against Iran and Syria in the guise of the war against terrorism.” Maxwell’s suit seeks a ruling that the administration lacks legal authority to pre-emptively attack either Iran or Syria without a Congressional declaration of war, and that radioactive fallout from the use of...

THINNER GRUEL [Jonah Goldberg] Salon.com has a "defense" of Joe Wilson. For the most part, the piece is a dull, he-said she-said about the controversy so far, generally sympathetic to Wilson, with some sneaky bits hid in the dull prose in order to make them seem more reasonable. For example the author, Mary Jacoby, says "But no sale of uranium ever took place, Wilson reported, and that conclusion is not in dispute." That's true, but Bush never said Iraq purchased the uranium, he merely said Iraq sought it. Wilson said Iraq didn't and that his cryptic sweet-tea swilling conversations proved...

Australian meteorologists have been caught changing temperature data from two crucial weather stations.  Would it surprise you to hear that they were altering the numbers to show warmer temperatures? Daily Caller: Agency officials admit that the problem with instruments recording low temperatures likely happened in several locations throughout Australia, but they refuse to admit to manipulating temperature readings. The BOM located missing logs in Goulburn and the Snow Mountains, both of which are in New South Wales. Meteorologist Lance Pidgeon watched the 13 degrees Fahrenheit Goulburn recording from July 2 disappear from the bureau's website. The temperature readings fluctuated briefly and...

Australian scientists at the Bureau of Meteorology ordered a review of temperature recording instruments after the government agency was caught tampering with temperature logs in several locations. Agency officials admit that the problem with instruments recording low temperatures likely happened in several locations throughout Australia, but they refuse to admit to manipulating temperature readings. The BOM located missing logs in Goulburn and the Snow Mountains, both of which are in New South Wales. Meteorologist Lance Pidgeon watched the 13 degrees Fahrenheit Goulburn recording from July 2 disappear from the bureau’s website. The temperature readings fluctuated briefly and then disappeared from...

Australia has a feral predator problem. Feral dogs and dingo/feral mixtures kill large numbers of lambs and calves. They predate on native species.But as bad as feral dogs and dingo/feral mixes are, the top predator in most places is the feral cat. Exotic foxes, that were imported from England are considered pests.Restrictions on gun ownership and hunting have made the feral predator problem worse.  The government could encourage people to carry rifles and shoot feral predators.Instead, the government puts out 1080 ejector capsules. When an animal pulls at the bait, the spring loaded ejector propels the poison capsule into...

When greenies get their way, poor people suffer. Global warming hysteria tends to be an affliction of the affluent, who don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from or how they will keep the lights on at night. But for those lacking the leisure to hypothesize a crisis that keeps getting stuck on pause, the costs of green energy can wreck lives. It is happening in Australia, in the State of Queensland, ironcally rich in coal deposits: The Sunday Mail of Brisbane explains in an editorial: TODAY’S confronting revelation that more than 464 Queenslanders a week...

A Sydney-based Islamic leader is claiming Australian women need Muslim men to "fertilise them" because of recent reports that sperm counts in western males are dropping drastically. Halal Certification Authority boss Mohamed El-Mouelhy said Australian women would "need us to fertilise them and keep them surrounded by Muslim babies". Mr El-Mouelhy suggests the white race could become extinct within 40 years if Australia is left to the "bigots" he believes should "commit suicide". The controversial comments were posted to Mr El-Mouelhy's Facebook page. "Your men are a dying breed, Australian women need us to fertilise them and keep them surrounded...

The head of a Muslim food certification body in Australia has said “Australian women need [Muslim men] to fertilize them,” causing an online outcry. Mohamed Elmouelhy, the head of the Halal Certification Authority in Australia, wrote on his Facebook page that Australian women needed male Muslims because men in the country “are a dying breed.” “Australian women need us to fertilize them and keep them surrounded by Muslim babies while beer swilling, cigarette smoking, drug injecting can only dream of what Muslim men are capable of,” his post read. He added that Muslims “have a duty to make your [Australian...

[SYDNEY] Britain's defence secretary on Wednesday made a strong push to build Australia's next fleet of warships, saying the frigates he proposes are best placed to hunt "Russian and Chinese submarines" amid regional tensions. Australia earlier this year detailed a massive A$89 billion (S$95.8 billion) shipbuilding strategy, including constructing new submarines and frigates, in the nation's largest peacetime naval investment. The big increase in defence spending comes as Beijing flexes its muscle in the region through a military build-up in the contested South China Sea, and as tensions remain high on the Korean peninsula. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon made the...

China is now the world’s biggest importer of Australian gold, as 77 percent were exported to China during the first quarter of 2017, according to Resources and Energy Quarterly released by Australian Government. Australia exported 57.6-metric-tons of gold to the Chinese mainland and the special administrative region of Hong Kong in the first quarter of the year, a 54.4 percent year-on-year growth compared to last year. Data shows that China’s demand for Australian gold has been increasing over the past years, reaching a new high in 2017. China’s top exporters of gold are Australia and the U.S. Hong Kong and...

Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- In the above chart, the numbers are unclear. Is it 14,542 registered guns, or licensed gun owners in Tamworth, NSW, Australia? Is the increase since 2010 in registered guns, or licensed gun owners?The number of legal guns and likely, licensed gun owners, is increasing in Australia. It is difficult to know exactly how much it is increasing because statistics are not well kept. National statistics are uncertain because of differences in state systems.From an article in abc.net.au from 2011: Today, that national system is in a mess. No federal agencies or crime researchers were able to tell the...

National Firearms Amnesty Newspaper Ad Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- I was seated in the Eykamp farm kitchen in NSW, Australia when Donald Eykamp stormed in and shoved a paper in my face. “Look at this!” He exclaimed. “That is a Dakota rifle! One of the most expensive production rifles in the world!  They cost $5,000 each. Look at the ebony fore end, the wrap around checkering, the grip cap, the classic peep sight, the short fore end, the inside the trigger guard magazine release, the Model 70 end of the receiver! Not one of these rifles have ever been used in...

Donald Eykamp in farm shop. Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- The Australian gun law requires two things that are often cited as “common sense” by those without an understanding of everyday gun use.They are universal gun registration and “safe storage”.  Both have been weaponized against gun owners in Australia. They are an object lesson of what to avoid for those fighting for the right to arms in America and elsewhere. Registration does nothing to prevent crime. Both New Zealand and Canada had extensive gun registration schemes similar to Australia's. Both concluded that gun registration is costly and not effective in preventing crime....

As Donald Trump lives out his “America first” mantra riddled with a presidential character of unreliability and unpredictability, the existential question for other nations looms large: is Trump an aberration or harbinger of a permanently changed America? For Australia, there is no more important foreign policy issue. The test is whether our task is merely to survive the traumas Trump poses for the world and his alliance partners or whether the forces that created Trump are permanent and reflect the most decisive shift in US society, culture and outlook since World War II. The notion that after four years of...

-One of my hosts in Australia gave me a lead for a story.  They knew someone with an extensive gun collection. Directions were given; the collector had been called and was waiting.  A local who was known to the collector would drive me there and make introductions.The directions were complex, typical rural directions: follow this road; go up this hill; make a right, then go a ways and make a left. Look for the long drive with such and such a fence.. My driver understood them perfectly, and we arrived at the correct place.  The collector had a nice...

Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- – Rural Australia from Wh'od a Thought it Lookout in Quirindi.Shortly after I started traveling into rural Australia, I found people willing to talk to me about firearms. When they learned I write about firearms, they were happy to have a conversation. In the morning of July first, the day after I arrived in Australia, I packed up and pulled my wheeled luggage to the Central railway station in Sydney.  The staff at the station were very helpful. They printed out a ticket I had purchased over the Internet.  I boarded the train a half hour before...

Arizona -(Ammoland.com)-  Australia has very strict gun laws. Some would say they are more restrictive than most of the rest of the world.For example, toy guns that look like a real gun have the same penalties attached, and the same restrictions applied, as real guns.  A Red Ryder BB gun is regulated the same as a .375 H&H magnum rifle. I looked at the possibility of taking a rifle or shotgun to Australia. The hunting in Australia is some of the best in the world. The bureaucratic obstacles were too burdensome. You need a letter from your local police...

"While terrorism's origins have many factors, Islamic terrorists, as heinous as their acts are, they are often merely doing what the scriptures are telling them." — Tanveer Ahmed, Muslim psychiatrist. In Australia, according to judges, women and children must accept sexual assaults because it is part of the "Islamic culture" of their attackers. It would seem that in parts of Australia, this "Islamic culture" has replaced the rule of law. None of the above, however, seems to be enough to appease Muslim sentiments. In March, Anne Aly, Australia's first female Muslim MP, said that racial-discrimination laws should be expanded...