Free Republic

John Hay was President Lincoln's personal secretary, a position that began nearly five decades of public service. A diplomat who served multiple Administrations from Lincoln to Roosevelt, he was a central figure in defining the U.S. foreign policy that would be the basis of the United States role on the world stage in the twentieth century.This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for...

On the last day of the 19th century, a Chinese officer was beheaded on the public street where he had precipitated western* military intervention in the Boxer Rebellion by killing a German diplomat. Foreign commercial penetration — and domination — was generating domestic turmoil in China. As liberal reforms foundered in the late 1890’s, a more radical anti-foreigner movement blending spiritualism and martial arts launched the Boxer Rebellion (or Yihetuan Qiyi, in the local coinage). In addition to massacring hated missionaries, the Boxers besieged foreign diplomatic missions in Peking … and veteran German ambassador Klemens von Ketteler was killed in...

Despite the U.S. declaring an “Open Door Policy” in support of China’s sovereignty, U.S. Marines on May 31, 1900 invaded China to help defeat the Boxer Rebellion. With imperial Great Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Japan, and Russia trying to carve China into colonies, Secretary of State John Hay in the fall of 1899 declared the United States would honor an “Open Door Policy” that respected Chinese territorial and administrative integrity and allowed equal trading privileges for all nations. Nineteenth-century imperialists had forced China’s ruling Qing Dynasty to accept foreign dominance over much of China’s economic affairs. Two Opium Wars with...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QViEiDjd7Ew

Just heard a report on-air from THE MOB protesting Barbara Boxer in Marin County, CA. She's signing her book? (can't even imagine the drivel) at a bookstore in Corte Madera. According to on-scene report, anti-Boxer outnumber pro-Boxer 5 to 1. Best handwritten sign: She has time to write a book, but not read the bill.

California Senator Barbara Boxer (D-UMB), perhaps one of the biggest proponents of non-living children in the United States, has actually criticized a woman for her appalling choice to not have kids. This week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stared stupid straight in the face and lived to tell about it: Rice appeared before the Senate in defense of President Bush’s tactical change in Iraq, and quickly encountered Boxer. “Who pays the price? I’m not going to pay a personal price,” Boxer said. “My kids are too old, and my grandchild is too young.” Then, to Rice: “You’re not going to...

TOKYO, April 10 - Japan lodged a formal protest against China on Sunday after violent anti-Japanese demonstrations in Beijing, even as marches in front of Japanese government offices and businesses widened to southern China. The Japanese foreign minister, Nobutaka Machimura, summoned the Chinese ambassador, Wang Yi, here on Sunday morning. Afterward, Mr. Wang said the Chinese government condemned the demonstrations on Saturday in which protesters threw rocks at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing and vandalized Japanese businesses. "We formally demanded China's apology and compensation," Mr. Machimura said after the meeting, adding that Mr. Wang had not apologized. As the two...

Last Thursday's challenge by certain congressional Democrats to the certification of the 2004 presidential election was but the latest chapter in the urban legend that began four years ago in Florida. Back then, activists claimed that dogs and hoses were used to keep black voters from the polls. Claims that thousands of blacks were disenfranchised, harassed, and intimidated from voting ran rampant. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights conducted a six-month investigation of the charges and found absolutely no evidence of systematic disenfranchisement of black voters. The civil-rights division of the Department of Justice also found no credible evidence that...

Thought for the day, from a gloomy party member on the Democratic Underground Web site: ''Reality sucks. That's the problem. We want another reality.'' Well, they're doing a grand job of creating their alternative universe. At midday Thursday, as George W. Bush was about to be confirmed formally as the winner of the presidential election, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, described by Agence France-Presse as the ''Democratic former presidential hopeful,'' led 400 other Democrats in a protest outside Congress. Presidential-wise, they may be former but they're still hopeful. So they were wearing orange, the color of the election protesters in Ukraine,...

January 6, 2005 House -- Congressional Record 9 . LEGITIMATE ELECTION -- 10 . ROBBING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE -- 11 . AMERICAN BOXER REBELLION -- 12 . BOXER REBELLION OF TODAY -- 23 . COUNTING ELECTORAL VOTES--JOINT SESSION OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE HELD PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1 -- 24 . MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE January 6, 2005 Senate -- Congressional Record 5 . SCHEDULE 7 . TODAY'S AGENDA 11 . JOINT SESSION 19 . OBJECTION TO COUNTING OF OHIO ELECTORAL VOTES

Live thread as the RATS challenge the certification of the Ohio electoral Votes.

Dear Lord, There's a young man far from home, called to serve his nation in time of war; sent to defend our freedom on some distant foreign shore. We pray You keep him safe, we pray You keep him strong, we pray You send him safely home ... for he's been away so long. There's a young woman far from home, serving her nation with pride. Her step is strong, her step is sure, there is courage in every stride. We pray You keep her safe, we pray You keep her strong, we pray You send her safely home...

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