Free Republic

Paris --- The European press on Monday changed tack in the row over Pope Benedict's comments on jihad, switching its critical focus from the pontiff to questioning whether the scale of Muslim outrage was justified. Many European papers lamented that the moderate voices of Islam were being drowned out by hardliners and open debate was being thwarted by political correctness. In London, the conservative Daily Telegraph editorial said that 'now is the time for other churchmen to tell their Muslim counterparts that, in addition to dishing out criticism, they must learn how to take it'. French newspaper Le Figaro said...

The theme for the Independence Day Greely Stampede parade was "Define the daily grind." FReepers Weldgophardline and Fire engine red created a float dedicated to our brave troops serving in Iraq. Fire engine red singlehandedly worked for 27 days to present a float for the annual parade in Greely, Colorado. Weldgophardline said, "She does all the work, I just promote it." My daughter and I were honored to be invited to ride on their float, and following are some pictures and observations from the parade. Fire engine red and Weldgophardline before the parade. Natalie and Jan in Colorado Weldgophardline requested...

A visit to my genius shrink, Paul Hyman. In the course of a lengthy conversation, I asked him what he would say to college graduates about what they must know to succeed at life. He looked dubious, so I refined the question. "I mean," I said, "what do you need to know now that's different from what you, let us say, needed to know in the 1960s?" Then, his majestically smart face lit up. And he gave me a list, which I am at best paraphrasing. First, he said, materialism has become more powerful than it has ever been in...

A growing number of nations and international interests are expressing alarm at Iran's seeming intent to develop nuclear weapons. But why the world thinks Iran is developing such capacity, and what is to be feared from it, remain matters in wide dispute. Israel, of course, is most immediately threatened and is least ambiguous in its analysis. A nuclear Iran, either out of calculation that it could win a nuclear exchange with Israel, or out of a fanatical derangement, clearly poses an existential threat to Israel. No Israeli leader could risk exposing his country to such a threat, if he could...

"While You Were Sleeping" by Casting Crowns Oh little town of Bethlehem Looks like another silent night Above your deep and dreamless sleep A giant star lights up the sky And while you're lying in the dark There shines an everlasting lightFor the King has left His throne And is sleeping in a manger tonight, tonight Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping For God became a man And stepped into your world today Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history As a city with no room for its King While you were sleeping While you...

After attending the “You Don’t Speak For Me, Cindy” rally at the State Capitol on Wednesday, I KNEW I had to do whatever it took to be there for the “Peace and Justice” rally on Saturday. In between taxiing kids to various activities and attending a funeral for a friend, I managed to spend a few hours with some of the most angry, hateful people I have EVER been around in my entire life! It is an experience I will NEVER forget and I am so glad that I was able to go. I was very nervous about going alone,...

On Saturday, September 24, 2005, thousands from Colorado and our neighboring states will come together in a show of force, unity, and action at 12:30 pm on the west steps of our state Capitol. The 3 November Movement, a broad coalition of groups and individuals, is organizing a rally for peace and justice to coincide with a nationwide protest during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Our rallying cry: Get US Out Now: out of Iraq, and out of our complacency and into action.

A supporter waves her flag in front of the State Capitol building in Denver. The “Support our Troops and Their Mission” tour wrapped up its third day across the country with a stop in Denver, Wednesday. Deborah Johns and Joseph Williams appeared live on KOA AM-850 AM with host Mike Rosen, followed by a rally in front of the Capitol building in downtown Denver. Military Moms, WWII vets, and Freepers helped to create an energized crowd. There was some great news media coverage of this event. CLICK HERE to read the Rocky Mountain News account and then CLICK HERE to...

Late last night I was pinged that Move America Forward will be in Denver on Wednesday at noon. After a lot of scrambling, arrangements were made so that I could go and the President of the Longmont Republican Roundtable agreed to come with me. A few blocks before arriving at the Capitol, I see a bus that obviously belongs to the enemy. I still haven't figured out how Al Qaeda got a bus into Denver. We were blessed with nice weather, and I was hoping for a great turnout. I met FReeper ajolympian2004 and he unveiled an awesome poster he...

By refusing to confront the truth we are not only deluding, but hurting, ourselves http://www.JewishWorldReview.com On Monday, I outlined the problem of the age: the incompatibility of Islam with a multicultural West that hides away inconvenient history and disturbing doctrine under layers of political correctness. Without stripping them off to examine the problem, all we get is a lot of wishful thinking. Historian Niall Ferguson, writing in the Telegraph on the intensifying "Muslim colonization" of Europe, has decided that such "demographic shifts" are not "invariably a bad thing." After all, seven centuries of jihad-imposed dhimmitude for infidels in Muslim Spain...

What steps should Western border agencies take to defend their homelands from harm by Islamists? In the case of non-citizens, the answer is simple: Don't let Islamists in. Exclude not just potential terrorists but also anyone who supports the totalitarian goals of radical Islam. Just as civilized countries did not welcome fascists in the early 1940s (or communists a decade later), they need not welcome Islamists today. But what about one's own citizens who cross the border? They could be leaving to fight for the Taliban or returning from a course on terrorism techniques. Or perhaps they studied with enemies...

In Islam, lying or omissions for the 'greater good,' according to a strict or radical Islam/Islamist philosophy is not only acceptable, it is holy and blessed work. It is called al-Takeyya (or al-Taqiyya) and is a strategy outlined in the Hadiths and supported by various interpretations of some of the Suras in the Koran. We have just seen it in action and most people never even caught the whiff of mental ether the Islamists were pouring into the airways of the already comatose and choking non-Islamist world. Al-Takeyya is a policy whereby a Muslim may lie, deceive or omit critical...