Free Republic

It’s coming: US finalizing plans for military strike on Syria Published time: August 28, 2013 16:28 Get short URL The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is seen at an undisclosed position in the Mediterranean Sea (Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch) Two unnamed White House officials told the Associated Press that the Obama administration is still deciding on what Syrian targets will be attacked and to what degree during a military strike that now seems inevitable. While the strike itself will be conducted only after the White House presents the public with what it believes is “undeniable” proof of chemical weapon use...

WICHITA FALLS — One year ago, David Thweatt made a decision so controversial and groundbreaking the story about it sped around the world. The superintendent of the isolated Harrold Independent School District, about 30 miles northwest of here, made history last August when he and his school board decided to allow select teachers and staff members at the 110-student school to carry guns on campus — a first for Texas and the nation. For Thweatt and his board, the decision was pure mathematics. The school, which sits in the middle of a prairie, was too far from law enforcement for...

Canseco to fight 'El Wingador' PHILADELPHIA -- Jose Canseco is hungry for another shot at winning a celebrity boxing bout. Yet he may not be as famished as his next opponent in this bizarre form of sports entertainment, a man who also knows how to dig in at the plate. It's the former American League MVP vs. Bill "El Wingador" Simmons, a five-time champion of Philadelphia's famed Wing Bowl. Both have an appetite for victory. "Hopefully he doesn't start eating my hand or something," Canseco said. Canseco is 0 for 2 in recording a victory on promoter Damon Feldman's wild...

“…in the good Providence of God, apparent failure often proves a blessing.” — Robert E. Lee It is often said that we in America take our freedoms for granted. Our founders assured us of freedom to worship as we see fit, freedom to speak our minds, freedom to pursue our dreams, freedom to own the fruits of our labor and freedom to criticize and, if necessary, change our government. If we take these freedoms for granted, as surely we do, then it is certain that we take another important freedom for granted. It’s a freedom that is almost never discussed...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A 4,800-calorie burger offered by a minor league baseball team this season has been branded a "dietary disaster." The 4-pound, $20 burger features five beef patties, five slices of cheese, nearly a cup of chili and liberal doses of salsa and corn chips -- all on an 8-inch bun. Staff dietitian Susan Levin of the Washington-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sent a letter to the West Michigan Whitecaps on Tuesday. She's asking that the monster burger be labeled a "dietary disaster" that increases the risk of cancer and heart disease. Whitecaps spokesman Mickey Graham says...

Southernism is taking over our national dialogue. Maybe it's time for the North to secede from the Union. In the summer of 1863, Robert E. Lee led an ill-advised incursion into Pennsylvania. His army was defeated at Gettysburg, and thence afterward Lee beat a fighting retreat until the South lost the Civil War. One hundred and forty-five years later, the South--or what has become the South-Southwest--has won another kind of Civil War. It has transformed the sensibility of the country. It is setting the agenda for our political, social and religious mores--in Pennsylvania and everywhere else. snip ...the "radical nationalism"...

Dems have Kinky in the cross hairs Blitz depicting him as racist aims to rally base; his camp slams effort 09:42 AM CDT on Thursday, October 12, 2006 By GROMER JEFFERS Jr. / The Dallas Morning News Chris Bell hasn't been able to coax rival Kinky Friedman out of the race for governor, but his fellow Democrats are preparing a media and campaign offensive against the independent, planning in part to portray him as a racist. The blitz is aimed at not only stopping Mr. Friedman from poaching Mr. Bell's base voters but also at exciting Democrats who could determine...

Patriotism Isn't Just Red, White and Blue I asked a friend what she was doing for the Fourth, and she replied, "The same thing we always do, the parade in Huntington Beach." She and her husband don't have young children, so they're not going for the kids. They just love a parade and, presumably, their country. I should have pressed on whether they go to celebrate the country's birthday or because they like to stand in the sun and watch people passing slowly by in cars. Had she asked me what I'd be doing on the Fourth, I would have...

Journalists Killed in Iraq - The Core Issues Posted from the U.S. Since I first posted the story, "Do US Troops Target Journalists in Iraq?" last week from the WEF 2005 in Davos, there has been a fast growing interest in what really is a bundle of interconnected, complex issues. I was very glad to see the post "Eason Jordan clarifies comments" by Rebecca MacKinnon. Eason's voice in this discussion is a very important one, and it should be heard. But I would like to point out that the substance of the issues raised here, as well as the posts...

Saturday, January 12 Ex-manager's comments upset audience Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa -- Former manager Whitey Herzog said he believes major league baseball is sometimes guilty of reverse racism when it comes to hiring for management jobs, a newspaper reported Saturday. "I do think that there's a lot of capable minorities," Herzog said Friday at the podium of the annual Iowa Cubs FanFest luncheon, The Des Moines Register reported. "But I do think today, the people that are really getting it stuck to them are guys like this guy over here because he isn't a minority," Herzog was quoted as ...

Judge forced to pull gun in court outburst (Posted on Monday, July 16, 2001) District judge Ralph Walton keeps a pistol handy for security reasons when he’s seated on the bench. Walton had to pull the gun Friday morning when a teen suspect went berserk and tried to take court bailiff Clem Clemmons’ gun, said court officials. Clemmons, district attorney Richard Hattox and district attorney’s office investigator Thelbert Millsap managed to subdue the teen before he could get the gun, witnesses said. Walton didn’t point the .357 magnum at anyone, but held it ready in his hand during the struggle, ...

As yet, nobody from the media has examined the Reform Party votes actually cast in Palm Beach County. There were, in fact, five Reform candidates on the ballot last Tuesday in Palm Beach County. Among them, Pat Buchanan with his 3,407 votes, ranked second! Also as a matter of fact, at least 14,866 residents in Palm Beach County cast a vote for a Reform Party candidate. Here are the facts -- straight from the Florida Department of State, Division of Elections website: Candidate (vote total in PBC) Office Pat Buchanan (3,407) U.S. President Joel Deckard (1,282) U.S. Senate John McGuire ...