Free Republic

N. Korea's Currency Reform Could End in Chaos The North Korean military is on alert for a possible civil uprising following last week's sudden currency reform, according to a Russian business newspaper citing foreign diplomats in the communist country. The currency reform involved the exchange of only limited amounts of old bills at a rate of 100:1, with the state confiscating the remainder. People who are afraid of exposing the size of their wealth have no choice but to hide their old bills. It is difficult to ascertain the actual circumstances, but it is apparent the North Korean regime is...

OK, this is confusing: but this is the LINK to the original Japanese language article from the conservative/trustworthy South Korean "Chonsun Ilbo" daily newspaper website in Korean which reported from a Russian news agency just a little while ago.The headline is 北�鮮デノミ：「�民騒乱を懸念���戦闘準備� ("North Korean Currency Devaluation: Worries Over Uprising By North Korean People; North Korean Army Goes on Sub-War Status")

Investigators are digging up a rural Missouri property looking for notes they say six children buried in glass jars documenting years of nightmarish sexual abuse allegedly at the hands of their grandfather, father and three uncles. The children reportedly wrote the notes between 1988 and 1995 because they claim they were told doing so would make their memories go away, police said. Police who are excavating the 55 acre property said they are also looking for bodies, although they would not say whether they were looking for bodies of adults or children. The five men, three of whom were lay...

Dear Pro-life Friend: As promised, a handful of us went to the Homosexual fundraising dinner where Obama spoke, and then to the march on the next day. The whole point was to: 1) Witness to the about the love and forgiveness of Christ; and 2) To state publicly that Homosexual marriage can never be. It was a wild two days, with a handful of good men and one woman standing strong as witnesses. Below is a 2 minute video which will give you a sense of the drama and chaos; then there are a few stories. They are worth...

Detroit -- The lure of federal cash assistance for needy Detroit families sparked pandemonium Wednesday at Cobo Center, as hundreds of city residents pushed, jostled and trampled others in a rush to apply for the aid. In a scene that spoke volumes about the despair of one of the nation's poorest cities, about 50,000 Detroiters descended on downtown to pick up 5,000 applications in hopes of enrolling in a federal program that pays a few hundred to a few thousand dollars to low-income residents to help pay rent and utilities. In fact, some 60,000 residents applied for the aid over...

Hero Teacher Halted ‘Columbine-Style’ Attack Posted: 8:18 am PDT August 25, 2009Updated: 11:55 am PDT August 25, 2009SAN MATEO, Calif. -- Hillsdale High teacher Kennett Santana admitted Tuesday he was merely reacting to the chaos around him when he tackled and subdued a former student, who had entered the school armed with 10 pipe bombs, a sword and a chainsaw.Santana’s actions were being praised Tuesday for preventing a ‘Columbine-Style’ massacre at the San Mateo high school attended by more than 1,000 students.He told KTVU that his Monday had a pretty normal start. It was around 8 a.m. and he had...

I received this in an email. I don't necessarily endorse all that said here, but there is food for thought. ------------------- Friends, When the storm finally hits (and it will), those of you who supported the Obama administration will be affected as well. It won’t just be us gun owners or Flat Taxers, or Pro-Lifers that get hit. You’ll be right there next to us. You see, you all thought the Conservatives were nut cases. You know, all of us who believe in God, small government, the Second Amendment, etc. And you thought you could just go back to sleep...

Congratulations to President Obama! Osama bin Laden is no longer the most dangerous man in the world, having been effectively neutered by former President Bush’s war on terror. Obama has deftly picked up the mantle and has become America’s number one enemy.Demonstrating its consummate mendacity, the mainstream media referred, during the 2008 campaign, to Barack Obama as “no drama Obama”. Just a few short months into his presidency, it is manifest that no drama Obama is instead, the architect of chaos and destruction. Everything Obama touches plummets into disorder.

'There will be a war in Baghdad,' warns a leader. Insurgents are bitter about the lack of progress since laying down their arms. Their demands have been unmet, they say, and now the U.S. is leaving. By Ned Parker

Mexico’s crime nightmare hits home for Texan trying to rescue siblings DURANGO, Mexico — They have been missing now for more than three months — the two brothers and sister of Texan Jose Esparza — snatched by armed men from their rural town in the high desert of Durango state. From his home in San Antonio, Esparza has spent all his money and countless hours unsuccessfully lobbying Mexican and U.S. officials to help rescue his siblings. He has brought from Mexico his aging mother and a niece and a nephew to try to keep them safe. He has been consumed...

Thailand’s political crisis descended into chaos on Monday as anti-government protesters and the military fought dramatic battles on the streets of Bangkok that left at least two dead and almost 100 injured. The government on Monday night claimed to have regained control of the Thai capital’s streets. But some 4,000 protesters remained around the prime minister’s office in central Bangkok, surrounded by security forces. Abhisit Vejjajiva, the prime minister, who declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas on Sunday, said in a nationally televised address that the military had been using as little force as possible. “All...

SNIPPET: The African Advantage In June 2006, Sada al-Jihad (Echo of Jihad), a Saudi-based jihad periodical, published an article by Al Qaeda strategist, Abu Azzam al-Ansari, exploring the possibility and advantages of a strategy for Africa. The following table summarizes the 13 advantages: Al-Ansari's 13 Advantages to Expanding Al Qaeda Operation 1 “Jihadi doctrines” are well entrenched in most predominantly Muslim countries. This jihadi expansion has old roots in many of the African countries. 2 The general chaos and corruption found throughout the continent which eases “the ability of the Mujahidin to move and plan and organize themselves…” 3 Tribal...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the financial system designed to impose greater regulation on major players like hedge funds. (snip) The goal is to repair a system that has proven "too unstable and fragile," he (Geitner) said.

A Charming visit with Jay Leno won’t fix it. A 90 percent tax on bankers’ bonuses won’t fix it. Firing Timothy Geithner won’t fix it. Unless and until Barack Obama addresses the full depth of Americans’ anger with his full arsenal of policy smarts and political gifts, his presidency and, worse, our economy will be paralyzed. It would be foolish to dismiss as hyperbole the stark warning delivered by Paulette Altmaier of Cupertino, Calif., in a letter to the editor published by The Times last week: “President Obama may not realize it yet, but his Katrina moment has arrived.” [Snip]...

U.S. law-making is riddled with slapdash, incompetence and gamesmanship Helicopter Ben Bernanke’s Federal Reserve is dropping trillions of fresh paper dollars on the world economy, the President of the United States is cracking jokes on late night comedy shows, his energy minister is threatening a trade war over carbon emissions, his treasury secretary is dithering over a banking reform program amid rising concerns over his competence and a monumentally dysfunctional U.S. Congress is launching another public jihad against corporations and bankers. As an aghast world — from China to Chicago and Chihuahua — watches, the circus-like U.S. political system seems...

Two suspected drug dealers caused chaos on a California interstate by throwing thousands of dollars from their pickup truck as police gave chase. Other motorists took their lives in their hands to chase the $20 and $100 bills on Interstate 5, near San Diego.

Britain's most senior civil servant has complained that Downing Street is finding it “unbelievably difficult” to make arrangements with the United States for the crucial G20 summit. Sir Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, reportedly said that the handover to the Obama Administration was hindering discussions about the meeting in London next month. The Prime Minister hopes that the summit on April 2 will produce a co-ordinated global strategy to tackle the economic downturn. So far, his attempts to get his Washington and European allies to agree to a coherent common platform for the meeting have proved frustrating. ...snip ... Mr...

When we think of the word "chaos," normally we associate it with spontaneous acts of malcontents rebelling without a cause. But most of the chaos in the world today is what I call "directed chaos" – usually government-directed and with one single-minded purpose: the consolidation of power. That's the way I interpret the so-called "economic stimulus" legislation approved by the Democrat-controlled Congress and signed by President Obama. There is no way it will stimulate the economy. It will have the opposite effect – lengthening and deepening the economic crisis in which America finds itself. Does anyone truly believe we're in...

The term “euphemism” refers to the substitution of a vague or milder term for one that may be considered harsh, offensive or blunt. Example: George Soros is a “philanthropist”. If by “philanthropist” we mean one who creates chaos, destruction and financial ruin for his own personal gain, it’s a perfect fit. Calling Soros a philanthropist is rather like referring to the Nazi block wardens as Neighborhood Watch.

<p>Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire has accepted President Barack Obama's offer to be commerce secretary, two administration officials said Monday. Sources tell CNN Sen. Judd Gregg will be President Barack Obama's choice for commerce secretary.</p> <p>Sources tell CNN Sen. Judd Gregg will be President Barack Obama's choice for commerce secretary.</p>

An Americas Report news investigation shows individuals posing a terror threat to the United States are increasingly obtaining access to stolen or doctored passports, which then can be used to obtain visas to enter the U.S. with the purpose of carrying out terrorist attacks. The report notes several instances where this has already happened: # Four of the 19 hijackers from 9/11 carried genuine Saudi passports that had been "manipulated in a fraudulent manner" to obtain genuine U.S. visas. # In 2005, four individuals were charged with smuggling dozens of Iraqis and Jordanians into the U.S. through South America beginning...

Iceland has no army, no navy and no air force - but it does have riot police. On Tuesday night the black-uniformed troopers came out to quell the latest riots in Reykjavik, which erupted in front of parliament. The building was splattered with paint and yoghurt, the crowd yelled and banged pans, shot fireworks and flares at the windows and lit a fire in front of the main door. Yesterday the protesters gathered again, hurling eggs at the car of Geir Haarde, the Prime Minister, and banging cans on its roof. The transformation of the placid island into a community...

Madrid, Jan 9, 2009 / 01:46 pm (CNA).- A campaign promoting atheism through ads on public buses in London has spread to the Spanish cities of Barcelona and Madrid, igniting a controversy among the inhabitants of both cities.The so-called “atheist buses” in London were inspired by columnist Ariane Sherine of The Guardian and backed by the British Humanistic Association and Professor Richard Dawkins.  Soon after philosopher, Anthony Grayling, journalist Polly Toynbee and the British Atheistic Association also voiced their support for the campaign.The campaign now has some $250,000 in donations and has spread to other British cities, where some...

Nine ministries changed hands under the shake-up ordered by Costas Karamanlis, the prime minister, whose government has been plunged into crisis since the killing of a schoolboy by a police officer last month. The fatal shooting triggered days of demonstrations and violent protests, with the unrest taking a dangerous new turn on Monday when a policeman was seriously injured by bullets from a submachine gun during an attack in central Athens. Re-elected to a second term in office in 2007, the conservative New Democracy government has a parliamentary majority of just one seat and has been heavily criticised for its...

In recent months, according to Michèle Alliot-Marie, the interior minister, intelligence services have detected a "radicalisation of extreme Left-wing movements that could go as far as (the perpetration) of acts of violence." "Every time there is a weakening of the far-Left and notably the Communist party, one sees a resurgence of a certain number of small groups that are much more extremist, much more radical," she warned recently. Experts close to the government have drawn parallels with the Action Directe group, which carried out dozens of attacks in the early 1980s, or the Baader-Meinhof gang. They say the threat from...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Terrified prisoners fled a Gaza City jail bombed by Israeli warplanes on Sunday, their faces white with dust and red with blood as they stumbled over huge piles of rubble. Across the territory, grieving families pitched traditional mourning tents of green tarp outside the homes. Yet the rows of chairs inside these tents remained largely empty, as residents cowered indoors for fear of new Israeli strikes. Plumes of gray smoke rising into the sky marked the site of the latest Israeli attacks. Even for war-weary Gazans, who've lived through countless Israeli incursions, air attacks...

Paulson discussed worst-case scenario at bailout meeting – declare martial law Pentagon resources and U.S. troops may be used if needed to quell protests and bank runs during an economic crisis, the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Institute reported. "Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security," the War College study states. Incidents of economic collapse, terrorism and disruption of legal order could require deployment of forces within the U.S., it said. A "strategic shock" could require the nation to use "military force...

U.S. Military Preparing for Domestic Disturbances Tuesday, December 23, 2008 1:14 PM By: Jim Meyers A new report from the U.S. Army War College discusses the use of American troops to quell civil unrest brought about by a worsening economic crisis. The report from the War College’s Strategic Studies Institute warns that the U.S. military must prepare for a “violent, strategic dislocation inside the United States” that could be provoked by “unforeseen economic collapse” or “loss of functioning political and legal order.” Entitled “Known Unknowns: Unconventional ‘Strategic Shocks’ in Defense Strategy Development,” the report was produced by Nathan Freier, a...

The package matched the description of 11 other suspicious packages found at military bases around the country since Friday.

HOODED youths firebombed a police station next to the Exarchia district where locals held a silent vigil for a teenager who was killed a week ago. Police fired tear gas and were in hot pursuit of a group of about 100 youths who had congregated there - with similar numbers in Thessaloniki also vandalising a gymnasium before holing up in university premises. The fresh outbreak of hostilities ...

Once again Muslims in Europe take to the streets to riot. This time they were supposed to be celebrating the Islamic holiday of Eid. The celebrating done by 300 Muslims included throwing bicycles on the train tracks and rocks at the police. Over the last few years this type of behaviour has occurred several times in Europe.

<p>ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Greece's interior minister says the massive protest riots in cities across the country are "unacceptable" but insists that police are doing all they can to protect people's lives and property.</p> <p>Thousands of youths are rampaging through Athens, the northern city of Thessaloniki and several other cities in the third day of riots Monday after police shot and killed a teenager on Saturday.</p>

Christmas tree torched in Athens riots By Emma Alberici and Helena SmithPosted December 9, 2008 07:13:00Updated December 9, 2008 08:55:00 People flee from a burning Christmas Tree in Syntagma Square in Athens. (AFP: Aris Messinis) Video: Greek protests enter third day (ABC News) Related Story: Fresh rioting hits Greek cities Rioters have torched a large Christmas tree in central Athens at the end of a third day of violent demonstrations in Greece.The tree, in Syntagma Square, was set on fire amid riots in the Greek capital in protest over the death of a 15-year-old boy who was shot by police...

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Constitutional Lawyer: If Obama Takes Oath, It Will Be Perjury - Plus Maps Out The Specific Chaos That Will Absolutely Ensue Obama Fomenting A Constitutional Crisis: Constitutional Lawyer Discusses Ramifications To Country The Philadelphia Bulletin Error 404, page removed!By John P. Connolly 12/01/2008Controversy continues to surround President-elect Barack Obama’s eligibility to serve as president, and a case involving his birth certificate waits for its day before the U.S. Supreme Court. A constitutional lawyer said were it to be discovered that Mr. Obama is not a natural-born U.S. citizen, it would have grave consequences for the nation.According to the Constitution, a president must...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Communists expect the global financial crisis will cause social unrest and help them challenge for power, the party's leader said on Saturday. Gennady Zyuganov told the party's annual congress the Communists should make maximum use of the growing public discontent caused by the economic downturn to try to restore their political strength. "The wind of history is blowing in our sails again ... At this time of crisis the world of imperialism is starting to die. We are standing on the threshold of political and social shifts," Zyuganov said in a 2-hour speech opening the congress....

Shadow World:  Resurgent Russia, The Global New Left, and Radical Islam By Robert Chandler Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2008 622 pp., $29.95 The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 is viewed by the West as the end of the Cold War and the death knell for Communism. In reality, Communists continued to push for the same ultimate goal -- creating a socialist world order -- but their violent Marxist-Leninist revolutionary tactics were supplanted by an insidious cultural Marxism. Today, that push has evolved into a Moscow-led,  global strategic quadrangle consisting of Russia, China, Iran and a collection of Latin...

Between 1991 and 2006, the numbers of unfaithful wives under 30 increased by 20% and husbands by a whopping 45%. These numbers come from a study conducted by David Atkins of the University of Washington Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors. ... Since 1950, the age of first marriage has risen to 25 from 20 for women and to 27 from 22 for men. "It's more common for people to be hooking up or having relationships with multiple partners" before marriage, says Prof. Laumann. Even young people who engage in monogamous relationships before marriage may be hurting...

Military coup looms as civil unrest paralyses Thailand Published Date: 27 November 2008 By Nopporn Wong-Anan in Bangkok PRESSURE is building on Thailand's military to intervene in a political crisis threatening to descend into widespread civil unrest after prime minister Somchai Wongsawat last night rejected calls to quit. Speaking on national television, Somchai said his government was democratically elected and would continue to work for the "good of the country" despite claims by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) he is a puppet of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Somchai's refusal to call a snap election, as army chief Anupong...

November 21, 2008 National Intelligence Council report: sun setting on the American century The report said that global warming will aggravate the scarcity of water, food and energy resources Tim Reid in Washington The next two decades will see a world living with the daily threat of nuclear war, environmental catastrophe and the decline of America as the dominant global power, according to a frighteningly bleak assessment by the US intelligence community. “The world of the near future will be subject to an increased likelihood of conflict over resources, including food and water, and will be haunted by the persistence...

Re-emerging from his self-imposed silence, Ayers is trying to escape the negative stigma of his violent past by arguing that he was much less violent than the U.S. government. Here he again attacks the government (in the form of the prison system) for what it does to people that implicitly match his view of himself: folks who have good excuses for violence, crime and anti-social behavior. In Ayers' view, these people don't belong in prison any more than he does.

Perhaps most significantly, the sages tell us that the messianic era will arrive b'hesik haDa'as — when no one expects it. In an age when human resilience is strained beyond all natural limits by the tribulations of a world gone mad, when no one has attention for anything other than survival, when hopelessness has descended upon every corner of civilization, at that moment the ultimate redemption will turn the tables on the pundits who prophesy imminent disaster and total devastation.

Up until today I was sure that McCain would win..and I've always thought he'd win by alot. I didn't take into account just how unfair the press was going to be. It's a never ending drumbeat, like the article that was posted last week. It's unrelenting..and it's always negative towards McCain and positive towards the "ONE." But it looks like it's working and we might have a President BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA. I'm glad my Father is not alive to see this. We need big prayers, people..I don't know what it's going to take. I can't believe people think the Dems...

Almost a year to the day before the Republican National Convention began, members of a self-described anarchist group gathered to talk about ways to disrupt it, including kidnapping delegates, sabotaging air vents at the Xcel Energy Center, blocking bridges and "capturing federal buildings" in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Unbeknown to the RNC Welcoming Committee, two police informants and an undercover investigator had infiltrated their ranks, according to an affidavit and search warrant application filed Tuesday.

Live thread for Hillary's speech

In one sense, it's incomprehensible that Barack Obama would forgo an opportunity to reunite his party by picking Hillary Clinton as his running mate. But in his place, wouldn't you be willing to sacrifice a little if it guaranteed you'd never have to view and smell Bill Clinton's sock feet propped up on the Oval Office desk? But whatever will this messianic emissary of change do to unite his party? That is a legitimate question, is it not, since unity, harmony, love and bliss have been Obama's main campaign themes since his entry onto the presidential campaign stage? How, inquiring...

No Guidance From Clinton Speaking to reporters after her address to the New York delegation, Clinton offered delegates no instruction on how to cast their votes, Amie Parnes reports. "I will be telling my delegates that I will vote for Barack Obama," she said. "How they vote is a more personal decision. They want to have their chance to vote for me. That is what traditionally happens ... some people are having to make up their minds because there are arguments pulling them both ways." Many of Clinton's delegates have already made up their minds. Some of her pledged delegates...

The narrative is (or isn't) coming together, the family was glowing on stage, the schedule is holding tight, Teddy and Michelle hit them out of the park . . . and still there are the Clintons. For all those 18 million cracks in the highest glass ceiling, a frosty divide still needs chipping away at, even as Obama is set to lose the "presumptive" from his title. It comes to this for the rivalry for the ages: Neither Sen. Barack Obama nor Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has any possible sane, rational reason for wanting tensions to continue. They need each...

MALIA, Greece — Even in a sea of tourists, it is easy to spot the Britons here on the northeast coast of Crete, and not just from the telltale pallor of their sun-deprived northern skin. They are the ones, the locals say, who are carousing, brawling and getting violently sick. They are the ones crowding into health clinics seeking morning-after pills and help for sexually transmitted diseases. They are the ones who seem to have one vacation plan: drinking themselves into oblivion. “They scream, they sing, they fall down, they take their clothes off, they cross-dress, they vomit,” Malia’s mayor,...

Democrat sues Sen. Obama over 'fraudulent candidacy'Lawsuit disputing U.S. citizenship based in part on discredited claims By Drew Zahn © 2008 WorldNetDaily Posted: August 23, 2008 A prominent Pennsylvania Democrat has sued Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic National Committee and the Federal Election Commission, claiming that Obama is not a natural-born citizen and, therefore, is not eligible to be president of the United States. Philip J. Berg, a former member of Pennsylvania's Democratic State Committee and former deputy attorney general of Pennsylvania, filed the lawsuit this week in U.S District Court, asking the court to declare Obama ineligible for the...