Free Republic

When Georgia’s Department of Agriculture held its hearing a couple weeks ago on a proposal to require that all raw milk be dyed charcoal, raw-goat-milk producer Bob Hayles was the first to stand up and speak out against the regulation. Dozens of others followed him, and the agriculture agency decided shortly after the session not to implement the regulation. While many farmers and consumers feel they scored a major victory, Bob doesn’t agree. “Everyone thinks we won something important. But all we won was a battle, and it was a small battle.” The event convinced him that a much more...

An American Legion commander in California says he and other veterans will defy a newly imposed ban on flag-folding recitations that include references to God. During thousands of military burials, Veterans Administration employees and volunteers have folded the American flag 13 times and recited the significance of every fold to survivors. The fourth fold, for example, refers to God's "divine guidance." The 11th fold glorifies "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." And the 12th fold glorifies "God the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost." Now the National Cemetery Association has made a decision to ban flag-folding recitations by VA...

Makah tribesman "feeling kind of proud" he shot whale  01:20 PM PDT on Monday, September 10, 2007  KING5.com Staff and Associated Press Makah tribe members shoot, harpoon gray whale NEAH BAY, Wash. - The Coast Guard and National Marine Fisheries Service says the California gray whale killed by rogue whalers off Neah Bay could refloat as it decays. If it is found, the carcass would likely be evidence in a case against Makah tribal members. Coast Guard spokesman Shawn Eggert says buoys were cut from the whale when it sank Saturday, but it still carries a harpoon. National Marine...

Many fear effort to legalize new hunt may be derailed NEAH BAY -- One day after a group of frustrated Makah tribal members asserted treaty and historic rights by harpooning and killing a protected gray whale, tribal leaders condemned the hunt and vowed to prosecute the men. "Their action was a blatant violation of our law, and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Debbie Wachendorf, the Makah Tribal Council vice chairwoman. "The Makah Tribal Council denounces the actions of those who took it on themselves to hunt a whale without the authority of the...

Today: September 09, 2007 at 5:5:7 PDT Calif. Gray Whale Shot With Machine Gun NEAH BAY, Wash. (AP) - An injured California gray whale was swimming out to sea Saturday after being shot with a machine gun off the western tip of Washington state, officials said. Coast Guard Petty Officer Kelly Parker said five people believed to be members of the Makah Tribe shot and harpooned the whale Saturday morning. The extent of the whale's injuries were not immediately known. Tribe members were being held by the Coast Guard but had not been charged, said Mark Oswell, a spokesman for...

A gray whale died Saturday night, several hours after Makah tribal members harpooned and shot the animal. The men shot the whale without federal permission. Coast Guard Petty Officer Kelly Parker confirmed the harpooning by five tribal members. The whale was one mile east of Neah Bay, in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, about a half-mile off shore The Coast Guard detained the five tribal members and questioned them, said Mark Oswell, a National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman. They later were released to the tribe, who placed them into custody at the tribal jail, according to the mother of...

But think about it. There are two components to Jesus' words. We are to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's," but we are also to "render unto God the things that are God's." Well, everything ultimately belongs to God. But, most of all, this injunction by Jesus instructs us that government laws cannot trump God's laws – ever. If government commands you to do evil, as a Christian you must resist. There is no alternative. Citing the "render unto Caesar" line is an apologetic for accountability to God – nothing more, nothing less.

<p>As Congress wrangles over immigration, the debate is moot in major cities across the country.</p> <p>The reason: "Sanctuary" cities from Los Angeles to New York will never check a person's immigration status regardless of what Washington passes.</p> <p>Consider Houston. Its police department's Web site is crystal clear -- in Spanish and English.</p>

I'M SIPPING A Blue Moon ale in a Philadelphia bar, Janis Joplin is wailing about Bobby McGee and I'm thinking a smoke would go great about now. I take out one of Baby Cakes' Parliament Lights and fire it up.I'm smoking in a bar in Philadelphia and nobody says, "Boo!"There are 20 other people, smokers and nonsmokers, hanging out, enjoying themselves, not doing any harm to anyone (except maybe themselves). The bar is spacious, the NCAA is on the TV screens, beer pennants hang from the ceiling, and through the large windows I see rain falling.The owner is sitting at...

The left-wing candidate in Mexico's disputed election, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and his backers are occupying the capital's main square and avenues. Mr Lopez Obrador on Sunday called on his adherents to paralyse Mexico City until every vote was recounted. Official results from the 2 July vote gave victory to the conservative Felipe Calderon by half a percentage point. Mr Lopez Obrador alleges vote counts were rigged - but EU monitors have said they found no irregularities. The country's electoral court has until the end of August to rule on a recount.

You know, after the last month or so of watching our Administration Senate and House of Representitives muck up offshore drilling, the war, immigration and spending, many are suggesting to not vote for the RINOs or, at best, call your US Rep.I doubt that will do any good. They haven't listened so farSo we have gays, illegals and who knows who taking to the streets to protest for THEIR rights.Is it time for us, Americans and Conservatives to hit the bricks?I feel out of ammo on any other way to get GWB and the Congress' attention. I only have about...

<p>Thanks to John McCain, Free Republic will shut down tomorrow at high noon for 30 days. No non government approved electioneering messages may be transmitted over the internet for the 30 days immediately preceding a primary election.</p> <p>That is all.</p>

Former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith took her 11-year-old family feud to the Supreme Court yesterday. But another case about sex and deception that the Court decided yesterday will surely matter more to most Americans. We're talking about the 8-0 decision (new Justice Samuel Alito didn't participate) barring the use of federal extortion and racketeering laws, or RICO statutes, to prevent public antiabortion protests. The case of Scheidler v. NOW goes back nearly 20 years, to a suit by the National Organization for Women to harass abortion opponents who demonstrate in front of abortion clinics. RICO was designed to go...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — French Quarter bar owners say the Big Easy's soul can never be restored if a midnight-to-6 a.m. curfew continues to be enforced, so they plan to challenge it the only way New Orleans knows how: with a party. Jim Monaghan said his Molly's at the Market bar will return Friday to its normal operating hours of 10 a.m. to 6 a.m. regardless of a curfew police have enforced more aggressively over the past week or so. His goal, he said, is to demonstrate that New Orleans is on the mend and it's open for business. "We'll...

Maori have every right to enjoy smoking, gambling and eating fatty foods if they want to - and Maori health workers who say otherwise are just brainwashed "house niggers". That's according to the authors of a controversial new book on Maori health published by one of South Auckland's largest Maori health providers. The Kotahitanga Community Trust, a taxpayer-funded charitable organisation in Counties Manukau, provides health care for more than 5000 patients - 4000 of whom are Maori. The book, Maori Health, was co-authored by trust chairman Peter Caccioppoli and Rhys Cullen, a GP at the trust's Papakura practice and published...

Have you heard of Lisa Fithian? A veteran of the Seattle WTO riots and scores of other protests, she’s been with Sheehan from the start. A notice on Cindy Sheehan's website, meetwithcindy.org, asks for donors who might be able to offer a camper, or an RV, or just money, for Sheehan's upcoming cross-country tour, scheduled to begin Wednesday in Crawford, Texas, and end in Washington at the big antiwar demonstration scheduled for September 24. At the end of the note, readers with something to offer are asked to "please call organizer Lisa Fithian." To anyone familiar with the world of...

Judge George Greer ruled that the State of Florida has no right to take custody of Terri Schiavo, which ruling came hours after an appeal by Terri's parents to re-insert the feeding tube was refused by the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, another hearing was scheduled tonight before US District Judge James D. Whittemore .. the same judge who previously heard and denied the request subsequent to the 'de novo' intention of the law past last weekend by the Congress and signed by President Bush, in an effort to confirm that no stone was left unturned before Terri would endure legally...

STARVATION: DAY 8 Jeb Bush not likely to ride to rescue Florida governor indicates he won't defy court order Posted: March 25, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Those hoping Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will step forward to save Terri Schiavo from imminent, court-ordered starvation death are likely to be disappointed, based on his comments to a group of reporters following county court Judge George Greer's ruling against the state's effort to take custody of the brain-injured woman at the center of a worldwide euthanasia controversy. While Bush reiterated his motivation to save Schiavo, based on new evidence that...

Pinellas Park police Lt. Kevin Riley, standing upper right, prepares to arrest members of the Keys family as they were attempting to bring Terri Schiavo water Wednesday morning, March 23, 2005 outside the Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla. The Keys family, of Burnet, Tex., kneeling, from left, Josie, 14, Gabriel, 10, Chris, the children's father, and Cameron 12, were all taken into custody. Galen Keys, upper left, the children's mother looks on, but was not arrested.The mother insists it was the children's idea: "I am proud of them," said the boys' mother Geilen Keys from Texas, who was not...