Free Republic

Editor’s note: For those who are wondering about the retro title of this black-history series, please take a moment to learn about historian Joel A. Rogers, author of the 1934 book 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro With Complete Proof, to whom these “amazing facts” are an homage. Amazing Fact About the Negro No. 92: When President Abraham Lincoln met with free black leaders in 1862, what did he propose? Today marks the anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s “shot heard ’round the world.” I’m referring, of course, to the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation he fired off from the White House on...

First Manassas. In the 90-degree heat, the Union fords Bull Run and then busts through line after line of Confederate troops, aiming for the railroad to Richmond. Under the grassy shield of Henry House Hill’s western slope, the Confederates scramble for reinforcements. Somebody overhears General Bee comparing Colonel Jackson to a “stone wall.” This either compliments Jackson’s steadfastness or jeers the corporal’s languor. No one will ever know for certain, since Bee is shot dead shortly after the quip leaves his lips.

On a rainy night in early 1865, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton arrived in Savannah, Ga. — which the Union had captured weeks earlier — with a question: What should become of newly free black people? It was a question that many in power had been asking for some time. What was different this time was to whom the question was posed: the newly free black people themselves. It was a visit born of a massacre about a month before, and it launched a debate that continues to this day. The issue of where these people should go had dogged...

Just a few blocks away from Little Rock's snaggle-toothed skyline, its intersecting interstates and rush-hour traffic, an island of respite opens in the middle of downtown. It's an exhibit of photographs taken between 1995 and 2012 in and around sleepy little Wilmot (Pop. 550) down in Ashley County. That's in L.A., or Lower Arkansas, the southernmost part of the state, which is about as Southern as it gets. The exhibit, now showing at the Arkansas Arts Center, brings a welcome peace to the state's capital as this year's political campaigns heat up. And you know the political frenzy is bound...

<p>Ukrainian president says he has agreed with Russia's President Putin on "permanent ceasefire" in east of country.</p>

Announced just now on Bloomberg TV as breaking news. Several Tweets just now breaking say it was announced by Poroshenko's "Presidential Press Service Moments ago. More as it comes.... CNBC now announcing it on their TWitter, as well: https://twitter.com/CNBCWorld

While only 'humanitarian adviser' boots on the ground are present in Iraq (and Syria), Reuters reports that preparations are under way near Ukraine's western border for a joint military exercise this month with more than 1,000 troops from the United States and its allies. As Obama told reporters last week, "that a military solution to this problem is not going to be forthcoming," it seems a little odd 'strategically' to go ahead with the Rapid Trident exercise Sept. 16-26 as a sign of the commitment of NATO states to support non-NATO member Ukraine, entailing the first significant deployment of U.S....

European military assistance to Ukraine could lead to a nuclear conflict between Russia and NATO, according to Poland's iconic cold warrior and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa. "It could lead to a nuclear war," the anti-Communist legend told reporters when asked whether the EU should send weapons to Ukraine to help it fights off separatist rebels and Russian aggression.

<p>As Russia forces push forward towards the southeastern Ukraine coastal city of Mariupol and evidence mounts of direct Russian military support to the insurgent fighters, besieged volunteer units of "patriots" leading the way in the country's fight back say they are not receiving enough support from Kiev to win the war.</p>

1st Lieutenant Alonzo Hersford Cushing to be awarded Medal of Honor Lt Cushing was killed in the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 He stood his ground and fought on despite a bullet wound to the head Congress grant special exemption to give Lt Cushing the medal 151 years on Relatives and admirers had campaigned since 1980s for proper recognition Two Vietnam War veterans will also receive medal in ceremony next month

The ghost of Dred Scott haunts the streets of Ferguson, Missouri. Thousands have been protesting the police killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American teenager in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. He was due to start college just days after he was shot dead in broad daylight. Police left his bleeding corpse in the middle of the street for over four hours, behind police tape, as neighbors gathered and looked on in horror. Outraged citizens protested, and police brutally cracked down on them. Clad in paramilitary gear and using armored vehicles, they shot tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and...

-Kiev Says Crossing of Russian Trucks Without Red Cross Violates Agreement Ukraine charged Russia with violating its borders by driving dozens of trucks into the rebel-held east of the country on Friday, a sharp escalation in tensions after an extended standoff over a large convoy believed to be carrying humanitarian aid that Moscow dispatched last week. Russia's foreign ministry said it sent in the trucks unilaterally because Kiev was deliberately halting the delivery. But Ukrainian officials said trucks had entered Ukraine without being accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross, violating a previous agreement. They charged that Russian...

-Ukrainian official claimed troops moved in just as the city was poised to fall -But they have since been forced to deny the allegation after strong rebuttal -If true it would have been tantamount to an invasion of Ukraine by Russia -Putin set to meet Ukrainian president Poroshenko in Belarus on Monday Muddled security officials in Ukraine were last night forced to deny a huge Russian military convoy had been deployed in the eastern rebel-run city of Lugansk. The strong rebuttal suggested an earlier claim about an invasion by Vladimir Putin's troops amounted to a crude propaganda move by the...

(Google Translated) Transnistria declared mobilization. Chapter Tiraspol administration Yevgeny Shevchuk signed a decree calling all conscripts, reservists and employees of so-called state structures. In a paper published on the official website Shevchuk says that during the months of Transnistria will be charges in military peacekeeping force. The decree will come into force tomorrow. Responsibility for its implementation rests with the head of the regional department of defense. Earlier in Transnistria repeatedly stated about possible provocations on the part of Ukraine , which could lead to armed clashes.

Red Cross officials entered eastern Ukraine on Wednesday to smooth the planned delivery of relief supplies aboard a Russian aid convoy, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. The convoy has been stuck at the Russia-Ukraine border for nearly a week due to Ukrainian concerns it could serve as a Trojan horse to infiltrate military supplies to pro-Russian separatists in the area. Moscow says the mission is purely humanitarian in support of civilians trapped by the conflict. "An advance ICRC team crossed into eastern Ukraine this morning, having received security guarantees from groups controlling the territory for this...

Statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Connection with the Attempts to Derail the Delivery of Humanitarian Aid to Those Suffering from Hostilities in the Southeastern Region of Ukraine 15-08-2014 The attempts to create new and greater obstacles in the way of the delivery of Russian humanitarian aid to the civilian population of Donbass cause deep concern. The implementation of this mission has entered its final stage. In discussions with the representatives of the Ukrainian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), we were able to reconcile practically all the key parameters of the transfer...

The Guardian's Moscow correspondent, Shaun Walker, and The Telegraph's Roland Oliphant tweeted today that a column of armored personnel carriers (ACPs) and other Russian military vehicles have crossed over the Ukrainian border. Vladimir Putin's government is sending a convoy of unmarked white trucks to Ukraine, and military vehicles started traveling alongside a supposed Russian aid convoy earlier on Thursday. Most of the fleet of more than 262 vehicles, including about 200 trucks carrying aid, stopped 15 miles from the border of Ukraine's rebel-held eastern region of Luhansk. If these reports are correct, a separate military convoy has apparently continued into...

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday called for an immediate ceasefire in violence-torn eastern Ukraine to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid to civilian population suffering amid armed clashes between Kiev-led forces and independence supporters. "It is necessary to guarantee the security of the upcoming humanitarian mission," the ministry said in a statement. "We urge the warring sides at this crucial junction to show the political will to alleviate the suffering of the population of the affected region," the statement said. Russia has sent a convoy of 280 trucks carrying some 2,000 metric tons of humanitarian aid to southeastern Ukraine,...

The Ukrainian hryvnia just made a new low against the U.S. dollar. On Tuesday, one dollar bought 13.4 hyrvnias, with the hryvnia losing more than 4% against the dollar just today. The latest drop in the currency comes amid reports that Russia is sending a convoy of 280 humanitarian aid trucks into Ukraine, according to Reuters.

The Red Cross will lead an international humanitarian aid operation with Russia and the European Union into the rebel-held city of Luhansk — a plan that Ukraine says the backing of President Barack Obama. The Kremlin earlier announced that it was dispatching the humanitarian convoy into eastern Ukraine. Ukraine had previously objected to Russia sending any aid into the region, and the West had strongly warned Russia that any attempt to send its military personnel into Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian assistance would be seen as an invasion. In the last week, Ukrainian government forces have been closing in...