Free Republic

A popular U.S. Catholic priest and author known for his peace writings and some 75 arrests for civil disobedience actions across the country has been dismissed from the international Jesuit religious order, which says he was "obstinately disobedient" to its directives. Removal of Fr. John Dear caps 32 years in the order for the priest, who has been known for protesting a wide range of issues, including U.S. policies on Latin America, nuclear weapons development, and the cooperation of Jesuit educational institutions with American military recruiting programs such as the ROTC. The dismissal also raises the specter of Pope...

A popular U.S. Catholic priest and author known for his peace writings and some 75 arrests for civil disobedience actions across the country has been dismissed from the international Jesuit religious order, which says he was "obstinately disobedient" to its directives. Removal of Fr. John Dear caps 32 years in the order for the priest, who has been known for protesting a wide range of issues, including U.S. policies on Latin America, nuclear weapons development, and the cooperation of Jesuit educational institutions with American military recruiting programs such as the ROTC. The dismissal also raises the specter of Pope Francis,...

A search engine sent someone here searching for “why are democrats eager to confiscate guns.” Essentially, to facilitate remaining in power, and for self preservation. And for the full answer to that, let me turn to the recognized expert on the topic. Niccolò Machiavelli wrote Il Principe, The Prince, which most rulers of the past 500 years have had on their nightstand. While The Prince should take up a quarter of one high school civics or government class, one chapter in particular should be read and understood by every gun owner.The title and chapter number varies with the translation, but...

"Without a rifle you are nothing, worthless, you are waiting for death, any minute, any second." - Aron Bielski "My father sent my mother a revolver as a gift, which for her was the symbol of what any young girl wants in a marriage, this was for her the means to stay alive, to kill herself or to die fighting." -- Assaela Bielski Kurt Hofmann comments on the latest kerfluffle between the ADL and other professional citizen disarmament advocates and NRA board member Scott Bach. Bach is being pilloried "for expressing surprise in a phone interview on NRA News...

Defense: Breaking yet another promise, this one to Congress, the administration jeopardizes our national security with plans to eliminate an entire squadron of intercontinental ballistic missiles and destroy its silos. Yet another example of what President Obama meant in 2012 when he promised Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, that after his re-election he would have more "flexibility" on defense issues, comes on the news that an ICBM squadron would be scrapped to comply with the New START Treaty — even as both the Russians and Chinese deploy new ballistic missiles. A document...

Defense: The firing of two nuclear commanders in a week adds to a body count that suggests we have either the most corrupt and incompetent general staff in history or our military is being reshaped for other purposes. The Obama administration, which has fired no one over scandals such as its Fast and Furious Mexican gun-running operation, its criminal negligence in the terrorist attack on our Benghazi diplomatic mission, or the use of the IRS to target and intimidate political foes, seems to have a curious obsession lately about ethics and competence in the U.S. military. Last week the Air...

Israel condemned on Tuesday the selection of Iran for a high-level position on a United Nations committee dealing with disarmament and international security issues. Israel’s UN Ambassador Ron Prosor said in a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council that “it is inconceivable” that a country under UN sanctions over its nuclear program would be allowed to hold the position of rapporteur on a committee dealing with nuclear disarmament. …

Weaponry: As the commander in chief calls for a one-third reduction in our nuclear arsenal, Russia builds new midrange missile banned under a 1987 arms treaty. How's that "reset" button working out, Mr. President? Trust but verify, said the president who won the Cold War. Ronald Reagan's "peace through strength" philosophy has been replaced with the "peace through parchment" strategy of Barack Obama. It emphasizes flexibility, not resolve, and relies on pacts such as the New Start Treaty and the pressing of imaginary reset buttons. Russia's playing host to Edward Snowden, arguably a traitor with secrets to share with Moscow...

Several A-listers are banding together to beg President Barack Obama to keep his word about seeking a world [free] of nuclear weapons. Apparently, they've been cycling through the Superman movies to ready themselves for Man of Steel and stumbled upon Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Actors Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Naomi Watts, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin, among others, appear in a new video for Global Zero urging the president to address the issue at next week’s G-8 summit.... Freeman and Sheen conclude, “For if we believe that the spread of nuclear weapons is...

President Barack Obama is set to announce a new round of strategic nuclear warhead reductions in the near future as part of a disarmament agenda that could reduce U.S. strategic warheads to as few as 1,000 weapons. The next round of U.S.-Russian arms talks would follow Obama's expected announcement that the United States' arsenal of strategic warheads can be reduced unilaterally to around 1,000 warheads. That position is expected as part of the Pentagon's long-delayed Nuclear Posture Review implementation study that Obama was expected to sign earlier this year. Recent press reports have indicated that President Obama may make the...

Iran's looming status as head of a UN disarmament body sparked outrage Monday from campaigners who said its nuclear program and arming of Syria and Islamist militias disqualified it from a place at the table. “This is like putting Jack the Ripper in charge of a women's shelter,” said Hillel Neuer, head of Geneva-based UN Watch, announcing that the organization would organize protest events involving Iranian dissidents. The leadership of the UN Conference on Disarmament rotates automatically in alphabetical order among its 65 member nations, and Iran is scheduled to take the helm on May 27 for a session running...

I have to wonder sometimes how some people reach the conclusions that they do. To be specific, let’s look at those who would say that we’d all have a safer society if only the government had guns. Right now it seems farfetched that anyone would agree to that. But the issue today is comprehensive gun owner registration and smaller clips. That nose under the tent now will easily lead to stricter rules when it is discovered, after another mass murder using legal arms, more restrictions will be necessary. Eventually only the government will have guns – much to the joy...

WASHINGTON -- Senior Obama administration officials have agreed that the number of nuclear warheads the U.S. military deploys could be cut by at least a third without harming national security, according to those involved in the deliberations. Such a reduction would open the door to billions of dollars in military savings, which might ease the federal budget deficit. It also would improve prospects for a new arms deal with Russia before President Barack Obama leaves office, those involved said, but it’s likely to draw fire from conservatives, if previous debate on the issue is any guide.

BEIJING — Secretary of State John Kerry flew to China on Saturday and offered a concession on missile defense meant to elicit China’s help in dealing with an increasingly recalcitrant and nuclear armed North Korea. In a news conference following meetings with China’s top leaders, Mr. Kerry said that the United States would reduce its missile defenses in Asia if North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons program. Mr. Kerry’s overture appeared aimed at addressing Chinese concerns that North Korea’s provocative actions were leading the United States to build up military strength in the region as China is boosting its own...

The Second Amendment got attacked this week from three sides, leaving gun owners scrambling to find safe ground. While President Obama has lost momentum for federal gun-control laws, he has picked up victories with his allies in blue states and at the United Nations. After Thursday, Connecticut should consider changing its state nickname from the “Constitution State” to the “Unconstitutional State” after Gov. Dannel Malloy signed an extremely restrictive gun-control law. The bill passed the state House Thursday morning and the Senate on Wednesday. Before the Newtown tragedy, the Brady Campaign determined that Connecticut was the fifth highest-rated state for...

Individuals 55 and older would lose their right to keep and bear arms under a provision that’s expected to be included as part of a comprehensive United Nations Global Arms Trade Treaty. UN Secretary Gen. Ban Ki-moon spoke about the impetus behind the controversial measure at a press conference over the weekend in New York City, the site of the final negotiations between the 193 Member States. “Regulating the international transfers of both weapons and ammunition is a key component of a robust arms trade treaty, as is limiting civilian access to small arms and munitions,” said Ban Ki-moon. “There’s...

... Stevens is not actually the father of a Sandy Hook student. Victoria is a fifth-grader at Reed Intermediate School, located about a mile or so from the elementary school that was the scene of the tragic mass shooting. In fairness to Stevens, the misinformation was not his doing. While his original remarks were a little ambigious—he said that his daughter "was in lockdown" during the shooting and that "her classmate’s little sister was murdered in Sandy Hook that day"—he's already gone out of his way to correct the error, emailing the Examiner to set the story straight: Thank you...

NEWTOWN -- Schools Superintendent Janet Robinson was one of millions awed by the debut of 26 Sandy Hook third- and fourth-graders singing "America the Beautiful'' at the Super Bowl pre-game show in New Orleans. .................. Weeks earlier, a different group of 21 Newtown youngsters had stirred similar emotions when they sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on national TV. Now, Robinson is in the center of what has gone from murmurs into a simmering dispute over which singing group truly represents Sandy Hook. The drama over the two different groups started after New York music producer Tim Hayes decided to tap...

A group of 18 former military and national security officials wrote to President Barack Obama on Friday urging the administration to cancel plans for further cuts in United States nuclear warheads, warning that new arms reductions would undermine U.S. security. The ex-officials, including two former members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated in the letter to Obama that North Korea’s recent underground nuclear test, and concerns about growing Pyongyang-Tehran nuclear arms cooperation, undermines any further disarmament sought by the president. “In our professional judgment, born of decades of experience with national security policy and practice, America’s ‘triad’ of nuclear-armed...

Already, there are signs that Governor Cuomo and his allies underestimated the pushback. As draconian, ill-advised, and possibly unconstitutional as the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (NY SAFE) anti-gun law was when it was hastily signed into law, it might have been far worse — this according to a New York legislator who fought against the bill.Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin has released documentation showing rejected Democratic proposals for the NY SAFE Act. They included these: Confiscation of all firearms arbitrarily redefined as “assault weapons”Labeling semi-automatic shotguns as “assault weapons” if they can hold more than five rounds or have...