Free Republic

This is our Boston tea Party. The Associated Press wants to levy a $12.50 and up license fee (aka extortion fee) on any blogger who quotes more than 4 words from one of their propaganda pieces. This is an outrageous attempt to control the blogosphere and free speech itself. To hell with their license fee and to hell with the AP. Any AP article that gets posted to FR will be jettisoned into the harbor posthaste. Please do not post any AP material to FR excerpted or not.

...Well, maybe Vigna has calmed down. His threat to sue me was in April, and it's June now. Maybe he has finally found that serenity he sought. Nope. Now my parents tell me that Vigna has been harassing them at their home. Vigna has been sending a private investigator to my parents' house again and again, demanding to see me. My parents, who are far more polite than I am, keep telling Vigna's hired tough guy that I don't live there anymore. I did when I was a teenager. But that was in 1990. The last time Vigna's hired muscle...

WASHINGTON-Whoever wins the White House in November, anti-tobacco advocates say, one thing is clear: The next president will be an improvement over the current one. Over the last eight years, President Bush has often sided with tobacco companies against legislation to curb smoking, they say. “This administration hasn’t been particularly positive on a tobacco-control agenda,” said Paul Billings, vice president of national policy advocacy for the American Lung Association. With the lackluster economy, the Middle East and the extended Democratic primary battle dominating the presidential race, scant attention has been paid to the candidates’ views on key tobacco policy issues....

WASHINGTON - Health and environmental organizations filed a lawsuit Tuesday arguing that the Bush administration failed to protect public health and the environment when it issued new smog requirements. The lawsuit maintains that the Environmental Protection Agency ignored the recommendation of a key advisory panel of scientists who had recommended more stringent smog standards. The suit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by Earthjustice on behalf of a number of environmental and conservation groups and the American Lung Association. The EPA in March issued tougher health standards for ozone, commonly known as...

Some Tim Hortons customers and managers got more than cream and sugar with their coffees this morning. A crowd of 15 high school students and local activisits staked out the restaurant’s drive-thru at Clarke Road and Trafalgar Street to protest greenhouse-gas emissions caused by idling in line. This prompted Tim Hortons managers to ask them to protest off the property. “I don’t mind the folks getting out their message” as long as they do it safely, said Tim Hortons’ regional manager Nick Javor. Waving signs reading “Idling Kills” and wearing air-filter masks, the protesters were lined up along the drive-thru...

A leading Italian neo-fascist with a nine-year conviction for conspiracy after the bombing of Bologna train station in 1980 has taken a seat in the European Parliament. Roberto Fiore, 49, came to Britain in the wake of the bombing, which left 85 people dead and over 200 wounded. The attack was carried out by the Nucleus of Armed Revolutionaries, a far-Right terrorist group. Although Mr Fiore, a member of the Third Position cell, was not directly involved in the execution of the bombing, he was convicted for conspiring to carry out an armed attack. He lived in the UK for...

Lately I've been thinking of four left wing incidents that happened in Maine over the course of two years. I feel I should get them off my chest I think some of them would be interesting and I think others should know about them. The first one involves an incident that took place in the Bangor metro area two years ago. This freind of mine and his family were having trouble. He had difficulty getting by and he worked at Edwards Shop'n'save in Hampden outside Bangor. He was on food stamps and his wife was laid off and couldn't get...

17 April 2008 | 12:05 | Source: Tanjug ZAGREB -- Stjepan Mesic has criticized the Croatian parliament’s decision to spend more money on the commemoration for Bleiburg victims than Jasenovac victims. “The fact is, not one Jasenovac victim was to blame for the Bleiburg victims, but a lot of Bleiburg victims were guilty for a lot of victims at Jasenovac,” said the Croatian president, stressing that the excuse that Jasenovac had received money earlier and Bleiburg had not, did not wash. A commemoration for Second World War war crimes in Yugoslavia should be held in Jasenovac because it was the...

Liveleak.com was the first internet site to allow Fitna to be viewed on their website. They have only after one day replaced the video with the following statements: "Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature and some ill-informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly lead to the harm of some of our staff, LiveLeak.com has been left with no other choice but to remove 'Fitna' from our servers. This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our...

And they say Bush is Hitler? There is no difference between this: Milwaukee Sentinel, March 2007: Officers were called to the 3100 block of Oakland Ave. around 8 p.m., where Iraq War protesters clad in black, carrying torches and wearing ski masks were reportedly setting off smoke bombs and throwing paint as they approached an Arm recruiting center on the block, Sgt. Eric Pfeiffer, of the Milwaukee Police Department, said last night.Someone threw an object through the recruitment center’s window and spread what appears to be human waste inside before running off, Pfeiffer said. Of the 21 arrests, three were...

MONTREAL, Quebec, February 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - There are very few Canadians who would not immediately recognize the face of David Suzuki, Canada's environmentalist extraordinaire. In Canada the name of Suzuki is almost synonymous with environmentalism, with his fame and reputation having been solidified by years of successful lecturing, activism, and internationally syndicated television programs, including the famous The Nature of Things. He is often described with the words "prophet" or "guru," and is widely hailed for his "wisdom." Besides having been awarded the highest award possible for a Canadian citizen - the Order of Canada - Suzuki has been...

Monks at a Lowcountry monastery are looking for a new source of income. Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist monastery on the Cooper River, announced Thursday it will cease its egg production business following pressure from an animal rights group. The phaseout of the industry, which has sustained the brothers for more than 40 years, comes after attacks by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Earlier this year, and again this week, PETA charged that the birds at Mepkin Abbey were caged in cramped quarters and suffered inhumane practices. PETA urged shoppers to boycott Mepkin Abbey eggs, which are sold at...

In what may turn out to be the most important Second Amendment ruling since 1939’s hideously misinterpreted Miller - and maybe the most important ruling on the Amendment in American history, the Supreme Court has granted cert to Parker v. D.C. and will be taking up the case in this session. Natch, Glenn Reynolds has tonsalinks. My first take (I have to admit I’m shaking in my boots at the negative possibilities here, given that I thought the SCOTUS would dodge this one) is that the Court will find an individual right, but do so in such a way that...

President Nicholas Murray Butler of Columbia University has refused to interfere in the Casa Italianas' program of lecture discussions on contemporary Italy, it was learned yesterday, from a letter he wrote to Luigi Criscuolo, President of the Italian Constitutional Alliance, an anti-Fascist group. Criscuolo had written to Professor Butler protesting that all the lecturers were in sympathy with the Fascist Government of Italy. He had asked that some anti-Fascisti be allowed to speak. "The University does not permit itself to be used for what it has become fashionable to call propaganda of any kind, nor would it take part in...

Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler refused to interfere with Columbia University's assistant Professor of Latin, who is also the local head of the Fascisti Movement. President Butler was moved to put himself on record by a protest from a group of liberals which followed the announcement that the American organization had been formed to combat Italian Fascists in this country.

Just ran across this interesting video on Breibart Breaking news videos.

Kathleen Willey, the woman who says Bill Clinton groped her in the Oval Office, claims she was the target of an unusual house burglary over the weekend that nabbed a manuscript for her upcoming book, which promises explosive revelations that could damage Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Willey told WND little else was taken from her rural Virginia home as she slept alone upstairs – electronics and jewelry were left behind – and she believes the Clintons were behind it. The break-in, she said, reminded her of the widely reported incident 10 years ago in which she claimed she was...

NEW YORK (AP) - Liberal activists are stepping up their campaign against Fox News Channel by pressuring advertisers not to patronize the network. MoveOn.org, the Campaign for America's Future and liberal blogs like DailyKos.com are asking thousands of supporters to monitor who is advertising on the network. Once a database is gathered, an organized phone-calling campaign will begin, said Jim Gilliam, vice president of media strategy for Brave New Films, a company that has made anti-Fox videos. The groups have successfully pressured Democratic presidential candidates not to appear at any debate sponsored by Fox, and are also trying to...

When Gareth Groves brought home his massive new Hummer, he knew his environmentally friendly neighbors disapproved. But he didn't expect what happened next. The sport utility vehicle was parked for five days on the street before two masked men smashed the windows, slashed the tires and scratched into the body: "FOR THE ENVIRON." "The thought of somebody vandalizing it never crossed my mind," said Gareth Groves, who lives near American University in Northwest Washington. "I've kind of been in shock." Police said they see small acts of vandalism in the area from time to time, but they have not seen...

Brian D. Kelly didn't think he was doing anything illegal when he used his videocamera to record a Carlisle police officer during a traffic stop. Making movies is one of his hobbies, he said, and the stop was just another interesting event to film. Now he's worried about going to prison or being burdened with a criminal record. Kelly, 18, of Carlisle, was arrested on a felony wiretapping charge, with a penalty of up to 7 years in state prison. His camera and film were seized by police during the May 24 stop, he said, and he spent 26 hours...

For nearly two years, pet owners from the low-lying Louisiana parish of St. Bernard have accused sheriff's deputies of having wantonly killed dozens of dogs they forced evacuees to leave behind during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, without regard to the dogs' size or the potential threat they might pose. One owner said her family was forced at gunpoint to leave its dog behind. Another owner said residents became frantic when, they said, they overheard one deputy claim that "once everybody's gone, we're going to have target practice tonight." They claim in court papers that deputies were under " authorization...of their...

Malaysia: 37 books that 'undermine Islam' banned Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 6, 2007 Malaysia has banned 37 books and other publications on Islam, saying they contain "twisted facts" that could undermine Muslims' faith. Che Din Yusoh, a senior official of the Publications and Quranic Texts Control Division, said in a statement Wednesday that 21 of the items were English-language publications from the US, UK and Jordan, and 16 others were in the Bahasa Malaysia language, published in Malaysia and Indonesia. "These publications can cause confusion and apprehension among Muslims and eventually jeopardize public order," Che Din said in...

Check out "Pols won't stand up to gun lobby" on page 10 and "Debate is waste of time" on page 11 of the newspaper link. Both articles show just how little the anti-gun nitwits know about reality. The guy who wrote "Debate is a waste of time" actually supports fascist Gestapo tactics (big surprise there).

We fully expect people to get pretty hot under the collar about hot-button social issues like abortion, gay marriage and affirmative action. It’s not even surprising when people on one side of the debate try to shut up people on the other side. The gay lobby is particularly likely to do this, as cases in Canada, in the U.K., in U.S. schools of Social Work, and indeed from the Gay/Straight Alliance right here at Marquette. But what about an issue like supposed “global warming?” That’s an arcane scientific issue, right? People should be tolerant of differing views, right? Apparently not....

How conservative evangelists are trying to make the United States a Christian nation President Eisenhower famously said, "Our government makes no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith, and I don't care what that faith is." The people Chris Hedges writes about in his new book have a different view: They care a lot about the religion on which our government is based and they think it should be Christianity — their version, of course. "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America" is a call to arms against what Hedges sees as the...

Angered by a proposal to ban smoking in Belmont, furious e-mailers are bombarding Belmont Mayor Coralin Feierbach's inbox, comparing her to Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden. The authors of these e-mails are enraged by the city council's move to ban smoking in all public places and multi-unit dwellings. The proposal is currently in the hands of the city attorney, who will draft an ordinance that the council will be asked to approve, Councilman William Dickenson said. If the measure passes, residents will only be legally allowed to smoke inside detached, single-unit homes. The e-mails to Feierbach are littered with...

The Kansas City Council is expected to vote today on whether to join Overland Park, Olathe and other cities in a smoking ban affecting even bars and restaurants. That is faster than was expected — Kansas City originally was going to wait until nearly the entire metro area passed comprehensive bans. But irate bar and restaurant owners told a council committee Wednesday that the proposal is unfair because it would exempt the gaming floors of Kansas City’s casinos. “Why exempt one industry?” asked Thomas Norsworthy, who owns bars and restaurants that he said must compete with the casinos. When Finance...

Brussels - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday rejected a draft United Nations resolution calling for sanctions against Iran, saying the text drawn up by European nations was too tough to be acceptable. Voicing equally strong views on other global flashpoints, Lavrov, who attended a meeting with senior European Union officials in Brussels, insisted that any decision on a final status for Kosovo must take account of the views of all parties, including Serbia. The Russian Foreign Minister also warned leaders in Georgia to stop making 'insulting statements' and to establish a 'normal, civilized relationship with Moscow.' With discussions...

The Fascists Among UsOctober 17th, 2006 It’s no secret that hurling names about is as common in the political world as it is in a grammar school playground. One oft-used pejorative is “fascist,” which, along with racist, sexist, homophobe and others, tends to be least understood by those who utter it most. And because these damning terms are used wantonly, more to discredit than describe, they tend to be misapplied. Then, soon, calling someone a fascist becomes akin to calling him a snake: more a vague impugnment of character then a characterization of methods and goals. Rhetoric aside, however,...

Minutemen Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist spoke at Columbia University tonight. He tried to speak, that is. During his remarks, a mob of students stormed the stage and sabotaged the event. Every Columbia U. alum should be assailing the administration. Gilchrist is owed an apology. This is a disgrace. The staff of the Blue and White, a Columbia Univ. undergrad magazine liveblogged it at "The Bwog" and took photos. Here's one: A bit of their report: STUDENTS WITH A BIG YELLOW SIGN JUST CAME ONTO THE STAGE. The sign says, "There are no illegals." Students rise en masse from the audience...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Three years after the city banned smoking in restaurants, health officials are talking about prohibiting something they say is almost as bad: artificial trans fatty acids. The city health department unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would bar cooks at any of the city's 24,600 food service establishments from using ingredients that contain the artery-clogging substance, commonly listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated oil. Artificial trans fats are found in some shortenings, margarine and frying oils and turn up in foods from pie crusts to french fries to doughnuts. Doctors agree that trans fats are unhealthy...

The search continues for the numinous or hieroglyphic significance of the date September 11. Believers in propaganda by deed, like Gavrilo Princip and Timothy McVeigh, usually choose to invest themselves with portentousness by selecting an anniversary that will freight their murder with meaning. Often, it is a date that only meant something to a very limited or arcane circle until its true value was unveiled to a stunned world. Thus Princip chose the date of Serbia's 14th century defeat in Kosovo and McVeigh chose the anniversary of Janet Reno's bloodbath at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. I've also...

netWMD is proud to participate in the 2,996: A Tribute to the Victims of 9/11 project. Stuck to the top until Sept. 12. Sareve Dukat kept her composure, even though the United States was under attack by Islamo-fascists, drunk on religion, hatred, and a lust for power. The date was September 11, 2001. An airliner full of civilians was just cynically rammed into tower #1 of the World Trade Center in New York City. Ms. Dukat would not survive the day that has become the defining moment for a generation of Americans, myself included. Dukat, who was working on the...

Senate Democratic leadership threatens Disney with legal and legislative sanctionsby John in DC - 9/07/2006 06:02:00 PM This letter was sent today by the entire Democratic leadership of the US Senate. This letter is such a major shot across the bow of Disney, it's not even funny. It is FILLED with veiled threats, both legal and legislative, against Disney. US Senators don't make threats like this, especially the entire Democratic leadership en masse, unless they mean it. Disney is in serious trouble. Read it, then read my analysis of it below:September 7, 2006 Mr. Robert A. Iger President and...

The antiquated American view that terrorism is a problem originating in the Middle East needs to be updated. South America, a long time haven for drug cartels has seen Hezbollah arrive and be welcomed with open arms by Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. That is right; Hezbollah is setting up shop in Venezuela. Perhaps this will bring the global scope of the war against islamo-fascist terror into perspective for those who still believe the United States is can simply isolate itself and expect terrorists to leave us alone. They are dead set on striking at the United States, and are establishing...

PARIS If Alexander Schoppmann is right, then where there's smoke, there's a flier. As more countries ban smoking in public places, his idea might seem malapropos. But Schoppmann, a German entrepreneur, is hoping to turn smokers' umbrage at ever-expanding efforts to stub out their habit into a highflying business proposal: Smoker's International Airways. As the name suggests, the airline, known as Smintair for short, will probably not be for the faint of lung. The carrier, expected to begin luxury service with only business and first-class seats early next year, plans daily flights between Schoppmann's hometown of Düsseldorf and Tokyo -...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush in recent days has recast the global war on terror into a "war against Islamic fascism." Fascism, in fact, seems to be the new buzz word for Republicans in an election season dominated by an unpopular war in Iraq.Bush used the term earlier this month in talking about the arrest of suspected terrorists in Britain, and spoke of "Islamic fascists" in a later speech Aug. 10 in Green Bay, Wis. Spokesman Tony Snow has used variations on the phrase at White House press briefings. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., in a tough re-election fight, drew parallels...

US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made his strongest public case for a plan, opposed by some in the US Congress and by Russia, to convert some Navy long-range missiles from a nuclear to a conventional role for potential use against terrorist targets anywhere in the world. Rumsfeld held talks Sunday with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, and they discussed the issue at a joint news conference. Opponents of the plan argue that it could create a situation in which a conventionally armed US Trident missile, launched from a submarine, would be mistaken for a nuclear launch, thus risking the...

In an appearance on the TV show “Hardball” Representative Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) objected to President Bush’s the use of the term “Islamofascist” to describe the terrorists who blow up airplanes and buildings indiscriminately killing innocent men, women and children. “We gave Hitler, a white man, the benefit of the doubt in the 1930s,” said Rangel. “I know that turned out badly, but why shouldn’t brown men get the same benefit? Shouldn’t our policies be racially balanced.” “Besides, they haven’t killed that many people yet,” Rangel continued. “There ought to be some minimum number of deaths before we start calling them...

THE Israeli army killed at least three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon after armed gunmen approached the forces, a spokesman said. “Four armed gunmen approached Israeli Defence Forces, they posed a threat, they were armed, in an act of self-defence the forces opened fire... At least three were killed,” the spokesman said. In another incident, a lone gunman approached Israeli troops who opened fire. The militiaman was hit but the army spokesman could not confirm he had been killed. “All of the incidents were acts of self-defence,” he said. “The IDF continues to respect UN resolution 1701.” At least four...

Around 10,000 bags checked in by British Airways passengers have gone missing at airports since the UK security alert began, the airline says. It said half of them were still piled up at airports waiting to be delivered back to their owners. A war of words has erupted between BA and airport operator BAA over who is to blame for the misplaced luggage. Twenty-four are now in custody after another person was held under terror laws over the alleged plot on Tuesday. 'Unprecedented circumstance' And CCTV footage has emerged of one of the men being held, Tayib Rauf, at his...

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday that the foiled plot in Britain to blow up jetliners over the Atlantic is evidence the U.S. could be fighting terrorists for years to come. "America is safer than it has been, yet it is not yet safe," Bush told reporters at the National Counterterrorism Center just outside Washington. "The enemy has got an advantage when it comes to attacking our homeland: they got to be right one time and we got to be right 100 percent of the time to protect the American people." The counterterrorism center is located at an undisclosed site...

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - Saudi Arabia warned against accusing Muslims of terrorism and fascism, in an apparent reference to US President George W. Bush's claim that the United States is at war with "Islamic fascists". The Saudi government "called on everyone to realize that terrorism has no religion or nationality", said a cabinet statement carried by the official SPA news agency. It "warned against hurling charges of terrorism and fascism at Muslims without regard to the spotless history of Islamic civilization", the statement said. "What Islam is being accused of today, like fascism, is primarily a Western cultural product,"...

Many pundits in Washington, among them supporters of Israel, anticipated better results from the month-long war against Hizbullah. They were hoping for Israel to put Iran and Syria on the defensive by using IDF military might to eradicate Hizbullah much faster. Some have already concluded that this was an opportunity squandered. The truth is that the last month has not been "a walk in the park" for Israel. We have been fighting a ruthless, well-armed and well-trained, albeit small, army that has spent the last six years preparing for this war while we have been busy on many other fronts....

Washington - US Muslim groups criticised US President George W Bush on Thursday for calling a foiled plot to blow up airplanes part of a "war with Islamic fascists," saying the term could inflame anti-Muslim tensions. US officials have said the plot, thwarted by Britain, to blow up several aircraft over the Atlantic bore many of the hallmarks of al-Qaeda. "We believe this is an ill-advised term and we believe that it is counterproductive to associate Islam or Muslims with fascism," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations advocacy group. Restraint"We ought to take advantage of...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Terrorists were in the "final stages" of a plot to simultaneously blow up as many as 10 jets leaving Britain for the U.S., sending the planes and thousands of passengers into the Atlantic Ocean, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday. British and Pakistani authorities teamed up to thwart the attacks, and 24 men were arrested in overnight raids in Britain, authorities said. An undercover British agent infiltrated the group, giving the authorities intelligence on the alleged plan, several U.S. government officials said. The men had not bought plane tickets, the officials said, but they were...

comment from WrathOfG-G at LGF: IF YOU ARE IN LOS ANGELES TODAY COME COUNTER AN PRO-HIZ'B'aLLAH RIOT/PROTEST @ 4:00 AT THE CORNER OF LA JOLLA & WILSHIRE (Just East of the Federation Building).Last time I was there they were chanting "Long Live Hizbollah", "Long live Intifada", "Death to the Jews" (in arabic), "Die Jews...you pathetic, fake, Gaza Jews", and (oddly) "Si se puede!" From the tension I felt last time I can only imagine how it is going to be this time. The Pro-Israel side can use as many people as it can get. The Pro-Hiz'b'allah crowd are angry and...

Critics of the group call the $300 payments coercive and the nationwide effort racist. From where Barbara Harris sits, drug addicts give up a lot of things. Procreation should be one of them. The founder and driving force behind the controversial Project Prevention is on a 5,000-mile road trip to bring the group’s distinctive offer to the nation’s drug users: Get on long-term birth control. Maybe get sterilized. Either way, get $300 from her group. “People say we don’t have a right to tell them how many children they can have,” Harris said Tuesday as she coaxed the nonprofit group’s...

Jihad Denial in TorontoBy Robert SpencerFrontPageMagazine.com | June 7, 2006 The irony was delicious. The lead paragraph of the Toronto Star story on this week’s terror arrests in Canada was: “In investigators’ offices, an intricate graph plotting the links between the 17 men and teens charged with being members of a homegrown terrorist cell covers at least one wall. And still, says a source, it is difficult to find a common denominator.” But illustrating the story was a photo of two women in full Islamic dress, their faces entirely covered except for a slit for their eyes. Difficult to find...

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration turned aside demands from Congress and industry that it formally accuse Beijing of manipulating its currency to give Chinese firms an unfair edge over their American competitors. Instead, the Treasury Department Wednesday chose the gentler tactic of stressing its "strong disappointment" that China hasn't allowed the yuan to rise faster and further against the dollar. -- Prodded by lobbyists for manufacturing firms, lawmakers from both parties have for several years been urging President Bush and Treasury Secretary John Snow to take a hard line towards China, which has allowed the yuan to rise only about...