Free Republic

In his book "Progressive Democracy" (1914), Herbert Croly wrote the following: (page 29) As in the case of every great political edifice, the materials composing the American system are derived from many different sources, and are characterized by unequal values, both as to endurance and as to latent possibilities. The appearance of definiteness and finality which it derives from its embodiment in specific constitutional documents and other authoritative words is to a large extent illusory. Its real origin and meaning are very much more doubtful and complex than these words intimate. Historians are no more agreed as to the former...

McCain Foods USA said Friday its 2-pound bags of Roundy's Frozen Southern Style Hash Browns (UPC 001115055019) and Harris Teeter Frozen Southern Style Hash Browns (UPC 007203649020) may be contaminated with "extraneous golf ball materials, that despite our stringent supply standards may have been inadvertently harvested with potatoes used to make this product."

Although we Americans have the right to attend whatever Church, Synagogue, or Mosque we choose to, it isn’t so peachy in lots of other places. The photo that accompanies this piece is of an Iranian woman who was flogged for having the temerity to worship as a Christian, for example. The American Spectator’s December 11th analysis of the State Department’s 2009 Report On International Religious Freedom illustrates how really bad it is not only in Iran, but in at least 30 different countries. Author Doug Bandow divides the offenders into two basic camps: “The first are Muslim nations that seek...

A hardline Islamist group in Somalia has begun publicly whipping women for wearing bras that they claim violate Islam as they are 'deceptive'. The insurgent group Al Shabaab has sent gunmen into the streets of Mogadishu to round up any women who appear to have a firm bust, residents claimed yesterday. The women are then inspected to see if the firmness is natural, or if it is the result of wearing a bra. If they are found wearing , they are ordered to remove it and shake their breasts, residents said. Al Shabaab, which seeks to impose a strict interpretation...

By Brian Whitaker The Saudi Arabian security forces have arrested 110 men at a "gay wedding" party in Jeddah, according to a Saudi online newspaper. Al-Wifaq, which has connections with the interior ministry, said the authorities had raided a wedding hall on Monday night after a tip-off and found the men - all Saudis - dancing and "behaving like women". Eighty men were later released, but 30 appeared in a Jeddah court on Wednesday to face charges, the paper said. Homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia and is punished by flogging, jail or death. The raid was made a day...

I was surprised that no media have reported this. It's apparently an FR scoop of sorts. "The Republican National Committee next week will launch something they call a "flog". It's a fact log. And for those of you who are interested in the facts and the discussion of the facts, for people who believe that the records have been distorted or will be distorted, for people who are concerned that they're listening to something that they believe to be inaccurate, the Republican National Committee, through its flog, will provide an information source will people can find the facts in an...