Free Republic

BERLIN (Reuters) - A pair of flying underpants caused a crash on a German highway when they landed on a driver's face and blocked his view, police said Tuesday. A police spokesman in the central town of Gotha said one of a group of naked men in a van threw the underwear into a Volkswagen Passat as they passed it on a busy stretch of one of Germany's notoriously speedy autobahns. "The underpants landed on the driver's face, causing him to ram the truck ahead from behind," said the spokesman, adding that he did not know why the men were...

A German Army General has been appointed to Chief of Staff of U.S. Army Europe. This is the first time a non-U.S. officer has held this position.

Our forefathers knew the feeling. One minute there you are, like Brazil’s football team on Tuesday, settling down to start a long campaign. The next minute, bewilderingly, it is all over: Germany is master of the field, counting prisoners or — in this case — an unprecedented 7-1 triumph in the World Cup semi-final, executed with chilling discipline and precision. What is it about the Germans? Yes, yes, I know we are not meant to mention the war, or rather wars. But how can we not do so, when for centuries the world paid tribute to Germany’s prowess on the...

German rapper turned Islamist militant killed in Syria suicide attack BEIRUT // A German former rapper who joined jihadists fighting in Syria has been killed in a suicide bombing carried out by rival fighters. Denis Mamadou Cuspert, who rapped under the name Deso Dogg but took on the name Abu Talha Al Almani in Syria, was reported to have been killed in a suicide attack on Sunday in an eastern province. He was a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and was reportedly killed in a double suicide bombing carried out by Al Nusra Front,...

All primary schools will be expected to teach foreign languages to pupils from 2014 as part of a major drive to boost education standards, it emerged. At least one subject from a seven-strong shortlist – French, German, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Latin and ancient Greek – will be offered to seven- to 11-year-olds. The move – outlined in a consultation document published by the Department for Education – could result in a major rise in the number of pupils studying the classical languages at a young age....

"9/11 plotter released in Syria prisoner exchange" SNIPPET: "The al-Qaeda recruiter reputed to have assembled the so-called Hamburg Cell, which planned and largely carried out the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, has been set free in a prisoner exchange between rebel and regime forces in Syria. Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham has secured the release of 9/11 plotter and alleged al-Qaeda core member Mohammed Haydar Zammar, adding to concerns about the composition of the Islamic Front. A naturalized German citizen of Syrian origin, Mohammed Haydar Zammar left Germany shortly after the attacks and traveled to Morocco, where he was reportedly...

Rumtopf is one of the best holiday treats; I was surprised at how good it is, and how STRONG. Spring is coming around; that's the time to start another crock of rumtopf; does any freeper have a special recipe? I'm starting HERE!

On Tuesday, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) announced a drastic turnaround on the part of the federal government: The German Romeike family, which sought asylum in the United States to home-school their children, will now be allowed to stay in America. “The Romeikes can stay!!!” the HSLDA announced on its Facebook page. Just one day ago, the Romeikes thought they would be forced to return to Germany, where the state could take custody of their children because of their decision to home-school. At a minimum, they would face increasingly harsh fines for violating Germany’s compulsory attendance law....

Today, a Supervisor with the Department of Homeland Security called a member of our legal team to inform us that the Romeike family has been granted “indefinite deferred status”. This means that the Romeikes can stay in the United States permanently (unless they are convicted of a crime, etc.) This is an incredible victory that can only be credited to our Almighty God. We also want to thank those of who spoke up on this issue–including that long ago White House petition. We believe that the public outcry made this possible while God delivered the victory. Via Home School Legal...

Christians in an east Tennessee community are vowing to engage in civil disobedience if the Obama administration initiates deportation proceedings against a Southern Baptist family from Germany who sought asylum in the United States so that they could home school their children.

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has stepped up its surveillance of senior German government officials since being ordered by Barack Obama to halt its spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bild am Sonntag paper reported on Sunday. Revelations last year about mass U.S. surveillance in Germany, in particular of Merkel´s mobile phone, shocked Germans and sparked the most serious dispute between the transatlantic allies in a decade. Bild am Sonntag said its information stemmed from a high-ranking NSA employee in Germany and that those being spied on included Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, a close confidant of Merkel.

As Islam continues to grow more powerful in Germany, one Christian woman known as the “brave German woman” decided God had moved her to speak up. Heidi Mund felt led to march into the Memorial Church of the Reformation in the Rhineland city of Speyer on November 10, 2013 to rebuke their invitation of a Muslim Imam who was giving the call to prayer. After praying, Mund was certain she needed to act. Now, a video of her action has gone viral. “I would call it a holy anger,” she recounted. “And then I rose with my flag and I...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A suspect wanted in connection with the killing of a German tourist near Union Square in 2010 has been arrested, authorities said Friday. Devante Laws, 21, was spotted in Hayward on Thursday and taken into custody by members of a task force led by the U.S. Marshals Service. Laws, suspected of being a gang member, was sought on suspicion of being an accessory to murder in the August 2010 shooting that killed Mechthild Schroer, who was visiting with her husband to celebrate her birthday and anniversary.

Stay-at-home mums cooking lunch for the children while dads earn the money—Germans’ opinions on gender roles are more conservative today than they were in the 1990s, a survey revealed on Monday. Today just under half of women (48 percent) could imagine their husband taking a step back in his career to enable them to further their own, the Tagesspiegel reported. Back in 1993, the number was 54 percent who thought such a thing likely. Men have also hardened their views, with today 40 percent said they could see themselves putting a dent in their career to help their partners, while...

Terrorist planned attack on nuclear warhead stockpile By Philip Delves Broughton November 17 2002 The Sun-Herald An Al Qaeda terrorist has confessed that he planned to drive a giant explosive device into a United States air force bunker in Belgium believed to contain nuclear warheads. News of the plot came as the US warned that a broadcast thought to contain the words of Osama bin Laden foreshadowed a likely attack. The FBI said national landmarks and the aviation, oil and nuclear industries were all possible targets. In an interview with a Belgian radio station, Tunisian Nizar Trabelsi, 31, a former...

SNIPPET: "I rarely attend trials, but this one is special. On July 24, 2013, the main hearing in the case of German businessman Rudolf M. and Iranian-Germans Gholamali K., Kianzad K., and Hamid Kh. opened at Hamburg’s Higher Regional Court. The defendants are charged with exporting 92 German-produced specialized valves for use in Iran’s Arak plutonium reactor and arranging the shipment of 856 nuclear-usable valves from India to Iran in 2010 and 2011. The reasons why the UN Security Council has ordered Iran to halt the construction of the Arak reactor are compelling. If this nuclear plant comes online in...

It started innocently enough: Andreas H. Koertel, 46, was pulled over in a traffic stop. Then things got hairy in hurry. Turns out Koertel, a German national, was in possession of meth and illegal weapons, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, so he was booked into jail on multiple charges, KXTV-TV reports.

Es ist lustig, weil es wahr ist. Clicky

Via the pool report: He thanked families like Chrysler, Hershey, Heinz, Einstein, Steinway, Steinbeck, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig for prosperity and inspiration. He said young Americans "will always be grateful for Levi Strauss for their blue jeans." "Americans will also be grateful especially for some very important German immigrants Anheuser Busch." Obama said he was "thankful to Angela" who he said had yearned for the freedom in her youth, and said she had pointed out during their lunch the train tracks where the Berlin Wall used to run. He said she had helped her dreams become true for millions in...

In a throwback to its darkest past, the German government recently decided to back an initiative which singles out Jewish-owned businesses and targets them for detrimental treatment. Joining 13 other European Union members, Berlin has reportedly agreed to support efforts aimed at applying special labels of origin to products manufactured by Jewish owned factories in Judea and Samaria. The goal is to harm the livelihood of Jewish businessmen and entrepreneurs as a way of undermining the settlement enterprise. Needless to say, goods made by Palestinian-run plants in the territories will not similarly be branded.