Free Republic

Justification and Options for Creating U.S. Capabilities Establishing security is the sine qua non of stability operations, since it is a prerequisite for reconstruction and development. Security requires a mix of military and police forces to deal with a range of threats from insurgents to criminal organizations. This research examines the creation of a high-end police force, which the authors call a Stability Police Force (SPF). The study considers what size force is necessary, how responsive it needs to be, where in the government it might be located, what capabilities it should have, how it could be staffed, and its...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation's big city police chiefs are backing an anti-terrorism community watch program to educate people about what behavior is truly suspicious and ought to be reported to police. Police Chief William Bratton of Los Angeles, whose department developed the iWATCH program, calls it the 21st century version of Neighborhood Watch. Using brochures, public service announcements and meetings with community groups, iWATCH is designed to deliver concrete advice on how the public can follow the oft-repeated post-9/11 recommendation: "If you see something, say something." Program materials list nine types of suspicious behavior that should prompt people to...

Both Hitler's infamous Gestapo and Mussolini's OVRA (Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism) were secret-police organizations that had as their aim the control and prevention of political dissent. Though Heinrich Himmler modeled his Gestapo force after OVRA, it became much more violent than its Italian counterpart. A German law, passed in 1936, exempted the Gestapo from judicial oversight, which in turn exempted its henchmen from answering to administrative courts. All this, of course, is enough to give most Americans concern, given that the increasingly red administration in Washington has been moving daily toward installing radicals in newly created positions...

President Obama's army of citizen volunteers is now actively recruiting college students in states across the country to "build support for President Obama's agenda" – and earn college credit while advocating for "change." Obama for America, Obama's 2008 political campaign, merged with the Democratic National Committee in January and is now known as Organizing for America, or OFA. The movement some call "Obama 2.0" is now recruiting students and offering to provide credits toward degree plans in exchange for their advocacy skills. A message from OFA national volunteer coordinators announcing the recruitment campaign and internship opportunities has been posted on...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- A man is suing the Kissimmee Police Department for an arrest over mints. When officers pulled Donald May over for an expired tag, they thought the mints he was chewing were crack and arrested him. May told Eyewitness News they wouldn't let him out of jail for three months until tests proved the so-called drugs were candy. May said he was just minding his business, driving home from work, when a Kissimmee police officer pulled him over near 192. "I don't know how it occurred," he said. May was pulled over for an expired tag on his...

WALLINGFORD - A usually quiet mobile home park was shaken Friday morning when about 15 officers from the U.S. bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local police descended on one of their neighbor's homes with force. "They had their guns drawn and were surrounding the house," said Jennifer Monroe Lynne Boynton, of 15 Hosford Bridge Road, went to her husband's truck for coffee money at about 6 a.m. and was pushed to the driveway and handcuffed with an officer's knee in her back and a gun to her head. ATF officers surrounded her father-in-law's home at Western Sands...

Communications firms are being asked to record all internet contacts between people as part of a modernisation in UK police surveillance tactics. The home secretary scrapped plans for a database but wants details to be held and organised for security services. The new system would track all e-mails, phone calls and internet use, including visits to social network sites. The Tories said the Home Office had "buckled under Conservative pressure" in deciding against a giant database. Announcing a consultation on a new strategy for communications data and its use in law enforcement, Jacqui Smith said there would be no single...

WHITE HOUSE MOVES TO SILENCE CRITICS OF THE STIMULUS PROGRAM! FRONTAL ATTACK ON FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS!

Politics: The government's bailout of Chrysler was key to saving a national icon too important to be lost. Or so we were told. But it's looking more like a way to punish political opponents.Earlier this month, Chrysler announced it was seeking permission from bankruptcy court to kill franchise agreements with 789 of its 3,181 dealers to save costs. Dealers, many of whom ran profitable businesses, told the media that the news was devastating. Aside from the loss of a business, many of these franchisees may have something else in common: It looks like all the dealers who are losing their...

One participant in negotiations said that the administration's tactic was to present what one described as a "madman theory of the presidency" in which the President is someone to be feared because he was willing to do anything to get his way. The person said this threat was taken very seriously by his firm.

A leading bankruptcy attorney representing hedge funds and money managers told ABC News Saturday that Steve Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration's Auto Industry Task Force, threatened one of the firms, an investment bank, that if it continued to oppose the administration's Chrysler bankruptcy plan, the White House would use the White House press corps to destroy its reputation. The White House said the story was false. "The charge is completely untrue," said White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton, "and there's obviously no evidence to suggest that this happened in any way." Thomas Lauria, Global Practice Head of...

A proposed bill that would give the president widespread power to shut down the Internet in the event of a cyberattack could have sweeping implications on civil liberties. The days of an open, largely unregulated Internet may soon come to an end. A bill making its way through Congress proposes to give the U.S. government authority over all networks considered part of the nation's critical infrastructure. Under the proposed Cybersecurity Act of 2009, the president would have the authority to shut down Internet traffic to protect national security. The government also would have access to digital data from a vast...

Washington Times - Letter to the Editor 6/7/95 - Arlington Thomas Colton Ruthford During the past several months in the American press, the Democrats have frequently denounced the Republicans as Nazis due to their attempts to control runaway federal spending. How very ironic. I remember the Nazis. Let me share a little about them and recall some of their exploits. First of all, "Nazi" was gutter slang for the verb "to nationalize". The Bieder-Mienhoff gang gave themselves this moniker during their early struggles. The official title of the Nazi Party was "The National Socialist Workers Party of Germany". Hitler and...

Live now on Fox -- White House is blocking TEA Party set for the Treasury in DC,. despite the demonstration already having been granted a permit. Second TEA Party at Lafayette Park to proceed, but White House blocked the unloading of 1M tea bags. This comes upon the DHS report warning that such demonstrations are "hate groups" that must be monitored closely as such demonstrators are "prone to owning guns and being violent."

Yesterday, Roger Hedgecock and the Liberty Papers posted an unclassified DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis report titled:Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.The “report” was one of the most embarrassingly shoddy pieces of propaganda I’d ever read out of DHS. I couldn’t believe it was real.I spent the day chasing down DHS spokespeople, who have been tied up preparing for a very important homeland security event later today: The First Lady is coming to visit their Washington office. Priorities, you know.Well, the press office got back to me and verified that the document...

"The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement officials"

A strong sense of civic duty, coupled with a weak economy, is leading many college students to national service as a way to earn money for school while giving back to their country. This comes at a time when President Obama has renewed a call to service for all Americans, an “all hands on deck” approach to solving many of the systemic problems our country faces. When he signs the Serve America Act into law, which was recently passed by Congress with incredible bipartisan support thanks to groups like Georgetown’s chapter of ServeNext, young people will face unprecedented opportunities to...

One thing about President Barack Hussein Obama, he usually means what he says, at least initially that is. He is always having to back track to cover up the things he really meant when he said it the first time. For example, he said the Rearend Wright was his spirtual mentor. Anyone who has studied the guy knows that this was truly what he meant, but of course Obama had to eventually dump the Rearend when he continued to hear flack about that asscociation of twenty years. Then there are many things he has spoken that are so unfamiliar with...

A day ago, at the dedication ceremony of the National Defense University's Abraham Lincoln Hall, President Obama expressed a renewed need for a civilian national security force (MP3, 74:00 mark; DOD press release, transcript): America must balance and integrate all elements of our national power. We can not continue to push the burden onto our military alone, or leave dormant any aspect of the arsenal of American capability. That's why my administration is committed to renewing diplomacy as a tool of American power and developing our civilian national security capabilities."Our civilian national security capabilities?"

OBAMA WATCH CENTRAL House adopts plan for 'volunteer' corps Also requires new evaluation of 'mandatory' service for all -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: March 19, 2009 4:58 pm Eastern By Bob Unruh © 2009 WorldNetDaily The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a plan to set up a new "volunteer corps" and consider whether "a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people" should be developed.

"Bush and Cheney were, in fact, more brutal in their "enhanced interrogation" than the Gestapo was. And note that I am not engaging in the slightest hyperbole here. I'm not saying that the US is Nazi Germany in any way. I am saying that the torture program used by Bush and Cheney follows exactly the specific methods used by the Gestapo...When the US captured officials who had done to prisoners exactly what the last president did, the US prosecuted them, found them guilty and executed them. The price Cheney pays is a fawning interview on CNN. That's who we are....

"We cannot continue to push the burden onto our military alone, nor leave dormant any aspect of the full arsenal of American capability ... That's why my administration is committed to renewing diplomacy as a tool of American power, and to developing our civilian national security capabilities." --President Obama, Thursday at the dedication of the National Defense University's Abraham Lincoln Hall. This is an unprecedented powerful force of crazed ObamaManiacs, angry Obama Youth, and radical Left Wing Wackos. Maybe this explains why gun sales are through the roof. Remember this: In Barack Obama’s July 2, 2008 speech calling America to...

Comment from the original poster: Here is the message posted on the "my2centsworth.biz": wow! an unexpected visit! i was just "visited" by 3 secret service agents in my home! actually, they were very cordial, although one of them watched me like a hawk and took copious notes of my answers to their questions. they, as well as other government agencies, monitor the internet, phone conversations, textmessages, etc. looking for certain key words that they red flag. apparantly, some of those key words have come up in some of my postings, so they say. whether taken out of context or not,...

Enid, OK (LifeNews.com) -- An Oklahoma man with a homemade sign on his vehicle was pulled over and harassed by police for allegedly making a threat against the president. Chip Harrison said he was driving to work when a police officer followed him for several miles and eventually signaled him to pull over. The officer mistook the sign, which read "Abort Obama, not the unborn," as threatening. "I pulled over, knowing I hadn't done anything wrong," Harrison told the McClatchy-Tribune news service in a interview. "It's not meant to be a threat, it's a statement about abortion," Harrison said, saying...

Just after the election, it was reported by many in the blogsophere, including here at AOR, that Obama was planning to establish a domestic civilian defense force. Some are now suggesting that the groundwork for this civilian army has been laid in a new directive issued by the Department of Defense on January 23 (three days after Obama’s Inauguration), replacing a previous directive from 1992 regarding use of civilian personnel.

Every year, Iran's Islamic regime devotes an entire week to the glorification of the Basij Resistance Force. This year, Basij Week ended on November 27 with extensive media coverage and a raft of activities, including a high-profile review march by 15,000 Basij members in Tehran. The Basij (Persian for mobilization) is a large and omnipresent paramilitary organization with multifaceted roles, and which acts as the eyes and ears of the Islamic regime. It is present in schools, universities, state and private institutions, factories, and even among tribes. The Basij was formed by order of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in November 1977...

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - A Republican congressman from Georgia is calling President-elect Obama a Marxist and warning that he might be planning to form a Gestapo-like security force so he can rule as a dictator. Two-term Rep. Paul Broun of Athens cited a July speech that has circulated on the Internet in which Obama called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.

Barack Obama wants to institute a Civilian National Security Force, a vast militia not unlike Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a personal army. He knows he would need such a force to protect him and to enforce his will on Americans. Americans will have not seen such arbitrary power used against them since the days of the Civil War when Lincoln put the Constitution in the bottom drawer of his desk and set about arresting anyone who opposed his policies to enforce the Union on southern States seeking secession. The moral issue was slavery. The Constitutional issue was states rights. If you...

Report cites Frank's proposal to cut military 25% President-elect Barack Obama raised questions during an election campaign stop in Colorado Springs when he asserted the U.S. needs a "civilian national security force" that would be as powerful, strong and well-funded as the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force, but few of those questions have been answered. But now one report is proposing a possible solution for part of the equation: From where would the money for such an organization come? Democrats in Congress now are floating the idea of cutting U.S. military spending by 25 percent, or $150 billion a...

Barack Obama held a campaign event in Pueblo, Colorado over the weekend. The entire city was shut down — and many businesses were prevented from opening. As Obama reminded the nation during his amber waves grain infomercial last week, people are hurting. Obama made them hurt even more. Welcome to spreading the wealth by blocking wealth generation. How did he compensate the small business people impeded from making money? By giving them tickets! Narcissus shrugged: Barack and Michelle Obama will be in Pueblo Saturday. They will hold a rally at 3 p.m in the Union Avenue district. But the doors...

Perhaps the word "civilian" will eventually disappear just like those tax cuts will. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw9xL6G5mz8

from drudge

Job and Family Services made several checks on Joe the Plumber Wednesday, October 29, 2008 5:56 PM By Randy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch Document * Read the letter from Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, about background checks made on Joe the Plumber [pdf] Multiple checks on "Joe the Plumber" were made through state computer systems at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Agency Director Helen Jones-Kelley disclosed early this evening that computer inquiries on the presidential campaign figure were not restricted to a child-support system. The department also checked on Samuel...

It is time to face the real heart of what Obama has in mind for this country should he be elected. He knows, and his Marxist handlers know, that when his true social and economic plans are revealed there will be resistance. We have clues as to how he plans to handle this resistance in the way Joe the Plumber, Sarah Palin, and various uppity reporters have been attacked. However, there are darker, more alarming hints.

CIVILIAN NATIONAL SECURITY FORCE FUNDED AS WELL AS THE MILITARY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx2PP4pYGno

Government computers used to find information on Joe the Plumber Investigators trying to determine whether access was illegal Friday, October 24, 2008 8:41 PM By Randy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch "State and local officials are investigating if state and law-enforcement computer systems were illegally accessed when they were tapped for personal information about "Joe the Plumber." Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher became part of the national political lexicon Oct. 15 when Republican presidential candidate John McCain mentioned him frequently during his final debate with Democrat Barack Obama. The 34-year-old from the Toledo suburb of Holland is held out by McCain as an...

OBAMA 'TRUTH QUADS': Campaign asks Missouri law enforcement to target anyone who lies or runs misleading TV ads...

In Chicago, people like Robert Perry are subjected to exhaustive security checks. He was patted down, his wheel chair was examined and his hands were swabbed, all in public view in a see-through room at the security checkpoint. Perry, 71, is not alone "It's humiliation," Perry said. Perry was also taken to a see-through room by a TSA agent when his artificial knee set off the metal detector. "He yelled at me to get the belt off. 'I told you to get the belt off.' So I took the belt off. He ran his hands down over and pulled the...

With all the reporters covering the major presidential candidates, it amazes me no one ever seems to ask the right questions. For several days now, WND has been hounding Barack Obama's campaign about a statement he made July 2 in Colorado Springs – a statement that blew my mind, one that has had me scratching my head ever since. In talking about his plans to double the size of the Peace Corps and nearly quadruple the size of AmeriCorps and the size of the nation's military services, he made this rather shocking (and chilling) pledge: "We cannot continue to rely...

ALBANY (1010 WINS/AP) -- The state Assembly has given final approval to legislation intended to protect teenagers who use social-networking sites from online predators. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo introduced the Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act in January. It requires registered sex offenders to provide online screen names to state officials. They would share the identities with Web hangouts like MySpace.com and Facebook.com, who are authorized to prescreen or remove offenders. It also restricts use of the Internet by certain sex offenders on probation and parole. The Assembly also passed legislation that would increase criminal penalties for using...

An Accokeek couple is demanding an apology after Prince George's County Sheriff's Deputies burst into their home and killed their dog - all because deputies went to the wrong address. Pam and Frank Myers were tucked away in their home Friday night watching a movie when the warrant squad pounced. "All of a sudden I hear, bang, bang, bang, 'Open the door, police, open the door,'" said Pam Myers. For 45 minutes the Myers were kept prisoner in their own home. "They wouldn't let me go to the bathroom which is like seven feet down the hall," said Frank Myers....

Poland's Solidarity Hero Lech Walesa has compared the behavior Poland's President and Prime Minister to the Polish Communist Party crackdown on Solidarity Activists in 1981, as one more was arrested and another is being hunted in matters related to what is now being referred to locally as the Polish Watergate.

Iran authorities lash man for having bible in car - report Mon. 13 Aug 2007 Iran Focus Tehran, Iran, Aug. 13 – Iranian authorities in Tehran lashed a man on his back earlier this year for having a bible in his car, an Iranian Christian group said in a report on its website on Friday. The man was only identified by the initials A. Sh. On 5 May, the man, driving his vehicle, was involved in a road accident with a car belonging to security guards for a government official in Tehran. A bible and a video of Jesus Christ...

December 06, 2006 Student sues over 10-day suspension By Andrew Clevenger Staff writer Kids across America are warned to stay away from “nose candy” in anti-drug campaigns. But a Kanawha County student is fighting his suspension for pretending to put actual candy up his nose. According to a lawsuit filed in Kanawha Circuit Court Monday, a student-athlete at Sissonville High School was given Smarties candy as a reward for good academic performance. In front of his teacher and fellow classmates, the student pretended to put one of the small candy discs up his nose. Another student used his cell phone...

If you haven't heard of YouTube, you soon will. Just the latest innovation on the Internet, YouTube is a site where users are able to upload videos for all to see. The site is minimally managed, which is what gives YouTube such appeal. Anyone with a video recorder can now get online and be seen by anyone else with an Internet connection. Not surprisingly, YouTube's popularity has exploded, with millions of users and available videos. But that's where the party ends. Recently, columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin was informed by YouTube's operators that a video she had posted was deemed...

SANTA MONICA -- Apartment building developers sued the city, seeking to overturn an ordinance that requires them to provide affordable housing. The lawsuit, filed Monday, in Superior Court claims the provision violates clauses of the state and federal constitutions, which prohibit the government from taking private property without providing compensation. The ordinance requires developers with four or more residential units to also build some affordable housing sold at below-market prices, according to the Sacramento- based Pacific Legal Foundation. Money that builders lose constructing below-market homes would be passed along in higher prices for new housing that is not price-controlled, said...

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...

I once read a poem about World War 2 that I can't remember the name of. It's pretty famous, so I'm sure there are some FReeps here who should know it and I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me where I could get a copy of it. The poem describes the lament of a man who stood back and watched as the Nazis came to power in Germany. He knew they were bad people when they started taking certain groups off to concentration camps. He, however, was not a target of the Gestapo just yet so he didn't do...

NEW YORK -- Entertainer Harry Belafonte, one of the Bush administration's harshest critics, compared the Homeland Security Department to the Nazi Gestapo on Saturday and attacked the president as a liar.

Friday, January 13, 2006 · Last updated 7:13 a.m. PT Couple orders IRS booklet, gets 24,000 copies of wrong version THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHIMACUM, Wash. -- Brian Lawson, a self-employed market analyst, and his wife Jackie got both more and less than they expected when they ordered an Internal Revenue Service instruction booklet by telephone. What the Lawsons wanted was a single copy of the Form 1040 instructions for 2003 to help fix them a numerical error on their returns that has resulted in them having to pay $300 a month in back taxes since they filed their return for...