Free Republic

The giant mural in Dewey Square that caused controversy and racially charged commentary is coming down. The colorful artwork, painted on the utility building housed above the Interstate 93 tunnel by Brazilian brothers Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, who go by “Os Gemeos,” will be replaced by a new mural beginning in the fall. The mural, which went up in July 2012, is withering and fading, and officials have decided it’s time for something new, according to Charlie McCabe, director of public programs for the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, the non-profit entity tasked with providing public artwork along the strip...

Muslims and Christians must raise young people “to think and speak respectfully of other religions and their followers, and to avoid ridiculing or denigrating their convictions and practices”, Pope Francis has said. In a personal message to the world’s Muslims to mark the end of Ramadan, the Pope said: “Turning to mutual respect in inter-religious relations, especially between Christians and Muslims, we are called to respect the religion of the other, its teachings, its symbols, its values. Particular respect is due to religious leaders and to places of worship. How painful are attacks on one or other of these! “It...

before the civil war the city of Qusayr, located in eastern portion of Syria near the Lebanese border, had around 40,000 people, including 7,000 Christians. “In late 2011, the Sunni townsmen came and told us to either join us in anti-regime demonstrations or leave the town. If we didn’t, we would be killed,” Fadul Abu Yohanna Kasouhah, a Christian resident of Qusayr, described to CSI. According to Fadul, the Sunni Islamists in his village used the loudspeakers from the Mosques to name the Christian families by name and told them to leave. Fadul told CSI how his cousin was gunned...

Vandals damaged about a dozen flags put up in downtown for Turlock’s big parade, jumping to pull the stars and stripes down with their weight, severely bending the poles. The flags drooped down nearly to the sidewalk. If we’re talking money, it’s about $500 worthe of damage. But of course, we’re talking about the flag, so it goes deeper than that.

Thousands of foreign terrorists traveled to Syria over the past several months to wage jihad, or holy war, in what U.S. officials say is fast becoming a new international terror training ground. Most of the foreign terrorists are fighting for the al Qaeda-linked group the al-Nusra Front and are coming from around the world, mainly from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya, and Tunisia, by crossing the Syrian border with Turkey. The al-Nusra Front is the most well organized and ideologically motivated armed opposition group after the secular Free Syrian Army. “The Syrian opposition is benefiting from a steady flow of foreign...

Jihadists are seeking out more secure methods of online communications, including an avenue created by the U.S. government and financed by American taxpayers, in the wake of revelations about the U.S. monitoring of online messages. The Tor network has become a go-to means for jihadists and criminals to communicate, raise money, and buy and sell illicit goods and services without fear of being identified or traced by intelligence or law enforcement officials. The network uses technology called “onion routing” (Tor is an acronym for The Onion Router), which refers to layers of encryption that prevent governments or other users from...

Catholic Priest Beheaded in Syria by Al-Qaeda-Linked Rebels as Men and Children Take Pictures and Cheer Jun. 30, 2013 7:37am Sharona Schwartz Syrian Catholic priest Francois Murad killed last weekend by jihadi fighters was beheaded, according to a report by Catholic Online which is linking to video purportedly showing the brutal murder. As TheBlaze reported last week, Murad, 49, was setting up a monastery in Gassanieh, northern Syria. Last Sunday, on the Christian leader’s Sabbath, extremist militants trying to topple President Bashar Assad breached the monastery and grabbed Murad. While earlier reports suggested Murad may have been shot to death,...

Imagine if these savages win ..... Golem writes: Execution in Idlib by Jabhat al-Nusra. Victims are apparently "Sunni supporter of Al-Assad". The white jihadists are Chechens and perhaps Dagestani judging from their Russian accents. The same ethnicity as the Boston bombers, if you remember the younger bomber on his vkontakte page had web videos supporting jihad in Syria. The most disturbing aspect is all the little children there cheering people being beheaded.

According to Syrian Truth’s Facebook page, the above photo is of a toddler living in the Deir ez-Zor Governate in eastern Syria, bordering Iraq. She was tied up by members of the U.S.-supported “Free Syrian Army” — which is dominated by foreign, Sunni jihadis — and made to watch as her mother and father were killed for being Shia. Here is how the Obama administration is using your tax dollars — mockingly in the name of “freedom.”

Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan held a rally against CIA drone attacks in Pakistan. Of course, you never hear him complain about what Pakistani Muslims do to the countryÂ’s Christians with its infamous blasphemy law. But that is the thing: whereas the traditionally Christian countries of the West always point the fingers at themselves first and foremost, Muslims hardly ever criticize their own, preferring to find faults with other people. That moral difference is, among many others, due to the gulf between our different roots: Christianity and Islam. WeÂ’ll hear a lot of talk on how drones have the effect of...

The collapse of Middle Eastern states from Libya to Afghanistan vastly increases the terrorist recruitment pool, while severely restricting the ability of American intelligence services to monitor and interdict the terrorists. In addition, it intensifies the despair that motivates Muslims like the Tsarnaev brothers or Michael Adebolajo to perpetrate acts of terrorism. That makes President Obama’s declaration that America is winding down the “war on terror”–a misnomer to begin with–the worst decision by an American commander-in-chief since the Buchanan administration, perhaps ever. Last week I took part in a Tablet magazine roundtable on the crack-up of Middle Eastern states and...

War memorials vandalised Vandals have attacked two of Britain’s most celebrated war memorials, apparently daubing them with the word “Islam” and covering over inscriptions. By Hayley Dixon 4:24PM BST 27 May 2013 The RAF Bomber Command War Memorial and the Animals in War Memorial, both in central London, were covered in red paint. The Metropolitan Police have not yet made any arrests, so the motivation behind the damage remains unclear. The words written on the memorials have been covered up with plastic sheets after being discovered in the early hours of the morning, but it is believed that "Islam" has...

A mother honours her 'precious’ son She had bravely come to see the spot where her son’s life was brought to a brutal end, but as she arrived at the flower-carpeted murder scene in Woolwich today, it became more than Lyn Rigby could bear. By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter 10:00PM BST 26 May 2013 Her legs buckled under her and Drummer Lee Rigby’s mother sank to her knees as her face dissolved into tears of raw grief. She was consoled by her husband Ian and other members of Drummer Rigby’s family, who wrapped their arms around her as she sat...

The Washington Times reported Sunday that “the Homeland Security Department has granted legal status to 99.2 percent of all illegal immigrants who have applied under President Obama’s new non-deportation policy for young adults, according to the latest numbers released Friday.” It’s another giant middle finger to the American people by the Obama administration, endangering national security and guaranteeing higher unemployment. Supporters of this policy, according to the Times, “say the high rate makes sense given the motivated pool of youngsters, known as ‘Dreamers’ because of the Dream Act legislation that would give them full citizenship rights.” Yes, the motivated pool...

New evidence reveals the Obama administration’s version of the events that took place in Benghazi on September 11, 2012 was based on a tissue of lies. The Weekly Standard’s Steven Hayes has obtained a timeline and a series of emails revealing the self-serving efforts made by administration officials, who heavily edited CIA talking points about the attack that cost four Americans, including ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, their lives. Also revealed is who made the changes and why they made them. The revelations are part of a report published by the five Republican Committee chairmen that has been largely dismissed...

The al-Qaida brand continues to influence terror operations in different corners of the world even as U.S. Special Forces and drone attacks weaken its core leadership, a terror specialist told Newsmax. “The ideology that they’ve created continues to inspire people,” said Bruce Hoffman, a terror specialist at Georgetown University. “The spread of franchises is indicative of the fact that the brand of al-Qaida today is as strong as it’s ever been.” The organization has changed tactics and has revived or started terror franchises in Iraq, Syria, across Northern Africa, and in Nigeria. It is now more active and in more...

Two years ago today, SEAL Team Six sent Osama bin Laden on his way to Davy Jones’ Locker — but his Islamist terror machine is anything but sinking to the depths. It remains a vicious, global threat. Since Osama’s demise, the terror group’s strength has ebbed in some areas, but flowed strongly in others. Indeed, one current estimate concludes that al Qaeda affiliates and associates (i.e., groups, cells or operatives) are active in more than 30 countries (of some 190) on four continents. Including our continent. While we don’t yet know the whole story behind the Boston bombing, just last...

New details are emerging about the religious motivations of Boston bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and their recent interest in Chechnya, which experts say has become a hub for the extremist Saudi sect of Islam known as Wahhabism. The brothers are ethnically Chechen, though Dzhokhar was born in the Russian republic of Dagestan while his deceased older brother Tamerlan was born in the neighboring Russian republic of Kalmykia. Their parents confirmed that Tamerlan visited Dagestan and Chechnya last year, but denied reports that he did so to engage in militant Islamist training. University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Professor Brian Glyn Williams,...

Senator Marco Rubio, the leading Republican behind the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform proposal, has often challenged those who criticize the bill to come up with ways to improve it. And not just his fellow lawmakers; Rubio has opened a new page on his Senate website asking for help from the public. “Visit our website and submit your ideas to ‘Help Us Improve the Bill,’” says an announcement from Rubio’s office Friday. “Since the immigration legislation was introduced, Rubio has received over 1,100 suggestions for how to improve the bill. Rubio encourages the public to continue reviewing the bill...

Congressman Tom Cotton took to the House floor "to express grave doubts about the Obama Administration’s counterterrorism policies and programs":"I rise today to express grave doubts about the Obama Administration’s counterterrorism policies and programs," said the freshman congressman from Arkansas.