Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Washington Times says it will publish its last Sunday edition this weekend. The newspaper made the announcement Monday, saying it will produce Monday through Friday editions that focus on its "distinctive news and opinion content." The new print edition will be sold for $1 at retail outlets and newspaper boxes in the Washington area. The current weekday edition is 50 cents and Sunday's paper costs $1.

The Lost City, The Lost Patrol and now the Lost Walter Reed Rallies. With the BIG 9/11Walter Reed Rally and the HUGH Tea Party 9/12 March closely following these two weeks at Walter Reed, the After Action Reports were lost. They have been recovered from our archives for your pleasure. WEEK 226, August 14 Patriots attending this week include Lurker Bill, BufordP, Cindy_True_Supporter, Fraxinus, GunsAreOK, Jimmy Valentines Brother, Sensei Ern, [Mrs] Trooprally and me. BELOW LEFT: BufordP before the banners and flags showed up, with cigar in hand listening to Mark Levin. Cindy_True_Supporter on her way to help. BELOW RIGHT:...

This Saturday, to all those who have attended Olney’s Support the Troops Rally, YOU WERE OUT ON OLNEY’s CORNER “IN SPIRIT”. And those who have read the Olney AARs as we come up to our 4 Year Anniversary on January 2,2010, Thank You for your support. BELOW LEFT: Distant view of our red banner from Friday night thru Monday morning. BELOW RIGHT: Close up of banner, dah. That explanation is for any moonbats who are reading this AAR. BELOW LEFT: Saturday AM at the Olney Bunker. “Hey [Mrs] T - think we can make it up the hill?”. BELOW RIGHT:...

Walter Reed, Week 244, 12/18/09 T’was the Friday Before Christmas Santa Arrives at Walter Reed FRONT GATE NOTES T’was the Friday Before Christmas and Santa joined the DC Chapter in Supporting the Troops and their Families.This past Friday night saw the beginning of what the lame stream media is now calling the great Blizzard of ’09. It began during our Support the Troops Friday night rally and ended early Sunday morning leaving 21 inches on the ground. But it didn’t scare the DC Chapter of Free Republic away from its 244th consecutive Friday night at the front gates of Walter...

Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area are CLOSED.

A blizzard-like storm rocked the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Saturday, crippling travel across the region and causing hundreds of thousands of power outages. Those who did venture out were treated to nearly desolate stores on what is usually one of the busiest shopping days of the year. There were virtually no lines to get a picture with a mall Santa on the last weekend before Christmas. The National Guard used Humvees to rescue stranded motorists in Virginia and some 500 people had sought warmth and refuge in emergency shelters. At least one person was killed in a traffic accident in...

Garrison Keillor, self-appointed cultural representative of regular old Americans, ruffled some feathers yesterday with a mildly xenophobic rant about Christmas: "...all those lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys that trash up the malls every year, Rudolph and the chestnuts and the rest of that dreck. Did one of our guys write ‘Grab your loafers, come along if you wanna, and we’ll blow that shofar for Rosh Hashanah’? No, we didn’t. Christmas is a Christian holiday—if you’re not in the club, then buzz off."

A major winter storm was moving up the Atlantic Coast on Friday night, with forecasters expecting accumulations of one to two feet of snow in some areas by Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service. President Obama returned from Copenhagen early Saturday, landing at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland amid a major winter storm. Winter storm warnings were in effect from Tennessee and North Carolina to the southern New England states, and the storm was expected to affect Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and other cities. A blizzard warning was in effect for Long Island. The National Weather Service said...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SNOW... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. * PRECIP TYPE... SNOW. * ACCUMULATIONS... HEAVY SNOW WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES THROUGH SUNSET SATURDAY. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE... MAINLY IN OR NEAR SOUTHERN MARYLAND. ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT. * TIMING... SNOW WILL BEGIN LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. * TEMPERATURES... UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S THROUGH THE EVENT IN THE BALTIMORE WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA......

A major storm was expected to bury the Washington region Saturday with what forecasters said could be the largest snowfall to hit the area in six years and the greatest December accumulation in more than 70 years. Accumulations of 15 inches or more in the city and up to 24 inches in parts of the Blue Ridge Mountains were possible, according to the National Weather Service. The snow was expected to cause significant disruptions for shoppers, travelers and revelers on the last weekend -- and biggest shopping day -- before Christmas. Especially large amounts of snow could accumulate southeast of...

As shown in Weeks 203 & 204's AAR, we had the Navy flag up this Saturday. And it looks as good this AAR as in yesterday's AAR. BELOW: Our NEW Navy flag. Before the Air Force and Coasties complain, we would be more than pleased to put up your branch’s flag. Just FRmail me for our address. With the new traffic light configuration we’ll have more traffic poles to attach your flag to it. With our group mainly being associated with the Marines and Army, their flags got the prime space. We didn’t want to put your flags on the...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2009 – Doctors from Walter Reed Army Medical Center here and the University of Miami collaborated to perform the first pancreas islet cell transplant Thanksgiving Day on an airman whose pancreas was injured so severely in Afghanistan that it had to be removed. Army Col. (Dr.) Craig D. Shriver, chief of general surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., describes groundbreaking pancreas islet cell transplant surgery performed Nov. 26, 2009, to reporters during a Dec. 15, 2009, news conference. Dr. Pascal Goldschmidt, dean of the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami,...

WEEK 202: NOV. 21,2009 The MAC is BACK, the iMacMan that is. iMacMan is someone I consider a “cold weather FReeper”. His retirement keeps him away from Olney during the warmer months. While iMacMan didn’t bring his cameras today, he takes some of the best pictures of our passing supporters that I know of. And then the edits he does are great. To those who know cameras, I do not, he sets his cameras on wide lens and then with one push of the button, gets 6 frames shot. BELOW: Several of iMacMan’s neat pictures. Did I forget to mention...

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md., Dec. 17, 2009 – He turned 80 in November and is having difficulty getting around - not because of any physical impairments, but rather because during his 59 years of recruiting, retired Army Sgt. Maj. Raymond Moran seems to know everyone, everywhere. Retired Army Sgt. Maj. Ray Moran stands next to the sign that points to his office at Fort George G. Meade, Md., and uses the nickname he gives to himself and many others, "Old Soldier." U.S. Army photo by Jonathan E. Agee  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "I hate to take him...

BEAVER -- The Beaver County Sheriff's Office has arrested three men suspected in a series of burglaries. According to the Spectrum, deputies said Luis M. Lopez, Andy F. Lopez, and Oren T. Hounchell admitted to varying levels of involvement in a series of break-ins at homes, stores and the Beaver City Library. They were also found in possession of an undisclosed amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. All three face multiple burglary and drug charges. Deputies discovered a set of footprints left in the snow after one of the home burglaries. They followed those footprints to the Hounchell's home. The...

The first step in solving a problem is to admit that it – in fact – exists. The churning “self-re-election system” that is our federal government has proven to Americans now that it has fully stopped listening to the people. If that were not bad enough, our two party system is locked up and dysfunctional; virtual collusion is indicated as the minority Senate Republicans continue to grant unlimited “unanimous consent” requests from Democrats on the pending disastrous healthcare package. Why is this epic battle over nationalizing one-sixth of our economy not being fought more vigorously by opposition Republicans? The RedState...

Even as federal employees' salaries are growing robustly, the president's pay czar Kenneth Feinberg has imposed new limits on executive compensation at AIG, Citigroup, General Motors, and GMAC, all recipients of government bailouts. Salaries will be limited to $500,000 in cash, and bonuses will be tied to "real achievement of objective goals." Chris Edwards at CATO—who has done quite a lot of independent analysis of federal pay—puts this story in context and adds some juicy details from his own data. Most remarkably, there are fully 383,000 federal workers earning six-figure salaries and 22,000 earning salaries of over $170,000. And these...

The county still has no approved Nativity scene or Christmas tree, more than a week after Loudoun's Board of Supervisors reversed a committee's decision to ban public displays. The supervisors will probably change that at a special meeting Thursday by ironing out details about who can set up displays...The meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. at the school administration building in Ashburn, an hour before a scheduled public input session on the budget. On Dec. 1, supervisors voted, 7 to 1, to allow community groups "equal access" to the grounds. A decision last month to bar any structures, religious or...

Nope, you did not miss Weeks 202 and 203. This Saturday’s Support the Troops Rally was so neat that I had to do it now. While our snowy Saturday morning is nothing compared to what the mid-west or northeast is getting, we were out there. Roll call of this week’s 7 patriots includes Legionnaires Halsey (Korea - USMC), Lurker Bill and Cindy_True_Supporter, Fraxinus, GunsAreOK, [Mrs] Trooprally and myself. Videos by [Mrs] T. Because of the weather conditions, and the construction removing the concrete walk where we put together our banners on wet days, we only put up the flags on...

Hampstead must decide if it will pay $2.89 million for a 10-acre parcel of property that it acquired in an eminent domain trial. The six-member jury came up with the $2.89 million figure Tuesday as just compensation for the property the town wants to take from Oakmont Green, a golf course in Hampstead. The town sought the land because it includes a well. That figure is more than the highest appraisal that was presented in the trial. After the number was announced, Lee Snyder, owner of Oakmont Green Inc., was on the verge of tears. He said he is hoping...

Fellow FR member has been invited back on Fox & Friends tomorrow morning to talk about small business and Obama's fake job summit. From 6:15-6:25 or so with a panel of two other small business owners. Mark Kreslins The Forgotten Men Show (930 WFMD)

WASHINGTON -- The North American Aerospace Defense Command and the Continental U.S. NORAD Region plans a training flight exercise over the Washington area. The exercise, called Falcon Virgo 10-03, will take place late this evening and early tomorrow. It will include civil air patrol aircraft and Coast Guard helicopters. The exercise is made up of a series of training flights held in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center, the Continental U.S. NORAD Region (CONR), Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard and CONR's Eastern Air Defense Sector.

I just received this email today and would love to see Patriots and pro-lifers to step up to the cause. Please join and let your voice be heard. Please tell everyone about this.Thanks OverturnRoe.com - Randall Terry - ProLifeWarrior.com "If a wound when necessary is not cauterized or cut out with steel, but simply covered with ointment, not only does it fail to heal, but it infects everything, and many a time death follows from it...Why does that shepherd go on using so much ointment? Such a man is a right hireling shepherd, for, far from dragging his sheep from...

Regular readers are familiar with the concept of "Authorized Journalists"—professionals who work for "mainstream media" and are considered (sometimes by government and generally by themselves) to be the exclusive authoritative and credible purveyors of information. Think "Only Ones" with a press pass. These readers are also familiar with the many failings we've demonstrated where establishment reporters bring personal bias, along with "sins of omission and commission" into supposedly straight news stories. And then there are glaring errors where the only explanations seem the writers do not know (or fact-check) their subject matter, or they know damn well but have an...

BALTIMORE - Machine gunfire broke out during a birthday party at a downtown Baltimore hotel, critically injuring three people. Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi (goo-lee-EL'-mee) says police were called to the Sheraton hotel around 3:15 a.m. Sunday because of a report of a shooting. Guglielmi says a fight broke out at the party and then someone began shooting. Police found the Uzi submachine gun in one of the two adjoining rooms where the party was held.

Mikulski Amendment would include Planned Parenthood in health care bill, says pro-life leader Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) Washington D.C., Dec 6, 2009 / 04:32 am (CNA).- A pro-life leader has criticized the Senate’s addition of the Mikulski Amendment to the proposed health care bill, voicing concerns that the provision’s sponsor herself has admitted it would fund some of Planned Parenthood’s services. The amendment’s required coverage of “preventive care” could also include abortions. The Mikulski Amendment, passed on Thursday by a vote of 61-39, requires group health plans and health insurance issuers to provide coverage for “preventive care” for women...

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) ― Ozzie Newsome and the Baltimore Ravens are reaping the benefits of yet another good draft. Three players selected by Newsome in the 2009 NFL draft have become significant contributors. The play of rookies Michael Oher, Lardarius Webb and Paul Kruger have the Ravens (6-5) in the thick of the AFC wild-card hunt. Oher has started every game at offensive tackle and Webb was a solid special teams contributor before taking over last week for injured Fabian Washington as a starting cornerback. Kruger didn't get much action in September and October, but his interception in overtime...

Time: December 5, 2009 from 11am to 2pm Location: BJ's Street: 13053 Fair Lakes Shopping Center City/Town: Fairfax VA Website or Map: http://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin Event Type: book, signing Organized By: O. P. Ditch Latest Activity: 1 day ago

The letter I sent was a copy from someone's post I found here on FR. In Cardin's response nowhere does it mention the subject of "Climategate". Total complete denial or ignorance...idiots... Dear Mr. --------: Thank you for sharing your thoughts about the American Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733). I understand your concerns about the impact such legislation will have on Americans. At the same time, I believe that global warming is real and needs to be addressed. The good news is that S. 1733 can be a cost effective way to address this threat and help...

Jurors in the theft trial of Sheila Dixon convicted the Baltimore mayor Tuesday on a single charge of taking gift cards intended for the city's poor. Although Dixon was acquitted of a felony theft charge, her conviction could force her from office. The jury found Dixon not guilty of the most serious crime, felony theft. The jury decided that Dixon did not knowingly steal about $530 in Target and Best Buy gift cards purchased in December 2005 by developer Patrick Turner, who testified they were intended for "the children of Baltimore." Dixon was City Council president at the time. The...

Fall painting, raking leaves, winterizing the summer’s motorized yard equipment, cutting and splitting firewood - then there’s every day work if one has it, to pay the bills. And before I know it, the Olney AARs are 3 weeks behind. So here’s the oldest two weeks. I have something special for Weeks 202 and 203 so they will be separate AARs. Pictures for both weeks are by [Mrs] T. WEEK 200, Nov. 07,2009 Roll call of this week’s 11 patriots includes Legionnaires Glenn (WWII - Marines), Halsey (Korea - USMC), Dennis (Korea - Army), Carl (Vietnam - Army), Lurkers Bill...

The Baltimore Sun lambasted Sen. Richard Burr's (R-NC) proposed S. 669 -- Veterans' Second Amendment Protection Act -- in an editorial called "Guns and the mentally ill" published on Nov. 16. The next day, it was forced to post a retraction. Actually, the paper's editorialists didn't write the retraction, Burr did in a blistering point-by-point rebuke that, essentially, exposed The Sun's opinion-mongers' as being heavy on the opinion, but light on the facts. "Just as the public expects elected officials to read the text of bills before they pass judgment on them, your editorial board should do the same. Yet...

Walter Reed, Week 241, 11/27/09 Thanksgiving – Thanking Our Brave Soldiers The Friday After Thanksgiving FRONT GATE NOTES November 27, 2009, Thanksgiving, No Bus and Patriotism Friday night after Thanksgiving is normally quiet with light traffic. Tonight was no different. Very windy, making the hi 40’s seem like the lo 30’s. Even so, eleven of us were in place during the evening. The wind was so stiff that our banners would have blown away, leaving us with signs and hand held flags. The war doesn’t stop though and two big ambulances raced down Georgia Ave and into Walter Reed to...

RICHMOND | The governors of Virginia and Maryland, both Catholics, said Tuesday that it would be wrong for the church to suspend or reduce social services in the nation's capital if the District approves gay marriage. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley criticized the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington's response to the District's gay marriage proposal during a joint appearance on Washington radio station WTOP. The D.C. Council is expected to approve gay marriage next month. The archdiocese says that unless the proposal is amended to add a religious exemption, its Catholic Charities won't be able to continue...

Crisis pregnancy centers in Baltimore must display signs stating they do not provide abortions or birth-control referrals under a measure approved by the City Council Monday night and thought to be the first of its kind in the nation. Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a Democrat who was lead sponsor of the initiative, called the measure a victory for women's well-being. (snip) But abortion opponents say the bill unfairly targets centers that they say provide accurate information and much-needed assistance to poor women. "The thing that's most disappointing about it is not the particular signs that are put up or the...

An illegal alien has been sentenced to life in prison for breaking into an 83-year-old woman's home, grabbing her by the throat, smashing her head into furniture, saturating her with gasoline and setting her body on fire while she was still alive – all to cover up his check fraud scam after she hired him to cut her lawn.

City Council expected to approve rules for offices that don't provide abortion, birth control By Matthew Hay Brown | matthew.brown@baltsun.com November 23, 2009 Both sides of the abortion debate will be focusing on Baltimore today, when the City Council is expected to approve a first-in-the-nation law imposing new regulations on faith-based organizations that try to steer women away from the procedure. The measure, introduced by council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake at the behest of Planned Parenthood of Maryland, would require that crisis pregnancy centers that do not provide abortions or birth control post signs saying so. Proponents frame the effort...

Below is a letter I am considering sending to my local newspapers and placing on my blog. I would like to solicite comments/advice/recommendations from Freepers before I send it out.

GW University Students Enthusiastically Display Troop Support At Walter Reed FRONT GATE NOTES November 20, 2009, Students, Soldier Hugs and Patriotism A big Shout-Out for the over 33 university students from George Washington University who warmed a brisk Friday evening by waving American Flags at passing cars, chanting USA, USA, USA…. and singing patriotic songs until 8:30pm. Many wounded warriors are about the same age as these students, and seeing university students supporting our military was especially meaningful to the wounded warriors and their families who are constantly coming and going through the front gates. It is an important...

A Potomac, Md., Islamic center maintains links to Iran despite its claims that it is independent of a foundation that is being sued by the U.S. government on charges of funneling money to the Islamic republic. Ali Mohammadi, the current manager of the Islamic Education Center (IEC) of Maryland, told The Washington Times that the center's only relationship to the Alavi Foundation is that of tenant to landlord. He quoted a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office as saying that forfeiture proceedings initiated earlier this month against the foundation - which also owns property in New York and other states...

DC Activists: Mobilize on Nov. 23! From 12-1pm on Monday November 23, join NOW activists from the mid-Atlantic region as they campaign outside the Senate office buildings against the Stupak Amendment. Nearest metro station is Union Station. We'll be meeting at Constitution Avenue, on the block in front of Russell and the corner of Constitution and Delaware. View map

Not to mince words - the modern synthesis is gone --snip-- "The discovery of pervasive HGT and the overall dynamics of the genetic universe destroys not only the tree of life as we knew it but also another central tenet of the modern synthesis inherited from Darwin, namely gradualism. In a world dominated by HGT, gene duplication, gene loss and such momentous events as endosymbiosis, the idea of evolution being driven primarily by infinitesimal heritable changes in the Darwinian tradition has become untenable." ...

An unlikely trio explored several Baltimore schools Friday as part of an effort to highlight education reform and challenges, and called on Maryland to give charter schools more autonomy. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich repeatedly emphasized the need for changes to the state's charter school law, which he called "too restrictive," as he, the Rev. Al Sharpton and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan toured three city schools and spoke with students, administrators and others about their schools -- and what sets them apart. "I hope that everybody in Maryland will call the governor, will call the legislators, and will let...

<p>Contact your Senators and let them know what you think!</p> <p>U.S. veterans or subsidies for United Nations (U.N.) bureaucracy.</p>

Catholic Campaign For Human Development 2009 CCHD National and Local Grants From the CCHD website (THIS IS WHO GETS THE MONEY) From the Alternative Directions "Our Staff" web page (THIS IS WHO WORKS AT THE PLACE THAT GETS THE MONEY-CHECK OUT THE GREY HAIR GUY) From the Maryland Sex Offender Registry

Washington, D.C., had the dubious distinction of beating all 50 states to post the highest rates in the nation for the sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. The District of Columbia had a Chlamydia rate of 1,177 cases per 100,000 people--almost three times the rate of its neighbors, Virginia (405) and Maryland (439). Mississippi was a distant second, at 728 cases per 100,000 people. By comparison, California’s rate was 407 cases per 100,000; New York came in at 458; New Mexico...

The annual CCHD (Catholic Campaign For Human Development) collection will be held in churches this coming weekend-November 21 and 22. This is the same group that was giving money for years to the Saul Alinsky-style group called ACORN before ending its relationship with the controversial group. After much criticism for its leftwing funding, the CCHD has supposedly tightened up their standards. Unfortunately these new standards are not working because the CCHD is still funding groups that: -Have a registered sex offender (child porn) on the staff -Are working to change laws so you can not refuse to rent to convicted...

A Baltimore police dog was shot Sunday evening by a police officer during a foot pursuit of a motorist who drove through a speed checkpoint in South Baltimore, said a Police Department spokesman. About 6 p.m., police were manning the checkpoint in the 2600 block of Wegworth Lane near Hollins Ferry Road, near Wegworth Park, when a male motorist failed to stop when ordered and drove through the stop, said Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesman for the Police Department. Guglielmi said the motorist got out of the car a few moments later and was fleeing on foot when officers at the...

Three days after his father's execution, the 27-year-old son of D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad said Friday that he doesn't want to be judged by the crimes of a father he didn't really know until the shooting spree. Striking an almost defensive chord, Lindbergh Williams told reporters, "I am the son of the D.C. sniper, but not him. You see what I'm saying? I am my own man and make my own decisions." Muhammad was put to death Tuesday in Virginia for killing Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station during an October 2002 shooting spree that left 10 people...

The Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force just released a report which claims that due to tougher laws and a concerted effort by law enforcement, many illegal alien gangs are leaving Virginia for the safe havens of Maryland. The report said: "Many gang members from Northern Virginia are moving or driving to Prince George's and other Maryland counties, into the District of Columbia or further south and west into Virginia to avoid dealing with police departments that are unrelenting in their efforts to keep gangs under control.” The report also found that there are 5,000 gang members in Northern Va.,...