Free Republic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAYPN-1Yjt0&feature=fvw O! say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war's desolation! Blest with...

What would it take for your kids to give up most of that candy they collected while trick-or-treating on Halloween? Or all that candy you've got left over today because you had fewer than expected kids come to your door. Here's a suggestion: Donate the candy to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq so they can hand the sweets out to local kids there to help show them we're not a country of monsters and bullies. More than 1,200 dentists around the country have registered to buy back Halloween candy from kids for $1 a pound. They'll give the donated...

Benito Mussolini has an infamous place in modern history, as well he should. Nearly everyone knows Mussolini as the dictator of Fascist Italy and the ally of Nazi Germany in the Second World War. But that is only part of the story.  Mussolini began his political career as an avowed Marxist (defined as the atheist philosophy which holds that capitalism is bad because it enriches a few capitalists to the detriment of masses of laborers and that laborers should take control of all means of production — in order, in theory though not in practice, to be fair to the...

British General John Burgoyne must have been bitterly disappointed one day in July 1777 in the upper Hudson Valley — the day his army, hot in pursuit of the Americans they had just driven from Fort Ticonderoga, ran into a lake that wasn’t supposed to exist.  This part of upstate New York had already been thoroughly explored and mapped, yet the Redcoats, confident of speedily overtaking and finishing off the American force, suddenly found themselves blocked by a brand-new body of water where dry forest and field was supposed to provide swift passage. The British must have soon ascertained, as...

Stroll casually along the bulging bookshelves of your local bookseller, and you’re sure to see rows and rows of books chronicling the lives and times of the generation of men known reverently to us as the “Founding Fathers.”  These were the fearless men who boldly declared independence from the tyranny of the world’s most formidable empire and then set about establishing the steadfast moorings upon which to build the mightiest republic in the history of the world. This plot of land on the field of history is ripe for scholarship, and there is never an end to the “hows” and...

Soldier (hot Italian) doing Thriller.. Happy Halloween!

September, 9 A.D., Kalkriese Hill, northern Germany: the Germanic warriors waited in grim silence. Three Roman legions, commanded by General Publius Quintilius Varus, advanced across the Rhine into Anglo-Saxon territory. The Romans hoped to expand Roman power, Roman law, and Roman culture. The Germans hoped to preserve their Teutonic laws and institutions and their way of life.  Probably neither side realized that the Battle of Teutoburg Forest would decide the course of Western law and Western civilization for millennia to come.  And now, in the year 2009, the 2,000th anniversary of the battle, very few Americans have even heard of...

Most Americans today would probably still recognize the stirring words from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Concord Hymn”: “By the rude bridge that arched the flood,/ Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,/ Here once the embattled farmers stood,/ And fired the shot heard round the world.” Most of us are still aware that those embattled farmers won for us the freedoms we too often take for granted today.  But how many of us are aware of the extent to which faith motivated those farmers to leave their families and homes and risk their lives for a cause that most would have considered...

THE Canada geese were flying in a V formation, cruising about 80km/h above New York City. The aircraft piloted by Captain Chesley Sullenberger was travelling at 340km/h. In the four minutes that followed their collision 915m above the Bronx, the actions of Captain Sullenberger saved the lives of all 155 people aboard the US Airways Airbus A320.*** This week, Captain Sullenberger landed in London to receive the Master's Medal from the Guild of Air Pilots & Air Navigators on behalf of his crew and to tell the full story of his flight into the Hudson on January 15. His arrival...

WASHINGTON -- It's the ultimate trick-or-treating treasure, that one house on the block that offers the coolest candy and surprises galore. This year it's the big gated place on Pennsylvania Avenue, No. 1600. There's no mailbox out front, but every little kid knows who lives there. Welcome to the White House, boys and girls. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama awaited more than 2,000 children Saturday night from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. The kids were to get to do their trick-or-treating on the most famous front porch in America, the North Portico, with the Obamas...

Many obsessive riflemen “know” a lot of things about the insides of their barrels. They know they must break-in barrels and that any bore only slightly smudged by the passage of bullets will shoot less accurately compared with a barrel as clean as Aunt Josie’s kitchen floor. First, let’s examine “proper” barrel break-in. According to just about everybody, this is accomplished by firing one shot, cleaning the barrel of all powder and copper fouling, firing another shot, cleaning, etc. Advice on how long to continue this tedious routine varies from 10 to 30 rounds. The procedure supposedly smooths the bore,...

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Boy Scout Frankie Slemmer may have bitten off a big chunk as he started to restore a Shaw veteran Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star. Due to lack of materials, labor and plans he hasn't embarked on the restoration part for his Eagle Scout project. Still, Slemmer hopes to give the 1954-vintage, two-seat trainer a make-over, and to earn the title of Eagle Scout. Notable Scouts who earned the rank of Eagle Scout are Medal of Honor Recipient Leo K. Thorsness, astronaut Neil Armstrong, and former President Gerald Ford, Jr. Slemmer became interested in planes when he joined the...

As Baker's flag-draped casket was lowered from a small charter jet into the hands of six fellow Marines, his family and friends stood arm-in-arm, weeping on the tarmac at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Stillness and silence dominated the scene. The sound of passenger planes taking off and landing was drowned out by the weight of the scene unfolding at ground level. That silence was broken only when a police bagpiper began playing "When the Saints Go Marching In." Baker's casket then was loaded into a waiting hearse, and scores of policemen and firefighters — from no fewer than 25 area...

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — Even as the Air Force prepares to toughen physical fitness standards for airmen, it’s proposing to do away with mandatory physical training. That means commanders no longer would have to provide airmen at least 270 minutes per week to exercise during duty hours. But airmen would still have to be prepared to pass more stringent PT tests twice a year. If approved, the Air Force would be the first of the military services to eliminate mandatory PT. An internal audit last year found the Air Force’s fitness program did not promote year-round fitness. Thirty-five percent...

Here is a video report on President Obama making a surprise visit to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware overnight to greet the caskets of U.S. Soldiers and DEA Agents killed in Afghanistan. Obama made the trip in the middle of the night, and returned to the White House around 5:00 this morning. Obama lifted the ban on media coverage of military dead returning to the U.S. . . . (VIDEO)

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SNIPPET: "According to one of my most trusted sources, the blurry image seen on the tape is indeed Osama bin Laden. One of the reasons that this is convincing is that the blurry image remains in the video. As Sahab, which produces al Qaeda's propaganda, is very selective in the information it releases, and rarely leaves garbage in its videos. As Sahab intentionally leaves in this clip, for reasons unknown. Does al Qaeda want to generate a buzz? Is this a hidden message? Perhaps this is a precursor to a new bin Laden tape?"

This is a two-fold story about an adaptive sports rehabilitation program for severely disabled US soldiers who are veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. The first half focuses on a river rafting trip down the Salmon River in Idaho, the second focuses on the medical facility where these men have been rehabilitated. It is a story of how these men reach a point where they can embrace life again and feel a reason to go forward despite their permanent, often horrifying injuries. The three soldiers on the river trip are Major Anthony Smith, 39, an African American man who...

U.S. and international air forces are becoming interested and open to utilizing off-the-shelf equipment in low-intensity, counter-insurgency and counter-drug operations in remote areas. The U.S. Navy is already evaluating an armed version of Embraer’s EMB-314 Super Tucano under a classified evaluation program known as ‘Imminent Fury’. The Navy is currently evaluating a single aircraft and is seeking a budget of $44 million to embark on a larger program. The Special Operations Command, Air Force and US Marine Corps are also interested in employing off the shelf assets for low-intensity Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and rapid target engagement. Armed Super Tucanos...

I have no illusions that you are interested in the opinions of a middle-aged housewife. Indeed, you don't seem interested in anyone's opinions that do not mirror your own, nevertheless as long as I have the freedom to express myself, I will. Since you've decided to allow our troops to languish in purgatory, why not just bring them home before even one more son or daughter is killed due to your dithering? Just bring them home...it's ok. If tucking tail and running was good enough for John Kerry, it's certainly good enough for you. Who cares if the world laughs...

Mikhail Simonov, designer of the iconic fighter jets Su-27 and Su-30, has been at the forefront of aircraft design for more than 50 years. To celebrate his 80th birthday this month, we hear from the man who gave Russia the edge in aerial combat.

Remember last winter, when liberals were complaining that Barack Obama had kept Bush family consigliere Robert Gates as his secretary of Defense and named a John McCain buddy, General James Jones, as his National Security Adviser? They're not complaining now. Today, Gates and Jones are MoveOn's best friends, because they provide the political cover that Obama needs to reject General Stanley McChrystal's call for more troops in Afghanistan. Imagine if Richard Danzig was Defense secretary and Susan Rice was NSC adviser, as many had expected. Obama would have never dared send them out to publicly slap down McChrystal, as both...

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, will attend Game 1 of the 105th World Series on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium in support of Welcome Back Veterans, Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday amid preparations for the big opener. It will be the first of four consecutive games prefaced by overall themes pertaining to MLB's Going Beyond campaign for community service and charitable involvement -- an unprecedented approach to the Fall Classic. Game 2 will focus on Volunteerism and Community Service (including the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevy), Game 3 will...

The death of an Air Force F-16 pilot is hitting close to home for many in Wichita Falls ... because Captain Nicholas Giglio spent several years as a student and then as an instructor pilot at Sheppard Air Force Base. He died Thursday when his F-16 collided mid-air with another F-16 off the coast of South Carolina. Katie Crosbie joins us now -- Katie, such a tragedy. It is, Doug. Captain Nick Giglio leaves behind a young family and a host of friends who spoke of his legacy. "My heart aches, but my faith is still strong." The words of...

Researchers at the University of Reading (UK) and the University of Southampton (UK) recently made available the roster of men who served during the Hundred Years' War.

(Got this email today lets get rolling Patriots) Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman Liberty Counsel As I've been warning, the secret White House-Senate meetings are now underway to socialize health care. We MUST keep on flooding the Senate with demands from citizens to "Show Us The Bill!" See below. -- Mat Thomas, Yesterday, the secret meetings began in earnest. Sen. Harry Reid met with Sen. Max Baucus, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and other officials BEHIND CLOSED DOORS to re-draft ObamaCare. The entire Senate Democratic Caucus also met BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. Reid had already indicated he will "liberalize"...

It's an all-volunteer Army. But there were days when Andrew Harriman felt like a draftee. The Largo man signed up for a three-year Army hitch. Harriman, 26, gets out next month — three years, five months and 13 days after his enlistment expired. Not that he's counting. Harriman, whose leg was shot in Iraq, found his Army stint prolonged by a program created to ensure soldiers get the best medical care for their wounds. But critics say the program can sometimes delay discharge long after any medical necessity to do so. An Army spokesman said it was in Harriman's best...

This is a fake documentary that was made a few years ago. It runs about 90 minutes. It's on YouTube in nine parts. When you finish with one part, click on the next part in the right panel under Related Videos: The Confederate States of America: Part 1 of 9 WikipediaIMDb Allmovie Official site

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, DEL. -- When the first Bush administration banned the media from covering the arrival of the fallen at Dover Air Force Base during the Persian Gulf War nearly 20 years ago, the stated reason was to protect the families' privacy. But in the six months since the controversial ban was lifted and 258 families were allowed to choose whether they wanted the media present, 60 percent said yes, according to the military. In August, the Pentagon quietly amended the policy so that families were given a third option for coverage. Now they can have military camera...

MAISONCELLE, France — The heavy clay-laced mud behind the cattle pen on Antoine Renault’s farm looks as treacherous as it must have been nearly 600 years ago, when King Henry V rode from a spot near here to lead a sodden and exhausted English Army against a French force that was said to outnumber his by as much as five to one. snip...They devastated a force of heavily armored French nobles who had gotten bogged down in the region’s sucking mud, riddled by thousands of arrows from English longbowmen and outmaneuvered by common soldiers with much lighter gear. It would...

A lot of colorful phrases are associated with World War II. Like, "Nuts!" -- one American commander's defiant response to German surrender demands. Or, "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition," attributed to a U.S. Navy chaplain during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. But here's another one, appropriate for this season. Trick or treat! The trick was setting up phony, inflatable tanks, trucks and artillery under cover of darkness. Then generating some ersatz radio traffic between units and commanders. Igniting flash canisters mimicking the glare of cannons firing. Erecting loudspeakers and playing the pre-recorded sounds of troops and vehicles...

Gentle readers, I’ll bet you’ve never heard of the Secret Six. Neither had I until a few years ago. The Secret Six, as they came to be known, were Boston’s first limousine liberals. Most came from distinguished Boston stock and were all strong abolitionists in the period leading up to the Civil War. They gave money to the militant abolitionist John Brown, who would be considered a terrorist today, knowing he would use the donations in violent ways. When Brown failed, all but one ran like cowards away from their association with him.*** On the evening of Oct. 16, 1859,...

For years, the F-16 Fighting Falcons at Sumter's Shaw Air Force Base have trained to search out and destroy enemy missile and anti-aircraft artillery sites. "That's the big war," as Lt. Col. Ken Ekman, a Shaw squadron commander, put it recently. Now, Ekman and his S.C.-based unit - the 79th Fighter Squadron - are here, fighting a small war where they may be called on to fly close-air support for a donkey train carrying election ballots to a mountain village. ***Instead of hunting down enemy missile sites, the pilots use the multi-million-dollar electronic gear aboard their planes to find bombs...

<p>This photograph from Afghanistan recently made rounds on the Facebook and e-mail accounts of folks whose work centers on military women's issues.</p> <p>The image itself didn't surprise them. It showed four Marines resting at a makeshift patrol base, their guns and helmets propped up against the familiar dusty backdrop of an Asian battlefield. Two of the Marines seemed to be snacking. One picked at her foot.</p>

The Army will make an exception to a decades-old rule and allow a Sikh doctor to serve without removing his turban and cutting his hair, an advocacy group said Friday. The doctor, Capt. Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi of Riverdale, N.J., is the first Sikh to be allowed to go on active duty with a turban, beard and unshorn hair in more than 20 years, the New York-based Sikh Coalition said.The decision does not overturn an Army policy from the 1980s that regulates the wearing of religious items, the acting deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Gina Farrisee, wrote in a letter...

The heavy clay-laced mud behind the cattle pen on Antoine Renault’s farm looks as treacherous as it must have been nearly 600 years ago, when King Henry V rode from a spot near here to lead a sodden and exhausted English Army against a French force that was said to outnumber his by as much as five to one. No one can ever take away the shocking victory by Henry and his “band of brothers,” as Shakespeare would famously call them, on St. Crispin’s Day, Oct. 25, 1415. They devastated a force of heavily armored French nobles who had gotten...

Some of the vets needed canes or wheelchairs to navigate the vast decks of the new Navy amphibious assault ship Makin Island...Legions of military VIPs will attend this morning...None will be held in higher esteem than the World War II Marine Raiders who sacked an enemy-held island in the Western Pacific, boosting American morale during the dark early days of the war, when the enemy seemed unstoppable. ...“Just to be able to sit down and have a beer with these guys — I'm star-struck,” said Lt. Cmdr. Matt Polzin, 39, of Bay City, Mich., who served as a guide for...

For 64 years, Norton Anenberg guarded a present. He kept it in the attic. Or tucked in his desk. But one day in 1990, acting on a longtime desire, the then-vice president of an oil company pulled open his office's file cabinet and declared it was time to act. "You know something," the now-76-year-old Covina resident remembered saying. "I'm gonna find this family." The present was the war flag of a World World II Japanese soldier, given to Anenberg by a family friend returning from fighting in the South Pacific in 1945. And it wasn't until August, after nearly twenty...

As American colonists battled for independence, Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne captured a British fort in New York at midnight, earning a reputation as a brilliant strategist in the chaos of battle. George Washington rode on horseback to congratulate him in person. Soldiers who noticed his reckless bravery gave him his nickname. Later, the fiery leader trained a fearsome army outside of Pittsburgh in 1792, conquered the Indians and negotiated a treaty with them so the Northwest Territory could be settled.*** After he died at age 51 from an attack of gout, his body rested for 12 years in an oak...

Oscar E. and Anna Anderson of Willmar died believing that their only son had been buried at sea after being killed in action during the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. Now, surviving family members hope to learn whether the remains of U.S. Navy Motor Machinist Mate 1st Class John E. Anderson were interred in the Saint Laurent Cemetery, Baveux, France, as an unknown American casualty of World War II. The cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach has since been designated as the Normandy American Military Cemetery. His name is listed there as among the “Missing In Action’’ from...

A new shapeshifting chemical robot being developed for Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the US Army has been unveiled by Pentagon researchers. ChemBot is a small mobile device that looks like a gelatinous blob, it can change shape to navigate through tight spaces and will be used by the army for intelligence gathering, and search and rescue missions. The chemical robot moves from place to place by way of a process called 'jamming' which causes the material to transition between semi-liquid and semi-solid states with only a slight change in volume. Jamming technology allows the scientists to make...

ATH, Maine – The Navy's need for speed is being answered by a pair of warships that have reached freeway speeds during testing at sea. Independence, a 418-foot warship built in Alabama, boasts a top speed in excess of 45 knots, or about 52 mph, and sustained 44 knots for four hours during builder trials that wrapped up this month off the Gulf Coast. The 378-foot Freedom, a ship built in Wisconsin by a competing defense contractor, has put up similar numbers. Both versions of the Littoral Combat Ship use powerful diesel engines, as well as gas turbines for extra...

A day after learning Marine Lance Cpl. David Raymond Baker made the ultimate sacrifice, local residents who knew him continue to honor and remember the young man from Painesville Township. Baker, 22, was killed by an improvised explosive device Tuesday in the Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan. He joined the Marines shortly after graduating from Riverside High School in 2006. "Every time I saw David he had a smile on his face. He was a great person, good-natured and very bright," Wade said. "We are all shocked and saddened by the loss of one of our students. I will always...

A resident will take his first step into the ethical morass of war tonight...with a cinematic debut that explores “what you have to do to come home alive.” In April 2006, amid heavy fighting, seven Marines and one Navy corpsman were given orders to capture a known insurgent in the Iraqi village of Hamdania, located west of Baghdad. The group kidnapped and killed the insurgent’s cousin, Hashim Ibrahim Awad, instead. The eight involved in the incident — the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment Kilo Company — became known as the Pendleton 8 and were held at Camp Pendleton before charges...

MOBILE, Ala. – The second of the Navy's new generation of speedy warships designed to operate close to shore topped 50 mph in builder trials completed this month. Officials say the Independence, a 418-foot ship built in Alabama, traveled in excess of 45 knots, which equates to nearly 52 mph, and sustained 44 knots during a four-hour, full-speed sprint. The so-called littoral combat ship is the second of two competing designs. The one built by Austal in Mobile, Ala., features a tri-hull design. The lead contractor is Maine's Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics subsidiary.

Army Sgt. Aaron Johnston, 24, of Redlands, will leave Friday on a mission with the Army Reserves to a mission in Afghanistan he didn't have to take. Johnston, a maintenance engineer for Redlands Hospital, volunteered to take the place of Sgt. Pete Schaffer, when Schaffer's father became ill. Johnston will be with the Riverside 2nd/413th 95th Division, helping the Afghan National Army for nine months learn how to protect and defend its country when the Americans leave. He will serve 14 months total on the entire mission, leaving behind his wife Ashley and two year-old daughter, Chloe. "Sergeant Schaffer called...

Billy Lynch left Dorchester 72 years ago, and they’re pretty sure they’ve finally found him, a long way from home, deep in the ground in China. Staff Sergeant Billy Lynch was a Marine. He grew up on Victory Road, and if you go to the corner of Victory and Neponset Avenue, you’ll see the black street sign with the gold star that commemorates William Joseph Lynch Square. It is a place of honor for a Marine who disappeared 67 years ago. He left Neponset for the Marines in 1937, right out of high school, and never came back. He was...

Most people who lose a leg dream of walking again. For adaptive athlete Jarem Frye, the inventor of a spring-loaded prosthetic knee transforming the lives of amputees, that wasn't nearly enough. He wanted to fly. Jarem Frye at his office in Mcminnville, Oregon (Photograph by Annie Marie Musselman) WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE a military propaganda video showing footage of U.S. Marines on patrol—protecting an Iraqi neighborhood from insurgents—now lives on the Internet, where you can see Garrett Jones's last steps as a whole-bodied man. The 15-second clip, shot in July 2007 in the city of Karmah, is poor in...

Norman Fulkerson, who has been voicing his conservative opinions on the Messenger-Inquirer editorial page for 11 years, has written a book about another conservative, Col. John W. Ripley USMC.... There was much to admire about Ripley, Fulkerson said, during a recent phone interview. Ripley's military career has been documented in other writings, Fulkerson said, but what he was most interested in was telling the other side of the war hero who in 1972 during the Easter Offensive in Dong Ha, Vietnam, blew up a bridge that "virtually halted the largest North Vietnamese offensive of the entire war." "An American Knight,...

Thanks to a special emailer for pointing to this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ed7p-CpQUs "Please Mr. President make a decision for the troops in Afghanistan" Video Description - quote: Obama please support the troops! Afghanistan decision now! Category: News & Politics Tags: Afghanistan war troop numbers