Free Republic

Conservative talk-radio host Mark Levin strongly criticized comedian and quasi-news commentator Jon Stewart for his acerbic jokes and comments concerning Hamas's ongoing missile attacks against Israel, stating that "if Hamas had the weaponry that Israel had," then "Israel would cease to exist." Levin also stressed in remarks aimed at Stewart that Hamas "is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood," it was part of the PLO, and the "PLO's history goes back to the Mufti, goes back to the Third Reich, the Final Solution." (VIDEO-AT-LINK)"Read up, Ivy League boy!" said Levin on Fox's Hannity program on Tuesday. "Try and figure out...

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated on Wednesday that the only solution for the region is the destruction of Israel, and that the armed confrontation must expand beyond Gaza. Meanwhile, revolutionary guards announced new missiles which could destroy Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Fars News Agency, a media outlet run by the Iranian state, reported today that Khamenei addressed the conflict in Gaza in a meeting with Iranian college students. “These crimes which are beyond imagination and show the true nature of the wolfish and child killer regime, which the only solution is its destruction,” the ayatollah declared...

Navi Pillay said Tel Aviv's two-week onslaught on Gaza - which has cost more than 650 Palestinians lives - would be thoroughly investigated. Ms Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the attacks have destroyed houses and hospitals and killed civilians. "These are just a few examples where there seems to be a strong possibility that international humanitarian law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes. "Every one of these incidents must be properly and independently investigated." According to Gaza officials, 475 houses have been destroyed and 2,644 damaged, while 46 schools, 56 mosques...

Vladimir Putin just showed the world exactly what he thinks of the President of the United State and NATO allies calls for him to rein in the pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. Less than a week after rebels took down a Malaysian passenger plane carrying nearly 300 civilians, the militants loyal to Moscow are not laying low. “Two Ukrainian fighter jets were shot down Wednesday in the eastern regions of the country that are controlled by Russian-backed separatists, according to Ukraine’s defense ministry,” USA Today reported on Wednesday. It was the first reported shoot down of a plane over eastern Ukraine...

10% of Qassams fired never even make it out of the  dinky Gaza Strip- some see this as intentional Ironic it is -given the non-stop trumpeting of civilian woes seen in Hamas' (and liberal Western) media- that many of the Palestinian civilian casualties are the result of crude, home-made Qassam missiles gone haywire and roaring into neighborhoods... not exactly the respect for life you see with the IDF's intelligent targeting/notification systems, and killing their own to boot.  But they've always treated Gaza's cramped populace as chaff to be expended whenever deemed useful (or just steam to be blown-off) and the more cynical among us...

Israel's "Iron Dome" defense system has emerged as a game-changer in the current round of violence with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, shooting down dozens of incoming rockets and being credited with preventing numerous civilian casualties. By shooting down more than 90 percent of its targets, the system is ensuring Israel's decisive technological edge that has helped it operate virtually unhindered in Gaza. At the same time, it's also providing a much-needed sense of security on the home front.....

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday night call for an immediate end of Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip. Abbas also urged the international community to intervene instantly to put an end to the Israeli attacks which, he cautioned, would plunge the region into more destruction and instability. Abbas affirmed the need to maintain the truce in the Gaza Strip to "save the lives of our people and their property and spare the innocent." He said that the PA leadership was holding contacts with several Arab and international parties...

(06-11) 14:24 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Friends, neighbors and a former fellow inmate of Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow took turns testifying Wednesday that the onetime Chinatown gang leader had turned his life around and should be released on bail while fighting money-laundering charges. Describing the witnesses as sincere but not fully informed, U.S. Magistrate Nathanael Cousins refused to release Chow from jail, where he has been kept since his arrest in April. While Chow has engaged in "community activities of a positive nature" since his release from federal prison in 2003 after serving time for racketeering, federal prosecutors presented evidence...

Judicial Watch uncovered the most significant and explosive details yet related to the Obama administration’s Benghazi scandal. (Snip) In August 2013, CNN reported, “Speculation on Capitol Hill has included the possibility the U.S. agencies operating in Benghazi were secretly helping to move surface-to-air missiles out of Libya, through Turkey, and into the hands of Syrian rebels.” Earlier, Gregory Hicks, the State Department´s deputy chief of mission in Tripoli at the time of the attack, told the House Oversight Committee that one of the reasons Stevens was in Benghazi was that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "wanted Benghazi

"In his new book, “Dark Forces: The Truth About What Happened in Ben­ghazi” (Broadside Books), writer Kenneth R. Timmerman explains how the US government’s efforts to arm the Libyan rebels backfired, flooding weapons into Syria, and as he ­reveals here, Afghanistan: The Obama administration isn’t only giving the Taliban back its commanders — it’s giving them weapons. Miliary records and sources reveal that on July 25, 2012, Taliban fighters in Kunar province successfully targeted a US Army CH-47 helicopter with a new generation Stinger missile...."

<p>One of the odder stats of Election Night: As of Wednesday morning, 287,590 Californians had cast ballots for indicted state Sen. Leland Yee for secretary of state. That’s good for nearly 10 percent of the vote.</p> <p>Never mind for a second that the San Francisco Democrat has been indicted on multiple federal money laundering and weapons charges. Yee DROPPED OUT of the race in March. Folks were voting for an indicted man who didn’t even want their votes.</p>

SACRAMENTO (AP) — The state Senate has passed a proposed constitutional amendment permitting the Legislature to suspend members without pay. SCA17 passed Tuesday on a 31-3 vote. Among those voting no was a Republican lawmaker who wanted to halt tax collections for the constituents of three suspended lawmakers. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg introduced the measure after the chamber voted to suspend the Democratic lawmakers in March. Sens. Ron Calderon and Leland Yee face federal corruption charges, while Sen. Rod Wright was convicted for lying about living in his district.

A small part of more than $800,000 that was parked in campaign accounts controlled by indicted or convicted California lawmakers is making its way back to contributors, but more than half a million dollars remains missing.. At the time of his arrest on bribery and corruption charges in March, Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) had $134,000 cash in his secretary of state campaign account and had weeks earlier sent more than $518,000 to a Los Angeles media agency for future campaign commercials. Campaign finance reports filed with the state by Thursday's reporting deadline show the indicted lawmaker had reduced that...

Over the objections of reputed gang figure Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow's lawyers, a federal judge has ordered that the government's evidence in a sweeping criminal case that includes political corruption charges against state Sen. Leland Yee must be kept secret for now. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer imposed the restrictions Monday on every lawyer and defendant in the case, finding the material should be kept under wraps while both sides prepare for trial. Breyer rejected the free speech arguments of Chow's lawyer, J. Tony Serra, who insisted he should be able to reveal evidence to combat the government's public charges.

Iran's Fateh 110 balllistic missile Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threw a large spanner in the works of nuclear diplomacy Sunday, May 11. Less than a week before the next round of talks with the six powers, he said: “The Revolutionary Guards should definitely… not be satisfied with the present level [of missile production]. They should mass produce.” Referring to Western concerns that Iran is designing missiles able to carry nuclear warheads, Khamenei said: “They [the West] expect us to limit our missile program while they constantly threaten Iran with military action. So this is a stupid, idiotic expectation.”...

**SNIP** “The current political climate has opened windows to reflect and drive cultural changes that would never have been possible a decade ago,” said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) in announcing the proposals. “This is an opportunity to reiterate why we choose to run for office, to serve the public, and to reaffirm our commitment to political reform.” A trio of Republican Senators called the proposals “window dressing” and said they would introduce legislation to double prison sentences, to up to eight years, for any elected official convicted of bribery or selling votes. "While we appreciate some of...

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - Accused Chinatown gangster Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow has refused to sign on to a protective order that will allow defense attorneys to receive evidence from federal prosecutors, including audio recordings and video surveillance, from a five-year undercover investigation that led to his arrest, and the arrest of 26 others in March. Attorneys for the federal government on Thursday filed a motion to compel Chow to cooperate, noting that nearly all the other defendants have signed on, and only one other defendant has not signed because of a likely substitution of counsel in the near future. According...

Embed this story (Newser) – Ukrainian forces—declining to follow Russia's suggestion that they withdraw from their own country—are trying to retake the pro-Russia rebel stronghold of Slovyansk in fighting that has killed at least three people. The dead include at least two soldiers killed when the insurgents shot down two Ukrainian military helicopters, the BBC reports. The defense ministry says the use of surface-to-air missiles shows that they are dealing with a "well-trained and armed professional subversive group committing acts of terrorism and sabotage in order to destabilize the region." Ukraine's interior minister says security forces are fighting to "free...

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The California State Senate held an "ethics refresher course" for its members after federal indictments were issued against two senators and a third was convicted. Senate leaders are hoping to regain the public's trust. The purpose of the course is to teach members and their staffs to avoid potentially compromising situations. It's the latest in a series of moves by senate leaders aimed at putting political distance between them and their colleagues facing criminal charges. The leader of California's state senate stopped all regular business on Wednesday so everyone could go "back to school" in a...

Syria's opposition fighters have been supplied with U.S.-made anti-tank missiles, the first time a major American weapons system has appeared in rebel hands. It is unclear how the rebels obtained the wire-guided missiles, which are capable of penetrating heavy armor and fortifications and are standard in the U.S. military arsenal. The United States has sold them in the past to Turkey, among other countries, and the Pentagon approved the sale of 15,000 of the weapons to Saudi Arabia in December. Both countries aid Syrian opposition groups. U.S. officials declined to discuss the origin of the weapons but did not dispute...