Free Republic

Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, by their polls; From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: you shall number them by their hosts, you and Aaron. (From this week's Torah portion, Bamidbar, Numbers 1:2-3) The ultimate purpose of the journey of the Israelites in the desert was the establishment of a kingdom of priests - a nation that testifies to the existence of the Creator and expresses His will...

Back in 2005 I wrote an article entitled: “I’m a Nationalist.” Over the weekend, while doing a bit of light research, I came across the piece -- and read it again. Honestly, I can’t see that anything has changed my mind. If ANYTHING I am MORE of a nationalist today than I was 5 years ago. Why? One word: “OBAMA!” The dictionary defines a nationalist as: One with “Devotion to the interests or culture of one's nation.” (Free on-line dictionary) The dictionary defines a nationalism as: “1: loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially: a sense of national consciousness exalting...

White British actresses told to leave Bollywood British actresses who appear in Bollywood films are being targeted in a hate campaign by one of India's most feared political leaders. By Dean Nelson in New Delhi Published: 5:55PM GMT 17 Mar 2010 Actress Hazel Crowney: British actresses have flocked to Bollywood Stars including Alice Patten, the daughter of Lord Patten of Barnes, and Hazel Crowney, a former model from Kent, have been accused of stealing jobs from local girls. Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), a Mumbai nationalist street gang and political party which inspires terror throughout the city, has called...

State Leaders Face Pinched Budgets and Threats to Safety NetTo hear Republicans in Congress tell it, the Grand Old Party is pretty much united against the deficit-spending approach to economic recovery. Don’t tell that to local GOP officials. Faced with the most severe budget crises in decades, state and local policymakers from across the country — including a growing list of prominent Republicans — have been only too happy to accept the additional federal funding that accompanied last year’s $787 billion stimulus bill. Not only did that money prop up job markets, many say, but it kept social-service programs running...

Loud and proud isn't the norm up north, but it's suiting our neighbors well VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Shane Koyczan sat partly hidden in a darkened restaurant booth, and it was probably better that way. Since his stirring spoken-word performance at the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics, the poet has become a national celebrity. It's hard for him to walk down a street here without being stopped. ''We Are More,'' the poem he recited in front of a worldwide TV audience of 3 billion people, arrived at a time when Canadians are getting comfortable with the idea of saying...

Anti-British National Party (BNP) protesters breached security and broke into BBC Television Centre tonight ahead of Nick Griffin’s controversial appearance on Question Time. Around 30 people rushed through the main gates of the BBC’s broadcasting headquarters in West London. Ten were dragged out of the car park by police officers but at least 20 more made it inside the building where the leader of the BNP will take part in the political panel show tonight... As several hundred protesters blocked the road outside Television Centre, delaying his arrival, Mr Griffin criticised the security operation. “It seems the police do not...

The weekend's European Parliament and British local county council elections were not only a victory for the center-right over the center-left. More significantly, they were indications of the growing rejection of the last 60 years of denationalized and consolidating European history. They were, particularly, a sharp assertion by many indigenous Europeans that they will not put up with losing their culture to overly assertive Islamic or other immigrants in Europe. The latter point was made most emphatically by the voters of Holland, Hungary, Finland, Britain, Austria, Denmark and Italy... But the loudest vox populi was heard in Britain... The UKIP's...

London, UK (BANG) - Britain's Prince Charles wants grey squirrels exterminated. The future king - a keen environmentalist - has claimed it is essential to eliminate the animal, introduced from North America in the 19th century, because of the threat they pose to native red squirrels. In a letter to the Country Land and Business Association, Charles - patron of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust said: "In order to be able to save the red squirrels and ensure their future in this country, it is absolutely crucial to eliminate the greys which, as you know, are an alien species to...

What is “transnationalism” generally? Well, let’s start by considering how two academics—one a critic of transnationalism, the other an ardent proponent—have described it. Our first academic contrasts a “nationalist jurisprudence” with a “transnationalist jurisprudence.” A nationalist jurisprudence “is characterized by commitments to territoriality, extreme deference to national executive power and political institutions, and resistance to comity or international law as meaningful constraints on national prerogatives.” A nationalist jurisprudence “largely refuses to look beyond U.S. national interests when assessing the legality of extraterritorial action,” has “largely rejected international comity as a reason unilaterally to restrain the scope of U.S. regulation,” and...

China best-seller lashes "Mafia don" America Reuters By Chris Buckley – Thu Mar 26, 12:25 am ET BEIJING (Reuters) – China's sparring with the West has inspired its own angry best-seller, lashing foreign targets and the country's own elite with scorn popular with some readers but worrying for a government wanting to tether nationalism. "China is Unhappy" has sold quickly since its publication earlier this month, but some state-run newspapers have fretted over its scathing assaults on the United States and the West -- blasts that also spatter doubt on Beijing's own policies. Chinese President Hu Jintao goes to London...

In The National, Pankaj Mishra is dyspeptic about partition, which has led both India and Israel into a "moral wilderness" of nationalism. (I do wish he'd pointed out that the Pakistanis got a state, the Palestinians didn't.) He says in spite of "fierce PR," India's democracy has a scary underbelly, a long tradition of Hindu nationalism, now ascendant: Reverence for Adolf Hitler – who is hailed as a hero in textbooks in the Hindu nationalist-ruled state of Gujarat, while Mein Kampf remains popular at bookstores – is one of the many sinister aspects of “rising” India today. This cult of...

The language about mandatory volunteerism that was "missing" from the HR1388 bill voted on yesterday in the Senate, is now showing up on this bill HR1444 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1444

In his 1835 masterpiece, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville, reported on his observations of the American scene after an extensive tour of the new Republic. One of his most profound insights had to do with the genius of Americans in the formation of institutions that mediate between large, distant government and the solitary, insular individual: Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions constantly form associations. They have not only commercial and manufacturing companies, in which all take part, but associations of a thousand other kinds, religious, moral serious, futile, general or restricted, enormous or diminutive. The Americans...

..(snip)…Does this not raise suspicion? While we hear of the “outrage” of the people who brought us the bonus scandal, the same people are rushing to pass the GIVE Act (you give, they take): national service. Senator Reid asked that the Senate proceed to act on this bill and then immediately asked for a cloture motion. Cloture The cloture rule–Rule 22–is the only formal procedure that Senate rules provide for breaking a filibuster. A filibuster is an attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter. Under cloture, the Senate may limit consideration of a pending...

Remember this? (see video at link) Obama's vision of a domestic security force "just as strong, just as well funded as our military" ( and presumbly loyal to him personally) just got a lot closer. The House of representatives has just passed HR 1388 otherwise known as the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act. This reauthorizes through 2014 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, acts that originally, among other programs, funded the AmeriCorps and the National Senior Service Corps. However, it not only reauthorizes the programs, but also includes...

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.

<p>MANAGING a crisis as complex as this one has so far called for nuance and pragmatism rather than stridency and principle. Should governments prop up credit markets by offering guarantees or creating bad banks? Probably both. What package of fiscal stimulus would be most effective? It varies from one country to the next. Should banks be nationalised? Yes, in some circumstances. Only the foolish and the partisan have rejected (or embraced) any solutions categorically.</p>

Wanted: leaders to face demons of Europe’s past By Philip Stephens Published: February 19 2009 19:46 | Last updated: February 19 2009 19:46 During George W. Bush’s time, US officials would sometimes mock Europe’s addiction to meetings. America, they would tell visitors to Washington, had the capacity and courage to act. The best its allies could do was to summon yet another interminable meeting. My reaction was that it was often better to get everyone around a table than, say, to start another war. Europe had learnt that the hard way during the first half of the 20th century. The...

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- What does it mean to nationalize a bank, anyway? That question has weighed on the minds of investors in the two weeks since the Obama administration's comprehensive financial industry stability plan fell flat. And they came to a head Friday. Nationalization fears helped drag down shares of Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) as much as 36% at one point Friday. BofA recovered most of its losses to finish Friday down just 3.6%. But Cit's stock closed Friday with a 22% loss. The term nationalization has been used to cover a...

With all the recent moves by the feds regarding bail outs and the cash they are giving away. I find myself just overwhelmed by the moves they are making and the implications of these moves. Some of my questions are “Does the Federal government now “OWN” the US banking system”? If so, where does that leave the “FED”. Or does the FED now own the US banking system? More to the point, who owns the banking system? Do they also “OWN” the auto business? Same kind of questions. Are any freepers out there able to sum up these moves in...