Free Republic

Experts: US gov't needs to prepare for cyberwar Cyberwar is difficult to define, but the U.S. needs a strategy, a group of experts says By Grant Gross, IDG News Service January 27, 2010 04:31 PM ET Sponsored by: The U.S. government needs to figure out how it will respond to acts of cyberwar, as foreign governments increasingly look to gain advantages in cyberspace, a group of cybersecurity experts said Wednesday. One problem, however, is that there wasn't consensus among the panelists on what exactly constitutes an act of war in cyberspace. The U.S. military has used cyberattacks to disrupt enemy...

The United Methodist Church's top court recently ruled that clergy, both active and retired, cannot perform same-sex marriages or civil unions. Performing such services is "a chargeable offense," Bishop Beverly J. Shamana ruled last Friday. UMC's Judicial Council affirmed her decision. The council further ruled that an annual conference, or regional body within the UMC, "may not negate, ignore, or violate provisions of the Discipline with which they disagree, even when the disagreements are based on conscientious objections to the provisions." The council’s ruling was on a resolution passed by the California-Nevada Annual Conference last year, months after the California...

Barack Obama said Thursday at a fundraiser in Chicago that the GOP is trying to make him and his wife Michelle appear "scary" and "too black." "They’re going to try to make me into a scary guy. They’re even trying to make Michelle into a scary person. Right?" Obama said at an event in the Hyde Park area, according to CNN. Obama said Republicans were trying to start a drumbeat questioning Obama's patriotism and whether he is "too black." "I don’t know, before I wasn’t black enough," Obama said. The Illinois senator then suggested Republicans might say, "'now he might...

BAGHDAD - U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a major operation to strike against al-Qaida in Iraq and other extremists, the U.S. military said Tuesday, hoping to build on a recent reduction of violence and push militants from their strongholds. The division and brigade-level operation, dubbed Phantom Phoenix, will cover the entire country, the military said. U.S. and Iraqi forces will "continue to pursue al-Qaida and other extremists wherever they attempt to take sanctuary," Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, said in a statement announcing the start of the joint operation. "We are determined not to allow...

Saying that he learned a lesson from 2000, John McCain eschewed the quiet approach yesterday and blasted rumors that he did favors for a Washington lobbyist. Matt Drudge posted that the New York Times had a story that would show McCain -- a staunch activist for reducing lobbyist influence -- had his own scandal brewing. Both of the principals in the story have hired lawyers, and the Times has clammed up: Sen. John McCain said yesterday that he has "never done any favors for anybody -- lobbyist or special interest group," as his presidential campaign issued a statement denouncing allegations...

The Problem of Offense by: Bethany Stotts, November 28, 2007 Offense is a “psychological construct,” argued University of Nevada-Reno Adjunct Psychology Professor William O’Donohue at an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) conference on the politically-correct university. He noted that proponents of political correctness often do so in order to reduce offense, yet define political correctness so broadly and inconsistently as to encompass Aleutian Islanders while excluding the oft-persecuted Jews. These inconsistencies inherent to politically-correct ideology require proponents to simultaneously uphold contradictory doctrines, argued George Mason University Professor Jeremy Mayer at the conference. “To be liberal on a college campus today...

Taking Offense for Fun and Profit   Have you seen the bumper sticker out there that says “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention? Living in Minneapolis, I see that one rather frequently along with “Hate is not a family value”, “Would Jesus Discriminate”, “Buck Fush” and myriad other erudite and intellectually stimulating bumper stickers from our friends on the Left that express just how outraged they are at… well…everything. To hear them talk, you might get the idea that the Left believes that life is one big series of unending injustices and that this profoundly bothers them....

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2007 – Al Qaeda terrorists have chosen Iraq as the central front in their worldwide campaign against freedom, so America must stay in the fight to prevent them from establishing a safe haven from which to launch more attacks, Vice President Richard B. Cheney said in Iraq today.  Al Qaeda leaders believe they can wear down the United States, force the troops out of Iraq and make the country a launching pad for new attacks in the region and abroad, Cheney said in remarks to members of the Army’s 25th Infantry Division in Tikrit. “The terrorists...

WASHINGTON, Sep. 5, 2006 -- President Bush today released his updated National Strategy for Combating Terrorism, which outlines the U.S. government’s strategy to protect and defend American interests at home and abroad from terrorism. “The best way to protect America is to stay on the offense,” Bush told an audience today at the Military Officers Association of America here. “Since 9/11 our coalition has captured or killed al Qaeda managers and operatives and scores of other terrorists across the world. The enemy is living under constant pressure, and we intend to keep it that way.” The strategy update emphasizes that...

Former Wilkes teacher, accused of sex offense, is found deadFire & Police Briefs: First Edition Tuesday, August 22, 2006 JOURNAL STAFF AND WIRE REPORT NORTH WILKESBORO - A former teacher in Wilkes County accused of having sex with a student was found dead Sunday, according to a report filed by the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office. Stephen George Kennedy, 26, was found dead at 8:35 a.m. in his parent's home. His mother found him hanging by a necktie tied to a bedpost. The death appeared to be self-inflicted, the report said. In May, Kennedy was called out of class and arrested...

A woman who accused her doctor of molesting her and having his identical twin impersonate him to assault her must pay the doctor $2.8 million because she fabricated the allegations, a judge ruled. Judge Katherine Stolz dismissed Perla Saldivar's lawsuit against her doctor, Dr. Dennis Momah, and his twin, Dr. Charles Momah, a gynecologist, saying her allegations were inconsistent with evidence. "The contradictions and inconsistencies in Ms. Saldivar's testimony were some of the most pronounced this court has ever seen," Stolz wrote Wednesday. The ruling is the latest in a saga involving the Momahs. Charles Momah was sentenced in November...

Getting fired for incompetence from the University of California system is apparently harder than it looks. How else to explain how UC President Robert Dynes kept his job? But if the UC Board of Regents wishes to stick with the current administration, the board had better explain how it plans to forestall further UC compensation abuses. The regents on Thursday supported Dynes despite his presiding over hundreds of secret executive pay deals totaling tens of millions of dollars. Over the past five years, three under Dynes' watch, the president's office approved more than 700 "separation agreements" -- a euphemism for...

Teacher-Coach Charged With Sex Offense UPDATED: 12:13 pm EDT May 4, 2006 WILKESBORO, N.C. -- A substitute teacher and wrestling coach in Wilkes County faces sex charges, according to authorities. Stephen George Kennedy, 26, was charged with a first-degree sex offense, second-degree statutory rape, indecent liberties with a child and indecent liberties with a student, WXII 12 News learned from investigators. The sheriff's office said other charges are pending. Authorities said Kennedy knew the student at North Wilkes Middle School when the student was 13 years old and that Kennedy continued having relations with the student until the student was...

U.N. rule to bar religious offense sought CAIRO, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The European Union is debating ideas and measures that might be endorsed by the United Nations to bar the slandering of religions. EU foreign policy and security commissioner Javier Solana said after a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Tuesday the EU and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) "are considering certain ideas to safeguard and protect religious values in general, but the time is not appropriate to disclose the details." Solana issued a joint statement Monday with the chief of the Jeddah-based OIC Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu stressing their...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2005 – The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks showed that the United States could no longer ignore the threat of global terrorism and that America must go on the attack, President Bush said during a nationally televised address Dec. 18. The United States did not start the war against global terrorism, Bush pointed out. Terrorists flew commercial airliners into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City, crashed another plane into the Pentagon, and commandeered another that crashed in a Pennsylvania field. "On that day, we were not in Iraq, we were not in Afghanistan," Bush...

Coach Brings New Offense To Millwood By Berry Tramel The Oklahoman Desota Bell's phone rang several times. He's not on the Millwood school board anymore, but folks still called. Millwood had gone and hired a white football coach. Keith Bell is the white shadow of Millwood's all-black and always-successful gladiators. The independent school district in northeast Oklahoma City long has been a magnet for the black community, and the Falcons take pride in their football, with four state titles in the last 15 years. But when longtime coach Don Willis resigned earlier this year to take a job in Texas,...

Unoffendable Francis Frangipane http://www.Frangipane.org "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezek 36:26) God has a new heart for us that cannot be offended, an "unoffendable" heart. Beloved, possessing an unoffendable heart is not an option or a luxury; it's not a little thing. Consider: Jesus warns that, as we near the end of the age, a majority of people will be offended to such a degree that they fall away from the faith. Listen...

BOISE, Idaho — A 16-year-old girl was allegedly tied up and scalped with a 4-inch knife in what police say may have been an act of revenge by another woman. The girl, who had a punk-style mohawk haircut before the attack, is recovering at home. Doctors could not reattach her scalp, which was found near a hot spring. Police searched for Marianne Dahle, 26, who disappeared after the Jan. 18 attack at Kirkham Hot Springs, about 70 miles from Boise.

MIAMI -- Former Pro Bowl center Barret Robbins, who was shot by a detective investigating a burglary call, was charged Wednesday with three counts of attempted felony murder. Miami Beach police found Robbins Saturday night inside an administrative office at a building housing a nightclub, gym and jewelry store. Robbins also was charged with two counts of attempting to deprive an officer of his weapon, two counts of resisting an officer with violence and trespassing. Police said Detective Mike Muley shot him during a struggle. Robbins was critically injured. Muley received hospital treatment for minor head injuries. The former Oakland...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...