Free Republic

Survivor: Cagayan — Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty is the 28th season of Survivor. It begins Wednesday, February 26, 2014 on CBS at 8/7c with a special two-hour episode. References: Official Survivor site at CBSWikipedia article There will be eighteen new players - no returning players - divided into three tribes of six players each, based on brains, brawn, and beauty. As with the last season, this season takes place in Cagayan, Philippines. This is the fourth consecutive season that Survivor has taken place in the Philippines It has been reported from several sources that there will be no Redemption...

American pastor and missionary Thomas (Tom) Randall has been imprisoned in Manila, Philippines on allegations that an orphanage he and his wife founded in the country has been operating as a front for human trafficking and that dozens of poor children living at the facility had been suffering sexual abuse for years. Randall was on a mission trip in the country when state and social welfare authorities apprehended him and two workers on Jan. 12 at the Sankey Samaritan Orphanage in Lucena City, Philippines, reportedly on allegations that he had been negligent regarding alleged abuse and sex trafficking at the...

Following Japan's proclamations that it will take over another 280 'disputed ownership' islands, it appears the increasingly dis-approved of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's path of militarism and provocation is working. As China Daily Mail reports, citing experts, China intends to take back Zhongye Island - 'illegally' occupied by the Philippines, according to the Chinese. The Chinese navy has drawn a detailed combat plan to seize the island and the battle will be restricted within the South China Sea. Philippines military is building up on the island and the Chinese see as 'intolerable' the "arrogance" relying on US support.

This is another Islamic pattern: last month, five fisherman werre beheaded in a Philippines sea attack. The waters off the southern Philippines are a hotbed of jihad piracy and Islamic violence. Beheading is Islamic ritual slaughter. "8 beheaded fishermen found on boat in Philippines," AFP, January 4, 2o14 ZAMBOANGA, Philippines: Eight fishermen including two boys have been shot and beheaded in a gruesome attack at sea off the troubled southern Philippines, police said Saturday. The victims were among a group of fishermen who went missing after being attacked in the Moro Gulf off Mindanao island on December 26, said regional...

Small workshop pistol in Danao, Philippines In 1972, Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator in the Philippines, instituted a nationwide gun ban.   Police went house to house confiscating firearms.  Firearms that were confiscated were never returned.    While the current gun ban is not so draconian, it amounts to a ban on carrying guns outside of the home for most of the year during election years, which occur every three years.  In 2013, the ban started on January 13, and lasted until June 12. It then started up again on September 28 and ended on November 12. That is 225 days...

The Philippine government is investigating how a Mexican drug cartel may have entered the country after police seized a large cache of high-grade crystal methamphetamine intended for the local market, officials said Friday. "Good information sharing" among Filipino law enforcers led to the Christmas Day raid on an alleged drug warehouse inside a ranch in Lipa City south of Manila, said Abigal Valte, a spokeswoman for President Benigno Aquino III. Police seized 84 kilograms (185 pounds) of crystal meth, known locally as "shabu," worth around 420 million pesos ($9.4 million). National police chief Alan Purisima said a Chinese-Filipino who was...

Life is strange. I want to finish my life elsewhere. I am seriously thinking of moving to the Philippines. I will go there in 18 months. I intend to sell my antiques, motorcycle, and everything else. Tell me where you would recommend I land. What are the costs?

British and Gibraltarian MPs have slammed Spain for blocking emergency food and aid from the Rock destined for the typhoon-hit Philippines. Spain's customs officials delayed the departure of the 20-foot container packed with food, blankets, vitamins and drinking water until after Christmas. The charity drive from Gibraltar wasn’t allowed to enter Spain, where it was due to be shipped from the southern Spanish port city of Algerciras to the Red Cross in the Philippine capital of Manila. “European legislation doesn’t allow us to import produce meant for human and animal consumption,” Luis González, Spain’s Head of Customs Authorities in Gibraltar’s...

A Chinese naval vessel tried to force a U.S. guided missile warship to stop in international waters recently, causing a tense military standoff in the latest case of Chinese maritime harassment, according to defense officials.The guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens, which recently took part in disaster relief operations in the Philippines, was confronted by Chinese warships in the South China Sea near Beijing’s new aircraft carrier Liaoning, according to officials familiar with the incident.“On December 5th, while lawfully operating in international waters in the South China Sea, USS Cowpens and a PLA Navy vessel had an encounter that required maneuvering...

The sinister surprise attack against the naval base at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Imperial Military is recognized by historians as one of the most successful sneak attacks in military history. While many Americans initially thought the Empire of Japan intended to attack the United States mainland – Californians along the coastal areas felt especially vulnerable – the real targets were in Southeast Asia: Hong Kong, Siam, Malaya, Thailand, and the Philippines, as the first of many. The attack upon the naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, shocked America and the world. While Americans were still reeling,...

Under the watchful eyes of Saudi policemen, little knots of Ethiopian men sit chatting on doorsteps and sprawl on threadbare grass at one of Riyadh's busiest junctions. These are tense, wary times in Manfouha, a few minutes' drive from the capital's glittering towers and swanky shopping malls. Manfouha is the bleak frontline in Saudi Arabia's campaign to get rid of its illegal foreign workers, control the legal ones and help get more of its own citizens into work. This month two or three Ethiopians were killed here after a raid erupted into full-scale rioting. Keeping their distance from the officers...

After an internal debate, the Obama administration has decided to tell American commercial airlines to comply with China's demands to be notified of any flights through a broad swath of international airspace that it has claimed as an air defense zone, officials said Friday. Even as the United States continued to send military planes into the zone in defiance of China's declaration, officials said they expected civilian planes to go along with Beijing's new demands out of an abundance of caution. Officials said they were worried about an accident or unintended confrontation that could endanger civilian passengers. The administration’s decision...

The Chinese Defense Ministry last week expanded its Air Defense Identification Zone in the East China Sea, unilaterally increasing its claim on the Japanese administered Senkakus Islands. China is demanding that any aircraft in the Zone must identify themselves and obey air traffic control from Beijing. Any “threats” over the disputed area will be identified, monitored, or engaged according to Chinese policy. Past history has included verbal threats and close formation ramming by outdated fighters. U.S. Response China and Japan both claim ownership of the islets known as the Senkakus while China identify them as Diaoyu. Located in the middle...

Australian golfer Jason Day will tee off at the World Cup at Royal Melbourne this week after learning that eight relatives died when Super Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the Philippines. The world number 20, who will partner Adam Scott as they attempt to wrest the trophy from the United States, lost his grandmother, an uncle and six cousins, his mother Dening told Monday’s Gold Coast Bulletin. “My daughter has been updating him but I don’t want to bother him because he has commitments,” she said. “There will be plenty of time to talk after (the World Cup). He’s representing his...

Gentlemen; It has now been ten days since typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines causing almost total destruction of Tacloban, Leyte, (and other towns in Leyte), Eastern Samar, (the towns of Guiuan and Basey were severely damaged), Baco City, Oriental Mindoro, towns in the north portion of Cebu, Capiz Province in Panay, and many other areas. On 10 November, 2013 I asked that Tricare provide administrative relief to Tricare beneficiaries residing in the path of typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. Specifically I asked for a relaxation of rules for providers to be certified, (which is a unique Tricare policy that no other...

You have entered in, now sit quietly at my feet and listen and record the report of My heart for now your desires have become mine for I AM The Perpetual fire that abides in you eternal. Listen then GO, SPEAK and DO for I AM The Voice of your many waters ~ ~ ~ So let My waters move in you , "RISE UP" Oh Well for The Voice of many waters is "CALLING" to you for My Glory . John 7:38(AMP) 38 He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Under a reforming president, the Philippines emerged as a rising economic star in Asia but the trail of death and destruction left by Typhoon Haiyan has highlighted a key weakness: fragile and patchy infrastructure after decades of neglect and corruption. Authorities fear that the storm that tore through Leyte province in the country's east has killed thousands. More than 600,000 people have been displaced. Low rates of insurance in the Philippines mean the disaster is likely to sap government finances but analysts say it might not slow growth significantly because of the small role the affected region plays in the...

Climate Fraud: The United Nations climate chief blames the Philippines devastation on climate change, ignoring the historical record that 33 of the 35 most devastating storms occurred with CO2 below current levels. One can appreciate the genuine grief felt by an emotional Naderev "Yeb" Sano as the delegate from a Philippines devastated by Typhoon Haiyan spoke at the start of two-week talks in Warsaw where more than 190 countries will try to lay the groundwork for a new pact to fight global warming. "We can fix this. We can stop this madness. Right now, right here," Sano told delegates in...

<p>A Philippine conference delegate has vowed to refuse food until concrete action is taken to slow climate change, blaming it for the "unprecedented, unthinkable and horrific" devastation of Super Typhoon Haiyan.</p> <p>Addressing other delegates at the first day of the United Nations' 19th Conference of the Parties in Warsaw, Poland, Philippine climate change commissioner Naderev Sano said impact of the "hell-storm" had been "colossal."</p>

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) - Typhoon-ravaged Philippine islands faced a daunting relief effort that had barely begun Monday, as bloated bodies lay uncollected and uncounted in the streets and survivors pleaded for food, water and medicine. Police guarded stores to prevent people from hauling off food, water and such non-essentials as TVs and treadmills, but there was often no one to carry away the dead - not even those seen along the main road from the airport to Tacloban, the worst-hit city along the country's remote eastern seaboard.....