Free Republic

When I was young and living in Manhattan, I saw an Off-Off-Broadway play called Slave Ship. It was an experience I'll never forget. Unbeknownst to me, the performance was conducted in total darkness. The audience was subjected for one very long hour to the harrowing sounds of slavery. There were blood-curdling screams, whippings, and more. Given that we were trapped in pitch blackness, the audience was held captive like the slaves, compelled to experience the same terror, helplessness, and despair. This was undoubtedly the intention of the play.

The Russian security service released the crew of the Arctic Sea in Moscow on Sunday. The 11 members of the crew of the hijacked ship were flown from Cape Verde to Russia nearly two weeks ago. The Russian news agency Interfax reports that the men returned to their home town of Archangelsk, where they were met by their families. On Sunday, Russian authorities gave conflicting accounts of whether or not all of the crew would be released. The online portal life.ru reported that only nine members of the crew had been released. Rabbe von Hertzen of the Finnish National Bureau...

Gaza Jewish Flotilla Ship's PR Sinks in Ashdod, Israel(photo) Hamas and Iran are praying that the world will never put on its glasses. By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem, Israel ---- September 28, 2010 ..... It's no secret that no one is starving in Gaza. Nor is it a secret that Hamas which rules Gaza is not interested in any form of a peace arrangement with Israel. Hamas makes no secret of the fact that her only goal is the complete and total destruction of the State of Israel. It was exactly 5 years ago this month that Israel...

NOTE The following text is a quote: Alert Officer Identifies Wanted Man Workforce Stories When a Behavior Detection Officer (BDO) at Ohio’s Toledo Express Airport was approached by an individual in the public area of the airport, the Officer became suspicious of the individual’s actions and noticed injuries to the man’s hands. The BDO also recognized that the individual matched the description provided by the U.S. Coast Guard of a foreign national who jumped ship in the Port of Toledo. Based on the description, TSA contacted the Lucas County Sheriff, Toledo Port Authority Police, Coast Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation...

Two years ago, the Pacific Sun, a cruise ship out of Australia, hit rough waters, and dozens were injured in the process. The ship’s troubles were serious enough that some wondered how safe we are traveling by sea in general, but for the most part that was the end of it. Until this week. Because this week, the internet came in, as two videos surfaced demonstrating just how bad the Pacific Sun’s situation was – bad enough that mainstream media started taking notice. From Postmedia News, via the Montreal Gazette: In one video, passengers and crew are sent careening violently...

The Navy indicated Monday there would be a several-month delay in awarding a high-profile combat ship contract. The Navy was expected to announce the winner of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) contract this summer. Instead, it will take several more months to weigh the competitors’ offers. Lockheed Martin, teamed with Wisconsin-based Marinette Marine and Alabama-based Austal USA, a unit of Australian Austal Ltd., are competing for the contract, which is initially worth about $5 billion for 10 shore-hugging combat ships and includes combat systems for five additional ships.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Workers at the World Trade Center site are excavating a 32-foot-long ship hull that apparently was used in the 18th century as part of the fill that extended lower Manhattan into the Hudson River.....

Workers excavating at the World Trade Center site have unearthed the 32-foot-long hull of a ship likely buried in the 18th century. Archeologists say the vessel probably was used along with other debris to fill in land to extend lower Manhattan into the Hudson River. Archeologists Molly McDonald and A. Michael Pappalardo were at the site of the Sept. 11 attacks on Tuesday morning when workers uncovered the artifacts. They call the find significant but say more study is needed to determine the age of the ship. The two archeologists work for AKRF, a firm hired to document artifacts discovered...

For The Record - The IPT Blog "Arab Journalists Come Out in Support of Israeli Flotilla Actions" by IPT News • Jun 29, 2010 at 6:01 pm SNIPPET: "Journalists in the Arab world have come out in support of Israel in the aftermath of last month's flotilla incident, which left 9 dead after Hamas-tied "humanitarian activists" attacked Israeli commandos with clubs, knives, and other weapons. The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) released excerpts from an interview with Magdi Khalil, an Egyptian-American writer, aired on June 15 on Al-Jazeera TV. Khalil explains: "The Turkish ship, however, was organized by a...

Fox Station exclusive report on board "A Whale" that just arrived in the Gulf, the ship is capable of skimming 500k barrels of oil a day...(Video)

NEW DELHI: A Pakistan-bound cargo vessel carrying a "huge quantity" of explosives and other weapons has been detained by the authorities at a harbour in eastern India, police said on Saturday. The vessel was heading for the Pakistani port city of Karachi and was detained Friday on an intelligence tip-off at Diamond Harbour, 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Kolkata, capital of the West Bengal state, police said. "The Indian Coast Guard and navy personnel have found a huge quantity of explosives, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns and some bombs in two large containers," West Bengal police director general Bhupinder Singh...

OAKLAND, Calif. – Hundreds of protesters condemning Israel's recent raid on an international flotilla bound for Gaza are picketing at the Port of Oakland, where an Israeli ship is due to arrive. The demonstrators gathered Sunday to prevent the incoming ship from being unloaded. The dock's day shift of longshoremen agreed to not cross the picket line. Meanwhile Sunday, Israel said it will immediately allow all goods into Gaza except weapons and items deemed to have a military use under its decision to ease its three-year-old blockade of the Palestinian territory. Israeli officials had decided last week to ease the...

UNITED NATIONS - North Korea's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday that any U.N. Security Council action over the sinking of a South Korean naval ship that was hostile to Pyongyang would have a military "follow-up." Seoul, which has accused North Korea of torpedoing the corvette Cheonan on March 26, killing 46 sailors, brought the dispute to the Security Council this month, asking the 15-nation body to take action to deter "further provocation."

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- The workmanship quality of the San Diego was praised by the shipbuilder and a former Secretary of the Navy on the eve of the ship's christening at 10 a.m. today at the Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding's Pascagoula shipyard.

  The Iranian Red Crescent is planning to send two ships to Gaza this week it was announced on Monday. AFP quotes Red Crescent director for international affairs Abdolrauf Adibzadeh  as saying: "One ship will carry donations made by the people and the other will carry relief workers. The ships will be sent to Gaza by end of this week."  

Israeli forces have seized another aid-laden ship bound for Gaza. They have boarded the Irish-owned Rachel Corrie, some 55 kilometres out in the Mediterranean, a spokeswoman for the campaign group supporting the ship said. The 1,200 tonne ship with 11 passengers on board was hoping to arrive in Gaza bearing aid supplies this afternoon, but Israel vowed to prevent the ship from docking. It is unclear whether there was any violence.

HOUSTON—A federal grand jury in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas returned an indictment today charging Barry Walter Bujol, Jr., with attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno and FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Richard C. Powers announced today. “Protecting the American public from the threat of terrorism, both international and home-grown, is the highest priority of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas,” said U.S. Attorney Moreno. “Proactive investigative efforts and cooperation between the...

The world has condemned Israel for attacking some, “poor, innocent aid relief workers”, while refusing to look for the real story behind this. Hamas, the terror group supported by even some of our allies in the Middle East, was shipping cargo to Palestinians, in violation of the embargo imposed by Israel. The main stream media would have you believe that a bunch of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) boarded the ship and relentlessly killed some innocent civilians. What they forgot to show you was the video below. It clearly shows IDF soldiers boarding the ship while being beaten with chairs and...

  With huge chains and honking cranes, that's how. Example: This Republic of Korea Navy's corvette—half of it, actually—floating over the sea's surface. And before you cry "PHOTOSHOP!", check out the scene from a distance.It's the Cheonan, a South Korean Pohang-class corvette that broke in two on March 26. According to an international investigation, the cause was a torpedo fired from a North Korean Yeono class miniature submarine, killing 46 crew members. A few weeks later, on April 15, the South Korean Navy recovered the stern part from the bottom of the sea using a giant floating crane. On April 24,...

Almost two months after a South Korean warship sunk mysteriously in the Yellow Sea, officials in Seoul announced an international investigation concluded a North Korean homing torpedo was to blame. The Obama administration stood firmly behind the South Koreans on Thursday, calling the attack "unacceptable." White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said North Korea's actions will only further isolate them from the international community. "We strongly condemn this act of aggression against the Republic of Korea and send our condolences to those families of the 46 sailors that lost their lives," Gibbs said. Yet the administration was cautious not provoke...