Free Republic

Spymaster pressed to stand down By Rachel Sylvester, George Jones and Michael Smith (Filed: 16/07/2004) John Scarlett, the intelligence chief accused of becoming too close to Downing Street in the approach to the Iraq war, was under pressure last night to withdraw as the next head of MI6. The Telegraph has learned that Sir Richard Dearlove, the outgoing chief of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, opposed him as his successor. He backed Nigel Inkster, his vice-chief, instead. John Scarlett: 'too much of public figure' "Dearlove was not happy with Scarlett's appointment," a Cabinet minister said. Senior Tories said that going...

9/11 panel: Don’t settle for political hay Sun-Gazette Editor Compared to the media spotlight on National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice’s testimony before the Sept. 11 Commission, the appearance of Attorney General John Ashcroft happened virtually under cover of darkness. There’s a curious relative quiet about the smoking gun Ashcroft dropped in the commission’s lap, in the form of a 1995 memo written by Jamie Gorelick — then the Clinton-appointed deputy attorney general and now a member of the Sept. 11 Commission — that reinforced the much-discussed “wall” between the FBI’s criminal investigations and counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism activities. Gorelick instructed then-FBI-director...

The world must stand shoulder to shoulder against terrorists, President Bush and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said here today. At a press availability in the Oval Office, Bush said terrorist attacks are meant to shake the coalition's will. "They'll never shake the will of the United States," the president said. "We understand the stakes. And we will work with our friends to bring justice to the terrorists." Following the terrorist bombings in Madrid, Spanish voters elected Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero as prime minister. Zapatero, a critic of Spanish involvement in the coalition in Iraq, said he would withdraw...

"Are we cowards?" asked an opinion piece which ran this Friday in Holland's weekly Jewish newspaper, Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad. It took the community to task for failing to arrive en mass to demonstrate in front of The Hague last week, as the International Court of Justice spent three days listening to arguments against Israel's security barrier now under construction. Jews from Israel, the United States, and other parts of Europe flocked to the triangular square in front of the Peace Palace in protest. A number of Dutch rabbis and organizations, including the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, worked...

there are of them . Tired of the Democrats and Bushkehvites selling our citizens needs , tax hikes , security ( from crime ,terrorism ) , quality of education , health care out to illegal alien invasion of the U.S. ? Our Goals : Recruit candidates in every primary in every election who will oppose( with negative attack ads by mass mail , cable , radio ) the Bushkevites , Rinos , and Democrats for their betrayal of America by their coddling of illegal aliens , promoting the destruction of our borders , language language , and culture by this...

Tutu attacks Mbeki's stand on Zimbabwe By Peter Fabricius in Johannesburg 16 December 2003 The former Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu has warned that South Africa's credibility is at stake over its failure to criticise human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. "The credibility of our democracy demands this," he said in a statement yesterday. "If we are seemingly indifferent to human rights violations happening in a neighbouring country, what is to stop us one day being indifferent to that in our own?"At the recent Commonwealth summit, South Africa lobbied for the re-admission of Zimbabwe, suspended in March last year. South Africa also...

Mikaela Ziegler, 7, and her 4-year-old sister, Annika, were selling refreshments Wednesday afternoon near the State Fairgrounds when a woman approached them. But she wasn't there to buy. "She said, 'You can't sell pop unless you have a license,' " Mikaela said. That's how it came to be that an inspector with St. Paul's Office of License, Inspections and Environmental Protection shut down Mikaela and Annika's pop stand.

Meanwhile: Brights of the world, stand and be counted Daniel C. Dennett NYT Tuesday, July 15, 2003 BLUE HILL, Maine The time has come for us brights to come out of the closet. What is a bright? A bright is a person with a naturalist as opposed to a supernaturalist world view. We brights don't believe in ghosts or elves or the Easter Bunny - or God. We disagree about many things, and hold a variety of views about morality, politics and the meaning of life, but we share a disbelief in black magic - and life after death. The...

Forget about the Gulf of Mexico. Who cares about the breathtaking sunsets. Never mind the romantic lure of the Naples Pier. Something sour has put Naples on the map. Media from all over the United States have swarmed to now-famous Avigayil Wardein — a brown-haired, 6-year-old who just lost two front baby teeth. Naples police busted Avigayil on June 13 for selling lemonade without a city permit. The story filtered through the news wires and quickly became a topic on CNN, MSNBC and Fox news networks, as well as the "Today" show and "Inside Edition." Avigayil Wardein, 6, answers questions...

Australia to stand firm over 'racist' sign By Kathy Marks in Sydney 26 April 2003 The Australian government is preparing to flout a demand by the United Nations for it to intervene to remove the word "nigger" from a sign on a sports stadium in Queensland. The ES Nigger Brown Stand at the stadium in Toowoomba, near Brisbane, was named after the town's first international rugby league player, Edward Stanley Brown, who toured Britain in the 1920s. He was nicknamed Nigger Brown not because he was Aboriginal – in fact, he had fair skin and blond hair – but because...

Leadership is about choices. In dangerous times, it often requires tough choices. Today, the world faces a moment of truth, and the consequences of the wrong choice -- of a failure of leadership -- would be grave. On September 11th, from St. John's to Victoria, the world saw where ordinary Canadians stood through the strength of our words and actions. Sadly, our national leadership failed to live up to the same standard, for too long remaining undecided, drifting along without a plan, trying to steer a middle course when the choice was between right and wrong. A year later, our...

 Communion Posture - Denying Communion The egregious practice of denying Holy Communion to Catholics for the manner in which they receive it (kneeling, genuflecting, tongue etc.) continues in some places despite letters such as the following from the Holy See, prohibiting such denials and threatening canonical sanctions against priests who do so.  The following was published in the November/December 2002 issue of Notitiae, the journal of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The bishop to whom it was addressed was not identified. Prot. n. 1322/02/L  Rome, 1 July 2002  Your Excellency, This Congregation for...

<p>''THE NOVEL is a Protestant art form, requiring the free play of the mind,'' George Orwell wrote. ''There are few Catholic novelists who are any good, and most of them are bad Catholics.'' Orwell did not know the work of Walker Percy or Flannery O'Connor. I'll leave assessments of my own novels to others, but in truth I can't read that phrase ''bad Catholic'' without a shudder. What is a bad Catholic anyway?</p>

Venezuela fears coup as loyalists stand firm By Jan McGirk Latin America Correspondent 15 June 2002 Venezuela is bracing for another coup attempt against the leftist President, Hugo Chavez, today as a flurry of clandestine videos, pamphlets and e-mail speculation feeds hysteria. People have been stockpiling weapons and food, wary of a repeat of April's violence in which at least 70 people were killed in street protests and looting. Pro-government supporters have converged on Caracas to keep a constant vigil outside the Presidential Palace. Massed protests calling for the President to resign are scheduled for today. The Defence Minister, General...