Free Republic

I cannot believe it has been twenty years.

Has al-Qaida started operating in the Gaza Strip? A leaflet distributed in Khan Yunis over the weekend by al-Qaida's "Palestine branch" announced that the terrorist group has begun working towards uniting the Muslims under one Islamic state. "The Muslim nation has been subjected, through various periods, to conspiracies by the infidels," the leaflet said. "[The infidels] have brought down the Islamic Caliphate, dividing the nation into small and weak states. They also managed to dilute the Islamic and character of the nation."

From my experience in the Thomas court nominations, I recall many of the accusations now being hurled at Harriet Miers. (See, most recently, this attack by Bork and this story; Specter chimes in.) Thomas, for whom I was a special assistant (1986-90) when he was Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, was called a lightweight scholar, an affirmative action appointee, and even a dangerous thinker for proposing that the Declaration of Independence gave meaning to the Constitution. Those were conservative criticisms. Thomas supporter George Will referred to his "half-baked" natural law theories. There were grimaces when the first President...

They See Al Gore by a Nose in 2008 Is Al Gore coming back? If allies we talked to have their way, the former veep will be the next president. "It's Gore Time," says a political strategist and fundraiser who is opening a bid to get Gore into the race. Gore friends see his recent political and business moves as proof he's preparing to run. Allies say that in speeches, Gore has found his voice to address domestic and world issues. And in raising money for his Current TV network, which targets the critical youth market, Big Al has built...

Freeper Canteen On A Mission:  AARs Some you accepted the mission, to premeditatedly and purposefully honor at least one member of our armed services on or before October 7th...  Here are your stories.... Landry Fan:I did it today!! I was so busy preparing for the Support the Troops & Their Families Weekend that I had to put off visiting the recruitment center. I found out today there was [a recruiting center very close to] my apartment! Is that crazy or what! If I didn't know it was there I wouldn't have found it. I bought several boxes of cookies...

Should the law allow doctors to help terminally ill patients to hasten their deaths? That question is provoking heated discussion on both sides of the Atlantic. More than 70 peers have lined up to speak in a debate today in the House of Lords which promises to stretch late into the night. Last week, in the first case presided over by the new chief justice, John Roberts, the Bush administration tried to persuade the US supreme court to allow the federal government to block physician-assisted suicide in Oregon, the only state so far to legalise it. The peers will debate...

Watch an octopus reveal a startling ability. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/octopus/media_players_blue/shark_hi.html A new age of ocean exploration is lifting the veil of mystery shrouding a creature of legend -- the octopus. Dreaded by sailors through the ages, this other-worldly looking denizen of the seas is surrendering the astonishing secrets that have brought it almost mythical status

NEW ORLEANS -- Louisiana federal authorities are prosecuting seven more people for post-Hurricane Katrina crimes -- including a Baton Rouge woman who allegedly used the address of her mother's old boyfriend to get government assistance. During a news conference Saturday in front of the federal courthouse, U.S. Attorney David Dugas of Baton Rouge and U.S. Attorney Jim Letten of New Orleans detailed six grand-jury indictments and another fraud arrest -- all of them linked to the storm that made landfall in Louisiana on Aug. 29. In Baton Rouge, Ruby D. Lollis, 36, of 8770 Elmgrove Garden Drive, Apt. 210, was...

AMERICAN JEWRY is experiencing a cognitive dissonance the likes of which it has never known. To illustrate, consider my recent lecture in Virginia Beach, Va.: "Anti-Semitism at the Universities: What Can We Do About It?" It is very significant that a mainstream (i.e., largely secular and liberal) Jewish organization (the Jewish Community Center) would fly a speaker from across the country to speak on anti-Semitism at universities. To understand how significant, one must appreciate how much Jews revere the university. First, education has a religion-like status in both religious and secular Jewish life. And the university is romantically thought of...

John M. Wallace tried to steer Al Gore away from global warming. The year was 1994 and the vice president was convinced rising temperatures were responsible for recent floods in the Mississippi River Valley. He invited Wallace, a distinguished climate researcher from the University of Washington, to join a small group of scientists for a breakfast discussion in Washington, D.C. As Gore sipped Diet Coke, Wallace nervously left the eggs on his own plate untouched. "It was one of the more awkward audiences I've ever had," he recalled with a chuckle. "I was trying, in a polite way, to tell...

By Roger Maynard A WOMAN spent four nights trapped with two dead companions in the upturned wreck of a car that skidded 45ft down a grass bank. Ada Makiri, 46, a mother of nine, survived on rainwater while pinned under the car. Barely conscious and with only her left hand free, she said that she thought only of her children as she lay a few inches from her dead friends. “I called out to them. I asked if they were all right. I felt their pulses, but felt nothing,” Mrs Makiri said as she recovered in hospital from hypothermia, facial...

"Dad, why does America celebrate Columbus Day?" "Well, Billy, in 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from Europe to America and founded the very first settlement in the New World. His arrival marks the beginning of America as we know it." "But didn't he discover America by accident, dad?" "Columbus believed the Earth was a sphere. He thought he could reach the Far East by setting off on a westward course. Though he stumbled upon what is now the Bahamas by accident, he was still a great explorer and a great man, Billy." "A great man, dad, or a racist oppressor?"...

There's always a dispute over whether the elections held one year after a presidential election are politically significant. You can argue it both ways, and once you know the results, you can pretty well guess which way each party will argue. Still, it's worth taking a look at them, for voters will be choosing the mayor of the nation's largest city, the governor with the greatest institutional power (in New Jersey), and the governor whose jurisdiction includes Washington, D.C.'s Northern Virginia suburbs. Also, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put several propositions on the California ballot. If passed, they will significantly reduce...

WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturers spent 25.8 percent more on machine tools in August than in July, two trade groups said in a report released on Sunday. The American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA) and the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) said manufacturers paid $286.86 million in August, compared to $227.98 million in July, for tools that shape metal used in products such as car engines and refrigerators. August demand was also 38.1 percent higher than the $207.69 million spent in August 2004. July demand amount was revised downward from the $250.11 million previously reported. Total January-to-August demand...

Toyota is reportedly planning to produce vehicles at an American plant owned by Fuji Heavy Industries, maker of Subaru vehicles, as part of their new alliance. Fuji Heavy's Subaru plant in Indiana will begin churning out Toyota cars as early as 2007, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported, and the firms will construct a new production line in the plant with annual output capacity of 100,000 vehicles. But spokesmen for the carmakers said nothing has been decided. General Motors, hit by sluggish sales at home, is selling its 20.1 percent stake in Fuji Heavy, with Toyota buying 8.7 percent and the rest...

The following is by Fr. Michael Carreker of St John’s Church in Savannah, Georgia. It appeared in the October 9th edition of the The Parish Paper. I offer it here with the permission of Fr. Carreker. Needless to say, its appearance does not mean either that Fr. Carreker or St. John’s endorses the views generally expressed on this blog, not that I agree with everything written here by Fr. Carreker. It is, however, worth a careful read.What if I were to tell you it now appears that St.John’s Church is on the cutting edge of reform in the Anglican Church?...

The U.S. Marine Corps is buying 38 more Cougar armored vehicles, in addition to the 27 they already have. The official name of these armored trucks is JERRV (joint explosive ordnance disposal rapid response Vehicles). The U.S. Army also uses over a hundred of them. Basically, JERRV is a 12 ton truck that is hardened to survive bombs and mines. The Cougar can get engineers into combat situations where mines, explosives or any kind of obstacle, have to be cleared. The bulletproof Cougars are built using the same construction techniques pioneered by South African firms that have, over the years,...

Angry South Africans take law into their own handsOctober 09, 2005, 19:00  Communities around South Africa are angry with the police and there have been a spate of mob justice assaults and killings in the last 24 hours around the country. People are fed up with police inefficiencies and many are now taking the law into their own hands. In Soweto two people died and one critically injured at the hands of the community. They alleged the men had been terrorizing people in Protea South in Soweto. The survivor is in a critical condition in hospital. Residents say police...

The issue of authority is certainly one that the entire Christian world needs to re-visit. These days many people believe it is a valid reason to claim “God told me so,” or “I felt God leading me to…” for whatever actions they understake. My roomate, who has been pursuing a girl, was recently told by the girl’s parents that God did not confirm to them that “he was the one” for her to marry and they not only forbid him to date her, but to even talk with her ever again. This was after meeting him one time. Instead...

According to NARAL and other organizations that claim to support the rights of women, George W. Bush must be some kind of backward-thinking, knuckle-dragging Neanderthal. If you listen to their rhetoric, you’d think that Dubya must beat poor Laura with a club every night before sending her to a dark and dirty kitchen to toil over a hot woodstove. He probably makes his daughters wear chastity belts and floor-length bloomers, too.