Free Republic

Univisión's Republican presidential debate has been called off after only one contender agreed to participate, though the network hopes to reschedule. The debate for Democrats is still on for Sept. 9. Univisión planned to air the first presidential debates in Spanish on Sept. 9 and 16, one for Democrats, the other for Republicans, trumpeting a national coming-out party for Hispanic voters. Except Republican candidates aren't coming. Only Ariz. Sen. John McCain agreed to participate in the event at the University of Miami. So much for Sept. 16. ''That date is off the table,'' university spokeswoman Bárbara Gutiérrez said Wednesday. She...

Hillary’s History of Accepting Contributions from Felons Ignored Photo of Noel Sheppard. By Noel Sheppard | September 1, 2007 - 14:10 ET If it turned out that any of the major Republican presidential candidates had not only taken contributions from the recently surrendered fugitive Norman Hsu, but also had received donations from a felon during a prior campaign, do you think it would be reported? Probably on front pages and newscasts for days, correct? Well, although ABC's Brian Ross did mention during Friday's "World News with Charles Gibson" that Hillary Clinton's "kickoff senate fund-raiser in 2000 was organized by a...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Saturday replaced the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, a force U.S. officials have said Washington may label a terrorist group. Guards commander-in-chief Yahya Rahim Safavi was replaced by Mohammad Ali Jafari, who has been a commander in the Guards, Khamenei said in an order reported by state television. No reason was given for the move. "Regarding your valuable experience and shining background at different times, and varied responsibilities in the Guards, I appoint you (Jafari) ... as the commander-in-chief of this revolutionary service organization," Khamenei said. Khamenei said...

College fraternities, long known as bastions of grace and decorum, are these days featuring yet one more accoutrement of scholastic refinement - the stripper pole. The most important campus development since the keg, the stripper pole shines like a luminous totem festooning the halls of the American academy. ---snip--- Post-feminists argue that the pole is empowering. If a young woman chooses to use it, they say, she is telling the world that she is in charge of her sexuality.

NEW DELHI: China has started to reach out to India countering mounting popular opinion against a perceived Beijing-inspired Communist opposition to the nuclear deal. A prominent indication of the approach comes in the form of a commentary in China's official People's Daily which has, remarkably, avoided venting standard paranoia about the Indo-US nuclear deal. Instead, it takes a much more realistic and mature position, saying the deal would go through because most Indians supported it. "United States has explicitly proposed in the agreement that it would not hamper or intervene in the development of India's military nuclear plan, which will...

Bothered by swirling gusts and a teen's surprising moxie, Maria Sharapova was completely lost. Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland pulled off the stunning upset, beating the defending U.S. Open champion 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in a third-round match that took a startling turn Saturday.

Thompson wants to position himself as the only viable conservative alternative to Rudy Giuliani. In conversations with several Thompson strategists over the past week, one phrase was repeated nearly a dozen times: consistent conservative. It is a not-so-subtle reminder, they say, that Giuliani is not a conservative and that, while Mitt Romney may sound like a conservative now, he has not been consistent. Thompson's announcement will come on the eve of Congress's debate over the direction of the Iraq war. General David Petraeus will present a progress report on the surge to Congress, starting with testimony on September 10. Thompson...

"Cities around the Bay Area face the possibility of mandatory water rationing next year as a result of a federal court decision Friday to protect a rare fish found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, state officials and water experts said." "The decision, which could cut by up to a third the amount of water drawn from the delta, will definitely force conservation measures and, in the end, could be the most far-reaching decision ever made under endangered species laws, according to experts."

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - September 1 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." - Psalm 73:24 The Psalmist felt his need of divine guidance. He had just been discovering the foolishness of his own heart, and lest he should be constantly led astray by it, he resolved that God's counsel should henceforth guide him. A sense of our own folly is a great step towards being wise, when it leads us to rely on the wisdom of the Lord. The blind man leans on his friend's arm and reaches home...

Surely most critics of the war still have a sense of decency.On August 19, the New York Times published an op-ed by seven enlisted soldiers critical of the Iraq war. At midnight on August 24, THE WEEKLY STANDARD posted on our website a response by seven Iraq vets. The Times had rejected the vets' response. The piece carried the straightforward headline "Iraq Vets Respond . . . to the New York Times seven." It was a sober rejoinder to the arguments in the Times op-ed. It suggested the antiwar soldiers' analysis was incomplete and "misguided." The vets emphasized, "We understand...

     If on a drive out into the country you should suddenly come upon a hermit living atop a 60-foot column, would you conclude that he was holy or daft?      In the fifth century, people crossing Syrian wastelands saw just such a hermit, and at first shook their heads about his sanity. But the man on the pillar was indeed a saint - St. Simeon the Stylite (i.e. the column-sitter). Those who got to know him, despite his unusual lifestyle, quickly reached that conclusion.      Simeon (or Simon), born near the border of Syria, tended sheep for his father...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Denise Jackson knew that her marriage to Alan Jackson wasn't perfect. She was too needy and insecure in the relationship, and he was on the road a lot, becoming one of country's biggest superstars. Still, she wasn't prepared for the shock she got in 1998, shortly after the birth of their third child, when Jackson -- her sweetheart since their teen years -- told her that he didn't want to be in the marriage anymore. Hurt and disillusioned, she tried everything to get him back, and turned to prayer.

Camp Pendleton -- A sergeant granted immunity from prosecution for allegedly murdering five Iraqi men in Haditha crumbled under hard questioning by a Marine Corps lawyer in the second day of Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich's Article 32 hearing. Wuterich, 27, from Meriden, Connecticut is accused of murdering 17 Iraqi civilians following the ambush of his squad on November 19, 2005. During the daylong fight, 24 Iraqis were killed by Marines, dueling with several groups of insurgents hiding among the civilians cowering in their homes. When the fighting ended eight insurgents had been killed and at least two others were captured...

Retiree Gene O'Brien hurried to the World Trade Center site after Sept. 11, 2001, as a volunteer helping to shuttle supplies to police and fire workers. Some days, his only ID to get into the disaster site was a tattoo on his forearm. "A couple times I showed them my Marine tattoo, and they said go ahead," recalled O'Brien, adding that he and other volunteers also came up with their own makeshift identification cards. "We didn't forge anything, we just made them up with our own pictures and at one point we copied a UPC code off a Pepsi can...

The Hardliner did a nice job of summarizing Montana Supreme Court Justice Pat Cotter's record of voting overwhelmingly with the desires of the Montana Trial Lawyer's Association and the ACLU. Also pointed out is that the MTLA's PAC spent over $100,000 getting her elected in 2000 -- and as noted, that has been money well-spent.

Al Qaeda In Iraq is part of the global al Qaeda movement. AQI, as the U.S. military calls it, is around 90 percent Iraqi. Foreign fighters, however, predominate in the leadership and among the suicide bombers, of whom they comprise up to 90 percent, U.S. commanders say. The leader of AQI is Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Egyptian. His predecessor, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, was a Jordanian. Because the members of AQI are overwhelmingly Iraqis--often thugs and misfits recruited or dragooned into the organization (along with some clerics and more educated leaders)--it is argued that AQI is not really part of...

It's a shrewd move by Thompson, one that gets his face in front of the public and allows him to participate in the event, but on his terms. He'll overshadow the debate, the second time he's managed to do that, and give himself a little more time to prepare properly for his first debate. After this, though, Thompson has to fully engage. Once his announcement is made, he will have to show some fire on the campaign trail. His appearance in Minnesota showed that he's building up to a fast start, but it will also have to be near-flawless. He...

National security is more important than protecting whales or other marine life that could be harmed during exercises scheduled for this month off the coast of San Diego County, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. The 2-1 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction issued Aug. 6 by a lower court. The injunction barred the Navy from conducting sonar training off Southern California until a lawsuit brought by environmentalists is resolved. The appellate ruling is a setback for a coalition of environmentalists led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is suing to force the...

KARRATHA, Australia - For nearly three decades, Chinese peasants have left their villages for crowded dormitories and sweaty assembly lines, churning out goods for world markets. Now, China is turning the tables. Here in the Australian Outback, Shane Padley toils in the scorching heat, 2,000 miles from his home, to build an extension to a liquefied natural gas plant that feeds China's ravenous hunger for energy. At night, the 34-year-old carpenter sleeps in a tin dwelling known as a "donga," the size of a shipping container and divided into four rooms, each barely big enough for a bed. There are...