Free Republic

For the Record: Any Question Whose Side They’re On?Steven EmersonThe Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in the past week has lobbied Congress about conditions in Hamas-controlled Gaza and urged support for convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative, Sami Al-Arian. CAIR was silent in the wake of the Yeshiva attack in Jerusalem in which a Palestinian gunman murdered eight students in cold blood, and has never called on Hamas to stop its indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.Talking to government officials about the humanitarian situation in Gaza is not, in and of itself, problematic. But CAIR's efforts must be viewed in the...

Three years ago, advocates for military families succeeded in winning a significant expansion in survivor benefits, which include life insurance, a death gratuity, medical care and housing and education assistance. But the increases have left some widows and next of kin clearly rattled by the collision of mourning and money. “It’s like winning the lottery, and your relatives all look at you like you’re a cash cow,” said Kathleen B. Moakler, director of government relations for the National Military Family Association, a nonprofit advocacy organization. “Money makes people do strange things.”

Thieves, robbers: Stay away from Camas, Wash. It's Mary Chamberlain's town. The 67-year-old had picked up a friend at a hospital Wednesday and was driving by the local KFC when an employee came running out, chasing a man and yelling "He robbed us!" Many people might have called 911 and left it at that. Not Chamberlain. The employee gave up the chase, but Chamberlain started driving after the man. "I thought I'd slow him down, anyway," she said. The suspect kept shouting "I didn't do anything!" prompting two men to come out of the local Kingdom Hall and ask what...

For the first time in a long time, success looks like a realistic goal Five years later, the debate over the Iraq war rages as hot as when it began. We have never ceased looking over our shoulders. We have attempted to fight our way forward with our eyes fixed backward. Mired in these old arguments, it becomes impossible to see anything new. Just last week for example, the Pentagon released a study of 600,000 captured Iraqi documents. These documents detailed Saddam Hussein’s long history of support for Islamic terrorist groups, including Egyptian Islamic Jihad — which merged into al-Qaeda...

As a prominent evangelical pastor based in San Antonio, you were recently catapulted into national controversy when you endorsed Senator John McCain for president. Is it true that McCain actively sought your endorsement? It’s true that McCain’s campaign sought my endorsement. How did you feel when critics called you a Catholic-basher and said McCain should reject your endorsement? My statements regarding the Catholic Church have been grossly mischaracterized. I never called the Catholic Church “the anti-Christ” or a “false cult system.” I was referring to those Christians who ignore the Gospels. What about your observation in a recent book...

In recent weeks, two news reports have circulated referencing Iran’s relationship with al Qaeda. On Tuesday, March 18th, Senator John McCain repeatedly stated that Iran was aiding al Qaeda in Iraq. Later, however, he retracted this statement and said that Iran was not aiding al Qaeda in Iraq. Senator McCain was right the first time and he should not have retracted his statement. In fact, al Qaeda and Iran have a rather long history of cooperation. A few days before Senator McCain’s unfortunate retraction, a senior military adviser to the Barack Obama campaign, retired Air Force General Merrill McPeak, was...

It is believed to be a first in Western New York. A traffic sign alerting drivers that there is a child in the area with autism. Take a trip down Sargent Drive in the town of Amherst and you will no doubt see the traffic sign. It's a warning sign that there is a child in the area with autism. The Amherst Traffic Safety Board put the signs on the street Wednesday morning. The father of Sawyer Aston, 8, took the idea of installing a traffic sign on their street to town officials several months ago. The idea was researched...

Best known as the blueprint for life, DNA is also a marvel of architecture that can be used to build 3-D structures measured in billionths of a foot, according to a study released Wednesday. A team of scientists in the United States has shown in experiments how to construct complex, spherical objects with tiny strings of DNA that assemble by themselves. DNA nanotechnology uses the building blocks of living organisms not as a repository for biological data, but as a structural material instead. These molecular-scale biomaterials hold tremendous promise in fields ranging from robotics to electronics to computation, scientists say....

The search for suspects in a Pleasanton double homicide has gone national. Listed under a search for fugitives, "America's Most Wanted" has posted details on the killings of husband and wife, Ernie Scherer and Charlene Abendroth on its Web site. The site lists some incorrect information on the case, however. "America's Most Wanted" states that the couple had just returned from trips to Antarctica and the Galapagos Islands, when they had actually just traveled to South America. The site also states that a security guard was sent to their home, when it was in fact a Castlewood County Club maintenance...

This is Father Michael Pfleger, the pastor of an African American Catholic church on the South Side of Chicago. The guy actually is mad that the media is "tearing down" Farakhan.

Tonight on The Front Line, we’ll be talking to “Thus Spake Ortner,” a well-known military blogger from The Sniper who, together with Jonn from This Ain’t Hell, live-blogged the Winter Soldier II hearings last week. TSO will be on to tell us all about how much of a circus it really was. So much for freedom of speech. Tune in tonight at 9 pm EST, and feel free to call the show and weigh in with your opinion at 646-915-9926 or 866-697-8111 (the toll free number)!

Three Afghan Muslim men caught posing as Mexican nationals last month while en route to Europe were part of a human smuggling operation and carried what now are believed to be altered but genuine Mexican passports for which they paid $10,000 each, Indian investigators told the San Antonio Express-News. An ongoing transcontinental investigation, which now involves Mexican and Indian authorities, began Feb. 11 when a suspicious airport Customs official in Kuwait noticed the three Afghans, traveling under Mexican pseudonyms, couldn't speak Spanish during a layover on their trip from New Delhi, India, to France. The three Afghan travelers were detained...

BEIJING (AFP) - China turned its back Saturday on appeals for dialogue with the Dalai Lama, vowing to smash anti-China forces in Tibet, where it said the death toll from recent unrest had risen to 19. A day after Beijing launched a manhunt for monks and others it blamed for violence in Tibet, an editorial in the People's Daily, mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist party, said opposition to Chinese rule in the Himalayan region must be wiped out.

Life is like a flower. Vibrant, at first. Overcoming all odds to produce something unequivocal. For a while, it's beautiful. Then it's gone. Barely even a memory. Mark Twain said it best, “A myriad of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle;…they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other; age creeps upon them; infirmities follow;…those they love are taken from them, and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. It (the release) comes at last—the only unpoisoned gift earth ever had for them—and they vanish from a world where...

Driving into Slavic Village this week was a surreal experience. The clock appeared to have turned back to the years when this clapboard-built suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, was the proud preserve of migrant Polish and Czech steel-mill workers, and epitomised apple-pie American charm. Through the haze of a winter blizzard, one could make out what appeared to be the brightly embroidered curtains and flowers on the windowsills. And from their porches, many of the home-owners seemed to be waving a neighbourly greeting at our passing car. Pulling up at the kerbside, however, the reality came grimly into focus. Behind the...

"After the disintegration of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan at the end of 2001 as a result of the American attack and the coming to power of other Afghan forces in the country, instructions were received from our leadership to retreat from Kabul in the direction of Kandahar. In the month of Ramadan, we received instructions from our commander to leave for Iran in order to seek refuge there. We arrived in Iran via Pakistan, where we did not stay very long. Our group consisted of about 30 fighters, among them Faisal Al-Dakhil, 'Amr Al-Shehri [both killed in 2004]...

Obama Can't Denouce My Idea Anymore Than He Can Denounce All White People (That's His Pastor's Job) Posted by Frank J. at 10:05 AM I was thinking my Obama '08 logo from yesterday is actually pretty awesome. If we printed up a bunch of those as stickers and put them everywhere, the liberals would be crying racism (though they wouldn't be sure by and against who) and it would be hilarious. Anyway, here are some other ones for variety: I think this is one people can get behind. Even if someone doesn't agree with all of it, it's mostly very...

Hollywood is about to release a remake of the science fiction classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still." This time, rather than coming to earth to warn us about our dangerous foray into the nuclear age, Klaatu and Gort have returned to caution us about -- wait for it -- global warming! Over at MTV.com they've quoted Keanu Reeves in an interview and while he admits that yes, there is a huge threat posed by the staggering number of international conflicts... "The version [of 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'] I was just working on, instead of being man against...

As those of us who are Christians prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, I would like to thank the men and women of our armed forces, past and present, for their sacrifice, which guarantees our right to worship as our conscience dictates. I also pray for their families. Especially those who are separated from their loved one who may be in harm's way. Thank all of your who serve or have served, and your loved ones. May God Bless and Keep you all the days of your lives.

PATIENTS are being given the opportunity to decide whether they want to die under a program being rolled out through Victorian hospitals. The Respecting Patients' Choices program allows patients in the early stages of chronic or terminal illness to make a formal written statement declaring their desire to refuse life-saving treatment in hospitals. Its pioneers say it will save families from the emotional anguish of having to make such decisions on behalf of their loved ones.