Free Republic

Twenty-one human rights and solidarity workers, representing eleven different countries, set sail from Cyprus Monday morning for the Gaza Strip in yet another attempt to break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory, the Free Gaza Group announced. The small ferry "Spirit of Humanity" is carrying three tons of medical aid, children's toys, and rehabilitation and reconstruction kits for 20 family homes. It was expected to reach Gaza on Tuesday afternoon. Passengers on board include former US congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maquire. Free Gaza Group organizer Ramzi Kysia said that each passenger was also...

Los Angeles, CA (BANG) - Debbie Rowe has claimed Michael Jackson wasn't the biological father of their two children. The former nurse - who was married to the "Thriller" singer from 1996 to 1999 - has alleged Prince Michael, 12, and 11-year-old Paris were conceived through artificial insemination using sperm from an anonymous donor. Speaking about her relationship with Michael - who died last Thursday after a suspected cardiac arrest - she told journalist Rebecca White: "Michael was divorced, lonely and wanted children. I was the one who said to him, 'I will have your babies.'" "I offered him my...

MOSCOW, June 26 (Reuters) - Cheap and illicit alcohol kills more than half Russian men and women in their most productive years and the government must act urgently to reverse the trend, a study to be published in The Lancet at the weekend said. "Excessive alcohol consumption in Russia, particularly by men, has in several recent years caused more than half of all the deaths at ages of 15-54 years," the Lancet article said. The research conducted in three industrial cities -- Tomsk, Barnaul and Biysk -- said "excess mortality from liver cancer, throat cancer, liver disease, and pancreatic disease...

If you love America, gird yourself for an all-out phone and fax fight on Health Care Reform. You know from recent history that Pres. Barack Obama wants health care reform pushed through fast, before Americans have a chance to make their voices heard. Now is the time to act. Make your voice heard–get on the phone, and send out letters to your Congressmen via fax. We need to contact a lot of leaders in Washington, not just those who represent our district. We need to contact leaders who represent different parts of America, because the health and integrity of America...

A couple year's back Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom co-authored a book with a spiffy little question for a title: Is the Reformation Over?: An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism . They marshalled evidence to suggest the Reformation had had a powerful impact and the Roman Catholic (evangelical types) and Protestant Evangelicals now had huge connections where there was once massive fissures. If this sketch is accurate to what the Pope says, two questions: (1) is he old or new perspective? (2) is the Reformation over? Now the Pope, Benedict XVI, has a book that illustrates this all the...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President Barack Obama celebrates the birth of the LGBT movement on Monday with a White House reception amid discontent among gay groups over his apparent hesitance to follow through with campaign promises such as overturning the government's ban against homosexuals serving freely in the military. The President and First Lady Michelle Obama host a reception in the East Room at 4:25 pm ET that will "recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of the gay community. The event is part of Obama's proclamation marking June as LGBT Pride Month, and coincides with the 40th anniversary of 1969 riots...

The Israel Air Force’s F-15 fleet is undergoing an upgrade, with systems that make it better equipped for complex long distance attack scenarios. The systems are being installed in both the F-15 and the F-15I -- a model of the F-15 that was developed by its U.S. manufacturer specifically for the IAF.....the F-15I model is currently being fitted with two new systems – one called “Barad Pelada” (“Steel Hail”), and another named Lightning.

Now we know just how ignorant Obama thinks the American people are. Answer: Dumb as rocks. All the president's men (and women) are out selling the asinine idea that Obama's government health insurance idea is going to put competition into the marketplace. This is an idea that one could only sell to a fool. Thanks to our system of government education, we are not suffering any shortage of fools. Here's what Obama wants us to think. If the government gets into the health insurance business it will create such a fine and wonderful health insurance product that all other health...

Dear Ali Khamenei, You may not have heard of me, but your daughter knows me well. For eight years, I studied with Boshra at the Refah school in Tehran. The Refah School is where Ayatollah Khomeini resided during the Islamic Revolution. On its roof, leaders from the Shah's regime were executed. Sound familiar? Boshra and I played volleyball together. I remember how she always arrived at school in a white Toyota with three escorts. And I remember how favorably the teachers treated her.(snip) Neda Soltan, the young innocent girl who was killed on Karegar Avenue, was the same age as...

So, as a common citizen, what do you do when you are out of money and your credit is used up? Well, you go without don't you? Like my Mother always used to say, "What are you gonna do, buy something with your good looks?" Well, we are all getting woefully used to feeling that government can't seem to understand that fraud, waste, and overspending is not a good idea. In fact, we are starting to realize that government is incapable of fiscal responsibility. But, even as we realize this truth, politicians at least pretend that they are interested in...

Seven years ago, Reuel Marc Gerecht looked into the best crystal ball in all global strategy and wrote down what he saw in the pages of the Weekly Standard: If the United States stays in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein and his Baathist regime, and ushers in some type of a federal, democratic system, the repercussions throughout the region could be transformative. Popular discontent in Iran tends to heat up when U.S. soldiers get close to the Islamic Republic. An American invasion could possibly provoke riots in Iran--simultaneous uprisings in major cities that would simply be beyond the...

The Washington Post had an interesting article on June 25 headlined, "A First Lady Who Demands Substance." I think it was meant to highlight that fact that Michelle Obama is more than a mere first lady but is a strong, substantive person -- which is, by the way, without question. Unfortunately, though, it ended up revealing a Michelle Obama that is an angry, arrogant, martinet that isn't aware that "first lady" is an honorary title that has no proper, Constitutional role and is not an elected position with legal, legitimate powers of its own. The story penned by Lois Romano...

If it weren’t for the National Enquirer’s outstanding work on the John Edwards “Baby Mama” story, this new story would easy to laugh off. But nobody’s laughing. Especially Barack Obama. ...

If you recognize that Obama failed to vigorously and immediately support the pro-freedom demonstrators in Iran, take a look at his attitude toward those suffering under the Castro dictatorship. An extraordinary editorial ran in the liberal Washington Post on Thursday, June 25, about the indifference of the Obama White House to the plight of those who believe in freedom just 90 miles from our shores. The editorial, "A Dissident Deflected," told the story of how the Obama Administration wouldn't issue a statement recognizing the plight of five human rights activists in Cuba until the Post itself inquired about the matter....

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- The advocates of comprehensive immigration reform have a message for their opponents: "Game on!" They're right. For the first six months of the Obama administration, immigration reform was on the back burner. But Thursday, the issue began making its way to the front of the stove when President Obama met with congressional leaders of both parties to plan a major piece of legislation. After the meeting, Obama told reporters, "After all the overheated rhetoric and the occasional demagoguery on all sides around this issue, we've got a responsible set of leaders sitting around the table...

For Time Magazine, Kevin O'Leary has decided that he's figured out why California is in such a budget mess. Is it because the state indulges over generous social programs, or always has some of the highest taxes in the nation, or because the denizens of its capitol in Sacramento are paragons of waste, fraud and theft? Nope. It's because California has Proposition 13, a measure that prevents state government from too easily raising taxes. Yep, O'Leary thinks California is in a mess because it doesn't have high enough taxes. And it's all Reagan's fault. With some of the highest taxes...

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank took issue with HuffPo blogger Nico Pitney over his question at last weeks presidential presser. From the Politico On CNN’s “Reliable Sources” today, the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank and Huffington Post’s Nico Pitney squared off over the latter’s controversial question to President Obama at Tuesdays’ press conference. During their debate, Pitney described Milbank’s reporting as “pathetic” for once asking Obama how he looked in a bathing suit, while the Post’s “Washington Sketch” columnist continued to take issue with recent coordination between HuffPo and the White House.

Pope Benedict XVI said last night that bone fragments found inside the tomb of St Paul in Rome had been carbon dated for the first time, "confirming the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul". He said that archaeologists had inserted a probe into the white marble sarcophagus under the Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls which has been revered for centuries as the tomb of St Paul. The pontiff said: "Small fragments of bone were carbon dated by experts who knew nothing about their provenance and results showed they were from...

Tehran is in a state of emergency as the government continues its increasingly brutal crackdown against protesters. Hardliners and opposition politicians are searching for a compromise behind the scenes, but Iran's supreme leader is refusing to make any concessions. The pressure must be great indeed when someone like Abbas Abdi no longer wants to talk. Whether as a revolutionary or a reformer, Abdi, 51, has never lacked courage and a willingness to take risks. During the 1979 occupation of the US Embassy in Tehran, he was one of the first to scale the embassy walls. With his calls to "fight...

Some Republican members of Congress want the U.S. Census Bureau to end a 2010 Census partnership with Acorn, the community organizing group that was hit by accusations of voter-registration fraud in the 2006 and 2008 elections. Acorn, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, signed up in February with the bureau to be a "2010 Census Partner," which includes, among other things, identifying job candidates, encouraging its members to participate in the count and distributing literature explaining the importance of the census. But in the wake of accusations that some former Acorn employees engaged in voter registration fraud in...