Free Republic

Art student Anna Odell has been fined by Stockholm District Court after acting out a faked suicide attempt as part of an art project. Odell had denied the charges of false alarm, violent resistance and fraudulent practice, date back to January 21st 2009 when she was detained by police on Stockholm's Liljeholmen bridge following what at first appeared to be an attempt to commit suicide. She was then taken to the psychiatric ward at St. Göran's Hospital for treatment, only to reveal the following day that the whole episode had been faked as a part of her final art exam...

Predictably, the push has begun to get a Kennedy into the Senate seat held for lo those many years by Ted Kennedy. The Kennedys favorite newspaper - the Boston Globe - all but annointed Joe in a news story by Frank Phillips that also handily reminded everybody that the seat is, after all, the permanent property of the Kennedy family. Said Philips: [Snip] "All eyes now are on Joseph P. Kennedy II, the former US representative, with family members and political allies expecting him to make a decision very shortly on whether to enter the Democratic primary. "No other Kennedy...

There are consequences when we forgive the depraved. America has duly performed its solemn rituals to mark the passing of Ted Kennedy -- the pompous displays, the airy speeches, the pseudo-dignified deference to the dead. What we ought to reflect upon, with equal solemnity, is what America's legitimization and ultimate acceptance of such a man portends for ourselves. The tale of Chappaquiddick has, of course, been told and retold. But what Ted Kennedy did to Mary Jo Kopechne that summer night in 1969 is so depraved that the story bears repetition. Put aside the debauchery of the party Kennedy attended...

The United States on Monday ruled out renegotiating a deal on US military bases with Japan's new left-leaning government, which has pledged a fresh look at US forces in its territory. Japan's incoming prime minister Yukio Hatoyama in the past called for the United States to remove the Futenma Marine base -- long a sore point as it lies in a crowded urban area off the southern island of Okinawa. But State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the United States would not revisit a deal finalized just months ago by Japan's long-ruling conservatives that also includes moving troops to the...

CARACAS (Reuters) - Toppled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is unlikely to return to office, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Monday after weeks of tough diplomacy to reinstall his close leftist ally. Soldiers dragged Zelaya out of Honduras at gunpoint in June, months before the end of his term, and the defacto government has ignored international condemnation and is preparing for elections in November. "Regardless of whether Zelaya returns or not, and really, at this point, that's hard to imagine, Honduras will keep up the fight," Chavez said in a phone call to Venezuelan television from Libya. Despite condemnation from...

An election to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat left vacant by Sen. Kennedy's death has been set by Gov. Deval Patrick (D). The special election will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 19, the governor announced during a press conference this afternoon. In the meantime, the governor said he hopes lawmakers will grant him the power to appoint a temporary replacement for the late Democratic senator, who first proposed the idea in the weeks before his death. "The Congress is debating some of the most historic legislation in decades bound to affect all," Patrick said. "I support the special election and...

Why not? All it takes is a couple of drinks and some friendly words of encouragement. I'm European and I love the US for many good reasons. Where to begin? Well, I guess decent food always matters. There are some truly magnificent places to eat, inspired by the American steakhouse tradition, where I live (Gothenburg, Sweden). I know one thing: Sweden isn't far from Texas; http://www.texassmokehouse.se/web/v2/Default.aspx My friends and family love the US for this chain of restaurants, which is nice, but I keep on urging them to try and discover the SPIRIT that is America, not only the facade...

MOSCOW–Joseph Stalin was in the dock yesterday when a Russian court held a preliminary hearing in a libel case brought by his grandson over a newspaper story that said the tyrant had ordered the killings of Soviet citizens. Rights groups say the case shows a creeping attempt in modern Russia to paint a more benevolent picture of the Soviet Union's most feared leader, under whose rule millions perished. Stalin's grandson, Yevgeny Dzhugashvili, is seeking 9.5 million rubles ($327,000) from the Novaya Gazeta newspaper and 500,000 rubles ($17,225) from the author of an article published last April claiming Stalin personally signed...

THE Obama administration's determination to hold witch-hunt "investigations" of CIA interrogators who did their patriotic best to keep us safe endangers us all. Castrate the CIA, and Americans will die. But the Obama White House wants vengeance against those who don't fit its ideology. Your family's safety comes a distant second. And let's get real: Attorney General Eric Holder (whose top career achievement was finessing the presidential pardon of a criminal Clinton donor) is not acting independently. Anyone who believes that Holder didn't pre-brief the president and get the nod prior to announcing his determination to crucify high-achieving CIA agents...

Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been privately talking with friends about a possible comeback, and is considering a run for statewide office next year, several sources told The Post. Less than 18 months after he left Albany in a prostitution scandal, Spitzer has held informal discussions in recent weeks about the pos sibility of making a bid for state comptroller or the US Senate seat currently held by Kirsten Gillibrand, sources said. The hooker-happy Demo crat has also discussed his own halfway-decent poll numbers in recent surveys, which have shown him more popular than Gov. Pat erson, whose own...

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Regardless of the outcome of ObamaCare, if past behavior signals the future, the Obama administration's next big push will be to mute its most successful critics. It will come as no surprise when ObamaCare proponents invoke the name of Ted Kennedy to promote passage of a healthcare reform bill when Congress reconvenes. "Let's win one for the Gipper" will become "Let's win one for ol' Teddy." But will that alone tip the balance in favor of healthcare reform as represented in the House's version? Not likely. Nor is it likely that the Obama administration will declare defeat and retreat from...

SNIPPET: "Hamas, Jihad culture, Jund Ansar Allah, Palestinian Territories" SNIPPET: "On 30 August 2009, Jordanian journalist Murad Batal al-Shishani published a new article in al-Hayat where he asserts that an Islamist’s clothes are often political statements and can indicate his precise type of Islamist orientation." SNIPPET: "Al-Shishani provides a practical guide on the type of clothes one could expect a jihadi to wear. However, he warns that in the case of Salafi-jihadis, they will not likely wear their typical jihadi clothes during an operational mission because doing so could garner unwanted attention."

WASHINGTON - The United States must curb the Iranian nuclear program or deal with the consequences of an Israeli military strike, the Wall Street Journal warned US President Barack Obama on Monday. According to the most important conservative newspaper in America, a military conflict with Iran would be inevitable, if the West failed to act quickly. In its editorial, the newspaper accused the Obama Administration of investing more diplomatic efforts during its first seven months diplomatic warning Israel not to strike than it has rallying the world to stop Iran. "US and Israeli military officials we've spoken to are confident...

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JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Authorities say they are charging a North Carolina woman who slept as a pit bull chewed the toes off her 4-month-old baby's left foot. The Onslow County Sheriff's Office said Monday that the child's mother, Robie Lynn Jenkins, and her boyfriend, Tremayne Spillman, will be charged with felony child abuse. Deputies say the couple were dog-sitting the 1-year-old pit bull for a friend who had been arrested on gun charges

hey say she would have done anything he asked her to. Nancy Garrido, the woman some say is the "real monster," faces the same 29 charges and life imprisonment as her husband Phillip Garrido in the 1991 abduction of 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard. Photos: Inside Dugard's Terror Tent Photos: Jaycee Lee Dugard Found Alive Nancy seemed to have been a key player in keeping 11-year-old Jaycee in secret captivity for nearly two decades, standing by as Phillip raped and even fathered the little girl's two girls. Phillip's brother, Ron Garrido, claims Nancy was like "a robot," according to an interview...

LAGUNA BEACH Police arrested two men today on suspicion of having sex on a stranger's lawn. The incident occurred in broad daylight, police said, in the 1000 block of Gaviota Drive, which is a neighborhood of multi-million-dollar homes near Thalia Street Beach, on the ocean side of Coast Highway. Police Sgt. George Ramos said the home's owner called police at 12:57 p.m. to report that the men had just finished having sex and had walked off. "We were able to locate them within 10 minutes, and the homeowner identified them," Ramos said.

People over 60 who consume moderate amounts of alcohol have a reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, according to a large review of studies. The analysis, which appeared in the July issue of The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, reviewed 15 studies that together followed more than 28,000 subjects for at least two years. All the studies controlled for age, sex, smoking and other factors. The studies variously defined light to moderate drinking as 1 to 28 drinks per week. Compared with abstainers, male drinkers reduced their risk for dementia by 45 percent, and women by 27 percent...

At least nine Christians were burned alive in Pakistan Saturday, according to Pakistan Christian Post, and the pogroms saw young Christians girls raped by Punjabi Muslim zealots and their houses looted before being torched. The Christians are labeled as the dirty ones or bhangees in Pakistan and Muslims don't eat in the same plate with them. Forced conversions of Christians are routine and a black lack law called blasphemy law is used to inflict extreme miseries on Christians in Pakistan.