Free Republic

SNIPPET: "According to ITRR, the latest jihadist communication was unusual in that it was very explicit and open in targeting the Germans, in discussing a coming attack, and in specifying its timing. Aside from Ramadan, which ends 19 September 2009, the upcoming German national election on September 27 has been marked as a "red flag date" by ITRR." SNIPPET: "German security services have also been cited in local media discussing stepped up jihadist chatter, threats and intelligence warnings aimed at the German state in recent months. Earlier this year, video messages delivered in German by an al-Qaeda fighter going by...

As the politicians who support the president's health care plans escape back into Washington from America -- and as the politicians who oppose the president's health care plans leave their safe redoubt in the heartland and go once more behind the lines into the hostile territory of the Federal Triangle -- only one thing is certain: We don't know the end of this story. If we had a plebiscite on it today, polls show the president's plan would lose. But we are governed by representative government, not plebiscite. And our representatives represent many things. They represent their own convictions, their...

What was supposed to be a Labor Day Weekend full of barbeques and bocce ball turned into an ugly situation for one San Francisco couple. Tni and David Newhoff spent the night with their in-laws in Moraga at their home on Wandel Drive. The family awoke to find a cross covered in a white cloth with "KKK" scralwed on it in the driveway early Monday morning. Tni is black and her husband is white. Police are calling the case an apparent hate crime. Tni told NBC Bay Area's Garvin Thomas that she had stayed at the home many times over...

KABUL — British commandos freed a New York Times reporter early Wednesday from Taliban captives who kidnapped him over the weekend in northern Afghanistan, but one of the commandos and a Times' translator were killed in the rescue, officials said. Reporter Stephen Farrell was taken hostage along with his translator in the northern province of Kunduz on Saturday. German commanders had ordered U.S. jets to drop bombs on two hijacked fuel tankers, causing a number of civilian casualties, and reporters traveled to the area to cover the story Two military officials told The Associated Press that one British commando died...

What is the President likely to say in his big speech to Congress on health care and how should Republicans respond to him? First, its easy to anticipate the theme and tone of President Obamas remarks. He will call for a new spirit of unity and bipartisanship (just as he did in the campaign) and lament the bitterness and divisions roiling the nation when all agree on general goals for health care reform: insuring the uninsured, while making insurance more secure and affordable for those who already have it. He will stigmatize the enemies of reform as political hacks or...

Authorities used pepper spray to help end a racially charged fight among two dozen juvenile prisoners at Camp Kilpatrick in Malibu over the weekend, officials said. [Updated at 8:32 p.m.: An earlier report that authorities used sting balls -- devices that create a loud noise as they explode and send out tiny plastic pellets that can sting -- was incorrect.] The brawl began with name-calling between an African American and a Latino in the camp’s dormitory at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, said Los Angeles County Chief Probation Officer Robert Taylor. The brawl lasted about an hour, and two staff members...

German researchers have developed a hybrid, light activated nanomaterial that can target, label and kill harmful antibiotic resistant bacteria such as Escherichia coli. The zeolite-based material may one day play a major role in both diagnosing and treating infectious diseases and possibly cancer, suggests the team.So-called 'photodynamic therapy' is a well-established technique in which a light source is used to trigger the action of a light-sensitive drug, and is already used to treat cancer and macular degeneration. However, scientists have been eager to develop cheaper therapeutic approaches with more functions. One such approach would be to develop a single nanomaterial that...

(snip) McCain also spoke about the raft of national spending bills over the past year, including the $787 billion financial bailout of 2008, $700 billion for the stimulus plan and the $83 billion rescue of the auto industry. Taken with other measures, the spending would saddle the country with as much as $9 trillion of debt future generations would have to pay, the senator said. "What I'm wary about is that we're committing an act of generational theft," McCain said.(snip) He advocated for reforms of Medicare, saying the system likely would go broke within seven years if Congress and the...

In this pet-crazy town, it sounds like a no-brainer: a proposed ban on the declawing of cats, framed by supporters as a simple animal cruelty measure. But the ban is opposed by the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and others. While the SFSPCA opposes declawing in general and does not practice it at its hospital, it argues that politicians shouldn't regulate the medical procedures. And the organization's director worries the proposed law could actually lead to more abandoned or euthanized cats. Crafted by San Francisco's Animal Welfare Commission, an advisory body, and sponsored by Supervisor...

China will issue sovereign bonds denominated in its own currency to offshore investors for the first time this month – a crucial step towards making the renminbi a global currency. The country’s finance ministry said it would issue Rmb6bn ($879m) of bonds in Hong Kong on September 28, in a move to “improve the international status” of the currency and to help mainland companies raise funds in the offshore bond market. “While the amount is not large, this is a significant development for the internationalisation of the renminbi and for the development of the Hong Kong bond market,” said Wensheng...

IT SEEMS Queensland is making as big an impression on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader’s cast and crew as the world of Narnia has made on us. Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their cousin Eustace Scrubb and their friend King Caspian (played by Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Will Poulter and Ben Barnes respectively) have begun filming the third Chronicles of Narnia movie at Warner Roadshow Studios at Movie World on the Gold Coast. And although official dates have not yet been released, locals can look forward to some big Narnia names coming to the area, when filming kicks...

Followers of the Tea Party Express opposed to the excesses of 'big government' have made their voices heard at rallies across the countryside Giles Whittell in Jackson, Michigan On a warm, wet night in Michigan, Jan Crandall stands to attention while Taps is played on the sound system in honour of America’s war dead. Then she explains why she is carrying a placard bearing an astonishingly large number: $11,801,149,166,949. It is the US national debt — and it is rising by $3.5 billion a day. “We came out tonight because of the excessive spending,” she said. “We don’t like the...

SNIPPET: "The new head of the Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), an agency that gets 22 percent of its regular $600 million-plus annual budget from U.S. taxpayers, will be selected in a process that involves behind-closed-doors interviewing and a secret ballot vote." SNIPPET: "Farouk Hosni, who has been Egypt’s culture minister for more than two decades, leads a nine-strong field of hopefuls. He leads largely because he has the backing of the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the African Union, and because Arab governments say it is the Arab world’s turn." SNIPPET:...

Iranian authorities have arrested two top aides of opposition leaders amid a fresh crackdown on groups protesting the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, reformist websites reported. Alireza Behesti, a senior aide of the main opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Morteza Alviri, former Tehran mayor and top aide of the reformist Mehdi Karroubi, were arrested over the past two days, mowjcamp.com reported. Another reformist website, Norooznews, reported that authorities had sealed the office of prominent dissident Emadeddin Baghi's group, the Society to Defend Prisoners' Rights, an established non-governmental organisation. It said that property was also confiscated during the raid. Behesti,...

Arianna Huffington thinks Van Jones was forced to resign because of a smear campaign. It's unfortunate that Ms. Huffington missed this one. She's an intelligent woman who has run for president and is also a successful and capable businesswoman. But, repeating Van Jones' own words for all the world to hear is different than repeating others' negative words and rumors about someone. That's the difference between reporting the truth and engaging in a smear campaign. A smear campaign, Ms. Huffington, is when you employ bloggers to distort the words and record of someone. Let's see if any famous smear campaigns...

Hundreds gather for Tea Party Express rally in Jackson focusing on health-care reform, taxes, government spending by Jackie Smith | Jackson Citizen Patriot Tuesday September 08, 2009, 9:06 PM CITIZEN PATRIOT | J. SCOTT PARK People wave signs and flags during the Tea Party Express bus tour at the Rotary Bandshell in Sparks Foundation County Park on Tuesday afternoon. They congregated by the masses early Tuesday afternoon with a clear message splashed across their protest signs. "Save capitalism." "Obamacare will make U.S. sick." Those were just a couple of the signs brought in by about 500 people as the Tea...

The US government’s sweeping intervention in the private sector has taken its toll on the country’s competitiveness, according to an annual survey by the World Economic Forum. The country lost its number one spot to Switzerland in the WEF report on global competitiveness, partly because of “particular concerns on the part of the business community about the government’s ability to maintain arm’s-length relationships with the private sector and in the perception that the government spends its resources wastefully”. Barack Obama, US president, has continued and deepened the government’s involvement in private industry that was started by his predecessor, George W....

Tea Party Express Comes to Detroit Area Updated: Tuesday, 08 Sep 2009, 10:40 PM EDT Published : Tuesday, 08 Sep 2009, 10:40 PM EDT By BRAD EDWARDS FOX 2 News TROY, Mich. (WJBK) - Crowds in dozens of states throughout the country have been rallying against higher taxes and government bailouts. Tuesday it was Michigan's turn. "The Tea Party Express" made two tour stops in metro Detroit. Thousands showed up in Brighton and Troy to hop on board the nationwide movement. FOX 2's Brad Edwards spent the evening with protesters. Use the video player to watch his report.

I’d like to take a few minutes and write directly to younger readers, specifically teens and young adults. When you’ve questioned authority – for whatever reason – and were told, “Because I said so,” what was your immediate response? What is your general knee-jerk reaction to being told that “you’re too young to understand”? (Do not confuse this with being disrespectful to authority.) Questions can – and should – be asked, but in a respectful way. This is the principle upon which our Constitution’s First Amendment is based: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting...

South Korea suspects North Korea intentionally flooded a river at their shared border last weekend, a top government official said Wednesday, as rescuers recovered the bodies of a boy and two others engulfed by the surge of water. North Korea unleashed an estimated 40 million tons of water from a new dam without providing prior notice. Six South Koreans camping and fishing at the river were swept to their deaths. The North said Monday that it "urgently" ordered the discharge because the reservoir's water level was too high. Stopping short of an apology, Pyongyang said it would warn Seoul of...