Free Republic

An Agence France Presse photo in the Houston Chronicle's early Thursday editions showed basketball player Yao Ming near a Mao-era poster in CNN's Beijing offices. The poster message: "Unite people of the whole world! Down with the American imperialists! Down with the Soviet revisionists!"The Chron's Dan Cunningham says: "We looked at all of the photos that were available to us from the various wire services, and we decided this was the best photo to illustrate one of the biggest news events of the year. Late (Wednesday) night, one of our staff members who is Chinese raised concerns about the content...

Northern exposure How an Alaska law denying benefits to same-sex partners of state employees turned a lesbian mom into an activist By Chris Bull From The Advocate, July 9, 2002 Mari Billington, a lesbian stay-at-home mom, articulated the frustrations of gay and single parents across the nation when she took the state of Alaska to task on May 22. Billington filed a friend-of-the-court brief as part of a lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union is bringing against the state. “I need health insurance—which I can’t get from my partner’s taxpayer-funded employer because we aren’t married and I can’t get from...

UPDATE FROM REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE 28 June 2002 Radical Court in San Francisco Rules the Pledge of Allegiance Unconstitutional The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. Americans should be outraged at this irresponsible decision. This radical court found that the reciting of the pledge by teachers and students "amounts to a government endorsement of religion," going so far as to compare the phrase "under God" with "under Zeus." Just last month this same court found that certain people could smoke marijuana on federal lands if it is part...

Personal Geiger counter sales boom since Sept 11 Shops in the US selling personal Geiger counters say sales have been booming since September's terrorist attacks. The New York Times says the radiation detectors are among the country's most popular personal safety gadgets. Tim Flanegin of Mineralab in Prescott, Arizona says his Geiger counter sales have doubled since September. The Geiger counters start ticking wildly when exposed to radiation, like that from a 'dirty bomb' or a nuclear meltdown. But some experts say buying a counter is a waste of time as non-scientists don't know how to interpret their data. Prices...

Transsexuals win harassment suit against Toys "R" Us A jury on Thursday found that three transgendered people who sued Toys "R'' Us were illegally harassed by workers while shopping at a Brooklyn store. However, the jury did not award the asked-for $900,000 in damages to plaintiffs Donna McGrath, Tanya Jinks, and Tara Lopez. Attorney for the plaintiffs Tom Shanahan called the verdict in federal court--in which the jury agreed that the Toys "R'' Us employees had violated city civil rights codes--"a moral victory for the transsexual community.'' But McGrath said she was disappointed with jurors' decision to award each plaintiff...

Bush to hand over power during colon examination George W Bush says he'll temporarily transfer his powers to Dick Cheney while he's sedated for a colon examination. Doctors have recommended him to have a colonoscopy because they've found benign polyps during previous examinations. A senior White House official says the procedure could take an hour or so. The president says he's decided to transfer his powers to the vice president because the nation is at war. He said Mr Cheney will be "standing by - realising he's not going to be president that long." The procedure will be conducted at...

The Arab policy toward Israel, or for that matter toward Arab-Christian Lebanon, southern Sudan, and elsewhere, is one of sheer imperialism. Arab Muslims seek control over regions they regard as sacred parts of the Ummah, or the Arab Muslim motherland. This belief contributes to the volatility and at times violent behavior of Arab Muslim minorities in non-Muslim host countries. There's a tendency by them to view anything short of Muslim control as oppression. This derives from traditional Islamic notions of a world divided into an Islamic sphere of peace and an infidel sphere of war. Muslims are commanded by the...

SAINT IRENAEUS DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH C. 203 Feast: June 28 The writings of Irenaeus give him an honored place among the Fathers of the Church for they laid the foundations of Christian theology and, by refuting the errors of the Gnostics,[1] kept the youthful Catholic faith from the danger of corruption by the subtle, pessimistic doctrines of these philosophers. Irenaeus was born, probably about the year 125, in one of the maritime provinces of Asia Minor, where the memory of the Apostles was still cherished and where Christians were already numerous. His education was exceptionally liberal, for, besides...

Well, 'the new spoosman' and many like him have told me for months that the 'fiat' currency is worthless, and gold is the only valuable currency out there. Disregarding for a second the fact that these gold bugs are so ready to part with their gold for those 'worthless fiat notes', I would like to point out that since the height of their caterwalling, Jun 01 2002, gold is down from 326$ an ounce to 314$ an ounce today. That is a 4 percent drop in less than a month.The 'fiat currency' people are out to lunch. I don't expect...

America will eventually find itself either "One Nation Under God," as the founding fathers envisioned, or under the jackboot of "enlightened" elitists who seek to "overthrow God" to coin a phrase popularized by V.I.Lenin. Lenin and his vast international circle of fellow travelers and camp followers sought to install themselves as supreme rulers of the universe in place of God. Lenin and his ilk, rather than Jefferson, Adams et al, were the forebears of today's movement to drive the creator out of the Public Square and public consciousness. Believers and non-believers alike ought to be concerned about the 9th circuit...

Woman Told She Was Next, Police Report Says SNELLVILLE, Ga. -- A 41-year-old Snellville man has been arrested on animal cruelty charges for allegedly threatening a woman by placing her Rottweiler puppy in a microwave oven. The puppy was treated at an animal hospital and is recovering, authorities said. William Terrezz Stephens faces several charges from the June 24 incident in which the 7- to 8-week-old dog was microwaved for 10-12 seconds, then stabbed in the side and dropped to the floor, authorities said Wednesday. Stephens was charged with two counts of cruelty to animals, one count of burglary and...

The assault by federal agents on the Branch Davidians on February 28, 1993, wasn't the first time that Washington decided to rid the country of an irritating religious sect. In fact, there have been quite a few times in our history when various levels of government -- local, state, and federal -- attempted to yank the not-so-orthodox religions back into the mainstream of American society by force. No other religious group has endured more persecution and violations of its constitutional rights than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), or the Mormons. It started as early as the...

The continuing uproar over the decision of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found the "under God" phrase of the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional is much ado about nothing. The decision was the logical extension of the fight to extend religions freedom to all Americans – not just Christians. After all, how can we have freedom of religion if children are indoctrinated into believing in God from the early years, throughout their education? The original version of the Pledge of Allegiance (believed to have been written by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister and socialist) did not have the...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Building more highways will not reduce congestion in Hampton Roads, according to a report released Wednesday by a leading environmental group. The report by the Southern Environmental Law Center comes more than four months before voters decide whether to raise the sales tax by a penny to pay for new highways and tunnels in hopes of relieving congestion. New and wider highways generate new traffic and often fail to provide long-term congestion relief, the report concludes. "People will either drive more, they'll shift the time they drive or they'll shift the...

The Pledge says the Nation is "Indivisible" -- exactly what Lincoln believed. In contrast, the Lincoln haters who are so many on Freerepublic think secession was legitimate - - in other words, you believe the Nation is "Divisible." Also, the Pledge says it's a nation with "liberty and justice for all." The secessionists who you Lincoln-haters honor seceded in order to prevent "liberty and justice" for Southern blacks. So help me out: Why DO you Lincoln-haters love the Pledge? I think it's because you haven't thought through the implications of your own pro-secession beliefs.

<p>A five-minute clip of Senator Kyl's remarks this morning where he castigated "radical environmentalists" for their part in causing the conditions that led to the Arizona wildfire.</p>

Vigilante in SF Arrests Suspect After PoliceRefuse Vigilante's ambush collars S.F. suspect North Beach tax accountant turns to stun gun after police shelve his requests for arrest in theft David Parrish, Chronicle Staff Writer June 24, 2002 When San Francisco police said they couldn't spare an officer to arrest a man suspected of stealing Tom Van Lokeren's credit cards and checks, the 47-year-old North Beach tax accountant took matters into his own hands. Van Lokeren bought a large fishing net at Fisherman's Wharf, some pepper spray and a stun gun at a military surplus store and then lured the suspect...

Israel sets off explosion in HebronMSNBC NEWS SERVICESHEBRON, West Bank, June 28 —  Israeli forces set off an explosion Friday night in part of a fortress-like Palestinian Authority compound in efforts to force 15 fugitives to surrender. Smoke and fire could be seen in the night sky coming from a ground-floor corner of the building, with flames flaring up the side before quickly dying down. Earlier, Israeli tanks and bulldozers smashed holes in the municipal building. Full Story

By ASSOCIATED PRESS RALEIGH, N.C. -- Vice President Dick Cheney's visit to North Carolina to help raise money for the Senate campaign of Elizabeth Dole provides another example of the Bush administration's involvement in the state's GOP primary. A couple hundred people were expected to attend a fund-raising lunch Friday in Raleigh to hear Cheney and Dole speak. The Dole campaign said it did not know how much it would raise, but said the ticket cost would range from $500 to $2,000 per person. Earlier this year, President Bush attended a fund-raiser for Dole in Charlotte. He also made...

Headline on fox news website...anybody have any info??