Free Republic

"It's good to have an enemy," says George Birnbaum, one of the godfathers of modern populism. "Very rarely will you find someone who's loved by everybody." A political consultant for 30 years, he helped Benjamin Netanyahu come to power in a surprise victory in Israel in 1996, and Hungary's Viktor Orban in 2010. He has clients in many countries, and flits nowadays between New York, Dubai and Harare. George Birnbaum built his reputation as one of "Arthur's kids" - under mentor and late business partner Arthur Finkelstein, a brilliant mathematician who re-invented the art of political campaigning in the US,...

This year those of us who cherish the phrase “Merry Christmas” have started to say “Merry Christ-mas” to reinsert the name Christ into the greeting. Here’s a reminder of how we started to lose “Merry Christmas” 40 years ago. On the day before Christmas in 1971 the New York Times ran an article about a new “holiday” called Kwanzaa that was invented by an America hating Black separatist named Ron Everett. Everett now uses the made up “African” name Maulana Ron Karenga to show the world he wants nothing to do with White America. That Mr. Karenga was in a...

BALTIMORE -- Philip Berrigan, the former priest whose fight against the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons helped ignite a generation of anti-war dissent, has died of cancer. He was 79. Berrigan's family said he was diagnosed with cancer two months ago and decided to stop chemotherapy last month. He died Friday night at Jonah House, the communal residence for pacifists that he founded. His brother, the Rev. Daniel Berrigan, officiated over last rites ceremonies Nov. 30, attended by friends and peace activists, family members said. Berrigan led the "Catonsville 9," a group that staged one of the most dramatic protests...

Key names, entities: François Genoud, Shukeiri, Fatah, PLO, PFLP, Yasser Arafat, George Habash [Habbache], Karl van de Put, Johan Schuller, Herald Angelke, [Udo] Otto Albrecht, Karl-Heinz Hoffmann, Gundolf Keller [Köhler], Willi Voss [Pohl], L'oeuvre Francaise, Jean Tireault, Jean Robert Debbaudt, Manfred Roeder [Röder], Volker Heidel. AHMAD SHUKEIRI [SHUKAIRY / SHUQAIRY] AND TACUARA (1962) (his promoting of neo-Nazis at UN, while quoting NYT, which in fact details its Nazism) Recall of Arab Delegate from U.N. is Sought; ‘saluted’ Tacuara December 3, 1962 [PDF] A move for the recall by Saudi Arabia of its permanent representative to the United Nations, Ahmad Shukairy,...

John Kerry’s Fellow TravellersA 5-part series exposing John Kerry’s Communist connections.Part 3: Hanoi John: Kerry and the Antiwar Movement’s Communist ConnectionsBy Fedora *NOTE: The term “fellow traveller” as used in this article series refers to someone who is not a member of the Communist Party (CP) but regularly engages in actions which advance the Party’s program. Some apparent fellow travellers may actually be “concealed party members”: members of the CP who conceal their membership. Which of these classifications is applicable to the Kerrys is a question this series leaves unresolved. This series does not argue for any direct evidence of...

John Kerry's Fellow TravellersA 5-part series exposing John Kerry's Communist connections.Part 4: Subversion in the Senate: Kerry's Communist ConstituencyBy Fedora *NOTE: The term "fellow traveller" as used in this article series refers to someone who is not a member of the Communist Party (CP) but regularly engages in actions which advance the Party's program. Some apparent fellow travellers may actually be "concealed party members": members of the CP who conceal their membership. Which of these classifications is applicable to the Kerrys is a question this series leaves unresolved. This series does not argue for any direct evidence of Richard or...

The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a Hungary-based bank linked to Russia, marking a new low point in Hungary’s relationship with Washington. The U.S. Treasury Department announced the penalties, which will target the International Investment Bank (IIB), a controversial institution located in Budapest with ties to the Russian state. The bank’s presence in Hungary has drawn the ire of Western officials, who fear it could be used for Russian intelligence operations inside Europe. Speaking to reporters in Budapest on Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman said Washington had repeatedly shared information with Hungarian counterparts about how...

Captured American fugitive George Wright will claim a new identity to prevent the U.S. from extraditing him, his lawyer said Saturday. Wright, 68, became a Portuguese citizen, called Jose Luis Jorge dos Santos, in 1991 after marrying a Portuguese woman, lawyer Manuel Luis Ferreira told The Associated Press. Ferreira said in an interview that Wright's new identity was given to him by West African country Guinea-Bissau when it granted him political asylum in the 1980s and was accepted by Portugal. The U.S. is trying to extradite Wright to serve the remainder of his 15- to 30-year sentence for a 1962...

1976"Human Rights Internet reporter," 1987, vol. 12, p. B-107 In 1970, during 'Black September,' Jordan itself killed 3,400 Palestinians in just 10 days. In 1976, the Syrian army killed more than 23,000 Palestinians. 2011-2012Mathieu Rabechault: US says Iran forming pro-regime militia in Syria," AFP, August 14, 2012 Rights groups say more than 23,000 people have been killed in 17 months of fighting between troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebel forces, including civilians killed in the regime's brutal crackdown.

“Lawmakers in the House passed a bill this week aimed at reforming policing in this country. It's called the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act…this bill would ban chokeholds and make it easier to pursue misconduct claims against officers, among other reforms. The lead author is Congresswoman Karen Bass from California,” reported NPR on March 5.Well, Rep. Karen Bass certainly qualifies as an expert on “police misconduct,” considering that for decades she’s been providing aid and comfort to a police state that jailed and tortured political prisoners at a higher rate than Stalin’s during the Great Terror and murdered more...

Posted on Tue, Aug. 24, 2004 Swiss Accuse Group of Backing al-Qaida JONATHAN FOWLER Associated Press GENEVA - Swiss investigators have found evidence that suspected members of a group backing al-Qaida were supplying fake documents to enable collaborators to enter Switzerland and other European countries illegally, the supreme court said Tuesday. The Federal Tribunal said one suspect, whose name was not released, was found to have links to both an unidentified al-Qaida recruiter who sent volunteers to the terror group's training camps and another unidentified individual convicted of terrorism offenses in France. The support group also provided cell phone numbers...

On this day in 1970, Presley formally met Nixon at the White House. The famous photo of the two shaking hands struck a nerve with a number of Presley’s fans at the time, as well as supporters of Nixon. The photo was a pretty big jolt to fans who knew Presley best for his countercultural approach to getting attention: Shaking his hips indecently and performing rock and roll tunes. He had been called everything from “unfit for television” to “a danger to the security of the United States.” He was a countercultural icon for a minute. Nixon, on the other...

In Munich on September 16, 1972, 10 days after the massacre of the Israeli athelets, a Nazi fascist rally, "the First National European Congress of Youth," was held. The 600 delegates cheered Black September to the rafters. Delegates also extolled Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian who killed Senator Robert Kennedy.

It is becoming apparent that some very powerful people behind the scenes have been running the country independently of who is in the Executive, Legislative or Judicial seats of power. When they get upset, they drive whomever they don't like or over whom they have no control out of power. These same people or entities have know all of the things that Obama and Hillary and those directed by them did, but said nothing about it because they were doing the bidding of the powerful. They also know what the media has been doing and obviously approve of it. All...

Republicans now account for the majority of voters registered in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, according to Department of State data released Monday. Luzerne County Republicans have not held the lead in registration since 1970, according to WFMZ-TV 69 News. The flip reflects the Pennsylvania Chase’s grassroots initiative and the ongoing political realignment under former President Donald Trump. Luzerne County, known for being a major exporter of anthracite coal, is located in the northeast part of the state, just a few miles from Scranton, the birthplace of President Joe Biden. Biden lost the county to Trump by about eight percentage points. Before...

Tomorrow is Earth Day 2021 and marks the 51st anniversary of Earth Day, so it’s time for my annual CD post on the spectacularly wrong predictions that were made around the time of the first Earth Day in 1970….. In the May 2000 issue of Reason Magazine, award-winning science correspondent Ronald Bailey wrote an excellent article titled “Earth Day, Then and Now: The planet’s future has never looked better. Here’s why” to provide some historical perspective on the 30th anniversary of Earth Day. In that article, Bailey noted that around the time of the first Earth Day in 1970, and...

The politically connected Chinese donors who pledged $1-million to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and the University of Montreal did not only want to build a statue of the former prime minister. They also sought to erect a statue at the university’s law school of chairman Mao Zedong, the Chinese leader who brought his country under Communist control and, in his decades as the Great Helmsman, oversaw policies that led to huge numbers of deaths from famine and violence. “They suggested one of Trudeau and Mao together,” Geneviève O’Meara, a spokesperson for the University of Montreal, confirmed to The Globe...

1970 science fiction thriller film starring Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert. Forbin is the designer of an incredibly sophisticated computer that will run all of America's nuclear defenses. Shortly after being turned on, it detects the existence of Guardian, the Soviet counterpart, previously unknown to US Planners

Road to MoscowBill Clinton’s Early Activism from Fulbright to Moscow By Fedora SummaryDuring the 1992 campaign, Bill Clinton’s student protests and Moscow trip generated much controversy, but few answers. While Clinton’s government files from that era seemingly remain unavailable even today, there is at least more information available than in 1992. The public record reveals that Clinton’s social network and views on Vietnam were influenced by a pattern of contact between Communist agents and sympathizers and Clinton’s academic and political associates. This pattern is documented here through an analysis of Clinton’s antiwar activity up through the time he left Oxford...

Ride Captain Ride" is a song recorded by the American rock band Blues Image. The song was co-written by the band's singer-guitarist Mike Pinera and keyboardist Frank "Skip" Konte. It was included on the group's 1970 album, Open. Released as a slightly shortened single in the spring of 1970, it shot up the charts, eventually reaching No. 4 in the USA and Canadian charts, making it Blues Image's first (and only) Top 40 chart hit.