Free Republic

Explanation: You can take a subway ride to visit this observatory in Beijing, China but you won't find any telescopes there. Starting in the 1400s astronomers erected devices at the Beijing Ancient Observatory site to enable them to accurately measure and track the positions of naked-eye stars and planets. Some of the large, ornate astronomical instruments are still standing. You can even see stars from the star observation platform today, but now only the very brightest celestial beacons are visible against the city lights. In this time series of exposures from a camera fixed to a tripod to record graceful...

Rudy Giuliani: The witness I relied upon if you paid any attention to what I did last week is someone named Victor Shokin. That’s the affidavit I put out plus two others… Those three all say that Joe Biden pressured the president to fire Shokin because Shokin had just come upon a laundered $3 million transaction to Hunter Biden. And he was told by the Serbian government that the United States government would not allow to give that information out. That’s the reason they say they were fired… That’s a lot stronger proof than any silly whistleblower nonsense about something...

Through threats and pressures, the authorities have seized residents’ homes at low prices and sold them high to investors. The People's Committee intends to expropriate land belonging to the Catholic community. For Fr Vĩnh Sang, Redemptorist priest, "in the name of the process of dialogue between the Holy See and the State, some ‘leading figures’ have asked the victims to remain silent”. To defend justice, truth and human rights, Catholics must be “messengers of the Gospel”, says Mgr Micae Hoàng Đức Oanh. Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) – About 15,000 households are currently without a home due to an urban...

The now-concluded Iran nuclear negotiations predictably reflect ancient truths of appeasement. While members of the Obama administration are high-fiving each other over a deal with the Iranian theocracy, they should remember unchanging laws that will surely haunt the U.S. later on. First, appeasement always brings short-term jubilation at the expense of long-term security. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was a beloved peacemaker after the Munich Agreement of 1938 with Adolf Hitler but derided as a conceited fool and naif by May 1940. A few years from now -- after Iran has used its negotiated breathing space to rearm, ratchet up...

Today, the National Journal reported that a senior State Department official has announced, “The war on terror is over.” “Now that we have killed most of al Qaida,” the source said, “now that people have come to see legitimate means of expression, people who once might have gone into al Qaida see an opportunity for a legitimate Islamism.” The article itself describes the Obama administration’s new vision of foreign policy, which admits no enemies. Everyone, in this view, is a friend. Islamism, says the Obama administration, is just fine, so long as it does not openly support terrorism. This, of...

Obama: Rampage 'tragic and shocking' The president vows anyone involved in the killing of 16 Afghan civilians will be held responsible.

Before Rudd rose to power, the representative aboriginals in my aboriginal-majority town were more interested in football games, hunting activities and big hair bands, to make a point about Canberra’s bubble classes. And, if you don’t think the reconciliation police were wasting your money, then you should have joined me on my walk to one clinic with a shoeless and malnourished aboriginal boy. We were turned away. Millions were wasted on media-approved “reconciliation” walks, however. Australia’s apology fever should frighten us for many reasons. As is so often the case, campaigning journalists have promoted a culture of false guilt. What’s...

Obama was responding to a comment Palin made on Fox News' "Hannity," comparing the president's plan to a kid asking to be punched in the face on the playground and vowing not to hit back. Sarah Palin is no nuke expert, President Obama said Thursday in a TV interview, responding to Palin's criticism of Obama's new nuclear strategy. Obama was asked about a comment the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee made on Fox News' "Hannity," comparing the president's plan to a kid asking to be punched in the face on the playground and vowing not to hit back. "Last I...

President Obama signed a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Prague today, agreeing to reduce the U.S. Nuclear Arsenal by 30%. This treaty does not involve China in any way, and while the U.S. is cutting back, China is just now building up. The U.S. Senate will still have to ratify the treaty.

Upon returning from Cairo on Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu proclaimed, "It's time to move the peace process forward." The most sympathetic interpretation of Netanyahu's proclamation is that he was engaging in political theater. It was a low and dishonest statement uttered at the end of what has been, in the immortal words of W.H. Auden, "a low and dishonest decade. Everyone with eyes in their heads knows that there is no chance of making peace with the Palestinians. First of all, the most Israel is willing to give is less than what the Palestinians are willing to accept. But...

Hmmm...does that suggest something? From Asian Journal: COTABATO CITY - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front welcomes the Iranian government’s interest in helping resolve the decades-old Moro rebellion in Mindanao. Jun Mantawil, chair of the MILF’s peace panel secretariat, said that Iran’s interest was a clear indication of the growing international support for the 13-year-long peace talks. He said that more support from the international community would be better for the peace process because it will pressure the government into honoring agreements already reached. Mantawil said Iran could become part of the International Contact Group (ICG), a mechanism that would ensure...

On the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, the granddaughter of former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has defended his response to the threat posed by Hitler. Chamberlain became prime minister in 1937 when Stanley Baldwin retired following the abdication of Edward VIII. He had been a Conservative MP for 19 years, some of which were served in senior ministerial positions, including chancellor. However, many historians believe Chamberlain's legacy as prime minister was tainted by his government's policy of appeasement towards Hitler. But Mary de Vere Taylor, who lives in Ashburton, Devon, has defended her grandfather, describing him...

The cheap Arabist film: "The Visitor"   A pen-pal of mine was recently "forced" to watch that film ('The Visitor' - http://pajamasmedia.com/phyllischesler/2008/06/16/help-the-vistor/), by taking a flight in Latin-America as this was the "featured" film on board.   It was probably chosen because of its 1) Embedded "immigration" issue, 2) criticizing-America, popular with post Obama election ever more.   This is what she had to say about it:   A. It is a total reaffirmation of "we Arabs are always innocent victims".   B. 'Mouna' (mother of "Tarek") is a "bad" actress, she tries so hard to pose as "gracious", yet she never projects it,...

(CNSNews.com) – President Obama is on track to accomplish in his first year of office what President Carter took three years to achieve – portray the United States as a “confused and soft power,” an Asian security expert charged after North Korea reported a nuclear weapons test Monday. Citing its approach to North Korea, Iran, South Asia, the Middle East, China and Burma, veteran India-based analyst Bahukutumbi Raman said the new administration was giving the impression that it lacks the will to respond decisively if "problem states" act in ways detrimental to U.S. interests and international peace and security. “North...

Heere Bigynneth the Tale of the Asse-Hatte. 1 Whan in Februar, withe hise global warmynge 2 Midst unseasonabyl rain and stormynge 3 Gaia in hyr heat encourages 4 Englande folke to goon pilgrimages. 5 Frome everiches farme and shire 6 Frome London Towne and Lancanshire 7 The pilgryms toward Canterbury wended 8 Wyth fyve weke holiday leave extended {snip}

Israel's plan to free Palestinian prisoners is foolish – and illegal Christian Science Monitor, MA - Dec 14, 2008 We shouldn't worry, we're told, because the men belong to the "moderate" Fatah, not Hamas or Islamic Jihad, are "without blood on their hands," http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1215/p09s01-coop.html

The Obama campaign website makes no mention of missile defense. Indeed, there is no national security issue area as there is on the McCain site. Discussion of defense topics is subordinated under the heading of foreign policy. This reflects Obama’s focus on diplomacy over military options. For example, consider the following statement, “Iran has sought nuclear weapons, supports militias inside Iraq and terror across the region, and its leaders threaten Israel and deny the Holocaust. But Obama believes that we have not exhausted our non-military options in confronting this threat; in many ways, we have yet to try them. That’s...

What Would America Do if Situation Were Reversed? Kennedy Taught Us A Lesson RFFM.org Commentary Barack Hussein Obama says we should use diplomacy with Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, regarding that nation's plans to develop a nuclear weapon. This wouldn't be bad advice if that same Iranian leader had not promised to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. And, with a nuclear weapon, that threat one day would become a reality. It is obvious Mr. Obama has never heard of the saying, "Those who forget history are bound to repeat it." And Obama has also forgotten what Democratic...

Seattle Times editorial writer Bruce Ramsey, in an effort to defend Barack Obama against President Bush’s “appeasement” speech, actually ends up defending Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, and the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria): Bush, and His Use of ‘Appeasement’. Democrats are rebuking President Bush for saying in his speech to the Knesset, here, that to “negotiate with terrorists and radicals” is “appeasement.” The Democrats took it as a slap at Barack Obama. What bothers me is the continual reference to Hitler and his National Socialists, particularly the British and French accommodation at the Munich Conference of 1938. What Hitler was...

1. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (pronounced mah-MOOD ah-mah-dih-nee-ZHAD) was born Oct. 28, 1956, three years after the CIA-sponsored coup that installed the pro-Western leader Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as Iran's leader. A Shiite Muslim, he and his wife, a professor, have two sons and a daughter. 2. When he was an infant, Ahmadinejad's family moved from the village of Aradan to Tehran. It was at this point that the family changed its name from Saborjhian, which translates to "thread painter" (the lowliest job in Iran's traditional carpet-weaving industry), to the more religious Ahmadinejad ("race of Muhammad" or "virtuous race"). 3. Ahmadinejad is...