Free Republic

"If I cared what commenters said, I'd kill myself." In the high-octane non-stop flame war that is the political blogosphere, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga knows how to get attention. He's kidding, of course. We're talking about the rhetorical excesses that can spill out of the impassioned debate that takes place on his creation, DailyKos.com, the world's most popular political blog. Compact and wiry, Moulitsas, 34, exudes quivering intensity. He speaks in staccato paragraphs, punctuated by intense stares and a raised eyebrow. His eyes bulge slightly outward, as if reacting to the pressure of all the ideas inside his head. Many of...

Where are O.J. Simpson's and Bill Clinton's defenders to complain about the "rush to judgment" concerning the alleged Marine atrocities in Haditha? Why are their sympathies free flowing for criminal defendants, but nowhere to be seen when military personnel are accused of wrongdoing? What has been reported about the Haditha tragedy is that a terrorist improvised explosive device (IED) blew a Marine in half, literally, and wounded several others. Afterward, our soldiers responded to the attack, killing 24 men, women and children. We don't know for sure yet if the killings were indiscriminate or even if those killed were victims,...

A website apparently created to ridicule a teenager by showing his photograph alongside pornographic images is being investigated by police. The website targeting the 19-year-old has received more than half a million hits since it went live. The site alleges the young man from Barnet, north London, sold a broken laptop computer on eBay. A Scotland Yard spokesman said it was reported to them on Monday and the case is being investigated by Barnet police. It shows pictures of his family and friends and pornography the buyer of the laptop claims to have found on the hard drive. Womens' legs...

Terri's Day and nation's independence protects life culture Kevin Fobbs May 29, 2006 America's Culture of Life is truly the legacy of one woman whose death forever changed our nation because of actions that were not in her hands but in those of her husband and his lawyers. Yet for millions of Americans we will forever link our own celebration of our nation's independence to the courage of the Schindler family to go forward past the tragedy, past the personal sorrow, past the searing anguish to help America draw a distinct line in the sand, to issue a clarion call...

<p>A Reuters employee has been suspended after sending a death threat to an American blogger.</p> <p>The message, sent from a Reuters internet account, read: "I look forward to the day when you pigs get your throats cut."</p> <p>It was sent to Charles Johnson, owner of the Little Green Footballs (LGF) weblog, a popular site which often backs Israel and highlights jihadist terrorist activities.</p>

A student at a public high school in Plainfield, IL, a far southwest suburb of Chicago, faces an expulsion hearing next week. Not so meaningful in itself, perhaps, so let me trickle out the details. The hearing has been called because the student posted on his blog at xanga.com that his district, District 202, had bullied and threatened him. The ACLU has insinuated itself into the controversy. At this point, the meaning of the hearing begins to clarify: the student is being, if not persecuted, at least being made an example of. Schools have recently become aware of MySpace and...

Every couple of years or so, we hear senior citizens screaming at Republicans, who are always falsely blamed, “Keep your hands off our Social Security.” I say “falsely” because of games that Democrats always play on those they consider a little dim. A modest increase in payout is proposed, Democrats claim it’s not as much as they want, and when it passes they call it a cut. Seniors fall for it every time. However, your Social Security is going to be cut. This time, you really can’t blame all Republicans. This time, blame the United States Senate, period. Last week,...

What is wrong with people nowadays? Some of you may remember back in July of 2004 my niece Emma was seriously injured and had to have half her skull removed, along with half her brain. The Doctors and the Police determined that this was not accidental and charged my sisters boyfriend, who was taking care of her at the time, with 2 counts of aggravated child abuse. Well the trial ended today and he was found not guilty on the first count which they said he had no criminal intent to injure my niece. Forget the fact that out of...

Looks like the German controlled DaimlerChrysler company has shown their true colors by running anti-American ads overseas.

A blog is media. Its a platform to communicate that can reach anyone within reach of an internet connection. Ive been writing this blog for more than 2 years and that time has allowed me to recognize the difference between a blog and traditional media and why the two will never successfully meet. In traditional media, you are first defined by your medium. There is some constraint to the physical or digital definition of the medium the content is delivered on or by, that for the most part determines how you are perceived. There is a cost vs time vs...

BAGHDAD -- The green zone is a terrible place. You can’t get a good cell phone connection here... I have important calls to make. This morning I have an idea for a new song and must reach the Dixie Chicks, but I cannot. It is a great irony of my life that the only place my cell phone won’t work is in my cell. STRENGTH IS POWER

A Final Warning from the Islamist Rulers of Iran?By Laura MansfieldWas yesterday’s letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinezhab to US President George W. Bush a “last warning” of sorts? That’s a possibility that must be considered in any analysis of the letter. It is indisputable that Iran’s president has been openly hostile towards both the United States and Israel in recent months. As word of the letter leaked out, the satire/humor website Scrappleface.com posted the following “translation” of the letter, which they said was written to “George Bush, president of the Great Satan, puppet of Zionists” from “Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President...

This post from Mark Levin: Poor Patrick 05/09 10:21 AM The rehabilitation of Patrick Kennedy has begun. No, I don’t mean his recovery from his various additions. I mean his political rehabilitation. Get this drivel from today’s Boston Herald: Patrick Kennedy is carrying a torch for a now-married ex-galpal and his broken heart may be the reason he’s gone off the rails, friends say. He’s lonely,” said one of Patches’ Rhode Island pals. “He’s a mess, and it’s really sad. It really is.” Word is that Patches pines for his ex, Tatiana Platt, an America Online exec he dated for...

Recently I put up an essay on deviantART that may be of interest to anyone who has a BLOG, EXPECIALLY if they sometimes become a bit ... political. Now, a fellow by the "name" of Spctrghst offered a comment that had me respond in an effort to clarify my statements. If you have any of the same problems he had (don't know if I answered his issues yet) then maybe (hopefuly) my responce to his comment will be helpful. Here's the full text what I'd first posted (follow the link to the original article and my response to Spctrghst): Congress...

Okay, I'm a new member here, so if this type of self-promotion is considered improper here I understand. Please don't skewer me, just let me know nicely and I'll promptly stop. ;) I'm basically here to try to get some conservatives to post more at my blog, I pretty much only get responses from liberals for some reason and while it's fun and all, it gets time consuming to combat their hyperemotional screeds all by myself. So I'm just simply inviting some conservatives to check out the site for themselves and tell me what they think. (Constructive criticism is welcomed,...

So Matt Drudge was right. Not about Bill Clinton's love child or John Kerry's affair, but he was right about this: "We are all newsmen now." Drudge hates the word blogger, yet his exclusive about the former President and intern Monica Lewinsky set out an animated-gif siren for an army of armchair pundits to follow. Today a flotilla of freelance fact checkers make life more difficult for the salaried employees of what has come to be known as the MSM, or mainstream media. With 10 million readers daily, Drudge, 39, has paved a generous path for the blogs; without his...

BLOGS DOWN: HACK ATTACK By Michelle Malkin · April 28, 2006 11:51 AM 1230pm EDT Looks like the problem may be resolved, though several blogs still down...Glenn Reynolds confirms the attack originated in Saudi Arabia, as I suspected...Mary Katherine Ham of downed blog hughhewitt.com is guest-blogging over at Wizbang...*** Many Hosting Matters-hosted blogs are down--including Instapundit, Power Line, Hugh Hewitt, and tons of others large and small. Hosting Matters' own website is also down. Blogger Chuck Simmins e-mails: Denial of service attack on Hosting Matters. Most, if not all, their hosted sites are down. Attack is originating internationally. Haven't been...

BAGHDAD -- It seems everyone has a blog these days and apparently Saddam is no exception. How he is allowed to have access to a computer much less the Internet is beyond me. However he does make some salient points and observations. He is also forthcoming about quite a few details of his personal life and politics not least of which is this partial entry about WMD: You put it everywhere. It’s in Akmed’s house and Fareed’s house, its in spray canisters and bike tires. I sent a batch Fed X to Cleveland. It’s like hiding the contents of a...

OK FRiends and PW's, we are here and we are cocked locked, and ready to rock.

Last week was Academic Freedom week on Radio Free Penn State, a public affairs show on Lion Radio, Penn State University’s radio station. “Issue advocacy is bringing our ideology into the classroom. Everyone does it,” said Penn State Professor Sam Richards, who in fact believes separating ideology from the classroom is impossible. Professor Michael Berube and Professor Richards of Penn State, David Horowitz, Representative Gibson Armstrong, David French of the Alliance Defense Fund and a number of past and current students took part in the four days of programming sharing their views on academic freedom issues. In the first day...