Free Republic

Were There More? Did DBKP@Blogger's Shutdown Come from Same IPs? Click on image to enlarge. At least one of the attacks in the latest wave of blog shutdowns this past week came from IPs assigned to barackobama.com. We have reported twice in the last two weeks about the attacks on anti-Obama websites. ["Google, Blogger, Obama: Obamanation Shut Down My Blog!"]] & [BabbaZee's "Anti-Obama Blogs Shut Down by Google, Obamabots"] Speculation on who was behind the attacks has ranged from "Obama supporters" to "it's no one, just a glitch" "to "it's a browser problem". [Site Meter causing Internet Explorer failure ]....

Looking for new and innovative ways to spread the doom-and-gloom news associated with the economic downturn, BusinessWeek magazine launched a recession blog on its Web site back in May to give a personalized glimpse into "recession" hardships. "This blog is one of the places we'll tell these stories," BusinessWeek.com reporter Tim Catts wrote on the blog's first post on May 2. "Here, we'll jump into the conversation about where the economy is and where it's going. Yes, sometimes we'll look at the latest data. Sometimes we'll share observations from the road. The goal is to give readers real stories about...

Rapper Ludacris unveils a new track in support of Sen. Barack Obama for president. In the track, titled “Politics: Obama is Here”, Luda calls Hillary Clinton the B-word and challenges black voters to “get off your ass and vote!”

Blog Shut Down by 'Christian' Apologist's Threat Contact: Pastor Dustin Segers, Coalition of Concerned Bloggers, ChristianResearchNetwork.com, 336-848-7197 MEDIA ADVISORY, July 28 /Christian Newswire/ -- Pastor Dustin Segers submits the following and is available for comment: How safe are our blogs? That question was raised again when on the evening of July 26, 2008, a popular religious blog was shut down by an Internet service provider. A complaint filed by Christian author and apologist, Richard Abanes, claiming that one article on the religious opinion site, Apprising.org, had slandered him, caused the web host, IPower, to send its publisher, Ken Silva, a...

For two days last week, many of the men’s bathrooms at the Westin St. Francis Hotel here were turned into women’s bathrooms. The stalls on the second floor were lined with note cards featuring nurturing messages like “You are perfect.” Nearby, women were being dusted with blush and eye shadow, or having the kinks in their necks massaged. ... Other prominent female bloggers who did not attend the BlogHer conference agreed that there are unique challenges that women in the blogosphere face. “Women get dismissed in ways that men don’t,” said Megan McArdle, an associate editor at The Atlantic Monthly...

As the media-anointed President in waiting, Obama is virtually guaranteed superstar non-stop media coverage as he makes his taxpayer financed 'fact finding' tour this week. Joining him on this excellent adventure are all three of the major network anchors who will cover his every step, endlessly. The world anxiously awaits.

...In fall 2006, political scientists, including us, representing about 30 universities conducted a survey of 16,000 Americans, the Cooperative Congressional Election Study. The survey asked respondents whether they read blogs and, if so, which ones. We analyzed the answers, and the result is the first detailed portrait of political blog readers. About 34% of the respondents said they read blogs, but only 14% named at least one blog that focuses on politics. Who are these political blog readers? Compared with those who don't read political blogs, they are more likely to have a college degree and, obviously, are more interested...

Daytona Beach is dying a slow death due to widespread corruption and abuses in City Hall. When will this stop? The State Attorney, who shares a lot of the same campaign contributors that have caused many of the abuses, refuses to instigate an investigation in spite of the overwhelming evidence and multiple criminal complaints from citizens. The Daytona Post

Two white people walk into a bar, a badly lit Culver City saloon called the Backstage whose interior design could be summed up as one pool table, a no-frills photo booth and some scattered neon. Blondie and the Rolling Stones belt out of the stereo, $3 Newcastle comes on tap and sticky laminated menus offer up garlic fries, chili cheese fries and buffalo wings. In other words, welcome to No. 148 of 150 things white people like: dive bars. "If you want to say I was planning that far ahead, that's great," said Christian Lander, resident white person behind the...

While all the military services are concerned about operational security and compromising the mission, each branch has its own rules for servicemembers who want to sound off in the blogosphere. Army An April 2007 operational security policy mandated that soldier blogs get "eyes on" by a blogger’s immediate supervisor and OPSEC officer before publication. The policy also covered (but was not limited to) "letters, resumes, articles for publication, electronic mail, Web site postings, discussion in Internet information forums, discussion in Internet message boards or other forms of dissemination or documentation." The free-speech firestorm was fast and furious, and the Army...

Iran's parliament is set to debate a draft bill which could see the death penalty used for those deemed to promote corruption, prostitution and apostasy on the internet, reports said on Wednesday. MPs on Wednesday voted to discuss as a priority the draft bill which seeks to "toughen punishment for harming mental security in society," the ISNA news agency said. The text lists a wide range of crimes such rape and armed robbery for which the death penalty is already applicable. The crime of apostasy (the act of leaving a religion, in this case Islam) is also already punishable by...

Spitzer Call Girl Dupre Speaks Out On Myspace BlogLast Edited: Tuesday, 24 Jun 2008, 4:09 PM CDT Call girl Ashley Dupré is speaking out for the first time since the scandal that brought down New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, thanking her fans and her critics alike. "Thank you all so much for taking the time to send me a bit of strength and inspiration via e-mail or comment," Dupré, 23, writes on her MySpace blog, in which she calls her mood "Thankful." "Your words have touched me, and I thank you for that ... with all my heart, I love...

More bloggers than ever face arrest for exposing human rights abuses or criticising governments, says a report. Since 2003, 64 people have been arrested for publishing their views on a blog, says the University of Washington annual report.

Jihadism in the 21st century has plans for all types of situations, including Mujahada (Jihadi activity) in a courtroom when needed. This is now what the world will witness during the trials of the al Qaeda detainees in Guantanamo, Cuba. Both the inmates on the inside and the Jihadi-mates on the outside were waiting for this moment to strike, politically and psychologically, using the media as their weapon. To the well-trained and -indoctrinated five standing trial, the objective is not to gain as many rights and freedoms as possible under current U.S. and international law; rather it is to resume...

A NASA employee has been suspended for soliciting donations and writing politically partisan blog posts and sending e-mail messages while at work, violations of the Hatch Act. Office of the Special Counsel officials said a Johnson Space Center employee promoted local and state political candidates in 2006 and 2007 through his Internet writings. The officials also found the employee solicited small campaign donations two times in 2006 through blogs. The employee has been suspended for 180 days without pay. The suspension started March 30. Special Counsel Scott Bloch said the suspension is part of an effort to crack down on...

On accepting Scott McClellan's resignation as his press secretary two years ago, President Bush predicted that he and the outgoing aide some day would be "rocking in chairs in Texas and talking about the good old days." But maybe their days in the White House together weren't so happy after all. Next week will bring the publication of McClellan's 341-page tome, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception." It is described by Politico's Mike Allen as "surprisingly scathing."

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Jane Novak, a 46-year-old stay-at-home mother of two in New Jersey, has never been to Yemen. She speaks no Arabic, and freely admits that until a few years ago, she knew nothing about that strife-torn south Arabian country. And yet Ms. Novak has become so well known in Yemen that newspaper editors say they sell more copies if her photograph — blond and smiling — is on the cover. Her blog, an outspoken news bulletin on Yemeni affairs, is banned there. The government’s allies routinely vilify her in print as an American agent, a Shiite monarchist, a...

Liveblogging Wright at the National Press Club: The "black church" is under "attack;" "I am open to being vice president;" defends his AIDS conspiracy-theorizing, "God damns," "Louis Farrakhan is not my enemy;" don't be dissin' my mama or my faith

Good morning, people. I'll be on Fox and Friends at around 8:15am to talk politics. Today's engine-starter is The American Digest's post on Jeremiah Wright's racial brain theories. Do you remember nutball racialist professor Leonard (Blacks are "sun people," whites are "ice people.") Jeffries? Jeremiah Wright is the Leonard Jeffries of 2008. First, watch this:

Another ethnic slur has reared its ugly head from the golf world, and once again, it's from a golf announcer. Bobby Clampett, a former pro and CBS announcer, referred to Chinese golfer Wen-Chong Liang as "the Chinaman," on the air on Friday. Clampett issued an apology, albeit a rather weak one, on the air: "It has been a privilege to be here with you the last two days describing action of the players. In describing the Asian player Wen-Chong Liang if I offended anybody please accept my sincere apolgies." These are sensitive times in the golf world. Golf is trying...