Free Republic

The same sloppy legislative writing that created so many unintended consequences in ObamaCare also plagues the DISCLOSE Act, the effort in Congress to tighten spending rules in the wake of the Citizens United decision — and that’s the generous take on the situation. Reason’s Bradley Smith and Jeff Patch warn that the perhaps-unintended consequences of legislative language will allow the FEC to regulate political speech online. The fact that media entities like the New York Times have specific exemptions built into the bill makes the intent, or lack thereof, rather murky: Last week, a congressional hearing exposed an effort to...

"Gun registration is largely unknown in the United States, but for several years Canada has been squandering public resources on a budget busting privacy invasion scheme called the “long gun registry.” OpenCarry.org is pleased to join not only rank and file Canadian police officers, but also an apparent majority of Parliament members, in opposing continued expenditures on “feel good” public safety measures that are in reality “public safety theater.” But unfortunately there are disturbing reports that the Liberal Party’s Michael Ignatieff will “whip” any member of his party who votes again to shut down the long gun registry. Ignatieff’s bullying...

Abu Talhah al-Amrikee, avowed South Park critic, American hardline jihadi-Salafi, who admins The Mujahid Blog, contributes to RevolutionMuslim.com and a reader/interlocutor of this blog recently published a piece to his website entitled, “Fomenting Disunity in the Counterterrorism Movement.” I can appreciate the overall thrust of Abu Talhah’s approach (seeking to divide and conquer) as it’s one that I’ve embraced in my own writings and thinking about how degrade al-Qaida movements. The approach was actually the conceptual backbone of the “Stealing AQ’s Playbook,” article that I co-authored in 2006, which has been cited now several times by Ayman al-Zawahiri specifically because...

SNIPPET: "He now likes to be called Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee, and his primary interest in this world appears to be Islamic radicalism. Last week, Chesser, 20, posted a warning on the website RevolutionMuslim.com following the 200th episode of "South Park," which included a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad disguised in a bear suit." SNIPPET: "In a separate post on RevolutionMuslim.blogspot.com, which now serves as the group's main website since RevolutionMuslim.com has been shuttered, Chesser quoted Usama bin Laden when referencing why reactions are required when anyone insults or belittles the Prophet Muhammad. "As Usama bin Laden said with regard to...

One of the better stories we've seen about the world watching the U.S. election. There are complicated -- and conflicting -- feelings out there: JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- When Sri Murtiningsi asked her third graders what they wanted to be when they grew up, the answers ranged from doctors to a pilot. One boy in the class raised his hand: Barack Obama said his dream was to be president of the United States. Forty years later Murtiningsi -- like the rest of the world -- is watching closely as Americans prepare to head to the polls Tuesday. "Barry was the...

SNIPPET - quote: HE HAD A BLOG... ...he said a lot. Then he went to Somalia to join the jihad, and now he's dead.

Pajamas Media | Friday, December 12, 2008 The funeral for Shirwa Ahmed last week in Burnsville, Minnesota, punctuated a growing national security threat metastasizing inside the U.S. — one Homeland Security and law enforcement authorities have quickly taken note of. Ahmed, who killed himself in a suicide bombing attack in Somalia in October, is just one of up to 40 men from the Twin Cities area who have disappeared and are feared to have returned to their homeland for training with the al-Shabaab terrorist group to wage jihad. The FBI is investigating similar disappearances in other major Somali communities in...

Most of Antarctica has about 2 1/2 miles of ice covering it, and that cold, white wasteland is what most people picture when they think of the South Pole. But a series of dry valleys in Antarctica, about 4,000 kilometers square, have no ice on them at all. The moisture is sucked from the dry valleys by a rain shadow effect — winds rushing over them at speeds up to 200/mph — leaving a bizarre and fascinating landscape, which looks more like Mars than the rest of our planet...

The Conservative movement of today basically consists of individuals with various personal beliefs (both religious and ideological), but conservatism in general sadly rejects outright the absolute authority of the Bible, the Holy Word of Almighty God. It is a “bestselling” book widely reverenced, but too many Conservatives reject its Divine authority and preeminence. These “Subjective Conservatives” cannot see out of this box called time, and thus they are oblivious to the realities of Holy Scripture truth. This includes the coming establishment of the literal Kingdom of Almighty God on earth, as well as their own eternity destiny (John 3:3-5; Romans...

Right-Wing Flame War! By JONATHAN DEE Published: January 21, 2010 Charles Johnson has been writing a blog for almost as long as the word “blog” has existed. A bearish, gentle-voiced, ponytailed man who for three decades enjoyed a successful career as a jazz guitarist accompanying the likes of Al Jarreau and Stanley Clarke, Johnson has always had a geek’s penchant for self-education, and in that spirit he cultivated a side interest, and ultimately an expertise, in writing computer code. His Web log, which he named “Little Green Footballs” (a private joke whose derivation he has always refused to divulge), was...

SNIPPET: "Say hi to Abu Zubair's online home away from home. The man who's online writings were so convincing, that he changed Youssef al-Khattab's life. Or, if you want, just call him what I do: Hassan Khalid. How's Maryland, Hassan? Oh, wait, you mean you're NOT in London? ;-) In any event, he loves Osama bin Laden and thinks you should too."

It’s going to fail. Here’s why it’s going to fail…

Today's Gospel : John 1:1-18 In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him...read more...

God’s Son did not disdain to become a baby. Although with the passing of the years he moved from infancy to maturity, and although with the triumph of his passion and resurrection all the actions of humility which he undertook for us were finished, still today’s festival renews for us the holy childhood of Jesus born of the Virgin Mary. In adoring the birth of our Saviour, we find we are celebrating the commencement of our own life, for the birth of Christ is the source of life for Christian folk, and the birthday of the Head is the birthday...

Simeon's prayer is a hallmark of the Catholic Church's night prayers (compline). In it is the assurance that we have seen our salvation and if we were to pass in the night it would be well. read more...

VATICAN CITY – A woman jumped the barriers in St. Peter's Basilica and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI as he walked down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass on Thursday. The 82-year-old pope quickly got up and was unhurt, said a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini. Footage aired on Italy's RAI state TV showed a woman dressed in a red, hooded sweat shirt vaulting over the wooden barriers and rushing toward the pope before being swarmed by bodyguards. Read more.

"The loving providence of God determined that in the last days he would aid the world, set on its course to destruction. He decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ..." read more...

-excerpt- Mir Hossein Mousavi today released a new statement denouncing the regime’s brutal tactics against the Green Movement ... -excerpt- While the statement is quite similar to other statements he has released in the past, several points on closer inspection stand out. -excerpt- ... Mousavi for the first time actually discounts his own influence and that of Mehdi Karroubi. He admits that even though people asked him to call for protests or at least lend his support, he did not do so in the case of Ashura. He also acknowledges the fact that people came out without him calling them...

As some Houston leaders called on Sunday for measures to help guard against future terrorist attacks, others questioned why the Nigerian man charged with trying to destroy a Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit spent time last year in Houston. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is believed to have traveled to Houston in 2008, but no details of the trip were available Sunday. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston declined to discuss any connection Abdulmutallab might have to the city, saying details of the investigation remain classified. U.S. government officials did confirm that they are looking into his travel itinerary, but the FBI...

I know…technically the decade doesn’t end until next year. Whatever. The first 10 years of the 20th Century, as it was, was a great era for great movies. In my mind, we saw a true resurgence of innovation and imagination…with some routine Hollywood nonsense thrown in. Now, I took some editorial leeway on some of these, as you will see. For what it is worth, here is my top 10 list: