Free Republic

A couple things stand out about the U.S.'s assessment of Cuba these days. Number one, the U.S. diplomats in Havana have started openly stating that Castro is on his last legs. We don't usually see this kind of bluntness from these guys. What does it mean? Is there a new Cuba diplomatic offensive coming up? Forget that, we've had those, to little effect. It can only mean that he really is. Diplomats are predictable creatures, but they don't like to get surprised by events. These statements are for us, not Castro, and I think they're just telling us they're on...

Police in Lower Paxton Township have charged two 10-year-old boys with plotting to rob the customers of a credit union. It happened last Thursday at the Belco Credit Union on Allentown Boulevard. Police said a woman stopped to use the ATM and noticed the boys hiding in the bushes. As she started to withdraw money, she said the boys rushed the car. She sped off and called police.

In the year 2014, The New York Times has gone offline. The Fourth Estate's fortunes have waned. What happened to the news? And what is EPIC? http://www.letitblog.com/epic/

Aleksander Boyd, who publishes the blog Vcrisis from London, has proven to us to be a relaible source of news on the Castroite Chavez regime of Venezuela. Most recently, he scooped the world press in reporting on a nonsensical raid on a Jewish school in Caracas. Another blog, Vheadline.com, which seems to take a pro-Chavez perspective, has taken to attacking Aleks mercilessly. It is now calling him "socially racist" and a "terrorist" in addition to a "traitor." Aleks is a brave and honest patriot, resisting a thuggish left wing regime, as far as we can tell. We wish him well....

It looks as though the liberals, unable to win at the polls, are resorting to these Mary Cheney-esque tactics again. Weren't they supposed to be the party of tolerance?

By PETER PORCO Anchorage Daily News November 26, 2004 ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Sixteen-year-old Rachelle A. Waterman would appear to be any parent's ideal child - an honor student, an athlete, a gifted singer. But for months, she planned her mother's murder with two of her former boyfriends who are eight years her senior, according to Alaska State Troopers. Two weekends ago on Southeast's Prince of Wales Island, their plot ended in the death of 48-year-old Lauri Waterman of Craig, according to court papers. Lauri Waterman, a teacher's aide and community activist, was killed by one of the men using a...

Somebody commented on the blog site that this essay is so good why is the blogger giving it away for free. I believe that if I wrote something this well, I would want everyone to see it. This is crisp, knowledgeable, hysterical writing. so funny and so right. Enjoy.

Saturday, November 06, 2004 YOUR PHONE CALLS [John J. Miller] Today's New York Times: "Angry conservatives flooded Senate phone and fax lines on Friday demanding that Republicans prevent Senator Arlen Specter from presiding over the Judiciary Committee after he remarked that strongly anti-abortion judicial nominees might be rejected in the Senate..." I don't know how that adjective "strongly" got in there--I thought Specter was basically saying no pro-life nominees to the Supreme Court will get past him--but the Times story is fairly objective. It also features Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina trying to play peacemaker, i.e., trying to tell...

News organizations promised Wednesday to look into why their Election Day exit polls showed an initial surge for John Kerry, but also blamed bloggers for spreading news that gave a misleading view of the presidential race. The exit poll data was delivered at several points Tuesday to ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and The Associated Press by the National Election Pool, a company formed in the wake of the networks' blown calls on election night 2000.... The Florida and Ohio exit poll results, along with those in other states where Kerry was strong, was quickly disseminated on websites...

Freelance Journalist Arrested After Photographing Voting Lines POSTED: 6:10 am EST November 1, 2004 WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A freelance journalist taking pictures of voters waiting outside the Palm Beach County elections headquarters was arrested after ignoring a deputy's orders to stop, sheriff's officials said. James S. Henry, of Sag Harbor, N.Y., was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence. Sheriff's Deputy Al Cinque tried to stop Henry as he shot pictures of about 600 people standing in line to vote Sunday afternoon. Henry began running away, but Cinque tackled him, the Palm Beach Post reported. The...

Freelance journalist arrested after photographing voting lines Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A freelance journalist taking pictures of voters waiting outside the Palm Beach County elections headquarters was arrested after ignoring a deputy's orders to stop, sheriff's officials said.James S. Henry, of Sag Harbor, N.Y., was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence.Sheriff's Deputy Al Cinque tried to stop Henry as he shot pictures of about 600 people standing in line to vote Sunday afternoon. Henry began running away, but Cinque tackled him, the Palm Beach Post reported.The deputy pinned Henry, 54, to the ground,...

Journalist Arrested After Photographing Voting Lines POSTED: 6:10 AM EST November 1, 2004 UPDATED: 12:47 PM EST November 1, 2004 WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A freelance journalist taking pictures of voters waiting outside the Palm Beach County elections headquarters was arrested after ignoring a deputy's orders to stop, sheriff's officials said. James S. Henry, of Sag Harbor, N.Y., (pictured, left) was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence. Sheriff's Deputy Al Cinque tried to stop Henry as he shot pictures of about 600 people standing in line to vote Sunday afternoon. Henry began running away, but Cinque...

UK blogger takes on 'toughest sheriff in US' By Chris Summers BBC News A British stockbroker in jail in the United States has been lifting the lid on a controversial prison regime through a compelling weblog. Sheriff Joe Arpaio forces inmates to wear pink underpants, puts women on chain gangs and brags that it costs more to feed the guard dogs than the prisoners he oversees. No surprise then that he is often called America's "toughest sheriff". But while his hardline tactics have won him plenty of admirers among the voting public of Maricopa county, Arizona, they have outraged human...

Actually we are NOT close to a draft even if Kerry wins. The draft is a fear ploy brought up by Dem's. We only have about 5% of our military in any action whatsoever. So this crap that we keep hearing on CNN, CBS, NBC and Abc about the military being thin is garbage. Just another example that the mainstream media is in love with John Kerry. Imagine what the Dem's and the media is doing here. If our military is this thin and we are really only in two countries(Afghanistan and Iraq) This would be the best chance for...

Kerry/Edwards/NYTimes campaign has launched another sleazy attack in an apparent effort to define just how low low really is. First, the NY Times ran a Bush quote from an event the reporter did not attend, then within hours of the piece running, the Kerry campaign managed to put an ad together and have the press releases done and all the media reporting on it. New Kerry Ad Exposes Bush's January Surprise - Social Security Privatization Just over two weeks before the election, the Kerry-Edwards campaign Sunday released a new ad revealing George Bush's real agenda - his intention to "come...

Most high-traffic forums are overrun by liberal activists. In most cases 2-3 conservative posters could turn the tide. Here is a list I could compile: Forums: http://forums.somethingawful.com/forumdisplay.php?s=81b0718a3911a589b936eba5f5a51595&forumid=46 http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=159 http://www.baptistboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi/forum/18.html? http://christianforums.com/forumdisplay.php?s=e6bbcdf4a6562d72279b85fcb870661c&f=181 Blogs (supposedly neutral): http://www.politics1.com/index.htm http://www.command-post.org/2004/index.html http://www.polstate.com/ http://www.watchblog.com/ With 46 days left, no liberal posting should go unchallenged. P.S. Add other forums/blogs you know about.

The article is quite complimentary to the new media. It ends with a challenge to help solve world problems that media organizations only whine about. So, taking up the challenge: Freepers, in all seriousness, how to we best resolve the Iraq situation.

NO GATEKEEPING Our president's latest scandal was broken by Internet columnist Matt Drudge, who reported that Newsweek had spiked a story about Monica Lewinsky. Some people see that as a black eye for the print media and a victory for the Internet. Not First Lady Hillary Clinton, who was asked about the Net's role in dissemination of news at a press conference on February 11. "As exciting as these new developments are there are a number of serious issues without any kind of editing function or gate-keeping function. What does it mean to have the right to defend your reputation,...

All these discussions with the Killians and others took place after the blogosphere had worked its magic, beginning when www.freerepublic.com suggested the documents might not be real.

Is there a formal definition of "blog" or "blogger". I have a rough idea what they mean. Those terms have been used a lot lately in reference to increasing sources of news and opinions on the internet. Thanks in advance