Free Republic

Australian woman dies at age 108 after winning an international audience World's oldest blogger dies July 14: Olive Riley, considered the world's oldest blogger has died at the age of 108. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports. CANBERRA, Australia - An Australian woman renowned as the world's oldest blogger has died at the age of 108, with her last posting talking about her ailing health but also how she still sings a happy song every day. Olive Riley, of Woy Woy about 50 miles north of Sydney, began blogging in February last year, sharing stories from her life during the two world...

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.

There's definitely something fishy about 25-year-old, Saudi, female, dissident blogger Hadeel Alhodaif's untimely death. Via the Arab News, we learn that Alhodaif "unexpectedly" fell into a coma and 25-days later, simply "passed away." But considering her legacy of activism, both within the blogosphere and without, and the fact that she insisted on blogging under her real name, it's more likely she was targeted for death by Saudi authorities. That she was a proponent of women's rights in this most backward of nations (and regions) is even more reason the enemies of progress would want her out of the way. The...

Did Republican presidential candidate John McCain vote for President George W. Bush in 2000? Liberal Internet blogger Arianna Huffington says McCain told her he did not. But the Arizona senator says he did vote for Bush, a fellow Republican, in 2000 and campaigned for him all over the country after his own attempt to win the party's nomination failed. The claims and counterclaims may provide an entertaining distraction from the day-to-day battle for votes for this November's presidential election, when McCain will face one of two Democratic contenders, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. But Huffington said in an interview the...

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 3, 2008 Mr. Hensarling (for himself, Mr. Akin, Mr. Barrett of South Carolina, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Bishop of Utah, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Brady of Texas, Mr. Broun of Georgia, Mr. Campbell of California, Mr. Cannon, Mr. Cantor, Mr. David Davis of Tennessee, Ms. Fallin, Mr. Feeney, Mr. Flake, Mr. Fortuno, Ms. Foxx, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Gingrey, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Kline of Minnesota, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Marchant, Mr. McCarthy of California, Mrs. Musgrave, Mr. Neugebauer, Mr. Paul, Mr. Pence, Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Shadegg, Mr. Tancredo, Mr. Walberg,...

"Peace Activists" Slap Female Blogger Twice--Encourage Others to Violence" Written by Melanie Morgan    Sunday, 23 March 2008 Many times I have been threatened with violence, as well as our staff at Move America Forward. We simply shrug off the danger, and continue with our work to support our troops. 'Skye' at MidnightBlue.com wasn't so lucky yesterday in Philadelphia, Pa. She was slapped TWICE by so-called 'peace activists'. Video verifying 'Skye's' account coming shortly. And photos. 'Skye' with Michelle Malkin. Skye with Larry Bailey of Gathering of Eagles. She sent me two e-mails. Here's the first. Melanie, I am...

Remember Ronald Barbour AKA Ronbo? He was the blogger from Freedom Fighter's Journal, who wrote the following on his blog back on Feb 17, I understand the ______ building is more than 150 feet tall. At the time of my last recon I noticed easy access to the roof that would allow someone to leap to their death to the parking lot below. I'm not an expert in these matters, but if I recall from my physics classes in college at 100 feet a falling object reaches a speed of about 100 MPH. This means that the falling man would...

Michael Yon was not a journalist, and he wasn’t sure what a blogger was. He had been in uniform but not in combat, and he wanted to keep it that way. He went to Iraq thinking he would stay for a month, and maybe find a way to write about the war after he got home. Michael Yon, a former Special Forces fighter, writes dispatches and posts photographs from the front lines in Iraq. Instead, he has spent most of the last three years in Iraq, writing prolifically and graphically, and racking up more time embedded with combat units than...

Authorities have fired an official in central China after city inspectors beat to death a man who filmed their confrontation with villagers, China's Xinhua news agency reports. The killing has sparked outrage in China, with thousands expressing outrage in Chinese Internet chat rooms, often the only outlet for public criticism of the government. The incident has also alarmed advocates of press freedom, who say municipal authorities had no right to attack a man for simply filming them. Police have detained 24 municipal inspectors and are investigating more than 100 in the death of Wei Wenhua, a 41-year-old construction company executive,...

I am copying the whole shooting match from Lionheart in case it vanishes sometime soon. I do not know Lionheart personally but know him to be a very sincere religious man with deep convictions. We have not always agreed on everything but have been united in our fight to make our fellow True Brits aware of the dangers of Islam. Since I started blogging, I have always expected the knock on the door and still do. That knock may now have come for Lionheart. British police have been charged with arresting me I am currently out of the Country and...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration has brought its concerns about the detention of a well-known blogger to the Saudi Arabian government at "a relatively senior level," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday. McCormack, speaking at his regular midday briefing, said the message delivered "was pretty clear." "The U.S. stands for freedom of expression," he said. "It is an important element of any thriving society. It's a cornerstone of any democratic society. Wherever people are seeking to express themselves, via the Internet or via other areas, whether in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere in the world, we stand with that...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — An outspoken Saudi blogger is being held for “purposes of interrogation,” the Saudi Interior Ministry confirmed Tuesday. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman reached by telephone, said the blogger, Fouah al-Farhan, was “being questioned about specific violations of nonsecurity laws.” Mr. Farhan’s blog, which discusses social issues, had become one of the most widely read in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Farhan, 32, of Jidda, was arrested Dec. 10 at his office, local news sources reported. Two weeks before his arrest, he wrote a letter to friends warning them that it was imminent. “I was told that...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi authorities have detained a popular blogger for violating the kingdom's laws, a senior Interior Ministry official said Tuesday. It was the first known arrest of a Saudi online critic. The blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, was being questioned by security authorities, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Monsour al-Turki said. He added the blogger might be released on Wednesday but did not elaborate. The Saudi English daily, Arab News, said al-Farhan had "violated non-security regulations." The paper said the 32-year-old Jeddah resident was arrested at his office Dec. 10 and taken to his home where police conducted a...

An Inside Cable News emailer found an Alan Colmes blog outside of the Foxnews.com homepage. With "Liberalland" flashed across the top, the blog offers insight into Colmes' personal beliefs as well as a revisiting of his recent interviews. Colmes is listed as a contributor along with J.M., whose identity is not revealed, although Colmes is the only name that authored a post in the last week. And post he has — with multiple posts a day, including three postings on Christmas. The unique situation allows Colmes to post reflections on his Hannity & Colmes interviews along with accompanying Youtube videos....

Manalapan, NJ - A Superior Court judge in New Jersey quashed a bogus subpoena for the identity of an anonymous blogger Friday, protecting the free speech rights of a critic writing about a local government controversy. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) represented the anonymous blogger, known as "daTruthSquad," on a site hosted by Google's Blogspot service. After the blogger strongly criticized a malpractice lawsuit filed by the township of Manalapan against its former city attorney, the township subpoenaed Google for "daTruthSquad's" identity, as well as for any emails, blog drafts, and other information Google had about the blogger. In a...

EFF Defends Critic from Local Government's Heavy-Handed Tactics Manalapan, NJ - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked a Superior Court judge in New Jersey today to preserve the free speech rights of an anonymous blogger facing legal threats from local government officials.The blogger, writing as "daTruthSquad" on a site hosted on Google's Blogspot service, has criticized a controversial lawsuit filed by the township of Manalapan, as well as the officials who decided to pursue the case. The township subpoenaed Google for "daTruthSquad's" identity -- as well as for any emails, blog drafts, and other information Google has about the blogger...

Bloggers battered by viral storm Google's Blogger site is being used by malicious hackers who are posting fake entries to some blogs. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6970368.stm The fake entries contain weblinks that lead to booby-trapped downloads that could infect a Windows PC. Infected computers are being hijacked by the gang behind the attacks and either mined for saleable data or used for other attacks. The Blogger attack is the latest in a series by a gang that has managed to hijack hundreds of thousands of PCs.

LOS ANGELES — A man who blogs about his attraction to young girls but says he doesn't touch them was arrested Monday near a university child care facility with a camera, police said. Jack McClellan, 45, who is unemployed and lives out of his car, was arrested at 1:40 p.m. at the University of California, Los Angeles, campus police said in a statement. He was arrested near the university's Infant Development Program, which provides onsite care for children 3 months to 3 year sold and serves faculty, students and staff, according to the university's Web site.

If you want an illustration of the old adage that “good news is no news,” simply try to find stories about the pilgrimage by tens of thousands of Shiites to the Kadhimiya shrine in northwest Baghdad on Thursday. There were a few accounts—see, for instance, this New York Times article and this from the Los Angeles Times—but they were buried deep inside the newspapers. What happened on Thursday was pretty remarkable: nothing. At least nothing terribly violent. Last year at least twenty pilgrims were killed by sniper and mortar attacks. In 2005, 1,000 pilgrims died on a bridge after rumors...

Georgia is on my mind. Although the facts are in dispute—they always are when Moscow is involved—it seems clear that a Russian plane entered Georgian airspace on Monday night and fired a missile at a radar station. The Kremlin, absurdly, is suggesting Tbilisi attacked itself. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe confirms there was an intrusion, and that there is no evidence supporting Moscow’s version of events. If this sounds familiar, don’t be surprised: Russian helicopters flew over and fired on another part of Georgia in March of this year. The State Department calls the more recent incident...