Free Republic

If anybody wondered why the sainted United Nations, France, Russia and Syria joined forces in trying to block the U.S. from ousting the brutal Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq the answer is now becoming clear; they feared exposure of the corruption into which they had dragged the now-infamous Oil for Food program. That program was meant to allow Saddam to sell a certain amount of oil outside of the bounds of the UN sanctions. The proceeds, handled by the UN, were to be used to buy food and medicine and other basic necessities for the Iraqi people, thus keeping the...

John Kerry Monsieur BLING!!!! Isn't it easy to talk about helping the "little guy" when you travel around in chauffeured cars, private jets and luxury yachts from one mansion to another? Let's face it, John Kerry has no idea what it's like to be the "little guy" and he never has. His Hair Kerry’s magnificent hair is handled by native French stylist Isabelle Goetz from the exclusive coiffure, Salon Cristophe in Washington. Cost $1,000 per styling His Transportation The Jet John Kerry travels on the deluxe model of the Gulfstream V private jet called the Flying Squirrel. Cost $35,000,000 not...

How many boats do the Heinz/Kerry's have?

Something started bothering me tonight about Kerry's action reports -- MINES. Only in action's involving LTJG Kerry do we find reports of mines detonating without contact near Kerry's boat. How is it LTJG Kerry is the only skipper of a swift boat who encounters mines that mysteriously detonate before a boat actually runs over it? There is one exception of course, and that is PCF-3 which all documentation makes clear that a mine had detonated under it after running over it. Going over the entire chronology of COSDIV 11 you won't find anyone reporting mines detonating near a swift...

Bush rips third-party ads, is mum on anti-Kerry push John E. O'Neill said that his associates are developing a database of former swift boat veterans, "focusing on people from each state," who can keep questions about his service three decades ago in the spotlight. Originally buoyed by a $200,000 donation from a major Republican backer in Houston, the swift boat group now says it has raised $1.56 million from more than 24,000 donors, mostly since the organization began running ads attacking Kerry after the Democratic convention. "Our media strategy is to follow him," both with paid advertising and press...

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads and the book Unfit for Command have traction and have legs. But, we must not just discuss them here. The liberal press ignores most the facts, but even the few friendly reporters or comentators may not know much of what is known here. In addition to posting here, it is important to email them when they do not raise or refute a point sothey will be better prepared to do so in the future. It is also important to write letters to the editor. We can't just preach to the choir here.

Politics as Usual Published: August 19, 2004 It may seem outlandish to launch a campaign broadside by television ad and book flackery devoted to discrediting the respectable Vietnam War record of Senator John Kerry, who has five combat medals. But that is exactly what a Republican-financed group of partisans is doing in presenting itself as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and tattooing the Democratic presidential nominee with accusations of lying about his service and war wounds. Never in Mr. Kerry's command, but claiming to have served near enough, its members are trying to contradict the firsthand accounts of his crewmates...

The company that owns and revived Chris-Craft boats and Outboard Motor Corporation has purchased the remains of the Indian Motorcycle Company, which shut its doors in September 2003. The new owner is Stellican Limited, a private equity firm headquartered in the UK that specializes in reviving ailing recreational product companies with strong brand names and also owns firms in unrelated industries like soft drinks and cash registers. It has a U.S. office in Florida. Because its principals supply their own capital, it is less likely to encounter the problems other would-be motorcycle makers have when more capital was required.

ROME (Reuters) - Italian police said Saturday they had arrested three Egyptian fishermen suspected of plotting to attack a cemetery of American war dead south of Rome. Explosives and maps highlighting the Nettuno American Cemetery and Memorial in the town of Anzio were seized in an apartment in Italy belonging to one of the men, a police official said. "They were preparing a symbolic attack against the American cemetery," the official said, adding police suspected the men were tied to Islamic terrorism. The Egyptians, aged 30 to 45, were arrested Friday but have not been formally charged. Police said they...

Key points UK troops seized by Iranians Naval patrol vessels impounded Potential serious diplomatic incident brewing Key quote "The Ministry of Defence can confirm that eight Royal navy personnel from the Royal Navy training team based in southern Iraq have been detained by the Iranian authorities while delivering a boat from Umm Qasr to Basrah." - MOD spokesman Story in full - BRITISH and Iranian diplomats were last night locked in intense negotiations after the Tehran government’s forces seized three Royal Navy vessels and eight crew members on the disputed Shatt al Arab waterway marking Iraq’s south eastern border. The...

 On March 13, 1969, Jim Rassmann, a U.S. Army Green Beret, was aboard PCF-35 - one of three swift boats traveling together on the Bai Hap River - when one, the PCF-3, struck a mine and immediately began to take incoming fire from the river bank. Kerry's boat at some point turned around and headed toward the damaged vessel when a second mine exploded nearby, throwing him against a bulkhead, causing an contusion to his right arm. The explosion also tossed Rassmann out of a third vessel, the PCF-35. With Rassmann in the water, it is alleged that enemy...

On May 11, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unleashed a new clean-air rule that further cuts diesel emissions from off-road vehicles, generators, locomotives and marine vessels. The new “Tier 4” mandate is EPA’s fourth step since introducing off-road standards in 1996, and it lowers such pollution by 90% (ENR 6/23/03 p. 13). The rule varies across engine sizes, but most producers will reduce nitrogen-oxide levels in new engines to 0.3 grams per brake-horsepower-hour and particulates to 0.01 g/bhp-hr by 2014. Under the new rule, EPA is not requiring pollution controls on existing machines in the field. Off-road fuel also is...

The events of February 28, 1969 that lead to Senator John F. Kerry being awarded the Silver Star is analyzed. Action by Lt.(jg) Kerry on the 28th of February can be broken into two distinct combat engagements, which I will refer to as events A and B.Event A consisted of a three swift boats whose mission was to insert some 70 VN Marines (Kerry tells of 70 VN's, while Zumwalt mentions 30 VN troops per boat in the first Silver Star citation) for the purpose of sweeping an area where small arms fire were encountered by the same three...

  On March 13, 1969, Jim Rassmann, a U.S. Army Green Beret, was aboard PCF-35 - one of three swift boats traveling together on the Bai Hap River - when one, the PCF-3, struck a mine and immediately began to take incoming fire from the river bank. Kerry's boat at some point turned around and headed toward the damaged vessel when a second mine exploded nearby, throwing him against a bulkhead, causing an contusion to his right arm. The explosion also tossed Rassmann out of a third vessel, the PCF-35. With Rassmann in the water, it is alleged that enemy...

The events of February 28, 1969 that lead to Senator John F. Kerry being awarded the Silver Star is analyzed. Action by Lt.(jg) Kerry on the 28th of February can be broken into two distinct combat engagements, which I will refer to as events A and B.Event A consisted of a three swift boats whose mission was to insert some 70 VN Marines (Kerry tells of 70 VN's, while Zumwalt mentions 30 VN troops per boat in the first Silver Star citation) for the purpose of sweeping an area where small arms fire were encountered by the same three...

<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Environmentalists who successfully tapped taxpayer money to buy thousands of acres of California coastline to stop development are now targeting the Pacific Ocean, with a plan to curb human activity by buying boats, fishing permits and possibly underwater land.</p>

Haitians Build Boats to Escape Poverty Thursday February 19, 2004 12:31 AM By MARK STEVENSON Associated Press Writer ACUL DU NORD, Haiti (AP) - The men painstakingly shaping the wooden stay of a boat with a homemade tool reckon it'll be ready in two months to take to the seas and, hopefully, reach the shores of Florida. These would-be migrants are preparing their escape from Haiti at a time of rebellion that poses the greatest threat yet to the presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But their reason for fleeing has been the same for many years: the lack of jobs and...

This maybe the first ever aircraft carrier (decommissioned 2001) available for auction at EBAY ! But the auction was delisted not long ago due to accusation wrongly made by a suspicious customer. We showed evidence that this vessel is DECOMMISSIONED and therefore not Ordanance. We are shipbroker and not arms dealer. We shipbrokers do not have the ownership of the vessels we sell, as none of the shipbrokers does, just as your real estate broker cannot ask you to transfer the title of your house to him before he start selling propery for you. Suggested usage: tourist attraction, ocean-restaurant, museum,...

Al-Qa'eda terrorists in high-speed boats pose the biggest threat to British warships in the Gulf, Britain's naval commander in the region said yesterday. Rear-Adml David Snelson said there was "a real danger" that terrorists would use small boats loaded with explosives to ram British vessels, causing many casualties. "They have attacked ships before and they could do it again," he said. "That is the threat that is uppermost in our minds and we have to assume that it will get worse if there is a war." Al-Qa'eda was behind two suicide boat attacks, both off Yemen, in the last three...

<p>Two weeks ago, Jim and Jackie Cimino went through their belongings and packed away those which they considered most important in their lives: the grandchildren's pictures, the tax documents.</p> <p>Ten boxes went into storage, thus giving the Ciminos peace of mind as they look out their living room window and watch the churning, muddy Allegheny River flow past their floating home, the 57-foot houseboat named Jackie's Cover that is docked at the Oakmont Yacht Club.</p>