Free Republic

Around the world, people have reacted with horror to the vile atrocities in Mumbai. For three days, our TV screens transmitted images of carnage and chaos ... Despite the fact that Western citizens were caught up in the attacks, there is nevertheless a sense that this was nothing to do with us — a horrible event happening in a faraway place. Among commentators, moreover, there has been no small amount of confusion. Were these terrorists motivated by the grievance between Muslims and Hindus over Kashmir, or was this a broader attack by Al Qaeda? If British and American tourists were...

Some years ago I was involved with a radical anti-abortion group that was frustrated with efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade. We targeted two abortion clinics – one in Birmingham and the other in Atlanta - for bombings. We successfully carried out both of those bombings without killing anyone on the premises. We wanted to send our message – at least initially – without any unnecessary bloodshed.After we carried out the bombings in Birmingham and Atlanta we gathered together in Charlotte, North Carolina for the express purpose of making a number of bombs that would be used in additional attacks...

Parents' Day, 2008 A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America Parents teach their children timeless values to help them make the most of life's opportunities and overcome its challenges. On Parents' Day, we pay tribute to the parents who provide their children with guidance, support, and unconditional love and who help make our country a better place. Mothers and fathers are a source of stability and great comfort in society, and they have a vital obligation to love and care for their children. Through patient instruction and a loving example, they instill in children the principles...

"You arrogant ass! You've killed US!" The line comes from an enraged Soviet Navy officer to his superior, Captain Tupolev, in the film version of Tom Clancy's thriller The Hunt for Red October. Clancy fans will remember Tupolev as the Soviet submariner tasked with destroying the Russian super-sub Red October, captained by Tupolev's old teacher, the defecting Marko Ramius (Sean Connery). Egotistical, obsessed with getting Ramius, in the heat of battle the not very bright Tupolev impulsively launches a torpedo against the advice of his senior officer. Too late he realizes the torpedo has been led back to a target...

HOUSTON — Roy M. Huffington, an oilman who played a major role in developing Indonesia's oil and natural gas sector and later served as a U.S. ambassador to Austria, has died. He was 90. Huffington died Friday while traveling out of the country, according to the funeral home George H. Lewis and Sons. Huffington also founded the Huffington Foundation, which donated millions of dollars to Houston charities, and also served as the chairman of the New York-based Asia Society for more than seven years in the 1980s. Huffington served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and upon his...

(05-18) 18:59 PDT -- California public school educators suspended students more than 332,000 times for violence or drugs last year - a jump of nearly 16,000 from the prior year. That's 6 out of every 100 students, up from 5 per 100 the year before, a Chronicle analysis of state records shows. << Find suspension rates at your child's school >> It means that beneath the studious demeanor of California campuses runs an undercurrent of trouble: students harming students, intimidating peers, packing weapons and even making terror threats. That reality is often ignored or stuffed away as bad publicity for...

Liberals are right about the "Right-wing Noise Machine." It really is a wonder to behold, and last week it was performing like a well-tuned NASCAR race car. They say that liberals are all prepared for the inevitable "swift-boating" of Barack Obama. Look behind you, liberals. It already happened and, like last time, it was an own-goal scored by liberals. This time it's Bill Moyers' fault. Why, oh why, Bill, did you decide that you had to put Reverend Wright up Bill Moyers Journal on April 25, 2008 so that we could all hear his side of the story? You must...

We spend about 33% of our gross domestic product on state, local and federal government. Britain spends about 39 or 40%. France spends 48%, Germany 51%, Sweden 55%. And Hillary would like us to move into the high 40s and the low 50s. And she’d like that to fund free higher education, free healthcare, free daycare, free extra nutrition, more food stamps, more welfare; the whole bit. And if you think that those are good goals, and if you think that’s the way to achieve it, support her. Because she really will do that. It’s really what she wants to...

Blue State Digital was founded by four Howard Dean supporters: History of Blue State Digital In the final months of Howard Dean's Presidential Campaign in 2003-04, Jascha Franklin Hodge, Clay Johnson, Ben Self and Joe Rospars -- four principals of Dean's Internet Team -- conceived of Blue State Digital. As leaders of a campaign that made history for its innovative use of the Internet, the four wanted to continue developing best practices for online communications, fundraising, organizing, and technology. So, on March 5th, 2004, the four founded Blue State Digital. About two years later, Blue State Digital operates offices in...

A union representing professors, librarians and coaches at Sonoma State and 22 other California State University campuses has voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike, which could occur over several weeks beginning in April.Because of the size of the CSU system, Travis said, "if we strike, it will be the largest strike in the history of higher education in this country."New CSU tenure-track faculty start at about $50,000 a year, the average salary for tenure-track is $71,000, and the average for faculty with 20 years of experience is $86,000.Instructors, who teach 60 percent of CSU classes, earn an average of $58,000...

Venezuela is spending $3 billion to build nine submarines, a fleet of undersea craft that would be the largest in the region -- and ready to be used against the U.S. in event of a conflict between the two countries.The navy is considering bids from Germany, France, and Russia, which is said to be the odds-on favorite, according to the Washington Times.Venezuela says it is beefing up its military capabilities -- including plans to develop an enlarged submarine fleet -- in preparation for what it called any "asymmetrical conflict" with the U.S.

I've checked and seen nothing posted about the premier pilot of the 1/2 Hour News Hour on this forum.I want more of this show. I laughed throughout. The satire was crisp, delivery was very good.The best thing about parodies and satires which grab at one's funny bone is that they are true and factual. The jabs delivered last night were true and factual. And Real.I and my family enjoyed the 1/2 Hour News very much, and wish it were more than 1/2 hour long -- and covering the range of "news du jour".How about you?

Democrats joined Republicans on Monday in voting to name a Missouri courthouse after Rush H. Limbaugh Sr. A thank-you gesture for the conservative radio host who has made a career of scourging Democrats and their liberal allies? Not quite. The man whose name will be carved into the new federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Mo., was the commentator's grandfather, a prominent attorney and civic leader who died in 1996 at age 104 after practicing law for nearly 80 years. Before his death he was thought to be the oldest working lawyer in the country. The measure was sponsored by Rep....

Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that her unsuccessful health care reform effort in 1993 makes her more effective on the issue now as she seeks the presidencyThis week, rival John Edwards offered his plan for universal health care that calls for a tax increase to ensure health care coverage for all and a requirement that businesses provide insurance. The tax increase would pay for the plan's cost of up to $120 billion a year."The president can propose, but the Congress has to dispose, and if we don't have a consensus in the country that our present system is...

A movement to essentially dump the Electoral College and give the presidency to the winner of the nationwide popular vote has been defeated in North Dakota and Montana, after opponents said it would eliminate any influence states may have in presidential contests. Thursday's votes represented the first legislative setbacks this year for the National Popular Vote plan, said spokeswoman Breeanna Mierop. It is a proposed agreement among states to cast their electoral votes for the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote. "If you look at the population trends ... if this were to become the law, our presidential elections...

11/10/2006: Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt, superintendent of the 22nd Wing Medical Group here, recently gained worldwide attention for a photo of him holding an injured Iraqi child. The photo was taken about a month ago, while he was deployed to Balad Air Base in Iraq. The young infant had received extensive gunshot injuries to her head when insurgents attacked her family killing both of her parents and many of her siblings. The chief had a knack for comforting her and they often would catch a cat nap together in a chair. While deployed to Iraq, the chief tried to...

snip:In San Francisco, all politics is local, and the local political establishment is highly incestuous. This diagram from the Fog City Journal portrays some of the family and financial connections between Speaker of the House Pelosi and Newsom. They are related by virtue of marriage. One can only assume that in her role as a grandmother, Speaker Pelosi will decry the concept of adultery. But will she urge Newsom to retire from politics? I doubt it very much.

Rep. Charles Rangel feels bad - but not too bad - about directing a curse word at Vice President Dick Cheney. Rangel, a Harlem Democrat who regularly exchanges verbal volleys with the vice president, called Cheney a "son of a b...." on Monday when asked by the New York Post about comments Cheney made about him in a television interview. He repeated his comments in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, but added, "I shouldn't have said it."..."The vice president is going to continue to talk about the clear record on taxes - Republicans voting to lower taxes...

Cheney touched off the war of words when he said that Rangel - who is set to become chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee if the Democrats win the House in the upcoming elections – wouldn't continue "a single one" of President Bush's tax cuts. ... "I think that would be bad for the economy," Cheney told CNBC News. "I don't know if the stock market would like it." He then said on the Fox News Channel: "Charlie doesn't understand how the economy works . . . "So if a man like Charlie Rangel were to be...

(June 14, 17, 2002)State Shelves DNA Testing Due To Lack Of ResourcesRALEIGH, N.C. -- State leaders are responding to a WRAL Investigation on DNA testing for rape victims. One lawmaker has filed legislation on the victims' behalf. (...)Because of limited resources, the SBI crime lab typically will not analyze DNA evidence unless there is a suspect in the case. Miner's bill would require the lab to test DNA in every rape case if the survivor makes the request.(...)The bill will be introduced in the House on Monday.